"Aniekra! Open the door, it's me."
Aniekra slowly opened the door and poked her head out. "Lucy? You're here!"
"I was worried about you, so I came to check on you. I also thought I'd help you finish as many of your upcoming orders ahead of schedule as I could."
Lucy briefly explained why she had come, all the while observing Aniekra's state of mind.
"Lucy, just close the door behind you. Oh, right, your tools are..."
Aniekra sat at her workbench, explaining what Lucy needed to know about the work as she busied herself with the task in her hands.
"Aniekra!"
After calling out, Lucy wrapped her arms tightly around Aniekra from behind.
"I'm sorry! Forgive me. That was all I could do at the time. I heard you calling for help, but I could only..."
Lucy's light, clear voice grew hoarse.
"I... Forgive me, Aniekra! My power... It can no longer protect you. I'm sorry! I might have to break my promise..."
Hearing the person embracing her sob, Aniekra was struck by Lucy's sense of helplessness.
"It's all right, Lucy! We're both suffering terribly from our curses, and I've long thought of you as my family and friend. You don't have to do this, Lucy."
Hearing Aniekra's words, Lucy stopped sobbing. She turned Aniekra around in her arms, looked her in the eyes, and said gravely, "If one day I have a chance to regain my power, Aniekra, I'll seize it at any cost so I can protect you.
"I'll do it to honor a guardian's oath, for both our freedom, and for the friendship you've shown me, one as close as family.
"But forgive me for being so weak and helpless right now. Aniekra, you..."
Before Lucy could finish, Aniekra embraced her.
"Lucy, even without your status as a protector, we've supported each other through all these years. Do you really think I'd abandon you?
"So stop blaming yourself. Besides, haven't I failed to live up to what's expected of a spellcaster too?"
Then, once Aniekra saw that Lucy had calmed down, she cupped Lucy's cheeks and teased, "There's no master and retainer between us. What we have is a friendship between a weaver and a craftsman, understand?"
Hearing that, Lucy laughed through her tears.
The awkward tension between them ended with that laughter.
Afterward, they laughed and played around together.
At Lucy's house,
Li Xing sat before a group of children.
"And so, Snow White came back to life with the prince's kiss.
"Afterward, the two of them lived happily together.
"And that's the end of the story."
When Li Xing finished, the children broke into loud applause.
"Big Brother Li Xing, tell us another one! Please?"
"Yeah, just one more story!"
Hearing the children around him plead again and again, Li Xing stood up with a serious expression.
"No! It's time for bed.
"If you don't listen, Big Brother Li Xing won't cook for you tomorrow. You'll have to keep eating Sister Lucy's cooking!"
At that threat, the children fell silent. They each returned to their beds and quietly went to sleep.
After seeing the children fall asleep one by one, Li Xing closed the door and went to the living room, where he would sleep that night.
After Li Xing left,
The children all opened their eyes.
"What do you think Big Brother Li Xing will make us tomorrow?"
"I think it'll be the delicious food he told us about before!"
"Do you mean those sweet, crispy slices of meat? That's what I want to eat most."
"Big Brother Li Xing wasn't the one who told us about those. Jerry did. But I want to eat them too."
"I wish Big Brother Li Xing could cook for us every day."
"Yeah!"
All at once, the room fell silent.
"Why do you think Big Brother Li Xing is so good to us? He makes us so much delicious food!"
"I know!"
Suddenly finding everyone looking at him, the child boasted, "I heard the townspeople say Big Brother Li Xing came here so Sister Lucy would help take care of Jerry!"
"So we're benefiting thanks to Jerry?"
"No! The grown-up who told me said that's just how it looks! He said Big Brother Li Xing's real aim is Sister Lucy, and he comes here so often because he's courting her."
At that, complicated emotions appeared on the children's faces.
They were young, but none of them were fools.
Sister Lucy, who had taken them in and cared for them, had never married, and they had all heard something of the reason around town.
Though learning about it had made the children admire Sister Lucy even more, they also wished all the more for a hero to save her and the rest of their family.
But that fantasy seemed so pale and helpless in the face of reality.
"I wish Big Brother Li Xing really could marry Sister Lucy!"
"Yeah! Then we wouldn't have to worry about delicious food either. But..."
And so the room fell silent again.
This time, no one broke the silence. It accompanied the children's fantasies and carried them off to sleep.
Late at night,
At Aniekra's house,
"Mmm!~~ Mm!"
After swallowing, Aniekra's eyes widened in amazement.
"Lucy! What is this? It's so delicious!"
With that, Aniekra tore off several more bites of the flatbread and continued eating.
Seeing Aniekra eat like that, Lucy understood the complicated look Li Xing gave her when they ate.
"Li Xing made it... Hmm! I think it's called 'oil scallion pancakes' or 'Scallion Pancakes' or something. But the name doesn't matter. What matters is that when I guessed you definitely hadn't eaten well tonight, I secretly brought you the pancakes Li Xing had originally saved for himself!"
Watching Aniekra eat with a blissful expression, Lucy smiled and asked,
"Well? Isn't it delicious?"
"Mmm! I didn't expect Big Brother Li Xing to be such a wonderful cook! I wish I could eat flatbread this delicious every day."
As the saying went, the speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.
When Lucy heard that, she recalled what had happened in the carriage.
So she asked Aniekra, who was in high spirits,
"Aniekra, if I'm not mistaken, you've fallen for Li Xing, haven't you?"