"This isn't how it should be calculated."
Ye Qingxian sighed, her expression slightly dejected.
"I really am not that goddess-like..."
"If anything, I seem quite vile. I'm a petty person, an ordinary person too."
A trace of disappointment appeared in Ye Qingxian's eyes.
"I thought I was perfect enough, yet time and again, I've done countless abnormal things because of you."
I stood before the seated Ye Qingxian and slowly held her head against my chest, as though cradling my own baby, radiating boundless maternal warmth.
I could sense Ye Qingxian's dejection.
And I was willing to comfort her.
Just as everyone grew up.
I had my own immaturity too, so I would be tolerant of her and watch her grow.
"It's okay. If you can't convince yourself, I can help explain it. You took photos of me because you liked me, right? You've never taken photos of anyone else. Doesn't that prove that you're not that kind of vile person at all? You're only a maiden who, before love, occasionally lost her footing."
"That's only human nature."
"Everything can be understood."
Ye Qingxian did not agree with my view and refuted me again. "No matter how much you like someone, you wouldn't secretly photograph them. If liking someone meant you could do something like that, would there still be justice and order in this world? This isn't a reason one can use to persuade one's own heart and excuse its dark side."
She seemed very off today. Unexpectedly, she was being rather stubborn, as though determined to drag herself down from her pedestal and condemn herself, to dissect her filthiest thoughts until nothing remained hidden.
I stood stunned for a long, long time.
Looking at the maiden before me, I once again felt that endless pain at the brink