"..."
But her brother had explained things so briefly that, for a moment, the girl couldn't think of what to ask.
The girl parted her lips.
Ask whatever you want.
"..."
"That boy had a white snake wrapped around his wrist?"
As soon as she said it, the girl realized she'd asked a pointless question.
"..."
"Yes."
The boy nodded.
"A very beautiful white snake."
"More beautiful than all your snakes."
"Really, incredibly beautiful."
"..."
Beautiful...
Beautiful...
Incredibly beautiful...
Her brother had used the word "beautiful" three times in a row, successfully distracting the girl from the way he'd put down her snakes.
She was curious.
"Was it really that beautiful?"
Her brother, who was usually rather slow to call something beautiful, had praised it so many times...
It must really have been beautiful, right?
"..."
"Mm."
The boy nodded.
"Really, extraordinarily beautiful."
"If I hadn't spent so much time looking at snakes at your place, I might not have recognized it as a snake at first glance."
"..."
Huh?
The girl was confused.
"What do you mean?"
"It didn't look like a snake?"
"..."
The boy shook his head slightly.
"It didn't look like an ordinary snake."
"It was too beautiful."
"Pure white from head to tail."
"It was easy to think it was a bracelet carved from a single piece of fine white jade."
"..."
"Seriously?"
The girl wasn't quite convinced.
Could a real snake actually be that beautiful?
"..."
"Seriously."
The boy looked earnest.
"I've never seen a snake that beautiful."
"Not even on TV."
"..."
The girl was both surprised and a little incredulous.
Of course.
She wasn't doubting her brother.
She believed him.
She just found it hard to immediately accept what he was saying.
She liked snakes.
She even kept snakes.
She had carefully