Liking Isn't Necessarily Love, but Love Always Includes Liking

Watching Su Baichen fall silent, Cailin's heart, which had just been filled with hope, seemed to be tightly clenched by an invisible hand and sank sharply.

Though he had hesitated for only a few seconds, to Cailin, it felt as though centuries had passed.

Every subtle expression on his face was infinitely magnified and interpreted in her eyes.

He... hesitated... He doesn't like me!

This thought, like the coldest venomous snake, suddenly sank its fangs into the tip of her heart. The fortress of confidence she had only just rebuilt collapsed with a crash, its fragments stabbing painfully into her heart.

She seemed to hear something shatter—the fragile fantasy of love she had carefully cradled, one that had not even truly begun, breaking with a crisp sound before reality.

Could her love truly end so silently before it had even begun?

Yet Queen Medusa was Queen Medusa, after all. Her years in a position of power and the pride in her bones gave her self-control far beyond that of ordinary people.

Though her heart was already a raging sea and utterly chilled, she forcibly suppressed her surging emotions and took a deep breath, as if she wanted to draw all her vulnerability and unease into her lungs before crushing them to dust.

She raised those still-bright eyes, though a faint, imperceptible tremor hid within them, and looked directly at Su Baichen. Gathering all her strength, she asked a question so direct it was almost reckless:

"Su Baichen, do you like me?"

Her voice tried to remain calm, but the slight change in tone at its end still betrayed the turmoil in her heart.

She paused, as though trying not to seem too aggressive, or perhaps leaving herself one final way out, then added, "If you don't like me, you can tell me directly..."

This was the bravest thing she could do.

She went straight to the point, without any roundabout nonsense.

Cailin knew she was gambling—staking all her dignity and courage on obtaining a clear answer.

As long as she did not hear the word "rejection" from his own lips, even if his response was vague, she felt there would still be a faint flicker of hope.

Su Baichen was keenly perceptive. Naturally, he heard the tremor she was desperately trying to conceal in her voice. He also clearly saw her face turn pale in an instant, along with the vulnerability that flashed through her eyes beneath her feigned composure.

Seeing her like this, the last trace of hesitation in Su Baichen's heart turned into a helpless sigh. He could not bear to let her suffer like this.

He stepped forward and, beneath Cailin's somewhat startled gaze, gently drew the slightly stiff beauty before him into his arms. There was little desire in this embrace; it was more like a silent comfort and support.

One hand lightly wrapped around her waist and back, while the other gently patted her trembling back in a tender, steady rhythm, trying to soothe her unease.

Then his low, gentle voice sounded by her ear, like a warm breeze trying to disperse the gloom in her heart. "Cailin, it isn't that I don't like you."

Feeling the body in his arms tremble slightly, he continued patiently and clearly, "But perhaps it isn't the kind of 'love' you were hoping for."

"Liking isn't necessarily love, but love always includes liking."

"I admire your beauty, your strength, your intelligence. Everything wonderful about you brings me joy, but for now, this feeling may be closer to an instinctive admiration for beautiful things. It has not yet reached the deep, one-of-a-kind 'love' you long for."

His words were honest almost to the point of cruelty, yet carried a sincerity that was impossible to doubt. "I know what you truly want is that bond called 'love.'"

"So, regarding your question just now, I cannot and do not wish to fob you off with a vague 'like,' giving you unrealistic fantasies. That would be unfair to you."

Finally, he said softly, with a trace of apology, "I'm sorry, Cailin. I made you feel uneasy."

Cailin, in his arms, quietly listened to Su Baichen's explanation. The initial chill and despair were gradually replaced by a complicated emotion.

She sighed softly. That sigh held disappointment and relief, but more than anything, it carried a fighting spirit rekindled anew.

Although this was not the ideal answer of "I love you too" that she had hoped for, this outcome was already far better than the worst-case scenario she had imagined.

At least Su Baichen admitted that he liked her; he simply needed time. It was like leaving a crack in the tightly closed door of her heart, allowing the light of hope to shine through.

As for whether she could elevate this "liking" into "love" afterward... Cailin narrowed her bewitching eyes slightly, and a faint yet incomparably confident curve rose at the corner of her lips.

Queen Medusa still had this much confidence! From now on, she would stay by Su Baichen's side day and night. With her eccentric little sister Caidie helping from the sidelines, surely feelings would grow over time. She refused to believe she could not win over this seemingly detached but actually sensitive man!

Would little Su Baichen not eventually fall at this queen's feet?!

If she did not even have this much confidence and skill, then Queen Medusa might as well find a block of tofu and smash herself to death. What right would she have to talk about leading the Snake-People Tribe to rise?

At that thought, Cailin suddenly felt completely enlightened. She raised her head and looked at Su Baichen again. The panic and vulnerability in her beautiful eyes had vanished, replaced by water-like tenderness and determined certainty. The love in her eyes was so intense it was nearly overflowing.

"Mm, I understand what you mean." Her voice regained its usual coolness, though it now carried a touch of softness. "It's all right. I'll make you fall in love with me."

After saying that, as if declaring her claim—or perhaps seeking more warmth—Cailin proactively raised her arms and hugged Su Baichen tightly in return. She even gently rubbed her cheek against his chest, then closed her eyes and wholeheartedly enjoyed this brief warmth and peace in the arms of the man she loved.

At this moment, she was no longer the queen who had to bear the heavy responsibility of her people. She was merely a young woman immersed in the fluttering emotions of first love.

Watching the beauty in his arms quickly adjust her mindset and even reveal such a confident, almost domineering side, Su Baichen was initially stunned. Then he could not help but chuckle softly.

There was helplessness in that smile, appreciation, and perhaps even a trace of indulgence that he himself had not yet noticed.

He released her from his embrace but did not step away. Instead, he remained where he was, his gaze carrying a hint of teasing and curiosity as he looked Cailin up and down.

The youthful, lively version of Queen Medusa!

Hehe!