"—Don't we?"
The young man standing before the girl murmured instinctively.
"It's precisely because you look so alike that I asked. Shouldn't you two be brothers or something?"
Perhaps because the two before her did not feel particularly oppressive, but instead gave off a comfortable, easygoing air, the girl did not speak with much reverence. Instead, she instinctively voiced the doubt in her heart.
"Brothers...?"
Xiao Se blinked. Rather than feeling offended, he was more surprised. He had never expected anyone to think that.
Before he could say anything, however, a figure descended in a streak of light and landed beside Xiao Se. Revealing herself, she was an exceptionally tall, cool beauty dressed in rainbow-feathered robes. Her phoenix eyes were noble beyond compare, making anyone who looked upon her feel inferior.
The girl unconsciously shrank back. Before a woman who radiated such nobility without saying a word, she truly could not muster the courage to stand tall.
And indeed, the woman with phoenix eyes did not spare her a glance. She merely said to the young man before her, "Young Master, the humans from the nearby cities have already gathered."
"Mm. You've worked hard, Feng Qing'er."
Xiao Se smiled and nodded. His father had taught him this—to respond to other people's actions with some form of feedback or acknowledgment.
A smile was the simplest gesture of all.
Feng Qing'er froze, a hint of delight unconsciously coloring her face. But when she came back to herself, she adjusted her expression slightly and said with some hesitation, "Young Master, you may simply address me as Mistress does..."
"—I'd rather not."
"The way Mother addresses you is a little too teasing. I don't want it to sound like I'm making fun of you."
Yet the young man who looked so much like her