Cui Ciyou wore a gentle smile, Sylphy's tiny figure reflected in his deep eyes.
He withdrew the hand that had been patting Sylphy's head and asked softly, his tone solemn:
"Sylphy, do you want to... become stronger?"
His voice was quiet, yet like a pebble dropped into a still lake, it sent ripples spreading through the girl's heart.
"Huh?"
Sylphy froze for a moment, then looked up.
Her clear, ruby-red eyes were filled with bewilderment and confusion.
To Sylphy, "strength" was something far too distant, something she had never even imagined.
With great patience, Cui Ciyou explained each word to her:
"To become stronger. So strong that... no one would dare bully you anymore."
"So strong that... you can decide your own 'destiny'!"
"Destiny"...
For a child of only seven, perhaps that word was too heavy and abstract.
Yet Sylphy seemed to understand it in an instant.
She gazed into Cui Ciyou's black eyes, as deep as the night sky.
They held stars, reflecting a light she had never seen before-a light called "strength" and "conviction."
That light was like a key, instantly unlocking the door to her long-sealed memories.
Sylphy couldn't help remembering the nasty children in the village who always mocked her hair color and threw mud at her.
The cruel, malicious smiles on their faces.
Sylphy remembered the sharp-tongued, mean-spirited Mrs. Aite.
The shame and fear that had left her wishing she could disappear when that woman hurled the vilest insults at her in front of everyone, calling her one of the "lowly," "disgusting" Demonfolk.
More than anything, she remembered how, whenever those things happened,
she could only hide in a corner, crying helplessly,
or tremble in her father's arms,
her weak little self unable to do anything at all...
Then another scene swept through Sylphy's mind