Guan Zhili felt as though he had dreamed a very, very long dream.
In the dream, he walked alone along a seemingly endless road. All around him was cold and deathly still, without a sliver of light. He could find no direction and only walked forward on instinct.
He walked like that for a long time, until his whole body was utterly exhausted. Yet an intensely powerful feeling deep inside him drove him to keep going.
Only when he felt he could no longer hold on did a ring of light suddenly appear ahead.
A bright, warm yellow ring of light.
He instinctively stepped toward it. The farther he went, the faster his feet moved, and the brighter the ring became.
He could faintly hear voices coming from within-
"Didn't Imperial Physician Yin already say he was fine? Let's go out for some fresh air!"
"No."
"Xingran prepared some little pastries for us. How about we eat them and then come back?"
"...No!!"
The voices asking sounded somewhat unfamiliar, but the one firmly refusing was very familiar to him.
It was Jiang Yingcheng.
Those two unfamiliar voices took turns trying to persuade her several more times, only for the little girl to reject them outright. Finally, she suddenly remarked-
Third Brother and Eighth Prince are such naggers-
Then the jumble of voices abruptly fell silent.
Guan Zhili suddenly felt like laughing.
He did not even need to think to know what had happened. The little girl must have complained inwardly to that "System Bro," while everyone around her happened to be able to hear her thoughts.
"Huh?!"
Before Guan Zhili could fully open his eyes, a cry reached his ears-
"He's awake, he's awake! Brother Zhili smiled!!"
The noise around him suddenly became even louder than before, followed by several