Changli Finally Learns the Truth

Porto-Vino Castle.

Cantarella put down her coffee cup.

She leaned back in her chair, her hands clasped on her knees, a smile playing on her lips.

Changli, sitting opposite her, picked up her coffee and took a sip. Her movements were composed, but there was a hint of imperceptible urgency in her eyes.

Cantarella spoke up, "So you've come all this way mainly to find the person who wrote you the letter in Montelli, and incidentally to discuss some business with me. Is that right?"

Changli nodded.

Cantarella's smile deepened, "Then why don't you just go to the Montelli Family? With your status, they should welcome you with open arms."

Changli fingers paused for a moment on the rim of the glass. The pause was brief, but Cantarella caught it.

"I'm not ready to see him yet." Changli withdrew her hand, her voice remaining calm.

Cantarella gave a soft "Oh," her voice rising at the end. She picked up her coffee, took another sip, and slowly put the cup down.

"I might know who he is."

Changli leaned forward slightly, his voice carrying a hint of seriousness. "Please be sure to tell me."

Cantarella fiddled with the handle of her coffee cup, her gaze falling on Changli's face, and suddenly found the matter increasingly interesting.

"But you might not be able to accept the truth. What if he were just a little kid?"

Changli shook his head almost instinctively. "Impossible. He's at least the same age as me."

Cantarella laughed, her shoulders shaking slightly. "So what if he really is just a little kid?"

Changli paused for a moment, then raised his head, his gaze calm but firm. "I'll see them first before making a judgment."

Cantarella nodded, then, as if suddenly remembering something interesting, her eyes narrowed slightly. "What if he wrote to more than just you?"

Changli froze.

The name Jinhsi jumped into her mind almost instantly.

Jinhsi has always been a good child, and has never talked back to her from childhood to adulthood, except for that day.

When she argued with her that day, Jinhsi's voice was trembling, but there was a stubbornness in her eyes that she had never seen before.

Changli's fingers slowly clenched. She raised her head, her voice maintaining a calm surface, but a barely perceptible tremor lingered at the end. "Is what you said true?"

Cantarella didn't answer; she simply picked up her coffee cup, concealing the smile on her lips.

Just then, Saibas walked in and bowed slightly. "Master, Young Master Kexi has arrived again."

Cantarella put down her cup, her gaze sweeping over Changli's face, and the corners of her mouth curled up even more.

She stood up and gestured towards a side door.

"Changli, should we hide him for now? You can observe his character first before making a judgment."

Changli hesitated for a second, then stood up and walked through the side door.

The door wasn't closed completely, leaving a small crack through which one could see the entire hall.

Cantarella sat back down in her chair, straightened her skirt, and adopted an even more languid posture.

She had barely settled down when Kexi strode in through the main entrance.

"Good evening, Sister Can." Kexi smiled brightly, holding a letter in her hand.

Changli spotted the familiar envelope almost instantly, and her breathing quickened immediately.

Cantarella rested her chin on her hand and looked at him lazily. "Young Master Kexi, why are you here so late at night instead of sleeping? What are you trying to steal this time?"

"I didn't come to steal anything." Kexi walked up to her, handed her the envelope with both hands, and said earnestly, "I came today to give you this. Also, my birthday party is the day after tomorrow, and I hope you can attend."

Cantarella took the envelope but didn't open it right away.

She tapped her chin lightly with the envelope, her gaze sweeping over Kexi's face a few times.

Kexi felt uneasy under her gaze, but dared not suppress the smile on her face.

"Another love letter? I savored those you wrote last time for days." Cantarella's voice was sickeningly sweet.

Kexi chuckled twice, "This time the content is more carefully prepared, take your time reading it. I have something to do, so I'll go first--"

Before he could finish speaking, he had already taken half a step back.

Cantarella out and grabbed his wrist. The force wasn't great, but Kexi froze in place.

"What's the rush?" Cantarella grabbed him with one hand and opened the envelope with the other, her movements as leisurely as if she were unwrapping a gift. "I was just thinking of having a good chat with Young Master Kexi. There are many things I'd like to ask him in person about what you wrote in your letter."

Kexi's smile began to freeze.

Cantarella unfolded the letter, cleared her throat, and began to read it aloud in a poetic tone.

"My dearest Miss Cantarella, from the first moment I saw you, my soul was captivated by your deep eyes—"

"Um, Sister Can, why don't you take your time and look at it yourself--"

Cantarella completely ignored him and continued reading, her voice several decibels louder than before, as if to make sure someone in the shadows could hear her more clearly.

"If I could be chained up in a dungeon by you, given only a bowl of leftovers each day, and forced to gaze up at your proud profile in a dark, damp corner, that would be the greatest happiness of my life."

Kexi's face started to burn.

Damn it! Why did you have to read it out loud?!

Behind the side door, Changli's breathing rhythm changed.

Cantarella turned a page, her tone becoming more cheerful, as if she were reading aloud one of her favorite essays.

"Please step on my face with your high heels, hard, without holding back. I will be eternally grateful, kissing every inch of the ground you tread upon, because you have finally been willing to leave a footprint for me in your life—"

Cantarella put down the letter, covered her mouth with the back of her hand, and laughed out loud, "Young Master Kexi, your writing is quite poetic."

Kexi felt her soul slowly evaporating from the top of her head.

"And this part," Cantarella cleared her throat, showing no intention of letting him off the hook, "When you insult me, I feel like every word is a love confession. When you ignore me, I feel like the whole world goes silent, leaving only the sound of my heart beating for you—"

"Sister Can, I'm just here to deliver a message, really--"

"Don't rush off." Cantarella stood up and took half a step forward.

She leaned slightly closer to Kexi, her face nearer, her voice lowered, tinged with a seductive huskiness, "You said in your letter that you wanted to be my dog, so now that your master commands you to sit, shouldn't you wag your tail?"

A very faint sound came from behind the side door, like someone's fingernail accidentally scratching the wooden door.

Cantarella's smile widened even more.

Her gaze drifted towards the side door for a moment, then quickly returned to Kexi's flushed cheeks, her eyes practically overflowing with pleasure.

The thought that Changli was behind that door, and after hearing all the stories, made Cantarella find the whole thing increasingly interesting.

"Come, tell your sister." Cantarella stretched out a finger and gently lifted Kexi's chin, "Besides writing letters, which is just theoretical knowledge, what else can you do? Can you serve tea and water? Can you massage legs? Or perhaps..."

Her voice lowered even further, almost whispering in Kexi's ear.

"All you can do is use your mouth?"

The side door was pushed open with a bang.

Changli stood at the door, his expression remaining calm, but his fingers gripping the door frame had turned white.

Kexi turned her head, saw the person's face clearly, her pupils contracted sharply, and she blurted out reflexively:

"Second Senior Sister? What are you doing here?"

After saying that, he suddenly realized that he was in the real world.

In other words, the person in front of him was not his second senior sister, but the real Changli.

Does that mean she heard everything that just happened?

It's over.

We're doomed.

Cantarella released Kexi's wrist, gracefully sat back in her chair, picked up her now-cold coffee, and slowly took a sip.

Her expression was as if she were watching the most exciting play, her eyes shining brightly.

Changli strode over, clutching the letter.

She walked quickly, tapping her feet on the floor in a rapid rhythm.

She stopped in front of Kexi, her chest heaving several times before she finally spoke.

"So, it was you." Her voice was low, as if she was trying to control herself. "Those letters, you wrote them."

Kexi stared at the familiar envelope in her hand, opened her mouth, and her brain raced, trying to find an explanation within those three seconds that would allow her to escape unscathed.

But looking at Changli's familiar yet unfamiliar face, at the hurt of being deceived and the forced composure in her eyes, he found that all the words he had prepared were stuck in his throat.

"It's me," he readily admitted.

Changli closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again, her gaze held a complex emotion.

In your letter, you said that a day apart felt like three autumns. You said you thought of me every night before you went to sleep.

Kexi felt her face burning again.

Changli didn't stop. Her voice was very steady, almost too steady. "You said you were the person who understood me best in this world. You said you were willing to protect me for the rest of your life."

She paused, glanced at Cantarella sitting next to her drinking coffee and watching the show, and then looked back at Kexi.

"Then you turned around and wrote her a letter too. It even said 'Be your dog.'"