My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 79 No one will keep looking for you except Xia Li

After breakfast, I started my daily study session as usual.

Xia Li sat to one side, her gaze fixed on the open books, but her thoughts drifted far away. There was so much for her to learn, as vast as the endless sky outside the window.

Song Che put down his pen, stood up and stretched his stiff shoulders before heading to the restroom.

As he passed by her, Xia Li suddenly looked up and said softly, "Tell me, is it hypocrisy to be sincere to someone, or is it sincerity?"

"How long will it take to watch?"

Song Che scratched his head; the question was a bit convoluted. "This... is a question with blurred lines. We have a saying here, 'A gentleman judges by actions, not intentions.' It means that if someone can 'pretend' to be sincere to you their whole life, then it's not much different from genuine sincerity. However, it depends on the person. Some people care a lot about what you really think."

"Then..." Xia Li's fingertips unconsciously traced the edge of the book's pages, "If I 'pretend' to like you, can you assume... that I like you?"

"Theoretically... yes." Song Che paused, turned to face her, and said seriously, "But it's unnecessary. I don't want you to treat me like this. You don't have to force yourself to 'like' me just because I like you. I've said it before, you are an independent individual, not an object, and you don't need to exchange 'like' for anything."

"But... I don't understand anything." Her voice trailed off.

"This isn't your fault," Song Che said gently. "According to the age calculations for witches, your stage should be one of exploration and learning. But considering the learning speed of humans, you've already progressed very quickly."

He looked into her eyes and said, "You know what? Don't deny that you have a complete soul, or that you have your own thoughts, just because you 'don't' understand something for the time being, or because you have some 'flaws'. You are not anyone's appendage."

Xia Li listened quietly, her gaze lowered.

"Then you..." She looked up again, her gaze clear and direct, "aren't you afraid that once I understand everything, I might... stop liking you?"

"Scared, of course," Song Che answered without hesitation, even managing a slightly helpless smile. "Scared to death."

He took a step closer, his voice lowering, filled with sincerity: "But I've always felt that when I like someone, I want her to become better, more complete, not to force her to stay by my side and demand that she 'like' me. Of course... if you really like me, I'll be especially, especially happy."

He paused, then, as if remembering something, his tone became firm: "Your Highness, you still don't have a clear enough understanding of your own value. Think about it, if a girl isn't particularly smart, isn't particularly beautiful, is ordinary, unknown, or even penniless... does that mean she lacks sincerity and a soul? Xia Li, you are not an emotionless machine. The heart beating in your chest is as full as mine; your gradually enriching inner world is as colorful as mine. I can see that you are trying very hard to move forward."

"Song Che's ideas... are always amazing." Xia Li rarely praised him so directly.

"Impressive, right?" Song Che deliberately puffed out his chest, feigning a smug look, but quickly composed himself. "However, this is actually... a quote from a book. I saw it, thought it was particularly well said, and wrote it down. Now I'm telling you, hoping... it might be of some help to you."

Xia Li fell silent.

She seemed to be processing these words, or perhaps worrying about something else. After a long while, she whispered, "I'm afraid... that after I understand everything, I'll find... that I don't actually like you. What should I do?"

"Then you... will bloom alone." Song Che looked at her, his gaze calm, even with a hint of relief. "I've witnessed it, I've appreciated it, and that's already very fortunate."

He changed the subject, his tone tinged with emotion, "Your Highness, you really are different from before. Back then, you..."

He paused, choosing the right words, "Back then, Your Highness didn't quite understand respect for others, didn't appreciate the value of money, and didn't fully grasp the principle of 'Do not do to others what you would not have them do to you.' Aside from the powerful magic you inherited, you seem to... have no other 'advantages.' But I know that you've always had one greatest advantage—purity. For better or worse, you've always expressed yourself purely."

"Hmm." Xia Li didn't deny it, accepting the assessment frankly. "I know I didn't do well before. But the senior who taught me didn't have time to teach me more before heading to the 'Witch's Death Star.' I am..."

She paused here, seemingly realizing she had let something slip, but ultimately continued along the same line of thought, "It was only a hundred years after Song Che's 'death' that I slowly came to understand how mischievous I was as a child."

"What did you say?" Song Che's brows furrowed suddenly.

"I was a naughty child," Xia Li repeated.

"Not this sentence, the previous one." Song Che's voice unconsciously rose a little.

"One hundred years after Song Che's 'death'." Xia Li repeated clearly, looking at him with her blue eyes, a hint of confusion in her eyes, as if she didn't understand why he was suddenly so nervous.

"After I 'died'..." Song Che's voice was a little dry. He took a step closer, "You didn't come to my world immediately? Instead... another hundred years passed?"

"Yes." Xia Li nodded, as if stating a perfectly natural fact. "I traveled for about ten years, and then... I searched for you for ninety years. Because I heard that the souls of those who made a pact with a witch might go to the 'Witch's Death Star.' So I continued my travels while searching for a way to get there... Fortunately, I finally found you."

Her tone was flat and straightforward, yet every word struck Song Che's heart like a heavy blow.

"So, you're not a hundred years old now?" Song Che asked. "You're... two hundred years old?!"

"Yes." Xia Li nodded again and added, "During that time, I also learned more things. I originally wanted to find you and return the gold coins I borrowed from you before... but I was cheated out of a lot of the thousand gold coins I had saved up at that time, and in the end, I only had one left."

She frowned slightly, recalling the troublesome past. "I thought back then, if a few hundred years had passed and all my money and possessions had been swindled away, even if I found you, I wouldn't have any money to repay you, and the contract we made before... wouldn't be able to be fulfilled."

"So, for me, it was just a fleeting moment of closing and opening my eyes..." Song Che murmured to himself, his eyes somewhat unfocused, "but for you, it was a hundred years of walking alone..."

a hundred years.

She searched for him for a hundred years because she found him within a hundred years. What if she hadn't found him? Would she have kept searching?

This thought made Song Che's heart clench.

"Why...why did you come to me?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse. "Just to...complete the contract?"

Xia Li shook her head, her clear blue eyes looking deep into the sky: "Because you said you didn't want to die." Her tone remained calm. "At that time... I had already developed a semi-finished longevity potion, just a little bit more was needed."

—So what you fed me back then was a longevity potion.

—So you already started to care about me back then.

"Yeah, I was just a little bit short back then, but now I have to start all over again."