My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 62 I am Zhang Li, Respect is not frivolity

I can't sleep, I'm freezing.

Song Che huddled under the covers, his feet icy cold, no matter how much he curled up, they wouldn't warm up. The blanket, that useless thing, sent chills seeping into his bones.

I need to buy two...three electric blankets tomorrow.

He checked his phone and saw it was 2 a.m.

Still wide awake from the cold, I was wide awake.

At times like this... you really need someone warm and cozy to hold while you sleep.

dong dong——

A soft knock sounded on the door.

"Song Che, are you asleep?"

"without……"

"I'm coming in."

"Okay, come in." Song Che sat up and casually grabbed a coat to put on.

The door was pushed open a crack, and Xia Li appeared in the doorway. She looked as if she had just crawled out of bed, her silver hair disheveled over her shoulders, with a few strands clinging to her cheeks.

His eyes were clear, and he didn't seem sleepy at all.

"You haven't slept at all." She took two steps forward, stopped at the foot of the bed, and didn't sit down.

"Hmm." Song Che paused. "Was I thinking about something and disturbing you?"

"No, I wasn't asleep either."

"Do you have something to ask me?"

"……Um."

You wouldn't be... thinking of coming to warm my bed, would you?

"The bed is cold." Xia Li bluntly shattered his illusion.

"I'll go buy an electric blanket tomorrow." Song Che thought she was also freezing, which is why he came over.

"What did you mean by 'like' last time?" Xia Li raised her eyes, her blue eyes filled with doubt. "I've read books and searched online, and I've found that there are many kinds of 'like.' I want to know, which kind of 'like' do you have for me?"

She finally asked. These past few days, the word she heard most often from Song Che was "like." But she didn't quite understand.

The search results say that when a boy likes a girl, he usually wants to do "improper" things. But Song Che seems a little different—just now in her room, his face was clearly red, but he just left with a flushed face. If he really wanted to do something, with his strength, she wouldn't be able to resist at all.

"My feelings for you?" Song Che was taken aback.

"Hmm, I'd like to know which one."

"It's like... I'll only dare to see you after I've washed my hair."

"But I don't understand what it feels like to 'wash my hair before seeing you'."

Xia Li lowered her head, leaning against the cold wall.

Song Che patted the bed next to him: "Sit here, I'll tell you slowly."

"……good."

Xia Li sat down as instructed, about an arm's length away from him. She wanted to get closer, yet felt she shouldn't. This contradictory feeling made her feel increasingly strange.

Song Che didn't really want to say it.

Because when you "like" someone, it's inevitable that some impure thoughts will be mixed in. As soon as he thought that, Xia Li "heard" it all clearly—it was really embarrassing.

But since she asked him first, he wanted to test her attitude.

This is not a witch's castle, and there are no elaborate rituals of Hit's Kingdom; Xia Li is no longer the princess who must rush about for the war. They have both shed their former identities and are just two ordinary people groping their way forward in the mundane world.

Perhaps, we could go slower, even slower.

"Xia Li, give me your hand." Song Che didn't explain directly, but instead reached out his hand to her.

"Do you need to warm your hands?"

"Um."

Xia Li hesitated for a moment, but still offered her hand. Her hand was small, and her fingertips were cold.

Song Che grasped it, gently cupping it in his palm, his thumb caressing the delicate back of her hand. Her hand was very soft, her skin as white as fine porcelain, gleaming with a hazy luster in the light.

Then, he lowered his head and, very lightly and quickly, kissed the back of her hand.

Xia Li suddenly froze, her fingers curling up.

"Are you... going to do something improper?" Her voice was a little tense.

"Guess," Song Che laughed, "How do you feel now? Do you hate it?"

"I don't dislike it."

"I can tell. Otherwise, you would have knocked me on the head earlier."

"But I still don't understand." Xia Li frowned slightly. "You seem... not very serious."

"I am just being indecent," Song Che readily admitted, his fingers still holding her fingertips. "I like you, so I want to be indecent with you. I want to warm your bed, I want to touch you, I want to tease you... You should have 'heard' all of that, right?"

"……Um."

Xia Li resisted the urge to raise her hand and hit him—she had only been thinking about it in her mind, and saying it out loud now would make her seem even more "improper".

"So if... I really wanted to do something indecent, would you agree?" Song Che asked bluntly, but his gaze was serious as he looked at her.

"I..." Xia Li nodded at first, then quickly shook her head, "I... don't want to do this right now. I don't understand."

"So from now on..."

"I have no idea."

"If you don't know, there's no rush." ​​Song Che released her hand, his voice softening. "Actually... I'm a little shameless. You're different from ordinary girls; you don't understand these emotions, and you haven't even smiled until recently. I shouldn't have..."

"If you want to do something improper, why don't you force me?" Xia Li suddenly interrupted him, looking at him with clear eyes. "I'm not as strong as you right now, and I'm an unregistered resident. Even if you do something, nothing will happen to you."

Song Che was amused by her logic: "Then I'll have to force you?"

"...Could it be...not now?" Xia Li's voice lowered.

"I was just kidding." Song Che shook his head, a gentle smile in his eyes. "I won't force you."

He didn't expect that Xia Li had actually considered this possibility—no matter how much of a witch she once was, she was now just a girl who was clueless about human relationships.

If this really happens, he'll be the one who benefits.

"Why?" Xia Li asked, puzzled. "Wouldn't this satisfy you? I don't understand."

"Because I like you." Song Che looked at her confused eyes and said patiently, "When you like someone, you can't bear to force them. I want to do something 'improper,' but only when you're willing. And 'improper' doesn't always mean what you think... For example, can I kiss your cheek right now?"

"You just... kissed my hand."

"That's a hand. Can I kiss your cheek...?"

"...I don't know." Xia Li's brows furrowed even more, her former regal bearing almost completely vanished, leaving only the bewilderment and helplessness of a young girl. "I remember that kissing on the cheek is part of aristocratic etiquette...would a kiss make any difference?"

"It's different from etiquette. Here, a 'kiss' is done with affection."

Song Che felt that this matter was probably impossible to explain.

"Liking" is a confusing matter. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that's how he saw Xia Li—she was beautiful no matter how he looked at her, he wanted to touch her head, he wanted to make her blush, and he wanted to see different expressions on her face.

Xia Li clearly didn't fully understand either.

She stopped dwelling on the question and instead asked, "Is 'wife'... the same as 'girlfriend'? You said you'd pretend to be your girlfriend... so will you pretend to be your wife later?"

Song Che was amused by her erratic train of thought. From pretending to be a girlfriend, to pretending to be a wife, and then to pretending to give birth... if you keep pretending, won't it eventually become real?

"Sure. If you'd like."

"What kind of existence is a 'wife'?" Xia Li tilted her head, a strand of silver hair slipping down her shoulder.

"My wife..." Song Che gazed at her profile, softened by the light, unsure whether it was the late hour that stirred his emotions, or if the affection in his heart was truly overflowing. He recalled a passage he had read somewhere and murmured it aloud:

"A wife is a wife. She's the one who blinks her eyes obediently when held in someone's arms; she's the one who, when she gets what she wants, bounces over like a kitten eating a can of canned food and says, 'I love you the most.'"

He paused, his voice becoming even softer, as if describing a distant yet warm dream.

"My wife is the kind of person who, when she has free time, will pat my head and touch my face. She's the kind of person who will secretly brush her lips against mine when we kiss, and then scold me for being 'shameless' after we're done kissing."

"When she receives flowers, all she sees is the color of the petals; when she receives a can of cola, all she sees is the bubbles. When she hugs me, her eyes crinkle into a smile—at that moment, I can't see if I'm in her eyes, but I know she's the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Of course, maybe only the two of us feel that way."

Xia Li listened quietly, her eyes unblinking.

"My wife is the first person I see when I get home, wearing fluffy pajamas, curled up on the sofa eating potato chips. She's the kind of person who's attracted to stray cats, maybe because... 'like attracts like'? But my wife has a home, and she's loved by someone."

"My wife is warm, and she always has a cozy, pleasant scent. But if I'm sad, she softens."

"My wife is soft—her hair is soft, her clothes are soft, her cheeks are soft, her body is soft, and her heart... is soft too."

"My wife is a bit lazy; she doesn't like to blow-dry her hair or comb it. But her hair is so long and beautiful, hanging down like the Milky Way. She says she hates troublesome hair? That won't do... it will make her hair sad. So, I have to slowly, very slowly, use a comb to smooth and soften those silver strands, one by one. And then, she'll feel that her hair smells nice and is beautiful again."

After the words were spoken, the room fell silent. Only the faint sound of the wind outside the window and their soft breathing could be heard.

Xia Li remained silent for a long time. She simply sat there, her head slightly lowered, her silver hair obscuring most of her face. Song Che couldn't see her expression, only her hands resting on her knees, her fingers curling and then relaxing.

After a long while, she spoke very softly, her voice like a feather brushing against your ear:

"Your 'wife'... sounds like a cat."

Song Che was stunned for a moment, then chuckled softly.

"Hmm," he said, his gaze falling on her, "Maybe...it really is true."

"I'm going to go to bed."

"Okay, go to sleep. We have to get up early tomorrow."

Song Che didn't know if she understood his feelings, nor did he know what Xia Li's feelings were. He simply said what he wanted to do and say, and in the end, he still needed to see what Xia Li thought.

Xia Li got up and left, closing the door behind her.

Song Che shook his head, got up to turn off the light, but just as he reached the door, Xia Li suddenly came back, grabbed his hand and kissed him.

"I don't know what a kiss means when someone likes you, but according to aristocratic etiquette, you have to return the favor." Xia Li's voice was very soft. "This is just me returning the favor, nothing more. You kissed my hand just now, and I did it out of respect for you."

"Yes, I understand." Seeing her hasty explanation, Song Che felt that Xia Li probably liked him too, but she herself really didn't understand what liking someone meant.

But there's no rush, there's plenty of time, he can teach slowly.