Chapter 42 - 39

Song Liya made her way towards her sister's room where she was going to ask her several questions. On the way, she felt glad she and her sister were talking again. Back then, they've never spoken a word to each other, though she didn't know how to feel about the type of situation that brought them together.

"Sister, are you there?" Song Liya asked as she knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Song Feng Mian answered.

When Song Liya entered her room, she was surprised, there were books everywhere, which could be called a mini library if the room was a bit bigger. There were even books on her sister's bed, was her bed also made of books?

"Surprised?" asked Song Feng Mian.

"Of course not, if I was stuck in here for my entire life, I'd have tons of books lying around to ease my boredom."

"However, I don't read books because of boredom, it's because I had to read them in order to satisfy our mother."

"I know. Back then, I wanted to save you from being locked inside this room. Did you know I used to try to sneak into your room to talk to you? But I failed since my mother would always catch me and told me to never come in your room."

"Seriously? I used to think I was transparent in your view considering you were a genius at such a young age."

"Haha! How could I forget about my twin sister like that? You were also born earlier than me so that makes you my older twin sister technically."

"We're twins, we were born at the same time, though I guess me coming out first makes me the older one. But the last part of the sentence didn't make sense at all, I guess I'm the smarter one. Are you really a genius?"

"Hey! There are different types of geniuses, though I wasn't one of those scholar geniuses where I knew the answer to every question."

"I see, and still our mother tends to keep me locked in this room here still saying I'm not on the same level as you yet."

"Tsk, our mother has her selfish reasons, I don't even want to talk about her right now. Moreover, did you enjoy being in this room all the time?

"At the start? Of course not, there wasn't anything to do. After a while, books began appearing and I started to like learning about things, so I guess I enjoy being here now."

Song Liya frowned at the answer her sister gave her, it felt like a forced answer, and her sister's true feelings were hidden. She wanted a genuine answer from her sister, one that didn't feel forced.

"Song Feng Mian, tell me the truth, did you actually enjoy being in this room all the time?"

"Of course."

"Really?"

Song Liya walked over to her bed and sit beside her and asked the question again.

"Did you enjoy being in this room?"

"Of course not." Song Feng Mian answered. "All the time I had to read books even though I didn't want to. Every day I would wake up and read, I wouldn't even get breakfast unless I got every question our mother asked me correctly.

"I had no one to talk to either, not even the guards would dare to speak a word to me since they were scared that our mother would punish them harshly."

"It just felt I was isolated from the world."

As Song Feng Mian was venting out her true feelings, there were tears slowly dropping down from her cheeks as they became faster. Droplets kept dropping down and Song Feng Mian's clothing became damp.

"I just felt alone! I would constantly read books just to keep myself from breaking down, eventually, that began to become normal for me and it just felt like my feelings were trapped. I couldn't let them out anymore."

Song Liya stared at her sister who was crying her heart out, she felt sad at the fact that her sister had to go through these heartwrenching experiences while she was living greatly.

Song Liya pulled her sister into a hug and immediately felt her clothing dampen. She stroked her sister's back hoping to make her feel better, she had no words to comfort her since she didn't go through the same thing.

Instead, she apologized.

"I'm sorry for not breaking you free from this place earlier, I knew I should've but at the time, I thought you were going to be fine and I took my time with it. Now that I've heard how you truly felt, I regret it. I'm truly sorry for not breaking you free earlier."

"It's okay Liya, you had too many things going on back then. There was no way you could worry about me at the same time."

"But how could I have forgotten my sister? You should've been my priority before anything."

"It's really fine Liya, after all, mother would have stopped you from doing so anyway."

Song Feng Mian's weak voice and truthful words made Song Liya's heart churn. She kept quiet and slowly stroked her sister's back hoping to ease whatever her sister was feeling.

Song Liya sat there with her sister arm her lap, arms around her neck, and her head on her shoulder. It would've been seen as a sibling bonding moment if not for the atmosphere.

After a while, Song Liya didn't feel anything on her shoulders anymore. Her sister's soft breathing could be heard and Song Liya was shocked.

'There's no way she fell asleep right!?' Song Liya mentally exclaimed in disbelief.

There were still many things to discuss with Song Feng Mian and she couldn't have Feng Mian asleep now. Then Song Liya remembered what she said earlier, that her sister should've come first.

Perhaps this time her sister would come first.

Song Liya sighed and looked at her sister's cute sleeping face.

"I guess this is fine for a while, I hope you have sweet dreams, my dear sister."

'Though I hope you wake up early so my back won't break and my shoulders won't become sore.'