"You guessed right, little Xuan is really smart."
Emerald Sparrow smoothed the hair that hung from the side of her face, combing it back behind her: "But it's okay, if you want to, you can also sleep , holding on to me."
"I don't want to." Bai Jingxuan shook her half-exposed head from under the blanket.
"Are you sure you don't want to?" Emerald Sparrow looked straight at her.
"Uh huh, because I don't want to make mom uncomfortable." Bai Jingxuan answered honestly: "So, mom, you go to sleep first, so that I can sleep holding on to you."
"Then I'll go to sleep, okay?" Emerald Sparrow confirmed.
"Okay, good night Mom."
"Alright, good night."
Emerald Sparrow said this and then leaned in slightly, reaching out to gently rest her hand on Bai Jingxuan's shoulder.
"That... your hand?" Bai Jingxuan asked somewhat uncertainly.
"Ah, is this not okay?"
Emerald Sparrow appeared a bit troubled: "Do I really need to embrace you tightly to sleep?"
"Um, I... I actually want to sleep that way."
Bai Jingxuan struggled for a bit, then openly surrendered to her own desires: "But, if it's , I think I can manage."
"Yeah, it's okay now."
So the room fell silent once again.
After a long while, Bai Jingxuan softly spoke again, without knowing what time it was, while Emerald Sparrow was in a state of half-sleep:
"Teacher Asou told me that if I want to go to the kingdom to take the exam, I might encounter a problem."
"What kind of problem?"
"Well, because I have the same Magic Power as the Remnant Beasts, she said that whenever I transform into that really powerful state, the nature of my Magic Power becomes different from others, or shall we say, it becomes very similar to those bad guys from Claw Mark. In that case, it's very likely that I will be recognized, and then I might be seen as a bad person by everyone in the kingdom."
"Did she tell you this?"
"Do you think you are one of those bad guys from Claw Mark?"
"Is that so, then there is no problem."
"Ah? No problem?" Bai Jingxuan was still somewhat puzzled: "But after all, it's really Remnant Beasts' Magic Power..."
"Yes, there is no problem, because Mom has told you before, right? What's important has never been how others view you but how you view yourself."
In a voice filled with sleepiness, Emerald Sparrow whispered, "No matter how others may define your life, only what you want for yourself, what you believe in, that's what will truly be you."
"Is that so?" Bai Jingxuan was still not sure.
"It is." Emerald Sparrow was confident.
"But I feel like I can't completely ignore these things yet, and if I can't control my Magic Power and I'm discovered..."
Bai Jingxuan's voice was slightly hesitant: "I don't want to be seen as Claw Mark, and I don't want to be treated as Remnant Beasts."
Emerald Sparrow spoke softly: "Nothing like that will happen, because even if it does come to that, I'll be there."
"I am, so I won't let anything like that happen."
Emerald Sparrow's voice grew fainter: "Does that make you feel reassured?"
Bai Jingxuan's voice also calmed down: "I feel reassured."
She lay there for a while, her eyes exposed from under the blanket looking at Emerald Sparrow's sleeping face, and before long, she softly spoke again: "Mom."
"If you don't go to sleep, I'm going to get angry."
"I like you the most."
Bai Jingxuan suddenly said this.
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And then the room became quiet once again.
This silence lasted much longer than before, so much so that Bai Jingxuan wasn't sure if Emerald Sparrow had heard her, whether she was asleep.
Much later, she could just make out Emerald Sparrow's muffled voice from across the room:
"...Thank you, Mom is very happy, good night."
Bai Jingxuan took a while to make out what was said, and after carefully considering it, she too felt pleased.
She took one last look at Emerald Sparrow, who seemed to have fallen asleep, and then, feeling quite content, she closed her eyes.
With a whisper, she brought the night to a close.