The rhythmic 'da-da-da' of horse hooves had been replaced by the clattering 'ka-dunk ka-dunk' of carriage wheels. Inside, the atmosphere was so suffocating that even the hired driver barely dared to breathe, terrified that any of the bewitchingly beautiful men inside might erupt in anger and unsheath their swords at the slightest provocation.
Yet despite the oppressive mood inside the carriage, there was one person who was perfectly happy—namely, Ivy. She seemed completely unconcerned with the four men whose faces were all clouded with confusion and gloom.
"Ivy..." Adrian Night couldn't help but speak softly. Ever since she started mistaking them for her brothers, he'd been in a constant state of depression—he didn't even have the energy to get mad at Butterfly Rogue or Ethan Chu anymore.
"What are you staring at? Aren't you supposed to be a top-tier medical master? Why haven't you cured Ivy yet?" Adrian finally couldn't hold back and burst out. Being called 'Big Brother' day in and day out, with not a single loving look from her, was making him utterly miserable.
"Why are you yelling? Isn't your good buddy a poison doctor heir? What, is he useless too?" After a few days together, Ethan Chu had figured out all their backgrounds. He didn't want Ivy hurt either; he wanted her cured. But he'd never seen symptoms this weird, and even his master had never mentioned anything like it. He was honestly worried and stumped.
"Stop arguing, you two! The point isn't to restore Ivy's memory right now—it's to figure out if she's actually hurt!" Butterfly Rogue cut in, loudly. From his perspective, her not regaining her memory was actually a good thing; it meant he could stay close to her as 'Fifth Brother,' care for her, and look after her. Then, when she finally recovered, she'd just naturally accept him. Wow, the heavens really were looking out for him.
"You flower thief, what's with that creepy look? You're disgusting," Lucian Vane snapped, catching sight of Butterfly Rogue's sly grin and unable to hold back his anger.
"You're the disgusting one! You she-male, you're the grossest of all!" Butterfly Rogue shot back at Lucian, outraged. How could this guy say that? Absolutely unforgivable!
"Give me a break. You're obviously happy about this—aren't you just dying for Ivy to lose her memory so you can keep hanging around her?" Lucian pressed, relentless.
Butterfly Rogue just raised his brows and sneered, "Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking. So what? What are you gonna do about it, huh?" Puffing out his chest to provoke Lucian even more, he added, "What, you wanna get mad? If you don't want me sticking close to Ivy, then cure her yourself! If you can't, then quit barking! Hmph, you always make me cough up blood—today I'm gonna make you cough it up instead."
Butterfly Rogue, totally feeling himself, started boasting, "Ha! See, now I’m the favorite!" Lucian nearly shot out of his seat, ready to teach him a lesson right then and there.
Suddenly, Ivy—who’d been busy checking out the scenery—whipped around, eyebrows scrunched. "Brothers, what are you doing?" she demanded, her tone all serious and bossy.
"Uh… we, uh…" The four guys froze, not sure what to say. Clearly, Ivy was not amused.
"Wait, are you guys fighting?" Ivy suddenly went full strict-parent mode, scolding them: "How could you act like this? You’re grown-ups, aren’t you? Didn’t Mom and Dad say brothers should get along and take care of their Seventh Sister? If you really don’t like me, fine, I’ll just leave!" She made a dramatic move to get up, ready to storm off.
Adrian panicked and grabbed her arm, forcing out a smile. "Xin’er, what are you saying, Big Brother—" He almost bit his tongue off calling himself that, but he had no choice. Gotta keep it together.
"Huh?" Ivy blinked up at him, all innocent, waiting for whatever he’d say next.
“We were just joking around, really! We’re all ‘from the same parents,’ so of course we wouldn’t fight. We all love you—how could we not want you?” Adrian rushed to reassure her, but he bit out the words ‘same parents’ so hard it was a miracle his teeth didn’t crack. If they really were brothers, as the oldest he would’ve strangled these guys in the crib!
The other three quickly chimed in, fake smiles plastered on. “Yeah, yeah, we’re just bored and messing around, Seventh Sister! No need to take it so seriously.” Secretly, all three cursed the number seven—who wants a Seventh Sister? They wanted a wife, not a seventh sibling!
Ivy flashed a big grin. “Okay, good!” She went right back to watching the scenery, totally content. No one else had a clue how happy she was inside. Honestly, she didn’t need to fake anything—this was her real self. She’d already decided: she’d be both the strong, scheming Shen Bingxin and the happy, 21st-century Ivy. She wanted them to love the whole, combined her.
Butterfly Rogue couldn’t help but gossip. “Xin’er, hey, do you still remember Liam Willow and Caleb Miles?”
Ivy glanced at Butterfly Rogue and thought, Why are so many of these guys such gossipy drama queens?
“Xin’er, Fifth Brother’s talking to you!” Butterfly Rogue piped up, grinning from ear to ear. Every time she called him Fifth Brother, his heart did a happy dance. Now everyone was equal—life was good!
“Who are Liam Willow and Caleb Miles?” Ivy shot him a look. This gossipy guy was obviously trying to trip her up with their real names. Butterfly Rogue, you’re so busted later!
“Oops, sorry, Fifth Brother misspoke! I meant do you remember Shen Qingyan and Shen Moxuan?” Butterfly Rogue smiled even wider, which just made Adrian and Lucian want to throttle him. As fellow men, they knew exactly what he was plotting. That flower thief needed a good lesson—soon!
“Fifth Brother, why are you still so chatty and nosy? You’ve been like this since you were a kid—always whining like a grandma!” Ivy rolled her eyes at Butterfly Rogue, whose face was getting darker by the second. “Wasn’t that just nonsense? Of course I remember Third Brother and Fourth Brother. Seriously.” She turned to Lucian, “Second Brother, why haven’t you fixed Fifth Brother’s mouth yet? You’re slacking! If you don’t help him, what girl would ever marry him?”
Lucian grinned wickedly. “Right, right, Seventh Sister’s got a point. Second Brother will definitely give Fifth Brother a proper ‘treatment’ soon.” He shot Butterfly Rogue a look full of evil glee—just you wait, buddy!
Butterfly Rogue panicked, waving his hands. “Seventh Sister, no way! I was just… just worried about you, that’s all. Sixth Brother’s a doctor too, so I’ll let him check me instead!” He shoved his hand at Ethan, eyes pleading. “Sixth Bro, help me out, yeah?”
“Sure thing.” Ethan tried not to laugh, but since they were on the same team, he kept it together—mocking your teammate would be totally uncool!
“Xin’er, we’ve only got half a day left before we reach Ruiland City,” Adrian said gently, glancing at Ivy’s innocent face. Honestly, this version of her was adorable—so pure, so sweet, and apparently she’d forgotten all her martial arts. Not that it mattered; her helplessness just made them feel even more important as protectors. But come on, even if she forgot her skills and everything else, she shouldn’t forget her three official husbands! Now she’d blanked on everything, and he was stuck dealing with three awkward dudes and her. Torture, pure torture.
Lucian watched Adrian’s frown get deeper and deeper and knew exactly what he was thinking—probably the same thing he was. They were almost at Ruiland, and by the usual schedule, it should be his turn to sleep next to Ivy. Not that he wanted anything wild, just lying beside her and chatting would be heaven. But lately, whenever he or Adrian tried to sneak in for some bonding time, Ivy would shut them down: ‘You’re my brothers, how could you sleep with your little sister? What are you thinking?’