My wife is a witch princess

Chapter 31 Who exactly is framing His Highness for not knowing how to act cute?

"Hey bro, wanna study together tomorrow? I finally managed to snag a private room."

Jiang Shuo's voice came from the phone.

"Together." Song Che paused. "How many people are in the private room?"

"A triple room. Is Xia Li coming too?"

"She's coming."

After a few more casual words, the call ended.

The senior year curriculum at No. 1 High School has long since ended. Now, apart from the weekly exams, the most important thing is self-study. Students can choose to study in the classroom or library, and with their parents' permission, they can even go home—but for students with weak self-discipline, going home is tantamount to self-exile, so parents usually won't approve it.

Song Che opened his phone, searched for "simple updo tutorial" on Bilibili, and placed the video horizontally on the table. Xia Li happened to come out of the kitchen with rice and her eyes fell on the screen that was playing.

"Xia Li, do you know how to do hair?"

"Won't."

"Perfect timing, come and learn. Put your hair up, put on a hat, and I'll take you to school tomorrow."

"……School?"

"Yes, it's a place for humans to learn. To be precise, it's a library. You can read more books, which will help you understand the worldview and values ​​here." Song Che organized his thoughts and continued to add, "Besides that, there are also views on life, morality, and money—that is, the logic of daily life. For example, what you want to do, how to distinguish between good and bad, how to view wealth and material things... in short, a lot. You can start with the worldview to understand what kind of place you are in now."

"it is good."

Xia Li's gaze returned to the screen. "You want me to do it the same way, right?"

"Yes." Song Che stood up. "I'll go find a hat and see how it goes."

He went into the bedroom and rummaged around, taking out one of his school uniform jackets and then a beige bear-patterned wool hat he wore in winter. The hat should properly cover her striking silver hair.

As long as Xia Li isn't allowed to take the train, and isn't required to undergo real-name authentication or facial recognition, her unregistered status shouldn't be exposed for a while. In the meantime, we need to help her adapt to modern life as quickly as possible—at least when she's discovered, she won't be immediately treated as mentally unstable or something more troublesome.

When Song Che returned to the living room with his things, Xia Li was already moving along with the video.

She nodded slightly, gently biting the black hair tie between her lips, and awkwardly gathered her long hair into a circle with her hands. A few strands of silver hair slipped through her fingers. She glanced at Song Che, then continued to focus intently on arranging her hair.

The process was a little clumsy, but she eventually managed to put a loose bun on the back of her head. She sat there quietly, running her fingertips through the strands of hair by her ear. Stray hairs fell beside her neck, giving her face an unusual softness.

If she could smile, she would probably look much better.

Song Che stepped forward and gently placed the woolen hat on her head. The soft woolen fabric intertwined with a few strands of silver hair, and with the oversized school uniform jacket draped over her, she shouldn't stand out too much among the students in the library.

"It looks alright. Let's eat first, I'll wash the dishes. Go change your pajamas, be careful not to touch the wound." Song Che handed her a folded pair of jeans and a clean set of underwear. "Give them to me after you change. I forgot to wash yesterday's clothes, I'll take care of them all tonight."

"..."

"Oh, and remember to button up the front of your jeans."

……

After dinner, Xia Li closed the bedroom door.

Even changing clothes indoors in winter, she could still feel the chill. She took off her pajama bottoms, revealing her long, straight legs that appeared exceptionally white in the dim light. The fabric of her newly changed jeans was a bit stiff, so she carefully avoided rubbing against the not-fully-healed wounds on her calves, slowly pulling the cuffs up.

Her legs were shapely and slender, their smooth lines accentuated by the denim fabric. She bent down to fasten the buttons at her waist, the fabric neatly cinching her waist.

After changing, she picked up her pajamas and the small bra she had taken off and hesitated for a moment behind the bedroom door.

His gaze fell on the thin garment in his hand.

The toes inside the cotton slippers quietly curled up.

...I don't want to give it to him.

The witch's personal clothing was never handled by anyone else, let alone... washed by others.

Her thoughts drifted to the new little dress she was wearing.

The fabric is soft and skin-friendly, with a slightly cool and smooth feel. Compared to that, giving this one to him doesn't seem like such a bad deal.

She pushed open the door and gently placed the clothes on the small sofa.

Song Che happened to come out of the kitchen wiping his hands, and his gaze fell on the pile of clothes.

"Don't wash your pajama bottoms, just give me your underwear."

"...Take it yourself." Xia Li turned her face away.

"Okay." Song Che picked up the small garment and looked at Xia Li. "Does it fit you? Go look in the mirror. If you don't have anything else to do, get some rest. We have to get up early tomorrow."

After saying that, he grabbed the underwear and walked toward the balcony.

After putting the clothes away, he brought over some hot water from the kitchen. Handwashing clothes in winter is indeed troublesome; they're not easy to clean and even harder to dry. Song Che sat down on a stool, mixed the hot and cold water in the basin, and his gaze fell on the two thin garments in his hands.

The style is very simple, and it's almost impossible to tell that it's a girl's underwear.

But Song Che's cheeks felt faintly hot.

He had never done anything like washing a girl's underwear before. These past few days had made him subconsciously treat Xia Li as an ordinary girl who needed care, almost forgetting that she was once the jealous witch who could wipe out an entire forest with a mere wave of her hand.

He splashed cold water on his face, calmed himself down, and began to wash.

stare--

Xia Li stood in the corridor between the two bedrooms, slowly peeking half her face out from behind the wall, her blue eyes locking onto Song Che on the balcony.

His actions were normal. Although his gaze was on the clothes in the water, he did not overstep any boundaries, did not get close to examine them closely, and did not do anything strange. He simply rubbed and rinsed them as usual.

Xia Li remained wary, quietly observing from behind the wall until Song Che wrung out the clothes and hung them one by one on the clothes rack on the balcony. Only then did she duck back and quickly slip back into the bedroom.

Then he lay flat on the bed and pretended to be asleep.

After hanging up the clothes and turning off the main light in the living room, Song Che noticed that light was still shining through the crack in Xia Li's bedroom door.

He walked over, pushed open the door, and saw Xia Li lying face down on the bed, her face buried in the pillow, her bare feet pointing towards the door... She was curled up slightly, looking uneasy.

"...Asleep?" he asked softly.

The toes stopped moving instantly.

"Xia Li..." Song Che asked tentatively again, "Is she really asleep?"

The person on the bed remained completely still.

Song Che suppressed a laugh and said slowly, "I've heard that when people are asleep, their toes unconsciously... straighten out."

As soon as she finished speaking, her toes, which had been slightly curled and tinged with pale pink, obediently stretched out.

Song Che walked to the bedside and gently lifted one of her arms: "I've also heard that if a sleeping person raises their arm... it won't fall."

Xia Li's arm remained suspended stiffly in mid-air, and it truly did not fall.

"I heard that it can also unconsciously make a 'V' sign." Song Che added, afraid she wouldn't understand, "It means only extending the index and middle fingers, while clenching the other fingers."

The hand that was hanging in the air hesitated for a moment, then stiffly made a standard V sign.

Song Che was starting to lose his composure. He went around to the head of the bed and squatted down. Xia Li's face was buried in the pillow, her brows furrowed, and her eyes tightly closed.

He lowered his voice and leaned close to her ear: "I've also heard that... when people are asleep, they unconsciously pout."

Xia Li pursed her lips and didn't move. The witch princess couldn't bring herself to act so shamefully coquettishly.

"I heard... if someone doesn't pout, they're pretending to be asleep."

As soon as she finished speaking, the face in the pillow struggled for a moment, and then reluctantly, slowly... pouted a little.

Xia Li: (๑ŏ﹏ŏ๑)

She remained in that position for several seconds, then suddenly opened her eyes wide and turned her head accusingly: "...You're lying. How could you keep your lips pouting while asleep? Your cheeks would get sore!"

"Oops," Song Che said apologetically, "Did I accidentally wake you up?"

"Yes." Xia Li's voice was clear and she spoke with self-righteousness, "You're the one who woke me up."