With My Ability To Swap, I Will Never End Up In A Love Triangle Mess - Chapter 18

At 10 p.m., the house was utterly silent.

A shadowy figure stood outside Xia Xi’s door.

Click.

The figure turned the doorknob and slipped into the pitch-black room.

“Heh heh heh… My foolish big brother, you never expected a nighttime ambush, did you?”

Xia Yue, dressed in a black nightgown, blended seamlessly into the darkness.

“Ora!”

(Silence.)

“Still not awake?”

Seeing her brother sleeping like a log, Xia Yue paused, then curled her lips into a sly grin.

(A scene reminiscent of the morning wake-up routine.)

(Poke his cheek.)

Still nothing?

“Boring.”

Faced with an unresponsive target, Xia Yue found the whole ordeal utterly dull.

(…)

“Welcome back~”

Luo Xinyu’s voice echoed in his mind, though it carried an unmistakable weariness.

“You’re still awake? It’s already 10.”

Xia Xi was surprised. Given the young lady’s usual routine, she should’ve been asleep by now.

“You didn’t come today… I couldn’t sleep.”

If it were Liu Yiyi, she’d probably snap, “You’re bothering me right before bed? Are you insane?” — Wait, no. At this hour, that night owl was likely still writing her novel.

Ah, my Xinyu is so gentle. That soft, delicate voice just makes me want to tease her.

Xia Xi tried to get up and move to his wheelchair, but his body felt inexplicably heavy.

Well, I was awake all day. Nighttime is for rest, so fatigue is natural.

“Are you going to draw? You could ask the maid for a bed tray.”

Though someone of the young lady’s status could summon a maid at any hour, Xia Xi, accustomed to independence, wheeled himself over anyway.

“Got anything to eat?”

Xinyu hardly ate much. If she finished dinner at 6, why was her stomach growling by 10?

“Huh? You want a midnight snack? No way! I’ll gain weight!”

Already wary of extra pounds, she barely indulged in her favorite chocolate swirl bread. Letting Xia Xi use her body for a late-night feast? Unthinkable!

“Too bad. I’m eating. Can’t learn to draw on an empty stomach. If you refuse, I’m leaving.”

Xia Xi teased her casually, but the girl panicked for real.

“No! Don’t go! Stay with me a bit longer… The chocolate swirls Xingchen brought are still on the desk.”

Without another word, Xia Xi wheeled to the desk.

Sure enough, the familiar packaging sat there.

So she hasn’t touched them since I left? That’s some willpower.

“You wanted to eat them too, didn’t you?”

“N-no! That’s not true!”

“Then why so flustered?”

“Shut up! Just eat your bread!”

Rarely, the young lady lost her composure.

Tearing open the package, Xia Xi examined the chocolate swirl.

Honestly, it kinda looks like… poop. Especially the flatter ones. But damn, it’s delicious.

He didn’t bother nibbling from the tip to mess with Xinyu. Instead, he ripped off chunks, dunked them in chocolate sauce, and devoured them.

With his stomach satisfied, it was time for business.

Xia Xi grabbed Xinyu’s phone, snapped a cute selfie, then downloaded the Tomato Novels app.

“Why’d you take a picture?”

Unlike most girls, Xinyu’s photo gallery was nearly empty. Maybe being confined to the villa left little worth documenting.

“Someone this pretty should have more photos. It’s a waste otherwise.”

He snapped another: chocolate swirl in hand, tongue licking her lips, eyes curved into happy crescents.

“I’d never make such a weird expression!”

With Xia Xi in control, Xinyu could only complain.

“Ding!”

The app finished installing.

Xia Xi swiftly registered an account.

Username? “Timid Young Miss”!

“I object! I refuse this name!!”

“Objection overruled.”

The app’s homepage prominently featured a novel titled Firefly Forest.

“It’s already this popular?”

When he’d copied Dragon Raja earlier, he’d searched for Firefly Forest and found it with 30k reads. Now, just half a day later, it had 120k.

“Do you like novels?”

Seeing him open the book, Xinyu couldn’t help asking.

“Sort of. A friend wrote this. Wanted to see how it turned out.”

Xia Xi casually framed Liu Yiyi as “a friend.” It wasn’t like Xinyu knew who she was.

“A friend?!”

Xinyu’s tone spiked with shock, then instantly softened again.

“I’m jealous… You have other friends besides me.”

“You will too. You’ll have lots of friends someday.”

Xia Xi missed the odd shift in her voice, assuming she was just sulking over him having “new friends.”

After all, she’d once called him her only friend. Now that “only” had expanded, anyone would feel a pang.

“Mhm, I believe you.”

For some reason, Xinyu’s voice carried a hint of laughter.

…

About an hour later, they finished Firefly Forest together.

Unlike the tearful readers flooding the comments, both remained calm.

This made sense—one was an orphan raised solely by his younger sister, the other a caged songbird who’d lost her ability to walk. Their real lives held far more tragedy than this fictional bittersweet romance.

“I’ve decided. Let’s turn it into a manga.”

Though phrased as a question, Xinyu knew it was a statement. He’d already made up his mind.

“Okay. If you like it, go ahead~”

But of course, the young lady was as gentle as ever. She’d never argue over something like this.