Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

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Wrapped in a thin blanket, Hexia sat in her slippers by the electric heater, her beautiful black eyes staring at the orange-red heat source, occasionally spacing out.

"Tilan sister, what do you think of this~" Lively footsteps approached, and three children around ten years old came to her side, holding up their freshly drawn pictures. Your journey continues at empire

The images were painted with watercolor pens, and the style was quite soulful; the chaotic lines probably required some kind of illusion to see clearly. It seemed to depict a small person with black hair, holding a sword, flying in the sky, with various buildings below, skewed in every direction.

"This is you, Sister Tilan. Do you think it looks like you?" the boy held up the drawing, eagerly awaiting the girl's response, his nose bubbled with snot.

"First, wipe your nose," the girl handed out two tissues, and then looked at the picture.

She didn't want to discourage him, but she couldn't bring herself to utter insincere praises.

'There is a lot of room for improvement. Future looks promising.'

"(＾－＾)V, Yay~ Sister Tilan praised me, hehe." He bragged to his companions with pride, then insisted on taking a photo with the girl to commemorate the moment before trotting out with his friends.

After watching the children leave, another aunt in the room spoke up, "You're really spoiling them too much; I wouldn't be surprised if in a few days, even more of them come asking you to draw."

"These children, they are..." another auntie chimed in.

"I think they pretend to care about painting, but it's really all about being around Tilan. After all, Tilan's appearance is truly unmatched. The painting is just an excuse."

"Tilan, don't think of children as too innocent. These few are sly little things," the two aunties warned the girl, who in their eyes was still too young and naive at sixteen or seventeen, a child who hadn't fully grown up yet.

"I understand," Tilan nodded, not wanting to resist the kindness of her elders, and then continued to lean on the chair by the fire, spacing out again.

She also had her lazy moments, when she would just sit quietly, letting her thoughts drift, with the orange-red furnace before her eyes adding a touch of drowsiness.

Time slipped by unnoticed. It had been a week since she arrived at her uncle's house, and she was gradually getting used to life here. Occasionally, under the inquiries of her aunties, she would talk about her past life, stirring emotions among those around her.

"Your mother, Miss Gu Yongrong, was extremely beautiful as a child. Countless people in Jielou City pursued her, many childhood friends who grew up with her, but in the end, she chose none and left with a stranger she'd barely met. Everyone thought she had died, and many people shed tears over it."

"It turns out the reality was again a different scenario... It was good news that the miss didn't die in that accident, but unexpectedly, outside, she still..."

"Ah, look at me, bringing up sad things again."

"It's alright, I'm not as upset anymore." Hexia knew she bore a striking resemblance to her mother, easily invoking memories in people.

After all, they hadn't seen her as a child, and she happened to look much like her mother when she left, which made it easy for people to confuse and associate.

Then another day passed, a rare day without snow.

Hexia, who had been sitting indoors for a while, came out in a fleece-lined winter dress and boots, walking outside where the ground was covered in snow, with several children close to her age accompanying her.

They first passed through the residential district's streets, walked out of the developing urban area, and headed towards the hills outside.

The mountain path was quite smooth, bearing traces of vehicle tracks, even though the main road was obscured by snowflakes, not so evident.

The group walked through snow of varying depths, arriving midway up the mountain where they could overlook the entire city below and the distant gray wasteland.

"Tilan." A girl a few years older than Hexia pointed towards the barren land.

"That place will one day be built into a glass greenhouse, which will produce a lot of food. I'm going to work there in the future." She was the second daughter of Gu Qianlou and Hexia's cousin.

"Does it seem a bit underachieving? After all, my older sister has already started to take over some affairs in the city." Her name was Gu Fanying; the 'older sister' she referred to was Gu Qianlou's eldest daughter, named Gu Fanqing, and they also had a younger brother, Gu Fanyun.

"Not at all, it seems like a perfectly normal job to me." Tilan smoothed a lock of hair by her ear, looking towards the distant wasteland.

"You don't understand because you grew up outside, away from many relatives' eyes and idle gossip."

"Because we are the chieftain's daughters, we were strictly raised from childhood. Though it was for our benefit, the constraints and discomfort are hard to describe."

"I guess I just couldn't keep up. I was never good enough and often scolded by my father. I even argued with him once, but that just resulted in being more scared. You don't know how intimidating my dad can be when he gets mad." She shook her head.

"However, in the past six months, he seems to have changed a lot. He's become milder than before and finally had a proper talk with me, no longer putting the strict demands on me like he used to. He agreed to my almost 'giving up' idea, not pursuing high sequence positions in the city anymore, and just being a gardener in the botanic garden is enough."

"People don't just change overnight, and the biggest change in the past six months has been brought about by you." She turned around to face Tilan.

"So I'm really thankful to you."

"I've noticed you zoning out often these days and sometimes looking saddened. I don't know what's bothering you, but I want to tell you to live well."

"I haven't experienced the loss of a loved one, but imagining it, I can understand the sadness and loneliness."

"I often feel the same way because of the misunderstanding of my family, various negations, and persuasions. It feels unfair, as if I'm surrounded by people and yet utterly alone."

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"I don't want to be involved in those trivial family matters anymore, nor do I want to be like my sister, wielding great power and being above others. I always want to escape to a simpler life, and it's that very escape that makes me feel weak," she stamped her foot, shaking off some snow.

"There's no way around it, thoughts and self-motivation can't solve everything, hesitation and waiting won't change anything."

"Keep moving forward, the path should get broader and broader," she said, then gently hugged Tilan.

"You are the most talented and beautiful girl I have ever seen, you shouldn't be gloomy all the time. Shining brightly, dazzling, that's how you should be."

Is this, being comforted...?

Tilan said thank you, wanting to explain that she wasn't really that sad, but then the other children slowly made their way up the hill and hurried over.

"Haha, I'm the first one here~" The children chased each other, their cheeks red from the cold, yet brimming with vitality.

After the other children arrived, she and her cousin no longer had the chance to talk. They were soon surrounded by others, all engaged in various conversations.

On the hill, they built snowmen and played in the snow. Gradually, the children grew tired and didn't want to climb further, so everyone slowly started to walk back. On the way, Tilan reflected on the words her cousin had said.

It seems that her behavior made others worry. She took a deep breath to brace herself, then lifted her head.

The world filled with falling snow, the desolate grey wasteland, was hardly a likable scene, only the city below with its ceaseless construction sites and the many mechanical Autonomous Units coming and going gave some semblance of vitality.

Wanting to change something, yet anxious whether she truly could change anything—the sad planet and world, and herself, not knowing where to go.

Standing on the mountain path, Tilan stopped and gazed for a long time, until at last, she lifted her eyes to the expansive sky above, the endless galaxy beyond the atmosphere.

Those born in the past were fortunate, for their world was just a planet, which they could spend a lifetime experiencing and exploring fully, embracing all its wonders.

But in today's times, even seeing the entire Federation seems improbable. The world is too vast, and she felt so insignificant, so that any wish upon being conceived is already doomed to despair.

The more aware she was of her Talent, the more Tilan felt a sense of insignificance and helplessness, along with the anxiety that came with it.

Did she truly have the right to bear a grand mission like the past Color Level Songstresses? And today, all the problems of the Federation were deep-rooted: the disparity between the rich and poor, regional imbalances, the disunity among people, the dog-eat-dog nature of every stratum of society, the singular social appraisal, creating a hell where everyone tormented each other, everyone living for themselves—and rightfully so. What right did she have to unite everyone under one voice?

The road ahead had ended, leaving her no choice but to stop halfway up the mountain, helplessly watching it slowly decay until the day it collapsed.

If a song is a reflection of the heart, and she couldn't even convince herself, how could she have the righteousness to convince others, to make them believe, to keep hope alive?

If there is no road ahead, then the so-called hope is but a poison that torments, a cruelty even more ruthless.

Therefore, she didn't want to utter a sound, for she was filled with sorrows yet left speechless.

Stripping away the quiet and gentle facade of life, the real Tilan continuously wrestled with these issues in her heart, which is why she would occasionally space out and at times feel melancholic. She was unsettled by her increasingly evident special Talent, and saddened that even with such Talent, carrying the mission of a Color Level Songstress seemed too much to bear.

The day slowly turned to night, and the nighttime sky revealed specks of starlight. Against the pitch-black earth, her small figure wandered aimlessly across the wilderness until she finally stopped in front of a pile of debris.

There lay a haphazard pile of desks and chairs, the metal surfaces still bearing a thin layer of snow, cold to the touch.

They had probably been transported from some abandoned school, as she could see lingering number markings on some of the desks.

These old desks and chairs were left exposed to the elements, forming a small hill.

The girl's figure leapt gracefully, her toes landing on the small flat surfaces amidst the cluttered desks before smoothly jumping again, silently and effortlessly maneuvering over various obstacles until reaching the top of the desk heap.

Standing atop this little hill of desks, in the distance, the dim lights shed their faint glow. On the horizon, the outline of the girl's figure merged with the mountain of desks, creating a solitary silhouette, somewhat resembling the imagined monarch of a teenage fantasy.

Standing atop the desks, the girl looked up to the endless vastness of the starry sky above, with its ceaseless circulation of stars and planets, millennia-old starlight quietly shining down.

Even the most splendid civilizations will have their days of dimming and demise.

And humanity now, is merely one of the brighter sparks among them.

Planets will face Annihilation, civilizations will crumble, the universe will come to an end, everything is slowly moving towards its conclusion. Then, what is the meaning of our existence?

If everything is meaningless, then how should we act?

The girl slowly closed her eyes, the evening breeze brushing against her, the coldness and chill gradually rising from the ground.

Just like that, she stood quietly for a long time, then tilted her head back and fell, letting the wind lift her, before slowly settling back on the ground.

She still couldn't figure it out. Tilan brushed off the light snow on her clothing, ran her fingers over the metal desks and chairs on the snowy ground, and then headed back home.

Today, she still hadn't found the answer, but she also knew that such questions are hard to resolve with certainty.

Perhaps, as her cousin said, take one step, then another, and the road would slowly open up. For now, she should just do what she can.