The Side Character Wants to Lie Flat-Chapter 45: Comfort

Hua Manman walked over, carrying a bowl of chicken soup.

"As the saying goes, ’People are iron, but food is steel.’ You’ll be weak with hunger if you skip a single meal.

"Even if you have no appetite, Prince, you must eat a little something. If you ruin your health by starving yourself, I’ll be so distressed."

Li Ji turned his head. His gaze swept over her face before landing on the bowl of chicken soup in front of him.

"I said I have no appetite. I don’t want to eat. Take it away."

Hua Manman could tell that Prince Zhao was not in a good mood.

But she wasn’t very good at comforting people.

’Besides, her comfort might not be effective anyway.’

’After all, she wasn’t Prince Zhao; she couldn’t truly empathize with him.’

’No matter how much she said, it would be useless. It would just sound like empty words from someone who doesn’t understand the pain.’

Hua Manman put down the chicken soup, gathered her skirts, and sat on a low stool beside him, quietly keeping him company.

’If she couldn’t comfort him, she could at least accompany him.’

The atmosphere in the room instantly became incredibly quiet.

Li Ji normally hated excessive quiet, but for some reason, he didn’t find this silence repulsive.

’He thought about it for a moment. It was probably because he knew someone was there with him.’

Time trickled by.

After an unknown amount of time, Hua Manman started to feel hungrier and hungrier.

Just as she was about to give in and urge him to eat something, she suddenly heard Prince Zhao speak.

"They all want me dead."

His mother wanted him dead, and strangers wanted him dead, too.

They were all filled with malice toward him.

Hua Manman was slightly taken aback.

’She didn’t know how to respond to that.’

Fortunately, Prince Zhao didn’t need her to reply. Right now, he just needed a quiet listener.

"Sometimes I wonder... what unforgivable thing did I do to make so many people want to see me dead?"

He turned his head to look at Hua Manman.

His long, narrow eyes, black as ink, were filled with bewilderment.

He truly didn’t understand, and he hoped for an answer.

Hua Manman mustered her courage and said, "There’s a problem with the way you’re thinking."

Li Ji didn’t get angry at her words.

He adopted a posture of listening intently.

Hua Manman said seriously, "When bad people want to hurt others, it’s not because the victim has done something wrong. More often than not, it’s for their own benefit. As the one being harmed, Prince, how can you blame yourself for the criminals’ actions?"

Li Ji asked in return, "Are you saying that I’m not the one at fault?"

Hua Manman replied without hesitation, "Of course. You’ve done nothing wrong. The ones at fault are the bad people who want to hurt you."

Li Ji stared at her intently.

He couldn’t hear any thoughts from her mind.

’In other words, what she was saying out loud was exactly what she was thinking in her heart.’

’She was telling the complete truth, without a shred of falsehood.’

This was the first time Li Ji had ever heard someone sincerely tell him he was not at fault.

He couldn’t help but smile.

He often smiled on a daily basis, but those smiles were always tinged with phoniness and mockery.

But this time, his smile held not a trace of impurity.

It was as pure as the first rays of morning light.

Hua Manman was mesmerized by the sight.

She was snapped out of it only when her stomach began to protest with a RUMBLE. She then asked cautiously,

"Do you have an appetite now, Prince?"

It had been a long time since Li Ji had been able to chat with someone so calmly.

He felt his mood lighten considerably, and his appetite began to return. He nodded.

"Let’s have dinner."

The dishes on the table had long since gone cold.

Hua Manman had the maids take the food away to be reheated.

After they finished dinner, Hua Manman stayed to spend the night at the Mountain and Sea Residence.

Once the maids and servants had all withdrawn, Hua Manman dutifully climbed onto the bamboo couch in the outer room.

She wished Prince Zhao goodnight from behind the screen.