14 If only

"Then… Little Cousin, why did you come here? It's this late already." Danny asked, confused.

"I…" Morgan's voice lowered, her eyes appearing a bit hollow. "I don't know why, but I couldn't sleep tonight. Then I saw that the stars were really bright tonight, so I wanted to come to the rear mountains to take a look."

Danny looked up at the sky, then said with a smile, "In the past, little Cousin and I would frequently sneak out here at night to enjoy the evening wind and look at the stars… And would frequently get caught and scolded by grandfather."

"Hm." Morgan responded, then quietly said, "I also thought about that, so I thought I'd see how it felt to come out by myself to stargaze… Because in the future, I might not be able to stargaze with Danny."

"Ah? Why?"

"Stupid! Because you are married! In the future, you should be accompanying your wife, Emma, to bed at night, rather than coming out to enjoy the evening wind and stargaze." Morgan coldly glanced at him and then pouted for some reason.

"That's not true! As long as little Cousin is willing, no matter when, I would willingly come here with little Cousin to stargaze… See! Aren't I doing that with you right now?" Danny said with a smile.

"You're still saying that! Sneaking to the rear mountains during your wedding night… Ah! You weren't forced out here by Emma, were you?" Upon thinking of that, Morgan's face filled with rage and she stamped her feet: "Hmph! That's too excessive, I'm going to go find her!"

"You don't need to worry about her." Danny grabbed Morgan's hand. "I wasn't forced out here by her. I came out by myself. Maybe I just carelessly predicted that I'd meet little aunt here… come on, let's go to that place."

"Ah…"

Leading Morgan by the hand, Danny jogged through the cool Morning wind towards that familiar place.

This was a small hilltop covered by soft and tender grass. Danny and Morgan leaned against each other shoulder to shoulder, bathing in the occasional evening wind, their hearts at peace.

"I thought that after you got married, I would lose a large part of you. Emma is so beautiful, better than me in every aspect. I was afraid that once you had her, you would always stay at her side, leaving me with less and less time with you." Looking at the night sky, Morgan's eyes overflowed with a wavering light that was even brighter than the stars.

"Little Cousin really didn't believe my words at all." Danny bitterly replied, "I clearly said this morning that in my heart, one hundred Emma's won't compare to little Cousin. Little Cousin forced me… Er, wait no, promised with me. I firmly remember, and will definitely willingly comply…"

"After I marry Emma, I won't forget about little Cousin just because I have a wife. I'll spend the same amount of time with little Cousin like before, I will listen to little Cousin's calls and would arrive as soon as I'm called just like before. And lastly, although Emma is now my wife, in my heart, she definitely won't outweigh little aunt… I guarantee that I remembered every word right!"

"…" Morgan had a dumbfounded expression on her face and the look in her eyes blurred. "I know that was a bit excessive. I was just… just playing around. You really kept it in your heart all along?"

"Of course." Danny nodded without hesitation. "Because little Cousin and grandfather are the most important people in my life. Other people can't compare. Little Cousin, I promise you, even though I'm now married, you won't ever lose me, just like I hope to never lose you."

"Hehe…" Morgan happily smiled, her hands hugging Danny's arm. She rested her head on his shoulder. "As expected, my Danny is the most well behaved, most obedient."

A dark cloud floated through the sky, immediately dimming the surrounding lighting.

"Now that I think about it, it's been a long time… no, it seems like it's been quite a few months since we came out here to see sunrise together. When we were little, whether it was winter or summer, we would frequently sneak out here. I remember one winter night, at this very spot, of course the sunrise was beautiful. We watched for a long timer… Turns out that it unexpected snowed that morning, and we were frozen while setting. When grandfather found us, we had already become two little snowmen. Afterwards, we only recovered after staying next to the stove for two days and drinking a lot of bitter medicine. grandfather was really angry, but was reluctant to spank me, not to mention you. So after we got better, he made us shovel a large patch of snow as punishment."

Danny continued with a smile, "And then, we only shoveled for a bit before we started playing in the snow. We even made a big snowman that really looked like grandfather. He didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. Once he started laughing, he completely forgot about our punishment."

"Uh huh! Grandfather was always like that. He usually looks really fierce, but he could never bring himself to spank us even once and would only put on a show to scare us. No matter what, as long as we threw even a small tantrum, he would obediently listen to us." Morgan's face was full of warm laughter.

"One time wasn't like that." Danny's smile became vague. "On my twelfth birthday, when you were eleven, grandfather got you a small courtyard, and forbid you from sleeping together with me in the future. I remember you would beg Grandfather every day, crying and shouting, and even angrily stopped eating. But grandfather was extremely unyielding. No matter what he wouldn't let you sleep in the same bed with me… as time passed by, you could only obediently follow his order."

"That… That's because I was really young, and had a lot of things that I didn't understand!" Morgan lightly pinched Danny's shoulder. "Some girl things I only learned after growing up, hmph."

"What things?" Danny widely opened his eyes, his face full of suspicion.

"That… That boys and girls can't sleep together after they grow up! I can't believe you didn't know!" Thinking about what had happened before, Morgan added another sentence: "Also, they can't randomly kiss like when they were little!"

"Ah, so it's like that…" Danny glanced at Morgan lovely cheek, dyed jade under the bright and beautiful starlight. He quietly leaned closer: "But, I always want to kiss you, what should I do?"

"Then marry me!" Morgan replied with a proud face, her pink cheeks raising slightly,

"If you weren't my little Cousin, I would definitely marry you," Danny said without thinking.

"…"

After saying that, Danny immediately stared blankly ahead. Morgan's expression also froze as she vacantly stared at him… as if they had both been struck dumb.

"Um… Little Cousin, why are you looking at me with such a strange expression?" Suddenly realizing that the atmosphere had become a bit awkward, Danny held his breath for a while before cautiously asking.

Only then did Morgan's beautiful eyes, which had a dazed look for a long time, tremble slightly. She hastily wrested her gaze away and lowered her head, softly spitting out: "Aren't you afraid that your wife Emma will hear those words that you said just now?"

Danny put on a show of looking around, and then innocently said: "It doesn't seem like there's anyone around us, so what are you afraid of? But even if she did hear me, I still don't have anything to fear. You did not know that she actually doesn't sincerely want to marry me, and I also do not really want to be married to her. If it was little Cousin though, I…"

"Don't talk… Don't keep talking!"

Morgan reached out her hand and forcefully pressed them against his lips, firmly sealing his next words. Only after a long time did she release him, once again resting her body against Danny's shoulder, peacefully saying: "Danny, even though I'm younger than you by a year, I am truly, without a doubt, your little Cousin. There are some words that you can say to other girls, that you can not say to me… In this lifetime… you can not say them… I know in your heart, you really think like this… but that's enough…"

At the last two sentences, Morgan's voice had become very, very quiet. Within her muttering contained a sense of bitterness and sadness that would break the heart of anyone listening.

Danny's heart also heavily shook. He didn't say anything else, closed his eyes, and peacefully listened to the breathing and heartbeat of the girl beside him.

"When I was young, I was thin, dark, and short. Everyone called me an ugly duckling and always made fun of me, bullied me…" Morgan snuggled against him, a dreamy voice escaping from her mouth: "Only you would play with me. When someone bullied me, you would always rush up to fight with them and chase them away. You were always covered in cuts and bruises… The injuries you received at that time were all because of me. I got used to, and also enjoyed the feeling of your protection. I believed that you would always be able to protect me this way…"

Morgan's words reminded Danny of the younger Morgan. At that time, she truly was thin, dark, and short as she had just described, in every sense an "ugly duckling". But because she was his little aunt, as a man, and also because he was older than her by a year, he would always, as if it was his mission, protect her with all his might…Who could have thought that this young woman would become very different from the little girl she once was. The once ugly duckling had transformed into today's beauty. Who knows how many young men of the Radd Clan would watered at the mouth while longing for her.