After seeing Katakura Hayabusa’s brilliant painting skills, Gao Sijin felt like he had been shot full of adrenaline, brimming with creative passion. Over and over in his heart, he repeated: I want to write, I want to write, I’d rather die than not write.
However, this passion didn’t last long. When Gao Sijin actually sat in front of the computer and stared at the blank page, he couldn’t type a single word.
The passion had faded.
Write?
Write my ass!
“Gao-kun, barley tea.”
Tsukiyuki Rio and Gao Sijin sat on a sofa chair.
“Thanks.”
After drinking a sip of ice-cold barley tea, Gao Sijin still kept his hands hovering over the keyboard, still unable to write.
When writing, the opening is often the hardest part to come up with. Once the opening of each chapter is written, the rest becomes twice as easy.
“Gao-kun, can’t think of what to write?”
“Yeah, my brain feels like a pile of mud,” Gao Sijin said irritably.
Actually, it wasn’t that Gao Sijin wanted to slack off on purpose.
Normally, his writing mostly came from excerpts in books, or things he saw and heard during walks.
Now, physically confined here, Gao Sijin’s world was frozen in place forever.
In this luxurious world, he enjoyed the power of a king, but at the same time, like a king, he had no freedom.
At this point, Gao Sijin was writing the arc where the Male Lead was placed under house arrest. Everything was incredibly similar to his own situation. He could perfectly recreate the humiliation and resentment of the Male Lead’s confinement through words.
But when the Male Lead was about to break free from the Female Lead’s birdcage, the world observed by Father Myriel, the Recorder of the World, stopped. The story after the Male Lead and Female Lead couldn’t continue. Time stopped flowing, as if someone had pressed the pause button on that world of Sword and Magic. Everything turned into shades of black and white.
It was a dead world.
“I can’t write it.”
How could he possibly write it?
Given his own circumstances, wasn’t freedom just a joke?
Even the author himself had not yet tasted the sweetness of freedom. How could he understand the sight of the Male Lead, having regained his freedom, spreading his arms wide and singing at the top of his lungs?
He wanted to write. He desperately wanted his character—that handsome man wielding a spear—to be brought to life on paper by Katakura Hayabusa’s brush, but something that couldn’t be written just couldn’t be written. No matter how hard he tried to force it, it was useless.
A refreshing scent snapped Gao Sijin out of his daze. Tsukiyuki Rio gently wrapped her soft, slender arms around Gao Sijin’s arm and said thoughtfully,
“If Gao-kun really can’t write right now, why not play some computer games to relax?”
“And then tonight, you’ll squeeze me dry again?”
“What do you take me for, Gao-kun?” Tsukiyuki Rio lightly pursed her cherry-colored lips. “As your Fiancée, seeing you rack your brains and still come up with nothing, it’s really hard on you. I feel for you. So giving you a day off as a reward once in a while isn’t out of the question.”
“Are you really giving me a break? Are you sure you won’t touch me tonight?”
“Of course I’m sure. Although doing that sort of thing is really enjoyable, Gao-kun’s body can’t take it. I don’t want Gao-kun to die young from my love.”
“I really appreciate your kindness.”
After getting a day off, Gao Sijin didn’t play computer games. Instead, he casually grabbed a few Chinese books from the shelf and started reading.
A good book can often let a person re-experience the true essence of life, like a hand reaching down, trying to rescue the soul imprisoned within the body.
As long as there are books, people are free.
“Gao-kun.”
“What is it, Rio?”
“Your smile looks really charming.”
“You said you wouldn’t touch me today.”
“I almost forgot. But not touching my adorable Gao-kun for a whole day is truly agonizing.”
Tsukiyuki Rio rested her head on Gao Sijin’s shoulder, and they enjoyed the afternoon together. Accompanied by the rustling sound of Gao Sijin turning pages, Tsukiyuki Rio closed her captivating dark-red eyes.
She returned to that place once more.
In that lonely White Room, only Gao Sijin’s books kept her company. In a world of emptiness, simply because Gao Sijin’s books existed, a girl’s world gave birth to all things. Her dark-red eyes were once again filled with light.
So the world truly was beautiful.
Before Gao Sijin’s cold tombstone, the girl placed the unknown author’s only published book from his entire life at his grave, leaving behind a bouquet of bright roses.
Even if his body had long since turned to dried bones, her love for Mr. Author would never change. This love would last until the end of time.
“Gao-kun.”
Tsukiyuki Rio opened those dark-red beautiful eyes.
“What is it?”
“I dreamed you died.”
“Drained to death by you?”
“Of course not. But that way of dying wouldn’t be so bad either.” Tsukiyuki Rio laughed softly, pursing her red lips. “Actually, before I met Gao-kun, I was a girl who rarely smiled and even rarely spoke.”
“Yeah, I can kind of tell.”
When going to meet Editor Mishima, and when meeting those painters, Tsukiyuki Rio always maintained a proud, ice-cold demeanor. Only when Tsukiyuki Rio was with him would she transform from a cold, classically beautiful girl into a pure-hearted girl pursuing the ultimate form of love.
“Young Lady Tsukiyuki, Master, it’s time for dinner.”
Just then, Yu Qingxue knocked on the door.
Only then did Gao Sijin and Tsukiyuki Rio pull apart from their cuddling state.
Although Tsukiyuki Rio rarely used chains to tether the Silver Collar around Gao Sijin’s neck anymore, when they walked together, their hands were almost always tightly intertwined, their fingers laced together.
“Speaking of which, I need to introduce Gao-kun to the family soon.”
“Your family?”
“Yes, my parents, and the current patriarch of the Tsukiyuki Family, my Grandfather Tsukiyuki Kyoichi, including the people from the Branch Family. They all must know that Gao-kun is my most outstanding fiancé.”
Gao Sijin could tell that, compared to girls who preferred to quietly hide their happiness, Tsukiyuki Rio was the type who liked to flaunt her happiness. She had even turned their First Time into a movie and screened it in the building’s cinema before, leading Gao Sijin to achieve a life first: watching an adult film starring himself.
“I don’t really want to go. I feel like your family probably won’t welcome me.”
“If they don’t welcome Gao-kun, that means they are enemies of Tsukiyuki Rio. I think, after weighing the pros and cons, they should agree to our future marriage, Gao-kun.”
“Can I run away from the wedding?”
“No, Gao-kun, because this is a forced marriage. You don’t have the right to refuse.”
Tsukiyuki Rio smiled like a child who had firmly grasped her beloved toy.
