I Raised the Fallen Lop-Eared Rabbit into a Yandere 52

Chapter 52: Undercover

This was the most absurd moment of Adele’s life.

She leaned against the door, her hands hanging at her sides, her fingertips cold.

She did not accept any teasing. Every cell in her body, like her, had temporarily died.

Lina, who did not get a response, even after prying open her teeth, could not hear the answer she wanted.

The air was brutally sucked away. The feeling of dizziness made Adele faint. In a daze, she tasted rust.

It was blood.

There was blood.

She subconsciously thought the injured person was her. She thought she had been bitten by the bad rabbit.

Lina had finally hurt her.

This realization was like a needle, piercing her numb disguise, her instinctive fear exposed.

She subconsciously turned her head away, her movements hurried, the cold mask cracking inch by inch.

Adele’s fingertips eagerly searched for the imagined wound—

It must be broken.

There was blood, that’s why the taste was so clear.

But there was none.

She didn’t feel any wound.

Adele was stunned for a moment.

“I will never hurt you.” Lina’s voice was low and hoarse. She tried her best to control her emotions and said, “Never.”

Their eyes met.

Lina stared at her, a wicked curve on her blood-stained lips, a crazy, almost desolate triumph.

She had bitten herself.

Adele’s emotions were complicated. What came out first was still pity.

But this pity was mixed with a morbid joy.

The sentence “I will never hurt you” had won Adele’s trust.

She believed this blood-stained promise.

She even believed Lina’s “love forever.”

Adele felt she was also going crazy. She didn’t want to run. She was willing to be entangled by Lina, to willingly indulge.

She also wanted to keep Lina forever.

Adele abruptly reached out her hand, not to push away, but to grab the nape of Lina’s neck.

This was the first time she had used so much force. “You’re playing me. Stop being crazy.”

Lina was surprisingly obedient.

Because she felt Adele’s concern and possessiveness for her.

A little rougher.

A little more out of control.

A little crazier.

The anger burning in her eyes was extinguished, leaving only a wet plea for love. “If you don’t leave me, I won’t be crazy.”

Adele said again, “I won’t leave you, but can you not kill…”

The moment the word “kill” came out, Lina touched her lips and said stubbornly, “One thing at a time.”

Adele had no choice but to use a deeper kiss to vent her emotions.

Bad rabbit!

*

In the dining room.

All the tableware had been replaced with heavy, pure silver. The intricate patterns carved on them flickered with a cold and expensive luster in the candlelight.

The dining table was filled with a stunning array of delicacies.

Colorful exotic fruits, caviar like black pearls, fresh foie gras that had been on the table for no more than twenty minutes after being cut…

There was everything.

The regulations were one-to-one with a royal banquet.

Adele sat at the long table, her gaze sweeping over the extremely extravagant food, her heart calm.

Dilys approached, followed by several maids, each holding a tray.

“My lady.”

Dilys observed Adele’s expression and said, “This was sent by the lord. They are all little trinkets she has collected for you. I hope you will like them.”

The first tray was presented.

On it was a sapphire the size of a pigeon’s egg, glowing with a mysterious, deep blue light in the candlelight.

In the second tray lay a necklace, a teardrop-shaped pearl pendant hanging from a pure gold chain.

Adele had no interest in continuing to look. Her fingertips tapped lightly on the cold tableware and asked, “Where is she? Has she gone to the palace again?”

Dilys heard her dissatisfaction and said hurriedly, “The lord has gone to wash her hands. She has specially taken leave and will be staying at the manor for the next few days. She said she will spend more time with you. Nothing is more important than you.”

Hearing this answer, Adele’s tense jawline finally relaxed, and a slight curve appeared on her lips.

Alright.

The bad rabbit still has a conscience…

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Dilys’s forehead. Lina had not said the latter half of the sentence.

Lina had taken leave also because—

In the washroom of the dining room, Lina was curled up in a dark corner, her arms wrapped tightly around her knees, her body trembling violently.

She didn’t know what was wrong with her. It was as if a bloodthirsty beast lived in her heart. Violent and crazy thoughts were screaming.

The blood in her body was boiling. Her desire for destruction had reached its peak.

She clenched her own arm. The sharp pain barely suppressed the thought of destroying everything.

A painful whimper escaped from Lina’s throat. She couldn’t go to see Adele like this.

She would scare Adele… and more likely, she would hurt her…

She could not allow herself to hurt Adele.

Absolutely not.

Lina suddenly remembered those jewels and delicacies.

That was not her reward to Adele. It was the sincerity she was desperately trying to give but didn’t know how to express.

The private tutor had told her that to have a merit that overshadows the master is a very dangerous thing. The more proud one is, the more cautious one should be. To accompany a ruler is to accompany a tiger. The price of falling from a high place is often a bad end.

She understood.

But she still frantically searched for good things everywhere.

Because she knew she was missing a part of her companionship, and she wanted to make it up to Adele.

Because she knew she was becoming neither human nor ghost, and she was afraid that one day she would be completely twisted—

If she died early, died in Huaguang’s suspicion, died in the cruel political struggle, died in her psychological illness, Adele would at least still have a wealthy life…

At least, in this life, she had let Adele live a carefree life…

Money and love, you have to give one, right?

She had no regrets.

Lina squeezed herself tightly.

She needed to calm down quickly.

Adele was still waiting in the dining room. She had to eat with her…

Power and love, she still couldn’t make a choice, because she was a mortal.

But subconsciously, what she cared about the most was still the lover who had helped her take off her sacred robe and saved her from the abyss.

One day, she would make a choice, and she would find her way back from her lost path.

*

The outside of the palace walls was painted with a layer of gold lacquer, but the inside was a grayish-white.

Huaguang stood by the battlement. She was not wearing a crown, her hair was neatly tied up. As far as her eyes could see was the execution ground below the city tower.

The newly made gallows were already blood-stained after just three days.

The wind carried the smell of blood to the city tower. When Adele ascended the last stone step, she lightened her steps.

She saw the scene below the city tower.

Adele averted her gaze, only feeling her stomach churn.

“You’re here.”

Huaguang’s voice sounded. She did not turn around, her gaze still calmly fixed on the scene below, her expression unreadable.

“Your Majesty.”

Adele’s voice was surprisingly hoarse.

Huaguang turned around. After half a month, the gloomy and fierce aura in her eyes had all dissipated, replaced by a gentleness.

A faint smile touched the corners of her lips. “No need for formalities. Come closer. The view is very good here.”

Huaguang’s tone was like inviting a friend to admire an ordinary scenery.

But an execution was taking place below.

Adele did as she was told. From this angle, the scene below was even clearer. A layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.

“The snow ginseng I had Lina bring back for you, did you like it?” Huaguang asked.

“I did. Thank you for Your Majesty’s kindness.” Adele’s fingertips were cold.

A servant brought a chair and a tea table.

“Sit,” Huaguang said.

Adele thanked her again.

She didn’t understand the purpose of Huaguang’s sudden summons and grew even more apprehensive.

Huaguang’s posture was relaxed. She added a sugar cube to the amber-colored black tea.

Adele forced herself to take a sip of the tea. The warm liquid slid down her throat, but she couldn’t taste anything.

The smell of blood from below, on the contrary, made her feel it even more deeply.

Every time the gallows creaked, it meant the passing of a life.

Adele gripped the edge of the teacup.

“Lina said she was sick. Has she been better these past two days?” Huaguang’s tone was concerned.

“Thank you for Your Majesty’s concern. She is much better.” Adele put down the teacup.

“That’s good.” Huaguang stirred the sugar cube in her cup and said, “I value her very much. Don’t let her get too tired.”

She paused and said, “Do you know why I saved her?”

Their eyes met. Adele’s throat tightened. After a moment, she lowered her gaze. The coldness of the gray wall was seeping into the soles of her feet, bit by bit.

What else could it be for?

For Herte’s businesses;

For the powerful family that might be behind her;

For… profit.

Adele didn’t dare to say it directly.

The person before her was the king, a person who could decide her life and death with a single thought. She didn’t dare to be audacious, and she certainly didn’t want to implicate the rising Lina because of herself.

She had to grasp her own identity.

“I…”

Huaguang saw her trepidation. A hint of satisfaction flashed in her eyes. Then she smiled. “It would be too hypocritical of me to say I didn’t consider the benefits. But there are many people more valuable than her. I helped her because I saw my former self in her.”

Adele was startled. Alarm bells went off in her head.

A monarch and a subject, how could they be compared?

Huaguang could say they were alike, but Adele would never dare to admit it.

“Your Majesty!” Adele shot to her feet and said, “Lina is still young and doesn’t know how to act with propriety. If she has been rude or offensive in any way, I hope Your Majesty will forgive her for her youth and ignorance… She has absolutely no disrespect, and she certainly would not dare to compare herself with Your Majesty in any way!”

Huaguang let out two light laughs, her tone even tinged with a hint of helplessness. “Sit down. You don’t have to be so nervous.”

“Yes.” Adele’s invisible tail was completely fluffed up.

“I like Lina very much,” Huaguang said. “When I was little, I was also not favored. The things sent to my palace were always worse than my royal brother’s. I would comfort myself, he is the eldest brother, and he has a proper job in the royal family. It’s normal for him to have better things than me. Later, my royal brother was born. He was still a baby in swaddling clothes, and the things he used were better than mine.”

Adele didn’t dare to respond.

Huaguang continued to reminisce, “I comforted myself again, thinking that he was young and fragile, so it was normal to raise him more delicately. Later, my own younger sister was born. What I wanted most at that time was a crown studded with diamonds. After asking several times, the former king did not grant it to me. But he gave it to her at her full-month ceremony.”

Huaguang looked at Adele. “An unfavored child is destined to suffer many cold shoulders and cold treatment. The more moments of unfulfilled desire and torment, the more hatred will grow in one’s heart. Actually, the rumors in the streets…”

Killing her brothers, killing her father and mother.

“Your Majesty…” Adele wanted to stand up again.

Huaguang paused. “I’ve long since considered you one of my own. It’s fine to tell you these things.”

Adele heard these words, but they felt more like a warning.

A warning to her.

And also a warning to Lina.

If there was any disloyalty, it would be a dead end.

A person who could even kill their own blood relatives, what else could they not do?

Huaguang was ruthless enough, so ruthless that Adele felt cold all over.

“Many people in this world do not do evil simply because they cannot bear the consequences of doing evil. If there were such an opportunity, where you could freely retaliate against your enemies, retaliate against those who once insulted you, isolated you, bullied you, and framed you, and you would not be sanctioned in any way, would not have to pay any price, what do you think most people would choose?”

When hatred reaches a certain limit, when the rules become a decoration, an eye for an eye is just the beginning.

Adele had an answer in her heart but still didn’t dare to say it frankly. She said vaguely, “I understand what you mean.”

Huaguang said again, “A person filled with hatred, even without such an opportunity, will still act, sooner or later. If you give these people a chance…”

A massacre would not be uncommon.

Adele heard that Huaguang was talking about Lina, but she was not sure whether Huaguang’s attitude was positive or negative.

After all, eradicating the Sacred Cult, this parasite that was sucking the royal family dry, should also be Huaguang’s wish.

“I’ve been taught,” Adele said.

“When I saw their corpses, when I truly won, only then did the hatred lose its weight.” There was no trace of the former gloom on Huaguang’s face. “I think that only when the Sacred Cult has completely disappeared from the continent of Dezhou can Lina truly let go of her obsession.”

Adele probed, “But the Sacred Cult has a wide influence and many followers. To eradicate it, wouldn’t it require…”

A river of blood.

“You can’t kill them all,” Huaguang said.

Adele’s interest was successfully piqued.

“There are many followers of the Sacred Cult, but the spies I sent out said that besides a small number of people who have been completely brainwashed and bewitched, the rest still have their own will. Even in remote areas, the locals join the Sacred Cult just to get free potatoes and eggs.”

“Then it’s easy to handle,” Adele said. “Luring or threatening them will make them leave. Catch a few typical ones and punish them severely, to kill the chicken to scare the monkey.”

“That’s right.” Huaguang’s reply was very quick, as if she had simulated it a thousand times in her mind. “The difficult ones are the group of people who have been completely brainwashed. They wander among the crowd, spreading the virus like a plague. To kill them is not a matter of a year or two. But when Lina explained the Sacred Cult to me, she gave me an inspiration.”

“Please, Your Majesty, speak.”

“Since the doctrine of the Sacred Cult is eternal life, what do you think will happen to the faith of these believers when they see that their bishop, who can communicate with the upper world, cannot achieve eternal life?”

“You mean, kill the bishop?” Adele asked.

Huaguang revealed her true intentions. “To kill one person is better than to kill thousands. Isn’t that good?”

Along the way, Adele had always shown a look of pity when faced with the suffering of living creatures. Huaguang had long since seen the pure goodness in her.

And she was counting on her pure goodness.

“Of course, it’s good.”

“It’s just that the bishop is mysterious. For many years, he has communicated with the royal family through the elders and has never shown himself. His whereabouts cannot be traced at all. In two days, it will be the annual elder’s meeting of the Sacred Cult. You will also be attending, right?”

Huaguang stared at her with a smile.

But in her heart, she was thinking—

Lina has hatred in her heart. If this hatred is not avenged, she will certainly not be at ease. Do you want to see her hands stained with blood, so burdened by hatred that she becomes neither human nor ghost, or do you want to participate in my plan and solve the trouble for her? You choose.

Adele met her eyes and had a sudden realization.

So, this is where she was waiting for me!

Adele’s heart was pounding like a drum.

She wanted her to be an undercover agent.

She had no option to refuse.

To protect Lina, to not let the rabbit ball become a killing machine, she had to go.

Refusing Huaguang would inevitably affect Lina’s future. She had to go.

Destroying the Sacred Cult might also destroy this story. She still had to take Lina home. She had to go.

…

Adele stood up and said, “I’ll go. But could you let me go home for a bit? I have to tell Lina.”

“The carriage is already prepared.” Huaguang refused her and said, “A long night brings many dreams. It’s only for two days. When you find the meeting place, my people will take care of the rest.”

“Lina, she…” Adele still wanted to try.

Huaguang waved her hand. “You can leave her a letter. I’ll have Yuan You give it to her.”

“…Okay.”

.

Dilys took the letter from Yuan You’s hand. She didn’t dare to peek and placed it directly in Lina’s room.

In the empty room, a figure gradually appeared.

“Adele” had a wicked smile on her face. She took another letter from her pocket and replaced the real letter on the table.

/

“I am just an ordinary person with insatiable desires. When I stood at the high point of power and looked down, only then did I discover that life was so free. I could do whatever I wanted. Whatever I wanted, someone would always present it to me. In this world, there is no one I cannot afford to offend.”

“Such an experience, who could refuse? Ever since I had power, I no longer felt a lack of love. It sounds so blunt to say this, but that’s how it is. I know very well that even if Adele leaves, I will not lack love. There will be plenty of people who will rush up, begging for my favor. Love or not, it’s not important at all.”

“When I wrote the above passage, I was really in high spirits, and also really young and frivolous. Only now do I have the courage to admit that I coveted power, not just to get revenge, but also to hide my inferiority complex. I desperately stuffed good things for Adele. Eighty percent was because I wanted her to live well, ten percent was to make up for my lack of companionship, and another ten percent was to close the distance between us. I didn’t want to always be the one receiving from her. It made me feel inferior.”

“I will never deny the importance of power. But if I could go back in time, I would not be so lost again. What I wanted, I had gotten from the very beginning. It’s just that I didn’t know how to cherish it and squandered it. Fortunately, my lover was tolerant enough, and fortunately, I didn’t fall too deep.”

“My lover fixed me.”

“Even if I’m a rabbit who loves to go crazy.”