Chapter 65: Shackles
Adele was completely stunned.
Before her lunch break, Lina was still a soft and easy-to-pinch little rabbit ball. How did she start tying people up with her ears after just half an hour of sleep!?
“Baby?” Adele’s hands were bound. She was afraid of provoking Lina and didn’t dare to struggle at all. “Don’t get excited. Tell me, what happened?”
“Don’t go…” Tears hung on Lina’s eyelashes. She raised her scarred forearm, the blood-red scratches shocking. A broken sob escaped from between her teeth. She said helplessly, “My wounds haven’t healed yet. Don’t go… please…”
After taking Haia’s medicine, Lina’s memory gradually returned to reality. These past few days, she had been in a daze, occasionally lucid, but most of the time, she was trapped in chaotic memories.
Just now, she had dreamt of Adele’s “unannounced departure.” After waking up from the dream, the same quiet and empty room had triggered the deepest fear in her heart.
She was afraid of being beaten, afraid of going hungry, afraid of being humiliated.
She was even more afraid of being abandoned by Adele.
Adele looked at Lina’s blood-soaked arms, her heart aching. “Baby, baby, look at me.”
She tried to keep her voice steady, but her whole body was trembling uncontrollably. The rabbit ball’s wounds instantly aroused her pity. Her affection for her lover was too strong, and she also began to feel the pain.
Her arm ached faintly.
Her heart also ached faintly.
She choked out, “I’m not going. I won’t leave you. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll always be with you.”
Adele wanted to touch her, to pull her into her arms. The moment her wrist moved, it was wrapped even tighter by her ears.
“You’re lying… you’re all lying to me…” Lina shook her head violently, large teardrops rolling down. “Everyone will leave me. No one will really love me. I’ve long since accepted my fate. You left… you all left, and you’ll never come back… I know it all…”
If she had really accepted her fate, how could she be crying?
It was just that she wanted a firm answer, a stable happiness.
“I won’t.” Adele looked at her cry, and her own eyes grew moist. “I swear! Lina, I swear, I won’t leave, okay?”
She wanted to ask God what kind of oath could soothe her sensitive and suspicious lover.
She was willing to pay any price.
Adele had never been disgusted by Lina’s sensitivity and suspicion. She only hated that she had come too late.
It was said that King Kaimen had a dagger that could cut open a person’s true heart. Adele thought, she needed King Kaimen’s contact information.
Right now.
Perhaps Adele’s tone was too firm, perhaps the past moments were too warm. Lina’s instinct chose to believe before her reason did.
A faint bewilderment appeared in her moist, red eyes, and her long ears also loosened.
Adele immediately and carefully cupped her tear-stained face, gently wiping away the tears with the pad of her finger.
“Don’t be afraid.” She repeated her name, making a promise over and over again. “You can confirm my feelings for you over and over again. I will never leave you.”
“Never.”
Lina stared at Adele blankly, silently shedding tears.
Adele tentatively, slowly opened her arms, wanting to embrace this broken little rabbit.
However, Lina abruptly flinched, quickly retreated, and avoided her embrace.
“Don’t.” Lina’s voice was muffled. She said with self-loathing, “Don’t touch me. I’m dirty. I’m bad. I’ll dirty you.”
Haia had long since given Adele a heads-up, but to hear her lover belittle herself with her own ears, Adele’s heart ached beyond words.
“You’re not dirty. Lina, you’re not bad at all.” Adele said with effort, “I like you. I like you.”
Lina did not retreat any further.
“Lina, no matter what you become, I will not leave you.” Adele said, “You will always be my baby.”
Baby…
Baby.
These two words floated into Lina’s ears, easily plucking at her soul, hitting her most vulnerable and most desired spot.
“…Why?” Lina murmured, “I’m so bad, so moody, always hurting myself, always getting sick, always causing you trouble. I’m not good at all. Why… why don’t you leave? Why do you still stay?”
The more she spoke, the sadder she became. She looked at her still-bleeding arm. “You’re soft-hearted, you’re kind… so as long as I’m hurt, as long as I look miserable enough, you will definitely have a soft heart and stay… right?”
Lina was immersed in her own emotions and did not realize that she had revealed all her true thoughts.
“I want to keep you. I don’t want my wounds to heal at all! As long as I’m always hurt, you’ll always feel sorry for me, right?”
As she spoke, she was about to grab herself.
“It’s fine. I’m used to the pain… I’m not afraid.”
Adele’s eyes widened. In an instant, a thousand arrows pierced her heart. She finally understood why Lina had to self-harm!
So this was her way of keeping her!
“You fool!” Adele cursed with a sob, without a trace of blame. She strode forward, grabbed the person who was still trying to self-harm, and then held her tightly.
As Lina struggled, a few scalding tears fell on her cheek. She instantly stopped moving.
Her lover’s tears briefly brought her back to her senses.
She slowly raised her hand and hugged Adele back. “I’m sorry… I was too bad. Don’t cry.”
Adele gently stroked Lina’s head and said, “You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re very good. You’re just sick. You’ll get better.”
Lina said in a small voice, “But I seem to be very sick. I can’t control myself. I’ll hurt you…”
“It’s fine.” Adele did not hesitate at all. “I don’t mind.”
Lina’s muddled brain could not distinguish between true and false. She directly chose to believe and asked in a small voice, “I seem to be very sick. What if I go mad and want to break your legs and lock you up?”
Adele knew this rabbit all too well.
She was not afraid at all and held her even tighter. “You wouldn’t bear to. Even if you really wanted to, I’d be willing. I’ve already given you the answer, haven’t I?”
Let her out to sunbathe once a week, otherwise she’ll shed.
Besides that, there were no other requests.
Lina was stunned.
She was drowned by this indulgence.
Adele said again, “It’s more likely that you’d break your own legs, right? To cry pitifully for me to see, so I’d feel sorry for you, right?”
Lina gave a “mhm” and admitted it.
“How dare you!” Adele warned sternly, “You are not allowed to do anything to hurt yourself again. Otherwise…”
She thought for a moment and came up with the “strictest” punishment. “Otherwise, I won’t make you muffins. At least for three days.”
Lina cried and laughed, suddenly feeling a strong urge to bite Adele.
This person was so annoying.
Such a light punishment, wasn’t it just indulging her to push her luck?
A bad rabbit like her should have her bottom spanked raw.
Lina held her even tighter and said in a small voice, “Hug me. If you hug me, it won’t hurt anymore…”
Adele’s heart was still in suspense. She was still worried about Lina’s injuries.
But she couldn’t rip Lina’s clothes, and she certainly couldn’t do such a thing.
She could only hold the little rabbit tightly and slowly comfort her.
*
The clinic was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
Haia was cornered, her back pressed against the cold medicine cabinet, with nowhere to escape.
Herlkin was blocking the door, her large tail curved in an angry arc. Her eyes were like nails. “How long are you going to run?”
Haia’s throat moved. She tried to regain some control from the other’s gaze. “Don’t come over.”
Herlkin did not move but retorted, “What kind of person do you take me for? Do you think I would force you?”
“No.” Haia immediately denied it. The scratches on her neck had long since healed but had left faint scars.
“I came to find you just to give you some scar-removing ointment.” Herlkin’s gaze fell on her neck, her voice hoarse. “I was too excited. I forgot to retract my nails. I didn’t mean to.”
To a red fox, love is love. So what if she fell in love with the senior sister who had raised her?
To hell with ethics and morals.
She had once thought that Haia liked Aomo more and had willingly let them be. But after her memory recovered, she discovered another possibility…
Three people.
Haia stared at her, wanting to speak but holding back.
She knew very well what Herlkin was excited about.
“I’d rather not remember anything,” Haia said.
“Between us…” Is it completely impossible?
Herlkin’s words were cut off by Haia.
“From beginning to end, I’ve only ever seen you as my younger sister.” Haia blurted out.
She looked at Herlkin, at this “younger sister” who had followed her around since she was little, and her eyes slowly turned red.
The chaotic, non-existent memory fragments were searing her nerves.
“I’m sorry. I feel like I’m committing a crime.” She begged Herlkin to understand, but her repeated emphasis on the “younger sister” identity was more like a self-hypnosis.
Did she really not have any feelings for Herlkin?
None at all?
This answer was for Herlkin to say.
“Before I went down the mountain, one night, you climbed into my bed. I wasn’t actually asleep. You hugged me, kissed me…”
“Don’t say any more!” Haia remembered, and she didn’t dare to remember anymore.
“Why can’t I say it!” Herlkin exposed her disguise. “You say you don’t care about me. Of all the places in the world, why did you have to come to my city to be a physician! You’re just following me! You say you hate me. Do you hate me, or is it too painful to love me!”
Haia was speechless.
“You say you raised me from a young age, that you can’t love me. Then didn’t Teacher also raise you from a young age? Didn’t you also fall in love with her?”
Herlkin threw the ointment on the table.
“In that world, you were in love with both of us, were f*cked by both of us. And you’re still like this here!”
The clinic was terrifyingly quiet.
All the explanations, all the struggles, seemed pale and ridiculous in the face of this naked truth.
Shame swallowed Haia. She abruptly raised her hand and pointed at the door, her voice broken from extreme agitation. “You, get out! Get out!”
Herlkin looked at her deeply, did not say another word, and slammed the door.
A loud “bang” echoed, making Haia’s ears ring.
She was the source of all the mistakes.
It was all her fault.
Why did she have to fall in love with two people at the same time?
Haia collapsed against the medicine cabinet, her strength gone.
A few minutes, or perhaps longer, the door hinge creaked.
Haia did not open her eyes. She thought it was the returning Herlkin. “Didn’t I tell you to get out?! What are you doing back!”
She didn’t dare to face Herlkin because she didn’t dare to face the fact that she was in love with two people at the same time.
No matter how she brainwashed herself that she could only choose one, the other flutter of her heart still existed.
No one answered.
The approaching footsteps were very light, completely different from Herlkin’s.
Haia’s eyes snapped open.
Aomo was still wearing that dark cloak, her shoulders wet with mist. Her gray eyes were filled with concern, her expression compassionate, very much like a statue in a church.
“Are you alright?”
All the emotions were stuck in her throat. Haia couldn’t make a sound. Her red-rimmed eyes showed her pain.
She could no longer confess her love to Aomo. She suddenly felt that she was not worthy.
“I picked you up from the mountain back then, from the very beginning, it was for your blood.” Aomo got straight to the point.
Haia did not speak.
“Later…” Aomo frowned slightly. “The mountain was so lonely. Only you were with me every day… I actually, to you…”
She paused. “I can’t forgive myself, so I can only put my attention on Xiao Jin. I was cold to you just to force you to leave… to get away from me.”
Aomo said the secret that was buried deep in her heart. “My desire for blood is infinite. Once I’m addicted to someone’s blood, I’ll drain them dry. I can’t control it at all. I don’t want to kill you, and I don’t want to live like this, neither human nor ghost…”
Without a fresh infusion of blood, fine lines had already appeared at the corners of her eyes. Under her cloak were several white hairs.
“The blood of a mixed-blood human has no attraction for me. I really only see Xiao Jin as a child.”
But I don’t see you as a child.
In my long and lonely life, all my heartbeats were because of you.
Aomo did not say these words out loud, only stating, “I will find a quiet place to spend the last period of my life. Don’t waste any more time on me.”
The truth was like a blunt knife, slowly and cruelly splitting a person’s heart in two.
Only today did Haia understand that Aomo’s favoritism was a twisted form of protection.
Then wasn’t her resentment toward Herlkin a joke? She couldn’t say anything. She was about to be completely swallowed by this huge absurdity.
“Don’t like me anymore,” Aomo said.
Haia completely collapsed and said, “Why did I have to fall in love with both of you!? I don’t like anyone anymore! I don’t like anyone anymore!”
“You should be alone for a while…” Aomo kept her distance and quietly left the clinic.
Haia sat frozen in place, with no reaction.
On the other side of the door.
Herlkin had never left.
She leaned against the cold wall, her body trembling slightly.
The clinic’s soundproofing was not good. She had heard everything clearly.
Herlkin tilted her head up, looked at the dim sky that was shrouded in thick smoke and mist, and did not know where to go.
*
Time Administration Bureau.
[Warning: The novel world is about to collapse.]
“It’s a world built by a plagiarist anyway. If it collapses, it collapses.”
[Warning: Once order completely collapses, characters with a home can go home. Characters without a home, even if they have developed their own consciousness, will be shattered.]
“…Then what?”
[System: Let the main character group all stay.]
“Are you crazy! They don’t belong here! They were stolen!”
[System: I’m not saying they can’t go home. What I mean is, treat this place as a “fun house” without the creator’s rules. Their will is the rule. It’s very free, isn’t it? They can go back to their original world, as long as they come to this world regularly.]
“I don’t think they’ll be willing to come back.”
[System: A seed from the south has fallen in the north. It will miss the hazy rain of its homeland, but it will also get used to the strong winds and snowstorms of the ice field.]
“What are you talking about?”
[System: I will arrange for them to go home one by one, but I’m sure they will agree to travel between the two places.]
“We’ll see.”
*
“The Emperor has arrived!”
The eunuch’s sharp voice suddenly sounded.
Huaguang turned her head and saw a field of kneeling people behind her.
“Didn’t Gu say not to mix with this shadow guard anymore?!”
A woman with an imposing presence without being angry sat on a golden sedan chair. Huaguang met her eyes and was so oppressed by her presence that she couldn’t speak.
“Someone, drag this shadow guard who has bewitched her master out and beat her to death with a rod!”
Yuan You: ?
