Chapter 045: The Unavoidable Reality
In the distance, a lit oil lamp gradually drifted closer. The familiar silhouette, however, was exceptionally jarring at this moment.
Elena walked over, looking around. She seemed to realize that it wasn’t as lively here as she had imagined, with only Chen Ran sitting there alone. This atmosphere instantly made her feel a sense of oppression. She walked up to Chen Ran, her face filled with worry.
“Um… Thinking about what happened here, I couldn’t sleep all night, and I didn’t get any news of your return. Worried, I came here on my own…”
Chen Ran didn’t dare to look directly into Elena’s eyes. He stood up and answered in a low voice, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t keep my promise…”
Chen Ran’s words instantly made Elena’s face turn pale. In that moment, it was as if all the strength had been drained from her body, and she was about to fall. Chen Ran couldn’t help but step forward and support her shoulders, preventing her from collapsing.
At this moment, a mist filled Elena’s eyes, but she didn’t cry out immediately. Supported by Chen Ran, she looked into his evasive eyes.
“You did your best, didn’t you?”
Chen Ran didn’t answer, just lowered his head, his face full of guilt.
“Can you come with me to see my father’s body?” Elena said, her voice choked with sobs.
Chen Ran nodded and accompanied Elena to where the mayor’s body was.
New corpses were usually kept in a separate place, not to mention the mayor was an important figure in the town and was given a separate room.
Chen Ran accompanied Elena to the mayor’s body.
At first, when Elena saw the body, she was a little scared. But after recognizing her father from his familiar clothes, she could no longer suppress her emotions. She walked forward, gently stroking her father’s clothes. The moisture in her eyes finally couldn’t be held back, and she sobbed softly, gently shaking the body that would no longer rise.
Chen Ran stayed with Elena for about an hour before the girl recovered a little from the blow of losing a loved one.
After walking out of the room, Elena suddenly turned around and threw herself into Chen Ran’s arms.
“Chen Ran, now that my father is gone, I have no other family…”
This sentence was incredibly desolate. At this moment, Elena clung to Chen Ran as if he were her last support.
“When I was very young, my mother left us. I’ve only ever had my father as family. Now that my father is gone, I don’t know what I should do…”
The loneliness of being alone can sometimes be frightening, especially for a girl like her, with no one else to rely on.
Chen Ran’s heart was touched. He looked at Elena’s crying face, which seemed so helpless. He comforted her, “Elena, you haven’t slept all night either. Go home and rest first.”
At this, Elena’s arms tightened around Chen Ran. “Chen Ran, now that I have no family, will you leave me too?”
“I won’t,” Chen Ran said, feeling the faint, light fragrance in the air and the girl’s helplessness. He couldn’t help but raise his arms and hold Elena, gently patting her back in comfort. “I won’t leave you. You can rest assured.”
“That’s good…”
After getting the answer she seemed to want, Elena’s expression finally relaxed a little. She looked up, her affectionate eyes gazing at him as if he were her most trusted lover. The tenderness in her sparkling gaze was enough to melt ice and snow.
Chen Ran looked into Elena’s eyes, about to say something, when he suddenly saw a familiar blood-red rune appear in them…
On the way back to Elena’s home, Chen Ran didn’t know how he had walked with her. It was only after he had taken Elena to her boudoir and left the room that his expression gradually darkened.
He went to his own room. In that moment, his emotions were on the verge of exploding. This damn black knight, why would it target Elena?
Most importantly, he had no clue how to deal with the black knight next. Could he just watch Elena get hurt, just like the others?
Chen Ran couldn’t do it.
He slammed his fist heavily on the hard wall to release his suppressed feelings. A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind as he considered all possible solutions. But even after thinking until his head was about to burst, he couldn’t come up with anything. He knew he should be calm at this moment, but he just couldn’t. In his anger, he swept everything off the desk. Various books and miscellaneous items fell heavily to the floor, scattering everywhere.
Chen Ran grabbed his hair, his expression weary. He also didn’t know how to tell Elena about this.
A knock on the door pulled Chen Ran back to his senses. At this time, Chen Ran thought it was the early-rising maid. He stood up, walked over, and opened the door. Just as he was about to say something about not being disturbed, Elena at the door made him freeze in astonishment.
“Weren’t you sleeping?”
“I can’t sleep…” Elena, in a clean white nightgown, looked like she had just gotten out of bed. There was a hint of fatigue on her face. She shook her head and said, “I close my eyes, but all I see is my father’s tragic death. When I think of that scene, I can’t sleep at all.”
Elena took a few steps forward and snuggled into Chen Ran’s embrace again.
“I want to sleep with you, okay?”
“This…” Although it was a bit unexpected, Chen Ran could feel Elena’s mood at this moment. In that instant, no lustful thoughts crossed his mind.
“What, do you hate me?”
“How could I…”
In Chen Ran’s moment of distraction, Elena had already entered his room. But when she saw the scattered objects, Elena turned around and asked, “I heard a lot of noise in your room earlier. Were you angry about something?”
“Um… I was just in a bad mood…” Chen Ran didn’t know how to explain it to Elena. He instinctively felt that he shouldn’t tell her, but he also didn’t know how to hide it. After all, she would find out sooner or later. He hesitated, his eyes flickering.
Elena caught Chen Ran’s complex gaze and asked instinctively, “Are you hiding something from me?”
Still hesitating, Chen Ran didn’t answer immediately. But this made Elena even more aware that something was wrong. And she was a smart girl to begin with. She quickly realized something.
“When we came back, the way you looked at me was different. There was some pity, very much like the way you looked at my father…” Seeing that Chen Ran didn’t refute, Elena’s suspicion deepened. “It seems my guess is correct. The black knight’s next target is me, right?”
