Chapter 46: Madman

“I’m home.”

Li Xingya, thin and small, pushed open the door carrying a large cake.

‘So empty.’

‘No matter how many times I see it, this house feels so cold and quiet.’

“You’re back?”

Jiang Chiyue sat at the dining table with half a glass of wine, her tone slightly tipsy.

“Go eat.”

Her expression was calm, as if nothing had happened.

But Li Xingya shook her head.

“No, Sister. Let’s eat the cake.”

Li Xingya lifted the ornate cake in her hand and showed it to Jiang Chiyue with a smile.

“Tomorrow is your birthday, right? I bought it especially for you on my way back.”

‘…No.’

‘This was a gift from Lin Jin’an.’

On the way back, Li Xingya had been thinking about how to explain where the cake came from.

In the end, she decided it was extremely suitable to treat it as Jiang Chiyue’s “birthday cake.”

Anyway—cakes are just something you eat. What they represent specifically doesn’t really matter… right?

‘No.’

When Li Xingya actually said the cake was for Jiang Chiyue, an inexplicable sour feeling of resentment welled up in her heart.

‘This was clearly a gift for me.’

‘Just like that lipstick.’

“I know. Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday, right?”

Li Xingya placed the cake on the dining table. As someone opening this kind of cake packaging for the first time, every move she made was clumsy.

“Happy birthday to you.”

“Come… let’s cut the cake.”

Li Xingya bit her lip and pushed the cake toward Jiang Chiyue.

‘The feeling of giving away a gift.’

‘So this is how painful it is.’

‘I never knew before.’

‘My chest hurts so much.’

Li Xingya looked at Jiang Chiyue, who remained silent.

She watched the surprise in the other’s eyes, watched the affection in her gaze.

‘Wrong.’

‘This is the look she gives someone else.’

‘Don’t look at me like that.’

‘I’m not Li Xingya.’

“So you do remember my birthday?”

Jiang Chiyue looked a bit surprised.

“I thought you’d forgotten.”

“I didn’t forget…”

‘Lin Jin’an told me.’

‘If it weren’t for Lin Jin’an, I wouldn’t have known that September 15th is your birthday.’

Li Xingya shook her head.

“Jiang Chiyue, I want to talk about something serious.”

‘Enough.’

‘I’m completely tired of this.’

‘I never wanted to remember your birthday.’

“What is it?”

Li Xingya took a deep breath and brought up that utterly boring topic again.

“I’m not Li Xingya, Jiang Chiyue.”

“You’re saying that again. Because of your amnesia…”

“It’s not amnesia. It’s rebirth.”

Li Xingya’s expression was blank.

“I was reborn into this body that should have died.”

“Don’t joke around…”

The rest of Jiang Chiyue’s words got stuck in her throat.

She could feel it.

In an instant, Li Xingya’s aura had changed.

As if she had become a completely different person.

Even her gaze was suddenly filled with death.

This unfamiliar sensation left Jiang Chiyue speechless for a moment.

‘Li Xingya is not joking.’

“Jiang Chiyue, I’m not in the mood to joke with you right now.”

Li Xingya’s voice was hoarse.

“Playing the role of ‘Li Xingya’ has become a bother. Whether it’s imitating her tastes or imitating her movie-watching hobbies… it all makes me sick now.”

“Li… Li Xingya.”

“I am Li Xingya, but who you’re calling out to now is definitely not me, right?”

Li Xingya picked up the cake knife and cut a piece for herself without waiting.

“The real Li Xingya died long ago. I told you that.”

Li Xingya took the first bite of cake.

‘So sweet.’

‘But it’s not cloying.’

‘This body really does love sweets.’

“So let’s have a conversation on equal footing.”

Li Xingya also cut a piece for Jiang Chiyue.

“I have no interest in becoming the real Li Xingya. If you can accept that, you can try to get to know me again. If not, you can kill me.”

‘I already suggested that to you before anyway.’

The two silently stared at each other for a moment.

“Tch.”

Jiang Chiyue ran her hand through her hair in irritation.

‘Reincarnator.’

‘Reincarnator.’

‘Reincarnator.’

Perhaps this concept had appeared so many times that when it came time to accept it, she actually adapted quickly.

But that only made her more annoyed.

“So according to you, inside Sister Li Xingya’s body right now is another soul, right?”

“That’s right.”

Li Xingya’s tense body relaxed a little.

“I’m glad you can accept reality so quickly…”

Before she could finish, Li Xingya saw Jiang Chiyue pick up the vase on the table.

And then the vase came flying at her as if of its own accord.

“Bang—!”

The vase shattered against the wall, fragments scattering everywhere.

If Li Xingya hadn’t dodged to the side in time, it would have definitely hit her in the head.

“…Have you lost your mind?”

Li Xingya asked incredulously.

‘Why did she suddenly attack?’

‘Can’t we solve this peacefully?’

“You—get out of Sister Li Xingya’s body right now.”

Jiang Chiyue growled.

“This…”

Perhaps because the other’s demand was so absurd, Li Xingya inexplicably felt a hint of laughter.

“Don’t be ridiculous. If I had a way to get out, why would I still be in this body? I told you, if you can accept it, then treat me as another Li Xingya…”

“Then what if I kill you again?”

All along, Jiang Chiyue had been trying to tell herself that Li Xingya was acting, that she was lying.

But at this moment, when she realized that there really was a strange soul inside Li Xingya’s body, when she understood that her beloved’s body was truly occupied by someone else, anger completely consumed her reason.

Jiang Chiyue suddenly reached out.

In that brief instant, Li Xingya only felt her body lose balance.

The next moment.

With a “thud,” Li Xingya crashed heavily to the floor.

“Ugh!”

Before Li Xingya could understand what happened, the suffocating feeling in her throat brought a ticklish sensation to her larynx.

The strange feeling of her brain quickly filling with blood made her instinctively kick her legs in resistance.

But Jiang Chiyue just pressed down on her, continuously increasing the strength in her hands.

‘I’m going to die.’

‘At this rate, I really will die.’

‘But that’s not so bad either.’

Li Xingya suddenly stopped resisting.

‘At least the game of playing substitute is finally over.’

‘But how will I explain it to Meng Yiqiao and Lin Jin’an?’

“Cough… cough…!”

The process of oxygen deprivation had already made Li Xingya’s mind gradually hazy.

‘I’m about to die, and I still have the energy to worry about others.’

Looking at the madness in Jiang Chiyue’s expression, Li Xingya slowly closed her eyes.

Like falling into water, she let herself sink into the silent darkness.

***

Three days later.

Li Xingya woke up in a private hospital room.

Staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, she froze for a moment.

‘Was I reborn again?’

“Xiaoya, you’re finally awake!”

The one who answered her was Lin Jin’an’s voice.

She followed the sound and saw Lin Jin’an looking at her with a face full of worry.

‘Tch.’

‘So it wasn’t rebirth.’

‘I failed to die?’

‘At the most critical moment… Jiang Chiyue got soft again.’

‘Coward.’

‘Does she want to keep me alive to torment each other for the rest of our lives?’

‘Whether it’s murder or attempted murder… neither is good.’

‘Jiang Chiyue is really a lunatic.’