The plate shattered into pieces right in front of Leon.
Food splattered everywhere, and some of it stained his boots.
Ailia had originally intended to eat the food to protect Zhe Zilin, but Leon’s single sentence made her suddenly come to her senses.
She would rather die than compromise.
That was the very sentence Zhe Zilin had put into action inside her castle.
Leon took half a step back.
He could not understand why Ailia, who had already brought the food to her mouth, suddenly changed her mind and even smashed the plate without giving herself any room for regret.
“You are seeking your own death, Ailia! Do you know what the consequences of doing this will be? Leibang Ed will not end well!”
Ailia rose to her feet. Her dark-red robe was especially eye-catching.
The Witch’s eerie and overwhelmingly oppressive aura filled the entire room, as though they had arrived in hell itself. She had killing intent.
Leon froze and retreated. In her eyes there remained only Ailia’s death-god-like figure.
In his peripheral vision, the world seemed to sink into darkness in an instant.
“Ailia, you will regret this. You will regret everything you have done today.”
Every step Ailia took was filled with majesty. Her words echoed unusually ethereally inside the room.
“If you dare drag Ed into danger, I will kill you.”
Cold sweat had completely soaked through the back of Leon’s clothes.
He wanted to move his body backward, yet no matter how hard he tried, he could not lift his trembling legs.
Seeing Ailia draw closer and closer, Leon used every ounce of strength to roar.
The sound that came out was extremely hoarse.
“Ai… rigo!”
Bang!
Airigo pushed the door open with his sword and rushed into the room.
He had prepared himself for a life-and-death battle with the Witch, yet when his sword was pointed at Ailia, a look of bewilderment appeared on his face.
Ailia was sitting quietly beside the King of the North’s coffin, offering prayers, while Leon stood not far away like a frightened little bird, flapping his own hands before collapsing onto the floor on his backside.
Airigo did not understand what had happened. With one hand still holding his sword upright, he used the other to help Leon to his feet.
“My lord, what happened?”
He wanted to know what had occurred inside the room.
Why was cold sweat streaming down Leon’s face while his body trembled uncontrollably?
Airigo had been to war before.
He knew this was the convulsion of a person on the verge of death.
Yet Ailia was clearly sitting perfectly fine.
Had Leon frightened himself?
He stared at Ailia for a moment before finally sheathing his sword.
Supporting Leon with both hands, he helped him out of the room.
Just as they neared the doorway, Ailia’s voice rang out. “Remember this feeling.”
Leon did not turn back. He knew this was a naked threat. Ailia possessed the ability to kill him at any moment.
Standing in place to steady himself, he realized that everything he had done was not for himself, nor was it for the ice demon.
It was for his child.
“Ailia, once a person has a weakness, they will have concerns. But they will also become brave.”
“You and I are actually the same. We are both willing to die for that weakness.”
Ailia turned her head and watched Leon’s departing back, falling into deep thought.
Supported by Airigo, Leon sat on the stone steps and gulped down air in large mouthfuls.
Yet there was no sign of dejection in his eyes. Instead, there was a trace of acceptance toward death.
……
……
The sky changed from daylight to dusk.
The Northern Territory’s sky was always covered by a layer of clouds and mist.
It was difficult to see the sunset, let alone the evening glow.
When the light before their eyes began to dim and the glow of candles swayed inside every household, the people here knew that night was approaching.
Zhe Zilin opened his eyes.
This had been an immersive sleep. Warmth and peace had dispelled the cold of the Northern Territory and the anxiety in his heart.
Since arriving here, this was the first time he had slept so deeply.
Staring at the ceiling, all the events of the past days felt like a dream.
[Congratulations, you have completed Osha’s Wish One: Found Leibang Ed]
[Reward Obtained: Skill LV1 True God’s Eye]
[When you look in a certain direction, you can see the person you wish to see, for only ten seconds]
The System’s voice pulled him back to reality.
Beside him, an impeccable and exquisite face suddenly leaned in close.
Zhe Zilin was startled and instinctively tried to retreat.
He had fallen asleep so quickly that he could not remember Osha being this close to him before he slept.
Osha’s hands were pressed against Zhe Zilin’s chest, preventing him from escaping.
A pair of gem-like eyes blinked repeatedly, as though she wanted to capture every single expression on Zhe Zilin’s face the moment he woke up.
Zhe Zilin tried to push himself up with his hands, yet he found nowhere to place them.
Osha was lying completely on top of him like a curious little rabbit that had crawled over to examine him.
“I am very dirty. I also smell bad.”
This was the only thing he could say to struggle.
Osha lowered her head and sniffed at Zhe Zilin’s chest.
“You really do smell quite bad.”
“Right? It will rub off on you too.”
Osha pursed her lips and nodded. “Then how about I help you wash, Ed?”
Zhe Zilin’s body suddenly stiffened.
Osha instantly sensed Zhe Zilin’s reaction and froze for a moment.
The two of them looked at each other. Their faces looked as though someone had smeared rouge on them.
Zhe Zilin could no longer care about anything else. He grabbed Osha’s slender waist with both hands and pushed her to the side.
He then quickly stood up, trying to hide his own abruptness.
Osha propped herself up and touched her own abdomen.
She was stunned for a moment before suddenly breaking into a smile.
“Ed, you are like a little girl who just got teased.”
Faced with Osha’s teasing, Zhe Zilin turned his back to her and put on his robe.
What he was grateful for right now was that Osha had not stripped him naked while he was asleep.
Otherwise, standing up completely naked would have been far too shameful.
However, what troubled him the most was that he could not control his own reaction at all. A single sentence from Osha had made his blood surge.
Osha looked at Zhe Zilin’s tall back and questioned him. “Ed, you promised me one thing. Do you still remember it?”
Zhe Zilin turned his head and shook it in confusion. Of course he could not remember.
Osha gathered her hair up. “You said you wanted to have two children with me so you could see what I looked like when I was little. Have you forgotten?”
Zhe Zilin frowned. He felt it was familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.
Wait. Before the reload, Osha had said she wanted to give birth to two children for Zhe Zilin so she could see what Zhe Zilin looked like when he was little.
Osha continued to tease him. “You lost your memory, Ed, so you cannot remember. But I remember. You are not allowed to go back on your word.”
Zhe Zilin swallowed. In front of Osha, the other party always held the upper hand while he could only passively endure her fierce attacks.
The more he begged for mercy, the more excited Osha became.
This was also the part Zhe Zilin found most difficult to handle. He still could not think of how to make Osha remain calm after learning that his memory loss was related to Ailia.
At present, preventing conflict between both sides was already a luxury.
Two days later would be the King of the North’s funeral.
The two of them would definitely meet. At that time, Ailia would be on the left and Osha on the right, with him caught in the middle, in a dilemma.
By then, it would probably not only be the King of the North’s funeral, but the funeral of the entire Northern Territory.
Seeing Zhe Zilin remain silent with a conflicted expression, Osha teased him further. “Ed, this is what you owe me. After we return to the royal capital, I will imprison you in a room for an entire year and not let you get out of bed.”
Zhe Zilin: “???”
He did not dare to answer. He also did not know how to answer.
He stammered and could not get a single word out.
Watching Osha’s triumphant smile, he knew he had been teased again.