Chapter 260: Double Suicide? Mother-in-Law, I Won’t Allow It!

Outside the door, Layana’s figure stood silently.

Inside the door, Laxana’s world had already turned upside down.

It wasn’t because of last night’s ridiculous affair that she had locked herself away.

Shame?

What was that worth?

What truly made her soul tremble was the thought that had slammed into her mind at the peak of ecstasy.

The Theory of Lifespan.

Last night, while being held down by Astreia and pressed tightly against Wendy, she felt the prince’s warm, vibrant skin and his uniquely mortal, fragile, and rapid heartbeat.

An ice-cold question pierced through all her defenses without warning.

What about ten years from now?

What about a hundred years from now?

She and Astreia, as transcendent beings with long lifespans, could still maintain their youth and beauty.

And Wendy?

An ordinary human male.

He would age, develop wrinkles, grow frail, and eventually turn into a handful of cold earth.

What would they do then?

Hold the prince’s tombstone and reminisce about the warmth they once shared?

Or, in the long passage of time, silently watch his features blur in her memory until they disappeared?

No!

The moment that thought appeared, all of Laxana’s heat was replaced by bone-chilling cold.

Absolutely not!

Ignoring everything else, she threw on a robe and rushed straight to the Central Library.

She had to find a way!

She had to make Wendy stay with her forever!

Using her authority as a High Mage, she scoured almost every book in the library overnight—those about extending lifespan and modifying physiques.

From The Ultimate Secret of Life Alchemy to Forbidden Techniques of Soul Contract, from The Natural Path of Druids to Transformation Ritual of Necromancers.

There were methods, indeed.

But each one came with a disgusting price.

Turn him into a mindless Flesh Golem that only seeks?

Transform him into a cold Lich or Blood Clan?

Or perform the most forbidden Human Alchemy, turning him into an undead, emotionless monster?

No.

None of these were her Wendy.

What she wanted was the prince who would blush, get shy, and look at her with that mischievous gaze.

Not a walking corpse, an empty shell without a self!

She couldn’t find it.

Not a single usable method.

Laxana collapsed into a pile of books, her eyes bloodshot, her spirit and stamina completely drained.

Despair utterly drowned her.

Laxana, dazed and lost, shuffled back to the dormitory, locked herself inside, collapsed onto the bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Until…

“Laxana? Are you in there? It’s me, Wendy.”

The prince’s voice floated faintly from another world.

Was she hallucinating?

Laxana thought groggily.

Was she missing him so much that even in her dreams, he came looking for her?

But that thought again pricked her with the thorn called the Theory of Lifespan.

She felt terrible.

A giant rock blocked her chest, making it hard to breathe.

Tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

She thought it was just a sad dream.

But in the end, Wendy, Astreia, and even her own mother were all blocking the door.

No!

If they saw her like this, with a tear-streaked face, crying like a fool, how could she ever hold her head up again?

Especially if Wendy saw her…

So Laxana gritted her teeth and continued to play dead.

Only when her mother’s anxious footsteps faded away did Laxana dare to get up from the bed and quietly move to the door.

She pressed her ear against it, confirming there was really only one person outside.

Click.

The lock turned softly.

Layana was about to force the door open a second time when it opened by itself.

She saw her daughter at once.

Laxana was wearing a rumpled nightgown, her golden hair scattered wildly over her shoulders.

Those always-spirited violet eyes were red and swollen, and her delicate face still bore traces of fresh tears.

She looked like a cat caught in a rainstorm—fragile and heartbreaking.

All of the Headmistress’s authority and rationality crumbled the moment she saw her daughter in that state.

“Laxana…”

She stepped forward and pulled Laxana tightly into her arms.

“Mom…”

The familiar embrace, carrying her mother’s unique warmth, instantly shattered Laxana’s last bit of stubbornness.

Burying her face in her mother’s shoulder, the grievance and fear she had suppressed all night finally found an outlet.

She cried her heart out, like a child who had suffered a great injustice.

“Waaah—!”

Layana said nothing, just gently patted her daughter’s back again and again, letting her vent.

After crying for what felt like an eternity, Laxana’s sobs gradually subsided.

She lifted her reddened eyes to her mother and, in a hoarse voice, told her everything.

From their first meeting at Sunset Fortress to the accident in Berwick that led to the two of them being caught in the “Thorn Kiss.”

And last night, the panic over the Theory of Lifespan that had nearly broken her.

“Mom… help me…”

Laxana clutched Layana’s robe tightly, as if grasping at the last straw.

“You’re the greatest magical scholar on the continent, right? There must be a way, isn’t there?”

“Give me a way… a way to make Wendy have a long life too, so he can stay with us forever…”

“I really don’t want… I don’t want him to die… I don’t want to be holding his ashes a hundred years from now… I really don’t…”

The lady was incoherent, her words filled with pleading.

Layana listened quietly, the pain and affection on her face gradually freezing, then suddenly shrinking, replaced by an unprecedented shock.

“Wait…”

Layana’s hands on her daughter’s shoulders tightened abruptly, with a force that made Laxana wince.

“You said… you and Wendy… were struck by the ‘Thorn Kiss’?!”

Layana’s face turned deathly pale, drained of all color, and her body began to tremble slightly.

“Yeah.”

Laxana nodded, not understanding.

“You… you foolish girl! Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

“The ‘Thorn Kiss’… that’s a Forbidden Poison! The two people poisoned form an ‘Empathic Link’! Your lives, your senses—all of them are bound together!”

Layana stared at her daughter intently, speaking word by word, revealing a piece of information Laxana had long overlooked.

“Doesn’t that mean… when Prince Wendy dies, you… you’ll die with him too?!”

What?

Laxana froze on the spot.

Her entire mind buzzed.

Empathic Link?

Life sharing?

If he dies, I die too?

She stood there in a daze, processing this earth-shattering news.

A few seconds later.

An indescribable joy, like an electric current, shot through her limbs and torso.

So… that’s how it was?

So… that’s how it was?

So I didn’t have to worry about him leaving first?

Because…

We’ll die together!

This was practically an indirect solution to the problem of the Theory of Lifespan!

Where was the poison?

This was the most romantic “Eternal Contract” in the world!

Having realized this, Laxana’s sorrow and despair vanished, replaced by a nearly pathological, blissful radiance.

But before she could rejoice, her mother’s resolute words cut off her ecstasy.

“No! The ‘Thorn Kiss’ must be undone!”