The dark, heavy clouds seemed ready to collapse from the horizon.
The wind blowing through the shattered window flickered the crimson flame of the candlewick.
Lin Nuo’s shadow, stretched long on the ground, flickered along with it.
After Yulilian finished asking her question, her small hand still clung tightly to his, as if desperate for security.
Her eyelashes, heavy with exhaustion, fluttered faintly until she fell asleep, breathing softly.
Lin Nuo, standing by the window, remained silent for a long time.
His mind replayed everything that had just happened like a recording stone.
The voices of Parkes, Vitz, and Ruding each surfaced chaotically, his eardrums reverberating with noise.
Both known and unknown information bombarded his nerves.
Until all the noise ended with Yulilian’s words.
She said—
“I can’t help her anymore. No one can help her now…”
Something was wrong…
A strange, discordant feeling rushed over Lin Nuo’s brain like an instant landslide, completely overwhelming him.
His breathing grew heavy, and his brows furrowed tightly.
From the very beginning, Lin Nuo had sensed that everything happening was extremely strange.
All these sudden events contradicted the original plot he knew—none of this had ever occurred in the original storyline!
The reality he just experienced indicated that Amidina had long been caught in some dangerous whirlpool.
In the original story, she should also be facing a similar crisis at this time.
So how did she escape this potentially fatal predicament in the original story?
Was it simply because in the original plot she had gone adventuring with Feng Aotian, grinding monsters, and thus wasn’t captured—and now, this time, she had chosen to stay behind at the Clemence Manor?
No, that made no logical sense!
Parkes and the others clearly coveted Amidina’s ability to help them purify wraiths.
How could they just stop their seemingly years-long plan because Amidina went somewhere else?
Or was it because the other side suddenly faced an even greater problem and abandoned Amidina?
Or perhaps someone else stepped into the peril Amidina was supposed to face?
Lin Nuo’s heartstrings suddenly tightened.
Since Yulilian was so clingy to Amidina, then why, in the original story, after the chapters where Lin Nuo—the blond villain—was repeatedly slapped down, did Yulilian mysteriously disappear from Amidina’s life for reasons unknown?
Exactly!
The tangled mess of Lin Nuo’s thoughts was unraveled again as he pulled at every thread meticulously, discovering a shocking truth not explicitly mentioned in the original plot:
They said… tomorrow was the day that the so-called Magic Whale was supposed to awaken.
The time in the original story must have been just as urgent as now.
And the truth might be that, before Parkes could capture the suddenly vanished Amidina and drag her back, Yulilian—knowing her sister couldn’t escape—had already prepared in secret, storing vast amounts of magic.
She must have returned early, and before Amidina even realized, her naïve little sister had taken her place to endure an unbearable fate…
Yulilian would definitely sacrifice herself for Amidina, just like how she rushed out without hesitation to block that dagger for him…
“Everything’s already a mess.”
“Chirp chirp?”
“I don’t think she’ll come back safely. What do you think?”
“Chirp chirp…”
Lin Nuo heard his own voice, somewhat suppressed and hoarse.
Yulilian didn’t reappear in the original plot until much later.
By then, she could no longer use magic and had to struggle to grow stronger by means other than learned magic.
Also, the foodie she once was no longer loved food—probably because her body had been too badly injured to support it anymore…
This meant she had barely survived this crisis by risking everything, relying on years of accumulated magical reserves and the stronger vitality of the Red Dragon bloodline…
But Amidina’s situation was completely different from Yulilian’s.
It seemed Parkes absolutely needed Amidina to expend a portion of her magic purifying the wraiths—at least thirty percent of her power would be consumed.
Her elven body was far weaker than the Red Dragon’s, and she didn’t have Yulilian’s unique magic reserves…
Everything pointed to the outcome Lin Nuo least wanted to see:
—Amidina was bound to die.
“You think I’d go help… No, do you think I’m qualified to change something like that?”
Lin Nuo scratched Fatty Bird’s neck.
“Chirp chirp…”
The soft bird’s head rubbed against his palm, then sincerely sighed for a long while.
“See, you think it’s impossible too,” Lin Nuo said.
“Even Father can’t intervene directly. It’s obvious that both him and Mother want to protect Amidina, but all they can do is keep her at Clemence Manor by arranging for her to marry me, maybe just waiting for a chance to turn things around?”
“Maybe the best scenario is if I truly marry her and she’s carrying my child, only then can Father openly protect her. That might explain why Mother wants me to consummate the marriage early… but there’s simply not enough time left!”
Lin Nuo vaguely guessed something: “When Mother said a few days ago that I’d understand what Amidina had been through soon, maybe she had already guessed the ending back then…”
“They tried. They failed.”
“Xiafuya has definitely left here by now, and with her current strength, she can’t help Amidina either…”
“No one can help.”
“You’re right. I should just go back and sleep. Maybe my guess is wrong and Amidina will come back unscathed…” Lin Nuo said, “If there’s a power that can fix the plot, it should be Xiafuya’s problem to solve… The protagonist should handle it. What can a weak villain like me possibly change…”
“Feng Aotian—she should have a chance to come back and change things, right?”
***
In a remote village somewhere.
“The rain’s been so frequent lately… I can’t shake this faint sense of unease…”
Xiafuya, having taken off her damp coat and shaken it dry, sheltered under a massive tree, eyes wistfully watching the direction from which she had just left.
The mission to fight monsters was so urgent, she hadn’t even had time to say goodbye to Amidina or ask why she pulled her hair that night…
And secretly kissed her until she fainted… her lips were swollen for days!
Wonder if she stuck out her tongue… cough!
If only she had been more proactive, she wouldn’t have just touched her thigh and stopped!
At least those two evil jiggly pudding-like things deserved a good… rubbing into their favorite shapes!
“A little adventurer, you sound like you’re missing someone. Not planning to go back and see them?”
An old man, short and kind-faced, riding a Pegasus, happened to also be taking shelter under the tree.
“According to the current route, it would take two hours to get back to Luke, right? I’m heading that way too…”
“No, the person I want to see is the Water Saint Princess. Though I miss her, I believe she won’t get into any trouble.”
“Oh?” The old man suddenly became interested.
“You mean that princess engaged to some Lin Nuo Clemence boy, the Water Saint Elf? I heard Lin Nuo’s not a very good person.”
“Maybe when the Water Saint Princess you want to see faces some grievance, that cold noble will still hide away in bed pretending to sleep, ha ha,” the old man laughed heartily.
“No, no, you don’t understand him. I don’t know him well either, but I see things differently from you.”
Xiafuya confidently waved her hand.
“I believe if Amidina’s in trouble, he’ll help.”
“After all…”
She touched the Truth Ring on her finger, which hadn’t reacted during one occasion when she tested Lin Nuo:
“A man who puts on a show of being so bad in front of you—how truly bad can he really be?”