‘In this new life in another world, I have to live with a smile…..’
‘Hehehe, I’m playing with passwords!’
Lin Nuo remembered, this was his only thought when he lost consciousness.
Struggling to open his eyes again, Lin Nuo instinctively tried to raise his hand to shield himself from the sunlight reflecting from some unknown source.
The feeling of something binding his wrist instantly yanked his awareness back to the present, and then he realized—not just his wrists, but all four of his limbs were firmly shackled to a bed by chains.
His body, forced flat on his back in a big X, perfectly displayed the little intentions the young lady had to do as she pleased with him.
He remembered—it was Xī who took him away and brought him here?
This place should be the room next to Xī’s?
There wasn’t a trace of mustiness that abandoned houses usually have, which meant it had long since been specially tidied up.
Tidied up… just to welcome its one and only prisoner.
As if to make him more comfortable, the length of the chains allowed Lin Nuo to sit up and look around.
The house wasn’t made entirely of mirrors, but on each of the six walls—including the ceiling and the floor—delicate fragments of mirror were intricately embedded…
The sunlight that had just reflected onto him came from those mirror shards.
It was a cage that allowed the girl imprisoning him to observe every detail of his body at any place, any time.
There was only a small window for ventilation, but the thousand paper cranes set upon it rendered even Fatty Bird’s scouting ability useless.
“And also….”
“She didn’t let you off either?”
Fatty Bird, bound and trussed up as well, was shaking its head back and forth in front of the mirror.
It bounced around, fluttering its body, chirped twice at its own reflection, as if saying, “What a beautiful little bird….”
Vain bird!
Oh well, no matter where it’s locked up, someone will still feed it anyway….
“Good morning, Young Master~”
“Shff shff shff—”
Just as Lin Nuo was wondering why there was no door in the room, the solid wall before him suddenly made the shuffling sound of a thick stack of paper being flipped, and then Lin Nuo watched in astonishment as the wall split open like torn sheets of paper.
As Xī stepped in with her long white legs, the wall panels sealed shut again, cutting off Lin Nuo’s last hope of escape…
‘Didn’t they say when God closes a door for you, He opens a window?’
‘Now, there’s neither a door nor a window.’
‘How the heck am I supposed to run!’
Seeming to read his thoughts, Xī’s smile deepened.
She sat calmly on a stool at the bedside.
Her composed demeanor, so different from when she used to despise him or get flustered when he sucked her finger, clashed in Lin Nuo’s mind, making the girl before him seem even more enigmatic.
The way she was now, one would instinctively feel—
Xī, who embodied elegance, sanctity, superiority, wit, malice, and sweetness all at once, was no mere caretaker or maid, but someone of a far more mysterious identity.
“It was so easy to catch you, Young Master.”
“Seems like your strength still isn’t quite enough to defeat me yet.”
“I forgot to tell you, Young Master, if the goal is to capture you and deal with you…”
Xī propped her chin on both hands, her smiling face suddenly drawing close, the sweet fragrance from her cherry lips spraying right onto his face: “Letting you off easy~ That’s not my style~”
“…”
She reached down, pinching the corner of the thin blanket she’d draped over him last night to keep him from catching a chill, and elegantly peeled it back as if unwrapping a long-awaited delicacy.
Her crescent-moon eyes slowly swept over his fully exposed body; inch by inch of skin seemed to burn under the searing heat of her gaze.
Lin Nuo was just about to ask her to at least fetch him some clothes, but his eyes drifted to the wooden table beside him and fell silent.
That ceramic sculpture—supposedly an object of devotion for any devout nun—was a statue of the Time Goddess by its features.
At this moment, however, a dagger had been deeply stabbed into the top of the goddess statue’s head by Xī…
“Just thinking how a god’s prophecy made you guard against me for over eight years really makes me mad!”
“Young Master, did you know that the reason you kept changing maids and wouldn’t let the servants near you was all just to guard against me…”
“Do you know what I most wanted to do to you?”
Crossing her jade legs, Xī gently ran her hand up his neck, then abruptly pinched his chin and lifted his head, a flicker of madness and obsession flashing through her eyes.
“But, Think about it—didn’t the goddess’s prophecy also say you were fated to meet me, that you were always meant to belong to me…”
Xī’s flawless, fair face drew closer to his, her warm breath grazing his earlobe as she spoke: “That’s a rather pleasant conclusion, don’t you think, Young Master?”
“Do I look like someone who’d agree with you?” To ward off her further teasing, Lin Nuo turned his head and formally asked: “I don’t believe I was fated to meet you, Xī. You only came to Claremont Manor seven years and nine months ago, not even a full eight years…”
“Ah, does Young Master think the goddess’s prophecy was wrong?” Xī giggled.
“…”
“…Forget it.”
“Though I don’t want to admit it, no matter how long you’ve been by my side, it’s honestly hard to suspect you.”
What Lin Nuo couldn’t wrap his head around was—
Even if, at age ten, he tried to avoid this fate by not staying at Claremont Manor, maybe by some strange twist, she still ended up targeting him…
This part didn’t make sense, but he decided not to dwell on it for now.
The original plot’s description can’t possibly be wrong, right?
The girl who had hidden in Claremont Manor for exactly eight years and then took him away…
Such precise timing!
‘What did I do to even change a plot I already knew!?’
“Actually, today is exactly my eighth anniversary here.”
“Young Master didn’t remember wrong.”
Xī’s tone carried a hint of nostalgia: “Maybe it’s because someone made you forget the three months you spent with me when you were eight, which made you skip over the time between first meeting me and when I returned to your side…”
‘Buzz—’
‘Made me…’
‘Forget…’
‘Three months of memories!’
This answer, which he’d never considered, sent a buzzing shock through Lin Nuo’s mind.
“Young Master, think carefully—do you really remember what happened in the sea battle you joined the Saint Knight Order on when you were ten?”
“Are you kidding! How could I forget what I’ve done?” Lin Nuo reflexively retorted.
“Mm, then tell me.”
“….”
Lost in thought, Lin Nuo didn’t know how long it was before he finally lifted his head again, and saw his own confused eyes reflected in the mirror before him….
“I vaguely… seem to remember… I went adventuring with a group of knights and encountered an enemy… Then I was struck by some attack… and after blacking out, I woke up and had been recovering for over eight years…”
Lin Nuo’s expression grew even more perplexed.
In his memory, there was absolutely no information about the enemy they’d encountered, no details of magic clashing between both sides, and he couldn’t even recall what kind of spell had struck him!
A lesson that had kept him bedridden for eight years—how could he possibly forget something like that?
Yet, on closer thought, he couldn’t even remember the faces of any of the Holy Knights who accompanied him on that adventure…
“Well, I can’t remember.”
As a stabbing ache throbbed in his mind, Lin Nuo gave up trying to recall.
The encounters with Aimidina had already taught him—since he’d set off on a path diverging from the original plot, he should also be prepared for countless changes in the story caused by himself.
The foolishly lazy villain in the original story would never have chosen to go adventuring as he did…
Since it was his different choices eight years ago that led someone to make him forget three months, and then be imprisoned by Xī, there wasn’t much point digging deeper.
“I’ve always had a question—why did you wait eight years to make your move?”
“I didn’t want to wait either.”
“But—”
“I’m not into little kids.”
“…Huh?”
‘Say it clearly! Who’s a kid here, how am I a kid, what part of me is a kid?’
‘Oh… you mean age. Well, that’s fine then.’
Still a bit dazed, Lin Nuo held his head, then suddenly remembered something: “Why were there two of you in your room?”
Xī replied softly: “I have more than just two of me.”
She shifted gracefully, her curvaceous figure perching onto the bed, drawing even closer as she examined the naked Lin Nuo, as if evaluating how many people his body could satisfy.
After a long look, she gave him a faint, ambiguous smile: “You’ll know very soon, Young Master.”
“Hmph~ I could see you were worried about my safety and came here for me, and now I’ve got you locked up, but you’re still worrying about me… It almost makes me reluctant to do what I’ve been waiting for, my adorable Young Master.”
Xī bent over and took off her shoes, her smooth legs slipping from beneath her nun’s robe and folding gracefully onto the bed as she knelt in front of Lin Nuo.
A flash of brilliance in her hand, and the blond before her soon grew drowsy, his eyelids drooping as he leaned against her soft shoulder.
She patted his back and murmured softly, “But, even if you don’t ask, I ought to let you know at least…”
“How I’ll make you, from inside out, from body to soul, belong to me—completely and utterly…”