The gloomy sunlight filtered through the emerald floor-to-ceiling windows, falling upon a girl with a pale face and disheveled hair. She possessed a stunning beauty, yet not a single spark of life could be seen in her eyes.
“A Yue, eat something...” Clo held a spoon to Li Yue’s lips, carefully nudging them. As if by a conditioned reflex, Li Yue subconsciously chewed and swallowed, mechanically eating the food. Given Li Yue’s physical constitution, it would have been perfectly fine even if she didn’t eat for a long time.
However, if she didn’t do something, Clo felt as if Li Yue were already dead, leaving nothing but a hollow shell behind. She had tried to awaken Li Yue’s spirit, only to nearly lose herself in the boundless black mist of her subconscious—a void teeming with madness and corruption.
Was this the price Li Yue always spoke of? It seemed so, yet something felt off. This was not like the prices Clo had seen paid in her years of studying magic. She had only felt a faintly similar aura from the corpses of those who had failed to absorb god’s remains, but those were nothing compared to the aura currently radiating from Li Yue.
“A Yue...” Clo set down the empty bowl. She pulled back a small corner of the duvet, removed her heavy robes, and gently embraced Li Yue’s slightly chilled body. Although Li Yue did not return the gentle caress as she usually did, it was only in this moment that Clo could truly feel her presence. At least she was still here by her side, not having left at all.
In the future she had witnessed—the one Li Yue had painted in that single instant—Clo could not find her own place. Li Yue had shielded her, as if she had planned from the very beginning to end everything with her own power.
The black flames of fate blazed fiercely, and blood-red slashes tore through space. They locked onto those magic beasts as if by a predetermined destiny. Just like gods forced to face their own twilight, when their time to die came, they had to perish. No matter how powerful they once were, at that moment, even a blade of grass would have been enough to kill them.
She still remembered the scene from that day. In just a single moment, she had appeared at the top of the wall. That sudden sensation made her feel as if a lifetime had passed. By the time she regained her senses, that River of the Dead, which the living could not cross, stood as a barrier before her. Even with time retracing, she could not return to that exact moment.
Only after Li Yue had exhausted all her strength and fallen powerlessly from the sky, as the River of the Dead flowed back into the Underworld, did Clo manage to catch her just before she hit the ground.
“Why... did you leave me behind again?” Clo buried her face in Li Yue’s chest, tears welling in her eyes.
“Clo?” Li Yue’s hand brushed against Clo’s face. She murmured Clo’s name, her consciousness still hazy. She was on the verge of forgetting even who she was, yet she remembered Clo’s appearance; she could recognize her with just a gentle touch.
“I’m here... A Yue... I’m here.” Clo gripped Li Yue’s hand. It was so cold.
“Clo...” Li Yue repeated the name. Her deep red eyes were hollow. The white hair Clo had neatly combed for her had become messy again, with stray strands clinging to the corner of her mouth.
“Please wake up soon... I’m begging you...” Clo held Li Yue, struggling to fall asleep amidst her grief and sorrow.
...
In the early hours of the morning, Clo’s despondent figure appeared in the academy’s long corridor. She wanted to clear her head and take in the sights she usually ignored. She had woken up several times from her dreams, and each time, seeing Li Yue like a doll with her eyes half-closed, she could only force herself back into a lonely sleep.
“Miss Clo, how is Miss Li Yue’s mental state today? Has there been any improvement?” Leonardo was carrying a set of fishing gear, seemingly preparing to go fishing in the middle of the lake, when he happened to run into the strolling Clo.
“It’s very bad... I don’t even know... what I can do for her,” Clo said, looking lost. “I can only hold her and cry. I can’t do anything else...”
Leonardo fell silent for a moment. He opened his mouth, seemingly caught in a dilemma of his own.
“She is an extremely powerful deity. Perhaps for now, she just needs some time to recover.” Leonardo didn’t know who he was saying those words for—Clo or himself.
“The Royal Court has also had cases where magic users were contaminated by heretical powers,” Leonardo mused. “But the Church has never made their treatment methods public. Or rather, they never announced the final outcome for those magic users.”
“According to their own claims, those people eventually became a part of the Church...” Leonardo sighed. “Perhaps she just needs someone like you to take her out for walks more often. Maybe then she’ll get better.”
“Is that so...” Clo murmured. She cupped some spring water and splashed it on her face, as if trying to wash away her sorrow, exhaustion, and lethargy.
“No matter what... this time, I must be the one to protect you...”
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