Chapter 29: Night Road
“You can even use standard Etherealization now—you really are quite talented, aren’t you? Worthy of being my Prince.”
Vivian teased him with a playful tone.
“Well, I guess I’ve activated my body’s baseline. Right now, I can still see you thanks to this damn talent.”
Vivian held his hand as they strolled through the nighttime forest. Fireflies dotted the dim night sky with their tiny glimmers of light. On the quiet path, tree shadows swayed, harmonizing with the gentle breeze to perform nature’s symphony.
“With all these ores, you really don’t plan to make good use of them?”
“What, so you can take them and forge them into deadly weapons?” Vivian said. Since childhood, her elders had told her that human potential was immeasurable.
Correspondingly, their desires and ambitions would expand along with it.
But in Baili, she couldn’t see any desire or ambition—only confusion, not knowing what to live for.
Along the way, Vivian held his hand, walking carefully.
Baili could feel her hand gripping his was getting hot, and she was sweating more frequently.
Vivian still walked ahead. The path ahead was rather dark, and she hadn’t brought a lantern or any other light source. But for the sake of face, she still pressed on, walking quickly with determination.
“Are you okay? Walking so fast, aren’t you afraid of slipping and falling?”
“Don’t tell me you can’t keep up walking at night. Really.”
The road was scattered with small branches and pebbles that crunched underfoot, creating an eerie sound. Baili didn’t mind, but Vivian was already becoming unsteady, her hand holding Baili’s trembling constantly.
Vivian supported herself against a nearby tree. The leaves rustled and fell onto Baili’s head. Baili shook his head, brushing off the leaves—having wet leaves fall on his head was truly unpleasant.
“Wait, you’re not afraid of the dark, are you?” He couldn’t help but laugh at his own question.
“I… I’m not! I’m just a little tired, that’s all.”
She said this without blushing or breathing hard—this lie could probably only fool children like Treize.
Just as she turned around to argue back, a white thread suddenly slid down from the tree, with a palm-sized spider hanging from it. And it happened to be just a hair’s breadth away from Vivian’s face.
“Eek, eek, eek…”
She startled completely, losing all her previous coolness. She quickly darted behind Baili, hugging him tightly and refusing to let go.
“Y-you, hurry up and get this thing away from me!” Vivian’s voice carried a sob, tears glimmering faintly in the corners of her eyes.
Baili grabbed the spider and threw it away. Looking back at Vivian, she poked her head out cautiously, looking around nervously, afraid another spider might appear.
“I never would have guessed you’re not only afraid of the dark but also afraid of arthropods.”
…
Only then did Vivian realize she’d been far too undignified just now, acting like that in front of this guy—she really had been like a startled kitten.
She pouted, turning her head away from Baili, sulking by herself.
“Who told you to expose my shortcomings like that? Hmph, I’m not taking you back anymore.”
This wasn’t how someone should act spoiled. Baili was truly speechless—he wasn’t afraid of the dark. But seeing her puffed up like that, he couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.
“Fine, let’s just leave it at that.” Baili took out his carving knife and sawed open a piece of rotting wood nearby. Before long, a simple lantern was ready.
Fireflies dotted the night sky, and one accidentally bumped into Baili’s face, giving him an idea.
“Little guys, sorry to trouble you for a favor.”
Just like that, Baili caught more than ten fireflies and put them inside the carved lantern. Using glass he carried with him, he fitted it into the four sides of the lantern. This lamp should be enough to appease that crybaby.
Vivian was still sitting there sulking when she felt some light behind her and instinctively turned around.
The slightly yellowish light illuminated Baili’s face. His smile was somewhat stiff, and his hand movements were unnatural.
“Take this. We need to hurry back, and I’m still counting on you to lead the way.”
Vivian lifted her left hand to wipe away her tears. She hadn’t expected him to actually do it. She took the lantern—she was honestly quite moved, but what came out of her mouth was still merciless.
“Hmph, then I’ll reluctantly forgive you.”
She carefully took the lantern. The light it cast in the night was just enough to illuminate the small path ahead.
With this lamp, Vivian still held Baili’s hand, but this time without any nervousness.
…When they left the forest, the lanterns hanging by the suspension bridge provided enough light. Vivian looked at the lantern in her hand, somewhat at a loss.
“Do you still need this thing?”
“No need. These fireflies have worked hard all this way—we should send them back.” Vivian opened the glass top, and the fireflies scattered in all directions, once again becoming tiny glimmers of light under the night sky.
Baili and Vivian leaned against each other like this, watching the fireflies fly away.
He reached out his hand, trying to catch one of the fireflies, but only grasped empty air. Sitting back-to-back on the bench, he relaxed his body and just collapsed backward.
“I really don’t know what to do with you. Consider this a reward.” Vivian sat there, letting Baili rest his head on her lap as he fell into deep sleep.
He really was tired—he’d already endured too much that shouldn’t have been his burden to bear.
Vivian casually set the lantern aside, then lifted her left hand and gently placed it in her storage ring. After all, this was something her plaything had made specially for her.
Previously, Vivian had indeed simply treated Baili as a plaything—him trying to please her was only natural. But she didn’t know why she was becoming unable to leave him.
And she’d also learned about Baili’s background—he was a pitiful child too. Originally, she’d wanted to torment him until he’d rather die than live, but his previous actions weren’t his true intentions either. He was also a responsible person.
Though he was still a bit clumsy in daily life, which was honestly ridiculous.
Her fingertip gently traced across Baili’s face. He was sleeping peacefully now, and Vivian couldn’t bear to disturb him. Quietly enjoying this soft, cool sensation, she too became somewhat addicted to it.
“Sleep well, my little toy.”
The quiet night, the lone lamp by the bridge, the evening breeze gently lifting Vivian’s beautiful hair, stars scattered across the sky—she felt the warmth of the person in her arms.
“Honestly, should I unlock some of his restrictions? Always being without magic power like this isn’t a solution.”
After all, his ice attribute was too obvious. If the clan members recognized his true identity now, it would probably cause some misunderstandings.
This problem was indeed troublesome, and she still had to maintain tight control over his body—after all, the master-servant relationship was established.
Honestly, she was too lazy to think about all these complications. She’d finish the coronation ceremony first. Besides, he should contribute something to pay back his debt to her now.
It was just a pity about Prince Condé. However, looking at the sleeping Baili before her, she couldn’t summon much hatred—instead, there was some inexplicable emotion.
Before long, she felt somewhat drowsy too, and unconsciously closed her eyes.
Just like that, they managed to spend a peaceful night together.