Lin Guang suddenly asked, "What's your reason?"

"The contract never said I had to explain anything to you."

"..."

"My father killed my grandfather."

In the sunset, Chelina stared at the boy in front of her and suddenly, calmly, said these shocking words:

"And I too killed my own father with my own hands, betraying the place where I grew up, just to escape the things I hated."

"I fled from Columbia, fled from Syracuse, and escaped to this world."

"And if necessary, I would do the same to you."

She looked at the boy, her words filled with calm and determination: "Your kindness and gentleness indeed brought me a lot of trouble."

"But in fact, sympathy is meaningless to someone like me. Everything I did, even being captured by the Divine Heart Association, was just my own fault."

"My actions have never been half as righteous as those of the Divine Heart Association, perhaps even more despicable."

"The Divine Heart Association essentially acts within the rules of Great Xia, like the countless families in Syracuse, no matter how brutal and bloody, they still operate under that supreme authority."

"But I am a stray wolf, personally killing my blood kin, a traitor to the rules."

"When I first guaranteed with Texas's surname... I had already planned to use you."

"When I am completely healed and have no risk of Genetic Collapse... I can continue my road."

She enunciated each word: "I want to leave you, and then with this healthy body, escape the watchful eyes of the Divine Heart Association, stay away from all whirlpools, and live freely in the way I want."

"You have no right to tether me to your side."

At this moment, the contract was almost completely blocked by her, not a single strand of emotion could flow from Chelina to Lin Guang, as if proving how genuine and well-thought-out her ruthless determination was.

Thus.

The boy lowered his head slightly, appearing as if he was finally disappointed by these utterly heartless, uncompromising words, or as if he accepted reality.

Under the watch of Chelina's tangerine eyes, his glasses reflected the sunset, making his expression unreadable, he gently said, "I see."

The sun was about to set, the shadows of Chelina and him grew longer on the ground in the sunset.

This old room was empty, like her almost three years of blank time in this world, also like her heart that had grown numb and insensitive after slaying her own insane father.

Chelina looked at the boy's expression, softly murmuring in her heart.

Back to being alone again.

That's fine... it's fine.

All of this is what I, the traitor, deserve.

I'm sorry, Lin Guang, I have no right...

However, the next moment.

Lin Guang suddenly lifted his head, his handsome face showed no change, with a slight smile: "I refuse."

Chelina's pupils trembled slightly.

The boy shook his head helplessly and reached out his hand to her: "We can still make it home in time to cook dinner."

She stared at Lin Guang with her tangerine face, speaking again in a cold voice: "Are you going to break the contract?"

Lin Guang pointed at her: "Not me, you are going to break the contract."

"You're not okay yet, are you?"

"..."

Chelina was slightly stunned, her voice cold as she said, "I may not have fully regained my strength, but I am already free of the risk of Genetic Collapse, the contract is fulfilled."

"I'm not talking about that."

The boy's eyes reflected the sunset behind her, he calmly said:

"I did say you could leave after being healed, but I never said... just healing your body."

Chelina was suddenly stupefied.

At that moment, Lin Guang suddenly recalled the night he contracted Chelina, the feelings conveyed from the other end of their resonating hearts.

Numbness, emptiness, no will to live... but only the desire to seek out the last bit of solace that he brought.

This was the real reason Lin Guang initially chose to contract her—the heart that was as riddled with holes, as incomplete as his own Heart of Terra, almost on the verge of shattering.

"From the very beginning, what I wanted to heal wasn't just your body."

He slyly winked, pointing to her heart.

"So, until I consider this part of you healed, you're not allowed to leave."

"..."

Chelina was silent, as if she had never imagined Lin Guang would resort to such a way to entangle her.

She took a deep breath, then disappeared from where she stood.

The next moment, Lin Guang suddenly felt a slender hand grab his shoulder and press him onto the bed.

Bang.

The sheets, unused for several months, floated up countless specks of dust in the sunset's light.

Chelina's gaze was icy cold, her long legs kneeling on the bed, her whole posture and eyes like a wild wolf on the hunt, she leaned forward, a few thin fingers pressed against Lin Guang's heart, seemingly moments away from tearing open the skin of the boy seven years younger than her, to dig into his flesh, touch the heart beating within his chest.

With her power, she could accomplish these things effortlessly.

But Lin Guang showed no trace of fear.

He just kept making eye contact with Chelina, stretched out his hand, and pressed her hand to his heart as her eyes began to tremble again.

Therefore, with the help of those warm hands, the sound of the heartbeat she perceived became clearer.

"...!"

Chelina clearly felt that the heartbeat frequency was exactly the same as the one beating in her own chest at that moment.

Lin Guang murmured, "I could hear it from the beginning."

"You are calling for help."

She froze, momentarily in a daze.

"You say you're a traitor, saying you want to leave me, but that's a lie."

"Because your heart is clearly reaching out to me."

Chelina suddenly lost her composure.

The words spoken today, these gestures, she had rehearsed countless times in her mind before.

She must leave early, as much as possible before his feelings for her become too deep, before the state competition arrives, while there's still time to sever the contract, to free him from the sight of the Divine Heart Association.

He still has Vishdair and Lisa. With them, he can move on.

She only needs to be a passerby, which is good for everyone.

For herself... and for him.

He is still young, still naive, and still has a future.

She has always told herself this.

But now... Lin Guang's words almost tore away her layers of disguise, exposing the truth she least wanted to face.

Why didn't she follow her original plan, wait out the last three months, fully recover before making this request?

Because... during the time at Lin Guang's home, all the little moments they went through together.

Made her feel as if she was getting sicker as her body was gradually healing.

It was a condition worse than Genetic Collapse, more unsolvable.

A dead heart fears no blow or betrayal.

But now...

A malignant tumor called [Hope] and [Love] had unknowingly grown on her long-numb and closed heart, causing it to begin to regain vitality.

The warmth of these hands made her, who had long been numb, start to look forward to the future, start fearing gains and losses.

She began to fear that she would be unwilling to leave, fear that she would no longer be able to bear the despair of being alone.

Lin Guang looked at the girl's face and said softly, "You should know, saying these words to me is meaningless, because you can't deceive your own heart."

"If you were truly the so-called traitor, your heart wouldn't be beating like this."

Chelina was somewhat flustered, the coldness of her exquisitely feigned face began to break like melting ice, her eyelashes slightly trembling: "I..."

"Perhaps, you know it too."

"The reason you invited me out today was just to ask for an excuse, wanting me to forcibly keep you here."

"If that's the case, let me give you this excuse."

Lin Guang took a deep breath and called out in a low voice, "Chelina Texas!"

The girl's wolf ears trembled slightly at Lin Guang's unprecedentedly strong call, her breath momentarily halted.

Lin Guang tightly held her hand, intertwining their fingers, then took the initiative, in her extremely flustered gaze, to slowly sit up on the bed, bringing them to face each other from an extremely close distance.

He spoke with utmost determination, word by word:

"I order you to stay, no rebuttal is allowed or accepted."

"Is this enough?"

"..."

A long stare.

Those amber-red eyes gazed blankly at the dark golden eyes of the boy seven years younger than her, at this moment illuminated by the sunset, radiating a magnificent color like gilded gold.

The young man and woman's breaths washed over each other's faces.

They continued to stare at each other until the sunset gradually took away the last of its afterglow and sank beyond the horizon.

Yet the light in their eyes did not disappear, remaining just as bright.

The next moment, in the boy's suddenly wide-open eyes, Chelina suddenly embraced him tightly, her furry wolf tail wrapping around one of his ankles, her soft lips pressing up to his.

In the darkness, their synchronized heartbeats came together closely.

"Hmm..."

After a long while, Chelina finally let him go, leaving a silver line between them.

The girl licked the corner of her mouth with her tongue, as if having tasted a long-awaited flavor in her daring exploration just now, yet she was clearly not satisfied, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, and her bright eyes bearing a hint of an unmistakable hunter's intent, belonging to a wolf.

Lin Guang savored the sweetness in his mouth.

It wasn't any special taste, just... the familiar, slightly bitter and fragrant sweetness of the Pocky bought at home.

At this moment, she had already regained her composure, speaking in the tone she had used all along, softly saying:

"As you command, master."

And through the bond of the contract, Lin Guang also knew clearly the words she left unspoken.

——Next year's coming-of-age ceremony, she was looking forward to it.

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