Free Web NovelChapter 17: Won’t you look beside you
Lucy fell into a deep, extended sleep, not waking up until the late afternoon. Inside the Oster manor, which was situated right near the beach, the wind naturally pushed the curtains, constantly drifting inside carrying a pleasant, fresh breeze.
She opened her eyes to find herself lying in a massive, high-ceilinged room, staring up at a beautifully carved marble ceiling... on an incredibly soft bed.
Trying to gather her chaotic thoughts, she muttered in a puzzled tone, "What happened?.. Ah, the manor..."
At first, she felt utterly confused. How could she be standing right next to Cain, and suddenly, just as he looked at her and opened his stunning face to speak, her memories just cut off like that?
However, she instantly felt a wall... something like... like a void at a certain point for a brief moment. Something was missing; a mysterious time gap had occurred, causing her to fall into this long, sudden sleep.
What truly shocked her was that she had broken through to the Truth Realm.
She sat straight up on the bed, pressing her palms against her head, which felt like it was about to explode from pure bewilderment. She tried with all her might to squeeze her brain and recall the locked memories, but it was useless; everything behind the memory wall looked like a thick, heavy fog, completely blocking her vision.
Yet, the massive weight of emotions that had flooded her chest last night had not vanished. Those emotions were now an inseparable part of her new spiritual identity after evolving to the Truth Realm. She could feel the emotional pulse that led to this legendary breakthrough: it was a feeling of overwhelming love... but she was completely unable to remember the physical events that triggered it.
But human emotions are like a coded map, and by analyzing the emotional charge left behind, Lucy managed to understand the nature of what she went through. Breaking through to this level usually happened for one of two reasons: either something terrible happened to Cain caused by someone else, or... it was something like a mutual confession of love!
However, the feelings that had transformed into the core of her new entity were extremely extreme and volatile. They had grown from soft, warm emotions originally, but they evolved into a fierce obsession, like a raging sea that knows no calm. She thought with dread: ’Does this mean I tried to kidnap him or drag him away just because of some sweet words he said, or because of a gift?’ ƒrēewebnovel.com
Suddenly, a glimpse of distorted memories struck her mind, flashing like lightning:
She saw a blurry image of an injured Cain, his pale face walking toward her with heavy steps, and heavy words leaving his lips in a strange, echoing voice deep within her... but it was heavily distorted:
"Terrified... deeply... please..."
Her emotions shook violently and her skin crawled at the sight of that shattered image in her memory. She recalled a strict law of the "Truth Realm": breaking through this level requires the entity to reach the deepest, strongest, most unshakeable inner conviction that cannot be changed, entering a state of absolute "mental immersion" right before it. At that point, the spiritual surge becomes an unstoppable force.
And Lucy’s deepest conviction in this entire existence was that she loved Cain. She now realized that she had reached the Truth Realm after hitting the absolute peak of extremism and obsession in her love for him!
But the massive problem was that breaking through to the Truth Realm meant releasing a destructive, highly dangerous cosmic aura that could harm everyone around her... and she remembered nothing from the scene except the image of a pained Cain.
Her heart clenched in pure horror, and she questioned herself: ’Did I hurt Cain because of my wild love? Did I just injure the one I love because of my foolish obsession and madness?’
She turned and looked at her reflection in the large mirror; she was still wearing the disguise and appearance of "Maxi."
She breathed a small sigh of relief. Didn’t this mean she hadn’t exposed her true identity to him yet? Did it mean he wouldn’t hate her as Lucy because he didn’t see her original face during that storm?
But thoughts began to toss her around violently. She was now forced to leave and disappear as "Maxi" after all the destruction and harm she had caused him. But should she really run away? Or did duty dictate that she strip away her disguise immediately, go to him, apologize, and use her powers to heal and treat him, instead of pretending she did nothing? freeweɓnovel.cøm
Her hand stopped as she touched the cold surface of the mirror. A bitter lump and a rushing fear that almost choked her washed over her as she thought:
"But... what if he looks at me like a monster? What if he doesn’t accept me anymore and considers me nothing but a psycho freak and a danger to his life and the life of our daughter?"
But she could never hurt Cain... impossible! That was the only absolute certainty deep in her soul, yet the shattered glimpses in her memories pointed clearly to the exact opposite.
She questioned in a tone filled with despair: ’Do deep convictions even matter against cold logic? Do feelings of love have any value if their impact is deadly and destructive to the one you love?’ The past couldn’t be erased or changed just because she wished for a different reality.
Deep down, she knew she couldn’t change this obsession, and she would never accept ripping it out of her chest.
With trembling lips, she muttered, "Cain... Cain... I will take you away from everything..."
Why did she always reach this exact same conclusion that showed nothing but her weakness and helplessness? Whenever she felt danger or feared he wouldn’t love her back, she instantly concluded that if she kidnapped him to an isolated place and locked him away with her alone forever, he would finally realize the depth and honesty of her love.
She had always believed that, but she finally realized this was just a wild, selfish desire living inside her, not the truth she could fix things with. Yet, she wanted it so badly... but her blind obsession had turned Cain into its victim last night.
A mad idea struck her: What if she completely destroyed and scattered her cosmic energy? If she did that, she would become an ordinary, harmless woman—just a simple human who could live with him and taste the details of every moment with greater value, instead of this insane level of terrifying power that brought her nothing but a cold eternity and a killing isolation.
Searching the Empty Hallways
Lucy walked out of the room, moving heavily in "Maxi’s" form, but control over her disguise was slipping from her hands. "Maxi’s" features distorted and fluctuated, showing a fleeting glimpse of her true, breathtaking face before she forced herself to fix it again with extreme effort. One distortion after another...
She couldn’t stand walking through the empty, desolate hallways of the manor alone. With lightning speed, she released her supreme sensing aura, scanning the entire perimeter of the manor, pulse by pulse.
The manor was completely empty, except for one person...
A person sitting alone on a wooden chair, its legs dug deep into the beach sand. When her eyes pierced through the thick marble walls, she saw his broad, strong back, leaning slightly forward in a posture heavy with worries.
Fear crept into her: ’Why is he sitting alone like this? Where did the servants go? And most importantly... where is Amelia? Did something terrible happen to her too because of me?’
Lucy rushed through the walls, passing through them like a drifting ghost or a fading phantom, reaching the nearby beach in seconds and stopping close to where Cain sat.
Cain turned to her calmly and said, "Oh, Lady Maxi... did you just wake up? You slept for a long time..."
His words sounded normal and his tone was warm, but her trained ears caught a hidden trace of extreme caution and alertness lingering in his voice.
She asked him directly in a worried tone, "I... I don’t remember anything that happened yesterday... Did something bad happen to you? Were you hurt?"
Cain shook his head, trying to paint calmness on his face. "Don’t worry... everything is fine. I asked the servants to take Amelia out to spend some time and meet friends her age at the public park."
Silence ruled between them for moments, and Lucy couldn’t find the right words. Cain continued in a low voice, "Sometimes I feel sorry for Amelia... she practically doesn’t have a stable family around her, but she can make friends there, right? Anyway, if you’re hungry, I can get you some lunch."
His words fell like a heavy, confusing weight on Lucy’s heart. Did really nothing happen? Or was there a massive error in her distorted memories? What the hell was going on?!
She couldn’t take this beating around the bush anymore, so she said it directly without introductions, throwing the words right at his face:
"Did I hurt you?"
Cain’s body stiffened for a second, then he slowly turned his face toward the horizon, staring into the expanse of the roaring sea. The voice of his thoughts screamed in his head with panic:
’Am I being this obviously scared and hesitant in front of her? Heh... damn it, did the technique fail to erase all her memories, or is her Truth Realm soul resisting the modification?’
But he forced a smile, trying to distract her mind and mix up the cards, saying in a random, vague tone, "Lady Maxi... sometimes I feel like there’s no point in certain things... This kind of barrier and distance is completely useless, and I feel like there is no real progress between us..."
His words seemed random and scattered, but they sounded like a man on the verge of confessing what’s hidden in his heart, but pride or fear was blocking him. On the other hand, Lucy’s mind was living in a state of absolute loss and confusion.
With a desperate move, Lucy gave up her mask. She completely stripped away the camouflage magic and "Maxi’s" disguise, revealing her true, enchanting form with her cascading, milky-white hair. Yet, despite that, she still didn’t have enough courage to ask him to look directly into her eyes, or to face his gaze which might carry revulsion.
Simply, and with gentle steps, she sat on the soft sand right next to his chair. He kept looking ahead, lost in contemplating the sea, and she stayed next to him, silent, without uttering a single word.
And so they remained together; two bodies side by side on the beach sand, looking out at the infinite sea.
"Won’t you look beside you...?"
