Amusement Park Fun, Part 2

All the way there, Lin Yue kept talking with Hermione, and indeed stopped calculating the data and figures for all the amusement park rides.

When they reached the Ferris wheel, Hermione led Lin Yue to the back of the waiting crowd.

Looking up at the enormous Ferris wheel turning slowly in the distance, Lin Yue stared blankly. For the first time, she realized what a real Ferris wheel looked like in everyday life.

Hermione held tightly onto Lin Yue beside her, afraid that one careless moment would let the passing crowd sweep her away. Looking down at the amusement park ticket in her hand, she quickly compared it with the attractions she knew about.

The Ferris wheel, Mini pirate ship, roller coaster, and bumper cars were all included. The only thing that probably required a separate fee was the haunted house.

The haunted house... Hermione lowered her eyes and thought it over carefully. Should she take Lin Yue there?

If they went, maybe the atmosphere in the haunted house would make Lin Yue a little scared. Wouldn't that let her experience the feeling of fear?

And if Lin Yue got scared, Hermione would be right beside her... Hermione couldn't help imagining herself taking Lin Yue into the haunted house, where the ghosts would frighten Lin Yue into burrowing into her arms.

Just thinking about it made the corners of Hermione's mouth lift. She couldn't bring herself to stop smiling.

Standing beside Hermione, Lin Yue turned to look at her out of habit, her face expressionless. She paused when she saw Hermione's upturned lips.

Hermione was smiling, and it was a smile from the heart. Lin Yue's brain analyzed it automatically.

Unlike the time they had left the hospital, Hermione's smile this time was completely natural. The muscles in her face were relaxed, so Lin Yue easily reached that conclusion.

Then why was Hermione smiling? Lin Yue continued to think. The book said people generally smiled because they were happy, moved, or excited.

But why was Hermione happy? Without the slightest hint of a questioning expression, Lin Yue simply followed her thoughts and asked herself that.

After looking around, Lin Yue came up with what she thought was the likeliest answer.

Hermione was happy because they had come to the amusement park. She was happy to be able to enjoy the rides.

Having reached her final conclusion, Lin Yue didn't look any longer. She quietly turned her gaze back to the Ferris wheel in the distance, her eyes vacant.

After showing their tickets to the attendant at the Ferris wheel, Lin Yue and Hermione sat together in one of its gondolas.

Sitting in the gondola, Hermione gently tugged at Lin Yue's sleeve. "Lin Yue, are you afraid of heights?"

Lin Yue turned her unchanged face toward Hermione and mechanically shook her head. "Fear of heights generally refers to acrophobia. Its basic symptoms are dizziness, nausea, and loss of appetite."

"I don't experience fear, so I can't have those reactions. I don't have acrophobia."

Her concern had come out instinctively, and Hermione had asked if Lin Yue was afraid of heights before she could think.

The moment Lin Yue began explaining the definition of acrophobia, Hermione regretted it. Lin Yue still didn't understand these feelings... how could she possibly be afraid of heights?

She was instinctively using her brain waves to suppress her emotional center. How could her body easily allow these physical reactions to appear?

Hermione drew Lin Yue into her arms and lowered her head, gently pressing her lips to the top of Lin Yue's head. "It's all right, it's all right. I was wrong."

Lin Yue thought carefully about why Hermione was apologizing, but couldn't come up with any reasonable reason that would require an apology.

"You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong," Lin Yue said flatly, stating a fact.

Hermione didn't say anything. She just slowly stroked Lin Yue's cheek, her gaze fixed on the view outside.

She resolved to be more careful with her words from now on. She really didn't want to go through Lin Yue mechanically explaining another word a third time—or even more times.

The computerlike feeling made her heart ache again and again.

After holding Lin Yue for a while, Hermione saw that the Ferris wheel was about to reach its highest point. She hurriedly let Lin Yue go, took her hand, and led her to the gondola's window, pointing outside.

"Lin Yue, look. Isn't the view outside beautiful?"

Lin Yue looked in the direction Hermione was pointing. Beyond the enormous Ferris wheel, the entire amusement park—and a huge stretch of the city—lay in view.

It was a visual experience unlike any she had ever had. She remembered learning many poems about the scenery atop high mountains.

She had never climbed a mountain, so she had never truly understood what the mountain scenery in those poems looked like.

Even when faced with translations of poems she had written herself, her empty emotions weren't enough to help her picture an imaginary mountain.

She had never been to the mountains, but now she was on a Ferris wheel. The view must be much like the scenery from a mountaintop...

Lin Yue stared lifelessly into the distance. The sky seemed just like her: silent, as though it didn't react to anything.

Standing beside her, Hermione looked at the scenery beyond the Ferris wheel, then turned to Lin Yue with anticipation.

"You wanted everyone to get together and have fun this summer, so we're doing that. Next summer, though, Mom and Dad are thinking of taking us all to France. We can climb the Eiffel Tower together! It's much taller than this Ferris wheel!"

Lin Yue's brain paused briefly. She turned to Hermione, her gaze calm. "I can go too..."

"Of course!" Hermione nodded matter-of-factly. "You're practically our family's second child now."

"Or..." Hermione narrowed her eyes, pretending to look dangerous. "Do you not want to spend next summer with me?"

Hearing Hermione's words, Lin Yue followed the instructions deep in her brain and shook her head. She spoke mechanically. "I do."

"Good." Hermione smiled happily and continued holding Lin Yue's hand as they admired the view from the Ferris wheel.

Next summer... Lin Yue gazed blankly beyond the Ferris wheel. Would she still be alive next summer, when she was supposed to go to France with Hermione?

After quickly analyzing the possibilities, Lin Yue judged that her chances of living that long were extremely low.

This summer, she was going to invite six people, including Hermione, to "vacation" with her at the villa. They were the people she couldn't bear to lose most.

If any of them scored in the bottom third, they would be... A hint of utterly rational struggle flashed in Lin Yue's eyes, then quickly disappeared.

I don't want that. I don't want them to be destroyed... Lin Yue stood quietly where she was. So if any of the enforcement officers came to take one of them away, she would definitely stop them.

After that... she should accept the punishment for breaking the rules without resisting. But Hermione had said she wanted to travel to France with Lin Yue, to climb the Eiffel Tower with her.

I have to do it! Just as when she had agreed to Hermione a moment ago, this sentence repeated itself deep in Lin Yue's mind. She decided to follow what her brain was telling her.

But after calculating it, she realized that with her current abilities, even if she used magic under the Ministry of Magic's designated "emergency circumstances," she still couldn't stand up to an entire executive agency.

Her abilities weren't at that level yet. Even staying alive would be difficult. The most she could do was buy Hermione and the others some more time if it really happened.

Lin Yue stiffly turned to Hermione. Thoughts churned through her mind as she realized that her fate was certain death, yet her expression remained unchanged.

She felt nothing. Instead, she had once again confirmed that her plan could succeed, and that she could definitely protect Hermione and the others.

As for what she had just promised Hermione—that she would go to France with her and the Grangers... she would try her best. She would try to stay alive beside Hermione until that day.

The Ferris wheel kept turning, and the gondola carrying Lin Yue and Hermione slowly descended from the highest point toward the ground.

Throughout the gondola's descent, Lin Yue kept her eyes on Hermione and didn't look away once.

Only when their gondola had fully returned to the ground did Hermione, who had been watched for so long, finally feel a little embarrassed and look away from the gondola's glass window.

She cleared her throat, let go of Lin Yue's hand, and linked arms with her instead. "Ahem. Stop looking. We should get off now."

Lin Yue had started watching her as soon as the Ferris wheel reached its highest point, and hadn't stopped until they were back on the ground... Hermione couldn't figure out what was so interesting about her that Lin Yue had to stare for so long.

With her cheeks faintly flushed, Hermione linked arms with Lin Yue and led her off the Ferris wheel.

As they left the Ferris wheel, Hermione's eyes lit up at the sight of the Merry-go-round nearby. She had her eye on a seat in a carriage drawn by a horse.

She turned to Lin Yue eagerly. "Lin Yue, how about we ride the Merry-go-round?"

Lin Yue's gaze was calm as she nodded, her tone flat. "Sure."

At her answer, Hermione smiled and led her to the queue for the Merry-go-round. There were even fewer people waiting than there had been for the Ferris wheel, so it was soon their turn.

Hermione linked arms with Lin Yue as they stepped onto the Merry-go-round platform, then purposefully led her to the carriage. She pointed to a place inside. "How about sitting there?"

Lin Yue gazed hollowly at the seat inside the carriage, nodded, then went in and sat down.

Hermione watched Lin Yue settle into the carriage, smiling happily. Then she turned and climbed onto the horse drawing it.

The Merry-go-round began to turn slowly. As it revolved, Hermione looked back at Lin Yue.

The girl in the carriage had a cool expression and vacant eyes, yet her bearing and appearance were exceptional.

A princess in the Middle Ages must have looked just like that... Lin Yue really is just like I imagined. She looks so much like a princess in there. Sitting steadily on her "horse," Hermione even began to feel like Lin Yue's knight.

She would cut through every obstacle for her and protect her for the rest of her life.

If only I really could do that, Hermione thought to herself. If only I could protect Lin Yue, help her get better, and free her from her painful memories. If only I could protect Lin Yue and keep her safe from any danger that might come later.

If only I could stand in front of Lin Yue in the future, instead of her standing in front of me...

Hermione looked at Lin Yue in the carriage, took a deep breath, and gave her a big smile. Raising her voice above the Merry-go-round's music, she shouted, "Lin Yue! You look just like a princess! Look at me—don't I look like your knight?"

As she spoke, Hermione puffed out her little chest and struck a commanding pose.

Princess? Knight? Lin Yue listened blankly and quickly processed the two words.

In her memories, those words appeared almost exclusively in one kind of book, one that had been banned: a Fairy Tale Book.

So all she knew was the definitions of the words. But looking at Hermione...

Lin Yue nodded dazedly. "Yes. We both look the part."

She said this while Hermione watched her hopefully, even though Lin Yue couldn't see the anticipation in her eyes.

Nor did she understand Hermione's excitement, but a voice deep in her mind told her to agree with Hermione.

The Merry-go-round ride ended. Hermione climbed down from her "horse," went to the carriage door, and bent down to offer Lin Yue her right hand.

"My princess, please step down."

Lin Yue paused for a second, then slowly reached out her right hand and placed it in Hermione's.

Hermione gently helped Lin Yue out of the carriage, then led her off the Merry-go-round platform.

Looking at the various rides in the distance, Hermione turned to Lin Yue and blinked. "Shall we try all of them, one by one?"

"Okay." Lin Yue nodded expressionlessly, letting Hermione lead her from one ride to the next.

On the Mini pirate ship, Hermione laughed out loud and cheered along with the other children. Lin Yue sat beside her, listening to voices that seemed to come from another world.

It wasn't until Hermione leaned close to her ear and shouted, "Lin Yue! You should yell a little too! Get into the spirit of it! Even if you're not scared, you can still let it out!"

Lin Yue's eyes shifted slightly. She stared stiffly ahead and opened her mouth, letting out a shout devoid of all emotion.

Hearing the emotionless cry, Hermione felt a pang of bitterness. She closed her eyes, suppressed the heat in them, and took Lin Yue's hand.

As if to guide her, Hermione laughed and shouted loudly beside her.

When they got off the Mini pirate ship, Hermione's voice had gone a little hoarse. With Lin Yue's arm linked through hers, Hermione was led straight toward the place selling drinks.

Lin Yue's quick, decisive steps puzzled Hermione, who hadn't even realized her own voice had gone hoarse. There didn't seem to be any rides over there.

Before Hermione could say anything, Lin Yue deftly took the Black Card from World Consciousness out of her pocket and handed it to the shopkeeper. Hermione's voice was hoarse, so she needed to drink some water as soon as possible. Lin Yue had to act quickly.

"Two bottles of water, please."

The shopkeeper took the black bank card and looked confused. They were only buying water—did they really need to use a bank card? And the card had nothing on it except the words Yue Lin. Would it even work?

Still, this was an official amusement park shop, not a roadside stall, so they had a card reader.

The shopkeeper tapped the black bank card against it, and the screen immediately switched to a password-entry page.

The shopkeeper handed the card reader to Lin Yue. She took it and, without hesitation, entered her birth date.

Payment successful. The shopkeeper was quietly surprised, then took back the card reader and handed Lin Yue the bank card along with two bottles of water.

Taking the card and water, Lin Yue thanked the shopkeeper again in her flat voice. Then she opened one bottle and turned to hand it to Hermione.

"Your voice is hoarse. Hurry and drink some water."

Looking at the bottle in her hand, Hermione felt a little warmth in her heart and smiled.

She took a big gulp, then smiled at Lin Yue. "Thanks, Lin Yue~"

So Lin Yue had led her here because she'd noticed Hermione's voice was getting hoarse and wanted to buy her some water...

Even though this girl still hadn't fully understood or learned how to feel emotions herself, she was still so gentle and considerate.