She Can Choose Not to Love, But I Can Only Love Her

Thanks to 'Cao Ah Cao Ah Cao', 'Chen Chen Chen Chen Chen Yan', and 'Qian Sha Wei Ni' for the tips, and thanks for the support!

Releasing two chapters first. The Little Black Room is unlocked, so I'm going to continue writing the next one!

Squeak—

After a long while, Loxi walked out of Kuina's room carrying an empty bowl. He couldn't help but startle when he saw the Cloaked Figure still standing where he had left him, and asked in confusion, "Are you the one from Dragon's side..."

"I want to have a word with that person called Bai Ina alone!"

The Cloaked Figure cut Loxi off directly, brushed past him, entered Kuina's room, and shut the door behind him.

Seeing this, Loxi grew even more puzzled, but he did not stop him. He didn't think that someone brought by Dragon would harm Bai Ina; after all, if they had wanted to kill him, they wouldn't have bothered saving him in the first place.

Shaking his head, he stopped wondering what the Cloaked Figure wanted to talk to Ina about and headed toward the cafeteria with the bowl.

The Cloaked Figure entered the room and walked straight to the side of Bai Ina's bed, but he didn't speak, merely staring coldly at Bai Ina.

Bai Ina looked at this strange person, his brows knitting together. For some reason, he felt a familiar aura coming from this stranger, yet his memory told him he had absolutely never met anyone with this build.

The two stared at each other for a long time, neither speaking.

"Who are you?"

A hoarse voice emerged from Bai Ina's throat; he was the first to break the silence.

The Cloaked Figure remained silent, still watching Bai Ina with icy eyes.

"Are you here to kill me?"

Although it was a question, Bai Ina's tone was certain. He looked at the Cloaked Figure beside the bed with a cold expression and said, "From the moment you entered, you have been suppressing your killing intent. Though I don't know why, there is no doubt that you want to kill me."

Clang—

Almost as soon as Bai Ina finished speaking, a long sword radiating a cold glint slid out from under the cloak, and in the blink of an eye, it was pressed against his throat. The sharp blade instantly sliced through the skin of Bai Ina's neck, and thin beads of blood trickled down the edge.

Bai Ina's expression remained cold, as if the sword pressed against his throat, ready to take his life at any moment, were nothing at all. He merely asked in a cold voice, "Why?"

He truly could not understand why this stranger would have such killing intent toward him. Although the aura felt somewhat familiar, Bai Ina searched through all his memories and could not find anyone of this stature in his mind.

"You ask me why?" The Cloaked Figure retorted. The crisp voice clearly belonged to someone young—the voice of a boy who had not yet shed his childishness. As he spoke, the sword in his hand pressed down further, causing the wound on Bai Ina's neck to widen and blood to flow freely.

"You have no right to ask me why. Do you have any last words?"

Feeling the resolute killing intent in the other's voice, Bai Ina sighed in his heart. Had it finally come to this day?

Death would be fine, too. Living here was truly so exhausting...

Bai Ina exhaled, and a relaxed smile suddenly bloomed on his face.

Why was he smiling?

The Cloaked Figure frowned, deeply confused by the look of liberation on Bai Ina's face as he faced death.

"I have no last words. But if you could, please take my corpse to the Tomb of Kuina in the Frost Moon Village cemetery and just dig a hole to bury me beside it."

Bai Ina's voice flowed with unprecedented tenderness, and the smile on his face grew even brighter.

That look, as if he were missing a wife far away, made the sword in the Cloaked Figure's hand tremble. The atmosphere fell into silence. After a long while, the Cloaked Figure suddenly asked, "Who was that Kuina to you? Why would you want to die by her side even in death?"

"The woman I failed the most in this life, and also... the woman I loved the most!" Bai Ina replied softly. Since he was about to die, it felt good to pour out the secrets he had been suppressing to a stranger.

"A year ago, in order to survive, I did the thing I regret most in my life. Under the threat of death, I did something unforgivable to Kuina just to stay alive, but in doing so, I inherited her swordsmanship talent and her memories. It made me fall madly in love with her... sharing her joys and sharing her dreams."

The sword in the Cloaked Figure's hand shook, and his voice suddenly rose an octave: "Delusional. Even if someone like you loved her, it wouldn't make her happy."

"No, Kuina was happy!" Bai Ina shook his head, his face full of conviction. "I believe Kuina was happy, because she could choose to love me or not, while I could only choose to love her or... love her even more! From a year ago, the 'me' of the past died. What survived was a madman who loved Kuina with a feverish intensity, wanting only to help Kuina achieve what she could not, and to ascend to the throne of the World's Greatest Swordsman carrying her name."

"..."

The Cloaked Figure slowly withdrew his sword, looking at Bai Ina with complex eyes. After a long time, he finally said, "What value is there in living like that?"

"Living itself is a value, because... there is still tomorrow. Otherwise, I wouldn't have done that to her a year ago just to survive. So, I will take the words I could never tell her and the longing I could never convey with me, and continue this life she bestowed upon me."

Bai Ina's words revealed a sincerity that was impossible to disbelieve, along with an incredibly raw, obsessive devotion.

The Cloaked Figure turned abruptly and headed straight for the door.

Seeing this, Bai Ina was startled and asked with a puzzled look, "You..."

"I've changed my mind. Since you want to continue the life she bestowed upon you, then I will grant your wish. Because in my eyes, a life like yours has no value whatsoever; it will only bring you a pain far more terrifying than just dying right now!"

With those words, the Cloaked Figure walked straight out of the room.

Watching the Cloaked Figure's retreating back, a wry smile appeared on Bai Ina's face: "Perhaps..." As he spoke, he slowly let out a breath, feeling his body and mind lighten after this confession.

On the other side, the cloaked man did not greet anyone and headed straight for the coast where the ships were docked. Before long, the massive ship came into his view.

On the deck, Dragon was talking to a man with a large head and purple afro. Seeing the cloaked man return, he shouted to those around him: "Prepare to set sail!!!"

The cloaked man leaped onto the large ship and walked directly toward the man with the purple afro.

"Ivan... help me restore it."

The man called Ivankov was taken aback, asking with a puzzled expression, "Have you abandoned your ideals?"

"No, I simply realized that a man's body is nothing special after all!" The cloaked man slowly pulled back his hood, revealing an incredibly handsome face.

Ivankov nodded upon hearing this and said, "Very well!" As he spoke, his fingernails suddenly elongated, piercing directly into the cloaked man's arm.

The next moment, a shocking transformation began to take place on the cloaked man's body.

His chest gradually swelled, his stature slowly shrank, and even his features shifted toward a delicate softness. Before long, he had transformed from a handsome man into a young girl of twelve or thirteen.

If Bai Ina were to witness this scene, he would undoubtedly be extremely shocked, for the young girl the cloaked man had turned into was so familiar...

"That will do, Kuina!" Ivankov slowly withdrew his hand, asking with keen interest, "If you ever wish to become a man again, I am always here to help!"

That was right; the young girl the cloaked man had transformed into was none other than Kuina, who had been dead for a long time!

"That is no longer necessary, and besides, Kuina is already dead!" Kuina slowly turned her head, gazing toward the island in the distance as she whispered, "From now on, my name is Gu Junyi!"