Inside Varesa's room.
Once that door closes, this small bedroom becomes another world.
The stove was burning brightly, and the orange-red light flickered gently on the wall, revealing only a quiet face on the bed.
Varesa sat on the edge of the bed, and had been sitting there for a long time.
She stopped crying; her eyes were dry and aching, but she couldn't squeeze out any more tears.
She simply held Bai You's small hand, warming it with her own palm, then switching to the other hand.
She refused to think the worst.
She told herself that Bai You was just tired, exhausted. She should take a nap and wake up when she was well-rested.
Since it's time to sleep, someone needs to be with you, and you need to hear some familiar voices, otherwise you'll be scared if you wake up to a dark room.
So she cleared her dry throat and spoke in a low voice.
" Little Bai You, let me tell you a story."
"Do you remember the day I met you? You followed me timidly, like a little kitten."
"Wherever I go, you follow. When I turn around, you look down and pretend you're looking at the ground."
As she spoke, she chuckled softly, but her laughter trembled slightly.
"At that time, I was thinking, 'Why are you so clingy?'"
She tucked the blanket around Bai You, her voice even softer.
"Do you remember that morning when you were reluctant to get out of bed and clung to me like an octopus?"
"I said it was time to get up, but you kept whining and wouldn't let go, even arguing with me. You were the one holding me, so why do you say I was the one holding you?"
Her fingertips lightly brushed the blanket, her voice gradually lowering, "I'm still waiting... wake up so I can see."
The person in bed did not answer.
"And for breakfast, you love Odette's egg tarts; your mouth is stuffed full."
"She even needs me to feed her; every time I feed her, her eyes squint with laughter."
"You didn't even get to taste what I baked! Mine tastes even better than Odette's!"
Varesa continued, seemingly oblivious, "You also said you'd work together to renovate the Tide Song Cavern, didn't you say you'd stay with me?"
"You've said so much, but you haven't done any of it yet."
She sniffed and suddenly felt like singing.
Normally, as soon as Bai You hears her hum this, she will snuggle in her arms and fall asleep obediently in no time.
She imagined that after she finished singing, Bai You would probably, as usual, drowsily nuzzle against her and mutter, "That was really nice."
She then began to hum softly.
At first, the melody was steady, melodious, and gentle, but as you hummed it, the tune began to tremble, and before the last note was finished, the sound broke.
She stopped, took a deep breath, and started again, only to break it again. Over and over, until finally, the song ceased to be a song, leaving only a broken, uncontrollable murmur.
She simply couldn't continue singing.
"Just answer me..." Varesa leaned down, her forehead touching Bai You's, her voice so soft it sounded like a plea.
" Bai You, will you answer me? Just once."
"You're usually so talkative, always chattering away, why are you so quiet now..."
"Open your eyes and look at me, okay?"
No one answered her.
That small face, so close to mine, was pale and still, with drooping eyelashes and a bloodless lip; there wasn't even the slightest rise and fall of its breath.
That string that had been taut since she entered the cave, held together by the phrase "she was just asleep."
At that moment, it finally snapped with a "snap."
"I don't believe it..." Varesa's tears welled up without warning, coming in a torrent, as if she wanted to make up for all the tears she had just shed.
"I don't believe you're just leaving like this! You promised me! You said you'd live with me for life, and you broke your promise..."
"Wake up, wake up, Bai You!"
"I don't want anything anymore—" she sobbed, each word broken and shattered.
"I just want you to wake up. If you wake up, I'll agree to anything you want, okay? Please don't leave me..."
She could no longer hold on, and she bent down, gently pressing her face against Bai You's.
Forehead to forehead, nose to nose, she wanted to transfer all the warmth of her body through their skin to warm up the person who had cooled down.
Hot tears fell one after another, landing on Bai You's cheeks and sliding down her pale face, soaking into her pillowcase.
"Don't you like me the most...?" She closed her eyes, tears streaming down her face, her voice trembling so much she could barely speak, "Then open your eyes and look at me..."
She cried until she couldn't breathe, and eventually her voice became hoarse.
The tears seemed to have truly run dry, leaving only dry, intense sobs.
In a daze, she remembered a very, very old legend.
That was a story about a Water Nymph Water Nymph, a creature of deep emotions who rarely sheds a single tear in its life. Its everyday tears dissolve in the water, but the last tear it sheds will not.
It will solidify into a pearl.
At this moment, she had cried until only one tear remained, clinging to her eyelashes, refusing to fall.
She leaned against Bai You's face, her eyes blurred with tears, and saw a tear slip from the corner of her eye, slowly falling in the warm orange light of the fireplace.
It did not scatter or drip.
That single tear, in mid-air, condensed into a tiny pearl, shimmering with a faint blue light.
It is translucent and smooth, with what looks like a pool of living water gently flowing inside, as blue as the sea.
Varesa stared blankly, forgetting even to cry.
She didn't even have time to consider whether it was just her imagination because she had been crying.
The blue pearl gently fell, landing precisely on Bai You's brow, where it remained.
She just looked at Bai You's pale face, her heart aching, softening, and filled with despair.
She didn't know if it was her last illusion; all she knew was that she couldn't bear to part with her, so much so that even breathing hurt.
So she trembled and slowly bent down.
Very gently, with tears still wet on her face, she kissed Bai You's lips, as if saying a final farewell.
She pressed her ear against the cold surface and said in a broken voice:
" Little Bai You... I like you too..."
And in Bai You's pool of consciousness, which had been simmering for who knows how long, there was a deep blackness.
The system's voice rang out, sounding a little groggy from just waking up, before quickly rising in pitch.
[You should have slept for two whole days, no problem.]
[but--]
The system drew out a long, drawn-out sound, as if it were both helpless and as if it had long been prepared to give in to this favoritism.
It seems I'll have to wake you up earlier now.
Then a major change occurred:
[Waaaaah, I'm truly the best system in the world! I'm working overtime and even paying out of my own pocket to open a backdoor for you, like early wake-up service, how about that?]
[Where can you find a system as conscientious as mine? When you wake up, you and that Water Nymph have to offer me a couple more incense sticks...]
As it muttered incessantly, the sealed "core" deep within Bai You's consciousness gently cracked.
A sliver of light pierced the deathly darkness.
Bai You felt as if she were slowly rising from a very, very deep body of water.
First, there was the sound. It seemed like someone was crying; it was Varesa crying.
Then there was the sense of touch. Her whole body was limp and powerless, except for her lips, where something warm, soft, and slightly salty and moist was pressed against her lips.
What is that?
Her mind was foggy and she couldn't think straight. Relying solely on instinct, her eyelashes trembled, and she laboriously, little by little, lifted those heavy eyes.
My vision was initially a blurry, warm yellow, before slowly focusing.
Right up close was Varesa's face.
That lovely face, now red and swollen from crying, with wet streaks of eyelashes.
His face was covered in wet tear stains, and his lips were still gently pressed against hers.
The room was so quiet that you could hear the soft popping of the firewood in the stove.
Bai You's mind went blank for a moment before she belatedly realized what the soft spot on her lips was.
I could feel that softness gently pressing against my lips, warm and slightly salty.
She tried to speak, but her lips were blocked, and the sound only rolled around in her throat, turning into a sticky, very soft "mmm."