The evening breeze carried the bustle of Sixth Street, while the lights of the arcade flashed freely, falling over the two of them.
Belle pulled Lu Yingheng down to sit at an arcade machine. Her fingertips deftly worked the joystick, her eyes crinkling as she immersed herself in the game and had the time of her life.
She cast the noise around her and the embarrassing misunderstanding from earlier that day to the back of her mind.
Lu Yingheng sat quietly beside her, his eyes gently closed. He leaned obediently to one side, listening to the sounds around them and keeping her company.
Lu Yingheng sighed inwardly:
Actually, a quiet life like this is pretty nice, isn't it?
But I still have to keep up the act...
Just as Belle was about to claim the high score, a halting voice sounded softly in her ear, each syllable unusually clear: "Boy...friend."
It wasn't loud, but it struck like a thunderclap, stunning Belle out of her immersion in the game.
Her fingers jerked to a halt, stopping the joystick. Her character immediately made a mistake, and its health dropped to zero...
She instinctively raised a hand and gave Lu Yingheng's arm a light pat, a little flustered and annoyed:
"What was that for? You scared me, speaking up all of a sudden!"
Lu Yingheng immediately put on an innocent expression. "Sor...ry."
After questioning him like she was "clearing mines" all along the way, Belle had finally gotten a clear picture of Lu Yingheng's injuries. His body was repairing itself, and it wouldn't be long before he was back to normal.
Seeing him obediently admit his mistake, Belle felt her embarrassment and annoyance vanish, leaving only tenderness.
She helplessly raised a hand and gently ruffled his soft black hair, her voice softening. "Silly, you don't have to apologize to me for everything. I'm not blaming you."
Lu Yingheng pretended to nod obediently. After a moment of silence, he spoke again. "What...does...it...mean?"
The question struck right at the concern Belle had been wrestling with most.
She immediately understood that he'd remembered what she'd casually said at the clothing store and had kept it in mind until now.
The arcade seemed to fall silent around her as her thoughts became caught in a fierce struggle.
Should I lie to him?
An unbearably tempting thought grew wildly in her heart, spreading through her.
Lu Yingheng had lost all his memories of the past, and the Dragon Emperor's supreme edge had fallen away.
In her eyes, Lu Yingheng was now just an innocent, unworldly young man who depended entirely on her, with no guard up at all.
And she had admired him for countless years. The affection buried deep in her heart had long since soaked into her very being.
All she had to do was nod, casually tell a lie, and say to him, who had lost his memory-We used to be a couple. You're my boyfriend.
With those words alone, they could stay together as a proper couple, and she could remain at his side openly.
She could have that gentleness all to herself, instead of secretly yearning for him from so far out of reach.
A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was right before her, there for the taking...
"No. A boyfriend is part of a couple who love each other. What I said earlier was just an excuse I came up with to cover up your appearance."
The moment the words left her mouth, the hope in her heart shattered and faded away, leaving only a faint ache.
She didn't dare look at the person beside her again, didn't dare face him, and didn't dare dwell on her own regret.
Without waiting for Lu Yingheng to respond, she sprang to her feet, clutching the shopping bag in her hand. Her emotions in turmoil, she turned and rushed out of the arcade, running straight toward the nearby video store in a flustered, disheveled retreat.
Lu Yingheng watched her retreating figure and murmured to himself, "Good thing you didn't say it..."
Dragon Emperor Bureau headquarters.
Inside the cold top-floor office, a sharp crash of breaking glass suddenly rang out, piercing to the ear.
An exquisite crystal wineglass smashed against the cold marble floor, shattering instantly and sending glittering shards flying everywhere.
Vivian stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, her black clothes accentuating her slender figure. Her delicate, beautiful face was clouded with hostility and gloom, while an obsessive, crazed crimson churned in her eyes. A sickly, suffocating atmosphere filled the office.
After days of back-and-forth cyberattacks and defenses, they still had nothing to show for it.
The hacker standing bowed in the corner was deathly pale, head lowered, full of guilt and trepidation:
"Miss, their defensive barrier is far too meticulous and formidable. My attack methods are too weak to break through it, and I haven't been able to find a single clue. Please punish me."
Vivian's back was taut, her fingertips white, and the violence in her eyes was on the verge of spilling over.
At those words, she merely waved a hand impatiently, her voice utterly devoid of warmth. "Leave."
The hacker, as if granted a pardon, bowed and quickly left the office, not daring to linger a moment longer.
In an instant, Vivian was alone in the spacious office.
Her taut nerves suddenly relaxed, and all her forcefulness, violence, and obsession ebbed away like a flood.
Her body went limp, and she sank heavily into the wide leather chair, the hard shell she'd been struggling to maintain shattering completely.
The next second, a sharp, prickling pain suddenly swept through her heart, countless stabs of pain coursing through her body.
Vivian's face turned deathly pale, and she knitted her brows tightly. Her five slender fingers pressed hard against her chest, bearing down on her palpitating heart, while her thin shoulders trembled slightly.
A broken, obsessive murmur, thick with a nasal tone, sounded in the empty room, laden with an inescapable fixation and grievance-a yandere obsession that ran to the bone.
"Brother Yingheng...you really aren't dead, are you?"
"If that person was a deception, if there really is no living you in this world...
Why is there a top-tier defensive barrier that no one can break? Why are there traces of power so terribly familiar?"
"But if you really are alive...why have you never come back? Why haven't you come to find Vivian?"
"For all this time...there's been no word from you, and you've ignored all my attempts to find you...
Is it because you don't like me anymore? Did you forget me long ago?"
Her voice grew softer and softer, thick with suppressed sobs, while crazed possessiveness and abject fear churned in her eyes.
Her obsessive love had long since sunk into her bones. Love pushed to its extreme bred a crazed, sickly fixation: either he was hers, or everything would be destroyed.
Muffled, broken gasps and restrained sobs continued to sound from the office.
In the corridor outside, Long Er leaned against the cold wall. Having heard every murmur and sob inside, he silently shed tears.
No one knew better than he did how much this seemingly obsessive and domineering young mistress had suffered.
After Lord Dragon Emperor's death, Vivian, young as she was, had taken the burden of the entire, massive Dragon Emperor Bureau onto her shoulders.
Within the organization, she had to steady morale and consolidate its forces. Beyond it, she had to secretly contact all their friendly former allies while carefully maneuvering to keep the ambitious TOPS Consortium in check.
The immense burden of the entire Dragon Emperor Bureau rested on her slender shoulders.
Long Er gazed at the closed door, his heart full of feeling, and sighed softly.
Lord Dragon Emperor, please watch over Vivian from heaven!
He raised a hand to wipe the moisture from the corners of his eyes, composed himself, and straightened up before gently knocking on the office door.
"Miss, Ms. Hoshimi has invited you to Lumina Square."
After a few seconds of silence, an answer came from inside the office, still thick with tears yet forced into composure, echoing softly through the empty corridor.