Huai Shi was stunned.

It was the first time he saw Ai Qing's smile, calm and warm, no longer gloomy, but with a taste of sunshine.

She was free now.

From the moment she broke free of her restraints…

But for some reason, he remembered the words that muscular old man said to him a few days ago.

"Do you have it wrong, Huai Shi? Not every person who leaves your help will fall into the unfortunate Abyss… Why insist on making sure that no one can leave you?"

Huai Shi shook his head, unable to suppress a laugh.

Indeed, why be obsessed with playing the hero everywhere?

Not every girl is fixated on a White Horse Prince descending from the heavens, Huai Shi, and not everyone thinks there will be a savior to neatly sort out everything.

Your Highness, times have changed.

Instead of waiting for the often unreliable Prince, they might prefer solving problems on their own. Perhaps after they've finished firing their Gatlings, they could even nonchalantly ask the belated Prince for a light.

When did these soft and sweet young ladies become such terrifying creatures? It's so genuinely hard to accept…

"That's such a heartbreaking way to talk, Ai Qing."

Huai Shi coughed, laughing self-mockingly, "I actually wanted to be friends with you…"

"Forget it, I really don't like you."

Ai Qing gently sat beside him, glancing at him, "I've disliked you since the first time I saw you, unable to understand why Mother liked you so much.

Seeing how you didn't care about taking second place in the cello competition made me dislike you even more.

Honestly, from that time on, I didn't want to be friends with someone who just muddles along… Unexpectedly, we'd end up entangled this long."

She looked at Huai Shi sympathetically, "Think of it as a karmic entanglement."

"Karmic entanglement… huh?"

A bit more of this kind of karmic entanglement doesn't seem too bad.

Huai Shi laughed, and without saying anything further, just quietly watched the downpour outside the city gate.

In the endless heavy sound of the rain, the whole world became quiet.

That roaring, brutal world gradually drifted away from them, leaving them behind.

In the silence without words, everything no longer seemed important, whether it was persistence or grudges—they vanished into the tranquility like mist.

But only now did he suddenly realize that Ai Qing was real. She was not the lonely phantom of past memory fragments, nor the woman obsessed with reaching higher, feeling out of reach.

Her real presence was in this world, right beside him, just a short distance away.

He could even hear her heartbeat and breathing.

In the silence, it seemed as if they were no longer alone. Liberated from past shadows and grudges, they accompanied each other in this cruel world, even if it was just for this fleeting moment.

Until the torrential downpour gradually thinned out.

Ai Qing slowly stood up from the ground, looking into the distance.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes," she nodded.

"Don't you have anything you want to say to me?" Huai Shi looked at her, then after a moment's thought, he added, "You know, like a parting message, advice, or words of farewell and regret. It's not too late if you want to apologize."

"Apologize, are you dreaming?"

Ai Qing coldly dashed his fantasy, then after thinking for a bit, she seriously said, "If I really had any advice, it'd be to learn to be more ruthless… Stop being such a pushover, but don't become too bad, either."

She said, "Don't become like me."

Seeing Huai Shi's astonished expression, she shook her head and laughed, "From nine years ago to today, every moment I've been thinking about how to gain more power and status, how to find others' weak points, to exact revenge on those who suppressed me...

"Should such a life be called bleak or fulfilling? It's completely puzzling…""

""But there's one thing I can be sure of.""

Ai Qing said earnestly,

"—The past few hours have been the freest time of my life.""

She lowered her head, gazing into the boy's eyes, and said solemnly,

"Thank you, Huai Shi."

Huai Shi was stunned for a long while, coughing dryly, unable to help but look away, "If you really want to thank me, couldn't you stay and work like an ox and horse to repay me?"

"Stop dreaming, Huai Shi. In stories, isn't that normally a matter for the next life?"

She stepped back, as if ready to leave after work, calmly telling him,

"Farewell, Huai Shi."

She turned and walked into the rain, step by step, disappearing into it.

When she saw those sneaky shadows lurking behind the curtain of rain, too afraid to approach, she revealed her signature mocking smile, withdrew her gaze, and disregarded them completely.

She stood firm in the solitary rain.

"I hereby surrender myself."

Ai Qing raised her head, speaking to the sky that was empty apart from the dark clouds, "Everything Huai Shi did was under my command and instructions, he was merely fulfilling his duties."

At that instant, the torrential rain abruptly stopped, as if the world had frozen at that moment.

Countless raindrops hung suspended in mid-air, illuminated by a sudden light that sprang from the void. Blinding beams of light burst forth from the void, piercing through the rain and enveloping Ai Qing in their glow.

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