"... Maybe it"s better to put it as in every girl"s life, there will always be a period where they had that kind of mentality. Every girl wants the perfect fairy tale romance... but on what age, it varies," Margarette answered with hesitation in her voice. She was feeling conflicted about whether to step back or not."I see." Jiang Li chuckled. The "person" Margarette really wanted to be with became this valiant version, her response confirmed.
When she met Jiang Li, because she had access to Aliyah"s memories, she only stuck to him due to their strange connection, which he wouldn"t be surprised to find as something triggered by that medium too. This also explained why her att.i.tude towards him was quite weird.
She was easily jealous, but it was the kind of jealousy of one who wanted to keep a treasured toy out of others" reach.
It seemed Margarette believed it was her mission to awaken the soul of the sleeping Lu Ling inside him. She believed either Jiang Li was the incomplete soul reincarnation. Hence the need for the awakening. Hence the need to tie him to her and keep him under watch so when the time comes, she wouldn"t have to spend so much time looking for him.
He wondered, did she know that she was used? Probably no.
Her circ.u.mstances with the unwanted transmigrator and the other female lead was incited by that medium, this also goes for her obsession towards the general. She was bright, but because she was young back then, her longing for magic, love, and recognition was easily played against her by the medium. In a sense, Margarette was a pitiful girl trapped in a dream.
"… Host, I detect that your emotions are quite unstable. We have the option to leave this place and start anew in the next one. With the other outsider"s protection, the villainess only has a five percent chance of encountering danger. Would you like to leave the world right now?"
Jiang Li shook his head. With his mind full of question marks, he felt too drained to answer the system"s question.
After holding her by the wait one last time, he brought her to her room in the mansion.
"There are still four or so hours before daybreak. You should go back to sleep."
Margarette, at first, breathed a sigh of relief because the youth had been a gentleman to her since the beginning. However, an alarm bell rang in her mind when she saw him turn around and head for the door.
"J-James." Margarette"s voice was breaking when she uttered it. Before, she only called him husband or dear. She never called him by this name for a reason already disclosed earlier...so now she was finding it quite awkward. Still, the woman instinctively called out to him with the feeling that she would deeply regret it if she didn"t.
"James." She nervously stood there, speaking with forced calmness. "Y-you said it yourself, it"s already late... and... and it"s been quite the night so we should be rewarding ourselves with rest so... where are you going?"
"Outside," he simply replied.
She furrowed her brows. "That"s a very generic answer. Outside can mean the mansion"s garden, or outside the continent."
As the guilty one, she attempted to ease the tense atmosphere between them. After all, she was not used to this kind of set up. Although the one she kept fantasizing about was his previous incarnation, in actuality, she was already used to was the current him who loved to laugh and hatch schemes, and read about stuff while stealing glances of her.
The girl didn"t notice that she was already trembling. Why hadn"t he looked back at her even once since arriving here? Why was that door so close to them?
She was alarmed because the man kept walking towards the door.
"Hey... I, I know I"m wrong, so can we talk it out? I-It seems to me you"re planning to leave for long." Margarette didn"t know why, but the last phrase she said made her feel more uncomfortable than ever, as if those words meant something deeper and scarier.
This time, the urge to run to hug him from behind suddenly overwhelm. And actually, when she could no longer fight back against that urge in order to preserve her pride or appear not so much affected, she tried to follow the voices in her head.
However, to her horror, she found that she was frozen in place. She couldn"t move at all!
Jiang Li twisted the doork.n.o.b and said without turning his head, "I"ll just be outside, don"t worry." His tone was like usual. There was no disappointment or anything. He was simply informing her of his plans.
However, Margarette was fixed on her current condition so with panic lacing her voice, she yelled in fright, "No!!! Wait! Please! Why did you cast this kind of spell on me? W-what"s the meaning of this? James!"
The question received no proper response as he only said in an emotionless tone, "I"ll be gone for a while. Please take care of yourself."
"A, a while... How long is a while?" As muddle-headed and panicky she was right now, the detail did not escape her hearing, and she couldn"t stop trembling at the possibility that it entailed.
The query elicited no answer.
Before stepping out completely, he seemed to have thought of something and added, "Oh. In case you run into trouble that not even you can deal with, I suggest you go to your father. The king looks stupid, but I think he is actually a capable man and would not be so heartless if ever that time comes. However, if your pride won"t let you approach him, then you can try to access Aliyah"s memory and trace that elusive village where I taught the most number of students. Those people belong to no kingdom or state. They will definitely accept you."
Margarette felt lost for some time, staring blankly at the back that was gradually disappearing from the doorway. Was this karma? She wanted to chase, but like how he was petrified in his seat several minutes ago, she was now the one experiencing what it was like to almost turn into stone.
"Him leaving means I wouldn"t be by his side if ever the general awakened... But he"s only leaving because I treated him as his past self..."
When she came to her wits and realized what he meant, she struggled from the spell, wanting to escape. Yet her efforts bore no fruit. She switched into attempting to cast spells. Even a simple Grease spell would do. Just anything that would buy her some time or stop him. But then reality slapped her the cold truth that he was way stronger than her in black arts. Feeling defeated, she started yelling out his name, "James."
In the dark corridor where the frantic feminine voice still echoed, a young man was only shaking his head, "When I said I am neither James nor Lu Ling, she really didn"t listen..."
However, Jiang Li felt too tired to explain, with no whatsoever energy to even look over his shoulder. It was the kind of exhaustion that clings to the spirit. It had silently acc.u.mulated for hundreds of years, suppressed by the bit of fulfillment and happiness from the previous lifetimes.
But now that a sad realization was triggered by Margarette, he felt like his heart was suddenly too heavy and weary.
He chose to leave without turning his head back once.