Chapter 12: Bleak Snow
Alice had once thought her feelings for Linley were no longer deep. But when she saw Linley face to face again, especially the disbelief in his eyes, she felt a pang in her heart.
"Brother Linley," Alice called out.
Linley's face was pale, devoid of any color. He stood there, stunned for a long while.
"Hrrr~~" The Shadowmouse 'Bebe' let out an angry sound, then transformed into a black blur, charging straight at Alice. Although Bebe possessed extremely high intelligence, he was still a magical beast, retaining a beast's ferocity.
He could sense the disbelief and despair in Linley's heart, so he wanted revenge.
Bebe's body strangely swelled in size, and in the blink of an eye, he was before Alice and Kalan. The cold gleam of Bebe's sharp fangs chilled their hearts. They didn't even have time to speak or dodge!
"Come back!" Linley's voice rang out abruptly.
Bebe's figure trembled, then he brushed past Kalan's face and landed on the snow. Bebe turned his head, looking up at Linley, "Squeak~~~" he cried, urgently communicating with Linley through soul transmission.
Linley slowly but firmly shook his head.
Bebe's eyes coldly swept over Alice and Kalan, then his body strangely shrank again, turning into a blur as he landed directly on Linley's shoulder. Looking at Bebe's cute appearance, no one could imagine his terror.
"Huff, huff." Kalan finally began to breathe heavily, his forehead covered in sweat, looking fearfully at 'Bebe' on Linley's shoulder.
Alice stared at Linley, took a deep breath, and then said, "Brother Linley, I know you're feeling terrible right now. We can't talk clearly on the street. Let's go to the hotel next door and have a good talk, okay?"
Linley nodded, saying nothing more.
******
Inside a luxurious hotel beside Ganmo Street. Linley and Alice sat on opposite sides of the dining table. As for Kalan, he wisely retreated to a corner of the hotel, not daring to disturb them. Having just escaped death from Bebe's jaws, Kalan was still quite afraid of Linley.
A black marble dining table held two cups of warm fruit wine.
Linley and Alice sat face to face, silent for a long time.
After a long silence, Alice sighed slightly and said, "Brother Linley, I'm very sorry about this. I've been avoiding you all this time to give you some mental preparation. At least, I didn't want us to become enemies after breaking up."
"Enemies?" Linley smiled bitterly in his heart. He didn't speak, just looked at Alice, listening quietly.
Alice continued, "Brother Linley, I admit that at first, I really liked you. I even thought about us getting married and having children. But as we spent more time together, I realized we weren't compatible in many ways. Many, many ways."
Linley finally spoke: "Many? Alice, I not only like your strengths but also accept your weaknesses. I believe being together is a process of mutual tolerance and understanding. No two people can be together without any flaws or conflicts."
Alice pursed her lips, picked up her glass with both hands, and took a sip.
"We were so young back then. I was only fifteen," Alice said, choosing her words carefully. "In my heart, you were a hero who descended from the heavens. I once thought you were my whole world. But now I realize that's not true. Not just that—family background is also very important."
Linley was stunned.
"Brother Linley, you're always so passionate, so good to me, and you train very hard. I admit you're perfect. But... that's not enough. For example, this time my father gambled heavily and owed hundreds of thousands of gold coins! Brother Kalan just asked his family for help and easily resolved the matter."
Alice looked at Linley: "Brother Linley, you couldn't do that. Although my father is a gambler and a drunkard, he's still my father."
"Is that all?" Linley said softly.
"No," Alice continued. "Not just that. I also realized that Brother Kalan is very good to me. We grew up together, and I know him well. But with you, I always feel like you're shrouded in a fog. I can't see you clearly."
"You're a genius magician from the number one magic academy on the continent. At just fifteen, you could have an independent exhibition room at the Proulx Gallery. Everything about you sounds so perfect. But because you're too perfect, I can't see you clearly."
Alice sighed softly: "Most importantly, we were always apart. At first, it was fine, but as time went on, I grew tired of it. I'm used to having someone by my side often, just like Brother Kalan can always be with me."
Alice finished speaking in one breath and fell silent.
Linley was silent too.
After a long time, when the warm fruit wine had gone cold, Linley's voice rang out: "Alice, do you remember what we said back then? I once said I could live with you directly. But you said no, you didn't want to disturb my intense training."
"And now, you say I wasn't by your side?" Linley's smile was very bitter.
Alice opened her mouth as if to speak, but had nothing to say.
Wasn't everything she just said just an excuse?
Linley looked at Alice: "Alice, do you remember when we first stayed at the inn? You told me that if our feelings faded, you wanted me to tell you clearly, not hide it from you. You said you would leave quietly."
Linley suppressed his surging emotions, trying to stay calm: "At that time, I also said that if you no longer had feelings for me, I hoped you would tell me clearly, not hide it from me. I would also leave quietly."
Alice's eyes grew moist.
"It's okay that you're with Kalan. I just don't want you to deceive me. Now you're with Kalan behind my back, but you won't tell me clearly. You let me hold onto a sliver of hope, making me wait again and again. Do you know what it feels like to wait?"
Linley's body trembled slightly: "September 29th. That day you stood me up for the first time. I waited from dusk until late at night. Every minute, every second was so hard to endure. When I returned to the academy, I wondered if I had made you angry last time. So I wanted to make you happy. Like a fool, I used memory crystal balls to record various scenes from the academy, hoping that when you weren't with me, you might miss me and look at them occasionally."
"Carrying two memory crystal balls, I went to find you full of hope in mid-October. But this time, you weren't there again."
"My heart began to feel uneasy. But I persisted because I remembered our promise to each other. I believed that if you wanted to leave, you would tell me directly. So I kept going. I went again at the end of October and mid-November. But the result..."
Linley stood up, a bitter smile on his face as he looked at Alice: "Today I came again. But at least you didn't keep deceiving me."
Tears swirled in Alice's eyes.
"Brother Linley—"
Linley opened the bundle on his back and took out the two memory crystal balls. His mind involuntarily recalled the scenes of himself filming all over the academy. Thinking back now, it was really foolish.
"These two crystal balls. I carried them from Ernst Academy to Fenlai City four times. Now... they're useless."
Linley held a memory crystal ball in each hand and smashed them together—
"Bang!"
Several cracks appeared on both crystal balls. Linley let go, and the two balls fell to the ground. "Bang!" They shattered into more than a dozen pieces, rolling across the hotel's marble floor with a crisp sound that made everyone in the hotel turn to look at them.
Alice could no longer hold back her tears. They streamed down her face.
"Brother Linley, can we still be friends?" Alice looked up at Linley through tear-filled eyes.
Standing, Linley looked at Alice but didn't answer. Then he forced a smile: "Alice, if I remember correctly, we fell in love on November 29th last year. And today is also November 29th. Exactly one year. Thank you. At least you gave me a beautiful memory."
Linley turned abruptly and walked straight out of the hotel.
The entire hotel was silent. Kalan, who had been in the corner, quickly ran over, accidentally kicking a few fragments of the memory crystal balls. The pieces rolled across the floor, their crisp sound echoing inside the hotel.
"Alice, are you okay?" Kalan immediately hugged Alice to comfort her.
By now, Alice was crying like a waterfall. In Kalan's arms, she still turned her head to look in the direction Linley had gone. At this moment, scenes of her past with Linley flashed through her mind. But Alice knew—
From now on, Linley would never treat her like that again. He probably wouldn't even see her anymore.
******
Champs Elysees Avenue was covered in snow, and snowflakes were still falling from the sky.
Linley walked along Champs Elysees Avenue, his figure looking so desolate. He looked up at the sky, letting the snowflakes fall coldly on his face. At this moment, his heart trembled. He couldn't help but grab his chest tightly with his left hand.
Heartache. It hurt so much.
It hurt to the core!
Scenes flashed through Linley's mind like fleeting shadows.
That purple-clad figure, beautiful like an elf under the moonlight.
The warmth of whispering secretly with her under the balcony.
Her shyness as she hid in his arms when the snowflakes flew.
Her radiance as she lay in his arms at the inn, holding each other.
...
Linley had once thought he and Alice would be together forever. But just now, the dream shattered. And Linley's once faithful heart was also broken.
"Ahhh~~~"
Linley couldn't help but let out a painful low roar in the middle of Champs Elysees Avenue. It sounded like a lone wolf separated from its pack, a desperate howl of desolation and pain. Passersby looked at him in surprise and instinctively moved far away.
These passersby looked at Linley as if he were a fool.
Tears silently streamed down Linley's face.
Fool. He was a fool.
A fool who believed in promises!
"Thud!" Linley suddenly knelt on one knee in pain, clutching his heart tightly.
Heartache. It hurt as if needles were stabbing his heart.
The pain was so intense that his palms ached, and his ten fingers lost all sensation. Linley could only grip his chest fiercely, as if that might ease the pain.
"Haha!"
Tears streaming, Linley suddenly stood up and laughed up at the sky. Laughing at his own foolishness, laughing at his own naivety.
At that moment—
The intense pain in his chest made him cough. Each cough felt like a knife stabbing his chest. But Linley still coughed violently, doubling over like a shrimp, half-kneeling on the ground.
"Cough, ptoo!"
A violent cough brought up a splash of bleak, bright red blood onto the snow.
Linley looked at the pool of blood on the snow. He suddenly felt it looked like a rose. A blood-red rose. His mind couldn't help but recall the scene from this day last year, when Alice held a rose.
"Moon in the water, flower in the mirror. The person in the dream, after all, is nothing but emptiness. Haha..." Linley laughed loudly on Champs Elysees Avenue, as if no one else was around, but his laughter was so bleak.
Still wearing his moon-white robe, Doehring Cowart stood quietly beside Linley. Doehring didn't speak, just looked at Linley with pity, sighing inwardly: "Ah, Linley. He's still just a child."
This year, Linley was only sixteen.
"Third Bro!"
Suddenly, an urgent shout rang out. Yale, Reynolds, and George ran over from not far away on Champs Elysees Avenue. This place was close to Azure Water Paradise, and the three had spotted Linley in the middle of the street. Seeing the pool of blood in front of Linley, their faces changed drastically.
"Third Bro, are you okay?"
"Linley."
Yale, Reynolds, and George quickly went to support Linley.
Linley looked at his three brothers beside him and shook his head slightly: "I'm fine. Don't worry." He looked up at the sky. "I used to like snow. But now, it feels so bleak, so cold."
"You guys stay here. I'm going back to the academy first." With that, Linley walked alone toward the end of Champs Elysees Avenue.
Yale, Reynolds, and George looked at each other, worry and anxiety in their eyes. Then they immediately chased after Linley...
And the heavy snow continued to fall from the sky. That shocking 'blood-red rose' was slowly covered by the accumulating snow, disappearing without a trace.