Academic gathering with a lich-Chapter 181 - 172 Pain

Her hands were clasped tightly around Lyle’s waist, making it a bit difficult for him to breathe. Her face was pressed tightly against Lyle’s abdomen, the snow-white dress revealing a smooth, luminous back. Feeling the softness pressing against him and the alcohol-fueled breath upon his face, Lyle looked at her cheeks.

"Beatrice?"

Her face was flushed with the redness of intoxication, and her expression seemed on the verge of tears, yet not a single one fell.

"Brother-in-law!" Beatrice first looked up at Lyle’s bird-beak mask, then buried her head again, following which her voice revealed a crying tone.

"Wuuu, don’t take my sister away! Don’t compete with me for her, alright?" Just like a child crying over a beloved toy, Beatrice shattered the mystique and allure she had always held in Lyle’s mind, and even seemed a bit... silly.

Just as Lyle was at a loss, that figure arrived at his doorstep. The bright red and fluffy dress resembled bloodied feathers, exuding an air of nobility and, at the same time, of desolation and loneliness. The crimson figure stood under the cold moonlight, shadows cast by the lamplight touching her frame.

She was still so beautiful, heartbreakingly so.

Alianna’s veil faced Lyle’s mask, her initial impatience seemingly veiled as well. Alianna took her place, arms crossed over her waist, then awkwardly let them drop to her sides, before feeling it inappropriate and crossing them in front again. It was as if those slender arms were superfluous, with no suitable resting place. Perhaps the armless Venus felt the same.

Alianna came in and supported Beatrice’s waist, helping her up. "I’m sorry, Benny just went to the party, and she might have drunk a little too much."

Looking at Beatrice, who hadn’t shed a single tear, Lyle wondered, do vampires not have tears?

"Her drunken appearance... hmm... is rarely seen..."

"Benny is very haughty towards strangers, but she is actually a very lovely child."

Alianna extended her palm, wanting to stroke Beatrice, who leaned against her.

But she was pushed away by her own sister. Beatrice puffed up her cheeks, her eyes carrying the resentment of an abandoned little pet. "Hmph, I’ve been crying for thirty seconds, and you’re still talking to the Plague Doctor! You don’t even comfort me! I hate Anna the most!" Saying this, Beatrice ran off alone, carrying her little temper.

After Beatrice left with her moodiness, silence returned to Lyle’s room, a deathly stillness coalescing around them.

Lyle shifted his gaze away from Alianna.

"Aren’t you going to chase after her?" Lyle stood up from the ground, dusting off imaginary dust.

Alianna did not respond or take any action.

"You’re avoiding me."

Silence once again descended, bringing an end to the conversation.

"...I’m not."

"You are, you’re avoiding my gaze... your focus used to be on me..." Alianna maintained that typically cool and emotionless voice.

The frustration and the once-beautiful fantasies that had been trapped in Lyle’s chest for the past few days assaulted his body, as if his throat were being squeezed, he made no further sound, letting agitation occupy his mind.

This silence lasted between them for several more minutes.

Alianna’s voice became a few shades softer, almost imperceptibly quiet.

"We should attend the final banquet now, Plague Doctor."

"Mm." Lyle waved to Nia on the ceiling, and Nia crawled onto Lyle. Just a second before she completely disappeared, her tentacles touched Alianna’s agate headdress.

A milky voice sounded in Lyle’s ear. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

"Gone..."

Lyle and Alianna moved one after the other, maintaining a constant distance between them. But inside, something was quietly changing.

The castle’s main hall was bathed in light, brilliantly as if it were daytime, and the boisterous noise made the atmosphere even more fervent, adding a touch of passion to the musicians’ music.

Kevin and the others had already arrived at the scene of the dance, having not informed Lyle beforehand because they had seen the scene of Beatrice knocking at the door. They were leaning against a windowsill, their gaze sweeping through the crowd at the dance.

Karen and Aryan stood not far from them, the difference being that Karen was staring at the food while Aryan was staring at Karen.

Fannila and Heinz stood on the other side, also having no intention of joining the dance. Fannila looked at the roast suckling pig on the table with disdain, while Heinz was meditating with his eyes closed, the white fire torch in his hand burning vigorously.

"Plague Doctor..." Alianna’s gaze was fixed on the center of the dance, the pairs twirling, their gowns fluttering with the music, blooming like flowers under the candlelight.

"I would like to dance... with you..." Her voice almost faded away, but from Alianna’s movements and her inquiring tone, Lyle easily understood her meaning.

With a sense of fantasy and absurdity in his heart, Lyle’s voice trembled in a way even he did not detect.

"Why me..."

Alianna lowered her head, her fingers intertwined.

"Because... Plague Doctor is very... I think very... I’m very curious..." Her veil lifted again, and Lyle could feel Alianna was anticipating his response.

However, Lyle was by now sunk in an uncontrollable sorrow, the restlessness in his heart igniting his reason like rising flames.

"Am I to you... just a novelty to be curious about? Have you had... any other feelings?"

Alianna seemed to panic, not knowing the answer to this question, but she knew this was definitely not what she wanted.

She took Lyle’s hand, gingerly, her voice anxious and touched with a wistful sense of panic, trembling.

"I don’t know... Plague Doctor..." Alianna lowered her head, and then her veil slowly approached, as if to penetrate those two lenses and gaze directly into Lyle’s soul, "I don’t know... if I have other emotions..." Her voice carried a plaintive tone, like a swan on the verge of death, "Maybe... Plague Doctor... you could teach me... what feelings I should have."

The heartache overwhelmed Lyle’s reasoning, bearing the sorrow of unrequited feelings.

Lyle acted impulsively, branding that image onto his own wounds. After he flung away her hand, she silently endured the disappointment of rejection.

"I’m not like you, Alianna, I don’t have time... to teach someone... who is heartless."

Lyle did not understand his own feelings, his heart had gone numb, and he absent-mindedly retreated to his own room.