What is... crying?

Anna trembled as she stretched out her hand and touched the dryness at the corner of her eye.

“Senior, what’s wrong?”

Muen looked at her nervously, noticing that something wasn’t right.

“It’s nothing, I’m fine...”

Anna whispered, her gemlike eyes darting about as though searching in terror for something unseen.

At last, her gaze fixed on Muen’s face, staring blankly for a long moment. Something slowly seeped out from the depths of her heart, and her eyes gradually dropped lower—to Muen’s chest.

At that moment, the sun sank completely beneath the horizon.

All-encompassing darkness swallowed the world, and with it, the light in Anna’s eyes went out.

What replaced it was... an emotion—or rather, a desire.

Hunger.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Gulp.

Anna swallowed frantically. She stared at Muen’s chest; in her vision, everything else turned gray, leaving only the heart inside his chest, pulsing vividly.

So hungry.

So hungry.

So hungry.

She wanted to eat.

She wanted to eat her junior’s heart.

Her stomach, which moments ago had felt no hunger at all, now churned and roared. Countless twisted whispers filled her ears, and a cold will descended once again, wrestling with her for control of her body.

Anna began panting heavily. Instinctively, she gripped the gem hanging before her chest. The warmth from it allowed her consciousness to clear—just a little.

This is...

In terror, Anna lowered her eyes. On her pale arm, black scales resurfaced—this time faster, fiercer, spreading like poison as they quickly covered the entire limb.

“Why...”

Muen also saw this scene, his expression turning instantly vacant, his body dropping into an ice-cold abyss.

“Did it... not work?”

But they had gone on a date.

They had kissed.

They had used a tear filled with love.

The phrase “Tear of True Love” could not be wrong. Then was the method wrong... or his feelings?

“Wait, senior, we can still try something else—”

Muen reached out instinctively, wanting to catch her.

But she slipped away nimbly.

“That’s enough, junior.”

She tucked her arm back into her sleeve with practiced ease. Her head lowered, her expression hidden.

“You’ve already done enough. There’s no need for these useless efforts anymore.”

“This isn’t useless! At least we’ve eliminated one wrong option, haven’t we?”

Muen’s voice was already trembling:

“For example, we can... we can still...”

The words tangled on his tongue, refusing to leave.

Because after “we can still”—there was nothing.

This had been the most likely option. If even this failed, then what else could he do?

The most likely option...

The most likely option...

No. This couldn’t be the most likely one. There was something... something he had overlooked!

Yet within the whispers of the Evil Gods, he could not find the right choice.

Muen suddenly raised his head, his face twisted, glaring at the sky.

The heavens, now completely dark, were pure and empty—no stars, no moon.

And yet, he seemed to see, beyond that darkness, a pale-blue moon gazing down, mocking him with laughter at an ant’s arrogance.

Showing him a flicker of hope first, then snatching it away at the peak of his joy, leaving behind... only endless despair.

This was exactly what Teacher Meladomir had called the Evil Gods’... twisted pleasure.

...

“So in the end, this date should never have happened?”

As her warmth was stripped away by icy cold, Anna hugged her arms to herself, her body trembling, whispering in pain:

“So-called true love... doesn’t exist at all?”

“No, senior, that’s wrong. My feelings are—”

“Enough. That’s really enough. You don’t need to say anything more!”

Anna suddenly raised her head. At some point, the ribbon binding her hair had slipped away, and now her long hair whipped wildly in the night wind.

Her cold serpentine eyes fixed on Muen. In an instant, it was like she had become someone else entirely. What Muen saw in her face now was only indifference.

“Leave.”

“I won’t leave. I’ll save you.”

“I don’t need you to save me. I don’t deserve your salvation!”

Anna spoke coldly:

“Go live your life, Muen Campbell. You were never meant to be entangled with someone like me. You have a bright, happy future ahead of you.”

“A future without you—how could that be called happiness? I must—”

“Tech Rod. I killed him.”

“What?”

At her sudden, absurd words, Muen’s eyes widened in shock.

“I said that count’s son. Yes, I killed him. On the very first night of Open House, I killed him and ate his heart.”

“That’s impossible!”

“Why is it impossible? I’m a snake-person.”

Again, Anna looked at Muen’s chest—this time without hiding the hunger in her eyes.

“Eating the heart of the opposite sex is a snake-person’s instinct. If it weren’t for this gem, I would have already torn your heart out.”

“....” Faced with that clear killing intent and icy aura, Muen was left speechless.

“Do you understand? I am a man-eating monster, a murderer. Even if you cured my Serpentine Disease, so what? Would you be able to cover up the crime of a woman who killed a count’s son? 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Even the son of a duke can’t do everything.”

Anna slowly stepped back, inch by inch. Behind her stretched the vast waters—like an abyss ready to swallow everything.

“And besides, drawing close to you was only ever to use you. Understand? Now that you’re no longer of use... leave.”

She shot him a cold glance. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she let herself fall backward off the cliff.

The breeze caught her skirt, fluttering like withering petals.

“No—!”

Muen’s eyes went blood-red as he roared, leaping after her.

The alchemy core flared—time slowed, sixtyfold!

His skin burst with tiny blossoms of blood under the strain, but he didn’t notice. He only forced himself to move faster, ever faster.

But Anna seemed to have foreseen it. Before he could even take a step, violent winds surged forth, howling into a wall that blocked his path.

No amount of acceleration could let him break through the wind wall in an instant.

Their fingertips—so close, yet missed in passing.

Muen could only watch as that familiar, yet now indifferent, face grew farther and farther away.

...

...

In the deepening night, two splashes rang out in quick succession, startling fishermen resting on their boats.

Barely a second apart.

But when Muen opened his eyes underwater, frantically searching for her figure—there was nothing. In the pitch-black water, nothing could be seen.

...

...

Muen didn’t know how long he searched. Only when his strength gave out, and fishermen dragged him aboard, did he realize dawn had begun to break.

He knew what he’d done was futile. In these waters where three rivers intertwined, to find and chase down a girl who had been skilled in swimming since childhood—it was nothing but a fool’s dream.

Three rivers merging, a body born to the water.

“Senior... did you foresee this result from the start?”

Sitting on the fishing boat, staring at the vast waters, Muen whispered softly.

Maybe it was because he’d soaked too long, but his head felt hazy.

In thanks, he tossed out a huge pile of money, enough to nearly make the fisherman faint dead away, before staggering alone back into the remote streets.

He wandered aimlessly, like a walking corpse.

Finally, something tripped him, and he fell into a bed of dead leaves.

“Back so soon?”

A familiar, aged voice reached his ears.

Shaking his head and struggling up, Muen found himself—without knowing when—back at that little shop. The old man lay in his rocking chair at the door, half-opening his cloudy eyes to look at him.

“I...”

Muen hadn’t even begun speaking when the old man’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

“I see...”

His withered fingers tapped lightly against the chair arm.

In an instant—

Like thunder exploding at his ear!

A colossal force slammed into Muen’s chest, hurling him straight back. He smashed through several walls across the alley before coming to a stop.

“Cough, cough—”

Muen clawed his way up from the rubble, coughing blood.

“Are you awake now?”

Through the dizziness came the old man’s calm voice.

Muen gave a bitter smile. “Awake.”

“So then—you failed?”

“...Failed.”

“And just came crawling back alone like this?”

“...She ran away.”

“As expected. Fits her style.

So—”

The old man’s eyes grew cold again, drilling into Muen’s.

“You’re just going to ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) give up?”

“Give up? Of course not.”

Muen lowered his head, staring at his hands, pale from the river water. Remembering everything just now, his chest throbbed painfully, and he gave a wretched laugh:

“I won’t give up. I just... don’t know how to save someone who doesn’t want me to save her.”

“Idiot!”

The old man suddenly slammed his chair, his voice thundering:

“Are you really that Muen Campbell the intelligence spoke of—the womanizing playboy?”

“What?”

Muen froze. But the old man went on:

“You believed the words of a woman speaking against her own heart?”

“Against... her own heart?”

Muen’s eyes lit up. “You mean, senior was lying?”

“I don’t know.”

Muen’s face stiffened.

“But I do know this: a girl like her, who shuts her heart and only ever rejects others, has long since turned concealing her true feelings into a reflex, a second nature.”

“Like a snake, skilled at disguising itself,” Muen murmured.

“Take this.”

The old man suddenly tossed him a slip of paper.

“Lota Orphanage... this is...” Muen looked and saw an address written on it.

“Go have a look.”

The old man shifted into a more comfortable position, closed his eyes, and went back to dozing.

“Maybe there, you’ll find the truth you seek.”