Chapter 37 Cat-Eared Boy "You... touch the top of your head."...

For a moment, Ashlin didn't know whether she should burst out laughing.

“Looks like I was right,” Aidan said calmly, even though he was tied up, looking like he was watching a show. “Lucas’s soul hasn’t even taken shape yet. Laurel’s stroke of genius caught him off guard, and now all his composure has vanished.”

Lucas did look like he was about to cry, looking pitiful. Now he started pacing frantically, restless and agitated.

Ashlin quickly focused her attention on the fragments of the sketch and tried to reconstruct them. She silently recited the instructions in her mind.

The fragments rose shakily into the air, as if they were very afraid, trying to stick together, but as soon as they touched each other, they scattered like lightning and fell back to the ground in pieces.

“What is this?” Lucas asked in horror. “These pieces of paper will kill us, Ashlin!”

He tugged at her hem; if he had a tail, it would surely wag.

Ashlin wished she had something to record this moment of His Highness's life.

"Okay, good boy." She patted his head. "I'll destroy the fragments now."

She refocused her attention on the piece of paper: "I said, restore it!"

The fragments were startled and hurriedly lined up like a row of soldiers. Ashlin raised her hand, and the green light finally glued them together.

"Are you feeling better, Your Highness?" she asked.

Lucas swayed suddenly, then steadied himself by leaning on the table. He rubbed his eyes and looked away, seemingly somewhat embarrassed.

"I feel much better. Let's pretend what happened just now never happened, thank you."

“You’re welcome. I will remember this moment for you forever,” Ashlin said.

Laurel picked up the sketch, hugged it to his chest, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Lucas then pretended to examine Aidan's desk, like a cat that had failed to jump over a wall. Now she was no different from the person (or cat) she had known before.

"Good news, there's no paper for sending letters. We've arrived just in time."

"it's over."

At that moment, a voice rang out.

Aidan finally stopped smiling.

Behind Lucas stood Queen Melia and the Elf Knight.

“Melia…”

“Arrest him,” Melia said expressionlessly.

The knights escorted Aidan away. Melia glanced at the two humans but said nothing.

Laurel stood bewildered between the two humans.

“Uh, I think you need some private space?” She waved her sketch and muttered as she left. “What a fascinating story… Now both of my childhood friends are gone…” She seemed quite philosophical about it.

In the darkness of night, only the two of them remained.

Ashlin felt a pang of sadness as she watched Aidan's retreating figure.

Not for Aidan.

First, it was for Melia. She lost all her family in every sense of the word, and even her only brother betrayed her.

What would it be like to be a lonely, immortal queen? She couldn't imagine.

And then she did it for herself.

She had spent so much time loving this fairy's music; she had truly entrusted her heart to those melodies.

But after all that she's been through, how can she look at those sheet music and those melodies again? When she hears "The Tree Spirit and the Boy" again, will she forever lose the happiness she once had?

She hated Aidan, hated that he turned what she loved into a disgusting memory.

The world she longed for as a child was indeed full of dazzling magic, but now she finally understands clearly: darkness coexists with it, and she is getting closer and closer to this darkness. This is not entirely consistent with what she thought.

In her imagination, travel is always free and romantic.

Back in Dragon's Breath Mountain, everything was different. The Dragon Crystal Cave could be unlocked by confronting one's fear. Dragons, like humans and elves, are intelligent races, but they are misunderstood by the world; the little dragon Aisusa was nothing more than a child starved for love.

There, pure magic still works, and resonant emotions can still offer salvation.

Even the usually beautiful, noble, and pure elves can be bewitched by the dark magic of the labyrinth, and they are careless.

What use are her feelings when she can't see the truth or the shadows?

If she had been more perceptive and noticed Aidan's unusual behavior from the beginning, if she hadn't been so oblivious and blinded by her idol... Tara might have survived, and the Divine Oak wouldn't have died so suddenly.

Has she become powerful enough to face something far more terrifying than a dragon on her own?

Ashley wasn't sure.

Perhaps, if it weren't for Lucas, she would be a fool who has forgotten everything by now.

“It’s a good ending overall, right?” Lucas said, trying to sound relaxed, his voice still a little tense, which Ashlin guessed was part of his guilt. “Except for the tree, it’s now a real dark work of art.”

Ashlin rolled her eyes at him.

She looked at his pale, tired, and uneasy face, wondering whether she should punch him or give him a hug.

"Out of step with the times?" he asked awkwardly. "I mean, everyone's alive. Except the tree. No, except Tara. No, what am I talking about?"

He suddenly seemed less talkative, not at all like a prince of Helian City, but just an ordinary teenager.

When Ashlin first met Lucas, he had just recovered from an illness and was embracing his mother in bed, giving her a weak but gentle smile. At that moment, his blue eyes seemed so distant, so dreamlike; even though they were in the same room, they were from completely different worlds.

Now, more than ever, he made Ashlin feel like a real person.

She had previously emphasized to Lucas that status and class were not barriers to friendship for her. Indeed, she wasn't lying: she cared about him not because of his status, but because of who he was.

Of course, as a nobleman, he was different from the boys Ashlyn had known in River Bend. Those boys would only mock her, make witch jokes about her, put caterpillars in her theology textbooks, or cut her hair while she napped.

In contrast, Lucas was noble and refined, yet endearingly annoying. This was fine, but it didn't mean much; it only indicated his privileged upbringing. If not for that absurd medical accident, they would never have crossed paths. She would have remained in Foxtail Bend, learning herbalism from Sanova, while he would have become an increasingly esteemed member of the royal family.

At that moment, they were breathing the same air. His panic, ironically, made her feel cheerful.

Suddenly, she sensed something subtly changing between them, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It was an extremely faint and subtle feeling, almost imperceptible.

Their eyes met; his beautiful eyes were as blue as ever, but more vivid than ever.

She heard her heart leap with joy, even though it had never stopped beating.

Lucas sighed, uneasily smoothed his hair back, and looked away.

Ashlin was about to hug him, but after hearing this, she had to change her mind.

"'Miss Bailey'? When did I become 'Miss Bailey'?" she finally asked.

“Hmm,” Lucas pursed his lips and blinked, as if this made him seem innocent, “It probably started when I yelled ‘idiot’ at you?”

"You're the idiot, you know that?"

Lucas gave a dry laugh.

I couldn't agree more.

"He's still a megalomaniac."

"That's absolutely right."

"What an idiot."

"Wait a minute, isn't this a bit too much?"

"No, it's my fault."

"Alright. It would be ridiculous if we were to argue here about who was more wrong."

Ashlin agreed.

“We’ll have plenty to do when we get home,” she said. “We need to sell over 270 sheet music books.”

Lucas made a face, while Ashlin's lips curled up, unable to stop laughing.

When they first met, she was worried that making faces at the prince would be inappropriate, but actually the prince could make faces too.

“That’s a lot of money. Maybe Father will change his opinion of me because of it.” He glanced nervously at Ashlin. “Well, speaking of Father, I will never let him know about your spellcasting mistake. Just pretend you never said any of those nonsense I told you about him thinking you murdered the prince. After we part ways tomorrow, don’t tell anyone about the dark wizard. Otherwise, if it gets to Father, all of you wizards will be in trouble.”

“Wait a minute,” Ashlin said, both amused and annoyed, “separate? You don’t really think I’d let you go alone, do you? How can a cat break its own curse?”

"Uh, you didn't refute it."

Ashlin couldn't hold back and punched him on the shoulder, on the side where he wasn't injured.

"Hey!"

“You’re right about one thing,” Ashlin sighed. “I think I do…enjoy the adventure. Of course, that doesn’t mean I like Cerberus, the Dark Labyrinth, or the Dark Wizard. I’m just referring to the novelty of the experience itself.”

“I’ve lived my whole life in Foxtail Bay, where the scenery and stories are limited. Only after I left did I realize how vast the world truly is. You are a prince, and I don’t expect you to understand…”

“Actually, I understand quite well,” Lucas said softly. “Me too.”

Ashlin raised her eyebrows.

"you?"

Lucas spread his hands.

As Ashlind said this, she noticed something change in Lucas.

She took two steps back in shock, her eyes wide.

Lucas misunderstood her actions.

“No, Lucas,” Ashlin shook her head, “you… touch the top of your head.”

"The top of my head?" He reached out in confusion, and after touching the thing, his expression suddenly changed. "It can't be what I'm thinking, can it?"

Two black cat ears have appeared on his messy black hair.

It's fluffy.

I recently revised many details of the earlier part of the text.