Chapter 173 It's impossible for me to really do this for this man...
We talked all night until the curtains turned white.
But I felt no sleepiness at all.
Even after we finished chatting, we still felt like we hadn't had enough.
A light rain was falling; I opened the window and a cool breeze rushed in.
The coffee machine was whirring away when the castle maid, carrying out a coffee cup, shouted, "Close the window! Close the window! Why did you open it?"
"Don't you feel stuffy after being locked up all night?" But I still closed the window.
The castle maidservant served two cups of coffee and placed them on the table. I took some whole wheat bread from the refrigerator, put it in the oven, and it was baked in a few dozen seconds.
The castle maid looked at my whole-wheat bread and laughed, "Do you eat this in the palace too?"
“I’ll eat that too,” I said with a smile, placing the bread on the table. “But it doesn’t taste as good as this. However, the palace has a wide variety of breads, and I’ll eat the better one every day, like the one with fruit and walnuts.”
"You won't have the chance to enjoy these delicacies if you go back here," sighed the castle maid.
I just smiled and started eating breakfast.
After breakfast, the little maid from the castle had to go back to school, so she left in a hurry. I leaned against the window and watched her get into a ride-hailing car and leave in the light rain.
I originally thought it would be difficult for her and me to reconcile.
We parted on bad terms at the airport that time. I discovered her secret crush on Bernard, and she even shamelessly declared that the man was hers. Of course, I disagreed, and we ended up arguing.
After returning from the other world, I called her from my hospital room, and she answered immediately. I was surprised; I thought she would hang up.
We chatted for a while.
She knew I was hospitalized and had called my cell phone. My mother answered and, after mentioning my injury, guessed that I had probably gone back "over there".
“I bet you’ll call me when you get back,” she said to me on the other end of the phone. “You’re not that petty.”
"Yes."
I will definitely call her. She knows my experience and has even gone through some of what I went through herself. I need someone to talk to.
Although she had a falling out with a man, she never had any contact with him, never dated him or anything like that, so it's impossible for her to really break off all ties with me for this man.
After being discharged from the hospital, I began to reorganize my life. I had no interest in work for the time being, and I could barely manage to study. But given my condition, it would be difficult for me to attend a good school, and I probably wouldn't pass the entrance exam. After considering many factors, I finally decided to go abroad to study at a community college, majoring in early childhood education. It's a shorter program, and there are internship opportunities to earn a salary.
The funds for my studies came from my parents' help and my own savings. My parents mainly subsidized my tuition and rent, while I had to cover other expenses such as meals, utilities, and miscellaneous costs for a period of time, as long as I could manage.
To make it easier to meet the castle maid, I chose a community college not far from Yale. It wasn't a very famous school, and the tuition wasn't too high, so I finally settled down.
My visa application went smoothly, thanks to my years of experience working abroad.
The rain was getting heavier, but I opened the window again. The feeling of cold wind and rain made me feel as if I had returned to the West or the North.
Two days later, I and the castle maid appeared at a coffee shop next to Yale.
A slender, thin-faced woman with short hair was already sitting inside, waiting.
"Daylyn!" I called her name. She looked up from her phone, paused for a few seconds, and then her expression returned to normal.
“It really is you,” she said. “I actually thought it was a prank.”
The castle maid had been working at the Yale library, and a few months ago I'd noticed her mysteriously entering and leaving the basement where the exotic cards were kept. When I returned and told her about Dalene's return, I guessed that the mysterious woman was her. The castle maid found her phone number on the visitor register, and I called her myself. She seemed incredulous and dazed when she heard my voice, repeatedly confirming it, still unable to believe it. But when I asked her to meet up, she agreed.
"How did you get back?!" Daisy and I asked at the same time, and laughed at the same time.
Dailin answered first: "When Diya Ruo and I fought for the royal city, I was wounded by a poisoned arrow. I recuperated for many days, but my condition worsened and I eventually died."
Me: "I was stabbed in the neck and that's how I came to be."
Dale sighed, "That's no place for a human being. I don't want to go back." She then looked at the castle's young maid, "Who is she?"
I gave a brief introduction to the castle's maids, and Dalene smiled and said, "I've only been there once, and it was quite nice."
The castle maid sighed, "I wish I could go more often like you."
“That’s not a good place.” Dale’s smile was somewhat forced.
After a moment of silence, Daisy asked me about Hya's situation. I told her the truth, and she sighed, "I knew he wouldn't last long."
“He was never a faithful person to begin with,” I said directly.
“I thought he would change. When we were on the island, I was the only woman he had, and he was truly sincere towards me,” Dalene said.
I pointed out without hesitation: "That's because he was exiled at the time, and his life was precarious. Not many women were willing to be with him. You were one of the higher-quality women among them, so he had no choice."
Daisy looked displeased. "After we left the island, I was the only one by his side."
"He still couldn't freely choose a woman at that time."
Daisy's face turned deathly pale. I realized what was happening and stopped talking.
To smooth things over, the castle maid started asking about exotic scenery, which was utterly ridiculous, but at least it eased the atmosphere a little.
When I got home, the castle maid complained to me, "Sometimes you shouldn't be so rude to people. Do you think she doesn't know what kind of man he is?"
I rubbed my forehead. "Yes, I was wrong."
Sometimes you just can't tell the truth in this world, especially to a woman who's blinded by love. She knows perfectly well what kind of man he is, but she's used to deceiving herself. If you expose her, it will only make her hate you.
I thought she would ignore me, but a week later I received a call from her.
“Last time you asked me if I knew about that mysterious book, and I didn’t answer you. Actually, I know a little bit about it,” Daisy called me on her cell phone.
"Oh, tell me about it." I got excited.
"The Mysterious Book is actually a book under a spell, left behind by some ancestor of the Western Kingdom royal family. It is said that the ancestor also traveled through time and space to another world, where he lived for a long time until he returned to his own world in his old age. Before his death, he placed this book in the treasure vault and placed another spell on it, so that no one except the king and queen could enter, except for those who were not from this world."
"How did you know about this?" I asked.
“Di Yaruo knows, and Haiya knows too. I overheard them whispering. They also told me not to tell you, saying they could use this secret to exchange for benefits if necessary, so that the information wouldn't be wasted.”
My hand trembled as I held my phone. Those people there are so cunning. I can forgive Haiya, but I was sincere with Diya, yet she's still wary of me.
“You don’t need to be sad,” Dale’s indifferent voice slowly came. “That’s just how people are there. They won’t do anything unless it’s in their interest. The reason I was cold to you there was not only because of my personality, but also because I knew that the closer I got to you, the more wary they would be of me, and Hya might also drift further away from me.”
As I said I understood, my hand holding the phone felt weak.
"If I could, I wouldn't want to go back," I said to Daisy before hanging up the phone.
Then I slept for a day and a night and even asked the school for leave.
After waking up, I continued with my life as if nothing had happened. I went to school, read books, researched, participated in group discussions, and wrote papers, living a busy life every day.
I occasionally keep in touch with the castle's little maid; she's also very busy, as she's about to graduate and is preparing her thesis.
My cousin called me once or twice, subtly asking if I had returned to the other world. I said yes, and then briefly told her about my experience. She listened with great interest and said, "I wish I could go again."
I couldn't help but smile wryly. This other world is like a walled city; those outside want to get in, and those inside want to get out. My cousin had been inside once, but her experience was too short, and she hadn't truly experienced anything yet.
Only those who have truly experienced it can understand the bittersweetness of it all: being betrayed, manipulated, and schemed against. Even those closest to you find it hard to be truly sincere. Every step feels like being roasted alive.
It started raining again that day. What was originally a light drizzle suddenly turned into a downpour, so heavy that you were soaked from head to toe and didn't even have time to find shelter.
Just as I was about to head to a convenience store, my vision suddenly changed—I found myself in a spacious and luxurious room. Outside the window, snow was falling heavily, but inside it was warm and cozy, thanks to the fireplace that was radiating warmth.
A stunningly handsome man in a magnificent silver-blue robe was coldly staring at two little boys with bruised and swollen faces. Both boys were dressed in fine clothes, but their robes were tattered, and their hair was a mess like a bird's nest.
“Father, he hit me first.”
“Father, he insulted my mother first, so I hit him.”
The stunningly handsome man's gaze grew even colder, while two elegantly dressed young ladies in the corner trembled with fear.
"Drag them all away, give each of them thirty strokes of the cane, then lock them in a dark room. No one is allowed to see them. If they survive, they survive; if they don't, they die."
Two young noblewomen rushed over and knelt at his feet, crying and begging him to forgive them. "They only met for the first time and didn't know each other's personalities, that's why they fought. Please forgive them."
"Your Highness, this is only their first fight."
The two little boys cried loudly in fright, but were still dragged away. The two young ladies chased after them, wailing and screaming.
I stared blankly. The stunningly handsome man was none other than Bernard, the two young noblewomen were likely his mistresses, and the two little boys were probably his illegitimate children.
Bernard's gaze suddenly fixed on me. I took a step back, and he stepped forward, staring intently at the empty air in front of him.
"Was it you?" he suddenly asked. "I know that after you go back, you sometimes appear in front of me, even though I can't see you."
I stared at him coldly without saying a word.
He lunged forward, trying to hug me, but in an instant, I took a step back and disappeared.
The heavy rain was still falling, and I was soaked to the bone. Passersby with umbrellas looked at me curiously, and people taking shelter from the rain under the eaves of shops not far away also stared at me. I snapped out of my daze and ran away in the rain.
Back in my small apartment, without even changing out of my wet clothes, I called Dailin. This was our first conversation since our last call.
“Daylyn? I’d like to know if you have any clues about that book? Hmm, I mean, clues about the ancestor who traveled to this place?”
I no longer want to travel back and forth, repeatedly, and I no longer want to be entangled with the people there. I'm tired. I want to sever ties with them.
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Author's Note: I hope you'll check out my other works too~~ They're pretty good~~
Merry Christmas everyone, muah~~
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