Chapter 52 [Lex's Departure]
The snow melted as suddenly as it had fallen. As the white snow receded, tender green grass roots were revealed, and animals appeared along the babbling brook.
The newborn fawn, under its mother's watchful eye, peacefully lowered its head to drink water. A sparrow fluttered its wings and landed on a branch, curiously watching the school of fish in the water. Suddenly, it flicked its tail and swam forward a few inches.
Mela never expected to encounter a black wolf and its cubs learning how to hunt while she was gathering herbs.
The big black wolf, as the father, was as majestic and imposing as ever, with a terrifying aura.
But as soon as it saw Mela, it immediately retracted its bared fangs and obediently let Mela pounce on it and rub it haphazardly from head to tail. It even let go of the prey it had originally set its sights on.
The wolf pups following behind her looked at Mela with a puzzled expression. For some reason, they subconsciously wanted to get closer to her, but their guard prevented them from moving closer.
He seemed quite hesitant.
Noticing the wolf cubs, Mela unceremoniously grabbed one of them and held it in her arms, stroking its fur, which was softer than that of its black wolf father.
If nothing unexpected happens, these are the wolf pups she helped the mother wolf give birth to. They are being raised quite well now, and even after such a long winter, they haven't become thin and emaciated, only their fur is a bit yellow and scraggly.
The little wolf was startled by Mela's actions and involuntarily began to wriggle in her arms, trying to escape the strange paws that were touching it all over.
Unexpectedly, the black wolf helped Mela suppress the disobedient children and even picked up another child and brought him into Mela's arms.
The meaning is clear: you can play whatever you want, do whatever you want.
Mela happily rubbed all the furry creatures around, watching them whimper weakly like puppies. If she hadn't remembered she had important business to attend to, she probably could have wasted the whole day like that.
Finally, Mela reluctantly bid farewell to the black wolf and its cubs, crossed the low bushes, stepped on the pebbles in the stream, and hopped across the winding river, arriving at the place where the glow-in-the-dark flowers grew before the moon rose.
This time, Silas wasn't with her.
This is Lex's last night in the Dark Forest. When he hears that Mela is going to collect Nightbloom as usual, Silas is so surprised that his mouth could fit a whole egg.
Logically speaking, shouldn't Mela have stayed and taken the opportunity to say goodbye to Lex?
Could it be that in her heart, the glow-in-the-dark flower that she could pick once a year was more important than Lex, whom she might never see again?
"Stop, stop, stop! To put it another way, 'you can pick it once a year' means you only have one chance to pick the glow-in-the-dark flower a year, so it's a very precious opportunity, okay?" Mela had to interrupt Silas to prevent it from continuing to fabricate stories and portraying her as some kind of cold-hearted person.
She was reluctant to see Lex leave, after all, they had spent so much time together, but his departure was something that had been a foregone conclusion for a long time, so she had already made preparations for the separation.
Mela assumed Silas was the same.
It's because it's the one who most wants Lex to leave.
“That’s different.” Silas’s voice was muffled, like a leaden gray sky about to rain, with one layer of dark clouds pressing down on another, making it difficult for even the air to penetrate.
"Knowing that Lex is leaving is a completely different feeling from actually facing his departure."
Silas has never experienced separation.
Therefore, it wasn't until this moment, when Silas realized that Lex was leaving early the next morning, that he understood how difficult it was to hold back his tears when watching someone he knew leave.
It even wanted to run into Mela's arms and cry its heart out.
Therefore, Mela's calm attitude seemed particularly cold to Silas.
"It's okay, Silas. You'll get used to the days when Lex isn't around," Mela said tenderly, pulling Silas into her arms and stroking his feathers gently.
Just like how she got used to Elvie and Wipdo leaving.
*
Mela returned with a basket full of fresh luminous flowers.
To her surprise, a tall figure stood in the open space in front of the cabin.
"Why aren't you asleep yet?" Mela walked briskly to Lex's side.
“We’re waiting for you to come back,” Lex said.
"Silas is asleep. I think you might need someone to help you deal with the glow-in-the-dark flowers?"
“Yes, I do need your help.” Mela’s voice was tinged with amusement. Although she had clearly seen through Lex’s intentions, she considerately refrained from exposing them.
It was the last night, and she put aside her mischievous thoughts of teasing Lex.
Unexpectedly, this made Lex feel somewhat uncomfortable.
He wanted to hear her say something else.
Everything is fine.
After all, once he leaves, he will only be able to reminisce about the years he spent in the Dark Forest by recalling what she said.
Unfortunately, Mela did not do as Lex wished, but instead focused on the process of brewing the potion.
Lex held a few glowing flowers in his hand, watching Mela busy in front of the crucible and chuckled to himself. Yes, that's Mela for you. Her carefree attitude sometimes even makes him feel ashamed of himself.
With Lex helping out, Mela's task tonight is much easier; at least she can take a nap when she's too tired to stay awake.
She sat in the chair, her head resting on the back, and fell asleep.
Before this, Mela had repeatedly instructed Lex to wake her up immediately after the potion in the pot changed color.
Lex nodded in agreement.
He just couldn't help but trace Mela's features with his eyes after she fell asleep.
Mela's appearance is so striking that it's easy to be fooled when you first meet her. But once you get to know her, you'll find that Mela is actually quite soft-hearted.
She always lends a helping hand to those who need her.
Whether it's Hall, Ducwato, or even Lex, Bucky, Gwentil... Lex often finds it hard to understand how he could have believed those seemingly threatening words Mela once said.
Lex walked up to Mela, deliberately keeping his footsteps low so that Mela's eyelids didn't even twitch, and she remained soundly asleep.
He appeared completely unguarded.
This also made Lex want to sigh.
She trusted him too much.
But no man is trustworthy.
Especially a man who harbors ulterior motives towards her.
"Are you going to kiss me or not?" Mela suddenly opened her eyes, her gaze clear, showing no signs of just waking up.
"Were you pretending to be asleep just now?" Lex was genuinely surprised, even showing a rare look of bewilderment in his eyes.
He didn't understand why Mela was pretending to be asleep.
"It wasn't pretending to be asleep; I was genuinely sleepy just now," Mela denied.
She just wanted to give Lex a chance as well.
Mela isn't some naive young girl; you have to remember that she used to have more suitors than you could count on two hands.
Mela had seen plenty of affections—restrained, passionate, subtle, and explicit. Lex's budding, immature feelings were naturally no exception.
Although she didn't know what Lex liked about her, Mela didn't mind giving Lex a chance to confess his feelings.
Of course, whether she agrees or not is another matter.
Mela was surprised when Lex suddenly leaned in while she was asleep, his warm breath almost touching her face. Clearly, he wanted more than just to confess his feelings.
However, if it were Lex, Mela still refrained from opening her eyes.
Lex, however, retreated.
Sensing the other breath recede into the distance, Mela decisively opened her eyes, no longer wanting to pretend.
This startled Lex, who was completely unprepared.
Upon hearing Mela's question, "Are you going to kiss me or not?", Lex paused for a moment, then thought, "...Do I get another chance to choose?"
“What do you think?” Mela asked him in return.
It seems that's not possible.
Lex sighed softly, took a few steps back to distance himself from Mela, and resumed his usual calm demeanor.
Mela didn't have time to argue with him about anything else. She noticed that the liquid in the crucible was changing color, so she quickly grabbed a long, thick spoon and started stirring it counterclockwise.
"Lex, throw in the prepared glow-in-the-dark flowers. Stop when I say stop," Mela instructed.
Lex immediately and efficiently did as she instructed.
The somewhat ambiguous scene just now vanished with a "plop" as it fell, like a dewdrop on a leaf.
So much so that when Silas woke up the next morning, he had no idea what had happened between Mela and Lex. All he knew was that they had spent the night filling the empty space in the cupboard with all sorts of new potions.
Sometimes Silas really wanted to cover his forehead and groan, and only Lex was willing to go through such madness with Mela.
There was no sentimentality or reluctance to part; it was completely nonexistent.
After breakfast, Mela even calmly said goodbye to Lex.
And Lex? He calmly said goodbye to Mela and left the cabin without looking back.
Watching Lex disappear, Silas, who was being held in Mela's arms, dejectedly looked away. "Alright, Lex is really gone. Let's go back."
"Don't be so down. Lex's gone. We're just going back to the days when we can only eat potatoes and mushroom soup to fill our stomachs, when no one keeps the house tidy, and when you can't just push all the chores onto others..."
Seeing that Silas was so downcast, Mela offered him a few words of comfort.
As Mela spoke, Silas felt increasingly dizzy and desperately wanted Lex to come back immediately.
It doesn't want to live such a miserable life!
*
On the outskirts of the dark forest, a tall man stands quietly, leading a well-bred black horse, waiting for someone who is finally returning.
In the distance, seeing an unfamiliar figure emerge from behind the foliage, and then a familiar face gradually appear, the man's thick lips trembled, and he uttered that long-lost voice:
"Your Highness Lex!"
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