Chapter 70 [Reluctant to Part]
"...I thought you would never leave the Dark Forest."
After hearing Mela's words, Lex remained silent for a moment before speaking.
“That’s exactly what I was planning to do,” Mela answered honestly.
But wasn't this an unexpected situation?
Mela told Lex, rather hastily, about how Silas had accidentally discovered that the Seed of Life had sprouted.
“Erica is my teacher, and I can’t just stand by and watch her be in danger,” Mela said.
"However, I never expected that the person I found in the end would be Yuriel."
"So, you're going to travel together to Furhorst Territory?" Lex asked.
“Yeah.” Mela took a few steps forward; it wasn’t right to talk in front of someone’s room.
"Unfortunately, Erica should have already left Furhorst territory by now. We'll probably have to go somewhere else next."
Go somewhere else?
Lex's lips moved, as if he wanted to ask something, but he ultimately chose another question:
"If I had asked you back then if you would like to leave the Dark Forest together, would you have said yes?"
Mela turned to look at him in surprise, her expression clearly saying: What are you thinking?
"I already said I didn't just leave the Dark Forest with some random excuse; I came out to rescue people."
After rescuing the person, Mela will naturally go back.
Therefore, how can Erika and Lex's situations be confused?
Lex clearly wanted to leave.
He had things he wanted to accomplish that he had to do, and she had her own life to live.
Mela enjoys staying in the dark forest, away from people and trouble, and has no intention of changing for anyone.
However, Mela leaned lazily against the door and said, "If you really face danger again, maybe I'll consider saving you one more time."
"Think about it?"
Lex repeated Mela's words and walked step by step towards her.
They weren't far apart to begin with, and now they were so close that their bodies were almost touching.
"Couldn't you just lie to me once and say you would definitely come?"
Lex lowered his eyes.
They actually looked rather pitiful.
The once spirited black wolf lay down, deliberately letting Mela see the grievance on its face.
But Lex is different from Black Wolf; he doesn't have furry wolf hair, so Mela can't resist touching him.
He had only sharp and deep-set features, and even his pursed lips had a cold curve, making him look unapproachable.
“Lex, are you a child? Why do you insist on listening to lies instead of the truth?” Mela suddenly said.
Even with Lex standing right in front of her, like an insurmountable mountain, seemingly impossible to escape from under her nose, Mela was not intimidated by his imposing presence. Instead, she smiled slightly.
"A lie is still a lie even if you hear it a thousand times, but my sincerity is very precious, so I told you the truth. Shouldn't you be happy?"
As she spoke, Mel reached out and pushed Lex's shoulder. "Make me stand up. The carvings on the door are hurting my back."
"Are you alright?" Lex instinctively reached out to separate Mela from the door, but his hand accidentally landed on Mela's lower back.
Beneath the soft fabric lies skin as delicate as porcelain, still slightly warm to the touch.
In comparison, Lex's palms were burning hot, the difference between the two temperatures was so stark.
Mela raised an eyebrow calmly, with an expression that said, "What do you think?"
Lex silently withdrew his hand, stepped aside, and dared not say another word.
As soon as he stepped aside, Mela saw Silas peering out the window of the corridor, staring at them with a twisted expression.
"...Silas, why are you leaning against the window like that?"
*
Having finally reunited with Mela, Silas began to indignantly berate her for forgetting about it.
"Do you know how worried I was about you? I followed the convoy all the way to this manor, and when I saw that you couldn't find a way to escape, I thought something had happened to you..."
Silas had been living in fear all day, but when it finally found an opportunity to sneak up to the window and try to squeeze through the crack, it saw Mela chatting with Lex in the hallway as if nothing had happened.
Wait, speaking of which...
"Lex, what are you doing here?" Silas tilted his head and stared at Lex, asking.
"...The owner of the manor is my former teacher, and I have come here specifically to be a guest."
Lex didn't say why he made a special trip to visit.
Fortunately, Silas wasn't interested in this either.
After all, with its limited intelligence, it couldn't possibly have figured out all those intricate details.
So Silas said "Oh," and turned away to continue his denunciation of Mela.
Mela looked at Lex with a wistful expression.
Lex coughed lightly and said, "Silas, you must have been starving after being stranded outside yesterday, right? Why don't I have the kitchen send over some good food so you can fill your stomach first?"
Silas's attention was indeed diverted.
It excitedly exclaimed, "Great! Great!" and then asked Lex if there was anything good to eat that could be prepared.
After a while, a maid pushed a food cart and knocked on the door. Lex personally pushed the cart in so that Sylas could sit down on it and start eating heartily.
"Speaking of which, how did Silas come up with the idea of turning into a pigeon?" Lex asked, trying to make conversation.
Mela then relayed Silas's reasoning verbatim to Lex.
“But I would like to turn Silas into a sparrow. It would be so cute to be small and easy to hide, but unfortunately it doesn’t want to,” Mela said with some regret.
"I don't want to become a sparrow! Those grayish feathers are so ugly!" Silas managed to find time to retort to Mela even in the midst of his busy schedule, though his mouth was stuffed full of food, making his words muffled.
"Oh, right, Silas, why don't you go have dinner with Yuriel later?" Mela suddenly thought.
"Why?" Silas asked, puzzled.
Didn't Mela just say that her identity had been almost completely exposed in the eyes of those in the know, like Mrs. Jones?
What does it matter if she reveals that she owns an exceptionally intelligent and unparalleled bird?
“Because I haven’t personally admitted that I really am a witch yet.” Mela smiled and picked up the last piece of cheese tart from the plate, leaving Silas’s outstretched wings empty-handed.
Even if Mrs. Jones and others suspected Mela's identity and knew it all too well, as long as Mela didn't admit it herself, they could pretend to be oblivious and continue to associate with her.
Some facts don't necessarily need to be exposed. Like a soap bubble, they are most beautiful when viewed through a hazy halo.
Under Silas's resentful gaze, Mela thought that the cook at Furhorst Manor was really quite skilled.
However, before Mela could reach for the mille-feuille on another plate, Silas swiftly popped it into his mouth first.
"Crepes, delicious." Silas mumbled indistinctly, staring at Mela with a smug look in his eyes.
Mela still had a smile on her face. "Eat as much as you like. This whole truckload of food is yours. Remember to finish it all!"
What?
Silas stared in disbelief at the two tiers of food stacked high with exquisite plating beneath the food cart.
It let out a long, long burp.
It was as if he had expelled his soul as well.
*
In the evening, only Mela, Lex, Cherk, and Mrs. Jones remained at the dinner table. Fernando was unable to come down and dine with them, so the servants brought the food to his room.
Upon learning that Mela and Yuriel would need to stay at the manor for another two weeks, Mrs. Jones nodded in a good mood, telling them not to worry and to simply settle in. She assured them that they could contact Catherine if they needed anything.
In short, Mela had another very pleasant dinner.
This pleasure reached its peak when she was comfortably soaking in the bathtub.
As a bird, Silas doesn't like being fully submerged in water, but seeing Mela enjoying herself in the bath, she begged Mela to get her a wooden tray.
So Silas stood in the wooden tray, and Mela would occasionally sprinkle some water on it so that it could jump around and wash away the dust from its feathers.
"By the way, Mela, will Lex be coming with us later?"
Silas tilted his head back and stared at Mela, whose cheeks were flushed red from the rising steam.
"Why does he want to come with us?" Mela asked casually.
"I thought... I thought..." Silas stammered, too embarrassed to voice his thoughts.
It's just that it wants to be exclusive to Lex Luthor. They finally met this time, so why can't they stay together a little longer?
“Silas, even if we can stay together for one more day, won’t we at least avoid the next separation?” Mel reached out and stroked Silas’s feathers.
His words were unusually earnest and sincere.
"Instead of forcibly delaying the moment of parting, let's cherish every day we have to meet again, okay?"
"All right……"
Despite Mela's words, Silas's tone still betrayed his disappointment.
Mela smiled and shook her head, but didn't say anything more to comfort her.
Lex, who was about to go to sleep, suddenly heard a knock on his door. He opened the door and saw that the hallway was empty.
When he looked down again, Silas had already stealthily made his way to his bed on the soft carpet.
"Lex, let me keep you company tonight!" Silas flew onto the bed, enthusiastically patting the blankets as he extended the invitation to Lex.
Lex, who had never been so clingy to by Sylas before, was momentarily flattered.
"Why did you suddenly come here? Does Mela know about this?" Lex closed the door and came to the bedside.
“Oh, she knows,” Silas said calmly. “She said that since I can’t bear to part with you, I should cherish every moment I have with you, so I came.”
"What's with that expression?" Silas was quite dissatisfied when Lex didn't speak; it was waiting to see Lex look touched.
Lex's expression was even a little too calm.
He casually replied, "It's nothing," but in his heart he was thinking that even Silas was so reluctant to part with him, yet Mela seemed completely unaffected.
She was smiling, but her heart was like a block of ice that was impossible to melt.
The cold repeatedly jolted him awake from his dazed state.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
