Chapter 3.6
"Lovers?" Sui Yuan’s expression blanks as soon as he hears Aurora’s question in the middle of their spar, then shakes his head. "No, we are merely good friends. I am grateful to him for having saved my life, but that’s all..."
"If that’s the case..." Aurora restrains the joy in her heart, cautiously sounding him out again. "Actually...I...like Osmund a little..."
"...I know." Nodding his head, he allows a flicker of melancholy to surface. Only, it’s a pity Aurora catches it immediately, but doesn’t quite comprehend this expression of his.
"...That’s...I mean..." Aurora scuffs the dirt with the tip of her boot, hands bashfully wrapped around the hilt of her sword. "If you two are not lovers...then, I...will I be allowed to pursue him?"
Sui Yuan freezes, somewhat torn.
While he really wants to wholeheartedly approve this female lead taking the initiative to pursue the male lead, even wishing to pop fireworks in celebration, according to the original story, the supporting male lead who harbours feelings for her should not feel so excited.
Although Nardred already harbours adoration for Aurora after she saved his life, due to his low confidence and thinking he is unworthy of her, he buries his feelings deep in his heart. He will not take the initiative to profess his love for her, but he will also not approve if the female lead asks his permission to pursue another.
Considering deeply for three seconds, Sui Yuan hardens his face and sheathes his weapon. Glum golden eyes lock on the nervous Aurora, and he states coldly, "I believe we shouldn’t waste time on such useless topics when sparring."
Saying this, he whirls on his heels to walk away, intending to leave Aurora with his cool, elegant and grand back view. However, his plan is disrupted by as a hand wraps around his wrist, halting him dead in his tracks.
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Don’t be angry, Nardred!" Aurora desperately cries out. "I understand. I will never bring up this matter of pursuing Osmund again. Please don’t be angry!"
Choking, Sui Yuan flounders inwardly at how he is meant to encourage the female lead to continue with her plan - female lead!! How can you give up so easily ah! If you wish to pursue, then brazenly go ahead and do so! Give your all in the name of true love!
Seeing Sui Yuan did not brush her hand off, Aurora heaves a sigh of relief. Pushing aside the slight disappointment curling in her stomach, she jests, "Really, you still say you don’t like Osmund. As soon as I say I wish to pursue him, you immediately want to break the friendship between us?"
Sui Yuan snaps his head around to face the female lead, wanting to sob in despair.
Met with Sui Yuan awkward expression, Aurora laughs brightly, patting him heavily on the shoulder. "All right, enough. I didn’t take you for a prideful person. Clearly liking Osmund but refusing to admit. After all, whenever you are within range, Osmund doesn’t care about anyone else. Since you are both mutually pinning, I will not intrude!"
"...You are overthinking." At this moment, Sui Yuan can only get out this one miserable line.
Aurora nods, expression serious but carrying an obvious sign of "say whatever you want, I don’t believe you."
"...Isn’t this a BG world?! Why would you assume this miserable expression is due to liking him instead of you?" Sui Yuan mentally collapses, complaining bitterly to 5237.
5237 feels more vexed than its partner. "Your mum! Exactly whose mistake is it! Whose mistake?! I want to cry even more than you do! I’ve long given into despair that this BG world will become a BL one!"
"What are you talking about?" Having just returned from consulting Obsidian City’s lord about the dark lands, Osmund immediately interrupts their harmonious and friendly air with a light frown.
A flash of gleefulness flashing through her eyes, Aurora turns to Osmund and grins. "Us? We were just talking about - "
Sui Yuan’s hand slaps over her mouth, cutting off the latter half of her sentence. free webnov el.com
"Only discussing different sword styles," Sui Yuan continues from where she left off. He doesn’t know what will happen if Aurora managed to get out "talking about how Nardred likes you too", but from what he knows about Zhao Xihe, the man’s response will undoubtedly be intolerable. He doesn’t even want to think of the possibilities!
Only when Aurora stops struggling and rolls her eyes exaggeratingly to signal she wouldn’t talk does Sui Yuan remove his hand.
Puffing out an annoyed breath, Aurora shrugs a shoulder, then link arms with Sui Yuan as though he is another one of her girlfriends, a crafty smirk on her face. "Right, right. We were only talking about different sword styles. We certainly didn’t discuss anything about feelings!"
Sui Yuan turns his head away from the two, really wanting to teach this female lead a lesson. Who taught her to be as disruptive as the male lead?!
"...Is that right?" Osmund’s frown eases, gaze dropping down to Sui Yuan and Aurora’s linked arms, then back to her face, a soft smile curving his lips. "We will be heading off to the dark lands very soon. One should indeed hone their skills as much as possible before then."
Aurora unconsciously shivers and quickly removes her arm from the crook of Sui Yuan’s elbow. Sidling off to the side with a hollow laugh, her nervousness causes her to babble. "Osmund, your smile is a little scary...are you jealous?"
"What did you say?" The smile on his face widens.
"I didn’t say anything!" Aurora corrects herself instantly, forcing a laugh before declaring she wants to hone her skills some more. Turning around, she sprints off like a rabbit running from a predator.
Staring at Osmund as he moves closer, Sui Yuan’s lips pull downwards. "...You were out of character."
"As long as you keep your distance from her, I will not go out of character," is Osmund’s blunt reply.
5237: "Both of you, enough! QAQ"
All year round, the dark lands are shrouded in poisonous mist. Dense, thick clouds cover the skies above, making it impossible for sunlight to grace the earth below. Thus, this westernmost side of the continent is forever dim and moist, truly befitting being dubbed as the ’dark lands’.
To survive in such harsh conditions, one has to rely on being the meanest creature out there. Plants, animals, dark elves. It doesn’t matter. If one isn’t vicious and violent enough, the end would come sooner rather than later. Any intruders who wish to pass through their domain will need to be skilful enough, or come prepared to sacrifice their skin and flesh.
Even though they entered this land with more than adequate preparations - carrying every kind of healing potion, detoxifying panacea, etc - the party of three are still making progress with difficulty. As he grits his teeth and pushes himself forward, Sui Yuan begins to question if the original Nardred made it through the dark lands and found the source of darkness all by himself due to a bug[1].
- Getting through this entire thing alone and surviving is truly illogical!
Although Sui Yuan had been initially displeased with Osmund for insisting on following him into the dark lands and thus changing the plot, right now, he is feeling rather grateful.
If he died before finding the source of darkness, the points he accumulated so far will definitely disappear!
Osmund possesses a remarkably large reserve of light energy, while Sui Yuan is a half-dark, half-light elf hybrid. Hence, between the three of them, the female lead is the most vulnerable to the poison permeating this place. As a pure human, her ability to resist darkness is pretty weak. Even if she has been training from childhood, she is still young and her experience is not bountiful at all. Charging into such a dangerous area with only a fearless attitude, she paid the price of being reckless and headstrong.
Osmund has no choice but to pay more attention to Aurora ever since entering the dark lands. After all, she is this world’s female lead. If he lets her perish here, both Sui Yuan and he will not be able to escape being heavily penalised by the ’regulation’.
A yet again heavily-injured Aurora is supported by Sui Yuan, pausing for breath as Osmund takes it upon himself to search for a relatively safe place to rest for the time being. Using Sui Yuan as a makeshift crutch, a strained smile is plastered on Aurora’s face as she repeatedly apologises for dragging them down. Deathly pale from pain and blood-loss, she hasn’t uttered a single word of complaint.
No matter how much he wishes to open his mouth and comfort the female lead as they slowly make their way forward, he can only do so in the silence of his heart, for saying it aloud doesn’t fit his character.
The original text did not explicitly explain where the source of darkness lies as this is the supporting male lead’s experience and has nothing to do with the main leads. Therefore, the party of three can only rely on intuition to explore the land, wandering aimlessly like a blind housefly, wishing for what they seek to miraculously appear before them.
Sui Yuan just hopes that since he is playing the role of Nardred, he too will experience a strange feeling when he gets closer to the source of darkness. For now, however, what they need to focus on is not dying. Simply managing this will be all one can ask for.
"There’s a hollowed tree trunk up ahead. We can rest there." Osmund’s sound drifts over through the dense mist. Sui Yuan and Aurora freeze, then increase their pace.
After they enter the safety of the tree, Sui Yuan lays Aurora down gently, shifting her a little so her back leans against the wall. Osmund busies himself with gathering a few dried branches and leaves, igniting the small pile with a simple fire spell. Once the blaze gets going and illuminates the interior of the tree, he moves over to carefully inspect Aurora’s injuries.
Standing off to the side, Sui Yuan exhales heavily when Aurora’s condition stabilises. With tension draining away, he finally notices the odd feeling tingling in his gut.
It is as though something is calling out to him.
Recalling the description in the text, Sui Yuan brightens, turning towards the mouth of their temporary hideout. The feeling grows stronger, and he doesn’t resist its beckoning. With slow steps, he is drawn to the entrance, staring out into the distance.
"Nardred?" Even when he is treating Aurora, his attention is constantly on Sui Yuan. When the elf’s expression changes, Osmund immediately raises his head.
"......I’m going out to take a look around," Sui Yuan replies. Although it is a vague answer, Osmund understands his implication clearly.
Opening his mouth, Osmund is about to suggest coming along, but he remains silent after a moment’s consideration. As actors, they need to comply with rules and logic.
If the Holy Son goes with Nardred and stumbles across the source of darkness, he will immediately recognise it for what it is, and will prevent Nardred from swallowing it. Should this happen, it will impede a key event in the story from happening. Changing the storyline so the female lead is travelling with them as a companion is the limit to which he can alter things without major repercussions. He doesn’t wish to completely derail the plot.
Therefore, no matter how worried he is, he simply nods in consent and acts accordingly. "Got it. Be more careful and don’t wander too far."
"All right." Sui Yuan offers him a rare smile in thanks for keeping the plot on track. Then without the slightest hesitation, he walks out of the hollowed tree trunk and disappears into the dense fog.
The source of darkness is calling out to him. He has finally found it!
Footnotes:
[1] Bug as in system bug. Not 🐛
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