DEG - Chapter 24
Chapter 24: Firmly Held by Guilt
“She can seduce you right now, playing on your guilt to make you too embarrassed to leave her.”
“Later, she’ll use all sorts of methods to imprison you.”
Jiang Xun fell silent.
“You know she loves to keep you tucked under her wing.”
Having said this much, it touched upon something Luo Eighteen was unwilling to elaborate on.
She felt that saying any more would be as embarrassing as a confession.
The players watched Luo Eighteen with indescribable expressions.
They were clearly the same person, yet she was putting her all into badmouthing her other self.
And who knew this ship could be so thrilling?
Jiang Xun lowered her gaze.
“None of that has happened yet, has it?”
Luo Eighteen was speechless.
She was furious.
Even knowing that person was also her, she still felt a pang of jealousy.
She bit down hard on Jiang Xun’s finger.
Leaving behind a tooth mark that was neither deep nor shallow, she said resentfully, “I’m done with you!”
“Whatever happens to you from now on, you’ll deserve it!”
Luo Eighteen summoned a card, then stormed out, slamming the door with a bang.
The players suppressed their urge to gossip, trying their best to look worried.
But their eyes were practically screaming with excitement!
Still, the players had some tact.
After a few words of small talk with Jiang Xun, they chose to leave.
Of course, the most important reason was that the officials had announced a new event.
For the Regent’s birthday, there would be a “grand amnesty,” and players were specially permitted to enter her planet this year.
Berry Milkshake and the others wanted to see other places on the planet, too.
Only Breaking Waves Riding Wind lingered as she was leaving, looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Seeing Jiang Xun look up at her in surprise, she deliberated for a moment before speaking.
“The Regent might really hate you a little.”
Jiang Xun looked at her seriously, waiting for her to explain. “Because not only did she kill all of your clones, she also broke ties with your comrades-in-arms.”
This was something people on the forums had dug up over the past two days.
It was an attempt to make those players who were obsessed with the ship see things clearly.
But…
Finding hate in love, and love in hate, only made the ship more compelling.
“Furthermore, she didn’t clear your name of its stigma. Instead, she erased every trace of your existence from this world.”
Jiang Xun stared at her.
“I know.”
Jiang Xun looked at the manor, which seemed untouched by the passage of time. Sunlight filtered through the dense layers of leaves, leaving golden patches on the ground, shimmering like her Divine Core.
Her last birthday gift to the Eldest Miss.
It was also her final memento.
A symbol of her lost life.
She couldn’t imagine how the Eldest Miss had forced herself to consume it.
Just as she couldn’t imagine what Luo Nanqiu had gone through after she was gone.
Because this future had never been part of her and Luo Nanqiu’s plans.
The Eldest Miss was playful and delicate.
Although she was the heir to the Luo Family, she had never thought of inheriting it so soon.
On the contrary, she would find any and all time to knock on Jiang Xun’s door.
“Ah Xun, there’s a new tourist star. The sea of flowers planted there is truly beautiful.”
“Ah Xun, a new restaurant just opened in the Federation. I hear the food is exceptionally good.”
“Ah Xun, look at this pearl I found in the deep sea.”
…
“Work and all that… I’ll just let my dad conquer the world for now. With financial freedom, who would want to work so hard?”
“I want to do a rough tour of the entire galaxy before I turn thirty.”
The naive Eldest Miss, the delicate Eldest Miss.
Why did she bring such hardship upon herself, forcing herself to usurp power and take control of the Luo Family so early?
Did those other heirs, watching like tigers, do something to the Eldest Miss?
Is that why the Eldest Miss had to absorb her Divine Core?
Had to inherit the Luo Family.
Had to accept…
The reality that she was already dead.
Jiang Xun had never dared to learn about that past.
In any case, she would find a justification for every choice Luo Nanqiu made.
Just like with this current topic.
The Eldest Miss simply didn’t want to hear outsiders discussing her death.
It was as if only by doing this could she bury her head in the sand and continue to live in a time when Jiang Xun was still alive.
Sitting in the magnificent manor as usual.
Looking at the unchanging scenery outside the window, waking up and wondering when Jiang Xun’s mission would end, when she would come back.
What gift would she bring back this time?
Her birthday was approaching. Would there be even more gifts?
And she had promised to make their relationship public as soon as she returned.
Everyone would know that Jiang Xun was hers.
…
Luo Nanqiu had woven herself into a sweet, illusory dream.
Her time froze completely after she took full power and erased all information about Jiang Xun from the world.
In this manor with its slowly decaying decor, she waited endlessly for Jiang Xun’s return.
Jiang Xun was no longer in the mood to tour the manor.
She returned to the room.
The Eldest Miss was still sitting on the bed, working.
Seeing that it was about time, Jiang Xun ordered lunch.
When Jiang Xun returned, Luo Nanqiu seemed to have found a comfortable pillow.
She lay her head on Jiang Xun’s lap.
Sometimes, when she didn’t feel like looking at her work, she would wrap her arms around Jiang Xun’s waist and nuzzle her gently.
Lunch consisted of all of Luo Nanqiu’s favorite foods.
But Nanqiu was a bit of a picky eater.
She disliked cilantro but loved the broth it had soaked in.
Jiang Xun was hardly picky at all.
Luo Nanqiu had spoiled Jiang Xun with many bad habits, and Jiang Xun had spoiled Nanqiu with just as many.
The Eldest Miss simply wouldn’t eat things she didn’t like.
Jiang Xun would always pick them out for her.
It was a familiar routine, ingrained in her very being.
But because of the things she had been thinking about earlier, Jiang Xun was inevitably distracted.
After picking the cilantro out of the bowl, she watched Luo Nanqiu sit at the table, eating dinner with her usual elegance, though her movements couldn’t hide her delight.
That was until Luo Nanqiu ate a piece of cilantro. Her brow furrowed unconsciously, and seeing Jiang Xun’s vacant, clearly absentminded expression, she resentfully held the cilantro between her lips, tapped Jiang Xun’s arm to get her attention, showed it to her, and only then bit it off and swallowed.
The light glance she gave her seemed to be an accusation.
Jiang Xun suddenly snapped back to reality and looked at Luo Nanqiu apologetically. But seeing her indignant yet incredibly lively expression, her heart softened completely.
She couldn’t help but let her gaze rest on Luo Nanqiu.
Watching Luo Nanqiu finish her meal, watching a faint blush gradually spread to the tips of her ears.
She suddenly wondered.
What did Luo Nanqiu do when she wasn’t here?
Did she instruct the kitchen not to cook with those ingredients?
Or did she painstakingly pick them out herself, piece by piece?
But it seemed that either option would serve as a constant reminder.
That she was no longer there.
Jiang Xun suddenly understood why Luo Nanqiu would hate her.
Why couldn’t that dense, all-pervasive sense of her presence just disappear along with her?
If you couldn’t accompany her for a lifetime, then why leave such a deep and vivid mark on her life?
Sometimes, Luo Nanqiu knew Jiang Xun all too well.
Even if that Luo Nanqiu was only eighteen years old.
Luo Eighteen watched the interaction between Jiang Xun and Luo Nanqiu with a cold expression, knowing that Luo Nanqiu had Jiang Xun wrapped around her little finger!
Whenever she occasionally emerged from her card and saw the glance her future self threw her way, she would seethe with resentment.
So manipulative.
Skillfully manipulating Jiang Xun’s guilt.
Making Jiang Xun willingly let herself be trapped for a lifetime.
Trapping Jiang Xun for a lifetime had once been her wish too, but because she had never experienced loss, Luo Eighteen wasn’t too obsessed with the idea.
She hoped Jiang Xun would be with her forever.
But she also hoped Jiang Xun could do what she wanted to do.
That was why she ultimately let Jiang Xun attend the military academy.
But the current Luo Nanqiu was not like that.
She wanted to keep Jiang Xun as a caged bird.
Using that thread of guilt to hold Jiang Xun tight.
This was not what Luo Eighteen wanted to see.
So one day, when Jiang Xun wasn’t aware, Luo Eighteen found a player.
“I want to issue a quest.” The person she sought out was Breaking Waves Riding Wind.
Because Luo Eighteen could sense that this person’s feelings for Jiang Xun were unusual. Alongside her reverence for the Regent, there was also a faint, subtle jealousy.
A very useful pawn.
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