"Are you full?"
The girl's face was blurry in the dark room. She leaned closer, her eyes seemingly containing stars, the flickering light piercing Lin heart.
"...I can't tell."
"Then how do you usually judge if you're full?"
"I eat a fixed amount."
Elysia smile became melancholy after Lin said that. Her fingers gently brushed his face. A look of sorrow, rarely seen this past year, appeared on her face.
"...Anything you want to say?"
"A lot, but never mind. It would be unhappy."
"It's okay," Lin said plainly. "Say whatever you want."
Hearing this, pity flickered in her eyes, but it was quickly tucked away. Lin didn't need pity, nor did their relationship.
"Even though I'm the one who told Lin to go back, as the days go by, I find it harder to let go. After you go back there, what kind of pain will you suffer? How many more hardships will you endure?"
Half his senses were gone; he wasn't even a normal person. What else would he lose in the future?
Lin had never told her the pain he suffered in the past, just as she had never explained anything about her own past to him. But the scars deep in Lin eyes deeply pained her heart.
"There are people who love you there too, right?"
"...Yes."
"Then I'm relieved."
She cupped Lin cheeks and closed her eyes in peace.
...
Today was the wedding.
Lin stood in the empty room, looking at himself in the mirror wearing the suit. He looked like a stranger. His usually unkempt silver hair was tied into a ponytail. His tall frame occupied two-thirds of the mirror. He slowly inhaled, then exhaled.
Elysia had already gone ahead to the wedding site. The bride waits for the groom, waiting for the surging heart during the process and the upcoming future. All that remained was the groom's arrival and the grand ceremony.
Lin pinned a crystal flower decoration to his chest, reached for the light switch, and pressed it. The house where he had lived with Elysia for over two years fell into its original darkness. It was just as it had been before they arrived.
Outside, the sun was bright, as if all things were singing and celebrating. A pillar of light fell before the door, as if inviting someone.
Lin took a step.
Ding.
The vibration and chime of the phone in his pocket made his foot stop in mid-air, hesitating to come down.
After a while, when the phone stopped ringing, he let his foot fall. As if he hadn't heard it, he walked out.
He hailed a taxi, sat in the back, and gave a destination. The driver looked in the rearview mirror and was stunned by the passenger's suit.
"You going to get married, kid?"
"Yes."
"Taking a taxi to your wedding? Hahaha, you young people are truly bold. You're so handsome, your wife must be beautiful too."
"Yes."
"I figured..."
The driver talked incessantly—a common habit in his profession. He talked about his own past, marrying the girl he liked and then getting divorced. It was hard to tell that the scruffy uncle had such a soulful past.
"Anyway, don't break a girl's heart. I was too immature back then. What could be more important than the girl who loves you?"
Ring—
The phone rang with a flat, annoying tone.
"Hmm? Kid, your phone is ringing. Not picking up?"
"..."
"Might be the bride. She's probably already impatient."
Lin took out the phone with a calm expression. He glanced at it and hung up.
...
The girl in the magnificent wedding dress wore a veil and held a stunning bouquet, strolling by the edge of a crystal-clear lake. This was a place they had found by chance where few people came.
There was no stage setup for the wedding, no joyful crowd—only the beautiful girl and her heart.
Elysia hummed a nursery rhyme, smelling the fragrance of the bouquet. The azure of her eyes matched the sky. She wore light makeup on her naturally beautiful face, adding another touch of prettiness.
She walked under the shade of a tree, her gloved fingers opening the album left beneath. She flipped through the memories of the past year once more, her gaze growing softer, like a silk scarf dyed with tenderness.
What kind of person was Lin?
Occasionally, Elysia thought about this, but she could never find a fitting description. Now, she had found it.
He was like a diamond, without impurities. But at the same time, like a diamond, he was hard yet brittle—though people usually only saw his hardness. Forcing his own fragility to accept and change until all that remained became the hardest part.
Truly a clumsy person...
In the distance, a taxi gradually approached.
...
"Are you sure?"
"I-I'm sure."
The archaeological team leader showed a look of ecstasy after hearing his teammate's panicked answer.
"Great... great! This is an epoch-making discovery! Not just the existence of the Previous Era, but their technology, the messages they left, and that massive unknown energy! We found even more than the team in Mu!"
"B-but... ever since we started excavating, that energy has been extremely unstable. It looks as if..."
It was about to burst out.
"Tests show the energy isn't toxic. It just has a certain corrosive effect on metal and the human body. And the metal we mined can resist the corrosion, so there's no need for concern." The leader waved his hand dismissively. "Next, we need to consider the speech for the lectures and press conferences. As for how to use this metal and energy, that's not for us to worry about."
He pushed past his teammate and walked toward the excavated tunnel, wanting to admire that magnificent sight once more.
Just then, the walkie-talkie on his waist crackled: "Beep—this is Survey Team One. Reporting: we found a... gem."
"A gem? What kind?" The leader picked up the walkie-talkie, his eyes glowing. "Or is it a brand new substance?"
"No, it's not a substance." The voice was hesitant. "It's a highly concentrated aggregate of energy. Analysis shows it has the same composition as the energy found before. But... it's amazing. How was such a massive amount of energy condensed into a single gem?"
"You mean the gem is entirely energy?" The leader suddenly realized something was wrong, his mind clearing.
"Yes. And most of the energy we detected before seems to come from this gem. It's... so beautiful." The voice grew lower, followed by static, as if the walkie-talkie had been tossed on the ground.
The leader's pupils shrank: "Wait! Don't touch it carelessly—"
BOOM!
A terrifying explosion and tremor came from beneath the ground, and the tunnel they had excavated began to collapse.
The leader ran back without hesitation. During his flight, he looked back in terror at the collapsing ruins and rising dust. Amidst it all, a weird figure slowly rose from the debris, her bright grey pupils tearing through the dust.
He found the word almost from human instinct:
"Monster..."
The response was the figure raising her palm. Highly concentrated energy matter condensed in her hand.
...
"Hello... Miss Bride."
The driver rolled down the window. He spoke hesitantly to the girl in the wedding dress, but the words stuck in his throat. The girl just stood there, smiling quietly at him. Under her gaze, he gritted his teeth and picked up a letter from the passenger seat.
"He told me to give you this letter. Also... don't wait for him. He had me take him to the airport."
"I'm sorry, I'm just a driver. This trip is my apology. No charge. I've delivered the letter and his words."
The girl smiled wordlessly. She reached out and took the letter, which had a crystal flower pinned to it.
The pure white wedding dress was brushed by the wind, fluttering by the lonely Lake of Love.
...
Bang!
The imagined death and pain did not come. The leader opened his eyes in surprise to find someone had grabbed his arm and dodged the terrifying light beam.
A person stood before him, back turned, wearing a clean suit, looking like a ghost.
Silver-white hair danced wildly in the gale.