Chapter 26: Fate
“Ling Ling knows her mistake, Master, please calm down…” Ling Ling whimpered like a child lost and searching for her mother.
“First Master, then Miss, I have to change my identity just to accommodate you.” Lena seemed to revert to her old self, her expression cold and indifferent. “Tell me, how should I punish you?”
Punish?
Hearing this word, Ling Ling’s face paled, unpleasant memories flooding her mind.
“No punishment, Ling Ling doesn’t want punishment…”
“You say no, then who will compensate me for my loss?” Lena teased the little fox girl, her face drawing incredibly close, her long eyelashes brushing against Ling Ling’s delicate skin, a strange fragrance wafting over.
It was said that some beastkin emitted a protective scent when threatened, and it seemed to be true.
Lena sniffed Ling Ling’s hair like a creep, lingering around her neck. “There’s a reason why foxkin are so expensive in the slave market. Who doesn’t like a little fox girl who becomes fragrant when bullied?”
“Tell me, why do foxkin secrete this scent, somewhere between milk and honey? It’s not intimidating at all, it’s a sweet pheromone that invites crime…”
It made her want to devour Ling Ling whole.
Lena felt incredibly wicked.
After all, such underhanded tactics of scaring children were usually employed by street thugs. Pretending to be a bad woman felt wrong.
“Don’t cry, or I’ll sell you!” Lena said fiercely.
Ling Ling’s tears continued to flow. “No, Miss, don’t leave Ling Ling. Ling Ling won’t call Miss Master anymore, and won’t touch Miss anymore, waaaah…”
Despite her words, her hands still clung tightly to Lena’s clothes, afraid of her beloved leaving.
“Miss, Miss…”
“Listen, Ling Ling,” Lena said, her stern expression softening as she saw the opportunity. “One day I will leave. You need to prepare yourself for the days when I’m not around, understand?”
“Waaah…”
“Sigh, it seems too heavy for you to hear this so early.”
Lena ran a hand through her hair in frustration, a strand of gray hair falling onto her palm. She stared at it, murmuring, “A Necromancer manipulates death, yet also races towards it… Life is but a fleeting hundred years, a handful of dust after death. Everyone’s fate is predetermined at birth. Even if you relive your life, you can’t change the will of the world. This is fate…”
Fate.
What a foolish, yet frustrating word.
The little fox girl sobbed uncontrollably, but still managed to cry out, “Ling Ling doesn’t understand fate, Ling Ling just wants to be with Miss!”
“…”
Lena gazed at Ling Ling for a long time, wiping away her tears with a clean finger.
She tasted them, slightly salty.
“One day I will die. It could be tomorrow, the day after, a month, or a year from now…”
The threat of the hero always loomed.
And the villain’s fate was to become the hero’s stepping stone, tragic and ridiculous.
Did anyone say the hero represented justice?
It seemed everyone thought so.
Lena had fought against fate and lost miserably.
So, in this new life, she wouldn’t overthink things. She only wished for her family’s happiness and to die before everyone else.
Her only fear was the emptiness of outliving her loved ones.
The guilt would torment her day and night, causing unbearable pain, yet she wouldn’t even have anyone to hate or seek revenge upon.
Should the hero die?
Fate was the one who deserved to die.
So, Lena had decided long ago that she would die before her loved ones. At least, she wouldn’t have to suffer in that dark “cage,” wouldn’t have to bear the shackles of guilt.
Before dying, she would scream the lines she had been brewing for two lifetimes, protesting the injustice of the heavens, resisting the dictates of fate…
“Farewell, cage.”
…
A pink figure stealthily followed a gray one, hiding behind a flowerbed, thinking she was well-concealed, unaware that half of her body was visible.
“Miss Angel Cavendish? What are you doing here?”
“Ah!”
Angel looked up, her eyes meeting a beautiful face.
A pleasant perfume filled her nostrils, long, ocean-blue hair cascading down to the waist, styled in a fishtail braid and half-updo. A truly exquisite, classically beautiful woman stood before Angel.
It was like Asuna herself had arrived, her captivating curves impossible to ignore, her long, slender legs clad in translucent lace stockings, her flawless oval face perfect from any angle.
“Professor Agnes! Why are you… no, no, Professor Agnes, you have to leave here, it’s dangerous!”
“Oh?” Intrigued, Agnes crossed her arms, adopting a lecturing tone, and joked, “Caught red-handed stalking Miss Lena, and by me, no less. It seems the dangerous one is Miss Angel.”
“No…”
Angel’s beautiful eyes were filled with anxiety.
“I can’t explain it now, but if Master… ugh! If that devil finds out, given Professor’s beauty, you’ll definitely suffer, and you won’t be able to escape!”
“Now that you mention it, Lena does have a rather bad reputation. I’ve heard a few things…” Agnes thought for a moment, then looking at Angel’s anxious expression, she gently reassured her, “Don’t worry~ it’ll be fine~ I’m a teacher, an adult. Even if Lena is as bad as you say, I’ll guide her with my love and patience…”
A child could be taught; there were no inherently evil people in this world.
Even if there were, the kind-hearted Professor Agnes had her own solutions.
If gentle methods didn’t work, she could always resort to force~
Surely Lena couldn’t be stronger than an adult?
As a specially appointed professor of the academy, Agnes’s own strength was at rank four, her arcane magic skills superb.
Otherwise, how could she have become a specially appointed professor, enjoying a permanent position in the empire?
So, Agnes was quite confident in her ability to subdue Lena. Suddenly, she felt a chill down her spine.
“No, Professor Agnes, Lena, she…”
Angel wanted to explain, but Agnes interrupted her:
“Yes, yes~ Students should love and respect each other. I’ll turn a blind eye to your stalking today, but don’t do it again, understand?”
“Okay…” Angel’s heart sank.
“That’s more like it.”
After her lecture, Agnes picked up her teaching materials from the flowerbed, her hand gracefully tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “What were you saying just now, Angel?”
“…”
Angel nodded, then quickly shook her head, closing her mouth tightly.
“Hmm?”
Agnes took a step forward.
Angel took half a step back, seemingly not afraid of Agnes, but of something else.
“She’s coming…”
“Who?”
“The devil!”
Angel crouched down in fear, covering her head.
Agnes tilted her head, a cute expression on her face. “The devil?”
A large hand covered in disgusting black slime silently reached out from behind Agnes, covering her mouth and nose. “Mmm!”
Leave a Reply