The night grew deeper.
Candlelight fell on Helena's small face. This time, she just sat there quietly.
Luo Wei felt surprised.
Previously, whenever he expressed even a slight hint of such thoughts, it would infuriate Helena, causing her to lash out instantly.
Then she would add two more bloody holes to his chest, finishing him off completely...
However, this time, under the effect of [Negotiation/Pacification], Helena's emotions were very stable. She was truly listening to his explanation.
It was simply miraculous.
Realizing this, Luo Wei's anxious heart finally relaxed.
He looked at Helena and said with a smile:
"Who wouldn't like a lively atmosphere... Even your big brother here feels lonely when alone."
"Lonely..."
Helena murmured softly. For her, loneliness was actually very familiar.
Before meeting her brother, she had always been alone.
Hiding here and there, no one cared about a monster like her.
Everyone was afraid of her...
"Do you remember when we first met?" Luo Wei asked.
Helena nodded.
"At that time, you were curled up in a small alley, with crows and stray dogs prowling around. You said..."
"I'm so hungry..."
Recalling the past, Helena's eyes flickered.
"Big brother actually still remembers what happened that day?"
"Of course I remember," Luo Wei ruffled her hair. "That was the first time I met Helena. It's very memorable, you know!"
Hearing that her brother remembered their first meeting so clearly, Helena finally smiled.
It seemed her brother really did care about her.
She reminisced about the past, "Back then, Helena had just fought with those agents trying to capture me."
"I killed them all."
"But in the end, I was so exhausted I had no strength left..."
"The winter in Saint Callen was so cold..."
Every time she thought of this, Helena would feel that bone-chilling cold.
And hunger...
Her eyes flickered as memories of life before meeting her brother surfaced in her mind.
When she was very, very young, she discovered her abilities.
When those strange tentacles appeared, Helena was terrified. She didn't want anyone to see her strange appearance.
But she couldn't control it. Whenever she felt upset, those irritating tentacles would emerge, frantically destroying everything around her.
One day, her family discovered her true form.
Although she could no longer remember her family's faces, their expressions at that time must have been full of fear and disgust...
Helena remembered it vividly.
'Monster!'
'It's a monster!'
She was abandoned as a monster.
That word "monster" was deeply etched in her heart.
She hated monsters because she hated what she was.
That was the first time she ended up on the streets.
Fortunately, the church's orphanage took her in.
The nuns at the church were all very kind. She liked it there because she finally didn't have to fight with stray dogs for food.
Helena tried very hard at that time. She thought if she devoutly converted to religion and studied knowledge she could barely understand, she could stay at the orphanage and become a nun.
She would never have to worry about food again. For this, she worked extremely hard.
And every day she was on edge, fearing her abilities would be exposed.
But she still failed.
Helena vaguely remembered that one day, a nun gave her a dirty, somewhat tattered plush toy.
'This is for you! Girls should all like fluffy toys, right?'
It was a big bear, soft and warm to hug.
Helena was overjoyed. It was the first time she had the concept of a "toy."
Did all the girls in Saint Callen have toys like this?
Their toys must all be very clean and pretty.
How envious...
But Helena's toy was stolen.
And torn apart...
That warm, cuddly toy became like the stray dogs she had dismembered, lying on the ground in pieces, with stuffing spilling out like exposed entrails.
How could there be such nasty children?
Wouldn't they feel guilty?
At the orphanage, Helena's relationship with the other children was very poor.
That very tall boy, always followed by many boys and girls, they didn't like her.
But for the sake of good food, Helena could only endure.
Until the day her toy was torn apart, Helena could no longer control her emotions.
She lashed out.
The crying voices of the children, the fearful gazes of the nuns, and that incessant, irritating whistle sound...
Helena escaped from the encirclement. Her tentacles were cut off, and her body was covered in sticky, filthy blood.
Cold and hunger returned once again.
They hunted her relentlessly. Helena even thought this life of hiding and fighting with stray dogs for food might continue until the last moment of her life.
Until that day...
A very gentle big brother approached her.
He stroked her forehead and handed her a piece of hot food.
Helena still clearly remembers it was a piece of freshly baked black bread.
Not hard at all, but soft and fluffy.
It was the most delicious thing she had ever eaten in her life.
"Big brother..."
Helena looked at Luo Wei in front of her, her eyes flickering with unusual emotions.
Her brother was like a beam of light in the darkness, illuminating her miserable life.
After that day, she was brought home by him.
She finally had a warm bed and steaming hot food.
And family.
The only family...
Thinking of this, Helena clung affectionately to Luo Wei's arm.
She quietly buried herself in his embrace.
How wonderful it would be if it could always be like this, together with her beloved brother, just the two of them.
Together forever...
"Helena?"
Luo Wei looked at the petite girl in his arms. Her body was curled up, eyes tightly shut, long eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings.
Just like an ordinary girl lacking a sense of security.
He was surprised by Helena's transformation at this moment. Since returning to this world, Helena had never shown such docile behavior.
It was as if everything had returned to how it was before.
[Pollution Level: 65↓]
Seeing the prompt on the panel, Luo Wei suppressed his excitement.
[Pacification/Negotiation] was practically a charm spell...
Of course, he knew exactly where the change occurred. Intentionally making Helena recall the past was his deliberate action.
Unexpectedly, it inadvertently opened her emotional defenses.
This was a very good sign.
Luo Wei gently stroked Helena's soft hair, but his eyes grew increasingly deep.
How could someone who had died so many times possibly give their true heart?
He only believed in himself, only believed in "containment."
The cooldown for [Pacification/Negotiation] was 24 hours. He just needed to wait until this time tomorrow to use it again...
"What are you smiling about, big brother?"
Helena slightly opened her eyes, her lake-like pupils gazing at Luo Wei in confusion.
"I'm smiling..." Luo Wei lightly tapped her nose.
"Little sleepyhead, if you're tired, go to bed. Why are you nestling in big brother's arms?"
He gently lifted Helena in a princess carry.
"Go to sleep. Big brother will clean up the dining room."
Helena revealed a bright smile, her eyes curving like crescent moons. "Big brother is so good!"
She tightly wrapped her arms around Luo Wei's neck, allowing him to carry her back to her room.
...
In the dead of night.
Luo Wei, forcing his eyelids open and yawning, returned to his own room.
By the hazy moonlight, Luo Wei glanced at the wall clock.
12:06.
Although he had been playing along with Helena's act all day long,
His brain had been running at high speed non-stop, leaving Luo Wei utterly exhausted...
But at this moment, upon seeing the time, Luo Wei was still elated.
I finally survived this day, damn it!
Finally, finally, I can see tomorrow's sun!!
Even though it was pitch black outside the window, Luo Wei felt as if he could already see the dawn breaking.
This emotion only lasted for an instant before Luo Wei immediately suppressed it.
Caution... must be cautious...
Just wait until tomorrow...
Luo Wei lay down on the bed with anticipation for the next day. Due to extreme fatigue, he quickly fell into a deep sleep.
The night in Saint Callen was slightly chilly. That night, Luo Wei tossed and turned, sleeping uncomfortably.
In his dreams, he alternated between being killed repeatedly by Helena and seeing her sitting at his bedside, staring at him with cold eyes...
"Huff!!"
Luo Wei suddenly woke up from his dream, his body drenched in sweat as if he had been pulled out of water.
What occupies the mind by day appears in dreams by night. Luo Wei looked at the pitch-black room where he couldn't see his hand in front of his face and laughed helplessly.
Helena had bewitched him.
As Luo Wei slowly closed his eyes, preparing to fall back asleep...
He suddenly had a strange feeling.
That feeling... it was as if something in the darkness was watching him.
It made his hair stand on end.
Luo Wei lifted his head, squinting his eyes, struggling to adjust to the darkness of the room.
Then he suddenly realized there was another person in his room!
Luo Wei's eyes widened in shock.
He saw, in the pitch-black room, a pair of eerie blue eyes staring at him unblinkingly.
The atmosphere of terror rose sharply.
"You!"
"He-Helena?"
Frightened, he hurriedly turned on the gas lamp in the room.
As the warm light suddenly illuminated the room, he saw Helena sitting on the chair at his desk, motionless like a statue, staring at him...
"Is brother not sleeping well?"
"Why is brother so afraid upon seeing Helena? Does brother fear Helena?"
She revealed a strange smile.