The bustling streets of Saint Callen City in the dreamscape remained as lively and noisy as ever.
Luo Wei and Ophelia walked hand in hand, strolling through the bustling pedestrian street.
He had lost track of how long they had been living in this dreamlike city.
If it weren’t for the constant reminder in his heart that this was a dream and not reality...
He might have already lost himself without even realizing it.
Luo Wei silently glanced at Ophelia beside him. She had become increasingly patient.
Despite her repeated failures, she still seemed unwilling to give up, though this time she was more cautious.
It was like slowly boiling a frog in warm water.
The pedestrian street was crowded, filled with the shouts of vendors and shopkeepers, and the air was rich with the enticing aroma of food.
It seemed like he had never accompanied her here in reality, but in the dreamscape, the two of them were regular visitors.
As they walked, Ophelia suddenly stopped.
“Wait a moment!”
She paused in front of a street vendor selling ice cream cones, her face filled with curiosity as she examined the colorful and novel treats.
“Do you want one?” she asked with a charming smile, turning back to him.
Luo Wei looked at her and nodded.
So, Ophelia bought one for herself and one for Luo Wei.
“It doesn’t taste as good as I imagined...” Ophelia took a bite, feeling slightly disappointed.
After all, she didn’t know what the real thing tasted like. Given her status, it wasn’t appropriate for her to eat street food.
She had only included it in the design because she thought the street should have such things.
Thinking of this, she nervously glanced at Luo Wei, afraid he might notice the flaw.
If only she hadn’t brought him here to try this...
Seeing him calmly take a bite, Ophelia softly asked, “Do you think it’s good?”
Luo Wei smiled and said, “It’s quite delicious.”
“Really?” Ophelia’s eyes sparkled with surprise.
“Really,” Luo Wei replied, finishing the cone in a few large bites.
Ophelia laughed happily. “If you like it, we’ll come here every day! We’ll eat this every day!”
Once they returned, she would definitely ask Caroline to buy a real ice cream cone to taste.
“Sure, every day,” Luo Wei agreed without hesitation.
Ophelia finally felt relieved.
For this plan, she had prepared meticulously.
Though she appeared normal in the dreamscape, in reality, she hadn’t slept for several days and nights...
So much so that when she went to see Caroline again, her ghastly appearance had startled the head maid.
But she didn’t regret it at all. Compared to the beautiful vision she was about to realize, these sacrifices were nothing.
Though progress was slow, this time she was truly going to succeed!
This time, Luo Wei had spent so much time with her without showing any of the erratic behavior he had displayed in the previous two attempts.
This gave Ophelia a glimmer of hope.
Thinking of this, her smile grew even more excited.
“If you like it, I’ll go buy you another one!”
She eagerly returned to the vendor.
But when she came back with two ice cream cones to the corner of the street...
She was shocked to find that Luo Wei had disappeared.
“Luo Wei?”
“Where... where did you go?”
She anxiously looked around, and when her gaze fell on the busy road, her eyes suddenly froze.
Her blood seemed to turn to ice as she witnessed the scene she had feared the most.
Luo Wei, who had been fine just moments ago, now seemed like a soulless shell, walking aimlessly and dangerously into the traffic.
Every speeding car made her heart race.
“Luo Wei!!”
“Stop! Wait!”
Ophelia frantically rushed toward Luo Wei.
But it was too late.
A loud screech of brakes and a deafening horn echoed through the street.
Then, a loud crash.
Luo Wei’s body was flung into the air like a broken kite.
Ophelia heard the horrifying sound of bones shattering, and a splash of warm, crimson blood splattered across her face.
The cold ice cream cone fell to the ground, slowly melting.
Covered in blood, Ophelia stared in disbelief at the scene before her, at Luo Wei’s lifeless body.
Again...
You promised me...
Why did you still die??
A heart-wrenching, desperate scream echoed through the chaotic street.
...
In the manor, Luo Wei abruptly woke up in bed.
As he suddenly awoke, a flurry of noise erupted in the room.
He realized he wasn’t in his bedroom but in a dimly lit room with tightly drawn curtains.
Several maids, all Ophelia’s trusted aides, surrounded him, their faces tense as they watched him.
Luo Wei turned his head and saw that his bed was connected to Ophelia’s. At that moment, the exhausted Ophelia had also woken up.
Her blood-red eyes were fixed on Caroline.
“Continue! Don’t stop!”
She didn’t even glance at Luo Wei, coldly issuing the command to Caroline.
“Yes... Your Highness,” Caroline immediately replied.
Luo Wei coldly observed everything around him. Caroline approached him expressionlessly, this time not holding a pocket watch or any medication.
Instead, she held a syringe.
The maids immediately pinned Luo Wei’s body down, and then the cold, thick needle was plunged into his vein.
Luo Wei didn’t struggle much. He simply looked calmly at Ophelia’s face.
The moment their eyes met, she quickly looked away, her gaze filled with guilt.
“Do you know... what you’re doing?”
The drug took effect so quickly that Luo Wei’s words came out with great difficulty.
Ophelia lowered her head, remaining silent.
Luo Wei sighed helplessly. She was leaving no room for retreat.
She was determined to change him in the dreamscape.
She was going all in.
Within moments, Luo Wei’s eyes closed heavily.
He had lost consciousness.
“Now it’s my turn,” Ophelia commanded.
“Your Highness...” Caroline’s face was filled with concern. “I suggest you use a gentler method to induce sleep...”
Her Highness could hardly sleep normally anymore. If this continued, what would happen in the future...
As the head maid, she could hardly imagine the consequences.
However.
Caroline was met with only a resolute and cold gaze.
She sighed inwardly.
She could only proceed, using the same method to put Ophelia to sleep.
...
Once again, they entered the dreamscape.
It was still the bustling, steam-filled city.
Time continued to pass unnoticed, and familiar scenes repeated themselves.
Ophelia, by Luo Wei’s side, constantly changed her roles. Sometimes she was his classmate, sometimes his neighbor, and even... his colleague after graduation.
In various identities, she would “coincidentally” encounter him.
But each time, the outcome was the same.
After all, in a city like this, deliberately seeking death was all too easy...
Sometimes, he would suddenly go mad, slitting his wrists in front of Ophelia.
Other times, Luo Wei would become a deranged lunatic, rushing into the street and causing chaos, only to be shot dead by the police.
But the most “memorable” and unforgettable moment for Ophelia...
Was the last time.
On the rooftop of a towering building, Luo Wei leaped into the air.
Ophelia’s eyes widened in horror as she watched Luo Wei fall to his death right before her eyes, less than three meters away.
Crimson blood mixed with white brain matter splattered across the ground, the shattered corpse almost unrecognizable...
Ophelia stood there in a daze, her mind completely blank.
When fear reaches its peak, even the will to think disappears.
She stood frozen, staring at the broken pieces of Luo Wei’s body.
Time flowed ceaselessly all around, like an endless river, with days and nights alternating...
Buildings crumbled, dreams disintegrated...
Ophelia groggily opened her eyes, like a soulless husk, stiffly sitting up from the bed.
When she saw Luo Wei in the adjacent bed, her gaze flickered for a moment.
He was still alive...
But he would still die...
"Your Highness!!" Caroline stepped forward with concern.
Although Caroline stood right in front of Ophelia, Ophelia seemed not to notice her, her mind hazy, lost in thought.
"Ophelia..." Luo Wei struggled to approach her, fighting off his overwhelming fatigue.
"Let it end, it's meaningless."
He sighed as he looked at Ophelia, "Must you crash into it headfirst until you're battered and bruised? Can we talk this through?"
Unexpectedly, Ophelia suddenly laughed.
She laughed wildly.
It was a laugh of despair and madness, hysterical.
"How could it end? It won't end..."
"What is meaningless? This has meaning!!!"
She seemed to lack confidence herself, repeating the words emphatically.
Then, she fixed her gaze on Luo Wei's face, her pupils instantly turning into vertical slits, like the cold-blooded eyes of a reptile.
"I didn't lose! I won! I'll prove it to you!!"
As her voice fell, her pale body began to sprout a layer of fine black scales, quickly covering half of her form.
Under the stunned gazes of the maids, her body continued to transform, sharp horns emerging from her head, and even a pair of exaggerated black wings sprouting from her back.
After her metamorphosis, an immense pressure enveloped everyone.
A chilling aura spread, making their bodies cold and trembling uncontrollably.
Caroline nervously stepped back.
"It's a dragon... Your Highness is a dragon descendant..."
In legend, the imperial royal family were descendants of the Dragon God, noble and sacred dragon kin.
Yet, Luo Wei looked at the increasingly terrifying figure and shook his head.
"No, not a dragon."
As he spoke, Ophelia's wings suddenly spread wide.
She took flight, leaving behind a trail of black mist that corroded everything it touched.
The bed and cabinets quickly dissolved into pools of black liquid.
She was nothing like a dragon; instead, she resembled a black demon from hell.
Ophelia vanished from the room, and soon, the entire massive estate began to tremble slightly.
The maids looked around in shock as objects of all sizes began to float slowly, as if gravity had ceased to exist.
Luo Wei frowned as he gazed out the window.
He saw all sorts of bizarre and fantastical things manifesting in the real world.