Chapter 554 Chapter 12 Dawn and Stars
Leaving the continent, crossing the northern ice ocean, to seek the goddess of the elves, the fountain of elven life…
Actually, Verafia did not want Ig to accompany her on such an adventure.
As she thought about it, venturing into such danger, pursuing nothing more than a nebulous so-called hope… The final outcome would likely not change at all.
However, feeling the boy’s firm gaze, almost like a plea, she couldn’t bear to refuse.
She suddenly slightly furrowed her delicate brows, as if mocking the will gradually forming in her heart. She suddenly shook her head gently.
“At least, in the final moments, I can have him by my side…”
Verafia’s lowered gaze fell upon the faint crimson hue subtly revealed at her wrist, beneath the soft silk of her gauze dress, she mused in her heart.
Suddenly, a girl’s voice reached her ears.
“Mm, Verafia, don’t move around, your hair isn’t done yet…”
Verafia raised her small face. In front of her, at the dressing table, before the crystal long mirror carved with golden silk and jade, besides herself sitting on the chair, behind her stood a girl with ice-blue long hair cascading over her shoulders. Her delicate, beautiful fingertips held Verafia’s fine, silken hair, while one hand held a silver comb, and she seriously styled Verafia’s hair with a lowered face.
Early this morning, Ig had gotten up very early. Since it was rare to see her sleep peacefully, he carefully moved his arm away without waking her.
So, after Verafia got up, she changed into her dress herself. Although she was a bit tired, she still tried to style her hair… However, she was interrupted by Ophi, who came over excitedly, and unreasonably snatched the comb from her hand.
“Mm, Verafia, you’re so weak, just sit still, I’ll help you!” the little Ice Dragon Princess exclaimed with great interest at that time.
Feeling her hair being carefully combed and woven into braids strand by strand by the Ice Dragon Girl’s fingertips… Verafia slightly raised her golden eyes, looking at herself in the mirror.
“All done! Verafia, see how it looks!”
After a long while, Ophi happily raised her small head, her frost-blue eyes sparkling. Suddenly, she thought of something, tilted her small head, and said a little shyly:
“Mm… If, Verafia, you think it doesn’t look good, tell me, and I’ll change it again!”
“Little Fei, it’s already very good… Thank you.”
A gentle smile flashed across Verafia’s cheeks, she said softly.
Compared to Ig, who often styled her hair for her, Ophi, this Ice Dragon Princess, who was usually very straightforward and naturally beautiful and didn’t need to manage her long hair, her skills were far less refined. However, the girl’s earnest intention made Verafia smile.
“Heh heh… What’s there to thank for? We’re friends.”
Ophi embarrassedly ran her hand through her frost-blue hair.
Verafia slightly raised her head. In the mirror, the girl’s fine silk hair was styled, and a soft, pure white long dress silently adorned her slender figure. The hem of the skirt, which slightly covered her slender knees, was decorated with delicate, soft lace, exuding an aura of youth…
Like a delicate, quiet, sickly young lady.
The smile on Verafia’s lips suddenly froze slightly.
Yes… such a frail girl, unable to even dress herself up, had to trouble others for help…
Perhaps it was because of her weak body, or because she had completely accepted her identity as a young girl, wanting to rely on others, unwilling to bear it alone… From Lichen City until now, Verafia felt that not only had her personality softened considerably, and she disliked arguing, but she had also become very sentimental.
Her heart was very fragile, and for no reason, she would feel fear and anxiety… like now, involuntarily, her heart felt immense sadness, and her eyes were moistened with sourness.
Completely like an incredibly tender little girl… just needing to cry.
Sparkling tears wetted her eyelashes and flowed uncontrollably from her eyes, tracing paths across her skin as fair as snow.
“Eh? Verafia, why are you suddenly crying?”
The girl’s sudden action caught Ophi off guard. Her smooth fingertips wanted to wipe away her tears, but she didn’t know what to do.
“Mm, it’s nothing, maybe my eyes just got dry from the sea breeze…”
Verafia wiped away her tears with her fingers, shook her head, and forced a rather strained smile onto her face.
“Sea breeze…?”
Ophi tilted her head in confusion.
The girl’s room was a rather high-class residence on the merchant ship. Through the window decorated with golden wood, one could see the boundless sea and feel the breath of the sea breeze… and the dry, cold wind in the northern ice ocean was automatically melted by the magic artifact inlaid with flame crystals, turning into a warm, humid breeze.
Ophi tilted her head and thought for a moment. She still got up, preparing to close the window for Verafia.
However, the girl’s slender hand grasped her wrist.
Ophi turned her head back in surprise, seeing the golden-haired girl’s slightly raised, somewhat red and wet golden eyes, and her delicate lips firmly bitten by her silver teeth.
Verafia hesitated for a long time before making up her mind and speaking.
“Ophi, um, I don’t know, what do you think of Ig…”
“Ig?”
The Ice Dragon Girl, still somewhat confused, ran her frost-blue hair through her fingers and looked at her quizzically. “Ig is a very good friend. Why are you suddenly asking this, Verafia?”
“No, I mean, your feelings for him.”
Verafia struggled for a long time before speaking. “What you said to him that day, it shouldn’t have been fake, right…”
Now, she was even weaker than an ordinary human girl. Being devoured by Herafir was likely a foregone conclusion… Although she was now fond of him and cherished him, her decision had already been made in her heart…
However, regarding the boy who loved her, she didn’t know if it was because her state of mind was increasingly like a gentle girl, but Verafia couldn’t bear to see him grieve for a long time after her departure, or even be unable to move on for his entire life.
The Ice Dragon Girl thought for a long time before understanding what she meant. Immediately, her small face showed an angry expression.
“Mm, I told you, at that time, I just wanted to experience that kind of feeling. Now, we’re just friends, why are you suspecting me like this?”
“No, I’m not suspecting Ophi.”
Verafia was startled and quickly explained, “I was thinking, if Little Fei, you liked Ig, I hope you can stay by his side…”
“Verafia, you said the same thing last time.”
Ophi became even more angry. “But, not long after, you regretted it yourself… And, even I could tell that not only were you very sad, but so was that little guy Misella… even Ig was almost resigned to his fate, as if he were a corpse of a Necromancer.”
“Mm…”
Pursing her lips, Verafia’s eyes flickered, and she raised her little face. “What I mean is, is, is after I die…”
Suddenly, her lips were sealed by the Ice Dragon Girl’s slender, cool fingertips. Verafia widened her eyes in surprise, looking at her.
“Don’t say such things. Ig is my friend, but Verafia… you are also my friend.”
Ophi said earnestly.
Her tone was filled with childishness, like that of an innocent little girl, but it made Verafia momentarily stunned. She couldn’t help but lower her gaze, closing her golden eyes with their delicate eyelashes.
After such an explanation, Ophi also understood the meaning of her previous words. Thus, the anger on her small face quickly subsided. She sat beside her, gently pulled Verafia’s small hands, which were placed between her knees and looked like carved jade; she tilted her head and said:
“And if that’s the case, Verafia, would you really be willing to see me by Ig’s side without feeling sad…”
Verafia thought seriously for a while and found that she had no answer either.
But, just as Ophi said, it would likely be like back in Lichen City, where she said she didn’t mind but was actually jealous and sad in her heart… At that time, would she, like back in Lichen City, have turned black and attacked Ophi?
Thinking of such a consequence sent a shiver down her spine… She recalled the “yandere” girls she had seen in her past experiences, who were driven by possessive desire. At that time, she completely couldn’t understand it.
But after experiencing it firsthand, Verafia realized that this might be unavoidable.
To share him because of love… and to possess him alone because of love…
Her slender fingertips tightened slightly. Things that had been perfectly clear in her mind just moments ago became a jumbled mess again, and she became conflicted.
Biting her delicate lips, Verafia’s gaze dimmed slightly, but she still tried to lift her small face. “But…”
“Moreover, Verafia, you only asked me here, but didn’t you consider what Ig himself would think?”
Before she could speak, Ophi preempted her.
Raising her head and seeing the Ice Dragon Girl’s frost-blue eyes gleaming with a moist luster, Verafia’s voice gradually lowered, and she fell silent again.
Yes… Even if she were truly willing, after that time, knowing how much she cared about him being hers alone, how could he accept Ophi…
Verafia sadly lowered her head. “I just want him to not be so sad in the future…”
“Although I’m not Ig… I think, in his heart, Verafia, you are unique.”
Ophi suddenly said, her large eyes looking at her earnestly.
“Yes, to use an analogy from humans, for Ig, it’s like the unique dawn of the sun in the sky… To see the light of the sun the next day, Ig can abandon the stars, and abandon the moon that falls for him.”
“But if his sun also abandons him and disappears, what meaning would the stars in the sky hold for him, no matter how bright or beautiful they are?”
