Chapter 366

Chapter 152 Red and Black

Dr. Romanov did not allow the girl to leave this place.

From initial pleading whispers to hysterical outbursts after a few days. The girl tried every possible method; she cried, went on hunger strikes, and even threatened to die – all futile acts. But what else could a disabled sixteen-year-old girl do when in the hands of others?

She couldn’t leave the cave. She didn’t even know how big it was or where the exit was. Without Dr. Romanov’s help, she couldn’t escape, and even if she did, it would be hard to survive and find her way home.

But Dr. Romanov was resolute, refusing to let the girl go. She had people remove all sharp objects from the girl’s dark room and ordered the black-robed individuals to guard the entrance day and night. Despite their unchanged attitude towards the girl, still treating her with meticulous care and trying to prepare her favorite food, their actions gradually chilled her heart.

The girl wasn’t foolish.

She understood that everyone in the cave, including the doctor, were not the good people they claimed to be. Their so-called mission was not about breaking through the dilemmas of herbology. Instead, all the patients, including herself, were merely tools for some “experimental purpose.”

She remembered the other patients she had seen.

Almost every one of them had wounds that were festering and disgusting, especially those corpses carried out, whose bodies were decaying and emitting a foul stench that could be detected from afar.

At that time, the girl thought they had severe illnesses. But now, reflecting back, only she and the little girl with white hair had no festering wounds; their skin remained smooth and soft, barely living as normal people.

Perhaps this was why Dr. Romanov took such good care of the two of them.

After realizing this, the girl felt as though she had plunged into an icy abyss.

The suffering cries of the patients, the smile on Dr. Romanov’s face, everything happening in this cave… All of these changed dramatically in the girl’s mind.

She began to notice those “medicines.” Every day, she would take small red pills the size of her fingernail… They might not be medicines at all.

Just like the liquid injected into her body, the “pills” had a pungent taste, faintly mixed with a fishy smell, as if they were… blood.

Yes.

Her intuition told her that these “medicines” contained blood. Perhaps more…

The girl dared not think further. The nausea rising in her stomach almost made her vomit. She started refusing treatment.

But the resistance of a disabled girl was futile.

Dr. Romanov ordered those people to inject mandrake extract into the girl, paralyzing her body. She couldn’t move even a finger, but her consciousness remained clear, watching the murky red liquid slowly enter her body. They crushed the pills into powder, mixed them with water, and forced it down the girl’s throat, even as she continued to vomit.

“Hang in there, Peylo. You have to endure… Once you get through this, everything will be fine… Your legs will be healed, trust me…”

Every time after the treatment, when the girl shed tears, filled with thoughts of death, Dr. Romanov would always hold her hand and say such words, her eyes filled with sorrow.

She felt guilty, the girl could see that.

But so what?

“You hate Dr. Romanov.”

Suddenly, someone whispered in the girl’s ear. The sweet voice was like water, dreamlike and familiar.

“She saved you, yet you ultimately hate her deeply. If not for her, you would have died that night, no longer苟且活着, losing your freedom, dignity, and hope… The dream of happiness would have been shattered the moment you fell off the cliff. But the truly suffocating despair…”

The sentence was left unfinished.

In the countless nights without sunlight that followed, it crept inch by inch towards your neck… squeezing your throat…

“Who is it?”

In the endless darkness, I asked aloud.

But that voice ignored me: “And all of this began because that woman saved you. So you hated her, hating her more than you ever did Edward. In many nights tortured and unable to sleep, you wished you could kill her, kill everyone in that cave…”

The weak voice of the girl, filled with sorrow and resentment, along with a twisted anger, invaded my heart and resonated within my chest.

“But laughably, you can’t even kill yourself. You always stayed alive, no matter what they fed you, you couldn’t die like other patients, but had to endure being controlled, living each day in pain and fear. Until they sent you to Silgaya, to receive even crueler ‘treatment’…”

Ah…

I remembered, that girl was myself.

Suddenly, everything became clear.

In a daze, I found myself again in that black room with snow swirling outside the window. Beautiful murals adorned the walls, and ancient bookshelves were filled with books. Thin moonlight poured in from outside, illuminating the shiny three-legged piano in front. A silver-haired girl sat at the piano, elegant and serene, dressed in a black dress. Her fingers, as white as jade, danced gracefully over the distinctively black and white keys, playing heart-wrenching notes.

Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata echoed in my ears.

As she played, the girl turned her head, smiling peacefully.

It was a face identical to mine, yet with crimson eyes.

“Do you remember what happened after that?” she whispered to me.

What happened after that…

I shook my head slowly.

“Yes… You still don’t remember. So neither do I.”

“You…”

Just as I was about to ask, the girl quickly interrupted: “Eriush might know something, but she is already dead. You killed her…”

“No! That wasn’t me! It was you…”

“Who am I?” The girl smiled.

“You are… the will of the Abyss.”

“…Hehe.”

“What are you laughing at?”

“Do you know who you are?” the girl asked solemnly.

“I…”

I thought for a moment, then shook my head.

“Are you sad?”

“…No.”

“It seems you haven’t fully accepted yourself, or me…”

The music stopped.

The silver-haired, crimson-eyed girl stood up.

“But since you’ve remembered so much, follow your heart and seek the truth… Look.”

She started counting on her fingers: “The secret experimental organization under the cliff, Dr. Romanie, blood, the Gate of Truth, Sister Theresa, divine relics, chaotic power, sin fire, the Abyss and the deities… and the Holy Church. There must be a necessary connection between them, you have sensed this, haven’t you?”

“Mm-hm…”

“So, what do you plan to do next?”

“…I don’t know, my head is in turmoil…”

The wind and snow outside the window vanished, and the room returned to darkness.

The slender figure of the silver-haired girl gradually faded into the darkness.

“Calm down and think carefully…”

Her voice still echoed clearly in my ears.

“When I’m not here, take good care of this body. Cherish it, love it… Eliminate everyone who threatens you, consume their flesh and blood… You are already strong enough, aren’t you? You just don’t want to reveal that strength completely, fearing others would fear you…”

“But sometimes, you have to let them fear you… Fool…”

…………

I had a dream.

A long and sad dream.

“Little Black Charcoal…”

Half asleep and half awake, I faintly heard someone calling me.

In the next moment, I opened my eyes.