Chapter 97

Chapter 70 Shadow Above

The cold wind was chilling, cutting through my face with icy sharpness.

Bella helped me awkwardly dismount from the beast’s back. I brushed my disheveled hair back behind my ears.

The hem of my light blue dress fluttered in the wind, not particularly clean, and then I gently pressed it down with my hand. Under the night sky and the glow of firelight, it almost blended in with the white snow.

Perhaps it was because my appearance was so out of place next to the blood-soaked earth behind me. The noisy hunters fell silent, and the smiles on the guards’ faces gradually faded, making the atmosphere quiet.

Just as almost everyone was staring at me, I walked straight up to Edward.

I lowered my head to look at him.

Edward turned his face away, softly calling my name, “Pei Pei…”

I remained silent, still looking at him coldly. After a while, Edward lifted his head.

A flattering smile appeared on his face.

“You understand, right?”

“…Understand what.”

Maybe it was due to the cold, maybe it was due to pain, or perhaps it was the fear seeping from deep within his bones, his lips were trembling.

“Your eldest brother has gone mad; he wants to kill me… He wants to start a war! You don’t want such things to happen, right!?”

Edward was clearly terrified. Titles, status—none of that mattered now. He crawled a few times in the snow, trying to get closer to me.

“Many people would die, many, many people… Also, there’s the Church! The Church won’t allow such things to happen. They want to control this country completely and will not stand idly by!… You’re a Papal Knight, you should understand, right?”

“… …”

“At that time, the pressure on Santel Castle will be unimaginable. You will be very passive, you won’t win… Even if you are more powerful, even if your father is more powerful, what can you do? You can’t kill all the people… There are people in the Church who are stronger than you, those bishops—”

“They will send even stronger Papal Knights, and that holy maiden… You know, you can’t win…”

Edward’s words had lost all logic. It seemed he placed his last hope for survival on me, throwing out every possible argument to make me waver.

“Your eldest brother doesn’t understand these things, but you are smarter, you must understand, right?”

“I have been praying for you for three years… I have always been praying for you… I don’t want you to die, so you definitely don’t want me to die either… Talk to him, talk about these things…”

Seeing his pleading face, I nodded involuntarily.

“Alright.”

Edward was stunned.

He didn’t expect me to agree so readily. His eyes showed disbelief, his pale lips quivered, then a look of ecstasy appeared.

“You… You agreed? Can you make him let me go?”

“Mm, I agree.”

Lafayette, standing beside me, frowned and opened his mouth to say something, “Pei Pei…”

Edward naturally wouldn’t give him the chance to speak. He immediately grabbed my skirt.

“Wonderful, wonderful! I knew it, you like me, you like me—”

…Like you?

I raised my small hand, displaying five fingers like flawless jade—

Slap!

One palm struck Edward’s face.

His face still carried the joy of surviving a disaster. In the next moment, his left cheek clearly changed shape, his lips, nose, and eyes seemed to be hammered hard, twisting to the right simultaneously. Two teeth mixed with blood spewed out of his mouth, followed by a strong force pulling his neck elongating,

Leaving the ground with his body and legs, he was sent flying into the air.

The crowd let out a gasp of shock.

He was sent flying several meters away, tumbling through the air in an ungraceful arc before crashing onto the snow with a thud.

I shook my arm and walked towards him.

“Uh… uh…”

Edward groaned in pain, trying to push himself up with his elbows, but his limbs were unresponsive. Blood trickled down from his mouth.

“You…”

He shook his head slightly, but immediately showed even more pain, clearly indicating that his neck was seriously injured.

“I promise you, Lafayette. I won’t kill you.”

I kicked him in the chest.

“But I will.”

“Uh!”

Edward couldn’t help but groan, rolling several times before finally stopping. By then, it was extremely difficult for him to breathe.

His eyes were bloodshot, clutching his chest and gasping for breath. Mud and snow had stained his once clean clothes. I remained expressionless as I approached him again.

It’s hard to describe my feelings right now… There is certainly a sense of revenge.

But looking at him in such agony, I didn’t feel particularly happy. In fact, what I felt more was…

Just anger and futility.

For that pure, kind soul that has already vanished.

Or perhaps she hasn’t vanished, but exists in a way I still can’t understand. But no matter what, some things have changed.

Like memories.

Like the soft emotions of the past.

That innocent and kind girl had indeed died once, and I could never fully live her life for her.

All of this was because of the meaningless and foolish ambition of this man before me.

I walked up to Edward and just stared at him blankly.

The surrounding noise had long ceased, and everyone was silent. Perhaps they couldn’t understand the situation before them, but they could sense the emotion in the girl’s heart.

After a while, Edward finally caught his breath.

“…Peipei, cough, cough… You’ve calmed down, right…” He couldn’t even lift his head. To my surprise, he didn’t beg for mercy, “If you want to hit me again, it’s okay. I know you’re upset, it’s my fault, all my fault…”

He had given up on getting up and struggled to turn over, lying on the ground仰躺着.

“That night three years ago… I didn’t mean to… really… you know, on the way here, I said something, you heard it, right?”

Bang—

Another kick.

Edward’s body rolled away again, only to be stepped on by a black leather boot.

Bella’s face was cold, saying nothing as she lifted her foot like me, kicking him back to me with a thud.

“Cough, cough, retch—”

This kick must have hit his stomach, as Edward coughed twice, spewing out filth.

“Retch—, retch—” The vomiting lasted for a long time. I kept watching him until he could no longer vomit anymore. “Peipei… Is it enough… too painful…”

I nodded again.

“Yes, it’s enough.”

Click click click.

In the next moment,伴随着毒蛇吐信般的嘶响，我的右手绽放出蓝芒。

极冰短镰再次握在手中，爱德华蓦然间慌了神，眼神里透着惊恐，却牵强地扯起嘴角，努力露出笑容。

血与污秽，混杂着泥土沾满了他整张脸。

身旁陡然传来拉法叶的声音。

“等等，佩佩。他刚才说，三年前的事情…”