Leo’s expression froze for a moment, the smile on his face abruptly halting. After a long pause, he gave a low chuckle, then turned his head to gaze at Rael. The corners of his mouth tugged slightly as he said, “How could I not be worried?”His voice was hoarse, ever so slightly — completely different from his usual carefree and unrestrained tone.Rael was stunned.Leo’s lips trembled, his eyes bloodshot, as if he had finally reached his breaking point. He buried his face in his hands and choked out, “...I just want him to live, that’s all. Really, Rael, do you know? I truly, just want my brother to live. Missing an arm, missing a leg, loving whoever he wants — none of that matters…”After a pause, he suddenly lifted his face, tears streaming uncontrollably down his cheeks.Amid the torrent of emotion, he spoke each word slowly and clearly, “As long as my brother is alive, that’s enough — that’s enough…”After a moment of silence, Rael reached out and wiped away the tears on his face,
This time, Raina replied, “Okay.”Rael immediately turned toward her. It was one thing for Leif to be willful, but she didn’t even try to talk him out of it—she just went along with him. That really made things difficult for everyone else.Leo, his face still streaked with tears, looked like he was about to cry again. He stammered as he turned to Rael and said, “Rael, don’t… don’t worry about my brother… Sister-in-law will take care of him… You just… ugh… you comfort me a bit and I… I won’t cry anymore… boohoohoo…”He spoke through sobs, the words running together, his punctuation completely gone.Rael's fair forehead twitched as veins popped. In the end, he could only lower his head, one hand on his temple, and said with a laugh-cry, “Can you stop crying already?”Leo hiccuped through his tears. “...Okay, if you comfort me, I won’t cry…”Rael: “…”Though he looked thoroughly disgusted, he actually did comfort him. He could only watch helplessly as Leo used his shirt as a handkerchief
After asking more than a dozen questions, aside from the fact that he couldn’t see and had mild head pain, there were no other obvious symptoms. This situation couldn’t be considered good, but it wasn’t exactly bad either.Once Leif woke up, Leo, Rael, and Gale all entered the room.As soon as they stepped into the ward, Leo rushed over, throwing himself at Leif, hugging him tightly, both laughing and crying at the same time, tears and snot all over his face, unable to speak clearly as he sobbed incoherently: “Bro… you scared me to death, I thought… Please don’t do this again, I was so scared… Bro, sobs…”By the end, he didn’t even know what he was saying, only that he wanted to cry while hugging Leif.Leif: “…”His expression turned faintly disgusted, and he slightly turned his head, saying to Rael beside him, “He got snot and tears all over me. Pull him off.”Leo jerked his head up and cried, “Bro, I was just worried about you, and you’re disgusted by me?”While crying, he expertly
Rael didn’t understand why she suddenly brought that up. He hesitated for a moment before asking, “What exactly are you trying to say?”Raina let out a soft laugh, raised her face, and looked at Rael—or rather, her gaze passed through him and landed on the unconscious Leif lying on the hospital bed.She said, “I’ve always been cold-hearted. If someone tries to kill me, do you think I should be merciful and let them go?”As she spoke, she covered her face with one hand and let out a sharp, mocking snort. Her brows and eyes were filled with scorn, yet her voice remained calm and detached as she continued, “How could I?”That sentence was laced with chilling murderous intent.She didn’t care who was behind it. If they targeted her, she could take it—soldiers come, she fights; water floods, she builds a dam. But if they hurt Leif, then they would have to pay the price.Rael looked back at her. After a while, he spoke in a low voice, “Fine. But… what about Mr. Vexley?”Raina answered calml
Raina raised her hand and gently rubbed Gale’s head. Forcing a smile, she said softly, “Alright, I’ll cooperate.”Gale nodded obediently and stepped aside. The two medical staff members came forward, and only after a thorough examination did they realize Raina had numerous wounds, some of them quite deep and still bleeding. Yet, despite this condition, she hadn’t let out a single cry of pain and had completed a surgery lasting several hours.The two medical staff were shocked and awed by her fortitude.One of them whispered, “Miss Carrington, these wounds are deep. If it hurts, you can cry out… it might make you feel better.”Raina smiled and replied, “It’s alright.”And it really was.Over the years, she’d suffered countless injuries—sometimes even broken limbs. She’d become so used to the pain that she’d grown numb to it. These injuries were truly nothing in comparison. She’d had arms and legs reattached before and still bounced back as if nothing had happened.Strangely, she though
Leo tilted his head slightly, and for the first time ever, that usually cheerful face showed a trace of bewilderment and helplessness.Rael couldn’t bear to watch anymore. The hand he had placed on Leo’s shoulder twitched slightly. Fearing that Leo would notice, he was about to withdraw it, but then another hand pressed firmly over his.Rael's pupils contracted sharply as he watched Leo slowly stand up, his eyes rimmed red. One hand clenched tightly into a fist, and after a long moment, his voice finally emerged—hoarse and trembling. “I believe you.”He paused for a beat before continuing, “There are only two people I’ve ever trusted completely in my life—my big brother and you… Rael, don’t lie to me. Really… if something like this happened again, I don’t think I could… I really couldn’t take it…”At this moment, his heart and face were in total disarray. After speaking, he withdrew his hand and held his head in his hands, choking out a few sobs. Other than that, he found himself utte