The little one seemed lively, which made Levi feel an intense mix of elation, thankfulness, and relief. His baby’s body was warm, moving, and breathing! How would he not feel euphoric?
Yet, even though he was clearly very, very happy, his heart couldn’t help but feel a sharp stab.
A day before, he had been full of beautiful, extravagant hopes for the future. Yet now that his baby was awake, he could no longer immerse himself in his own idyllic fantasy. Everything was a beautiful but fleeting pipe dream. And it was now time to wake up and face the harsh reality.
He had nearly broken his own beloved treasure.
Destroyed with his own two hands what was the most precious to him.
He could no longer keep him. He didn’t deserve to keep him. Not in his arms, not at his side.
Nothing spoke of this fact more clearly than the struggling body in his arms. It frantically tried to get out of his hold as if his touch was corrosive. Get away from him as soon as possible, as far as possible.
Hah, it was to be expected. After what happened, their relationship would never again be the same. How would it be possible for it to remain the same after experiencing something so painful, so horrifying, so traumatic? To feel yourself suffocate, feel your body getting crushed, yet to be unable to do a thing. So small, so helpless.
Even he, Levi, wanted nothing to do with himself. Wishing he could escape from his skin.
Wishing he could be someone deserving of his baby.
His treasure deserved someone who’d make him happy and never hurt him. His treasure deserved a safe and blissful life.
Even… even if no one else will be able to love him as much as he, Levi, did… love wasn’t something that could be quantified in the first place. What use is there to love someone dearly, if all you do is hurt them? Isn’t this so-called great love too cheap?
He could grasp at straws, blame it all on the terrorists. But that would be nothing but lying to himself. Didn’t he destroy half of his mansion last night even without the terrorists? What if at that time, his baby had been lying by his side?
He was a ticking time bomb, and the best thing he could do for his baby was to just… to just let go.
But even though he knew that, he… he just couldn’t bring himself to let go! How could he let go of this person that meant everything to him? He had never been that selfless and noble, nor that self-destructive. Letting go might be the best for his baby, but to him, the act was no different to suicide.
He knew what should be done, but he just couldn’t jump of the edge himself.
He needed a push.
Thus, he could only stand there frozen, waiting for the guillotine suspended over his head to finally drop down and take away his life.
But as he waited for it, this guillotine known as Noah, abruptly ceased its movements.
Noah was, of course, completely unaware that he had woken up his pillow, for he was currently preoccupied with thoughts of how pitiful his brother-in-law was.
So pitiful, ah! In such a desperate time all alone and uncared for!
Finally, feeling like he’d explode if he didn’t voice out his inner outrage, Noah stopped trying to get out of Levi’s arms and started to tap on the light screen of his communicator writing a long, long message to his disappointing sister.
The disappointing sister who still didn’t even know her fiancé was the cause of her overtime: QAQ
Levi was dying to know what the little one was typing. Was he calling for help? Sending an SOS? He wanted to know, but didn’t dare peek lest the other realized he was awake. He couldn’t face Noah, he didn’t dare face him. He didn’t even dare look at him. The only thing he could do was to pretend he wasn’t conscious.
Noah took a long time to word his official letter of admonishment which could basically be summed up as “Hurry back home and comfort your hubby!”
Blackie stared at the paragraphs of passive-aggressive text at a loss. Not only was his host encouraging his love rival to comfort and pamper his hubby, but he even managed to word it in such a persuasive and guilt inducing way. Such a talent, ah!
After pressing the send button, Noah finally felt as if he’d gotten that stuffy feeling off his chest. He ignored the countless notifications and messages he’d received from his worried friends and colleagues, and returned back to what he was previously doing – trying to wiggle out of Levi’s embrace.
Levi gritted his teeth. Sure enough, what was coming would eventually come.
He inhaled the lovely scent of his darling’s hair for one last time, and then, with a demeanor of a man that had nothing left to live for, he weakly released his grip on the other.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he had resolved himself to let him go, the other’s struggle abruptly ceased once again.
However, this time there were no tapping or any other movements. The two of them both just laid there in silence, for several long moments.
And then, something soft and warm, yet incomparably ticklish entered Levi’s ear, “Brother? Are you awake?”
Levi naturally continued to play dead.
However, the way his body reflexively stiffened was all the response Noah needed.
“Sorry for waking you up… I-I needed to go to the toilet… don’t mind me, just continue sleeping. I’ll… I’ll be right back!” Noah jumped off the bed with flushed cheeks. He couldn’t straight out say that he had been relentlessly fighting to get out of bed because he was dying out of embarrassment! Thus, toilet excuse it is!
Noah faced the door to the bathroom, but in the end didn’t take a single step forwards. Instead, he glanced back at Levi.
Levi looked much better than he did this morning, but these few hours of sleep were nowhere near enough to make up for what happened in the last 24 hours. While this morning Levi looked like a zombie, right now he looked like a vampire. Still undead, but less... dead.
“Brother?” Noah tentatively called out.
He again, received no response. However, now that Noah was paying attention, he wouldn’t miss any of the little telltale signs. Levi’s mental power was now clearly much more active than previously when he had been asleep. It was alert and attentive, thus he was clearly not just awake but very aware of his surroundings.
And judging by the increasingly chaotic movements of his mental power, Levi was distressed and getting more upset by the second.
Noah didn’t need Blackie’s mind-reading powers to deduce what dark thoughts were going through Levi’s head. The incident had clearly dealt a huge mental blow to this obstinate brother-in-law.Astar Levi was a proud man who was hard on others but harder on himself. He had little tolerance for mistakes to begin with, so having his own power hurt people he cared about would undoubtedly be something hard for him to accept. Even though he logically knew that it was out of his control, he couldn’t escape from blaming himself.‘If only he had waited for Trey’s shield before coming out of the Magcart. If only he wasn't so i
Noah looked up at his brother-in-law's current adorably foolish state and couldn’t stop his eyes and mouth from curving into a brilliant smile filled with affection, “I’m not hurt. My body is already fully healed.”Seeing that incomparably beautiful smile, Levi felt as if he had been shot at again.“That’s not what I meant...” Levi furrowed his eyebrows, “Your body has recovered, but it cannot change the fact that you almost... almost...” Levi swallowed hard and was unable to continue his words. Instead, he instinctively clutched at the smaller body lying on top of his as if holding for dear life.
Levi didn’t need to do anything for a silent crack to form in everyone’s mind. A subtle change of perception that grew and grew until what they saw looked nowhere near what was initially there.Their perception was like a mirror. The image reflected on a smooth mirror was clear, but once the mirror cracked, the reflection would become distorted and split until it could no longer be recognized.Back when everyone had distanced themselves from him, he had even felt it was a good thing. His power was excellent - not only was it very convenient in many ways, but it also kept unwanted company away.
Levi felt like he would be able to reach heaven in a single step. His idea of boiling this cute little frog in warm water had been the right approach. He was nearly fully cooked.The twists and turns of life were truly unpredictable! Within a single day, he had fallen from heaven to hell and then soared back into the sky once again.It was all so very good, almost perfect even. It was just that his heart still hurt for this sensible baby of his that worried for others before himself. How could his heart ever be at ease when his darling didn’t know how to treasure himself properly? When he didn’t know that he was the most precious thing in
“Brother, did you say something? I couldn’t hear you over the water.” Noah yelled from within the bathroom.Levi exhaled a long sigh charged to the brim with emotion. “I’ll tell you later…”Noah dried his hands with the towel, “Blackie, did you hear what he said?”Blackie side-eyed his blissfully ignorant host, “Yes. He proclaimed his undying love for you.”No
Levi swallowed hard, “You… could you go ahead and check whether my mother came in person?”Noah eyed Levi strangely, so Levi was forced to explain. “My mother is… uh… an Empathizer…”Noah’s confusion was instantly replaced by understanding. Empathizers could sense the emotions of others as if they were their own. His brother-in-law was worried that if his mother came in person, she’d be able to feel how much today’s incident had affected him. He didn’t want her to worry, and how could she not if she felt his pain and distress?
While making their way towards the study, Noah couldn’t help but inquire, “What happened to your manor?”Levi avoided his eyes and pretended he hadn’t heard his question. Noah waited for his response, and only after a long while had passed did he realize that the other had no intention of responding.“Brother?” Noah tugged at Levi’s sleeve, but the other lunged to knock on the study door as if chased by a flesh-eating zombie.Noah stared at the fleeing brother-in-law speechlessly, feeling a bit am
After visiting his father, Noah took a minute to send a message to Fynn, telling him to drop by the manor so that they could further discuss the case. He also updated his social status to say he was resting at home, but otherwise fine.After that, he recorded and sent a long and touching video message to Trey, ensuring him that everything was fine, and he would keep him updated on the happenings. He also encouraged Trey to properly rest and recuperate, apologized for getting him into this mess, and thanked him for his hard work both verbally and monetarily with a thick electronic envelope of cash. He also ordered a get-well gift basket to be sent to his hospital room.