Chapter 58 – The Second Note

No matter how fierce the seasonal tides on the sea, the island always maintained a serene and peaceful atmosphere.

The Mage with long golden hair left the bedside of his sleeping companion and walked to the window, casting a tall and graceful silhouette.

The island, shrouded in darkness, was illuminated only by the distant lights and the faint glow of magical plants.

By the time the last light on the Alchemist’s floating island had gone out and no more sounds could be heard, the island fell into complete silence—despite the relentless thunder and the roaring waves, and the occasional long calls of sea beasts, the residents of Siren Island did not find it the slightest bit noisy. They had long grown accustomed to the thunder and storms of this isolated island, just as the inhabitants living on the edge of the Central Forest were used to the howls of magical beasts in the dead of night.

Only then did the Mage lower the deep green curtains, extinguishing the glowing magic crystal and allowing darkness to gently envelop the entire room.

As he did every night he spent here, he entered a state of meditation, either deep or shallow, before falling asleep, extending his spiritual consciousness to unknown distances.

But this time, his meditation was interrupted by his companion in the middle of the night.

“I can’t sleep,” Lin Wei, who had somehow appeared at the foot of his bed, lit the crystal, his hair disheveled, his eyes half-closed, looking extremely agitated. “The Goddess keeps singing in my dreams and trying to lure me back to the swamp.”

As Daniel had said, Lin Wei seemed perfectly fine, not at all like someone who would fall into a deep slumber.

“You’re awake?” the Mage asked, looking at him.

“I don’t know,” Lin Wei shook his head vigorously. “I really don’t want to dream about that so-called Goddess… and my head hurts terribly.”

“Her consciousness had previously invaded your soul.”

“Maybe, I expelled her… I can’t remember,” Lin Wei frowned. “I’m very sleepy, but I’m afraid to fall asleep—would you mind sharing half of your bed with me?”

The Mage did not refuse Lin Wei. The guy in front of him was speaking incoherently, making it impossible to confirm if he was fully awake.

In fact, he had no room to refuse—by the time he finished speaking, Lin Wei had already lifted one side of the blanket and wrapped himself in it.

The guy was indeed as sleepy as he claimed. Almost immediately, he closed his eyes, his breathing slow and steady, while his listless white spiritual energy lazily nestled within the pale golden spiritual energy, only gradually stretching out again after a while.

During the seasonal tides, there was no sunrise or sunset. A wisp of gray, like smoke, appeared in the pitch-black sky, gradually staining the entire sky and revealing the shape of the low-hanging clouds. The flashes of lightning were no longer as blinding—all of this signaled the arrival of daylight.

“That’s right, Mr. Sylvester, they appeared last night—I’ll go and call them down.”

The Dean and Teacher Adele had coincidentally arrived at the gate of the small building today, wanting to see the two students who had mysteriously disappeared and reappeared, to ask them some questions.

The green-robed Daniel climbed to the second floor and came to the door of the two’s room. He didn’t knock but instead opened the door as naturally and matter-of-factly as one would: “I say—you two can get up now. Mr. Sylvester is in the hall, and Lin Wei… huh?”

Daniel’s first glance was at Lin Wei’s bed, which was now empty.

The poor Alchemist’s heart tightened—had they disappeared again?

But when he shifted his gaze to the other side of the room, that tension was replaced by another emotion.

“Ah, you… you two!” The Alchemist looked in disbelief as Lin Wei, who should have been lying peacefully in the other bed, lazily emerged from a blanket that wasn’t his. Moreover, the guy looked terrible, his eyes dazed, appearing half-asleep and weak—only to be pushed back down by the Mage.

The poor Alchemist covered his eyes, took a few stiff steps back, and slammed the door shut.

—The sound of the door slamming finally woke Lin Wei, who had been in a daze for two days.

He blinked hard, alert, and looked at Duan Yu: “Why are you here? Is your bed broken?”

The Mage got up from the bed, put on his robe, and looked down at him expressionlessly, ignoring the question.

Lin Wei glanced around and realized something was off. He awkwardly said, “Alright…”

He closed his eyes again, trying hard to recall what had happened over the past two days.

Starting from when he fell asleep on the Unicorn’s back…

Lin Wei couldn’t help but cover his face.

He had obviously slept well in the latter half of the night, all his joints relaxed with a certain laziness, and his palms were dry, soft, and warm.

Unfortunately, Lin Wei couldn’t feel that warmth now. He really didn’t want to face his memories.

In the hall, all the consciousness he could control was resisting the impact of the Goddess’s soul fragments, and at the beginning, he was at a disadvantage.

Asking to share a bed with Duan Yu out of fear of his consciousness being invaded in the middle of the night—well, that could be excused. But in the hall, although his memories weren’t entirely clear, he knew that under the influence of the Goddess’s consciousness, he had done some extremely childish and embarrassing things!

At that time, he was like a distrustful child or an anxious girl, repeatedly seeking assurances and promises from her lover!

And there were words like “now,” “past,” and “future”…

By the time Lin Wei finally accepted this fact and told himself that someone as cold as the Mage probably wouldn’t take such things to heart, he decided to get up—though he was still a bit dizzy, it was bearable.

The Young Duke slowly put on his magic robe, buttoned the top silver button, and surveyed the familiar, safe, and comfortable environment of the room.

Then, he froze.

He saw, in an extremely conspicuous spot by his bed, a note was prominently stuck there. The black handwriting stood out starkly against the slightly yellowed paper:

Duan Yu is my close friend.

I will do my best to help him and protect him.

And I will never do anything to harm him.

He was like a child who had been caught hiding a secret or a cat whose neck had been grabbed. He stiffly turned his neck, which had become rigid, to look at the expressionless Mage and weakly asked, “You… saw it?”

Duan Yu let out an “Mmm,” his voice cool and emotionless.

Lin Wei felt extremely embarrassed, but the embarrassment didn’t last long. His skin wasn’t that thin, especially after already having embarrassed himself once in the hall—he now felt like he had no face left to lose in front of Duan Yu!

After a brief moment of discomfort, the Young Duke quickly thought of a brilliant way to ease the awkwardness and bring himself some joy.

A mischievous smile crept onto his lips as he pulled Duan Yu over to the desk, took out a piece of paper of the same quality, and placed a pen on it. He looked up at Duan Yu and said, “Since you’ve already seen it… then you have to write one too! If only I have this posted, it’s not fair! I’m sure you wouldn’t mind having a note like this on your bed as well, with me as the subject…”

He had expected this to take a lot of convincing, perhaps even some begging, but the Mage simply thought for a moment and calmly replied, “Alright.”

They sat together at the desk, and Lin Wei watched as Duan Yu picked up the pen, paused briefly as the tip touched the paper, and then began to write.

Due to his eyes, Duan Yu had rarely written before. His handwriting had a subtle awkwardness to it, but it was still clear and strong, carrying a sharp, cold edge, like the silver blade of Gungnir or the never-ending northern wind of the snowy plains.

This indescribable, stern aura was also present in Lin Wei’s handwriting, but it was masked by the aristocratic flourishes and connections, making it hard to notice usually. Now, placed side by side with Duan Yu’s handwriting, it seemed to echo it in some way.

After all, Lin Wei came from a family of military merit and had spent many years on the battlefield… but this guy was just born this way—Lin Wei glanced at Duan Yu’s face and wondered, if this person’s personality weren’t so aloof, what would he be like?

No… no, someone like this, no matter what personality they had, wouldn’t match this face. He was meant to be like the snow-capped mountains and icy plains, not needing to melt, nor adorned with flowers or plants.

He stared at the Mage’s calm and focused profile, lost in thought, until the writing was finished.

The note also had three lines written on it:

Lin Wei is my close companion.

I will do my best to accompany him and protect him.

And I will never do anything to cause him sadness or disappointment.

The Lin Wei of a year ago would never have imagined that the note he had written with a somewhat playful heart would be treated with a completely different emotion a year later.

The note Duan Yu wrote was stuck on the corresponding spot on his bed. Lin Wei took a few steps back and looked at the two similar notes, feeling as if he were witnessing a ceremony—simple, with a hint of childishness, yet still solemn.

As if by some strange impulse, he asked, “In the hall… what you said, does it still count?”

Duan Yu looked at him, his expression unchanged, and replied, “It counts.”

Lin Wei’s gaze shifted uncomfortably after their eyes met. He felt his heart racing, each beat loud and clear.

He thought to himself that he needed some time to figure out… what emotions that had arisen during the latter half of the Death Swamp journey were caused by the Goddess, which were his own, or whether the influence of the Goddess’s will hadn’t completely faded yet.

The atmosphere in the room became a bit strange.

Just as Lin Wei was about to say something else, footsteps could be heard on the stairs outside—it sounded like more than one person.

“We seem to have forgotten something,” Lin Wei suddenly realized. “Daniel said Mr. Sylvester wanted to see us…”

Well, it had been quite some time since Daniel last came in, and the Dean might have been waiting impatiently.

Luckily, they were both fully dressed—Lin Wei, who was closer to the door, opened it. Sure enough, Mr. Sylvester was there, accompanied by Teacher Adele, with Daniel and Haitie behind them.

Mr. Sylvester wasn’t as quick-tempered as Teacher Ansel. His smile was still kind and gentle, with no sign of anger. “I’m glad to see you two have returned safely.”

As he spoke, his gaze shifted between the two of them—and then it was drawn to the extremely conspicuous notes on their beds.

The slightly plump and amiable white-robed Archmage read the contents of the two notes, and his smile deepened.

Adele also smiled gently, praising to Mr. Sylvester, “The friendship of the young is truly enviable.”

“Indeed,” the Dean nodded in agreement. “After hearing from Daniel that the child from the Valley of Metal had recovered his eyesight, I had considered allowing them to live separately—after all, it was I who had forced them to live together in the first place. But now it seems there’s no need to separate these two lovely young men. I was overthinking it.”

After listening to the conversation between the Dean and Adele, Daniel’s expression was indescribable.