"Wriothesley, be careful!" Neuvillette called out as Wriothesley and Su Yuan dashed out of the hospital room.
Neuvillette turned to face Furina, her visage now grotesque and drenched in blood, chanting the countdown in a chilling tone.
Yet, beyond the horror, what he felt most was sorrow.
But in the next moment—smack!
Neuvillette suddenly slapped himself hard across the face!
"Neuvillette, stay strong. You almost cried again just now..." he muttered to himself.
He knew he absolutely could not cry—if he did, Fontaine would be drenched in rain, and he himself would fall under the control of the Eerie, leading to an even greater catastrophe.
There was an old saying: If you ever have to choose between "never being able to laugh" and "never being able to cry," always choose the former.
Because "never being able to laugh" simply means you cannot share your joy with others.
But "never being able to cry" means you must bury all your pain deep inside.
And now, Neuvillette couldn't even allow himself to weep in silence, to release his emotions—he had no choice but to keep it all locked away.
"I am Duke Wriothesley, the master of the Fortress of Meropide!"
"Right now, I am issuing an emergency order—no matter what you are doing, stop immediately and return to your sleeping quarters! Whether it's your own room or someone else's, it doesn't matter!"
"No matter what happens, do not step out of your rooms without my explicit command!"
"And I am not just addressing the prisoners of the Fortress of Meropide—this order applies to all public officials as well!"
"I will repeat this once more—this is an order!"
"You have 15 seconds. Do not let me see you outside your rooms!"
Wriothesley's authoritative voice echoed through the fortress's broadcasting system.
Su Yuan hadn't expected Wriothesley to have such a commanding presence...
But then again, without a firm hand, how could he possibly maintain control over the Fortress of Meropide?
Moreover, Su Yuan realized that even though he had already fled far from the hospital room, Furina's eerie countdown still resounded in his mind.
"16... 15... 14... 13..."
Su Yuan kept running and soon reached the entrance of the exclusive dining hall.
Time was running out—he needed to find a hiding place, fast.
Spotting a large wooden barrel used for storing wine in the corner, he quickly lifted the lid and slipped inside.
"4... 3... 2... 1... 0..."
"Darling, time's up!"
"Are you hidden well? Because now, I'm coming to find you!"
"If I don't find you within 30 seconds, you win this round, and we'll start the next one right after."
"Until... we return to our bed."
Su Yuan hid inside the empty wine barrel and noticed a small hole at the top, allowing him to observe the situation outside.
At the same time, he silently counted down from 30 in his mind...
At 27 seconds remaining, "Furina" appeared within his line of sight.
Su Yuan was astonished—wasn't that way too fast?
Even though he was injured and not moving at his top speed, he had still run for a good 20 to 30 seconds.
Yet, "Furina" had caught up in just a tenth of that time?
If "Furina" weren't playing this hide-and-seek game with him, and it was purely a matter of speed, how could he possibly make it back to bed before her?
What Su Yuan didn't know, however, was that the only reason "Furina" had taken three whole seconds to reach this spot was that she had carefully checked every possible hiding place along the way.
If she were simply rushing to his location, she wouldn't have even needed a full second...
Now, "Furina" stood there, scanning her surroundings, though she didn't seem to focus on the wooden barrel he was hiding in.
At the same time, however, she also didn't continue searching ahead—it was as if she was completely certain that Su Yuan was hiding nearby.
Time continued to tick away, and Su Yuan silently counted down in his mind.
Just a few seconds left, and he would win the first round of hide-and-seek...
It seemed that while "Furina" was incredibly fast, her ability to search wasn't all that remarkable.
Maybe, just maybe, he could win every round without getting caught and make it back to Palais Mermonia—back to Furina's bed—completely unscathed...
But at the very next moment, "Furina's" voice suddenly echoed inside Su Yuan's mind:
"Darling, there are only a few seconds left... You don't actually think you've already won, do you?"
In the very next moment, "Furina's" blood-red, hollow eyes suddenly filled Su Yuan's entire vision.
She was staring at him through the small hole in the barrel...
"Darling... I've found you!"
"The first round of hide-and-seek... You lost!"
With a loud bang, the wooden barrel instantly shattered into pieces.
Splinters flew across the entire area, some of them cutting into Su Yuan's face and hands...
"Furina" looked at the horrified Su Yuan and spoke with delight, "Yes! That's exactly the expression I wanted to see! Giving you a glimmer of hope, only to completely erase and devour it at the last moment!"
Su Yuan instantly understood—"Furina" had known his hiding spot all along.
She had only waited until the very last second to reveal it, purely to humiliate and toy with him!
"So, as per our previous agreement, I must give you a little punishment, Darling..."
"It might hurt just a little. Try to bear with it, okay?"
The next moment, Su Yuan felt a sharp, excruciating pain in his left eye—blood splattered everywhere!
Enduring the agony, he used his right eye to look—only to see "Furina" holding his freshly gouged-out, blood-soaked left eye.
Then, she placed it into her mouth, chewing it slowly, savoring the taste, an expression of pure ecstasy on her face...
"Just now, you were secretly watching me with this eye, weren't you?"
"Furina" spoke slowly.
"In that case, I'll gladly accept it..."
"If I consume you completely... you'll never leave me... you'll never betray me... you'll forever belong to me alone, my one and only confidant... Isn't that right?"
At that moment, Wriothesley and Sigewinne appeared at the scene.
Their eyes darted between the grotesquely terrifying "Furina" and Su Yuan, whose left eye was still gushing blood.
Even though he knew he wasn't a match for "Furina," Wriothesley still took a battle-ready stance.
He couldn't just stand there and do nothing while Su Yuan suffered right in front of him!
"Sigewinne, tend to Su Yuan's wound immediately!" Wriothesley ordered the girl beside him.
"I'll hold 'Furina' off!"
However, in the next instant, "Furina's" head twisted 180 degrees horizontally, then spun 270 degrees vertically in an impossibly grotesque motion—before locking her eerie, hollow-red gaze onto Sigewinne and Neuvillette.
"...Are you two trying to interrupt the intimate little bedtime game between me and Darling?"
"Furina" spoke coldly, her tone laced with endless menace and murderous intent.
"Sigewinne! Stay back! Wriothesley! You too, don't interfere!" Su Yuan shouted through gritted teeth, enduring the excruciating pain.
"There's no need for pointless sacrifices! I can handle this!"
Then, he turned to "Furina" and spoke with unwavering determination, "Come on, let's start the next round of hide-and-seek."
"...Alright, Darling..."
"Furina" turned her head, revealing a twisted smile.
But now, the corners of her mouth had split open, stretching all the way down to her lower eyelids.
With rows of razor-sharp teeth exposed inside that gaping, bloody maw, her grin was nothing short of nightmarish...
"30... 29... 28... 27..."
Ignoring the searing pain, Su Yuan pressed his hand against his still-bleeding eye socket and forced himself to keep running toward the exit of Meropide Fortress.
With each step, blood trickled down his cheek, dripping from his chin onto the cold stone floor...
"All my fault... Su Yuan... How could this have happened at the worst possible time?" Wriothesley clutched his head in frustration, his voice thick with regret.
"Just when I went down to inspect the shipbuilding progress, Furina had to show up..."
"Since we had to keep it a secret, my subordinates couldn't contact me while I was down there..." Wriothesley said, guilt-ridden.
"Even though I had given clear orders to stop Lady Furina... I can't blame them. After all, how could they possibly defy the Hydro Archon? They wouldn't dare to use force..."
"It's all my fault... It's all my fault... Su Yuan!!!"
"Your Grace..." Sigewinne stood beside Wriothesley, watching him filled with regret, guilt, and frustration.
She struggled to find the right words to comfort him.
"Dwelling on regret here won't change anything," came a calm voice from behind.
"If anything, I share some of the blame as well."
Wriothesley felt a gentle pat on his shoulder.
Turning slightly, he heard Neuvillette's voice.
"Let's go. We need to follow them," Neuvillette said.
"But don't act recklessly—we can't interfere and make things worse."
"We'll observe as we move. Keep watching carefully... There has to be some way we can help Su Yuan."
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