Night World Players

Chapter 247 Encounter, Acquaintance, Understanding, and Love

"As long as I stay at Star University, I can get closer to him."

"Even because the work is relatively easy, I am able to set aside time every day to visit the hospital."

Hiltina smiled, but her gaze remained fixed on the ward door at the end of the corridor: "Senior, that's why you chose to stay at the school, isn't it?"

The reason was exactly what she could have guessed.

Because if it were Hiltina herself, if she hadn't borne the responsibilities of a princess and the weight of the fate of trillions of people in the empire, but instead been as alone as Akshia, free and unburdened... then she would definitely have chosen to stay in the place closest to that boy.

As long as she could stay by his side every day and watch him sleep, Hiltina would be content.

"Little Tina."

Upon hearing this, Akshia's exquisitely beautiful face, as delicate as ice and snow, showed not a ripple of emotion.

She simply stretched out her hand slightly, and ice-blue characters were outlined in mid-air.

"Didn't you choose to stay at Star University for the same reason?"

"For the owner of the Holy Sword, the future Empress of the Empire... this academy can no longer teach you anything."

"There has never been a precedent of a royal princess studying at Star University before this."

Compared to two years ago, the words Akshia wrote for communication at this moment were undoubtedly much more lively. Apart from some unfamiliarity with punctuation, the rest of her sentences were no different from those of an ordinary person.

Two years have passed without leaving a mark on the face of this death goddess who has been sleeping since the Sixth Age, but they have made her more human.

No longer a beautiful doll imprisoned in the underworld, with an exquisite appearance but lifeless, gray eyes... but a real, living human being in this world.

"Yes."

Hiltina nodded in agreement: "So I'm actually quite envious of you, senior."

“If you miss him, you can come and visit him directly... instead of having to suppress your longing and continue to fulfill your duties as a princess, as I have to do many times.”

"but--"

Her gaze softened slightly, seemingly bypassing Akshia in front of her and Dean Yin, who was dozing on her shoulder, and went straight to the ward at the back.

"This is what he showed me on that day when he risked his life... and on that day, I also gave him and my father my answer."

"If one breaks their initial vow and abandons other missions and responsibilities for personal feelings—"

"Even if he wakes up one day, I'm afraid I won't be qualified to stand by his side and openly announce to the world that I am his wife."

That was interspersed in Hiltina's words—

Is it a soliloquy, or a declaration of sovereignty driven by a young girl's selfish desires and possessiveness?

After he finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the corridor on the top floor of the hospital.

Neither Hiltina nor Akshia spoke again; even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard clearly.

Just as Hiltina, with her woman's intuition, could clearly sense her senior's feelings for Rust...

Even though she was like a caged bird, naive and ignorant of the ways of the world, after experiencing the trials of the past two years, Akshia had come to understand human emotions and naturally knew that the princess junior in front of her was her rival in some way.

The hostility brought about by the competitive spirit permeated the air along with the silence.

But then, an excited shout broke the silence in the hospital corridor.

"What? What happened?!"

"My Bagua radar is alarming! I think I can smell a battleground!"

Seemingly finally recovering from the afternoon's lethargy and drowsiness, Dean Yin yawned widely, stretched, and blinked with interest.

Just like a feline smelling its prey, Dean Yin's ruby-like eyes gleamed with hunger as he quickly looked up and surveyed his surroundings.

For a certain ferret that feeds on human emotions, capturing the first glimpse of gossip is equivalent to completing a hunt.

However, after quickly assessing the situation in the surrounding hospital corridors, Dean Yin immediately became lethargic, and his constantly wagging tail drooped down again, as if he had suddenly lost interest.

"Oh, it's just the two of you. How boring."

"Little Shia is a quiet type, and Little Tina is also rather introverted. They both carry too much of a burden... Putting the two of you together, in the end, you probably won't be able to do anything significant."

"I thought it was Grey or Estelle returning to reality from the Night World. I thought there would be some big news to watch—but I was disappointed."

However, Dean Yin immediately noticed Ophelia following behind Hiltina, and his ruby-like beast eyes lit up instantly.

Its furry body leaped lightly, drawing an elegant curve in mid-air, and landed gracefully on Ophelia's head from Akshia's shoulder.

"What? Little Ophelia has grown up so much already."

"He has grown from an annoying, scheming, sister-obsessed brat into a shining, high-quality meal ticket."

Dean Yin lay down on Ophelia's head again, curled up into a ball, buried his head in his fluffy tail, and dozed off.

"Little Xia, I'll go with them this afternoon to try something different... I'll come back to the academy tonight to find you."

See you tonight, kitty.

Akshia waved to Hiltina and Ophelia, then walked alone toward the elevator.

Soon, her figure disappeared into the slowly closing elevator doors.

"I've told you so many times, I'm a ferret, not a cat!"

In the quiet hospital corridor, Dean Yin's resentful voice echoed.

……

Behind Hiltina, Ophelia was still bickering with Dean Yin. For some reason, Ophelia, who was always well-behaved, quiet, elegant, and adept at disguising herself in front of others, couldn't help but abandon her pretense and reveal her childlike nature whenever she was with Dean Yin.

Dean Yin, who is usually lazy, lazy, and likes to act cute, and seems harmless, often breaks down and reveals his true nature in front of Ophelia.

In Last's words, this might be what is called innate "compatibility".

Such a thought only flashed through Hiltina's mind.

After all, nothing could be more important to her at this moment than the person behind the door.

Hiltina let out a soft breath and pushed open the light blue hospital room door in front of her.

As soon as she took a step into the room, the refreshing fragrance of flowers immediately enveloped Hiltina.

Even in autumn, the ward was still decorated with colorful flowers, some of which were bouquets that Hiltina herself had sent... As for the rest of the bouquets, it was unknown who they came from.

Hopefully, the sleeping boy in the ward has awakened.

A tiny wish arose in Hiltina's heart, though she knew it was just wishful thinking—if Last had woken up, Aksia, who had just left the ward, would not have had such a calm expression.

But she still cherished this wish, as if chasing a glimmer of miracle.

In the center of the ward is a smart medical bed made of soft rubber. This seemingly unremarkable bed is the culmination of the wisdom of the Ash Institute of Star University and the Advanced Technology Research Institute of Granwell Empire, representing the highest level of precision medical devices in the entire Western Continent.

The hospital bed was covered with a clean, white sheet that carried a faint scent of sunshine.

And the boy slept quietly in the center of the hospital bed.

The early autumn afternoon sun shone on his sleeping profile, highlighting its distinct and deep features.

This was the boy that Hiltina had been longing for day and night.

However, compared to the Raste in his memories, his jet-black hair had grown considerably longer after he had been asleep for two years.

His skin was also noticeably paler, bloodless—almost transparent in the sunlight.

Not far away, on the display screen of a medical instrument used to monitor vital signs such as heart rate and pulse, a smooth, fluctuating line is output at a fixed frequency... just as Hiltina has seen during her hundreds of visits over the past two years.

Last remains in a long slumber. Although his vital signs are quite stable, he is still far from waking up.

At least for this moment, the miracle that Hiltina had prayed for did not happen.

In fact, this is only natural.

A miracle is a miracle precisely because it is something that happens with an extremely low probability of success—you may spend your whole life chasing that glimmer of hope, but the miracle may never come before you die.

However, Hiltina was not disappointed that her prayers were not answered and the miracle did not happen.

It took Rast three hundred years to finally escape the hell called Deep Blue Harbor and be transformed back into a human from a wandering ghost.

Compared to everything that Rust had gone through, his own two-year wait was insignificant.

In fact, Hiltina had already prepared herself for the possibility that Rust would never wake up again.

That doesn't matter.

As long as the human named Hiltina lives, she will stay by the boy's side and wait until the end of time, until death separates them.

Hiltina's thoughts stirred slightly, and the next moment, a ripple of space emanated from her wrist.

A huge fragment of a black stone tablet was taken out of the storage subspace in Hiltina's bracelet and placed in an empty corner of the ward.

As if worried about disturbing the sleeping boy with too much noise, the stone fragments, which were at least half a ton in weight, were placed on the ground by Hiltina with the softest sound, as if a feather had fallen.

This is the fragment of the "Epoch Stone" that Ophelia mentioned earlier.

According to the conjecture of Star University, it might be possible to use the residual aura of the Night World on the stone tablet fragments to help Rast's soul recover... Although it is called a fragment, considering the size of the original stone tablet in the Mystic Tower, even a weathered fragment is still a behemoth.

Ophelia did not follow her in; she merely had Hiltina bring the fragment of the Epoch Stone inside, while she watched from outside the ward through the isolation window.

After all, both Ophelia and Dean Silver knew perfectly well that this visit was a time exclusively for Hiltina and Last, and the princess was unwilling to share it with anyone else.

After placing the huge fragment of the stone tablet, Hiltina finally sat down on the caregiver's chair next to the hospital bed.

She covered the boy's hand, which was sticking out of the sheet, with her own hands so that she could feel some of his body temperature.

The warmth transmitted through their skin-to-skin contact was exactly the same as when they first met in Deep Blue Harbor, jumped into the sea amidst the pursuit of the Iron Cross Wave, and then held hands in the icy water waiting for everything to end... It was still so warm, with a heart-warming heat.

“It has been less than five days since I last visited you, but in my perception, it feels like an entire summer and winter have passed.”

"I skipped all the less important meetings this afternoon."

"So, spend more time with me today..."

Hiltina felt her mind gradually calm down in the intimate touch of their skin.

The latest developments in the Night World campaign, the external pressures facing the royal family, the unusual activities of the Tomb Keepers organization, and the various predicaments of the empire... these worries that usually troubled Hiltina seemed infinitely distant and no longer important at this moment.

"Indeed, only when I hold your hands can I truly calm myself down."

A slight smile involuntarily appeared on Hiltina's lips.

"That's how it always goes in novels and anime, right? A person who has been in a coma for many years... is encouraged by the family's daily calls and recounting of the past, and eventually wakes up, leading to a happy ending."

“I know that with your personality, you never need outsiders to call out to you or encourage you—your iron will alone is enough to overcome all obstacles.”

"However, I still want to talk about the past, just as a little bit of my own whims and self-satisfaction."

"Indeed, it all started with our first meeting, getting to know each other, and our first encounter... I never expected that the gigolo who initially gave me a negative impression, someone who only knew how to talk a good game, would actually burst into my life like the wind—"

"And then, she became the most important person in my life."

(End of this chapter)