Love, Gun, Cupid

"I've realized something."

"what?"

"Whether I'm there or not, your life is just as fulfilling and joyful. So, my presence is just an embellishment in your life, not the reason you insist on keeping me here."

You might say, "I represent the love of my elders. How could I possibly love you more than your father and mother? Even if you are separated from them for a time, you will ultimately live together again."

Gladiolus smiled. "You want to keep me here because you want to see me wear more beautiful clothes and have more ideas about me."

During class, you would occasionally glance at me; during meals, you ignored the mimosa trees passing by; during exams, you drew my outfit on your scratch paper; while playing soccer, you were distracted by me under the streetlights; on the bus, you deliberately kept your distance from me, even though I don't have a real physical form.

You've looked at me before, but never this often... What makes you so bold?

Did you feel relieved of your moral burden after learning that I am not a wife?

Now that you've confirmed the Oracle of Submission you used on me has taken effect, and that I can only live for you, have you set aside your other concerns?

Lin Jiade explained somewhat flusteredly, "Because I'm very worried about you, Madam. I forced you to live, and I think I have to be responsible for your life. Every time I see you, Madam, I feel like you're in a daze, looking lost. I can't rest easy, so I definitely have to keep watching over you."

Lin Jiade was sincere. He thought Jianlan would understand and be moved by this, but what he saw was Jianlan's disappointed gaze.

“Actually, you only need three words to explain. If you can say those three words, I can accept everything about you, and even… give you more,” she said.

"So guess why I'm so desperate to protect you, even though you're the one most conceptually far removed from the Gladiolus among the three, I'm still protecting you. And you, my lady, tell me the three words I hope to hear."

Both knew what the other wanted to say, but an inexplicable pride prevented them from speaking first, as if whoever spoke first would be the loser.

After a long silence, Jianlan said, "Could you please take a closer look at me?"

“I’ve been watching you, madam. Except when I’m sleeping, we’re practically inseparable.”

A slow sadness crept onto Jianlan's face. She said, "Ordinary attention is forgotten seven seconds after you look away. You look at me no differently than you look at any other passerby."

What I crave is attention different from that of passersby, the kind of attention you give to Jasmine—sometimes joyful, sometimes sorrowful, sometimes filled with desire.

I don't mind you looking at me like that at all; it even makes me happy. It proves that in your eyes, I am still a charming woman, an independent being, not a counterfeit that's a mix of gladiolus and corobocchia.

So, Lin Jiade, besides your jasmine and azaleas, could you perhaps look at me more?

Gladiolus's prayers and sorrows are gentle, so gentle that one cannot bear to refuse them. Lin Jiade thought that if she could cry, she would probably bring a warm rain, but the dead cannot, just as marble statues cannot shed tears.

“Miss Gladiolus is beautiful to begin with, and I fear that beauty, so I dare not face my own feelings honestly. If you don’t think this is an ugly desire, an offense…”

Lin Jiade took a deep breath, no longer concealing himself. His honest yet aggressive gaze gave Jianlan the illusion that she was being ignited. She responded to Lin Jiade with encouragement, desire flowing between their meeting eyes.

"Lin Jiade, dinner's ready."

Jasmine's voice made Lin Jiade look up. Jianlan blinked, leaned half her body out of the door frame so that Jasmine could see her, and secretly grabbed Lin Jiade's hand with her hidden hand.

Gladiolus has no physical form... that's how it should be. When her hand touched Lin Jiade, it left a stiff and cold sensation, not pleasant at all, but it did exist.

Lin Jiade was taken aback: "What's going on?"

After dealing with Jasmine, Gladiolus turned around and replied, "It's just using energy to simulate the touch of the flesh; it's rewritten from a contact-based spell."

This is a little trick I recently came up with to pass the time, but I forgot about it because of Gladiolus. Now, you're the first person to see it.

Gladiolus used her energy to draw his hand: "Is this a surprise?"

Lin Jiade nodded frantically. Unlike Du Juan, Gladiolus's teasing did not make him feel the pain of unrequited love, but rather the tenderness of lovers, and the warmth and joy of physical contact with her (does it count, or not?).

Moreover, Gladiolus won't keep him in suspense; if he wants it, she will give it to him gently.

After that, Gladiolus stopped teasing him. While he was doing his homework and helping Jasmine with hers, she was in the kitchen using an alchemical cauldron to cook enhancement potions and lightning potions.

These two items have had their spell principles slightly modified and their formulas drastically altered by Gladiolus. After they were made, they were not given to Lin Jiade in a hurry—the enhanced potion was still missing a piece of excellent material such as jasmine blood and kapok blood, while the lightning potion needed the opportunity of thunder and lightning.

So, the finished product was temporarily sealed inside the cuckoo's wings. When she went to tell Lin Jiade this, she found him lost in thought.

"What happened?" Dujuan asked.

“The Mirror Realm is calling me… There are words written on the wall: ‘An error is being triggered. Will you be the bird that stops the disaster, or the worm that escapes it?’”

"You were once a worm, then a bird, and now you've turned back into a worm. But that's alright, you still have a choice."

"I want to wait for Gladiolus... for Lady Gladiolus's decision."

Du Juan shook her head: "She's still confused about who she is. And you are her master, so she's waiting for your choice."

You two are nesting dolls together... or rather, shirking responsibility.

"Not choosing is also a choice."

"Are you also going to take the middle road like the July Monarchy?"

Lin Jiade countered, "And what is that?"

"No, it's nothing. It's just that you've kept Jianlan Qiang here. While you're enjoying all the benefits she brings to your life, it's also your responsibility to plan for her future."

Du Juan said, "She doesn't often appear confused, helpless, or vulnerable. If you can be both strong and reliable, you can win her over in one fell swoop, making her never want to leave you again. She'll then dedicate herself to your life with the utmost enthusiasm, showering you with pampering and tenderness that you adore."

Du Juan's form and color began to change, and she was about to transform into Gladiolus to seduce Lin Jiade. He quickly grabbed her shoulders and said, "Don't change. This is fine. Lady Gladiolus is already very pitiful."

Chapter 77 Premeditated (Bonus Chapter)

Du Juan's smile froze on her face, but she quickly composed herself and disappeared with a calm expression.

Lin Jiade had just breathed a sigh of relief and was about to continue with his work when Jasmine appeared in the doorway and asked, "I saw everything. Jianlan and you, two people I trust... Is this your kind of relationship?"

Jasmine's voice was choked with sobs, and the guilt almost suffocated Lin Jiade. He said, "No, Jasmine..."

His voice stopped abruptly because "Jasmine" smiled sweetly, and a heart-shaped pattern appeared in her eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief, pressed his chest, and said, "Don't make jokes like that anymore. It's bad for your heart."

Du Juan made a face at Lin Jiade and said, "Who told you to reject me just now?"

Jasmine's voice came from behind Du Juan: "Refuse what?"

Lin Jiade's heartbeat was like a rollercoaster, just beginning to calm down. Upon hearing this voice, it immediately quickened. Du Juan stepped aside, and Jasmine, carrying a fruit platter, asked, "Judging from your expression, you must be hiding something from me."

Lin Jiade looked at Du Juan, who shrugged and said, "I just asked him to help me with some fashion advice."

Jasmine looked doubtful, and Du Juan added with a smile, "It's on the premise that I transformed into your appearance, so he told me not to transform."

Jasmine slammed the door shut, leaving Azalea outside.

The next day, Jianlan followed Lin Jiade to experience his life again. The difference was that this time she sat next to him, creating a cold atmosphere around Lin Jiade. People unconsciously kept their distance from her, giving him and Jianlan a chance to be alone.

"Lady Gladiolus? Lady Gladiolus... Gladiolus?"

The woman turned her head, her hair brushing against Lin Jiade's cheek. The precisely controlled flow of energy left a slightly ticklish sensation on his face. She looked at him with deep affection, so tender and so tender that he couldn't refuse.

"Could you show me around the campus at noon?"

“Sure,” Lin Jiade replied softly, “but why the sudden interest?”

"I used to think more about myself and never really got to know you. Now, you are the meaning of my existence, and I want to see all of you."

"Yeah, great!"

Gladiolus knows how to touch Lin Jiade's vanity. Lin Jiade doesn't notice that Gladiolus is reenacting the interaction between Jasmine and Lin Jiade, replacing it with her own role.

After morality and rules were shattered with the "thirty-year-old wife" persona, and before a new persona and its associated morality and rules were established, under Du Juan's instigation, Jianlan prioritized her own desires and betrayed her promise to Jasmine without hesitation... while she still loved Jasmine as a family member.

Lin Jiade led Jianlan on a tour of the school, something he was already very familiar with. Jianlan floated alongside him, her arm linked with his by energy, making them look like a couple.

"I regret it a little. If only we hadn't gone to the Mirror Realm in the first place. I would have cooked for you and Jasmine, woken you up, accompanied you to school, sat side by side in class, strolled hand in hand like this, guided your magical research when we got home, and then used Jasmine's body at night... cough, it's nothing."

I have long watched over Jasmine and you. When Jasmine was unable to take care of you, I appeared by your side, found my own happiness, and built a harmonious and special relationship between the three of us.

Before, I always wanted to be a mother. I couldn't have children of my own, but Jasmine and your child can be a kind of comfort to me.

Of course, I regret not entering the Mirror Realm and living in ignorance, but it's still better than entering and learning an incomplete truth. At least I can see myself as Gladiolus without worrying about those messy possibilities.

Unfortunately, there's no going back.

Gladiolus's expression was filled with sorrow, which was transmitted to Lin Jiade through the will link. He turned around and embraced a clump of viscous air. Gladiolus did not use any techniques related to energy; she hugged Lin Jiade tightly, her phantom body passing through his, and finally, she hugged herself.

"Lin Jiade, what kind of person do you want me to become?" Jianlan asked.

“I want you to regain your memories, restore your physical body, and return to your family. This is my original wish, a wish based on correct values, not just what I feel in my heart.”

Lin Jiade looked at the other person: "I want you to be my family, I want you to regain your vibrant body. You want to be a mother, you want children? I can't wait to help you in my own way."

I once told you that Miss Dujuan is someone I cannot love, and so are you, Gladiolus... I cannot love you; you are a married woman, someone's mother, and I cannot destroy someone else's family.

But when that persona was destroyed, your moral constraints were also destroyed, and when you didn't refuse, and even expected me to attack you, then only one constraint remained between us—”

“Jasmine,” Gladiolus said softly.

"Yes, Jasmine is a dragon, and her values ​​are quite different from those of humans. Can you imagine her dream of having a football team's worth of children with me in the future?"

I agreed quickly because all I could think about was making Jasmine my girlfriend and hugging and kissing her. I didn't even consider what it meant to have a child from a football team.

Later, I did some calculations with a calculator and then imagined what life would be like surrounded by twenty to thirty children...

Lin Jiade's face turned pale. He leaned against a stone pillar. Sometimes, an adult's breakdown happens in an instant. He imagined himself becoming the second generation of the overtime worker, no, the tragic plus version of the overtime worker.

Jianlan was initially feeling very upset, but after hearing Lin Jiade's words, she shamelessly burst out laughing.

"You're still laughing!" Lin Jiade said indignantly.

"Sorry, pfft... I just couldn't help it..." Jianlan looked at Lin Jiade, "Even with a future like this, you'll stride forward instead of looking back?"

"Yes, even my purpose in learning magic is to be with Jasmine. You saw it, Jasmine took those drugs that damage her bodily functions for me, so for Jasmine, I will do everything in my power to satisfy all her desires... even if it shortens my lifespan!"

This scene is absurd. Lin Jiade is talking about a shameful topic with Jianlan, but Lin Jiade's face is full of determination, as if he is about to break into a den of dragons and tigers.

"It's heartless to say this, but Jasmine and I have become completely obsessed with having children (literally), and we don't have the energy to raise so many kids."

Should we hire a nanny? Nannies are very expensive, and our children aren't suitable for ordinary nannies. Therefore, a reasonable solution is for us to form a larger family so we can have the energy to raise our children.

Jianlan looked at Lin Jiade with some surprise: "So, when you confessed to Jasmine, you had already thought of these excuses to seduce other girls and build a harem?"

There are a total of 72 chapters owed, of which 27 have been paid, leaving 45 chapters to be paid.

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Confession

“No, at first I thought it was an absurd idea, but then you came into my life, and seeing your maternal love and tenderness, and the fact that it was impossible to fulfill this wish... made me seriously consider this absurd idea.”

“I don’t care anymore,” Gladiolus said. “Your opinion is my opinion.”

The docile and submissive nature of Gladiolus was what Lin Jiade longed for, but when she behaved in this way, Lin Jiade felt somewhat regretful.

He replied, "If you have no objections, I'm going to be honest with Jasmine today. Whether it's apologizing with thorns on my back or kneeling on a cactus keyboard, I want both of you."

From the afternoon onwards, Lin Jiade's heart was in his throat as he imagined all sorts of possibilities after he confessed to Jasmine. When he got home that evening, he saw Jasmine and trembled, swallowing back the words he had mustered up the courage to say.

"Your affinity with Jianlan increased by two points today, it seems you've confessed your feelings," Dujuan said. "When are you going to tell Jasmine?"