NOVEL NEXT chapter 243
21, Ah
“Choose the prettiest among me, Anna Carberlin, and your little maid…”
“Mu En Campbell, who will you choose?”
Celesia’s words were soft and graceful, her eyes, at times bewildered and at times dazed, held a hint of allure that did not belong to her, shimmering like spring water.
Amidst her gentle exhalations, mingled with a faint scent of wine and orchids, it stirred the heartstrings.
But.
Listening to Celesia’s words at this moment, Mu En could not savor the beauty of it all.
He was filled with sorrow.
He was in pain.
He trembled.
Tears streamed down his face.
Why.
Dare I ask why!
Why do you all, one after another, insist on posing such soul-searching questions?
What purpose does this question serve, other than to deepen the conflict?
Isn’t peace better?
Isn’t harmony better?
Isn’t it better to live in concord?
Why must there be a struggle for superiority?
Isn’t it better for everyone to happily become my wings together?
I just want this world to be at peace, for everyone to find their own happiness—what’s wrong with that?
“Quick… hurry and answer.”
Celesia urged, her fingers once again toying with the ice crystal sword in her hand, waving it carelessly, her fragile demeanor suggesting she might drop the sword at any moment.
Yet, with this erratic movement, clear sword marks began to appear, tracing along the edges of Mu En, manifesting on the door, the walls, the ground—everywhere.
Each mark made Mu En feel as if he could see the little goldfish he had accidentally let die in his past life, now joyfully waving at him from the other side of the river of oblivion.
“I…”
“Just to let you know in advance, I won’t accept a tie for first place,” Celesia added.
So why, of all times, did she have to be clever now!
“Is that so?”
Mu En swallowed the words he had just prepared, casting a glance at the recording stone in Celesia’s hand, taking a deep breath,
“It seems I can only make a decision now?”
“Hmm?”
Celesia lowered her head in anticipation.
“Quick, suck it up.”
“I choose…”
Mu En stared into Celesia’s eyes, a resolute expression appearing on his face.
Then, he uttered the answer.
“I choose—death!”
“Huh?”
After saying that, Mu En suddenly raised his hand and swung his fist…
Down on himself.
With that full-force strike, coupled with a deliberate mental shock, Mu En spun in the air three and a half times, scraping against the doorframe before crashing into the wall on the other side, and then…
He fainted.
The room fell silent once more.
Looking at Mu En, who had knocked himself out with a punch, Celesia slightly parted her cherry lips, blinking her eyes. Clearly, her drunken mind was struggling to comprehend the current situation, making her appear adorably dazed.
Unfortunately, Mu En could no longer see her.
……
……
In the darkness, a light flickered on.
A strangely familiar grand judge sat high above, abruptly banging the gavel in his hand.
“I hereby declare, Mu En Campbell, guilty of the crimes of being a two-timer, sweet-talking, being insincere, defiling a princess, and ultimate scumbag, sentenced to the death penalty!
Execution shall commence at this moment!”
“Death penalty! Death penalty! Death penalty!”
The jurors banged their tables in fervor, and a lawyer, who looked extremely familiar to Mu En, was especially excited, banging the table loudly,
“Get him, get him!”
“Wait!”
Mu En hurriedly defended himself, “Listen to me, I’m not a scumbag, I’m not!”
But it was too late, the scene changed instantly, the grand judge and jurors vanished, and in a daze, Mu En found himself standing on an execution platform.
There were neither guillotines nor nooses on the platform.
But, three young girls slowly emerged from the darkness.
“Master, I’m so sad, why didn’t you choose me?”
“Junior, were your previous words all lies?”
“Mu En·Campbell, are you not going to honor the engagement?”
The girls’ faces were sorrowful, and in their hands… they all held a gleaming machete.
“Wait, let me explain, let me explain!”
Mu En hurriedly stepped back, but there was nowhere to escape behind him.
The girls held the machetes, slowly closing in, their indistinct faces seemingly shedding tears.
“Since… since you are unwilling to make a decision, then we will have to reach a compromise.”
“Wh… what compromise?”
“We have decided to fulfill your wish, to coexist peacefully…”
“That’s a good thing, that’s a good thing!”
“Peacefully, we will divide you.”
Mu En’s expression suddenly stiffened, and then he saw three gleaming machetes descending toward his head.
In the final moment, there was only one thought in Mu En’s mind.
The machete hitting his body, it’s so damn cold!
……
……
“I’m not a scumbag, I’m not!”
Mu En shouted in terror, suddenly opening his eyes.
Fortunately, there were no machetes in sight, just a strange ceiling.
“What is this…”
Mu En paused for a moment, excitedly sitting up, “Is it dawn? I don’t have to endure the torment anymore?”
“Burp… what dawn?” a familiar voice said.
Mu En’s smile instantly froze, and he slowly turned his head, his neck stiff as if he could hear the sound of bones rubbing together.
The familiar scene fell into his eyes once more.
It was still that room, still that candlelight, still that drunken princess, as if nothing had changed.
And he was currently sitting on the only bed in the room, silently locking eyes with Celicia, who was half-draped over the edge of the bed.
“How… how long did I sleep?”
“Sleep… sleep for how long?”
Celicia tilted her head, extending one hand to count her fingers, then held up three:
“You slept for five minutes.”
“Five minutes?”
Mu En’s lips twitched.
This wasn’t right; the force he had just used was supposed to ensure he would faint until dawn!
If he couldn’t even control this, then he had been tormented in the dark book day and night for nothing.
“Did you do something, Celicia?”
“I healed you!”
Celicia’s fingertips glowed with a vibrant green light, and in the next moment, that green shimmer transformed into an icy blue.
“And I also helped you wake up.”
“……”
Seeing this, Mu En’s lips twitched violently. No wonder the machete was so cold; it turned out to be your doing.
“Hey, wait a minute.”
At that moment, Mu En suddenly sensed something was off.
Was Celicia’s face even redder?
And what was with that adorable “ah” at the end of her sentences?
Mu En trembled as he extended a finger and asked:
“Celicia, how many is this?”
“This is…”
Celicia swayed slightly as she lifted her head, staring at that finger for a long time before confidently answering:
“Three!”
As she spoke, she looked back at Mu En, her finger resting on her cherry lips, bewildered:
“Eh? Mu… Mu En Campbell, when did you… learn the duplication spell?”
It’s over, I’m even more drunk.
But why had he never heard that drunkenness could deepen over time?
Mu En slowly lowered his head.
At that moment, as Celicia stood up, Mu En finally saw the object that had been pressed beneath her all along.
That gift box.
However, at this moment, within the exquisite gift box, among the grid of chocolates, at least half of them were already empty.
Mu En’s vision darkened.
After eating just one, he had already looked that terrifying; now he had eaten a dozen more…
My life is over!