Chapter 520: You make me panic
"Things were supposed to turn out like this. The original proposal was to use the little mute to stir up 'discord' and 'tacit understanding' between Tachibana Masamune and the general. It's no one else's fault that things turned out like this now."

His voice sounded flat, without any intonation.

This kind of voice was something Ling had never heard before, even when they first met, Zhuo didn't have any emotions at that time, but he was lazy. Now it was too peaceful, as peaceful as himself... It made Ling very uncomfortable and miserable.

Ling could conclude that he was just being stubborn because she believed that she had always been paying attention to Zhuo and staying by his side.

Anger, remorse, pain—it was obvious at a glance that he was hiding these emotions.

When he was about to turn around and say something, Zero walked over first.

But this decision was probably correct, because Zhuo definitely wanted me to go back first.

If you leave him alone, he will probably fall into negative emotions and do things he would never do under normal circumstances.

Seeing that Ling had acted first as if he had predicted it, Zhuo was stunned for a moment, then he revealed a soft, faint smile and wanted to open his mouth to say something, but Ling moved again, putting his arms over the back of the chair and hugging him, with no intention of letting go.

The blanket that Ling was holding successfully covered Zhuo's body, including his face. She controlled her strength so that she would not be pushed away by Zhuo and would not really hurt him. Then she found that Zhuo's own strength was so stubborn.

"I'd be mad. No kidding."

She then told Zhuo this in a strong attitude that she would never show to him normally, and Zhuo's face fell and he took it back as if he was deflated.

So, Ling stood behind the chair with his arms around his neck, not following the expression on Zhuo's face, but quietly looking at the night outside the window through the slightly reflective glass.

Even without looking, one could tell that underneath the blanket there was a troubled smile.

"…I'm fine, right? You don't have to worry."

like this.

"I stayed here because I felt that I couldn't help you even if I was here. Instead, I would cause you more trouble. "

Lian Ling thought that her remarks were too offensive, but she had no intention of retracting them.

She felt the stiffness of Zhuo in her arms, could imagine his helpless smile, and then she stopped resisting.

Zero unilaterally assumed that he agreed, so he relaxed his body and rested his chin on the top of his head.

After putting some weight on him, Zhuo slowly relaxed his body.

Ling looked at the outside world calmly, and it looked like a heavy rain might fall at any time. Zhuo's hand, which was originally holding her wrist, moved to his palm, and then completely wrapped around her hand.

Ling slowly returned the handshake and waited quietly.

“…I could have killed that guy then, right?”

After about ten minutes on the semi-dark balcony, Zhuo finally spoke slowly.

"He probably thought I wouldn't do that, so he put on that kind of attitude. These old guys are really more despicable than each other. You must have never seen it. That guy has an expression of "I can only rely on you" on the surface, bowing and shaking hands, but he must think that I won't agree. In his heart, he probably thinks that we are food that he can use and eat. He has already investigated my ability, but he has to pretend to be sincere and contact me again and again. He wants to gain my favor in this obscure way. Ugh - so disgusting, it's a pity that I didn't twist his head off."

Zhuo said it lightly, and in order to vividly describe his mood at the time, he even retched vividly to express his emotions. But Zhuo probably wouldn't do such a thing.

Zhuo's current look sounded like he could kill people very easily. He also told Ling about the bloody scene on a rainy night when he used his ability for the first time. With such an experience, it would not be completely impossible for him to do it again... Even so, Ling still didn't think he would do it.

The so-called psychological burden is a process of gradual adaptation and numbness. Unlike boys and girls who grow up overnight, most people find it difficult to accept the situation of blood spraying from the body and muscle tissue squirming and twitching. This matter requires adaptation, but Zero does not want him to adapt.

After all, for Zero herself, killing people no longer causes her any psychological burden.

This is also something she rarely shows in front of Zhuo.

"So... I knew I should keep my distance from Eri. We even discussed the matter of bringing her out for a long time. Fortunately, you did a good job and she is not so dependent on me. But I still made a promise today because of impulse. Then I thought that since it has come to this, others will definitely not believe our position. I didn't intend to help the Snake Eight Clan."

"Help the Eight Clans of Sheqi—"

"It's about the incident with the Takamagahara dragon egg that I told you about. Eri will definitely go there to deal with it. Even if they don't need to notify me, I can't really just ignore it and let those deadpools go ashore."

Zhuo complained in a low voice: "My parents are still over there." He sounded helpless.

"I can't imagine how Herzog will get Eri back. In fact, they probably don't have any means to deal with me. The most powerful of the Snake Eight Clan is Minamoto no Chisei, and his word spirit 'royal power' has no effect on me. Herzog has raised many snake deadpools, which probably won't work either. Maybe they will threaten me with friends or parents... Yurina and Jin are at the University of Tokyo. I think he won't believe me if I say that we don't keep in touch. My parents are in their hometown of Izu, so even if I ask them to move in, they probably won't come. Even if they come, I can't always be there, so there's really no way to deal with it."

Having said that, Ling finally understood why Zhuo was angry and helpless and had no choice but to endure.

He hopes that nothing will happen to anyone as much as possible.

If he acted harmless enough, those people might look down on him and ignore him - with such a slim hope, he continued to act well-behaved, not knowing when to stop, and it has continued until now.

He still maintains this appearance. I don't know if it's because he's still betting on the possibility of that smile, or because he doesn't want to hurt others because of his willfulness, so he has to be so easy to bully.

Although I don’t know the specific reason, at least I know that he probably has some resentment.

"Sometimes I have thought about whether I should be a willful child, but every time I want to get angry, I can't help but think of Sa Chiko tapping my forehead to teach me a lesson. Let me tell you, I have never received corporal punishment since I was a child. Or, Sa Chiko should be thankful that their son is so sensible, otherwise he would definitely be spoiled by their doting. Ah! You should also reflect on this point."

“I’m already reflecting on it.”

"Oh...that's good. Hold on tighter, it's a bit cold."

Zero did not respond to his whisper that seemed to have regained his liveliness. Instead, he covered him with the blanket again and hugged him tightly behind his back as he lowered his head and clenched his fists.

After a moment, there was a soft sound of teeth grinding.

The voice was not loud, but still clearly audible, it was the anger that could not be held back.

This boy never complained and had endured all this time. Hearing the strong boy showing his "anger" for the first time, Zero couldn't help but feel like crying and hugged his trembling body tightly.

……

"...Please forget what happened just now. This is my lifelong request."

Zhuo didn't stay immersed in such emotions for long.

Zero didn't check the time, but it felt like about two minutes had passed.

Zero thought that he could just vent all the pain and anger he had endured, even if it disturbed the neighbors. But perhaps this was the result of the personal influence of Sachinko and Shuichi, and his body forced himself to stop his willful behavior. If the original anger was combined with the current hesitation, the brain would probably be forced into a state of being dominated.

Zhuo raised his head and his eyes were a little wet. Perhaps sand had slipped into the blanket. Seeing Zhuo's eyes perking up again, Ling decided to make this a conclusion.

"It's a pity that I can't see you angry, but there's nothing I can do."

After Zhuo took away the blanket that had slipped off at some point, a faint smile appeared on his face when he looked at Ling.

"……zero."

"what happened?"

“You are so reliable.”

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I did this on my own accord, I don't remember doing anything that would be considered reliable - when Ling was thinking this, Zhuo grabbed her arms like a child, treating them as toys, or more accurately, as a 'real blanket', and wrapped them around his neck.

"Again……"

"Again?"

"Hold me for a little while longer."

"......Oh." She really couldn't refuse Zhuo like this, it was rare that he was so cute when he acted like a spoiled child.

Zero tried hard to stay calm and once again hugged the body that was two sizes bigger than his.

It doesn't matter if no one knows, as long as Zero himself can understand it.

You have tried hard enough. Zhuo is really reliable and gentle, and is very, very suitable as a partner to live with - with this thought in mind, Ling gently stroked his head with his chin.

Zhuo seemed to be much more relaxed at this time, and looked up at Ling with a relaxed expression.

However, he might still have some worries or uneasiness in his heart, so his expression did not brighten, or even seemed a little uneasy.

"…What should the little mute do?"

"So there is such a thing. If Mr. Utsunomiya hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten about it."

Ling didn't look at him and muttered, but Zhuo who was looking at Ling showed a troubled smile.

"No matter what, there's no way Eri can stay at home. The same goes for the others. If it were a man, I'd mind too, so it's understandable if you think about it that way... And the only way to go back to Izu is to go back together. It's stupid to feel miserable about it even though I was the one who caused this."

"That's what it means to be caught in a cocoon." Zhuo muttered to himself with a wry smile.

"You're trapped in your own web."

Zero repeated without emotion.

"Um, are you angry?"

"Nothing."

"B-But...I'm a little out of breath—"

"Because the air is bad. When the husband was in trouble, he did not involve his wife, but was strong enough to bear everything alone. I am very happy."

“Is that so? I thought you’d be upset because I agreed to Eri’s request without your permission—”

"Let's book the nearest flight," Ling kept looking out the window, "I haven't seen Sa Chiko for a long time."

There was a faint light outside the window. It was the light supported by dozens of households. It radiated in all directions and even illuminated the sky.

There's always a hand grabbing at the air in front of my eyes, blocking my view.

Ling thought about it, and finally when he heard Zhuo utter a sound like "ho ho ho——" he loosened his grip on his neck.

"Your Highness, you really don't bear grudges."

"Yeah."

"Yes, but I am very fascinated by your character of taking revenge on the spot and venting grievances to people's faces. I think I will probably never escape from your clutches in my life—wait! Wait! What is this? I feel so uncomfortable. I can't stand up."

"so."

After hearing a 'click' sound and confirming that the handcuffs had perfectly secured Zhuo's hands under the chair, she responded to Zhuo indifferently as if to deal with it.

Then Ling took out a black collar-like strap from behind and fixed Zhuo's neck to the back of the chair.

He took two steps back and confirmed the situation.

Zhuo's hands were handcuffed behind his back on the lower side of the chair, which was on the other side of the wooden board. This position would make people curl their arms up unconsciously to relieve the pain of their arms being pulled. But after his neck was fixed to the backrest, he couldn't do that.

In short, his hands were handcuffed to the wooden board under his buttocks and his head was fixed to the backrest. Unless he broke the rules, he really couldn't move.

"Princess, if I'm really angry, I will sincerely apologize. Even if I'm a bit chauvinistic, I will decisively get up from my seat in front of my wife, even if I have to expose my breasts. Please don't do this."

“Thoughtful.”

Ling scanned his masterpiece to see if there were any flaws. In the process, he slowly came to the front of Zhuo and lowered his head so that he could meet his guilty eyes.

Ling's expression was silent for a few seconds, and then she spoke after Zhuo completely focused his attention on her.

"Zhuo, for you, the external danger is not really a danger. I or your friends will help you deal with it. In real life, Sa Chiko can also pave the way for you. No one will be a burden to you... The inner crisis is the real crisis."

Zhuo was forced to sit on the chair, with his chin raised and smiling dryly.

“Does this have anything to do with my current situation?”

"No smiley faces."

"Oh."

Seeing Zhuo straighten his expression again.

"It doesn't matter. In short, don't let your original intention be dissolved by love."

"Dissolve?"

“……” Zero said nothing and just looked at him quietly.

"Love! Love! Love! It's love!"

"This word is a definition given by humans. It doesn't matter if you can't understand it."

"Ah."

Seeing Zhuo sitting upright, Ling continued.

"Zhuo, Sa Chiko loves you, Shuichi loves you, Yamamoto Yurina loves you, Kiritani Jin loves you, Kanda Tomokazu loves you, Kazama Ruri loves you, Potato Chips and Mai love you too, and there are many, many people who love you."

Ling paused, looked up and continued, "Zhuo, be careful, don't be dissolved by love."

"So many people love me, guhehehehe...but some of the names are weird, can they be removed?"

Ling's face darkened, and he subconsciously felt that this way of changing the subject was actually quite annoying.

She also knew that she could not win an argument with her husband, so she squatted down and pulled his belt.

"Wait! Wait! Can you please let go first..."

"No. This is a lesson."

"Huh? Is this a lesson? Zero, did you misunderstand something about this word, or did I usually ignore your feelings and make you have this perception? I'm sorry, it's my fault, it's all my fault, please forgive me!"

"I'm not kidding."

"Uh, you mean... I have to be like this all the time? That's not right, right? Hey, Zero, that's not right, right?"

"..."

"Why aren't you talking? You're making me panic?!"

"When you hung me on the ceiling like a swing, I was also quite panicked, but you still let me do what I wanted."

"Goo-"

(End of this chapter)