The bright sunshine poured over the busy street, and among the hurried pedestrians, two figures walked quickly, one in front and one behind.
The woman was dressed in a fitted outfit that set off her tall figure; her steps were steady and powerful, her whole posture coiled like a spring ready to strike. Her crisp short hair swayed lightly with each stride, her lips pressed into a tight line, her expression carrying a snow-mountain sort of cold indifference.
Her appearance very easily drew the attention of the people around; passersby all turned to look, and just as they finished appreciating this icy beauty, a sloppy figure crashed into their line of sight and shattered that lovely atmosphere into pieces.
Unlike the woman’s almost flawless getup, the guy following right behind her was only wearing a loose shirt, and patterned pajama pants on the bottom. The funniest part was that he was still in a pair of slippers; it was like just a few minutes ago this guy had been sleeping at ho, and the next second he’d been forcibly dragged out onto the street.
"Slow down, Vasilina, slow down."
Palr shuffled along in his slippers, struggling to keep up with Vasilina, but Vasilina acted like she hadn’t heard a thing, with no intention whatsoever of slowing her pace.
Honestly, Palr didn’t really mind her being all swift and decisive like this; the problem was that right now Vasilina was clamping down tight on his hand, practically dragging him along.
"Ow ow ow!"
Palr bared his teeth in pain, trying to get Vasilina to ease her grip a little.
Vasilina suddenly yanked Palr hard, and he stumbled forward until he was standing right beside her.
"Is this better now?"
Vasilina wore a kindly smile, only under that smile her eyes were unexpectedly icy, sending shivers all down Palr’s back.
"B–better..."
Other than saying it was better, Palr couldn’t get anything else out. He knew Vasilina’s personality all too well. Don’t be fooled by that smile on her face now—it was only because they were outside and she was giving him so face. If they’d been alone, Vasilina would probably have body-slamd him already.
Just like yesterday.
Bologue had gone out for work, leaving only Palr at ho. Naturally, he’d begun a thoroughly degenerate lifestyle: first he slept straight through to the afternoon, then ordered pizza delivery, ssed around with his collection for a bit, picked out a newly released videotape, and happily curled up on the sofa to watch a movie.
Palr watched straight into the late night and ended up falling asleep right there on the sofa. If things had gone according to the normal script, he would have woken up in the afternoon and continued repeating this degenerate routine, until at dawn, the sound of soone picking the lock jolted him awake.
As Field Staff living Outside the Farm, Palr had to be prepared to handle all kinds of ergencies in life. Seeing the door lock rattling nonstop, the drowsy Palr showed a sly grin.
Palr never minded adding a little fun to everyday life. He smoothly opened Bologue’s cabinet and rummaged through a pile of dust-covered standard weapons, finally fishing out a shiny crowbar. He quietly took up position by the door, ready to give this clueless little thief a surprise.
But very quickly, Palr realized sothing was off.
This seed to be a dumb thief. She’d been working at the lock forever and the cylinder hadn’t even turned once. Then, as if she were completely losing her patience, she started pounding on the door. At this point Palr was all set to yank the door open and surprise her—then he saw her smash her fist down, and the lock cylinder burst apart from the impact.
While Palr was still stunned, the door swung open and he ca face-to-face with the "thief," crowbar in hand.
"Va... Vasilina?"
Palr had figured Vasilina might track him down, but he hadn’t expected it to be this fast.
Seeing the state Palr was in, Vasilina froze too. Then she realized everything she’d just done had been watched by Palr, and this bastard had stayed silent, playing dead in here.
This ti Vasilina really did lose it.
Before Palr could even voice his guilt and admit he was wrong, a wave of dizziness hit him. When his consciousness cleared again, he was already on the floor, and Vasilina was wrapped around him like a snake, locking up his joints and choking his throat.
I’m gonna die I’m gonna die I’m gonna die!
"I surrender!"
Palr shrieked as he slapped the floor over and over, but that obviously wasn’t enough to satisfy Vasilina, and soon Palr blacked out again.
When Palr woke up once more, he was curled up on the sofa, a blanket over him. Beside him were pizza boxes that hadn’t yet been cleaned away, and the videotapes he’d finished watching were scattered to one side.
"Was... was that a dream?"
Palr felt a little dazed. After confirming he was alone, he finally let out a breath.
Going off without a word really had been too much of a jerk move. No wonder he was scared enough to have nightmares. He should just apologize to Vasilina. Otherwise, when Vasilina got mad, it wasn’t sothing a few sweet words could coax away.
Thinking this, Palr tried to get up to give Vasilina a call—then he heard chains clinking. He looked down and saw that a shackle had appeared around his wrist.
At that mont, footsteps ca from the kitchen. Vasilina walked out wearing Bologue’s apron, a spoon in her hand.
"Oh? You’re awake?"
Under Palr’s increasingly panicked gaze, Vasilina’s face carried a satisfied smile. "Hang on, lunch is almost ready."
What happened after that was simple: Palr fell completely under Vasilina’s control. True, with his own abilities he could have forced his way out at any ti, but when he thought about what would happen afterward, and about how Vasilina would feel, Palr forced himself to suppress that urge to escape and tried to soothe Vasilina instead.
He could leave, and yet he couldn’t. This twisted predicant made Palr’s head feel like it was about to explode.
"Looks like you really do love movies, Palr."
Vasilina flipped through Palr’s collection and then picked one out. "Want to watch it together?"
Palr glanced at the cover of the videotape and imdiately recalled the plot of this movie.
In the film, the protagonist went on vacation to a castle deep in the mountains and forests. There he t the lady of the castle, and the two of them fell madly in love within a few days. But the protagonist ultimately didn’t belong there. When the lady realized he would be leaving at the end of his holiday, she broke his legs and kept him captive. The protagonist then tried everything he could to escape from this sick, obsessive love.
"Sobody save ..."
A low, hoarse mutter slipped out from Palr’s expressionless face.
"What’s wrong?"
Vasilina leaned against Palr, curling up in his arms.
Ever since Palr had laid out his feelings for Vasilina, their relationship had progressed by leaps and bounds. But what no one had expected was that under Vasilina’s frosty exterior was a flash-flood level of love that directly drowned Palr.
It was like Palr was getting to know a whole new Vasilina, and he had no idea what to do with her.
"It’s nothing... nothing."
In his heart, Palr prayed like crazy for Bologue to hurry back.
Fortunately, after a whole series of soothing and talking things out, Vasilina reluctantly removed the shackle from Palr’s wrist. The price, however, was that whenever they went out, Vasilina had to keep a hold on Palr at every mont.
Back to the present: Palr felt his palm was already slick with sweat, yet Vasilina still refused to let him go. And unlike that slightly deranged side she showed when they were alone, in front of other people Vasilina maintained that sa cold, sharp deanor at all tis.
In this situation, even if Palr talked until his brain broke, no one would believe him. Vasilina, on the other hand, would occasionally shoot Palr a aningful smile, as if to say, "This is our little secret, just between us."
"Vasilina, where exactly are we going?" Palr asked in a small voice.
"No idea," Vasilina said. "This is my first ti here too. Just think of it as a casual stroll."
As she spoke, Vasilina actually let go of Palr’s hand—but the next second she slung an arm around his shoulders. With her arm draped over him, Palr was completely suppressed by Vasilina’s aura, even coming off a little like so delicate, clingy lover.
"Oh, right, let’s change your outfit too."
Vasilina pinched Palr’s numb, expressionless face. "You’re the heir of the Clarks, you know. You should pay attention to your image."
"Ha..."
Palr’s brain could barely keep up. To be precise, the mont he fell into Vasilina’s hands, it got really hard for him to have any brain left at all.
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