Chapter 80: Subconscious Avoidance (34)

The mermaid Young Lady who had done a good deed by sheer accident was now feeling extremely pleased with herself.

The moment she realized she was innocent, she changed her story on the spot.

She flatly denied that she had accidentally killed that ugly sea slug, and insisted instead that she had done it on purpose after realizing he was a villain.

Yes, none of that was an accident or a coincidence — it was all my carefully crafted design!

As for her attempt to tamper with her testimony, Herbert could only nod silently in support — ah yes yes yes, ah that's right that's right, ah exactly exactly, it's just as you say…

As long as she's happy.

No one was going to come asking about the truth of the matter anyway, so let her claim whatever she wants.

Anyway, fooling the bros is fine — the bros just have to play along. The important thing is not to actually fool yourself.

But no matter how Herbert grumbled and complained inwardly, Fu Leimei was genuinely happy at this moment.

Although it was only an unconscious, trivial good deed, for her it carried extraordinary significance.

For someone who had spent her entire life unconsciously doing bad things, hurting others, this was almost a kind of redemption.

So it turns out that this power of mine doesn't always bring destruction to others!

Fu Leimei was overjoyed.

So, even though she clearly knew this wasn't her original intention, she kept giving herself hints — this is the good deed I did!

Gradually, Herbert also noticed something was up, and realized that this matter was of considerable significance to Fu Leimei.

So he didn't expose her clumsy act, but simply went along with it and joined in, giving her a formal commendation.

He expanded her area of movement within the Deepwater Prison, reduced the sealing array's suppression of the water element, and allowed her to manipulate more water.

Finally, Herbert also encouraged her to do more beneficial things for others in the future.

After all this, Herbert took the initiative to leave the Deepwater Prison, leaving the space to Fu Leimei alone so she could peacefully enjoy this rare joy.

After returning to the Lightless Prison, he teleported directly to Sifanny's treehouse.

And compared to Fu Leimei who at least asked a couple of questions, Sifanny's reaction to his injuries was even more flat — she glanced at him and casually tossed him an ointment-textured potion.

"I told you, they're not as friendly as I am."

"Haha, it's not so bad actually — they were very enthusiastic in welcoming me at first, and we hit it off splendidly."

Herbert laughed twice, but unfortunately the dark elf didn't get his dark joke, and just stared at him seriously in silence, seemingly waiting for him to explain.

Explain?

That kind of thing, no way!

Asking him to explain a joke might as well be asking him to drop dead on the spot!

"Ahem."

Herbert waved his hand helplessly, skipped right past the topic, changed the subject, and asked with forced small talk: "Oh right, did you figure anything out from that letter?"

?

A clear emotional fluctuation appeared on Sifanny's face. She looked at Herbert as if he were Bai Chi, then glanced at the hourglass on the desk.

The implication was self-evident.

Are you kidding me?

"Lord Herbert, less than an hour has passed since you left and returned."

The moment the words left his mouth, Herbert realized there hadn't been enough time, but since he'd already chosen to force the small talk, he could only press on, bracing himself.

"Mm… not enough time?"

"…"

Sifanny squinted and stared at Herbert for quite a while, then shook her head and said: "You seem a bit restless and uneasy."

The Herbert in her memory was not the sort of person who would ask such a low-level question.

It wasn't a clone, nor a disguised fake — the person opposite her was indeed the warden she knew.

Then, the only reasonable explanation now was that this person had run into something that was troubling him and distracting his attention.

"Is it that obvious? How did even you notice…"

Herbert pursed his lips, let out a long sigh, twirled a leaf he'd plucked from a vine between his fingers, and finally admitted he wasn't in a normal state.

Valentina's sudden, unexpected straight ball this time had truly caught him completely off guard.

Saying "just don't think about it" sounds so simple.

But actually achieving a mind like still water — how could that possibly be easy?

To tell the truth, Herbert was feeling a little… afraid right now.

But this fear wasn't because of Valentina's identity as a non-human race, nor was it the awe he felt upon seeing the dragon's true form.

It was… a subconscious avoidance of her feelings.

Herbert could calmly face others' malice, because he had long been used to that feeling — he even felt a faint excitement when encountering it.

A twisted excitement of the sort: "Oh? Let me see which scoundrel wants to harm me?"

But when malice was replaced by goodwill, he was at a loss.

In both his past life and this one, he had very rarely — almost never — received such direct, burning goodwill.

When Valentina flew into a rage and struck out because he was hurt, Herbert had the illusion of facing the sun head-on.

He saw a glaring, utterly undisguised emotion — somewhat irritable yet incomparably sincere, like a blazing fire.

Like the scorching sun shining on all things, yet never asking for anything in return.

And precisely because the other party sought nothing in return, this fire-like emotion was all the harder to withstand.

With Valentina's intelligence, was she trying to gain some benefit through this act?

No.

With her brain, what could she possibly be after?

At most, she'd just be after me sending her a few extra pieces of meat.

But if she isn't even after that… then why would she do all that?

Herbert felt a certain dread toward that answer.

He both hoped this flame could warm his heart, yet feared being consumed by it.

Precisely because he had never experienced it firsthand, unease welled up inside him.

He craved the love of others, yet feared the harm that love might bring him.

"Why do I feel like I'm Lord Ye who claimed to love dragons… tsk."

Herbert shook his head hard, flinging the tangled thoughts from his mind.

"What's the point of overthinking this? Honestly, this is ridiculous! No matter how you look at it, am I really not worthy?"

"Forget it, no need to run! The best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on!"

With his thoughts fully settled, Herbert let out a long breath; when he opened his eyes again, the confusion was gone from his grey gaze.

He wasn't lacking in confidence, and had never felt himself unworthy of love — it was only because things had happened so suddenly that he had instinctively resisted.

"It seems you've thought it through."

Svanje nodded; she had been silently watching and observing Herbert all this while.

She noticed that, in a very short time, he had digested and suppressed all those emotions, returning once more to the look she was familiar with.

"Then please go back. As for that letter, I'll try to help you decode it."

"Mm."

And when Herbert took his leave of Svanje and returned to the Endless Labyrinth to meet his destiny, what greeted him was not the scene he had imagined…

No angry interrogation, no direct assault, not even the cold treatment of being ignored.

"Phew…"

At this moment, the protagonist who had been troubling him for quite a while was curled up on the ground with a look of pure comfort, blissfully lost in dreamland.

Herbert:?

(End of chapter)