Chapter 66
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Flames consumed everything.
The red fire turned the once-lively forest into blackened ash. Acrid smoke blotted out the blue sky. Every breath hurt the lungs, and tears streamed endlessly from burning eyes.
The world swayed like waves. The ground quaked as if struck by an earthquake. Stumbling as if pursued, the figure kept walking forward.
It hurts.
It’s painful.
Help me.
I’m so tired.
It’s sad.
Countless negative voices echoed in the ears. Some sounded as if they whispered right beside her, others as though they screamed from afar. Voices of children and the elderly alike cried out in agony.
Even plugging her ears couldn’t block the cries of torment. It felt as if all their resentful gazes were stabbing into her skin. She collapsed to the ground and curled up.
Please stop. Just stop!
Breath caught painfully in her throat.
“Lily!”
Beep! Beep-beep!
Teia watched in concern as the rabbit convulsed violently in a seizure, cradling her in his arms. Tears streamed from the trembling rabbit’s eyes as if caught in a nightmare.
Holding the small rabbit tightly, Teia gently soothed her until she slowly calmed down, her head buried deep in his chest. He stroked her soft fur in silence.
“Did you have another scary dream?”
The rabbit shook her head. It hadn’t been scary—just so sorrowful that it hurt. She couldn’t understand the situation at all, but the voices crying out from every direction were so filled with anguish that it made her cry.
Nestled in Teia’s arms, the rabbit clutched the blanket he had wrapped her in. She squeezed her eyes shut and burrowed into the covers like a cave. Seeing her like that, Teia’s expression turned grave.
It had been five days since his precious pet rabbit started having inexplicable nightmares.
Lilith had become a source of concern for Teia. She still adored him, but at some point, she began having terrible nightmares whenever they were intimate and she fell asleep.
The first time they had s*x, she had felt invigorated, and the discomfort that weighed down her body whenever she took on human form had vanished. But lately, even worse nightmares than before plagued her.
In her dreams, people suffered around her, having something precious stolen, and she ran, helpless and tortured, unable to do anything. Even though Teia was the only precious person to her in reality, Lilith kept having these strange, sorrowful dreams.
Every time she was trapped in a nightmare, it was Teia who woke her. He had long since noticed something was wrong. He asked her again and again what kind of dreams she was having, but she never answered.
She simply buried herself in the blankets and cried. But Teia’s patience had finally run out. She was his pet rabbit, and that meant she had a duty to always be happy.
“If you don’t tell me what you’re dreaming about, and why you’re so sad, I won’t wake you up anymore.”
It was a rather harsh threat. Lilith looked up at him with a pitiful expression, but Teia’s face remained firm. Instead, he gently held her transformed human form in his arms, softly patting her back. Exhausted from yet another night of nightmares, Lilith’s expression was drained as tears continued to fall from her eyes. The voices still echoed in her ears.
“I-I don’t know exactly, but… sniff… what if… I was a bad person?”
“…What are you talking about?”
“What if I did something really terrible… hic… and I just don’t remember any of it?”
“What does the past matter? You’re my rabbit now.”
Teia gently cupped her tear-stained face and made her look at him. Her eyes were swollen and red, her cheeks burning hot. He wiped her tears carefully with his fingertips, gazing into her eyes as he spoke with the intensity of brainwashing.
“There’s no need to worry about a past you can’t remember. Whatever happened back then doesn’t matter. You’re my pet rabbit now. You only need to remember me and think about me.”
Lilith’s lips trembled again as if she were about to cry, but Teia quickly covered them with kisses.
“Looks like someone’s had enough time to get distracted and start brooding. I must’ve been treating you too nicely lately, huh?”
He teased her lightly, scolding her on purpose. That’s not it… she mumbled, shaking her head. Teia embraced her tightly, constantly redirecting her thoughts and enveloping her in his warmth, preventing her from sinking into despair.
Every night, when Lilith—too exhausted from nightmares and crying—finally fell asleep like she’d fainted, Teia continued to soothe her with a gentle tone and comforting words.
Forget the past.
He said it for her—but also for himself.
A shadow was creeping in. His instincts were warning him. And Teia’s instincts, honed for survival, had never been wrong. It was an innate sense tied to life or death.
Lilith’s forgotten past—and an even more distant, fundamental connection from long ago—were beginning to stir.
Something ominous that had long slumbered was beginning to awaken. But Teia didn’t care. Whatever it was, he would burn it all to ash if needed, because everything would move according to his will.
He tightened his arms around Lilith as if afraid she might escape.
If he didn’t want to let go, no one—absolutely no one—could take from him what he held in his hands.
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