Chapter 21: Dreams and Captain Gray
Amidst the snow-covered hills, a frail figure of a girl trudged through the snowy terrain.
“Phew—phew—”
She gasped for air, her youthful face filled with dread as she occasionally glanced back over her shoulder.
In the darkness, flickering torches started to glow.
“Got her!”
“She’s over there! Quickly! You all flank her from the sides! Don’t let her get away!”
Hearing the voices behind her, the girl bit her lip so hard it nearly drew bl**d, her expression morphing into one of sheer panic.
The icy wind sliced through her cheeks like a thousand paper cuts.
“Father, Mother… save me…”
Her lips, already pale from the cold, quavered in a whisper, soon swallowed by the vastness of the blizzard.
It was futile to cry for help.
Aside from those who sought to harm her, no one knew she was here.
All the girl could do was keep running for her life.
But she had no idea where to run to; she was utterly lost in this sea of white.
She tried desperately to distance herself from her pursuers, but her strength was far too weak. Even as she pushed herself to the limit, she felt them closing in.
“Stop!”
“You can’t escape! Just surrender peacefully! I just want to have a little chat with Lafael. If you cooperate, I promise nothing bad will happen!”
The girl said nothing; she didn’t have the strength to reply.
All she could do was run for as long as her legs would allow, producing a mental image of her stubbornness: No way she was getting caught!
“Phew—phew—”
Her breaths were becoming labored, her lungs felt like they were on fire. Each gasp was torment for both body and mind.
She had been running for what felt like ages, and her vision began to blur. Having grown up in a pampered environment, she had never endured such hardship, bringing her to the brink of mental collapse.
Just then, she heard another shout from behind.
“Pepe! Are you ignoring me?!”
With that, her eyes welled up with tears. Her white teeth bit into her lip, drawing crimson red.
She blinked hard, her reddened eyes desperate to push herself to run faster, but her legs were shaking like jelly.
“Block her!”
With those words, suddenly a few lightly armored soldiers burst forth from a nearby snowbank, closing the gap between them and the girl in an instant. Snow splashed on her face, and she could see the excitement in their eyes, eager to snag their prey.
In a panic, she instinctively waved her hands at them.
“Whoosh—”
Small icicles, radiating an icy aura, shot up from the ground, piercing through the soldiers’ feet.
“Ah—”
“Little—what the heck!”
The soldier who attacked was pinned to the ground, howling in agony.
The girl lost her balance and fell hard, but she didn’t give a second thought to the pain as she scrambled back up and lumbered onwards.
After a short distance, she came to a stop.
In front of her was a cliff.
The girl quivered as she looked down. Below lay an abyss of darkness, infinitely deep.
She took two shaky steps back, turning to find another way, only to discover she was surrounded by countless soldiers.
“Crack—crack—”
Dozens of crossbows aimed at her.
Her chest heaved violently as despair filled her eyes.
“Why aren’t you running, huh?” A man with black hair and black eyes stepped forward from the soldiers, looking down at the helpless girl with a smug grin. “If you’d just listened to me, it would have been much easier! But no, you had to run. So why don’t you show me how you escape this time?”
“Edward…” The girl glared at the black-haired man, fury barely contained.
“Grab her.” The man waved a dismissive hand at the crowd behind him.
“Don’t… come any closer!”
Her fists trembled, and she shouted with a hint of fear, but a light mist of ice began to swirl around her.
The soldiers who were about to pounce stopped in their tracks, whispering nervously to one another, unsure about approaching.
Even though everyone knew this girl was young and kind-hearted, there was that old adage about cornered rabbits!
The black-haired man’s face twisted in frustration and anger.
“She’s just a kid! What are you afraid of?! Go grab her!”
The soldiers, intimidated by him, hesitated until his roar propelled them forward unhesitatingly.
“Crack—crack!”
Ice mist exploded at the girl’s feet, instantly freezing soldiers’ ankles to the ground, rendering them unable to advance.
The man bellowed again, “What the heck are you all doing? Get in there! She’s not going to k*ll you, come on!”
At his command, the soldiers charged in, but the icy mist belched forth from the girl’s feet. Despite freezing a few, she was ultimately overwhelmed and captured.
She began to thrash violently.
“Pepe, just listen to me one more time! Come with me. I promise on my good character I won’t do anything to Lafael!”
“Liar.” Staring at the grinning man not far away, tears streamed down the girl’s face as she delivered a heart-wrenching scream, “You’re a liar—!!”
Her expression twisted with rage, she struggled even harder, gathering her last ounce of energy to fling off her captors, but then suddenly stumbled back, losing her balance.
Toward the black abyss.
Her eyes widened in sheer terror.
“Pepe!”
In that moment, the girl caught a glimpse of the man’s alarmed expression reflected in her eyes.
And then, her body plummeted.
“Whoosh—bang—”
A series of chaotic clashes erupted in her ears, her mind momentarily blank.
And then, silence.
“Boom—”
…
I opened my eyes.
It felt as if I had just woken from a daze. My slightly groggy eyes scanned the room until I realized I was sitting in a chair next to a bookshelf in a cozy bedroom.
I actually dozed off at my desk.
My right hand instinctively felt over my chest, my heart still racing from the intensity of that dream.
Was that… a dream?
…No, it wasn’t.
I distinctly recalled everything that happened; it felt too vivid to be just a dream.
Could it be… a memory?
A memory belonging to this body—the girl named Peilo?
I noticed the half-read book, “The Fairy Tale Collection,” still resting beneath my arm. The page opened was, amusingly enough, Captain Gray’s story, the very tale I had fallen asleep reading.
The book was well-maintained, almost as good as new, except for the pages about Captain Gray, which appeared a bit worn.
Looks like Peilo was quite fond of this story.
It was a rather confusing tale.
Captain Gray, while calling himself the captain, had only one crew member—a little girl he picked up.
Yet he had one great dream: to sail his own grand ship through the mysterious strait of the Ipos Sea in search of legendary treasure.
But alas, his dream remained unfulfilled because he simply couldn’t afford a ship!
In the final pages of the story, the dying Captain Gray said to the girl:
— People, if they have no dreams, what’s the difference between them and a salted fish?
The now grown girl looked puzzled:
— Uncle Gray, did you find your dream?
Captain Gray gazed at her with a gentle smile:
— My dream? She’s all grown up now.
Later, the girl reached the other side of the strait, but instead of seeking treasure, she buried Captain Gray on that little island.
And that was the end of the story.
I glanced out the window; the sky was still a gloomy gray.
Rubbing my tired eyes, I got up and sat on the edge of the bed.
The fireplace crackled and popped softly.
After a moment of daze, I pulled down my collar and looked at my slightly protruding chest. For some strange reason, I found my hand wandering inside.
I pinched a bit of the soft flesh near my heart.
“Mmm—”
A jolt of electrifying sensation raced through my body. I let out an involuntary sigh.
“…Still alive.”
Whether it was the tingling sensation at my fingertips or the reactions of my body, it confirmed I was indeed a living human being.
I felt, I had emotions.
Not like a monster.
But the girl named Peilo, the one who bore my exact likeness in that dream, albeit a tad more youthful… was likely already dead.
So what exactly am I?
A human girl, or a monster from the Abyss?
Am I Peilo, or am I Chen Yuxuan?
I can’t make heads or tails of it.
I lay on my side in bed, tossing and turning, unable to drift back to sleep for the life of me.
At breakfast, Carlos looked at me wide-eyed as soon as I walked in.
“What on earth did you do last night?!”
What did I do? I tilted my head, puzzled.
“Those dark circles, dark circles!” Carlos pointed dramatically to his own eyes, his expression over the top, “You look like you were mauled by an ogre all night!”
“…Didn’t sleep well.” I replied wearily, too uninterested to engage in his silly banter.
“What’s up, Little Shay? You suddenly went all boring on me.”
I shot him a glare but remained seated at the table in sulky silence.
“Miss Silvya, are you feeling unwell?” Duke Skarlij entered the dining room and immediately noticed my slightly haggard complexion.
I didn’t answer; instead, I asked him another question.
“Duke, who is Lafael?”
Duke Skarlij widened his eyes in surprise.
“Y-you… are you remembering something?!”
“Peilo’s big brother?”
