Vill-V looked at the somewhat dejected young man standing before her.
Even though he was often overlooked, his deep eyes remained fixed solely on the maiden at the center of the banquet, as radiant as a blooming flower.
She was the one who had first taught him how to connect with others.
She was the one who had helped him open his once-closed heart.
For the first time, he had felt that there truly was someone in this world gentle enough to embrace everything, someone willing to listen and share, even if it came with complaints.
Vill-V clutched the collar of her shirt, trying to suppress the strange discomfort and anxiety rising in her chest.
Her soft face had unknowingly turned pale.
It was incomprehensible.
Unthinkable.
She simply felt an inexplicable, suffocating pain in her heart.
She suddenly recalled her first meeting with Elysia and the impression that dazzling maiden had left on her.
Elysia seemed like a charming and sincere girl who could make anyone open up with her warm, enticing words.
Whether it was strong, serious men, shy and gentle maidens, innocent children, or even the elderly, she could reach them all.
She was so brilliant it was almost blinding.
If she were a flower, she would be one that shone as brightly as the sun itself.
Someone like Vill-V probably did not even deserve to stand before Elysia.
But perhaps she could still help the young man in some way.
These thoughts spilled uncontrollably from her mind as she absentmindedly tugged at the exquisite collar she had worn for him, accidentally tearing it and revealing her fair, delicate skin.
If she put in her full effort, perhaps even someone like her could reciprocate the young man’s gentle willingness to embrace, communicate, and truly listen.
Perhaps.
No matter how insignificant or withdrawn a person might be, they should still be able to find some value in this world.
She would start by getting to know the young man better.
She would quickly earn a Ph.D.
in engineering within a month, create two camera drones, and observe Elysia’s daily interactions with him.
It was all to better help the young man.
===
[At twenty, another birthday banquet had come to an end.
Yet Edward’s life remained largely unchanged.
In fact, it felt even narrower than before, because Elysia had not even made him a cake herself this time.]
[His days continued as they always had, but he always felt as though something was secretly watching him.
Vill-V no longer seemed as withdrawn.
She had even begun discussing where the two of them would travel next.]
[It was strange.]
[He had never told her where he planned to go, had he?]
[Would Elysia really share such travel plans with others?]
[Edward did not want to dwell too deeply on matters concerning Elysia, but he had unknowingly started spending more time with Vill-V.]
[He only realized this later when he checked their chat history.]
[The once inseparable Elysia now shared nearly equal space in his private conversations with Vill-V, if one set aside necessary travel discussions.]
[There was nothing wrong with that.]
[At least he had done everything he could as Edward.]
[Because Elysia continued to selflessly give her time, her smiles, and her love to everyone else rather than to him.]
[Although he sometimes felt someone watching him from behind while chatting with Vill-V.
When he turned around, he would see Elysia humming a tune while tilting her head in that clumsy, endearing way she only showed in quiet moments.]
[In her eyes, he likely existed somewhere in the range of “not disliked.” Although she treated him with great intimacy, the actual time she gave him was no different from what she gave to a stranger.]
[The more effort and sincerity she put into this treatment, the more he felt a strange, inexplicable aversion.]
[It was an emotion that was difficult to describe, yet painfully real.]
[He could not understand why he harbored such a childish feeling.]
[But no one wanted to be treated like a toy by someone important to them.
Someone to be looked at when convenient and set aside when not.]
[Some thoughts he once found annoying and repulsive had quietly taken root in his heart.]
[The concern and importance he once believed he held in Elysia’s heart now felt like self-deception.]
[Perhaps…]
[Everyone received the same treatment from her.]
[His relationship with Vill-V gradually deepened.]
[She was like an elf from the Elysian Realm, a goddess of the stars and moon, capable of loving everyone.]
[And he happened to be just one ordinary part of the time she allocated, gaining more attention only because of the closeness that came from traveling together.]
[He was not yet resentful enough to act out or immaturely demand that Elysia look at him longer.]
[But humans always carried certain unchangeable flaws.
While human nature could not solve everything, it could explain a great deal.]
[When two people with nearly opposite levels of care and attention toward him occupied almost all of his time each day, the contrast itself made one side far more bearable than the other.]
[After enduring an entire year, long enough to bring disappointment, sadness, and an unbearable sense of neglect, the scales of his heart finally began to tip.]
[He started looking forward to his conversations with Vill-V.]
[At least with her, he could feel genuine interaction.]
[Even though Elysia always seemed to be present whenever he spoke with Vill-V, as if she had nothing else to do but chat with him every day.]
[When talking with Vill-V, even when simply listening to her, he could feel a warm, authentic sense of humanity.]
[If there was one negative aspect, it was her extreme reluctance to ask for help.]
[In the beginning, he often had to coax information out of her whenever she faced difficulties.
Now, she only sought his help when the problem truly seemed unsolvable to her.]
[To Vill-V, helping him came naturally, but asking for his help felt like she was burdening their relationship.]
[This always made him feel uncomfortable, perhaps because it felt too familiar.]
[Emotions were never one-sided.]
[This understanding only deepened their bond.]
[Because of this, he wanted even more to help her overcome her deep-seated inferiority complex.
It was no longer just about repaying that past gift.
In just two years, she had helped him in countless ways.]
[Many times, she seemed able to notice and gently uncover the small worries he had buried deep in his heart, as if she had been quietly watching over him all along.]
[Even things Elysia might not have noticed.]
[Regardless, it was still genuine help.]
[Repaying kindness might not be considered a virtue by some, but striving to return the favor was something everyone should do.]
[Since Elysia was willing to talk with him and give him gifts, he also wanted to offer what help he could.]
[In a way, he was not so different from Elysia himself.
Vill-V was extremely withdrawn, almost entirely living within her own world.]
[Her days blended together without change.
She dreamed of night during the day and of day during the night.
The world remained the same.
Time remained the same.
There was no variation whatsoever.]
[Wasn’t his own life exactly the same?]
[With a future that could be seen so clearly, a journey that would never truly change, this world had slowly become irrelevant to him.]
[The journey with Elysia, which should have been beautiful, had unknowingly become a predicament sustained only by his feelings for her.]
[Every day he met new strangers.
The true focus of his life was no longer the scenery of travel.]
[Aside from the color of the sky, he could no longer tell day from night, just as he could no longer tell today from yesterday or tomorrow.]
[Rather than saying he wanted to save Vill-V, it was more accurate to say that communicating with each other was the only way for both of them to step out of their isolated worlds.]
[It was no longer the stagnant, unchanging old world that existed only in memory.]
[Instead, it was a connection born with a friend he had met like something out of a story, someone who shared similar struggles and could truly understand him.]
[The only regret was that even now, Elysia had not told him her birthday.]
[At twenty-one, he had traveled for yet another year.
Elysia had also celebrated her sixteenth birthday.
Even in the tightly regulated Shenzhou region, she had reached the age where she could apply for her own bank card.]
[His interactions with Elysia remained the same.
Even the romantic sunsets they once shared had become rare.]
[The wind through the grass, waves on the sea, golden evening light across the lake, these beautiful scenes had almost disappeared from his life.]
[What was supposed to be a journey had become more like an expedition to find one stranger after another.
Strangers he did not know and did not wish to know.]
[He still clearly remembered Elysia’s voice when she first told him she wanted to travel the world in search of the eternal Elysian Realm from fairy tales.]
[It was a voice filled with such pure anticipation and beauty that it sounded utterly convincing.]
[He remembered it clearly.]
[That lovely maiden from his memories had never disappeared or changed, but he could no longer accept everything as blindly as before.]
[After several years, he had come to realize that he and Vill-V had become very close friends.]
[At least, he felt the two of them were inseparable.]
[This rate of closeness was something he could clearly perceive.]
[It was hard to explain or find the exact reason, yet one sentence inexplicably rose in his heart.]
[“I see you.”]
[“I see your life.”]
[“It’s okay.”]
[The answer to love is the desire to be seen.
It is this shared wound that allows us to truly see each other.]
A few more days passed.
When the date circled on the calendar finally arrived, another grand banquet was held in a completely different city.
[This birthday banquet was even more extravagant than before.
What had already been exceptionally lavish the previous year had now reached a level of splendor and attendance that even top tycoons and politicians would find difficult to match.]
[Elysia appeared like a goddess descended from the heavens.
Even the most brilliant geniuses could not help but gaze upon her in awe.]
[Their generosity had now extended to Edward’s own birthday celebration as well.]
[Although they did not interact with him directly, the person traveling alongside Elysia was likely perceived as her older brother.
They had all been thoroughly enchanted by her beauty and kindness.]
[In this way, Elysia truly lived up to her flawless reputation, an eternal and perfect Elysian Realm that brought beauty into the world.]
[This small gesture alone transformed his birthday banquet into something closer to Elysia’s annual celebration.]
[It was so wonderful and exquisite that it felt as though the world had gained another holiday, one worthy of countless people gathering together in pure celebration.]
[Free from the usual stiffness and social formalities of traditional holidays, it was a gathering held for one person, for the sake of pure beauty.]