A crisp click sounded, like gears smoothly engaging.
The brass-colored door parted elegantly, one half rising while the other descended.
The central gear-like lock settled into place, revealing an interior filled with strongly personalized decorations.
Almost every item carried the distinctive style of gears, cards, and top hats.
With the exception of a few large machines that were difficult to modify for now, every piece reflected Edward’s unique and strong personal taste.
In a very short time, relying on just a few in-person meetings and mostly online conversations, the girl had already discerned all of Edward’s preferences with astonishing accuracy.
This level of understanding was so profound that, if she harbored even the slightest ill intent, she could easily ruin him.
Every decorative detail had been crafted to perfectly match his tastes.
“Now, come and see your Spiral Workshop.” “Let me, your one and only assistant, show you around.”
The girl gently removed her hat and pressed it against her chest.
In her silver-gray eyes, faint pink cherry blossoms seemed to drift, as though inviting him into her gaze for the very first time.
[As the owner of the Spiral Workshop, you stepped into your personal studio.
The brilliance of this place truly opened your eyes.] [Things that should only exist in the realm of fiction had been brought to life here with ease.
Problems once considered world-class challenges, which you had only vaguely heard of, were treated as mere idle thoughts, nothing more than trash scattered across the floor.] [In a way, it completely surpassed your understanding.] [It was like a science fiction writer who had once designed an enormous super building capable of providing everything a person could need for an entire lifetime.
Because the building was so vast, many people born on the upper floors would never descend in their entire lives.] [The design was rigorous and the concept ingenious.
Yet in the end, that novel was never successfully published.] [The reason was simple.] [Elevators had been invented.] [Just as instant noodles are not beaten by better instant noodles, but by fast food, people struggle to comprehend things that lie beyond their cognitive limits.
Similarly, they cannot imagine what should not possibly exist.] [From this alone, the gap between you and the girl was clear.
It was truly immense.] [If not for the fact that her brilliant mind was not truly driven by a passion for science, but rather by self-loathing and a powerful desire for self-destruction…] [Humans might have already colonized not just the moon, but the entire solar system.] [Still…
wasn’t the current situation good enough?] [Looking at the girl who, despite her shyness, had gathered the courage to reveal everything about herself to you, was it truly right to force such a talented person to carry a heavy burden she never wanted?] [At the very least, you preferred to see her happy rather than worrying about the happiness of countless strangers.] [Those unseen people were simply strangers.] [The only issue was that the girl’s mood seemed to have soured once again.]
===
“It’s broken!”
Vill-V buried her face in her hands and crouched in the corner of the room, her entire body trembling.
A gray haze seemed to envelop her, even dulling her usual artistic style.
“It’s really broken…” “How could this be…” “Why did it have to be that one?!” “How could I have thrown it away?!”
…
Indeed, she was still the same girl as always.
Watching Vill-V regress almost into a trembling sketch of her former self, Edward pressed a hand to his forehead, unable to hold back any longer.
“What exactly are you so nervous about?”
“It’s really, really, really important!!”
Vill-V covered her face with both hands.
Her body shook even more violently, her art style deteriorating further until she resembled the famous painting The Scream. This chapter is updated first at novelping.com.
Edward could only move closer to the agitated girl, trying to make his presence felt, and once again helplessly made the decision for her.
He truly did not want to decide the course of other people’s lives.
He did not want to shoulder such a heavy and depressing responsibility.
Yet Edward could only sigh softly as he resolved the situation.
“Then I’ll contact Elysia later, and we’ll go look for it together.
Don’t worry.
Although I’m far less capable than you…” “But if you’re willing,” “you can try relying on me as well.”
…
Vill-V froze for a moment.
It seemed he was planning to tell Elysia, and the two of them would search for that thing together, something that absolutely could not be seen by anyone else.
“Reject!
Absolutely reject!” “Anything else is fine, but this…
even you cannot!”
After a brief moment of confusion, terror returned to Vill-V’s face.
She crossed her arms tightly over her chest with greater determination than ever before.
A firm resolve shone in her silver-gray eyes, one that seemed impossible to break or violate.
Until the usually gentle boy suddenly leaned in closer.
His dark eyes held undisguised emotion.
“It couldn’t be that you got excited during the banquet, pleasured yourself under the long tablecloth, and then accidentally left your panties behind, could it?” “The reason you don’t want me to tell Elysia is because that item might still be…
a little damp.” “Pervert.”
…
Vill-V stared at his unchanging expression and his serious, straight mouth.
Her voice caught in her throat, and her silver-gray eyes went completely still.
“What are you saying?!” “Even if I did get excited, it wouldn’t be in broad daylight like that, would it?!” “What kind of person do you think I am?!
I don’t like exhibitionism!!”
…
Although in a certain sense, Vill-V was a shut-in.
A true shut-in.
If not for Edward’s gentleness, and if her reclusive tendencies had been allowed to develop unchecked, she might have truly wasted away.
Setting aside her beautiful appearance and her nearly perfectly trained figure, on a spiritual level she perfectly embodied the term “shut-in.”
She had even used the tools she created to secretly observe Edward’s limited daily interactions with Elysia. The source of this chapter is g.com.
At times she couldn’t help but fantasize about standing by his side instead.
But even so, the label Edward had just given her was far too much.
Vill-V was not that kind of pervert.
Not yet.
Not unless Edward actually preferred that kind of girl.
…
Otherwise, it was completely impossible.
There wasn’t even the slightest chance.
A zero-probability event.
Because someone like that could no longer be considered human in the normal sense.
Calling her human would be an insult to the rest of humanity.
She would be a complete and utter pervert, the ultimate, invincible degenerate.
No one in the entire history of mankind could compare.
Not even half as bad.
The only person who might one day reach that level was a certain white-haired, blue-eyed girl who would appear tens of thousands of years later, shouting about wanting to drink Mei’s milk.
Even if she acted on every word, she would still fall far short of someone who got excited in public and left potentially damp panties behind in a public place.
If Edward truly saw her that way, even Vill-V would feel deeply uncomfortable.
The key point was that she hadn’t actually done it yet.
“In a place like that, even a super pervert wouldn’t do something so outrageous, right?” “Even if I wanted to, there were other people around me the whole time.”
Vill-V would never accept false accusations.
If she had done it, she would admit it and repent.
If she hadn’t, then she would never confess no matter what.
She refused to take the blame for something she hadn’t done.
She had finally been able to see Edward clearly, yet she was always partially blocked by other people, never able to focus on him completely.
If she truly wanted to get close to him, she couldn’t let something like self-pleasure be interrupted.
After careful calculation and experimentation, unless the entire birthday party was held on a stage she had personally designed with perfectly divided viewing areas and movement routes, she would never be able to hide under a table where no one could see her while still clearly watching Edward from afar.
To be called a pervert before even doing anything perverted…
wasn’t that taking the blame for nothing?
That would be truly unfair.
At the very least, he should wait until after she had actually done it once before saying anything.