"Crack! Crack! Crack!!"
In an instant, everything within Yan Huan's field of vision began to be destroyed. Accompanying the collapse of the Barrier was an imnse suction force spreading from the depths of its vortex.
Whether it was Yan Huan, Self-Doubting Sakuramiya behind him, or Perfect Sakuranomiya in front of him, none of them could resist that great power as they were dragged toward the deep and secluded darkness ahead.
"Ah!!"
Self-Doubting Sakuramiya's whimpers echoed from behind. As his field of vision gradually darkened, Yan Huan's eyes widened, and he subconsciously reached back to grab her hand.
But when he turned and grasped at the air, he bizarrely caught hold of absolutely nothing.
"..."
Yan Huan squinted as he snapped his head around, yet he saw nothing but endless darkness.
Soon, everything around him seed to twist into nothingness. Even the sounds vanished completely, leaving only a ringing tinnitus in Yan Huan's mind.
It was only when that piercing tinnitus filled his ears that Yan Huan finally realized sothing:
The thing that was gradually darkening wasn't the surrounding space, but his own field of vision.
And the thing being twisted and destroyed wasn't just the Barrier, but his own consciousness as well.
His eyelids felt incredibly heavy as he squinted. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't force them open again. He could only allow the distorted Barrier to drag him down, his consciousness sinking into the unknown.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!!"
Yan Huan felt as if he were dreaming.
In his dream, he appeared within a quaint, traditional Japanese building that looked sowhat familiar.
He dreamt that he saw an incredibly adorable little girl—one who made his heart flutter slightly—being dragged by an old man in a kimono toward an open wardrobe in a room.
"You can't even rember these few kanji, you idiot! Get in there and reflect on your mistakes!!"
He heard the old man punishing the little girl with those harsh words.
The little girl pursed her lips, glancing fearfully at the narrow wardrobe in front of her. Still, she didn't dare to disobey the old man's orders. Trembling, she reached out her small hands to grip the wooden base of the wardrobe and climbed inside.
"Clack! Clack! Clack!!"
The mont she stepped inside, the sliding door of the wardrobe slamd shut behind her, instantly turning the wardrobe into a dark, narrow, and sweltering prison.
For so reason, even though the doors were closed, Yan Huan could see straight through the wood, his gaze landing perfectly on the little girl inside.
He watched as everything plunged into darkness. The little girl wore a terrified expression, pounding on the cabinet doors and calling out to the person outside.
"Thump-thump-thump..."
"Grandfather... sob... It's so dark in here... sob... Let
out..."
However, outside the doors, the old man had already wedged a wooden sword between the sliding doors. No matter how hard the girl inside clawed and pushed, the doors wouldn't budge.
After doing all this, the old man turned and left, leaving her all alone inside the cabinet.
Just as he had declared: this was her process of reflection.
"Sob... sob..."
Listening to the faint cries coming from inside, Yan Huan furrowed his brows. Unable to bear it, he wanted to walk over and remove the obstacle jamming the cabinet doors.
But he was completely unable to move. It was as if his physical body didn't even exist; only his consciousness remained awake.
He could only helplessly witness everything unfold.
And so, he saw the girl locked inside the cabinet cry for a long ti before finally wiping her tears. She seed to rember sothing, closing her eyes and continuously tracing characters on the door with her finger.
She was silently morizing the kanji she had failed to recite earlier.
A while later, when she had seemingly finally morized them, a happy expression appeared on her face. She spoke to the outside of the wardrobe,
"Grandfather, I've morized how to write them... I've morized the characters for 'age' and 'dicine'... You... Please open the door..."
But outside the door, no one ever ca to open it for her.
Consequently, she began to cry again, unable to resist knocking on the doors.
"Sob... sob... Grandfather..."
"Thump-thump..."
She had a frail constitution. Between her crying and knocking, she quickly exhausted herself. She could only lie helplessly in that confined space, wiping her tears and continuing to sob.
Yan Huan watched as, within that narrow wardrobe, the little girl went from initial despair and sadness to slowly adapting to her situation.
She began to realize that in this confined, secret space, she didn't have to abide by the Lady etiquette taught by her etiquette teachers. She didn't have to face her grandfather's beatings and scoldings...
She discovered that at the back joint of the wardrobe, there was a tiny crack caused by age. Through that gap in the wall, she could see the wild scenery outside the Main Residence.
Through it, Yan Huan saw cherry blossoms covering the hills and plains, and a long-haired white cat that seed to be a stray wandering about.
The white cat ran freely amidst the lush greenery, and the girl in the wardrobe struggled to peer through the crack just to watch the beautiful kitten play.
She watched the kitten get startled by the hooting of a nearby owl, turning tail and running off to who-knows-where.
She then watched the kitten co running back with a small bird in its mouth, enjoying its breakfast in the grass...
As the kitten played and ate, the girl in the cabinet seemingly forgot the stiffness of her body from being locked up for so long, and the hunger in her stomach from starving for so long.
She just stared blankly and longingly at the world outside that crack, until...
The cabinet doors opened. A few maids lifted her stiff body and calm face out of the wardrobe.
And the old man who had locked her inside stared at the calmness on her face, a wave of dissatisfaction rising in his heart.
It seed this was because the punishnt wasn't severe enough; otherwise, she would have shown a far more remorseful and reflective expression.
Or so he thought.
Thus, every ti the girl made a mistake after that, he locked her inside for increasingly longer periods.
Half a day, a full day, a day and a night...
Looking at the girl's unwavering calm, the old man finally concluded that such punishnts were useless against her. He could only resort to other, more severe forms of corporal punishnt.
If she got her schoolwork wrong, she was beaten.
If her eating or walking lacked proper etiquette, she was beaten.
If she used the wrong words when speaking, she was beaten.
Even when she couldn't endure it anymore and shed tears from missing her father, mother, and older brothers, she would be whipped with a cane...
As a result, Yan Huan witnessed a bizarre and twisted scene.
That confined prison, originally ant to punish the girl, had surprisingly beco her safe haven. It reached the point where she didn't even want to sleep on her couch bed, preferring to sneak into the wardrobe to sleep.
Only in that solitary space could she escape punishnt. Only there could she see the white cat she adored so deeply...
And only there could she hug her incredibly painful wounds from the beatings and cry.
The mont she stepped out of the wardrobe, she had to wear a mask, acting as if none of it had ever happened, maintaining a flawless posture to avoid further punishnt.
Her elegant, refined lady-like deanor would beco an invincible weapon. Her brilliant mind and extraordinary knowledge would beco tools to sche against others and seize benefits...
Ti stretched on endlessly. Day by day, the girl went back and forth between her prison cage and her mask.
Until one day, the sound of a chainsaw rang out from outside the wardrobe.
Yan Huan saw that many construction workers had arrived in the lush greenery outside the wardrobe. They stood beside the old man who was holding blueprints, pointing forward and saying things like, "This area needs to be expanded."
The girl, peering through the narrow crack of the wardrobe, saw all of this as well.
She watched blankly as the old man left and the workers began their construction.
One by one, the cherry blossom trees in her field of vision were felled. As dusk approached, the long-haired white cat returned, watching these uninvited guests from afar.
A glimr of light finally sparked in the girl's dull, lifeless eyes when she saw the little white cat.
How she wished the kitten would stay, remaining right here, just like her...
But the kitten didn't do as she wished.
It simply tilted its head, then turned around, ready to leave.
Both Yan Huan and the young girl knew that the kitten would never co back.
"No... please... don't go..."
As ti passed, watching the kitten about to depart, the girl who had been calm for so long surprisingly let out the sa whimper she had made the very first ti she was locked in here.
She cried, desperately pressing her head into the narrow crack, wanting to chase after the kitten that was drifting further and further away...
"Sob!!"
But no matter what, she couldn't squeeze through the narrow gap.
Because the real her was unable to leave this wardrobe.
Only the version of herself that could satisfy her grandfather's discipline—the smart one, the elegant one—was allowed to leave this place.
"..."
The instant this thought erged, the facial features on her face surprisingly began to lt away, little by little.
It was as if they had transford into a mask ant to be worn, squirming out through that tiny gap.
"Squish-squelch..."
The mask wriggled and crawled out of the dark cabinet, finally landing in the lush, free wilderness blooming with cherry blossoms.
Then, it slowly grew and expanded...
Until its appearance beca absolutely identical to the girl inside the wardrobe.
"..."
The mask turned back to glance at the girl in the wardrobe. Then, offering a faint smile, it dashed away into the far reaches of the horizon.
She could finally leave.
Just like that free cat that hadn't lingered here.
Yet the girl whose facial features had detached remained inside the wardrobe...
It was as if, no matter where she went, from beginning to end, she had never truly left that place.
"Haha... Hahaha..."
Looking at the young girl running wildly, displaying an absolutely beautiful smile under the radiant light of freedom, Yan Huan was slightly stunned. He subconsciously took a step forward to chase her.
Because that was the girl in his mories—the girl he had initially fallen for.
But after taking just a single step, Yan Huan abruptly froze in place.
He turned his head and looked at the wooden wall behind him.
On that wooden wall, due to aging, a nearly imperceptible crack had faintly appeared.
Within the crack was a sweltering, enclosed darkness.
After a mont of silence, Yan Huan suddenly crouched down, quietly gazing into the crack...
Locking eyes through the wall with the faceless young girl who had gone quiet inside the gap.
"Sakuramiya?"
After a mont of silence, he spoke, his voice trembling suddenly.
"..."
From within the wall, an endless silence echoed back, as if the path were hopelessly blocked.
But in the very next second, a response suddenly fell into Yan Huan's ears.
"President..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan's shoulders trembled slightly.
Because that voice had unexpectedly co from right behind him.
"!!"
Yan Huan whipped his head around, only to see Perfect Sakuranomiya standing behind him. Gripping his shoulders, she displayed an elegant, sweet smile and said,
"I'm right here, President~"
"Crack-crack..."
In a dark, secluded expanse of nothingness, countless shattered rooms floated in midair. Deep within the void, dense swarms of centipedes crawled incessantly, forming the terrifying backdrop of this space.
All of this proved that so kind of severe anomaly was occurring within the Barrier.
"!!" Inside one of the rooms covered in horrifying cracks, Yan Huan abruptly snapped his eyes open.
He sat up with a start, only then realizing he was sitting on a large bed draped with neat white sheets.
"President, you... you're awake!"
Beside him, a pair of trembling mouse ears drew Yan Huan's attention.
He was just about to turn his head to observe the person next to him when a sharp pain flared up in his hand.
"Hss..."
He gasped in shock and looked down, seeing his bandaged palm.
It was the spot Perfect Sakuranomiya had sliced earlier.
"...President, does it still... hurt?"
Yan Huan shifted his gaze and saw Mouse Sakuramiya beside him, her face full of worry.
There were only the two of them in the room; Perfect Sakuranomiya was nowhere to be found.
The room was tightly sealed. It was only by looking out the window at the void—where countless centipedes seed to crawl—that one could realize the room they were in was floating in so sort of collapsing space.
"Ah... I'm fine... Where are we right now?"
"I... I don't know either. Just now, for so reason, the entire Barrier suddenly started collapsing, and when we woke up, we were here..."
Mouse Sakuramiya pursed her lips, subconsciously scooting closer to Yan Huan.
Feeling her petite body brush against his, Yan Huan couldn't help but think back to the dream he had just experienced.
Originally, when he was in Sakura Country and saw the news on TV about the Sakuramiya Main Residence catching fire, his heart had fluttered with a bit of apprehension.
After all, whether in his past life or this one, it was his first ti doing sothing like committing arson and murder; feeling uneasy was perfectly normal.
But now, there was only one thought in his mind:
'I'm glad I blew up that damn old fart!'
Yan Huan massaged the space between his eyebrows. Feeling a sense of vindication, he stood up and surveyed his surroundings as he spoke.
"I think I know where Hitomi's true body is hiding... Now, as long as I can enter Perfect Sakuranomiya's Barrier, I'm confident I can find her."
"Ah, that's wonderful..."
Mouse Sakuramiya paused slightly before clenching her fists and standing up. She smiled and followed Yan Huan's lead in examining their surroundings.
Yan Huan stroked his chin, scanning the enclosed space.
He walked over to the window and tried to open it, but the fra felt like it had been welded shut, completely unyielding.
He even delivered a solid kick to the glass, but not a single crack appeared—it was as tough as tempered glass.
"President... it looks like the only way out of this room is through the front door..."
Yan Huan glanced back at Mouse Sakuramiya, who had spoken so timidly, and sighed.
"I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I get the feeling that door won't open easily."
"..."
Mouse Sakuramiya didn't reply. Following his own hunch, Yan Huan walked over and tried the doorknob.
"Click! Click!"
Sure enough, it was locked.
However, just as Yan Huan revealed an 'I knew it' expression, the door trembled slightly. Then, a small slip of paper fluttered out from underneath the door gap.
"..."
Yan Huan's face darkened, but he endured the malicious sense of deja vu and looked down to inspect it.
Hey, guess what?
"A room you can't leave unless you... unless you do XX... That's what it says, President."
From behind, Mouse Sakuramiya tugged on Yan Huan's clothes, whispering the reminder.
"...I know."
Yan Huan sighed and turned to look at Mouse Sakuramiya.
Her eyelashes fluttered before she imdiately whipped her head away, bowing it low.
Yet, with a slightly flushed face, she couldn't resist stealing covert glances at him.
Realizing Yan Huan was still watching her, she raised a hand to rub her cheek, pursing her lips in a manner that suggested she was waiting for him to speak.
"..."
Seeing her like this, Yan Huan recalled how she had mustered the courage to hand him that flower earlier.
His heart stirred slightly, and he awkwardly averted his gaze.
"Sakuramiya, how... what suddenly made you think of giving
this?"
"Eh? W-what?"
Looking at her slightly flushed face and adorably foolish deanor, Yan Huan sighed in amusent. He reached out and flicked her forehead.
"Ow!"
She let out a soft whine, clutching her forehead as she looked at Yan Huan endearingly.
Yan Huan withdrew his hand, pulling the hydrangea flower hairpin from his pocket to examine it.
While inspecting it, he suddenly noticed a long strand of pink hair pinned to the clip. He hadn't even realized it was there when Mouse Sakuramiya handed it to him.
"This is..."
Yan Huan plucked the long hair free and glanced at Sakuramiya's hair, which had faded from black to pink. A look of confusion crossed his face.
"Hmm?"
He studied the pink strand closely, and his expression grew even more perplexed.
"Is this Yurianna's hairpin?"
Sakuramiya was utterly dumbfounded. Panicking, she rushed over, grabbed his clothes, and shook him back and forth.
"Eh? Wait, wait, wait!! President, how in the world did you know?!"
"..."
Seeing Sakuramiya blushing fiercely in her panic, Yan Huan smiled helplessly. He dragged the still-clinging girl over to the edge of the large bed. Holding up Yurianna's strand of hair, he explained,
"Sakuramiya, your hair isn't completely pink. Out of the people we know, only she has hair like this."
"Grr!"
However, hearing this explanation did nothing to soothe Sakuramiya; instead, she puffed her cheeks out indignantly.
Seeing her like this, Yan Huan wanted to laugh even more, but he refrained from saying anything further.
Tossing the strand of hair aside, he continued to twirl the hairpin between his fingers, asking rather awkwardly,
"So, what made you suddenly think of inviting
to be your partner for the High Table Dinner?"
"A partner for the High Table Dinner?! The Flower Presentation Dance Invitation?!"
Upon hearing this, Mouse Sakuramiya's eyes widened, and she blurted out the words in utter shock.
"..."
Yan Huan was stunned. But in the next second, Mouse Sakuramiya seed to rember sothing. She sheepishly smoothed her hair and said,
"Ah... right... Because you agreed, President. And saying such a cool response while gripping a knife like that... I-I was just a little nervous..."
"...Is that so?"
"Mhm..."
Yan Huan furrowed his brows, eyeing the Mouse Sakuramiya before him up and down. As he scrutinized her, she suddenly raised her head and said, her voice dripping with tension,
"Since... since you've already agreed, President, then... the thod to leave this room... doing 'that' with ... um... that's okay too..."
"..."
Hearing this, Yan Huan's throat bobbed as he swallowed instinctively.
Yet he didn't make a single move, refusing to let his guard down.
"Hold on, Sakuramiya. You..."
"Mm!"
But in the very next second, the Sakuramiya in front of him pursed her lips. Mustering her courage, she proactively leaned into Yan Huan.
She took the initiative, just like that...
And tightly wrapped her arms around him!
"!!"
Feeling her petite, soft body pressing snugly against his, Yan Huan's fra stiffened slightly.
"President... I like you..."
In his arms, the clinging Mouse Sakuramiya breathed softly, her body trembling. It was as if this were her very first ti saying sothing like this, making her incredibly unpracticed.
But even so, her voice was practically deafening to Yan Huan's ears.
Because in the next instant, she leaned close to his ear and whispered softly,
"Besides... even if it's 'this'... or 'that' kind of position... I'll..."
Yan Huan's heart rate spiked bit by bit. He cast an astonished look at the Sakuramiya beside him.
He couldn't help but lower his gaze. His initially stiff hands gradually lifted, seemingly intending to embrace her back.
"Sakuramiya, I..."
However, just as his heart pounded faster and he was about to utter the rest of his sentence, his brows suddenly pinched together. He had felt sothing.
'Huh?'
His rising hands halted midair. He then focused all of his attention squarely on his abs and chest.
Once more, he used his sense of touch to confirm his suspicion.
"..."
A second later, his expression turned freezing cold.
"Thud!!"
Imdiately after, he firmly grabbed the shoulders of the Sakuramiya in his arms and pushed her away.
"Eh? P-President, why?!"
Before him, Mouse Sakuramiya's face was filled with shock and confusion. Staring at Yan Huan, she looked incredibly wronged.
But Yan Huan wasn't buying any of it. Instead, his sharp gaze swept across a certain part of her petite body.
'I'm not mistaken...'
'I felt it carefully just last night. There's absolutely no way I'm rembering it wrong!'
"You aren't Self-Doubting Sakuramiya, are you?"
"I-I am, President. How could you..."
The Sakuramiya before him was slightly taken aback and subconsciously tried to explain.
But Yan Huan stared straight into her eyes. With an icy face, he enunciated every word to the Sakuramiya in front of him,
"Self-Doubting Sakuramiya is flat."
"..."
The Sakuramiya before him widened her eyes, staring dumbfoundedly at Yan Huan.
Then, her flawless expression—one that had perfectly mimicked Mouse Sakuramiya—gradually shattered as her facade broke.
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