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Heir of the White Lotus (Web Novel) - Chapter 2185: Dark Stain
Chapter 2185: Dark Stain
This chapter is updated by JustRead.pl
Genevieve floated in darkness.
She was weightless, drifting in an endless void. There was no pain. No sound. No light.
Am I dead?
She couldn’t remember how she had ended up here. The last thing she recalled was being surrounded by enemies. They had ganged up on her, beating her mercilessly until she could no longer fight back.
She remembered the pain. The helplessness. And Adam.
He had been lying not far from her, his body mangled beyond recognition. Another enemy had been cutting open his neck while he lay there, unable to fight back.
Adam...
Is he dead too?
She didn’t know. And that was what hurt her the most.
A deep sense of loss washed over her. She had lost so much. Everything had happened so quickly that she hadn’t even had the chance to make peace with it.
She had regrets. So many regrets.
She had dreamed of accomplishing so much, yet she had died before she could fulfill any of those dreams.
She had only begun learning about her family. There had been so much she wanted to ask them, so much she wanted to know. She regretted not spending more time with them when she had the chance.
And Adam...
Sweet Adam.
She regretted not knowing what had happened to him.
Had he survived? Had he died beside her?
The thought filled her with an unbearable sadness.
If this was the afterlife, then perhaps this was all that awaited her. An endless darkness where she could do nothing but dwell on the things she had loved and lost.
Then, faintly, she heard something.
"...you idiot..."
"...Kree...?"
No. She must have imagined it.
Another familiar voice followed.
"...to disturb... didn’t want you here..."
Moonie?
No, it can’t be.
"Kree! Kree!"
Little Vesper?
She strained to listen.
"...a rest, will ya..."
There it was again. She could hear him speaking. His voice was faint but clear enough to reach her through the darkness.
No. This is just a trick.
Her mind was playing games with her. Perhaps this was what happened to the dead. Perhaps they were condemned to relive their memories, clinging to the voices of those they had left behind.
But then she heard him again.
"It’s fine. It’s fine. We’re not that loud. Isn’t that right, ya little gremlin?"
"Kreeee!"
This time, their voices sounded closer. Adam and Vesper.
She wanted to believe it. She wanted to believe that he was alive, that she hadn’t lost him, that there was still a chance for them to be together.
But she was dead, wasn’t she?
What else could this be but a cruel hallucination?
And then, Genevieve slowly opened her eyes.
Light flooded her vision. For a moment, she could only stare blankly at the unfamiliar wooden ceiling above her.
Then she blinked. Once. Twice. Her surroundings gradually came into focus.
She was not floating in the darkness. She was lying in a bed. She was alive.
And beside her, languidly sitting on a chair with his legs resting on the bedside table, was her beloved. On his stomach, little Vesper waved his pudgy hands, trying to get her lover’s attention.
"...Adam?" she whispered.
At once, three heads snapped toward her.
Adam’s eyes were full of love as he smiled. "Welcome back."
"Kreee! Kreee!" Vesper jumped atop Genevieve’s chest, then crawled toward her face, and planted himself there.
"Vesper, no!" Moonie grabbed the little Shadow by the scruff of his neck.
The little fellow was all snot and tears as his limbs kept flailing in the air. "Kree! Kree!"
Genevieve turned to the blue-haired Magus. She was missing an arm. "Moonie?"
Moonie tossed Vesper to Adam, then gently caressed Genevieve’s hair. "Yes, it’s me. It’s good to have you back, young lady."
Genevieve was so disoriented she didn’t know what was going on. Was she alive or dead? Was this reality or a dream?
"Kree!" Vesper scrambled away from Adam’s grasp. He landed on the bed, then crawled toward Genevieve’s head and kept kissing her cheek, sobbing and whimpering.
"Vesper..."
This was real.
Adam, Vesper, and Moonie. They were all real.
She was alive.
Somehow, miraculously, she had survived.
"A miracle," she whispered in a daze.
"If it weren’t for this little gremlin here, you might have really died." Adam put in a good word for the little fellow beforehand, so he didn’t get an earful from Genevieve later.
"Kree..." Vesper shivered, covering his eyes with his tiny hands.
"Adam, would you mind stepping out so I can help the young lady get dressed?" Moonie turned to him and asked.
"Sure." Adam nodded and got to his feet. "I’ll wait downstairs."
He bent over and kissed Genevieve on the forehead. Then he grabbed Vesper and stuffed him inside his tunic. And just like that, he was gone.
Genevieve watched Adam and her Shadow leave in a daze. Moonie sat down on the bed beside her and gently squeezed her hand.
"Moonie, what... what’s going on?" she murmured.
"I imagine this is a lot to take in," Moonie said with a gentle smile. "You’ve been out for three days, my lady."
"Three?" Genevieve blinked.
"Yes." Moonie nodded. "How are your wounds? Do you feel strength returning?"
Genevieve clenched and unclenched her fists, moved her ankles around under the blanket, and nodded. "Just a little pain."
"Can you move around then?"
"I think so," Genevieve murmured.
She looked at Moonie and couldn’t help but grow concerned. "What happened to your arm?"
"It’s nothing." Moonie smiled.
"It’s not nothing."
Moonie’s eyes softened as she caressed Genevieve’s cheek. "Don’t you worry, young lady. I’ll get this fixed in no time."
Genevieve nodded absentmindedly.
Memories of that night flashed in her mind, making her eyes redden.
"Tell me," she whispered. "Tell me everything."
***
An hour later, Moonie helped Genevieve down the stairs.
The Rabbit Hole was bustling as usual, with adventurers filling the tables and staff moving between them. Yet, there was a grim atmosphere hanging over the tavern.
The adventurers looked sad and enraged. Some sat in silence, while others spoke about that night with dark looks on their faces.
Red Gala.
That was what everybody called it now.
A dark stain on the history of Davos and the Free City Alliance.
Genevieve slowly looked around the tavern, taking in the familiar faces.
Then she spotted Ira sitting alone by the hearth, reading a book. Noticing them, Ira looked up and smiled sweetly, gesturing for them to join her.
Meanwhile, Adam was busy serving drinks and food, taking down orders alongside the rest of the staff. He moved from table to table, attending to the adventurers as if nothing had happened.
Behind the counter, Hannibal remained in his usual place, wiping mugs and serving ale to brooding customers.
Everything looked the same. The familiar tavern. The usual bustle of adventurers coming and going.
Yet so much had changed. So many people had been lost that night.
"How do you feel, love?" Ira put the book away.
"Yes, I’m... I’m all right." Genevieve winced a little as she took her seat. Moonie stood behind her.
"Quite the ordeal you went through," Ira said as she studied the girl.
Genevieve nodded, her head lowered. Moonie had told her about everything. About Channing. His daughter and son-in-law. Even his grandchildren.
"So, young Fortuna." Ira interlocked her fingers. "Now that you know what has transpired, what do you intend to do?"
Genevieve’s hands clenched into fists underneath the table.
She looked Ira in the eye. When she spoke, her voice was slow but full of determination and suppressed rage.
"The people who did this... I’m going to hunt them down."
