Chapter 28: Totomia’s Grand Revelation

“Are you going to go after him?”

Celeste glanced at Totomia, who was pointing behind them, and found herself inexplicably amused.

Their relationship certainly seemed amicable; no wonder Yalin had addressed him with such familiarity.

In Celeste’s memory, Yalin had no other friends apart from her.

After all, he had always clung to her, never bothering to interact with anyone else.

His relentless ‘simp’ (TL Note: A Chinese slang term, ‘tiangou,’ literally ‘licking dog,’ referring to someone who excessively flatters or dotes on another, often unrequitedly) behavior had also caused everyone to dismiss him, with no one ever bothering to approach him voluntarily.

Yet, ever since he had left her side, Yalin seemed to have transformed into a different person.

He smiled more readily, and his disposition had grown gentler.

His composed and elegant demeanor was as if he had reverted to the charming young noble he had been in his childhood.

He had found his own, entirely new world.

In that world, he could forge trusted friendships, and perhaps, in the future, even encounter a lover worthy of a lifetime’s devotion.

Only, in that world, there was no longer a place for her.

Celeste shook her head with a bitter smile.

“There’s no need; I’ve already gone after him once, but he clearly doesn’t want to see me, which is why he made up an excuse to escape.”

“Escape? From you?”

For a moment, Totomia thought his ears had deceived him.

Having once spent considerable effort investigating Yalin, he was acutely aware of the extent of his infatuation with Celeste.

But now, with Celeste herself coming to the Alchemist’s Branch to find him, he had actually fled?

‘Well, well, turning the tables, are we?’ (TL Note: ‘Daofan Tiangang’ is a Chinese idiom implying a complete reversal of roles or expectations, often humorously or sarcastically.)

“Uh, aren’t you two childhood sweethearts? I remember he always liked you so much; how did things suddenly turn out like this?”

“How do you know about us?” Celeste inquired, a hint of confusion in her voice.

“Ah, well, this… because we’re bros, hehe…”

Totomia awkwardly rubbed his head.

He certainly couldn’t admit that the information had been purchased, could he?

“Is that so? It seems he truly trusts you.”

Celeste let out a soft sigh.

“Perhaps he did like me before, but I said some truly awful things to him… things that cannot be undone.”

“What did you say to him?”

“I said…”

Celeste pressed her lips together.

“I said… ‘I never want to see you again.’”

Each time she recalled those words, her heart would begin to ache faintly anew.

Yet, unwilling to continue running, she still forced the words out.

Totomia stood rooted to the spot, his face a mask of disbelief.

‘No, that’s it?’

He had imagined Celeste had uttered something truly outrageous, perhaps digging up Yalin’s ancestral graves for eighteen generations and thoroughly cursing them all.

‘And this is the result?’

‘The destructive power is practically zero.’

That such a simple sentence could make Yalin abandon the goddess he had ‘simped’ for all those years was something Totomia would never believe, even if it killed him.

“Uh, will you two still keep in touch?”

“Since he dislikes me so much, we probably won’t be in contact anymore. Still, perhaps it’s for the best for him,” Celeste said, shaking her head.

“My apologies for making a spectacle of myself.”

Offering an apologetic smile, Celeste turned and departed.

Watching her forlorn figure recede, Totomia was suddenly overcome by a sense of profound loss.

He knew better than anyone the immense effort Yalin had poured into pursuing Celeste.

Totomia clenched his fists.

‘Yalin, are you truly going to give up?’

‘Celeste has come all this way to find you; is it truly right to end this relationship just like this?’

‘No, impossible! How could you be the kind of man who would shrink back simply because of a single sentence!’

‘There must be some underlying reason.’

Totomia recalled Yalin’s expression as he ran off—urgent, yet tinged with a hint of distress.

‘It was as if… he was enduring something…’

His eyes suddenly lit up.

‘He understood; he completely understood.’

‘Yalin, no wonder you wore such an expression.’

‘So, you and I are actually the same kind of person!’

‘But rest assured, since you consider me a brother, I will absolutely not let you down!’

“Please wait, Miss Celeste.”

Totomia mustered his courage and shouted loudly.

In that moment, he felt no nervousness, nor the awkward unease he usually experienced in the presence of a goddess.

All he possessed was a fervent heart, yearning for his brother’s happiness.

“What is it?” Celeste stopped and turned back to ask.

“You’re mistaken; Yalin doesn’t dislike you at all,” Totomia stated, enunciating each word carefully.

“But he clearly doesn’t want to see me…”

“His reluctance to see you isn’t due to dislike; rather, it’s because…”

Totomia took a deep breath and declared solemnly, “It’s because he’s insecure!”

Celeste was taken aback, asking somewhat bewildered, “In-insecure?”

“Precisely. Yalin loves you to an uncontrollable degree. Yet, at the same time, his insecurity makes him believe he could never be worthy of you, so he can only resort to evasion to suppress these feelings for you.”

“H-how could that be…”

Celeste’s lips parted slightly; she had never once entertained such a possibility.

Totomia, however, felt his confidence surging.

He believed he had suddenly seen the light, the mist that had previously clouded his vision now completely dispersed.

“But that’s precisely the truth, and his asking me to come here is the clearest evidence.”

“Wh-why?”

“Because… he and I are the same kind of person, so I can understand his thoughts.”

‘Brother, for you, I’m going all out!’

Totomia gritted his teeth. “Miss Celeste, you probably don’t remember me, do you?”

“But I know you; I’ve known you for a very long time.”

“Do you still recall that someone confessed their feelings to you on the night of the matriculation banquet?”

Celeste blinked, fragments of memory flashing through her mind.

“It seems there was indeed such an event… Could that person have been you?”

Totomia nodded. “Exactly. Back then, in a moment of impulse, I acted so foolishly. Yalin, to protect you from harassment, even had a huge argument with me.”

“In other words, Yalin knew that I once had feelings for you.”

“But now, he actually asked me to speak to you on his behalf. Do you know what this signifies?”

At this moment, Totomia had completely immersed himself in Yalin’s persona, thoroughly lost in his own dramatic performance, unable to extricate himself.

“Because, through this method, he wants to completely let go!”

“He knows he’s not worthy of you, and his love for you would only cause you trouble.”

“Rather than selfishly remaining by your side, he wishes for you to achieve a better life.”

“That’s why that scoundrel… he specifically chose me, his love rival, to meet with you! He hopes that through such an extreme measure, he can completely rid himself of his feelings for you!”

Totomia clenched his fists and roared loudly.

In his imagination, the lovelorn boy tossed and turned every night, forcing himself to relinquish his obsession with Celeste, solely so that the girl he adored could find happiness.

‘Yalin, he really is… I’m going to cry my eyes out!’ (TL Note: ‘Wo ku si’ is a common Chinese internet slang phrase, literally meaning ‘I’m crying to death,’ used to express extreme emotion, often humorous or dramatic empathy.)