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Join the Server“Oh, come on, Your Highness, tell me, won’t you~”
Pera, the fox-girl, was in no hurry to end Su Mu’s life. Instead, she toyed with him like a cat with a mouse, relentlessly chipping away at his mental fortitude.
Su Mu had waited for what felt like an eternity, yet death still hadn’t arrived. He exhaled a deep, shaky breath and calmly opened his eyes.
Resigned to his inevitable demise, he decided to gather as much information as possible. “Pera,” he began, “did Mother send you to kill me?”
“Heh heh, you truly are shameless. Occupying someone else’s son’s body, yet brazenly calling his mother ‘Mother.’ If I hadn’t detected a single trace of beast-kin aura on you, I would’ve suspected a cunning fox was inhabiting that body.”
Pera’s mockery was merciless.
Yet, when the topic turned to Furei, Pera’s emotions seemed to stabilize slightly.
Su Mu’s heart sank.
‘Just how much does this fox know?’
Su Mu continued to probe.
“Does it matter who is in this body? Oh—I see you’re trying to change the subject. It seems Mother isn’t aware of your unauthorized actions.”
Pera’s eyes turned ferocious, revealing her sharp fangs. “Are you so eager to die? I shall grant your wish.”
Any variable that might obstruct her master’s plans had to be eradicated!
Pera swung her sharp claws, intending to tear Su Mu’s frail neck to shreds.
“Clang—”
Just as Su Mu believed he was finally about to die, the sound of metal clashing rang in his ears.
Bai Ji had arrived, though he hadn’t noticed when. Her sword was now pointed at Pera, who still held Su Mu captive.
Her breathing was ragged, and traces of blood stained her body, making her appear severely disheveled.
“Oh—quite capable, aren’t we? To break free from my illusion so quickly. It seems your Sword Heart is remarkably firm.”
Pera looked at Bai Ji, commenting with an air of superiority.
Bai Ji remained silent, her cold face contorted with rage. Red battle aura erupted from her body, slowly climbing up the longsword gripped tightly in her hand.
An endless torrent of killing intent surged towards Pera.
Pera seemed entirely unaffected, continuing her taunts.
“How was it? Are you satisfied with the illusion I wove for you? A passionate night with your prince—something you could never achieve in reality, you know~”
“Silence!”
Bai Ji unleashed a combat technique, charging forward.
In an instant, she was before Pera, her longsword blazing with a red glow, descending with immense force.
However, the strike passed right through Pera’s body without drawing a single drop of blood.
Bai Ji’s expression grew solemn. The Pera before her dissolved into a wisp of smoke, only to reappear elsewhere.
“Little Sword Princess, you are no match for me. Give up.”
Pera continued to torment Su Mu in her grasp, simultaneously provoking Bai Ji trapped within the illusion.
Deep, bleeding gashes appeared on Su Mu’s face, the piercing pain reaching the depths of his soul.
‘Why not just kill him? Why prolong the torture?’
In that moment, Su Mu utterly detested the fox behind him.
A part of his inner malevolence even shifted towards Bai Ji, who was desperately trying to break the illusion before him.
‘Why interfere? He could have died peacefully, yet because of Bai Ji’s arrival, he was forced to endure this additional torment.’
“Kill me…”
Su Mu gritted his teeth, his voice weak and breathless.
“What, are you feeling sorry for your little attendant?”
Pera seemed immensely satisfied by Su Mu’s suffering, letting out a cackle.
Meanwhile, upon hearing Su Mu’s plea for death, Bai Ji erupted.
She let out a furious roar, her red aura surging once more. Dense, crimson blood began to seep from the surface of her skin.
“Self-detonating your Sword Heart? Are you insane?!”
Seeing Bai Ji’s transformation, Pera’s playful expression instantly turned grave.
A Sword Heart was a swordsman’s core of energy. While self-detonating it could unleash immense power for a short period, it was akin to a person tearing out their own heart, leading to endless repercussions in the future.
Bai Ji’s eyes glazed over, becoming vacant and hollow.
Having self-detonated her Sword Heart, she lost all consciousness. She was like a robot, her mind now holding only one directive:
Protect Your Highness!
In this state, Bai Ji was almost completely immune to any mental control. This meant Pera’s most potent ability was now useless.
The unconscious Bai Ji precisely located Pera and launched a fierce attack.
Pera dropped the barely breathing Su Mu, tensing her body as if facing a formidable enemy.
Su Mu’s carotid artery had already been torn open by her sharp claws.
Bai Ji had self-detonated her Sword Heart; she would be a cripple for a very long time. Since the goal of eliminating the anomaly had been achieved, there was no point in her lingering here.
With this thought, Pera retracted her claws, reverting to her human form. She coldly watched Bai Ji, who was protectively cradling Su Mu’s almost lifeless body, a strange melancholy of ‘the fox grieving for the fallen rabbit’ rising in her heart.
She let out a cold snort, then retreated through the doorway, vanishing into the darkness of the night.
****
The dazed Bai Ji clumsily pressed her hand against his bleeding neck, tears falling from her hollow eyes.
This was Su Mu’s last impression before losing consciousness.
[Congratulations, Master, on achieving: 【Star-Crossed Lovers (Part One)】]
[Reward: 10 Experience Points]
****
Su Mu revived, burdened by mental anguish, as he reloaded his save.
He rubbed his head irritably, looking at the option screen and the competitive glares between Laura and Bai Ji before him.
‘Damn it, why did it turn out like this?’
He had imagined many ways he might die, but he had never anticipated that the one to finally kill him would be the fox-girl he’d had an ambiguous encounter with just that afternoon.
‘Why exactly did Pera want to kill him?’
From his dying moments of probing, Su Mu could discern that his death was not at the behest of his original body’s mother, Queen Furei, but rather Pera’s own initiative.
The warmth and concern the Queen had shown him during their interactions felt genuine, making it highly unlikely to be a deception.
‘But wasn’t Pera the Queen’s servant? Why would she defy her master’s orders to kill a child her master doted on?’
Even if she suspected his amnesia was fake, it seemed improbable she would so decisively move to eliminate him.
There had to be some clue he had missed.
Su Mu frowned in thought, but he couldn’t connect the pieces.
“Hey, Your Highness, don’t think you can play dumb and get away with it!”
Laura’s imperious voice echoed in his ear.
Su Mu snapped back to reality, sighing with a headache. He had forgotten about this immediate problem.
He looked at the option list.
After much deliberation, he still felt he should choose Option Two. His previous death was mainly due to carelessness, caught off guard by Pera. If he had another chance, he was confident he could survive.
However, Option Two had completely darkened, the system no longer offering him that choice.
‘So, now he could only choose between Option One and Option Three?’
Su Mu was torn.
No matter how he looked at it, both remaining options seemed likely to lead to failure. How could the correct answer be among these two?
Left with no choice, Su Mu decided to pick the lesser of two evils, finding Option One slightly more reasonable than Option Three.
‘Perhaps this time, without his identity being exposed, Bai Ji would be a little more normal and wouldn’t go berserk so easily,’ Su Mu consoled himself.
“Choose Option One.”
“Confirmed.”
. .
.
.
You’ve got to see this next! Can Love Be Styled Too? will keep you on the edge of your seat. Start reading today!
Read : Can Love Be Styled Too?
