Protect you until the last moment of life—okay?

A hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Merka's mouth.

At the same time, tears of sadness welled up in his eyes.

He covered his face with one arm, and bitter tears slowly streamed down his sleeve.

The gentle tears, like an unspoken trickle beneath an ice spring.

Throughout the night, he poured out his lovesickness that kept him awake.

"I miss you so much... Turing, Xixi, I really miss you."

"Several times, I thought I was going to die, and I thought I would never see you again."

"I'm so scared, so scared."

"If back in Red Port, I had listened to you and escaped together, how wonderful would that have been..."

"I really... I would rather not wade into this mess, I would rather spend my whole life living the thirty years saved by Acadia, being a man who takes care of the family for you."

"Can you imagine that kind of life, that reachable happiness..."

"Every morning, I would bake you a full plate of bread and fried eggs."

"On weekends, you would ask for my opinion, and then we would camp on the hill. In the vast mountains and forests, at that time, only the shouting of our calls to each other would exist."

"I would play the piano for you, paint for you, write poetry for you."

"As long as you ask, as long as you say a word... I will do it for you."

"For your sake, I am willing to be a male servant..."

"But, but..."

[...]

Watching Merka cling to him desperately like a child seeking a mother's love, Turing suddenly felt a wave of astonishment in his heart.

She felt that the dynamic between the two of them had somehow reversed.

The Merka who had once guided Turing's direction without stopping for a moment like a morning star—

now followed behind her.

Turing felt both a sense of nostalgia and pity in her heart.

"Hehe."

Facing Merka's deep confession, Turing chuckled softly.

Merka was momentarily stunned, the emotions he had been brewing suddenly dissipated in this laughter.

"Why are you laughing? I'm serious!"

Merka was really serious.

For a man from Acadia, there was nothing more proud than hearing a solemn promise from a partner to protect them for a lifetime.

So Merka was eager to say something immediately in response to Turing.

"I'm just laughing at why you need to be a male servant, why not be my husband."

"Uh, I was just, um, that was just a metaphor!"

Merka was a little flustered. Sitting up straight from Turing's embrace, he looked directly into Turing's azure eyes.

In reality, deep down, he always felt that he should be inferior to Turing, which is why he subconsciously said such things, but he did not want his little scheme to be discovered by Turing.

"But oh, I really do need a handsome male servant."

"You know, back in Erisburg, the male servants in the house were either young boys or middle-aged uncles in their thirties and forties."

"Hehe, if you were working in Erisburg at that time... even if you didn't do anything, it would be quite a sight, wouldn't it?"

Turing laughed sweetly, her eyes squinting, like a crescent moon quivering slightly on a river.

But Merka couldn't resist the captivating charm of this crescent moon, so he turned his face away, using his profile to resist Turing's intense gaze.

"...Let's not talk about that."

"After you entered the smoke-free zone, did you find anything in the smoke-free zone before meeting me?"