The next day.

Lulu Lu still got up early. She grabbed her notebook, skipped breakfast, and started preparing according to her plan.

Since she'd decided to elope with Lily Liu, there was a lot she had to do, including but not limited to the following—

Buy travel supplies, self-defense weapons, and drugs that could make Lily Liu "behave." Confirm their final destination. Research the local customs. Search local forums for possibly useful information. Find a place to stay, and so on.

Lulu Lu didn't have much time left. She had to finish all of it within a single day, then run away with Lily Liu.

But not long after she started working, she suddenly remembered something that seemed very serious.

Ever since the rollback yesterday, Lulu Lu seemed to have completely ignored Lily Liu. To be precise, she hadn't even seen her. It had probably been close to ten hours already.

She hadn't even prepared Lily Liu's dinner last night.

She must've been starving by now.

Lulu Lu couldn't help but start blaming herself. As a yandere, forgetting the person she loved for that long really was a bit unqualified of her.

So Lulu Lu set aside what she was doing for the moment and happily went to make breakfast for her childhood friend.

Before long, the food was ready. It was still the same love-filled omurice and milk.

"Lily, good mor—"

Lulu Lu pushed the door open and entered, but her greeting got stuck halfway through. She didn't even get to say the word "morning."

A thick, overpowering smell hit her in the face and nearly smoked her right back out of the room.

What she saw was Lily Liu curled up on the bed, eyes red, expression blank, staring dazedly toward the doorway.

On the floor beside the bed was a yellowish stain. Most of it had already dried, but a small amount of liquid still remained.

Lulu Lu instantly understood what had happened, and silently cursed herself a couple of times.

Poor Lily Liu. She must've been tormented half to death.

Lulu Lu had forgotten to do the things she'd done in the previous attempt. Not only had she failed to unlock the handcuffs, Lily Liu's hands were still cuffed behind her back and tied to the bedframe with rope. And Lulu Lu hadn't prepared a collar or an extended chain either, so Lily Liu's range of movement was only that tiny little area.

That meant Lily Liu couldn't go to the bathroom. She could only stay in an extremely uncomfortable position, trapped in that tiny space, enduring hunger and humiliation for more than ten straight hours.

And last night, Lulu Lu had been so absorbed in thinking through her plan that she directly forgot about Lily Liu. On top of that, the rooms in Lulu Lu's house had excellent soundproofing, so she couldn't hear Lily Liu at all. Even if Lily Liu called for her, she wouldn't get any response.

The moment Lily Liu saw Lulu Lu come in, her expression instantly became incredibly vivid.

Lulu Lu could feel fear, joy, and terror all mixed together in it. They clearly contradicted each other, yet at this moment they were perfectly unified on Lily Liu's face.

"L-Lulu, y-you..."

Unlike in the previous attempt, Lily Liu didn't stop using Lulu Lu's nickname. She still called her "Lulu." Her voice trembled badly and sounded weak.

And Lulu Lu could even hear a faint trace of ingratiation in Lily Liu's tone.

Lulu Lu didn't know why Lily Liu wasn't as cold as last time, but she still gave her a sweet smile and replied,

"Lily, I'm right here."

"..."

"...Wah..."

The moment she heard that, it was like some string inside Lily Liu snapped. She burst into loud sobs.

Lulu Lu might've thought Lily Liu was crying because she'd been hungry for too long, or because she felt wronged, but that wasn't actually the case.

From Lily Liu's point of view, Lulu Lu's attitude toward her had originally been very passionate. Sometimes she'd do bold things, like forcing kisses or feeding her mouth-to-mouth, but Lily Liu could feel Lulu Lu's affection and favoritism toward her. That made it easy for Lily Liu to figure out how to respond.

Because of that, Lily Liu had believed that even though she'd been kidnapped, the situation was still under her control. She wouldn't be abused, and her life definitely wouldn't be in danger.

That was why she'd fearlessly tried to negotiate terms with Lulu Lu. And after stepping on a landmine, she'd boldly decided to ignore Lulu Lu from then on, using that as a way to show her dissatisfaction and punish Lulu Lu for not doing what she wanted.

Lily Liu knew Lulu Lu loved her deeply, loved her to the point of madness. As long as she didn't try to run away, nothing would happen to her.

Lily Liu had thought that even after saying something like that, Lulu Lu wouldn't do anything to her. If anything, she'd treat her even better as a form of "compensation."

But Lulu Lu's actual behavior wasn't anything like what she'd imagined.

Ever since Lily Liu said she didn't like Lulu Lu, Lulu Lu hadn't come to see her even once for the entire night. A whole night. She hadn't even brought dinner.

She couldn't even find Lulu Lu when she needed to use the bathroom. No matter how loudly Lily Liu shouted Lulu Lu's name, she got no response at all.

In the end, Lily Liu could only humiliatedly relieve herself on the floor beside the bed. Her panties and thighs were soaked through, and that wet, disgusting feeling stayed with her the entire night.

At first, Lily Liu felt furious. She was extremely, extremely angry, and decided in her heart that she'd never speak to Lulu Lu again.

But as time passed, her mindset gradually began to change.

From anger, to confusion, to sadness, and finally into fear and terror.

Especially when night came, and Lulu Lu still didn't come to see her, and she could only fall asleep hungry—Lily Liu really started to get scared.

After all, Lily Liu was only a middle school girl. No matter how strong her mental fortitude was, she couldn't endure this kind of prolonged torment.

She started overthinking. She became convinced that it was because she'd said, "I don't like you anymore," and that Lulu Lu had gotten angry and decided to punish her like this.

But the problem was, Lily Liu had no idea just how angry Lulu Lu really was.

If Lulu Lu was only going to ignore her for a while, like that neglect play the other day, then Lily Liu could still accept it.

But what if Lulu Lu abandoned her completely? What if she never came back?

If that happened, she would die...

Starve to death in this little room, and have her life end in humiliation... No matter how she thought about it, that was terrifying!

By the next morning, Lily Liu had already cried until her eyes were red, and the unease and fear in her heart had reached their peak.

Lily Liu was just an ordinary girl. Of course she was afraid of dying, very, very afraid. More than anything, she wanted Lulu Lu to appear in front of her. Every minute, every second, she prayed for it.

And only when she saw Lulu Lu push the door open that morning did the overwhelming anxiety inside her finally ease. In that moment, Lulu Lu seemed like a savior. Even the things Lulu Lu had done before no longer felt important.

Lulu Lu had no idea that in this attempt, getting so absorbed in serious business that she forgot her childhood friend had accidentally produced an unbelievable effect.

Give Lily Liu long stretches of neglect and torment, then hand her a lifeline just as her mind was about to break.

The stick and the carrot really was an effective method.

A method for training an "object."

Lulu Lu didn't care about the smell in the room. She walked over, sat down beside Lily Liu, and gently stroked her childhood friend's head with affection.

"Lily, be good~"

"Don't cry anymore. I specially prepared this breakfast just for you~ I know it—you must be starving, right?"

"Here, Lily. Let me feed you~"

So... Lulu Lu still loved her?

Lily Liu cried even harder.