At those words, she said nothing more.
Rosetti hurried over and helped Lin Ge up, her face full of worry. As she looked at his back, burned black as charcoal, guilt flooded her heart.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… It’s all my fault. If it weren’t for me… this wouldn’t have happened…”
“So the rumors really were true… Anyone who gets involved with a half-blood… is doomed to suffer…”
“This is all my fault…”
…
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes as she murmured in self-reproach… Her trembling hands covered her long, pointed ears.
It had always been like this. Whenever someone was kind to her, her lowly blood would bring misfortune upon them…
At first, Rosetti hadn’t believed it. She thought people only treated her that way because they’d never seen a half-blood child before, and that the misfortunes were nothing but coincidences…
But as time passed and she grew up, her understanding of the world deepened.
She understood now. Everything people had always said was true…
Half-bloods.
The general term for children born to parents of different races. Though there’s no such thing as reproductive isolation among the seven surviving races, that doesn’t mean children of different races have a low chance of survival. In fact, half-blood children sometimes survive at higher rates than children born to parents of the same race…
More importantly, every half-blood child is born with a special power unlike that of other children.
These powers might manifest physically, as special eyes, or as magic or martial arts unique to the individual… or even in their bloodline…
Rosetti’s Extreme Cold Constitution was one such power.
In battle, it greatly increased her own magic power and gave her an exceptionally strong affinity for ice magic.
It was precisely because of her Extreme Cold Constitution that Rosetti had enough magic power to withstand the backlash from a forbidden spell without immediately feeling unwell…
All right, here’s the question.
If that’s the case, and half-blood children have such extraordinary powers, wouldn’t the different races welcome intermarriage?
In theory, yes.
But people fear the unknown when it’s too powerful for them to control.
Including the three races that had already perished in ancient times, there were once ten races living on this continent.
The ten races often went to war over the resources they needed to survive. The wars grew so vast in scale that the world was once brought to the brink of destruction.
Back then, in order to win the war, some of the races made a decision.
They used captured enemy soldiers as breeding stock, hoping to increase their forces with the powerful abilities of half-bloods.
The method worked. For a time, the balance of victory really did tip in favor of those races.
But no matter how carefully they planned, they still failed… They were defeated by the half-bloods they themselves had created…
The historical records are incomplete, so little is known about why the half-bloods rebelled.
The only thing we know is that afterward, the ten races of old became the seven races of today…
It was then that half-bloods became a complete taboo.
It was also the beginning of everything that made Alice’s childhood so tragic.
If Alice hadn’t risked her life to save her back then, Rosetti might not have been able to endure that treatment much longer. She might have… ended her own life…
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I really shouldn’t exist in this world… If it weren’t for me, none of this would have happened… The children wouldn’t have been in danger, and you wouldn’t have been hurt… This is all my fault…”
Tears streamed down her face.
The ice girl who’d always seemed so strong, keeping her heart locked away, had finally thawed. Her emotions came spilling out.
The only thought left in her mind now was that she shouldn’t exist in this world.
Looking at her, Lin Ge didn’t say anything right away. His usual cheeky grin was gone. He’d started to lift a hand to wipe the tears beneath her swollen, red eyes, but then drew it back.
Then…
“Are you done? Our poor tragic heroine?”
“Huh?!”
Rosetti froze and looked up, staring in surprise at the man before her. His tone, his air, his whole demeanor—he was nothing like usual. All of a sudden, he seemed impatient… unfamiliar…
After a long while, she wiped away her tears. One corner of her mouth twisted into a self-mocking smile.
“Hmph. So it really is like that…”
She lowered her hands from her long, pointed ears.
She murmured to herself… Of course. Of course. It always ends like this…
No matter who it was, the moment they found out she was a half-blood, their attitude changed.
She’d even started to like him a little. But now… Heh, it wasn’t his fault. People were just like that…
She didn’t blame anyone.
But what was this faint hope she still felt…?
“Now that you’re done playing the tragic heroine, hurry up and help me get home. The kids are waiting there for their milk.”
…
“Huh?!”
A cloud of little dots floated over her head.
After she stood there dazed for a while…
“What kind of nonsense are you spouting?!”
Bam—! With her face burning red, she followed up with a punch to Lin Ge’s stomach.
Rosetti gritted her teeth, her face burning with embarrassment and anger. She’d been about to blow up already, and now he actually dared to say that.
Rosetti wouldn’t feel satisfied until she’d beaten this man flat.
“Ow, ow, take it easy! I’m a patient, you know.”
Holding his aching lower back and stomach, Lin Ge looked helpless.
Seeing that, Rosetti came back to herself, then lowered her head in disappointment once more.
“You…”
Lin Ge sighed helplessly and said, exasperated:
“Let me ask you something. Do you hate me?”
…
At the question, Rosetti nodded, then shook her head.
She didn’t seem to know herself…
“So which is it?”
“I used to hate you. Now… I guess you’re okay…” Rosetti thought for a moment, then said softly.
“Really? What a coincidence. Same here. I used to hate you, and now I hate you even more.”
“I-Is that so…”
Rosetti wasn’t all that surprised by his answer. She’d treated him so badly before, and she was a half-blood too. Of course he hated her… If they hadn’t had a powerful enemy to deal with, he’d probably have run off already…
“But aside from that, I like everything about you… The only reason I hated you before was that you were so cold and never smiled. And now I hate you because… I’m this badly hurt, and instead of giving me a loving hug and comforting me, you’re standing here playing the tragic heroine and wasting time. Are you actually trying to murder your own husband?!”
…
“Huh?!”
“What do you mean, ‘huh’? Hurry up and hug me. Comfort me!”
“O-Okay.”
Smack—
A faceful of chest smothered him—Lin Ge was all better, but Rosetti was the one left stunned…
—Who am I? Where am I? What am I even doing?
“Um, you…”
“All right, we can do the rest when we get back.” Lin Ge smiled as he pulled her away. “Go back first and let the kids know you’re safe. Meimei and the others are worried about you.”
“Worried… about me…”
Rosetti’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Then she pictured the children at the orphanage each evening beneath the setting sun, waving, laughing, and playing as they welcomed him home.
Tears began to well up in her eyes again.
But did she still have the right to enjoy all this?
“Why make it so complicated? I’m your husband, and you’re my wife. Isn’t that enough?”
