Lemon Rock Candy

Wang Ning twisted and turned, using every last bit of her strength—outrunning these people with beast transformation bloodlines was no easy feat. She ducked into a bush and watched them disappear into the distance, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Finally shaking off the terrifying and frenzied army of pursuers, she stood up and looked at where she had ended up, stunned for a moment.

—A massive white church stood quietly here.

‘…How did I end up here?’

She took a few steps forward and found a signpost. It was made of wood, painted red, with gilded,烫金 lettering that spelled out the name of the landmark in a flowing, English-style script—St. Alice Academy Chapel.

She seemed to have accidentally wandered down a small path. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, she tentatively walked forward.

Following a path lined with white roses, Wang Ning finally saw a hidden pavilion amidst the overlapping scenery. The circular, pointed-roof pavilion housed a table and chairs, seemingly a place for people to rest.

‘Finally, I can take a break,’ the thought flashed through Wang Ning’s mind.

She had been a hamster on a wheel for nearly the entire weekend. Wang Ning felt she had been thoroughly tempered.

She randomly chose a stool and sat down, letting her mind go blank. She thought about everything that had happened since she transmigrated, and the more she thought, the more absurd it all felt.

In the game, she was just an ordinary passerby, racking her brains to get close to the protagonist and change the ending, restarting again and again without giving up.

In reality, however, she had met them even earlier than in the game’s plot—could this be a good change?

As she thought this, her eyelids grew heavy and slowly stuck together.

She had a dream, and it was not a very pleasant one.

The world in the dream was bizarre and fantastical, like a black curtain pulling back to reveal a stage. A golden crown fell to the dust. Rats or spiders scurried through dark corners. The crumbling, web-covered ruins still vaguely showed their former splendor. Red jewels, like scales, adorned a massive statue. She walked over, wanting to pick something up, but her feet, arms, legs… were suddenly bound tightly by black vines that shot out of nowhere.

A scorching breath seemed to brush past her ear. A hand casually reached out from behind her and gently toyed with the hair by her ear, stirring up waves of itchiness that made her breathing slow down, her heart oppressed to the point of nearly stopping.

She struggled to open her eyes, as if desperately trying to escape something, but that despairing voice still echoed in her ears like a maggot feasting on bone. No matter how far she ran, she couldn’t escape it.

Until the very end, when she missed a step and fell into an abyss, it was still that pair of hands that caught her, along with a nonchalant… chuckle.

[“Still want to play?”]

[“—My… little bride.”]

She woke up with a start, panting as she looked at her surroundings, only to meet a pair of large eyes.

Wang Ning used all her strength to suppress a scream. She shot up, but from sleeping slumped over the table for so long, her legs were full of pins and needles. The moment she stood up, her vision went black, and she fell to the ground with numb legs.

“Whoa! Are, you, okay.”

Wang Ning rubbed her bottom. Once her vision cleared, she looked at the owner of the voice.

—It was a small and extremely beautiful girl. She was kneeling beside Wang Ning, her ruby-clear eyes looking at her curiously. Her long, silver-white hair cascaded over her like satin, spreading out on the marble floor. She was wearing a chiton, similar to what was worn in ancient Greece.

The light behind her filtered through her snow-white hair, outlining a brilliant halo, as if she were a newborn divine messenger who had just stepped out of a sacred scroll.

“Who are you…?” Wang Ning was stunned by the pure, loli-like beauty before her, almost forgetting her own situation. Fortunately, she managed to regain her senses in the end.

The silver-haired little girl didn’t answer her question. Her eyes were like those of a fledgling bird seeing the sky for the first time, full of curiosity about the newcomer.

She reached out a small hand and pinched a strand of hair by Wang Ning’s ear. “Yours, mine, same.”

Her words were spoken in irregular, broken sentences. It took Wang Ning a moment to understand what she was trying to say.

Wang Ning looked at her hand. “Whose child are you?”

‘She couldn’t possibly be a student at Alice Girls’ Academy, right? I don’t remember there being an elementary school division here.’

‘…No, judging by her attire, she’s obviously not a student. Could she be from the church? Does the church have children this young?’

The girl opposite her tilted her head, her face, as exquisite as a doll, was expressionless. “I, not, anyone’s.”

“You, how, appear, here?”

Wang Ning was starting to feel the strain of talking to her. She didn’t answer, instead placing her hands on the cold floor, wanting to get up.

But the silver-haired little girl suddenly pressed down on Wang Ning. Her eyes looked at Wang Ning like a blank sheet of paper, her flat voice repeating, “You, answer, question.”

Wang Ning turned her head and placed a hand on her forehead.

—To resist the urge to pinch her cheeks.

‘Wang Ning, stay calm. You don’t know if this little girl’s parents are nearby!’

“But you haven’t answered my question yet. Why should I answer yours?” Wang Ning retorted.

The silver-haired girl’s expression went blank for a moment, as if she didn’t understand.

She had never encountered such a situation before. In her memory, no one had ever contradicted her.

But she was a quick learner. In order to get an answer, she quickly figured out how to adapt. “I am, Theia.”

“Okay, Theia. My name is Wang Ning. Could you please get off me so I can stand up?” Wang Ning said agreeably.

‘While it was nice to be close to a cute little loli, if her guardian showed up, it wouldn’t be nice at all.’

Theia was quiet for a moment, staring at Wang Ning. They had a staring contest, until Wang Ning’s hand reached into her pocket and found, besides her phone, a lemon candy.

Boli An’s passion for sweets was on par with her love for sleeping. Occasionally, Wang Ning would sneak a candy from her pocket and pop it in her mouth—only to have her teeth ache from the sweetness, making her suspect that Boli An had put it there on purpose.

But as it turned out, no matter what kind of candy it was, as long as it was in Boli An’s pocket, it would be dozens of times sweeter than usual—what kind of crazy principle was that?

Because of this, the only candy Wang Ning could barely tolerate was lemon rock candy.

“How about I give you a candy?” Wang Ning asked.

“Candy?” She took it, puzzled, and carefully observed the bright yellow candy wrapped in transparent paper in her hand, as if she had never seen one before.

“Yes, it’s a very, very sweet food,” Wang Ning explained.

Then, she watched as Theia put it directly into her mouth.

“Wait, you didn’t unwrap it!”

Wang Ning could finally stand up. Under Theia’s gaze, she unwrapped the candy and handed it to her.

Theia carefully took the candy, put it in her mouth, and slowly, her face scrunched up like a steamed bun. Crystalline tears welled up in her ruby-red eyes.

—She was crying from the sourness.