Chapter 144: Epilogue

Ever since that day, whenever night fell, Xingyu would wander through the grounds of the private Yezakura Academy, searching for the enchanting voice that had captivated him. Yet, despite his relentless search, he never heard it again, leading him to wonder if the singing he had heard that day was merely a hallucination.

Once more left empty-handed in the desolate courtyard, Xingyu stood bitterly, clenching his fists. "Lilith, I know you are here. Stop hiding from me and come out!" Finally losing his patience, he shouted into the empty surroundings. His voice echoed through the deserted campus, but met with no response. "Lilith, why won't you come out and see me? Lilith, answer me!"

Receiving no reply, Xingyu felt a surge of restless irritation. His magical power surged through his body, and a reek of blood permeated the silent campus, enveloping it in a crimson mist. "If you refuse to show yourself, I will thoroughly destroy this place and see where you can hide," Xingyu said in an icy tone. A pair of blood-red bat wings unfurled from his back, his unseeing eyes covered in a crimson hue, and magic began to gather in his hands.

"Stop!" Just as his magic began to run rampant, an old voice instantly pacified his agitation. An elderly man dressed in a black swallow-tailed coat materialized behind him, looking at Xingyu with a gaze full of sorrow and pity.

"Ang... My Lord." At that moment, Xingyu felt entirely at a loss for words, unable to tell whether he felt panic, anticipation, or pleasant surprise. All he knew was that his century-long loneliness had finally reached its conclusion.

"Xingyu, it has been a long time," Ang greeted him. Afterward, the two fell into a heavy silence.

"Lord Ang, where is Lilith now?" Xingyu finally spoke first, asking the question he had longed to voice.

"Ah..." Ang answered with a heavy sigh. "Xingyu, you should leave. Her Ladyship does not wish to see you. Please do not make things difficult for me."

"Why?" Hearing this reply, Xingyu froze, unable to believe his ears. "Why treat me this way? I have waited a whole century just to see Lilith—a full one hundred years!" he roared in incomprehension.

"I know," Ang replied calmly. "Her Ladyship knows as well. She even knew precisely where you were sealed away for the past century. Yet, she chose not to rescue you. Surely you understand what that means."

"Why? You're lying, aren't you? Lilith would never do such a thing!" Xingyu roared in fury.

"You should know that I have no reason to lie to you," Ang said, maintaining his composure in the face of Xingyu's wrath. "From the fact that Her Ladyship has consistently refused to see you, you should have known this would be the outcome, shouldn't you? She originally hoped that a century-long seal would cause you to forget her, but to her distress, you proved so stubborn. She sincerely hopes you will no longer intrude upon her life. She does not wish for her peaceful existence to be disrupted ever again."

"What are you saying?" Xingyu asked Ang, a deep sense of despair washing over him. He wished desperately that Ang's words were merely lies, but the old man's silent reaction shattered his final hope. "Do not disrupt her peaceful life?" After a long silence, Xingyu burst into reckless laughter. "I understand now! I understand!" He clenched his fists so tightly that his sharp nails pierced his palms, and blood trickled down his fingers. "I will leave. I shall never appear before her again. Is she satisfied now?" With that, unwilling to linger for even a single second longer, Xingyu spread his bat wings and vanished from Ang's sight in an instant, leaving a laugh of utter despair echoing in the night sky.

Ang gazed long at the direction Xingyu had departed, let out a soft sigh, and then turned and left as well.

"Is this truly for the best, My Ladyship?" Ang asked, his heart aching as he watched me staring blankly out the window.

"Everything is in the past now. There is nothing to regret. This is my own choice, and I will neither harbor resentment toward anyone nor complain against fate," I said quietly, without a trace of sorrow in my voice. "I wish to be alone for a while."

"Yes, My Ladyship." Hearing my words, Ang sighed helplessly, bowed, and departed.

Once Ang had left, my body slumped softly against the windowsill, drained of all strength, as a stream of blood-red tears slowly traced down my cheeks. "It is all over, everything is over," I murmured, a forced smile lingering at the corners of my lips to mask the agony in my heart. "Perhaps from the very beginning, we were never meant to meet. Xingyu, let us treat all of this as a mere dream and forget it entirely."

After standing in a daze by the window for a long while, I regained my composure and made up my mind. Gently drawing a sheet of paper from the desk, I picked up a pen and wrote a single line, then opened the window and vanished into the night sky.

I know not how much time had passed when Ang came to the door and knocked gently, receiving no reply. Growing anxious, he forced his way into the headmaster's office, only to find that I was already gone, leaving behind only an open window and curtains fluttering gently in the night breeze. Ang searched frantically everywhere, yet could find no trace of me. Returning defeated to the office, he finally discovered the note I had left on the desk.

"Ang, thank you for accompanying me all this time, but it is no longer necessary. Do not look for me again." Ang stared blankly at the message, losing all his usual composure. "My Ladyship, why has it come to this? What on earth are you trying to do?" he murmured, filled with overwhelming anxiety.

Meanwhile, unaware of the worry he was causing Ang, I had arrived at an amusement park. If Xingyu were here as well, he surely would have been deeply astonished. This amusement park had once held warm memories in Xingyu's heart; Xingyu, Xiaoyou, and I had laughed and played here with unbridled joy. And this park remained almost entirely unchanged from a century ago. The exact same amusement rides stood quietly in place, just as they had a hundred years ago, as if time had ceased to flow here.

Just like the private Yezakura Academy, I had purchased this amusement park and continuously rebuilt it over the past century, maintaining its appearance precisely as it was a hundred years ago, without the slightest alteration. This was one of the rare places where I had left behind warm memories, a sanctuary I cherished beyond measure.

"Perhaps treating this as my final resting place is a rather good choice," I whispered with a smile, gently beating the bat wings on my back as I hovered in mid-air, gazing down at the amusement park. "I have grown far too weary over these years. To have seen him one last time means I have no regrets left. My final wish has been fulfilled, and it is time for me to rest. Back then, you all left the chance of resurrection to me, but now I can only say I am sorry; in the end, I have wasted your kind expectations. Ultimately, I still failed to defy so-called fate." I spoke softly, gently stroking my long silver hair and touching my black eyes—legacies left behind by "them."

"Everything should come to an end," I silently murmured to myself.

Down in the underground chamber where Xingyu had been sealed for a century, he stood silently, facing an unexpected guest.

"Lord Ang, what brings you here? Weren't you the one who just told me not to disturb the peaceful life of His Majesty, the Vampire Prince? I have followed your instructions. Now, what further advice do you have for me?" Xingyu's tone carried a hint of mockery.

"Her Ladyship has vanished, shortly after making me bring those words to you," Ang said softly.

"What does that have to do with me?" Xingyu asked with a smile. "There is nothing left between us anymore, is there? His Majesty seems thoroughly unwilling to see me ever again."

"To see you, Her Ladyship stepped out of the room she had not left for decades. She remained in that academy for a century, preserving it just as it was," Ang replied calmly, unfazed by Xingyu's bitterness. "I have no desire to say much more. Her Ladyship told me not to search for her, and I will obey her command. As for your choice, I do not care to know. I merely came to inform you, with no other intentions. Her Ladyship said that everything has reached its end." With those words, Ang gently placed a note on the ground and vanished from Xingyu's presence without a trace of attachment.

Hearing this, Xingyu remained silent for a long while before picking up the note left behind by Ang. Ang had imbued the paper with magic, carving three words onto it so that even Xingyu, stripped of his sight, could perceive them. Having read the message, Xingyu froze instantly, as if those three words weighed a thousand pounds, his hands trembling ceaselessly. A moment later, he dashed out frantically.

"My Ladyship, I have followed you for so many years; I understand you far better than you understand yourself," Ang murmured, a faint smile finally touching the corners of his lips as he watched Xingyu rush out recklessly. Ang had left three words on that note: *The Amusement Park*. Having accompanied me for a century, how could my actions possibly be hidden from him?

The darkness of the night grew ever heavier, foreshadowing the approach of dawn. Rather than seeking shelter from the impending sunlight, I sat quietly at the very peak of the Ferris wheel, softly humming a tune. It had always been a regret of mine that I never managed to ride this Ferris wheel back then; now, I would treat this as making up for it. What would a sunrise truly look like? I had only ever read beautiful descriptions of it in books, never having had the chance to witness it with my own eyes. Now, at last, I had the opportunity.

Far away at the edge of the sky, the horizon began to pale, and the sun, hidden within the darkness, was finally about to awaken the land once more.

"Everything is ending; this is the final conclusion," I whispered softly, keeping my eyes fixed on the distance. This was the only chance I would have in my entire life—how could I miss a single detail?

At last, in the next instant, the sun leapt over the horizon, and its gentle morning rays awakened the slumbering earth. It was breathtakingly beautiful. If only my body were not consumed by a heart-rending, searing heat, it would have been even more perfect.

"Lilith!" An anxious cry reached my ears. Was I hallucinating? Why was this voice so familiar, so capable of bringing such peace? A black figure was flying toward me at high speed against the gentle morning light, and I saw flames leaping across his body, just like my own.

"Xingyu!" Why had he come here? He shouldn't have! Didn't he know this would cost him his life? I screamed inwardly, but my body failed to react in time.

Xingyu finally appeared before me, already battered and charred by the sunlight, yet a smile still lingered on his lips. "You foolish girl, what on earth were you thinking?" His hand reached out to caress my face.

"Why did you come? I told you I never wanted to see you again!" I cried out with all my might, the flames consuming my remaining consciousness. I knew I was about to vanish from this world, perhaps in the very next second.

"You fool, I simply wanted to watch one sunrise with you, though it is a pity we can no longer see it," Xingyu said, his unseeing eyes looking at me without reflecting my image, yet I knew his heart held my silhouette at that very moment. "How could I let you enjoy such beautiful scenery all by yourself?" He smiled brilliantly.

"Xingyu, you idiot!" I wanted to weep, but my parched body no longer contained any tears. I gripped his hand tightly and smiled softly.

A drift of fine ash slowly scattered in the morning breeze, while the rising morning sun shone with an extraordinary, breathtaking beauty. *(To be continued...)*