Lyr quickly arrived at Yilu’s room, not daring to delay for even a moment.
At the doorway, several maids were frightened by Yilu’s state and didn’t dare go near her.
“Young Master.”
Lyr glanced inside and shook his head at them. “It’s nothing serious. All of you, disperse. Don’t crowd around here.”
According to what Yilu had said, everything she saw would be twisted into grotesque shapes. The maids in front of her would also appear that way.
To her, they were just a group of even more bizarre things surrounding her.
The maids only half understood, but they obeyed Lyr’s words, stepping back and leaving the doorway.
Entering the room, Yilu, who should have been lying on the bed, had vanished.
After searching, Lyr finally found her in the corner of the room.
She was curled up, squeezing herself into a ball, just like that night.
Lyr cautiously approached. When he reached her side, he saw that Yilu wasn’t screaming or shouting, but was breathing heavily, trying to calm herself down.
The paleness on her face and her obvious terror, however, didn’t fade from this effort; instead, they grew even worse.
Lyr crouched down. The slight sound still made Yilu’s entire body tremble.
When she saw it was Lyr, a hint of brightness gradually appeared in her dull eyes.
“Was it like last night again?” Lyr asked.
Even without the situation from last night, Lyr could see that Yilu was struggling to control herself.
Appearing for the first time without any warning, especially when the body was exhausted, would throw anyone into that state.
Fear came not only from the terrifying things themselves but also from one’s inner dread of the unknown.
Now, Yilu seemed to have mentally prepared herself. Knowing that everything before her was an illusion, she was striving to suppress her fear.
But it clearly wasn’t just a hallucination or illusion that could be broken by sheer willpower alone.
Even with all her effort to hold back, the horrific things kept surfacing, tormenting her mind—that was the most agonizing part.
Just like when Lyr had heard those sounds before, even if he knew they were probably fake.
Over time, in extreme irritation, you couldn’t even tell what was real and what wasn’t anymore.
Yilu didn’t answer Lyr. She forced a smile, her lips drained of color. “See? I told you, I’m fine. There was no need for you to bring me here.”
Still being stubborn.
Lyr couldn’t tell if Yilu was putting up a front or giving herself positive reinforcement.
At any other time, Lyr wouldn’t have indulged this behavior.
He would have just pulled her up, made her look around, and shattered her fragile, paper-thin facade.
But that would have been too inhumane.
So he went along with her words. “Yeah, you’re really impressive. I guess my actions were unnecessary.”
Hearing the affirmation, Yilu felt a little more confident.
That confidence came not only from her own ability to suppress the bizarre things but also partly from Lyr.
Finally, someone acknowledged what she said and did.
Even though she herself didn’t fully believe her own words.
In her eyes, everything was blood red. The reason she had struggled out of bed despite her injured foot was that everything had turned into what it was last night.
As if she had stepped into a deep pit again, falling into that horrible world.
Only Lyr’s appearance steadied her mind.
She was still panting heavily, and the excessive breathing soon led to continuous coughing.
It sounded like she might cough her throat out.
“I’ll get you some water.”
Lyr was about to stand up and fetch the cup on the table, but before he could move, he felt his clothes tugged.
Looking down, Yilu was tightly gripping the hem of his shirt, not letting him leave.
Remembering that when she looked at the cup, it was the color of fresh blood, Yilu felt nauseous and dry-heaved a few times.
“Don’t go,” she said, squinting hard to banish the images from her mind. “Just stay here. Right here is fine.”
“Then… okay.”
Lyr listened and gave up on the idea.
Unlike last night, Yilu was still somewhat conscious now.
What was the same was that she treated him as something special in her world.
A child having nightmares, even after waking up, needed an adult by their side.
Right now, Lyr was playing that role.
Tif and Teanya, who had arrived later, stood by the door, watching the scene.
Lyr gently patted Yilu’s back, helping her ease the discomfort.
Seeing her brother caring for another girl like this, Tif felt a strange sensation.
It used to be that Lyr only did this for her.
“Are you sure those two are really just in a simple relationship?” Teanya whispered.
She could notice the subtle change in Tif’s expression.
If Teanya was told there was nothing between them, she absolutely wouldn’t believe it.
“Just don’t go spreading rumors,” Tif said simply.
Tif didn’t know how to explain the situation between those two.
A simple teacher-student relationship—anyone who saw this scene wouldn’t buy it.
For now, it seemed Lyr could handle things. Just as they were thinking about whether to make themselves scarce, the maids who had withdrawn earlier let out a startled cry.
“Miss!”
Turning toward the maids’ voices, Tif was about to ask what was wrong when she was surprised by the sight before her.
In the dim corridor of the night, countless specks of light drifted freely, like a swarm of fireflies that had wandered into the house, slowly moving toward them.
“What are these?” Teanya reached out to touch a light speck, but a sharp sting made her pull her hand back in pain. “These things bite.”
Tif was also puzzled. She had never seen anything like this at home. “They feel familiar.”
The specks of light streamed in endlessly, creating a surreal scene.
They passed through everyone and entered the room, illuminating the entire space.
When Lyr looked up and noticed the lights entering the room, he froze.
The specks autonomously swirled around him.
“This is the aura of the Thunder Fairy.”
Long ago, when he was a child, he had received the blessing of the Thunder Fairy. The power and presence he felt now were exactly that.
As the specks of light entered, Yilu’s cheeks were similarly illuminated, her eyes glittering like stars.
At the same time, all those grotesque scenes were covered up.