Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1198 Can you give her a hug?

Ling Ge soon realized that the girl in front of him was no longer Bai Ye, but another personality in her body. If it was Bai Ye, her reaction should not be so calm. The young man withdrew his hand, coughed twice to ease the embarrassment, and asked: "Are you... Gloria?"

"kindness."

The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes. Although her personalities were separate, her body was the same. So the drowsiness left after Bai Ye fell asleep still affected her, making her voice slightly sleepy: "Bai Ye, haah...she fell asleep, so I came out. Actually, I was a little sleepy too, but there was no way. I had to help her take care of this body. What if something unexpected happened while she was asleep? For example--"

At this point, Gloria looked at Linge with a strange look: "What were you going to do just now?"

Ling Ge's expression froze for a moment, but he quickly recovered and said calmly, "Actually, there are leaves stuck in your hair, and I just want to help you remove them."

"I believe it." Gloria nodded sincerely. Just when Ling Ge breathed a sigh of relief, she suddenly said, "I will tell Sister Xiao Xia that Ling Ge is a very considerate person and took good care of her when Bai Ye was asleep."

"This...isn't necessary, right?"

"I think it is necessary, hehe."

That happy laughter exposed her true thoughts, a person who likes to watch the fun and not mind the trouble. Ling Ge was helpless and a little surprised. When did the clumsy Gloria learn to play tricks on others? It was just as unbelievable as Bai Ye, who was always cold and stern, showing a weak expression. But these two things happened on the same night, and I think there must be some factors hidden in it that others don't know.

While Lingge was thinking about what this so-called inevitable factor was pointing to, Gloria had already climbed up from the ground using her hands and feet, and clumsily brushed off the fallen leaves and dust on her skirt. Instead of cleaning it up, her palms were made dirty, like a squirrel rolling in the mud. Although it was a bit unfair to say this, this behavior was in line with the impression of Lingge and the people on Yunjingkong Island: a serious but clumsy girl with a not very smart mind.

In fact, Gloria knew her own character flaws, but she was a cheerful person, always smiling, and almost no one had ever seen her sad or angry, so this flaw turned into another lovely feature of her. Only occasionally, on certain issues, would she feel a little sad.

For example, the question about White Nights.

"Ugh."

She suddenly sighed, attracting Ling Ge's puzzled gaze. The girl sighed in a sad tone, "What should I do? It seems that I have made Bai Ye very miserable today. When she wakes up, she will definitely come to trouble me. Then I will definitely be finished!"

She should be referring to the fact that she remained silent and cooperated with Ling Ge in threatening Bai Ye, but you only realized this now? I thought you were mentally prepared at the time, but it turned out that you just acted on impulse and didn't consider the consequences at all?
There seems to be no need to sympathize with a person whose reason is dominated by impulse. However, Ling Ge couldn't bear to watch an innocent (not necessarily) girl jump into the fire pit. In the end, he was moved by sympathy and said helplessly: "Then, when Bai Ye wakes up, you can come to me directly. I will apologize to her first. With me in front to attract hatred, she shouldn't care too much about what you did."

As for what Bai Ye will do to me at that time... we'll talk about it when the time comes.

"Really? Ling Ge, are you really willing to help me? "

Gloria clasped her hands together and stared at the young man in front of her. The light of admiration and gratitude in her eyes was so dazzling that it was as if she had seen the savior of the end of the world. If she had not retained her last bit of rationality, Ling Ge estimated that she would have hugged him directly. The young man quietly stepped back and said seriously: "Of course it is true. Besides, this matter was originally caused by me, so naturally I should bear the responsibility."

“Wow! Lingge, you are such a good person! I am so touched! You obviously did this for Bai Ye’s own good, so that she can face herself honestly, but you are so considerate, so gentle, and so understanding! Wow! I will never, ever forget your sacrifice!”

"Don't make it sound like I'm dead."

"Hey, but if Bai Ye were to target me...it might be the same as being dead."

"Don't say such horrible things!"

Lingge had to use a lot of words to calm her down. For a moment he couldn't tell whether Bai Ye was more difficult to deal with or this stupid guy was more difficult to deal with.

Maybe, the two personalities in the same body, even if they are completely different in character, will have some similarities in some areas, more or less?

……

"Anyway, you should go back and rest." Linger said to Gloria. At this time, the night had completely darkened. The campfire of the Ash Guerrillas in the distance was completely extinguished to ashes. Everything was silent. The occasional chirping of insects made it even more lonely and empty. If there were not some luminous plants and mosses in the forest, growing tenaciously in the darkness, there would probably not be a trace of light. At this time, except for night owls and night owls, other creatures should have fallen asleep long ago. Of course, a certain princess might still be awake. Although she has cured her insomnia, she still retains the bad habit of staying up late. Without Linger's supervision, she doesn't know when she will be willing to go to bed.

"Oh."

In comparison, Gloria is a good girl. She has long been accustomed to being controlled by others. She is usually controlled by Bai Ye. After boarding Yunjingkong Island, she is jointly controlled by Bai Ye and Sister Xiaoxia. Now with the addition of Ling Ge, she has no pressure at all.

"Then I'll go back to sleep. Ling Ge, remember to apologize to Bai Ye tomorrow, okay? Otherwise I will die!" Before leaving, she did not forget to remind the young man, but the content of her reminder was a little scary. Ling Ge didn't believe it at first, but after she emphasized it too many times, he couldn't help but feel a little scared.

Is the white night really that scary?
Then...should I have been more tactful just now?

If I bring Saint Shallia with me, can I survive her?

He thought seriously.

"Oh, right!" Gloria suddenly remembered something, turned around, and said to the young man very seriously: "Thank you, Lingge."

Ling Ge came back to his senses, looked at her, thought for a moment and replied, "It's nothing, as long as you don't think I'm going too far."

Bai Ye was almost angry and cried. Was this too much? Ling Ge thought that it was more or less. "It can't be helped."

Gloria didn't care at all and smiled: "Who made Bai Ye so stubborn? The usual methods won't work on her. Oh, if only I were as tough as you, but unfortunately I can't say such things. Bai Ye always treats me like a fool, so that even when I'm talking to her seriously, she always thinks I'm joking."

Ling Ge thought for a while: "So, you have been hoping that Bai Ye would make changes for a long time?"

"Of course!" Gloria said, "Because I am Bai Ye's inner... well, I mean, we are two personalities born from the same body. No one in this world understands and cares about each other better than us. Although Bai Ye always calls me stupid and likes to laugh at and criticize me, I know that's just her way of caring about me. As for me, I should understand Bai Ye very well, right? That's why I know how lonely she is."

At this point, the gray-haired girl looked a little sad, and her tone was much lower: "Because of her bad temper, no one dares to approach her. She doesn't like those people and resists their inexplicable appearance in her memory. In fact, sometimes even I don't quite understand her. I think that although those identities and memories are false, everyone's concern for us is not false at all. They just want to get along well with the 'Bai Ye' in their memories. No matter when, I can feel everyone's enthusiasm and love for me. This may be the reason why I can accept every new identity of mine with peace of mind. And Bai Ye, she likes to go into extremes too much..."

"Maybe she's not being too picky." Ling Ge suddenly interrupted the girl and said to her puzzled look, "She might just be scared."

"Fear?"

"Well, I'm afraid that if I accept every new identity, and also accept the relationships and care that these new identities bring, when they suddenly disappear one day, I will feel lost and empty."

And they will definitely disappear. This curse that follows the girl like a shadow is destined to make her wander in one dream after another. She will never be able to obtain stable happiness. Everything will leave her in an instant, just like when she wakes up from a dream.

Gloria murmured in a daze: "No wonder..."

No wonder Bai Ye always said that she didn't need those fake things, she only needed the real "self". Only real things would not dissipate, and she could possess them for a long time, just like a girl holding her favorite stuffed toy and never letting go.

But Gloria didn't feel that way. Whether she was adapting to a new identity or saying goodbye to an old one, she never felt resistance or sadness. Even when she woke up and her memory, personality, and interpersonal relationships had all changed dramatically, she was able to accept them in a very short time, as if she never thought about what the world meant to the identity that had disappeared? And what the world meant to the identity she just had? Because in essence, she was a personality born from Bai Ye's "wish" and lived only to meet her expectations. The emotions she could feel were all what Bai Ye lacked, desired, and could not ask for.

Does this mean that I have stolen Bai Ye's happiness?
After realizing this, the girl inevitably thought about it and felt a little depressed.

"You're right, she is indeed lonely." Ling Ge suddenly reached out and gently rubbed the girl's head, ruffling her long gray hair that she had just groomed, just like he did to Bai Ye just now, but this time the action was more gentle: "But, it won't be like this in the future, I promise you."

Feeling the warmth of his palm on her head, Gloria raised her head, her eyes slightly brighter: "Because you are here, Lingge?"

"Because of me and everyone else." Ling Ge corrected her.

"Hehe, it's almost the same, Lingge and everyone else." Gloria smiled happily with curved eyebrows.

Not knowing what she remembered, she hesitated for a while, but finally mustered up the courage to speak: "Um, Lingge..."

"what?"

"Before, I knew Bai Ye's loneliness a long time ago, and I wanted to comfort her in my own way, even if it was just to give her a small hug. But, think about it, Bai Ye and I share the same body, and even if I did that, I would just be hugging myself, right? It sounds a bit silly, and Bai Ye would definitely call me an idiot. So, I never dared to do it. But now, it's different now, because you are here, Lingge. You are a very gentle and considerate person. Even if you are cold, you are always thinking about others. So, although this is a very unreasonable request, can you please hug Bai Ye a little. I hope that she will not be so lonely in the future..."

After saying this, the girl carefully observed the young man's reaction, as if she was worried that her request would displease him.

In response to this, the young man reached out his hand to her and gently embraced this thin and frail body in his arms. When his hand was on her back, he could even feel the outline of the spine. It was hard to imagine how such a thin body could bear the two heaviest souls in life.

"Oh!" Gloria exclaimed, but with a smile on her face, she leaned her head gently on the young man's chest. Through his clothes, she could hear his heartbeat and breathing.

At some point, the moon rose quietly, the darkness was dispelled, and the woods were shrouded in milky white moonlight.

Under the moonlight, the silhouettes of the young man and the young girl hugging each other were reflected in the eyes of the gray-feathered falcon, and it tilted its head curiously. Perhaps it could not understand what human emotions were, so it did not see any ambiguity or charm in this hug, but simply thought that this scene was beautiful, the kind of beauty that could make people feel happy just by looking at it.

The only drawback is——

"That, Ling."

"what happened?"

"I just remembered that I am the one controlling the body now."

"Well."

"So, the person you were hugging seemed to be me..."

"Uh……"

Give me some meow