usenovelgroup Chapter 28 Spring Thunder
Chapter 28 Spring Thunder
Alicia had a long-ago dream.
The green wheat ears swayed in the wind like waves, and the cool summer breeze, carrying the scent of harvest, brushed against her tender cheeks.
The cicadas in the trees, the church bells in the countryside, and the sky ablaze with the colors of sunset wove together her childhood dreams.
Light footsteps left their mark on the fertile, dark soil, and flowing skirts, like ripples left by a ship cutting through waves, left their traces on the wheat field.
The black-haired girl raised her hand, and the wheat awns swaying in the wind brushed against her tender hand.
"Sister, sister, please slow down!"
She stopped in her tracks.
Turn around.
A delicate and adorable girl, as exquisite as a doll, stumbled and jumped off the ridge of the field, then wobbled along the trail of the girl in the wheat field.
A middle-aged lord dressed as a knight held up an umbrella, beneath which sat a man in a brown short coat, his hands behind his back, quietly watching the girls frolicking in the fields.
The girl was running when she suddenly fell to the ground with a thud.
The pain and heat made her burst into tears.
"Master, do you need me..." The lord looked at the fallen girl and respectfully asked the man beside him.
The man, referred to as the head of the household, shook his head and stood silently like a statue.
The girl's crying gradually subsided. She rubbed her tear-streaked cheeks, and black mud smeared onto her tender face.
She glanced at the girl ahead who wasn't turning back, then looked at the man on the ridge of the field with a pitiful expression.
"Father! My sister is bullying me!"
"It's clearly because you're walking too slowly—!" The girl in front turned around.
"If you fall down, you should learn to get up instead of praying that your father will come to your rescue." The man's words, carried by the summer breeze, reached the girl's ears.
"But I don't have the strength to get up..." the girl sobbed.
She mustered her last bit of strength to sit up, and there was a ladybug perched on the ear of wheat in front of her.
The brightly colored creature immediately caught her attention.
Before she could reach out and touch it, the afternoon wind, carrying the exhilaration and passion of midsummer, swept across the wheat field like waves, and the tiny insect fluttered its wings and drifted away on the wind.
The girl stared blankly at the small black dot that gradually disappeared into the distance.
She suddenly felt someone touch her head.
He turned his head away.
The girl smiled and reached out her hand, her plain skirt also stained black with mud.
"Get up quickly."
"Father is waiting for us over there."
"Hmm...——" The gentle voice suddenly became sharp and piercing, like the sound of wind twisted by a narrow gap. The wheat field under the summer sky quickly turned gray like a solar eclipse, or faded and disappeared like crumpled waste paper.
"Sister, sister, damn it, Father, why do you always compare me to my sister? What do I lack compared to her?" The angry girl almost roared at the indifferent man, beside whom stood a graceful young woman who had grown up.
The somber scene folded and spun again like a kaleidoscope.
"Edith, do you even realize how much shame you've brought to the Enfield family with your despicable deeds?!"
"But he insulted me first! Am I not part of the family? I was just returning his insults verbatim!"
"Are you saying I should just let him insult me like that, like a foolish crow that gets pelted with stones and can only sullenly hop away?"
"Yes, Alicia is my sister, the eldest daughter of the Enfield family, a role model in everyone's eyes, and the hope of the younger generation. She was insulted, but you and the family stood up for her. What about me?"
"Damn it!" The man slammed his hand on the table. "Edith, you've disappointed me so much—!"
Gradually, the gray scene turned completely black.
A wisp of fire gradually ignited in the darkness.
Alicia reached out her hand, trying to feel her way through the pitch-black darkness, but all around was quiet.
She cautiously approached the flame.
The flames twisted and rose, then revealed the fiery eyes of the Fiery Demon.
"Sister, I am not you. I don't have as many feathers to cherish. I only know that for the things I cherish in my heart, no matter the outcome, I am willing to risk everything. No matter where the road leads, I will go to the end."
"If you want it, then come and get it yourself if you have the ability."
"ah--!"
Alicia sat bolt upright in bed, her entire body drenched in cold sweat.
She slowly rose, and the girl's reflection in the mirror under the moonlight looked so fragile and helpless.
I am the most outstanding heir of the Enfield family.
I am Edmund’s best student.
But what will be the price?
"Alicia, don't be proud, be humble."
"Are you getting all cocky over this? Expecting me to praise you? If I had been like this when I was your age, your grandfather's stick would have been swinging at me by now."
Alicia leaned against the balcony, where a heavy curtain of clouds could be faintly seen in the distant sky.
"But I want to eat that too..." The girl in her memory looked at her peers passing by, holding candy and cake.
"You are destined to inherit the Enfield family, Alicia. You are the eldest son of the Enfield family, unlike her."
Different.
For the sake of the so-called heir, for the sake of the so-called head of the family.
Haven't I lost just as much as you have?
While my peers enjoyed their youth at tea parties, I memorized and learned family knowledge under my father's supervision.
While my peers shed tears in the theater for romantic operas, fantasizing about when such a beautiful love would fall upon them, I lay in bed late at night, too painful to utter a sound because of a sprained ankle from training.
Everyone around me approached me in the name of the family, either with self-interest or to test me. All I could do was stand by my father's side, forcing a smile, and talk to them like a so-called aristocrat, discussing the so-called future of the family and cooperation with these despicable people.
It's so rare to meet someone who's completely different from everyone else.
But I…
Alicia bit her lip, the metallic taste lingering in her mouth.
He was arrogant and self-important, but in the end he was like a coward, lacking even the courage to face his own conscience.
A pale glimmer of light briefly flashed across the dark clouds on the horizon.
A dull roar swept across Karenbel under the cover of night like waves.
"I will be your proudest student, Edmund."
"You already are." The young man in my memory always had that nonchalant demeanor.
"One day, I will make you truly proud of me."
He simply smiled faintly, his figure gradually fading away, leaving only the fence gate swaying in the snowy night wind.
I'll go get it myself.
I will no longer act like a coward.
I will prove myself.
In the name of the Enfield family, and in the honor of Alicia Enfield.
I will take back everything that is rightfully mine.
Meanwhile, at 179 Green Oak Street, far away.
The drizzling rain soon began to fall.
Edith lay sprawled on the bed, clutching her Edmund pillow, a drop of drool escaping from the corner of her mouth, her blissful expression clearly showing she was lost in a beautiful dream.
The silver-haired girl next door was curled up in bed.
She silently gazed at the rain outside the window.
No more worrying about not finding shelter from the wind and rain!
I…
The girl held her hands tightly against her head, so that she could mistake it for Edmund's caress.
I want to... but...
"I still think she's a bit slow."
"She is not a burden."
We shouldn't cause any more trouble for the owner.
I just want to be by his side; after all, I still owe him my life.
She curled up in the blankets, listening to the rain tapping against the window, and gradually fell asleep.
On the folding bed in the study, the young man named Edmund breathed quietly and slept peacefully.
[The knowledge points of Alicia's "Determination to Burn the Boats" have been mastered. No usable items were detected for the course points, so gold coins have been issued instead.]
[I have mastered the key points of Esther's "Despicable Cravings". No usable course points were detected, so I have switched to issuing coins.]
[Host detected to be in deep sleep. Automatically entering Do Not Disturb mode. Messages have been automatically hidden and will be retained for three hours. Goodnight, Makka Pakka!]