Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 610: Memories of the Past
"Hm?"
Steven immediately sensed that something was off.
"Why the sudden change of heart? Don't tell me you have some kind of emotional baggage connected to Lungmen... or did something happen there before?"
The moment he saw Talulah's reaction, he knew there was a story hidden beneath the surface.
His eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at the girl in his arms.
Anyone could tell that such an unusual response meant there was definitely something she wasn't saying.
Unlike Steven, Alina seemed to know at least part of the story.
She had frozen for a moment when Lungmen was mentioned as well. Pressing her lips together, she quietly looked toward Talulah with a concerned expression, clearly worried about her.
Realizing that she had revealed too much through her reaction, Talulah fell silent.
After a long pause, she finally let out a weary sigh.
"If I told you that I don't want to talk about it... could you accept that?"
Or perhaps more accurately—
"Would you still go looking for the answer anyway?"
Deep down, she already knew what Steven's answer would be.
Still, she wanted to hear it for herself.
Given Steven's personality, there was no way he would simply let something like this go.
Even if he stopped asking now, he'd probably start investigating on his own later.
When it came to satisfying his curiosity, Steven was remarkably honest with himself.
"Well..."
Steven rubbed his chin thoughtfully and shrugged.
"At this point, you don't even need to tell me much."
"Just from your reaction, I can already guess quite a bit."
He paused for a moment.
"If we rule out everything related to the Infected..."
"Then the only thing left would be your family, wouldn't it?"
Talulah blinked.
Steven's reasoning was surprisingly accurate.
There were only two things in the world capable of affecting her so deeply.
The Infected.
And her origins.
He still remembered her mentioning long ago that she had merely been adopted by Kashchey.
Whenever the topic came up before, Talulah would always steer the conversation elsewhere.
But judging from her current reaction...
There was a good chance that the family she had been separated from all those years ago was now in Lungmen.
What Steven couldn't understand was why she still refused to seek them out.
She was no longer under Kashchey's control.
So what exactly was stopping her?
There had to be more to the story.
"Tch."
Talulah rolled her eyes at him.
"Why are you so annoyingly smart when it comes to things like this?"
"Couldn't you pretend to be clueless for once and cooperate with me a little?"
"If you figure everything out yourself, how am I supposed to gracefully change the subject?"
Her complaint was full of helplessness.
Steven's intuition in matters like this was frighteningly sharp.
"Well, you won't tell me, so all I can do is guess."
Steven smiled.
"But some things are easier when you talk about them."
"Who knows? Maybe I could actually help."
Then he glanced toward Alina.
"Besides, judging by her reaction, you've already told Alina everything, haven't you?"
"If I'm the only one being left out, isn't that just bullying?"
"I'll be heartbroken, you know."
The moment he saw Alina's expression, he knew she was probably fully aware of the situation.
As Talulah's closest confidante, there was little she wouldn't know.
And if Talulah truly refused to explain, Steven was fairly certain he could just ask the little deer girl instead.
Alina had never been particularly good at refusing him.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you."
Talulah rubbed her forehead.
"It's just..."
She hesitated.
"I don't even know how to explain it."
"There's a lot of history involved."
"In the simplest terms, let's just say I haven't sorted out my own feelings yet."
"And I don't want to create more trouble for myself."
The word "Lungmen" was both familiar and distant to her.
Every time she heard it, memories surfaced unbidden.
It's the moment Kashchey had taken her away, setting her upon the path that would eventually lead her here.
If someone else had been taken that night instead of her… Would everything have turned out differently?
It was a question she had asked herself countless times over the years.
Closing her eyes, Talulah quietly sank into those memories once more.
Yet after thinking about it carefully, she realized something.
The resentment she once carried was no longer as strong as it had been.
Yes.
If she had not been the one taken away, she would never have suffered the hardships and burdens she carried today.
But at the same time...
She never would have met Alina, nor would she never have met Steven.
If she were given the chance to choose again—
For the sake of the warmth she could feel right now from the embrace of the person beside her—
Perhaps she would no longer cling so stubbornly to the choices made by others all those years ago.
The moment Talulah finally came to terms with it, it felt as though a lock deep within her mind had suddenly been undone.
A forgotten memory surfaced.
No—
More accurately, it was a memory that differed greatly from the one she had always believed to be true.
And with it came the answer to a question that had troubled her for years.
The day Kashchey took her away from Lungmen...
It hadn't been raining at all.
The vague expressions of her younger sister and her uncle, once blurred beyond recognition in her memories, gradually became clear.
There had been no cold indifference.
No heartless abandonment.
What she saw instead was regret.
Pain.
And helplessness at being unable to save her.
Talulah instinctively raised a hand to her forehead.
The unfamiliar memory left her momentarily lost.
But it didn't take long for her to understand.
This, too, had been one of Kashchey's traps.
By making subtle changes to her memories, he had ensured that she would have little desire to return to Lungmen.
And a Talulah who had nowhere else to go was far easier to control.
"What exactly is there to be conflicted about?"
Meanwhile, Steven was already heading in an entirely different direction.
Rubbing his chin thoughtfully, he began brainstorming.
"Were you abandoned by your family?"
"Thrown out of the house?"
"If that's the case, I can totally arrange one of those classic 'Dragon King Returns' scenarios for you."
He looked increasingly excited as he spoke.
"Three years have passed! Welcome the Dragon King's glorious return!"
With his current connections, pulling off something that dramatic would honestly be pretty easy.
The only problem was—
He glanced at Talulah.
"Actually... considering you're a girl, I guess it'd be more like the Dragon Queen's Return."
"...Please don't."
Talulah immediately shut that idea down.
Just hearing it made her head hurt.
"How did your imagination even get there?"
She shook her head helplessly.
"This has nothing to do with being kicked out of my home."
"The source of all these problems is still that damned Black Snake."
"Honestly, I just don't know what I should do if I actually return to Lungmen."
Now that her altered memories had begun unraveling, most of her resistance toward returning had already disappeared.
How could she not miss the only family she had left?
But even if she went back—
Then what?
Should she tell them that she had become Ursus's most wanted revolutionary?
That she was now responsible for leading thousands of Infected people who depended on her?
The mere thought of it sounded absurd.
And beyond causing them unnecessary worry, she couldn't see any benefit in bringing it up.
"I won't interfere too much with your family matters."
Steven shrugged.
"But I do think some things have to be faced sooner or later."
"Going back to take a look isn't necessarily a bad thing."
"At the very least, it might help ease some of the pressure you've been carrying."
He paused before adding casually,
"And honestly, if you don't announce who you are, who would even recognize you as the person you used to be?"
"And besides—"
Steven suddenly flicked her nose.
"This is supposed to be our date, remember?"
"Not a family reunion."
"Why are you worrying so much?"
"You seriously think that just because we're spending a few hours in Lungmen, your long-lost relatives are going to magically track you down like Winnie smelling honey?"
Talulah blinked.
The sharp flick against her nose snapped her out of her thoughts immediately.
When she came back to her senses, however, she quickly caught another detail in Steven's words.
"...What do you mean, 'our date'?"
Her eyes narrowed.
A dangerous smile appeared on her face.
Steven suddenly felt an ominous chill.
"You're talking as if you aren't planning to invite that big white rabbit along too."
Talulah's voice was perfectly calm.
Far too calm.
After all, she knew Steven's personality far too well.
If he had invited her and Alina, then there was absolutely no way he hadn't already planned to invite that troublesome rabbit as well.
"..."
<+>
Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
. . .
Tn: I updated the story daily, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 689: Impossible to Refute[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713
[2] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl/posts/arknightcraft-169789182?collection=55713