The warmth in her palm, if not held tightly, would quickly dissipate. The bone-chilling cold that followed, however, was impossible to shake off. But all of this paled in comparison to the intense trauma inflicted by Sāmu's words, delivered with a look of pure indifference.
Ruan Mei had imagined many scenarios for her reunion with Sāmu. More accurately, she had imagined Sāmu's attitude towards her. She imagined he would be sad, heartbroken, shattered, angry... Any of those would have been fine, as long as it proved his emotions were stirred, swayed by her! Like weights continuously being added to a scale!
Perhaps Sāmu was still far from her, and her own position was pitiably low and desolate. But eventually, as the scale tipped, he would gradually lean towards her. Because emotion itself signifies caring, signifies something that cannot be forgotten, cannot be discarded.
Love is a powerful emotion that deeply connects two people. And hate is no exception.
Ruan Mei would rather Sāmu hate her... than see his cold and heartless attitude!
Ruan Mei's hand remained suspended in the air, forgotten, appearing somewhat stiff. She looked at Sāmu's features, so similar to her own, pained by the lack of concern in his eyes, yet she couldn't help but try to hold on, her voice trembling for a rare moment. If scientists familiar with Ruan Mei were to witness this, their worldview would be shattered.
"S-Sāmu... don't joke with Mom, okay?"
"We can reconcile, we can start over..."
This was the real joke to Sāmu. Reconcile? Here and now? Ruan Mei, are you kidding me?
The boy looked at her coldly, not even wanting to say another word. If it weren't for the cold, dangerous aura radiating from Ruan Mei, which made him worry for the safety of the Express crew, especially Mother Himeko, he would not have remained in the same space as her for even a moment!
Himeko's brow furrowed tighter and tighter. From observing the situation and Ruan Mei's words, the woman had roughly guessed Sāmu's true origins. He was... a creation from Ruan Mei's laboratory? Ruan Mei had created him, but had also abandoned him. This had directly led to Sāmu being found by Kafka and joining the Stellaron Hunters.
Not only did she abandon him, but she also caused him to go astray? Himeko's dislike for Ruan Mei deepened by another degree; it felt like it couldn't get any lower. Fortunately, Sāmu's time with the Stellaron Hunters hadn't been long, and he hadn't been corrupted by Kafka. And it was a good thing he was with her now, finally having found a wonderful home.
If everything had ended there, it would have been a perfectly happy ending for everyone.
And yet, at a time like this, this woman Ruan Mei had the audacity to show up at their door! Himeko would not tolerate her hurting her Sāmu again and again!
The temperature in the air suddenly began to rise, and even Ruan Mei broke out in a thin layer of sweat. The woman frowned, and just then, Himeko strode past her. Whether intentionally or not, Himeko bumped Ruan Mei's shoulder, causing her to stumble slightly in an embarrassing manner.
Ruan Mei gritted her teeth, watching Himeko's back, a storm brewing in her eyes. Himeko paid no mind to the defeated dog's hostility. Her eyes were filled only with Sāmu. She came to the boy's side, giving him comfort and support.
"Mother Himeko."
Sāmu's eyes instantly cleared. They were filled with the very attachment that Ruan Mei had once cast aside like a worn-out shoe, and now could only long for from afar.
"What did you call her!?"
Ruan Mei's emotions surged once more. The floor around her frosted over again, plum blossoms dancing chaotically, and the temperature that had risen plummeted again.
This time, the one who responded to her was Miss Himeko, shielding Sāmu behind her.
"Ms. Ruan Mei—" she called out the woman's title loudly. "I believe that is none of your business, is it?"
"We are all adults. You are an Emanator of an Aeon, one of the eighty-four most intelligent beings in the entire universe. Surely you understand the principle that one must be responsible for one's own choices."
"Let's end it here. Stop pestering him. It's really unbecoming."
It was even, to some extent, disgraceful. Himeko's admonishment was polite, but it was her final courtesy.
Hearing Mother Himeko stand up for him, a wave of warmth spread through Sāmu's heart. He couldn't help but grasp the hem of Himeko's skirt, pressing his cheek against her back, closing his eyes, and letting her fragrance envelop him. He saw her as his steadfast shield, his pillar of support.
The past was unbearable to look back on. Perhaps, just as Mother Himeko had said, he should cherish the present and look towards the future.
Watching this scene, Ruan Mei's eyes blazed with fury. This was perhaps the ultimate insult to her! The child she had personally created not only refused to acknowledge her as his mother but denied and rejected her. Instead, he called another woman "Mom"! And they were so intimate with each other.
But all of this should have been hers to experience, to savor! How ridiculous, how pathetic!
Ruan Mei realized it. It must be Himeko! It was Himeko who had stolen Sāmu's love for her. It was Himeko who had brainwashed her child. It had to be her!
It turned out that when a person's anger reached its peak, they couldn't help but laugh.
"Heh... haha..."
Just like Ruan Mei at this moment.
"Unbecoming? Why don't I teach you, the thief who stole someone else's child, what 'unbecoming' really means!"
Himeko's pupils contracted sharply, sensing the impending crisis! Previously, Ruan Mei had been suppressing her power, trying to use a gentle, peaceful approach to transition the ownership of Sāmu. But reality had thoroughly disappointed her.
In that case, she would use the great power to reshape this reality and take her Sāmu back. She knew this child, Sāmu, was not bad. He was very obedient, just deceived by a bad woman, brainwashed by her secret methods.
It's okay, Sāmu... once you're back with Mom, everything will be okay. Mom will arrange the most detailed check-up for you. I'll erase all those bad memories of that woman from your mind. I'll return you to your original state. And then, we will explore the ultimate mysteries of life together. We will—become ■■ together!
"Crack, crack!"
With Ruan Mei at the center, a storm of ice and plum blossoms began to expand, sweeping across the entire platform of the Supply Zone! Red danger alarms instantly blared throughout the space station! The last time a similar situation had occurred was during the large-scale invasion of the Antimatter Legion!
For a moment, all the researchers in the Herta Space Station felt their PTSD flare up! Asta, who had been happily walking her dog, now had to rush back to the Master Control Zone to take charge.
So could someone please tell her! What kind of grudge or misfortune had this space station attracted! They hadn't had two peaceful days, and now what was this!
Soon, the Herta Space Station's intelligent system locked onto the huge energy reaction on the platform. It was coming from...
"Ms. Ruan Mei!?" Asta exclaimed in disbelief. On the monitor screen, Ms. Ruan Mei was at the center of the storm, like a divine being descending! The woman's eyes were utterly cold, her slender, jade-like fingertips plucking the strings of a ruan. Each note created ripples of invisible energy in the air. Each plum blossom, whether pale or vibrant, had now become a blade capable of easily ending a life. And the vast majority of them were aimed at Miss Himeko alone!
If Akivili, the Trailblaze, were still around, Himeko certainly wouldn't be feeling such immense pressure and the crisis of impending death. But the problem was that the Astral Express had lost the protection of its Aeon. Even as the train's navigator, Himeko could only rely on her own strength to navigate this vast galaxy.
Caught off guard for a moment, the woman's cheek was grazed by one of Ruan Mei's blossoms. A bloody scratch appeared, with bright red beads of blood welling up.
"Miss Himeko!" March 7th cried out.
"Himeko...!" Welt summoned his cane.
Dan Heng had long since silently taken up his Cloud-Piercer, holding the spear horizontally towards Ruan Mei, ready to defend at a moment's notice.
"Mother Himeko!" Sāmu's eyes turned red.
Even Pom-Pom on the train clenched its fists in anger, gritting its teeth. "That evil woman, how dare she hurt Himeko, Pom-Pom!" But besides being angry, the little creature couldn't intervene in the events outside the train. It grew more and more helpless, its eyes welling up with tears. "Waaah, Lord Akivili! Waaah!"
Perhaps Pom-Pom felt very heartbroken. Their Astral Express had really fallen on hard times. Now any random Emanator dared to provoke and bully them!
Stelle's approach was even more direct. "Evil woman, eat my bat!" But unfortunately, with her elementary level of power on the Path of Destruction, she couldn't even get close to Ruan Mei and was instead swept away by the blizzard.
"You forced me to do this..." Ruan Mei's eyes grew colder and more paranoid, like frost that never melts. "I just want to find my child. What's wrong with that?"
"You will never know how important he is to me!"
Until now, Ruan Mei's outward emotions had almost all been related to Sāmu, and they were overly intense. But this was abnormal. Or rather, compared to the Ruan Mei of the past, it was abnormal, unbelievable. She had once encountered some unspeakable existence, and because of an accident, she had sealed her heart and locked away her love. Not to mention, as her research into life deepened, she grew to feel that "emotion" was false and contemptible, believing it to be nothing more than a hallucination born from the regulation of physiological hormones.
Under such circumstances, she had lost her emotions and did not recognize the feelings of anyone else. This was what had led to... Sāmu's eventual self-destruction.
Perhaps the world had played a cruel joke on Ruan Mei. From the moment Sāmu self-destructed, Ruan Mei's withered emotions had, against all odds, taken root in her heart again and begun to sprout. And they grew at a speed that even she found incredible.
Was this a miracle... or a curse?
Ruan Mei had thought about removing this emotion that was wasting her brain's processing power through surgery or some other means. But after all, the dead cannot be resurrected. So, if she left this emotion alone... it would naturally wither away.
But the result was beyond Ruan Mei's expectations. Not only did it not wither, but it grew more and more robust, beginning to affect her research and daily life. She had been prepared, after that night of drunkenness, to make up her mind and completely cut out this mistaken emotion, to return to her rational self.
But... everyone probably knows what happened next. Sāmu's act of destruction to protect Kafka had deeply stimulated Ruan Mei, causing this emotion to iterate and deepen within the woman's soul!
One wrong step led to another. She could never go back! She finally understood what it meant to be filled with regret! What it meant to be heartbroken!
Sāmu's status and importance in the woman's mind could no longer be described as just reaching a new level. It was almost a "deification."
More deadly, more unforgettable than a "white moonlight"... is a "dead white moonlight." And what is more deadly than a "dead white moonlight"? Naturally, it is a "resurrected, unattainable white moonlight."
And the current Sāmu perfectly fulfilled this condition. If Ruan Mei could not have him, the woman might develop a mental demon! Her research, her ideals would all be damaged because of it! So, no matter the cost, no matter what false masks she had to tear away, she was determined to snatch her Sāmu back from Himeko's hands.
Nothing... could stop her now...
— "Enough!"
A young but majestic low shout seemed to resound from the depths of everyone's hearts! An endless, illusory rain of purple diamonds fell from the sky! The whole world seemed to be trapped in a giant circle!
It extinguished Himeko's flames. It restored Welt's distorted gravity. It suppressed the faintly roaring dragon shadow within Dan Heng. Most importantly—it completely quelled the blizzard Ruan Mei had summoned with the power of Erudition!
Everything returned to nothingness. The world was just a giant spinning top, and that was all.
Seeing this, Asta, in the Master Control Zone, disregarding the gazes of others, shouted out that person's name with immense admiration and excitement.
"Ms. Herta!!!"
This was the true power of an Emanator of Erudition. Even Ruan Mei, also an Emanator of Erudition, had to admit that there was a gap between Emanators. She had merely received a glance from Nous. But Herta—had saved the azure planet nineteen times! And had been granted an audience with the Aeon twice!
A "glance" versus an "audience." The difference between passive and active was destined to exist. Perhaps Ruan Mei could be on par with geniuses like Herta and Screwllum in terms of wisdom and genius. But in terms of the power of Erudition alone, she was far inferior.
The woman hugged her ruan, biting her lip so hard she tasted the sweet tang of iron. Of course, she was unwilling! But there was nothing she could do.
"Tap, tap..."
Herta, hugging a Herta doll, stepped out of a spatial gate she had opened out of thin air. Himeko hadn't even had time to thank her old friend for her help when she saw Herta walk straight up to Sāmu, who was about her own girlish height. She squinted, studying the boy carefully, and couldn't help but mutter.
"You, child... are you really unrelated to Idrila, the Beauty?"
"How about we all stop fighting."
"And you can just belong to me~"
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (330 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (130 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (140 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (330 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (160 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (170 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (90 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (130 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (140 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (148 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (150 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (130 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (100 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (50 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (80 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (90 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.