Chapter 260 | The Scary Manor

Chapter 260: 260 | The Scary Manor

Three massive bears were presented. One was white, another blue, and the third orange.

He grabbed the white bear first. "Lyra."

She looked at him.

He held it toward her. "This is yours."

Her pout disappeared instantly. Her eyes lit up. ’Mine?’

"Yes."

Lyra practically attacked the bear. She wrapped both arms around it. It was almost so large that half her body disappeared behind it.

Her delighted mental voice immediately reached Dexter. ’I love it!’

Dexter laughed. "Traitor. Five seconds ago you were angry."

Lyra ignored him. She buried her face into the bear.

Dexter took the blue one. "Selene."

Selene slowly turned. He placed her hands against the soft fur. Her fingers moved across it.

"It’s huge."

"Almost your size."

Selene examined its form before embracing it. A gentle smile emerged on her face. "Thank you."

Dexter’s expression softened. "You’re welcome."

Finally, the crimson bear. Dexter turned toward Mira.

She deliberately looked away. "I don’t want it."

"Certainly."

"I mean it."

"Absolutely."

Dexter placed the bear where she could see it.

Mira’s crimson eyes gave her away at once, shifting toward the bear, then away, then back again.

Dexter remained silent.

Mira kept staring; the bear wore a small black bow around its neck and had embroidered golden eyes.

Mira’s resistance lasted seven seconds before she spoke. "Fine."

Mira smiled. "I’ll forgive you."

Dexter raised an eyebrow. "You’re forgiving me?"

"You cheated."

"I bought you a giant bear."

"Compensation for your crime."

Dexter laughed. "Whatever helps you sleep."

He carefully positioned the teddy bear with her, ensuring it didn’t interfere with her comfort or wheelchair.

Mira’s recovered arm slowly curled around it.

Dexter observed the situation. He kept silent, yet his smile persisted.

The former Crimson Valkyrie, once an elite Hero feared throughout the dungeons, is now embracing an enormous crimson teddy bear.

If he’d possessed a camera...

Mira’s eyes suddenly narrowed. "Don’t."

Dexter froze. "Don’t what?"

"Whatever you’re thinking."

"I wasn’t thinking anything."

"Liar."

"I’m beginning to think you read minds."

Dexter looked at her suspiciously.

---

The four left the claw-machine stall looking ridiculous.

Lyra carried an enormous white teddy bear along with three smaller plushies. Selene had her blue bear. Mira had the crimson one positioned with her wheelchair. Dexter carried his pathetic little black teddy bear.

He looked at it. The bear stared back.

"At least you and I understand each other."

Mira chuckled. "You could have simply bought yourself another large one."

"No."

Dexter held the tiny bear higher. "I earned this."

Selene smiled. "After five attempts."

"Nobody asked you."

Lyra’s voice entered his mind. ’Mine only took three.’

"You took ten attempts!"

’I got three bears.’

"That’s not the point."

Mira added, "Mine took one."

Dexter stopped pushing. "Would everyone like to stop attacking me?"

"No," Mira answered.

Selene smiled. Lyra shook her head.

Dexter sighed. Marriage was dangerous.

He resumed walking. Despite his complaints, he couldn’t stop smiling.

The three women were different today. Not completely. Their scars hadn’t disappeared and their illnesses weren’t magically gone.

But they had changed compared to the past few months.

They looked... really happy.

Dexter slowed slightly.

When he’d first met them, happiness had seemed almost foreign to all three. Mira had been bitter and exhausted. Selene had been trapped in pain and darkness. Lyra had hidden almost everything behind an unreadable expression.

Yet today...

Dexter’s gaze moved between them. He felt something warm settle inside his chest.

Maybe healing wasn’t only about repairing meridians. Maybe it wasn’t only medicine, cultivation, bloodlines, talents and expensive ingredients.

Maybe sometimes healing being outside beneath the sun after spending too long believing there was nothing outside worth seeing.

Dexter smiled.

Then Mira spoke. "Where are we going now?"

He snapped from his thoughts. "Right."

He looked ahead. They had three original options: roller coaster, laser tag, and haunted house.

Dexter remembered Lyra’s enthusiasm earlier. A grin slowly appeared. "Haunted house."

Selene stopped, Mira raised an eyebrow and Lyra’s eyes lit up.

’Yes!’

Dexter pointed toward the enormous dark building ahead. It had been designed to resemble a ruined mansion.

Black towers rose above twisted artificial trees. Thick mist crawled across the ground around its entrance. Broken windows flickered with dim red light, while occasionally a shadow moved behind them.

A sign hung above the entrance.

NIGHTMARE MANOR

Below it: ENTER IF YOU DARE.

Dexter stared at it.

A woman’s scream suddenly erupted from inside and then an absolutely terrifying laughter.

Mira looked toward him. "Still confident?"

Dexter scoffed. "It’s fake."

Another scream came from the building.

And then a mechanical growl as sounds of chains dragging and something scraping against a wall. Then what sounded suspiciously like a child’s laughter.

Dexter’s smile became slightly stiff.

Mira noticed immediately. "Scared?"

"Me?"

Dexter straightened. "Never."

Selene tilted her head. "Your heartbeat changed."

Dexter looked at her. "Whose side are you on?"

Selene smiled. "The truth’s."

Lyra’s mental laughter echoed.

Dexter shook his head. "Fine."

He pushed Mira toward Nightmare Manor. "Let’s see who’s laughing when we come back out."

Lyra eagerly followed. Selene hugged her blue teddy bear and walked beside them.

Mira looked toward the looming haunted mansion. For a brief moment, Dexter saw something in her expression that resembled excitement.

His smiled as they approached the entrance together. Four people who, only months earlier, they had barely known how to exist in the same house. Now the were closer than they should have been.

Dexter looked at his wives. "One rule."

Mira glanced back. "What?"

"If anyone gets scared..." He grinned. "You can hold onto me."

Mira rolled her eyes. Selene smiled.

Lyra’s voice immediately entered his head. ’What if you’re the one who gets scared?’

Dexter smirked as he pointed toward himself proudly. "Like you always said, I’m not an ordinary person."

Mira’s smile became dangerous. "That wasn’t the question."

Dexter cleared his throat. "Let’s just go inside."

Mira and Lyra chuckled as they followed Dexter into the manor.

If his plan works, then they would clutch until him tightly anytime they were scared. As for him getting scared, Dexter didn’t think it would happen.

He already knew it’s fake in the first place.