Chapter 556

What he was talking about was the timeline from the previous cycle.

In that world without Liguang, he had searched every corner of the city while clutching her figurine, screaming on the floor of the entryway, asking where Little Star had gone…

That despair that had nearly torn him apart had all been real!

Liguang knew that.

The soft, trembling body in his arms gradually began to calm.

But she was still trembling faintly, holding him so very, very tightly.

“Liguang knows. Liguang knows…”

she murmured, her voice muffled against his chest, thick with sobs.

“Liguang knows… Master can’t live without Liguang anymore…”

“Liguang is just… so useless…”

“Liguang only dares to bully… the Master who loves Liguang…”

She hugged him even tighter.

“Master… Master, please don’t recover your memories, okay…!”

Her voice became tearful again, aggrieved like a child.

“Liguang doesn’t want Master to recover his memories…!”

Fang Qi fell silent.

The seashell wind chime above them jingled in the breeze.

Although he had just said something like, “What does finding the Fang Qi from before I lost my memory have to do with me, someone who only plays galgames…?”

In truth, he knew that the Fang Qi before he lost his memories and the Fang Qi after he lost them…

Were both still himself.

Just like the Liguang before she lost her memories and the Liguang after she lost them were both Liguang—inseparable from one another.

So…

“…Liguang, can you tell Master?”

Fang Qi spoke softly, stroking Liguang’s back and soothing her with slow, gentle pats.

“Tell Master what you know. Master will help you figure out what to do, all right?”

“If… if it really was Master’s fault, then…”

He drew a light breath, his gaze slowly coming back into focus.

“Then Master will willingly let Liguang lock him up.”

“So even if Master recovers his memories, he’ll never be able to escape.”

“All right…?”

He was completely serious.

The soft body in his arms continued to tremble. She remained silent for a long time.

The waves gently lapped against the raft. The starry sky overhead slowly revolved. Finally…

“…Okay.”

The silver-haired girl buried in his arms spoke, her voice still thick with sobs.

“Master, Liguang believes in the Master you are now.”

“Liguang knows that the Master you are now loves Liguang very, very much.”

“Liguang knows…”

She rubbed her cheek forcefully against his chest twice, wiping away all her tears on his shirt, then hugged him even more tightly.

“Liguang will tell you.”

“Liguang will tell you right now.”

“Master, Master, you… ngh!”

Liguang’s voice caught in her throat again.

The crimson light in her chest flashed wildly, staining her silver hair and his lapels a bloody red.

But she still did not raise her head. Her breathing even began to turn ragged!

Fang Qi continued stroking her back, following the length of her silver hair.

“Take it slowly. There’s no hurry.”

He comforted her in a soft voice.

“Master is right here. I’ll always be right here.”

“On the raft we built together. In our home upon the sea.”

His lips gently brushed against the tip of her ear.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here.”

Liguang finally steadied herself once more.

Her breathing gradually became calmer, and her racing heartbeat slowly began to settle.

But she still did not raise her head. She kept her face buried in Fang Qi’s chest, hiding herself in the safest place she knew.

“…Master, you really…”

She finally spoke. Her voice was still muffled, but her trembling had eased considerably.

“You’re so good at lying. So good at deceiving people.”

“Just like…”

Liguang paused.

“Just like the way Miss Lin pretended to be Master’s junior colleague at the company… and deceived Master…”

“Master also pretended to be the Master who loved Liguang… and deceived Liguang.”

…?

What…?

“You deceived Liguang…”

Her voice caught.

“So terribly… so terribly!”

Fang Qi’s pupils slowly lost focus.

Lin Xiaoyou…?

That was right. Miss Genius had fabricated the persona of the naive Lin Xiaoyou and deceived him so thoroughly.

That round-faced girl with the cheeky grin, who was always asking for trouble and driving people crazy, had been fake from the very beginning.

It had been a disguise Lin You created to infiltrate his life.

And he…

Before losing his memories, he had been “taught” by Lin You.

The method of sealing away memories was something he had learned from Lin You.

The “memory switch” in his mind had also been taught to him by Lin You.

She had taught him how to lock away his own memories.

And he had done so in order to… deceive Liguang?

But…

“Why?”

Fang Qi murmured.

He stared at the dazzling starry sky above them, but his gaze was completely unfocused.

“Why would I deceive Liguang…?”

The soft body in his arms began trembling again, and his chest grew wetter.

“Because…”

Liguang murmured.

“Because from beginning to end, Master had been… planning to leave…”

Her voice was hoarse.

“Because Master created Liguang only to…”

She suddenly raised her head and looked at Fang Qi with bloodshot eyes!

The light in her crimson eye had dimmed considerably, while the blue glow in her amber eye flickered chaotically. Her face was streaked with tears!

“To make this world reach its complete ending… and then leave in the end…!!”

Her voice was hoarse and filled with sobs!

…Huh?

Fang Qi stared at her in stunned silence.

Liguang stared back at him, her gaze trembling. Another tear slid from the corner of her eye…

Then she abruptly buried her head again and clung to him!

“Master created Liguang when he was still a child…!”

Her voice was muffled, yet still trembling.

“And it was only so that Liguang, this ‘heroine,’ could be born…!!”

“Without Liguang, Master wouldn’t be able to leave…!!”

“Liguang… Liguang was nothing but…!”

She clung desperately to Fang Qi!

“Nothing but a tool for Master to leave!!!!”

She suddenly let out a heart-wrenching scream, crying out with all her strength!

The crimson light in her chest flashed violently, only to be suppressed by the deep blue light!

Then the crimson light gained the upper hand again, and the blue flickered once more!

Her original core and crimson eye were locked in a fierce struggle!

In the end, perhaps because her emotions had spiraled out of control, the blue light gained the upper hand. But…

“Why?! Why?!”

Still in Fang Qi’s arms, she continued to sob hysterically.

“Liguang knows…! Liguang knows that Master loves Liguang!”

“But if Master recovers his memories! If…!!”

“No…! Liguang is going crazy!”

“Liguang is going crazy, aahhh!!!”

She screamed in Fang Qi’s arms!

Even with the blue light suppressing her, she did not do anything else to Fang Qi…

Yet she was still utterly frantic!

It was as though all the grievances, fear, and lingering dread she had held in for so long were finally being released all at once!

And Fang Qi…

He held the violently trembling body in his arms tightly, staring at the starry sky above them…

His gaze was blank.

Huh?

…Could it really have been like this?

Could things really have happened the way Liguang said…?

Impossible…

It was impossible! This couldn’t be…!

His lips trembled violently!

But this really did seem possible…?

Huh?

His mother’s notes had mentioned it…

When he had been very young, before Liguang existed…

He had already drawn the “Silver-Haired Big Sister.”

When he was three, he pointed at a sketch and said he wanted a “Silver-Haired Big Sister.”

By the time he was four, he had already chosen a name for her.

At five, he could draw crooked, wobbly design plans, labeling them “like amber-colored gems” and “like crimson flames.”

He had been so young then. Why had he been so fixated on a “Silver-Haired Big Sister” who did not yet exist?

Because he needed that Silver-Haired Big Sister.

Because she was the “heroine” he had to create in order to leave this world…

Without Liguang, there would be no My Yandere Mechanical Wife.

Without My Yandere Mechanical Wife, there would be no [Eternal Devotion].

Without [Eternal Devotion]…

He would be unable to leave.

So…

Fang Qi held the warm, trembling body in his arms even tighter.

Had he been “planning” all of this since infancy?

Had he already begun laying out his plans to leave before he could even speak properly?

He had created nine super cores.

One of them was Liguang—his “heroine.”

The other eight were “insurance”—contingencies to make sure the plan did not go wrong.

Then he had sealed away his own memories.

He had molded a new persona for himself.

And he had remained by Liguang’s side as a “player.”

So when Liguang said she was merely a tool…

That was exactly what she was in his plan…

An essential prop for him to leave this world.

Without the heroine, there could be no ending.

Without an ending…

There would be no way to leave?

So from the very beginning… he had been deceiving her?

He had pretended to love her.

No. That was wrong.

It was not that he had “pretended” to love her. He had made himself…

Truly fall in love with her.

Just like the naive Lin Xiaoyou.

The naive Lin Xiaoyou genuinely liked him.

And he genuinely loved Liguang.

Only when even he himself did not know the truth could this “love” be real.

Only then could Liguang fail to see through it.

Only then could he…

Deceive the eyes of the world?

Fang Qi’s gaze trembled violently!

…Had he really deceived it?

It seemed that he had.

So this was what it meant to “enter the game with one’s whole self”?

Using amnesia as a means to turn himself into part of the plan, too.

Splitting the person called “Fang Qi” into two…

One who knew everything, who devised the plan and arranged every contingency…

And one who knew nothing, who sincerely fell in love with Liguang and wanted only to be with her.

Then he had sent that ignorant version of himself to pursue Liguang and complete…

The final [Eternal Devotion].

Once the day the plan was completed arrived, the version of him who knew the truth would return, reclaim everything, and…

Leave this world perfectly.

…What a perfect plan.

Perfect, and utterly heartless.

If that really was the case, then what Liguang had done was not wrong.

In fact…

She had even been too softhearted to let his wife serve him shark fin…

But…

“But…”

He spoke, his voice hoarse.

And then…

“But things are different now!!!”

He suddenly roared as well!!

The cry startled Liguang, who was still sobbing in his arms, making her tremble.

“I can’t leave Liguang anymore!!”

He held the trembling softness in his arms tightly and shouted,

“I can’t abandon Liguang!!”

“The plan must have… must have changed by now!!!!”

The Fang Qi from the past had made that plan before he and Liguang had experienced any of this together!

Back then, Liguang had been nothing more than a “tool” to him—nothing more than a “heroine,” a “key” to leaving this world!

But things were different now!

He and Liguang had been through so much together!

He had died for her so many times!

She had broken down over him so many times!

They had gotten married!

They had shared a bed!

They had built a little house on the sea together!

They had kissed beneath the stars!

They had spent so many warm, peaceful days together!

Could the Fang Qi from the past—the Fang Qi before he lost his memories—have foreseen any of this?

Impossible!

So the plan had changed! It definitely had! Even if he still intended to leave, he would definitely take Liguang with him…!

“B-but, Master…!”

Liguang lifted her head and looked at him through tear-filled eyes.

Her small face was streaked with tears, and her eyes were red like a rabbit’s.

“It’s only because Master’s current personality thinks that way… What if Master regains his memories…?”

Her voice caught again.

“It’ll be the same even if I regain my memories!!”

Fang Qi clenched his teeth and declared it with certainty!

That was right! It would be the same!

He had already regained his memories once!

Although those memories had vanished again soon afterward…

He still remembered that feeling very clearly!

On the final day of that altered timeline, in that crumbling apartment, beneath those shattered skies…!

Even after regaining his memories, he had still loved Liguang!

Whether before or after regaining his memories, he loved Liguang!

He had still regarded Liguang as his most beloved wife!

There was absolutely no doubt about that!

He could never abandon Liguang! Absolutely never!!

Besides, the plan had also involved seizing some kind of authority over the world, hadn’t it?!

There had to be…

There had to be some part of the plan that Liguang did not know about!

Liguang was simply overthinking things!

That had to be it!

And besides…!

“Liguang! Don’t compare me to Lin Xiaoyou!”

He forcefully lifted Liguang’s tear-stained face and stared intently into her tear-filled heterochromatic eyes.

“Although Master’s ‘memory switch’ was inspired by Lin Xiaoyou…”

“Lin Xiaoyou and I are different!”

He declared this with unwavering conviction.

“Lin Xiaoyou practically fabricated an entire personality!”

“The naive Lin Xiaoyou and the genius Lin You are completely different people!”

“But I’m not!”

His hands tightened their grip slightly.

“I merely sealed away a portion of my memories!”

“My personality, my preferences, and my love for Liguang have never changed!”

“I’m still me! I won’t stop loving Liguang just because I regain my memories! So…!”

“But, Master…!”

Liguang suddenly spoke in a trembling voice, interrupting him!

Her tears continued to fall. The fear in her heterochromatic eyes made Fang Qi’s heart tremble.

It was as though she was afraid of some even more fundamental, deeply buried truth.

“Before Miss Lin regained her memories…”

She murmured,

“She never had any memories of being a child as a genius…!”

“So…”

Her trembling gaze fixed on Fang Qi.

“Master, are you really certain that those memories from before your transmigration…”

Her lips trembled.

“…are real?”

“What if they were… fabricated…?”

Huh?

Fang Qi’s pupils suddenly widened!

…?

Wait…!

“Why…”

Liguang continued murmuring, her voice so soft that it was almost drowned out by the sound of the waves.

“Why did Liguang see…”

She raised her head, her heterochromatic eyes staring straight at Fang Qi.

The crimson in her red eye had completely faded, while the deep blue in her amber eye was almost extinguished as well.

Only two pools of fathomless, glimmering water remained.

“…another world, completely different from this one?”

Fang Qi: “?”

Huh?