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墨書 Inktalez
The next morning, Natalie woke up to find the castle empty, and she had no idea where the demon had gone. Her only hope was shattered; the dream of reviving her Lover was gone. Thinking of this, Natalie began to cry once more. Her soft sobs were so beautiful and poignant that they resonated deeper than any music in the world.
At that moment, the demon reappeared.
The demon approached her and said softly, "You should leave this place."
"Why do you want me to leave? I would willingly give you my soul after death; why won't you help me?" Natalie stopped crying and asked.
The demon pondered for a moment before replying, "It's not that I don't want to help you. Considering how much you love your Lover, I will tell you the truth."
"What truth?" Natalie looked at the demon in shock.
"I can bring your Lover back to life, but when he awakens, he may have no memory, no soul, and may not even possess emotions. He will live as a soulless shell. Such a being is no different from being dead. Would you still be willing to exchange your soul to revive him?"
Natalie hesitated for a moment but then thought carefully for a long time before firmly saying, "I am willing."
"Why?" the demon asked.
"If he comes back without his memory, I will tell him everything that happened before. If he has no soul, I will use my heart to touch him. If he forgets our feelings for each other, I will make him fall in love with me again. I am confident that I can help him become a real person with flesh and blood, with a soul and emotions," Natalie replied.
The demon sighed and said, "Since you are so confident, I will revive him under the agreed conditions. However, you must do as I say."
"What do I need to do?"
"Please give me your Lover's hair, and I will use magic to hide his body in the Source of Life. However, he cannot be revived immediately; he will only come back to life in the spring of next year when flowers bloom and the grass grows lush. What you need to do is guard the place where you buried him for seven days and seven nights."
"Why?"
"Because a fresh corpse has a certain bloody smell of death, and there are many wild beasts in the forest. When they catch the scent of the dead body, they will come following it, dig up the soil covering the corpse, and eat it. If that happens, the body will no longer exist, and of course, revival will become a dream. So you must stay at the place where your Lover is buried for seven days and seven nights until the stench of death dissipates before you can leave."
"Alright, then where is that Source of Life?"
"Right under the Centennial Tree in the center of the forest; that is the origin of life."
After Natalie handed over her Lover's hair to the demon, she left the castle and boarded a black carriage. Soon, the carriage brought her to the center of the forest and stopped.
Natalie got off and saw the enormous Centennial Tree. Beneath the old tree, there was indeed a fresh large pit that had been filled in. The fresh soil emitted a peculiar bloody smell. Seeing this, Natalie was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn't help but burst into tears. But then she thought that her Lover would come back to life in the spring of next year, and she felt joy and anticipation.
Thus, Natalie stayed under the Centennial Tree, at the place where her Lover was buried, without eating or drinking, from day to night and from night to day. The days were calm; all the wild beasts in the forest hid in some corner, as daylight limited their hunting activities. However, at night, various wild beasts howled throughout the forest, their fierce eyes glinting in the darkness made Natalie shiver. She stayed awake all night, gathered some firewood, and lit bonfires to try to scare away the hungry animals.
Seven days and nights quickly passed, but for Natalie, it felt like a century; every second became exceptionally difficult. The belief in her love supported her through these perilous seven days and nights. On the eighth day, Natalie relaxed her guard, feeling utterly exhausted; her body felt like a heap of mud that couldn't be lifted, and she fainted from fatigue.
When Natalie woke up, she found herself lying on a soft white bed. She felt very strange; where was this place? As she propped herself up and carefully examined this unfamiliar room, she faintly heard that familiar lonely and desolate piano music coming from nearby. She froze; it seemed she had returned to the demon's castle.
Natalie got out of bed, opened the door, and followed the sound of music. She arrived at the spacious hall of the castle again, where the demon was still focused on playing the piano. Natalie stood behind him quietly admiring.
After finishing a piece, the demon turned his head to look at Natalie.
"Why are you saving me? It seems illogical. The sooner I die, the sooner you can take my soul," Natalie said.
"Yes, as you said, I actually don't want to save you; I just don't want your soul yet."
"When do you want my soul?"
The demon remained silent, staring deeply at her.
"Regardless of your intentions, the result is that you saved me. I will repay you," Natalie said.
The demon chuckled softly, turned away, and resumed playing a beautiful piece on the piano. Before long, he finished playing and disappeared once again behind that door.
As Natalie mentioned, she took her own approach to repay the demon. During the day, she cleaned the hall thoroughly and polished the piano until it was spotless, hoping that the demon would be in a better mood each night when he played.
In truth, Natalie knew this was all in vain because the castle didn't need anyone to clean or organize it; it was always so clean and tidy. She just didn't know how else to repay the demon, and this was the only method she could think of.
When she had free time, Natalie would step out of the castle and pick some beautiful, vibrant flowers from the forest, placing them in the castle hall to make it feel less empty and surreal. The faint fragrance of the flowers combined with the bright green leaves gave the castle a sense of life.
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