CHAPTER 54: WOMAN IN THE COFFIN

"What is this?" Sitting in the carriage, Julian looked out the window curiously.

Losiya had pulled him into the carriage without a word, taking him all the way to a distant village.

For some reason, Julian felt that this place looked strangely familiar. He looked around, and the people here looked back. When they saw the magnificent horse and the prominent family crest, they were immediately scared and bowed their heads, not daring to look again.

"Whoa."

The female knight driving the carriage reined in the horses, expertly bringing them to a halt.

"Milady, we have arrived," said the female knight Eileen from outside the curtain, respectfully.

"Thank you for your trouble," Losiya replied, then stepped out of the carriage.

A dark, form-fitting uniform perfectly outlined her graceful curves. She was also wearing a thin, short-sleeved windbreaker, black on the outside, with gold patterns embroidered at the edges.

As she stepped out of the carriage, the cloak was lifted by the wind, revealing a blood-red lining underneath. The people peeking from the surrounding area felt their hearts skip a beat.

Losiya elegantly turned around, slightly bowing with one hand on her chest, and extended her hand covered in a white glove.

Julian then slowly stepped out, glaring at Losiya in reproach, blaming her for such an ostentatious style.

However, he still obediently placed his hand in the one she offered, allowing Losiya to clasp his fingers tightly, holding his hand.

Immediately after, to Julian’s surprise, Losiya even lowered her head and gently kissed his fingers before standing up and pulling Julian to her side.

"Do you have to be so flashy in a place like this?" Julian complained, leaning on her shoulder.

"A place like this? You don’t recognize where this is?" Losiya looked at him in surprise.

Hmm?

Julian looked around and suddenly felt that everything here was inexplicably familiar. Looking at a house in the distance, he was suddenly stunned.

This is...

Seeing Julian’s dazed expression, Losiya found it cute and reached out to pinch his face, then said, "This is where you used to live, remember now?"

Julian’s dazed expression gradually calmed down. Shaking his head to pull away from Losiya’s hand, he asked in confusion, "Is there something you brought me back here for?"

"You’ll know later," Losiya smiled mysteriously, not answering Julian’s question.

Walking on the village road, Losiya and Julian, whether in appearance, clothing, or temperament, were mismatched with the people here, as if people from another world had intruded.

People at the end of the alleys occasionally peeked out, sizing up the two with strange, incomprehensible expressions.

Julian even recognized some of the familiar faces among them, and his body instinctively flinched backward.

"Right."

Losiya suddenly asked, "Do you still remember if anyone here ever bullied you?"

Her tone was as calm as ever, but Julian, who was now her lover, clearly heard a hard-to-detect killing intent in her voice.

He quickly shook his head, holding onto Losiya: "There’s no one like that, don’t be impulsive."

"Really? You are so beautiful, no country girls would have had bad intentions?" Losiya clearly didn’t believe Julian’s words. Her pair of sea-blue eyes scanned the faces around them, some of whom were bold enough to dare to test them.

Julian quickly made an excuse: "It’s not as exaggerated as you say. Besides, I used to be very ugly, they didn’t have such bad intentions toward me?"

Originally, Julian was very smart and always kept himself dirty, not letting them see his face. But even so, there were still some country girls who were attracted by his intangible charm, tackling Julian to the ground, and riding on him to play around.

Julian saw a "familiar face" among the crowd; her guts were abnormally large. Unlike the people around her who didn’t recognize Julian at all, she seemed to recognize Julian as the boy she had once pinned down and played with.

Even though Julian was now a swan that had flown to the branches and no longer the ugly duckling in the mud, she not only showed no fear but also licked her lips as she looked at Julian’s real face and his delicate posture, winking at him silently.

"Ugly?" Losiya seemed to have heard some kind of joke, and she cupped Julian’s face and scrutinized it carefully.

Even though she had already had her way with him, she couldn’t help but feel her heart race and her desire stir when she looked at Julian up close. That sense of astonishment was no different from when they first met.

"So my Julian was also an ugly duckling who turned into a white swan?" Losiya couldn’t help but say teasingly.

Julian saw that her attention had been diverted, so he simply ignored her teasing, just letting out a soft "hmph" and saying nothing more.

"However..."

Losiya suddenly turned around to look behind her, her pair of sea-blue eyes having turned a deep azure at some point.

Staring at the unruly girl, she only had to make eye contact with Losiya to feel her heart ache and want to burst. She fainted without even a sound.

The event happened in a flash, and Julian hadn’t even had time to react before it was over.

"Hmph..." Losiya’s expression became very ugly, and she pulled Julian without a word.

Julian thought she was angry and stared at her for a few seconds. Losiya suddenly turned her head to look at him.

"I’m not angry."

Losiya seemed to feel that her words were not right and added: "I’m not angry with you, I’m angry with myself, for meeting you so late and letting you suffer so much."

Julian found her words inexplicably complicated. He didn’t answer, just said "yes."

Losiya originally wanted to say that Julian was too kind, but she swallowed the words before they could leave her mouth.

There’s no need to change Julian. Wouldn’t it be better if she just protected him carefully from now on, including his kindness?

After a while, Losiya finally led Julian to their destination, a somewhat secluded and desolate church.

"Let’s go in," Losiya said softly, squeezing Julian’s hand.

"Okay." Even though he still didn’t understand Losiya’s intentions, he obediently nodded.

Entering the church, Julian was surprised to find that although it was secluded, it was not desolate.

It was clear that someone had meticulously cared for the place. Every corner of the church was very clean, and although the ceramic tiles had a sense of age, they didn’t look old, but rather had a feeling of accumulated attachment.

On the wall hung a fresco of the creation of the world by the goddess Farad, praising her great deeds. The sunlight from outside streamed through the stained-glass windows, making the environment inside the church peaceful and serene.

Julian followed Losiya into the depths of the church, and then he was stunned.

In the center of the church, a coffin was placed. The lid had not yet been put on, and it was surrounded by white flowers.

Approaching, he saw the person in the coffin.

It was a woman who was 70% similar in appearance to him. Even with her eyes closed and her face clearly pale after losing her life, she still looked beautifully haunting.

Losiya reined in all her frivolous expressions, her demeanor extremely respectful. She walked up to Julian’s side, made a praying gesture with her hands in front of her chest, and then stood in silence with Julian.