The Silly Alchemist

“Cough cough, uh, Little Black, I zoned out! Weren’t you both getting along fine? Why is it like that now?” Ye Lang directly admitted it, then asked his questions.

“…Can’t you respect me just a little? I poured my feelings and emotions, how could you?!” roared Edward. This was a disrespect towards the pure, beautiful relationship he had with Kesha!

“I’m sorry, I was thinking about Violet Academy. I think I’ve heard of this name.”

“Nonsense, it’s the second biggest academy in the mainland, of course you have!!” grumbled Edward, “Which mountain did your isolated family come from?”

Edward had been suspicious lately. He had a feeling Ye Lang didn’t belong to this dirty world. There was this aura of purity on Ye Lang, different from the muck of this world.

This was something perhaps someone who’d lived in the mountains would have. And with Ye Lang’s zest for life, he must be from some huge, rich family!

“Isn’t the Royal Institute number two?” asked Ye Lang curiously. This was something he heard someone tell him.

“That’s stupid!! Which bastard said that? The Royal Institute is third, our Violet Academy is second!!” cried Edward emotionally. He was protecting his former school’s name!

“The bastard was from Violet Academy… He said they were number three…” recalled Ye Lang. Someone from Violet Academy once said this out of humility and politeness.

The Royal Institute was definitely number two at that point, while Violet Academy was third. But Violet’s students would never admit it!

“…Tell me, who is it? I’ll kill him!!”  Edward was triggered. Was Ye Lang indirectly insulting him?

Perhaps Edward was going to regret these words very soon…

“He said his name was Catro!” said Ye Lang after he thought for a moment.

“…” Edward went quiet. He wouldn’t have the guts to talk bad about this person, because Catro was a respected martial arts teacher at Violet Academy, also Violet Academy’s top martial artist.

At the same time, Catro was also Edward’s idol. He would never curse him, only defend his name!

“How did you meet him?” Edward was curious.

“He was giving a speech. I saw him while walking,” answered Ye Lang. From what he recalled, this must be right. Catro must have been giving a speech.

“A speech?! When did Mr Catro give a speech? Forget it, our conversation isn’t over yet. What was your question again?” Edward realised they were straying further from their conversation topic.

“I said, why are you both like strangers now, weren’t you best friends?”

“Sigh…” He heaved a long sigh, then cried, “Best friends! When we were younger, neither of us ever felt like there was a gap between us because we knew nothing! As we grew older, we slowly understood how there are so many types of distance two people can have!”

“She was the duke’s daughter, high up in the clouds. The people around her were all of similar status… Me? I was just a regular aristocrat!” Edward slowly explained, “there was an obvious gap between us. The older we got, the further the distance between us!!”

“These are just man-made prisons! What differences in status are all made by humans!” frowned Ye Lang, who continued with emotion, “if only you tried to break free, you’ll find they’re as fragile as paper!”

“Your thinking is too simple. With a gap like that, sometimes even if you give all you have, you won’t even get what you want!” Edward shook his head to disagree. This seemed to be a lesson he had to learn.

This was the immediate problem he and Kesha had, he’d been suffering for a few years now!

“Perhaps. Perhaps you’re right. Feelings between people are peculiar after all. However, I don’t think there’s a problem. Even if I were a beggar, if I fell in love with a princess, I’ll still get her!” said Ye Lang with a grin- as if he was joking, but also serious.

“I should have a mindset like you too, then I won’t waste any more years!! Would I be content just watching her from afar? That’s just something I say to comfort myself! I want to be with her, it’s that simple!” exclaimed Edward, changing his mind.

“Yep! It had always been this simple. Either you get together with her, or you let go!” nodded Ye Lang in agreement.

“I used to feel so hopeless. I felt like there was a distance in status between me and her, plus some of her friends would look down on me. That’s why I slowly stayed away from her. This is actually my fault. If only I’d stayed, we wouldn’t have grown apart!!” His thoughts were chaotic under the influence of love, others might not understand him but Ye Lang, at this moment, did.

It was that simple. Often, people created distance between themselves. Then they end up growing apart slowly, never getting together.

If one of them attempted to break through the walls, the story might end differently. However, it was a serious problem if both parties believed the distance between them was growing further.

Edward continued, “It was only 2 years ago when an incident brought us together. That was when I found out she never understood why I stayed away from her. She thought I didn’t like her anymore! That was when I knew she suffered because of this, and that she liked me back…”

Fate worked in mysterious ways. Without that incident, on the journey of life, both of them would have slowly grown apart and never get together ever again.

Then, the heavens arranged for that incident for them to be alone together when they could push every worry about status and power aside to bare their hearts for each other.

“What incident?” asked the nosy Ye Lang.

“We once had an excursion with the academy, where we were divided into groups to hunt magical beasts in the Ai’er Forest, and at the same time survive half a month in there! She accidentally strayed away from her team, and I left mine to look for her far from the paths!”

“At that point, everyone treated as if we were both dead. However, how could I let her die…”

When Edward spoke, a veil of loving-kindness spread across his face, as if Kesha was right in front of him!!