TuxedoTranslations

Chapter 89

“Little Black!”

Albin happily leapt forward and hugged the slightly unresponsive boy tightly.

He wrapped his arms around the other’s strong body, burying his face in the hollow of his neck.

He smelled the scent of fresh grass, and his hands also felt bits of grass clinging to the other’s back—it seemed the boy had just been lying in the grass.

Even though it was a dream, the moment he firmly embraced him, the sense of touch and smell made everything feel so real that Albin felt a surge of satisfaction.

It was like those vivid dreams he had once before, when he dreamed his brother had disguised himself as their father.

“…Xiao Bai?” The black-haired boy’s voice trembled, even sounding hoarse.

He cautiously raised a hand and gently placed it on Albin’s back. The moment his fingertips touched the warmth beneath his palm, he suddenly tightened his grip, as if trying to press Albin into his own body.

Like a beast, he pressed his nose against Albin’s neck, wandering around as he inhaled the scent on him.

Black knew this was either a dream, or a mental illusion caused by a nightmare beast’s psychic attack.

He vaguely remembered that, unable to bear losing the beautiful dream the illusion gave him, he had given up resisting the training.

The nightmare beast, whose will to fight had already faded, had also withdrawn from the battle.

In order to maintain the illusion, Black had not returned to his residence, following the nightmare beast until nightfall and staying too far to sleep normally.

So he was very clear—this was a dream. Most likely, like a psychic attack, it was a beautiful dream constructed by the nightmare beast’s ability. Everything here was his imagination.

Even so, he still chose to immerse himself in it.

He rarely had such a realistic dream; the last one had been Albin’s death.

And the Albin before him looked about the same age as him, with a hint of familiar childishness on his face, slightly different from the version in that nightmare.

This meant that in this dream, Albin had not yet suffered anything—without a doubt, it was a beautiful dream to him.

His voice exploded in Albin’s ear, and even his wildly pounding heartbeat was transmitted through their tight embrace.

“It’s me!” Albin’s neck itched from his actions. He stretched his neck slightly, looking like a lamb offering its throat to a wolf.

He couldn’t help but smile even brighter: “Xiao Hei, why are you so dazed?”

The pulse in his neck beat vividly, without a trace of death.

Black took a deep breath, desperately searching for a sliver of reality in the illusion. “Because I miss you… I miss you so much…”

He lifted Albin’s face, pressed their foreheads together, and studied the dream figure in front of him carefully.

His eyebrows are so cute; his bright crimson eyes are still clear and lively, so cute; his smooth nose is cute; even his smiling lips are cute; his chin…

The grown-up Albin… is so cute.

Even when he smiles, he’s just like before—adorable.

He had dreamed of Albin many times before, but never like this.

Let him stay in this dream forever.

“I miss you too.” Albin wrapped his arms around his neck, tilting his head slightly, feeling his warm breath and gazing into those enlarged deep blue eyes.

Xiao Hei’s eyes are so beautiful!

He thought they were even better than those of the great noble from the Mandala family! He even suspected he had been wrong before to think their eyes were similar—Xiao Hei’s were clearly the best.

He firmly refused to admit he was biased.

Looking wasn’t enough. Albin reached out and touched Black’s cheek, tracing his grown-up features as if trying to imprint them into his memory.

Like before, he brushed the black bangs on the left side of Black’s forehead behind his ear, revealing his full face.

His features had become much sharper; when he leaned over him, there was an indescribable aggressiveness—but upon closer inspection, every part of him was still cute.

No matter how much he changed, he was still the Xiao Hei he knew.

Albin’s fingertips traced his features, his joy overflowing uncontrollably, bubbling up and showing on his face.

His finger slid to Black’s lips. “Open your mouth,” Albin said softly.

Like a beast, Black obediently opened his mouth.

Albin gently touched his sharp canine tooth, and seeing that everything familiar was still there, felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

He laughed freely.

He liked this dream.

But while observing Xiao Hei, Albin suddenly realized something.

This time, Xiao Hei in his dream was actually taller than him!

No wonder it felt like Xiao Hei was leaning down toward him—it was because Xiao Hei was slightly lowering his head while he himself was tilting upward!

They used to be about the same height, and in previous dreams Xiao Hei was also similar in height to him—so why was this one suddenly taller?

Thinking of this, he felt a bit unconvinced.

“Xiao Hei, let go of me. I want to compare our heights. You’re taller than me—there must be something wrong!”

Xiao Hei was only one year older than him; it must be because Xiao Hei was standing on higher ground!

An illusion. It was all an illusion!

“I won’t let go,” Black refused without hesitation.

He had finally had a beautiful dream and met Xiao Bai—he wasn’t going to let go.

What if Xiao Bai disappeared the moment he did?

Black said firmly, “I am taller than you.”

“I don’t believe it! Let’s compare.”

Seeing this, Black stepped backward while still holding him, until his back pressed against a straight tree trunk.

Albin raised his hand and gestured at the height on the tree trunk. Since this was a dream, he directly made a scratch mark appear there through sheer control.

Black flipped around again, positioning Albin against the trunk and leaving another scratch at a different height.

After measuring, Albin tilted his head to look.

Alright—he really was a little taller. Even Black’s lips could reach his forehead.

Hmph. So today was “limited edition tall Xiao Hei.” Tomorrow when he dreamed, he would make a shorter Xiao Hei instead.

He stopped worrying about it. After all, this wasn’t reality, and in the real world he could still keep growing.

Maybe when he reunited with the real Xiao Hei, he would even be taller—and then he could hold him in his arms.

Just thinking about it was adorable.

Since he could change anything in the dream, Albin immediately began reshaping it with practiced ease.

The ordinary sky turned into a clear, brilliant blue. The large tree behind Black disappeared. The flat grassland became a lush green hillside, dotted with colorful flowers, with flocks of sheep grazing slowly in the distance.

Using the shifting scenery, Albin grabbed Black and rolled down the grassy slope with him. The two ended up lying on the ground, hair messy.

He turned his head to look at Black beside him and, as if returning to childhood, smiled brightly again.

Even after letting go of the hug, Black still held tightly onto his hand, his gaze never leaving Albin just like before.

Albin listened intently to his breathing; a gentle breeze seemed to blow through the dream world itself, filling him with a sense of ease and peace.

In past dreams, he would fall asleep just listening to Xiao Hei’s breathing.

But today’s dream was too wonderful—Albin didn’t want it to end.

He rolled over, propped himself up on his elbow, and leaned down to poke Black’s cheek.

“I miss you…” he murmured softly, watching Black’s breathing shift slightly and feeling his gaze on him.

Back when he had nothing in the world, only Xiao Hei stayed by his side. But now he had many people around him—yet Xiao Hei was gone.

He didn’t even know whether the real Xiao Hei was alive or dead.

“I wrote you so many letters—almost every day! I wanted to share everything I experienced with you, just like before. If you don’t come to read them soon, you won’t be able to finish them!”

It sounded like both a complaint to the Black in the dream, and a complaint to the Black in reality.

“Where are you…?”

Black couldn’t answer. He didn’t even know where he was in reality. His training locations had changed several times, but his master had never told him where they were, and he had never cared.

Compared to his own location, he cared far more about the direction Albin was in.

And even if he did know his location, the Albin in front of him was only a dream figure anyway.

Seeing Albin looking a little down, Black tried to control the dream like Albin did—and a bouquet of flowers appeared in his hands.

He handed them over.

“I want to give you flowers every day.”

His daily life was too dull; flowers were the only thing he could use to decorate Albin’s world.

Black didn’t know how to arrange bouquets. The flowers in his hands were mostly red and white mixed together, as if his thoughts had been entirely filled with Albin while making them.

Albin looked at the bouquet and suddenly remembered the wilted arrangement he had once seen in Thorn City, his heart skipping a beat.

Was Xiao Hei planning to give this to him back then?

Why was he dreaming about this now?

He studied the flowers and asked, “Why are they mostly roses? Those are usually given to lovers.”

He had seen plenty of lovers in the Rose Kingdom exchanging roses.

Realizing he had misunderstood, Black stiffened and explained quietly, “Because they look nice when they bloom…”

He hadn’t known flowers had different meanings. A little flustered, he asked, “Then what flowers are for friends?”

Albin couldn’t help but laugh. “I don’t know either. But it doesn’t matter—anything you give me, I’ll like it. These are my mother’s favorite flowers too, so now they’re my favorite as well. You can just give me this.”

“Oh right, I still have so many family members I want to introduce to you later…”

His voice gradually faded with a hint of loneliness.

No matter how real Xiao Hei felt, he was still only someone in a dream.

He quickly changed the subject again, smiling brightly. “Let’s go to the beach!”

The scenery shifted once more, turning into a golden sandy shore similar to the Coral Kingdom.

Albin pulled Black as they ran across the beach, splashing through waves. But once the seawater reached their thighs, he fell into thought.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Bai?”

Albin murmured, “I just remembered—I can’t swim. I won’t be able to go into the water. But I met a kind person in Pearl City; he said he’ll teach me tomorrow, so I’ll be able to swim with you in the future.”

“I can’t swim either…”

So the two land-lubbers ended up building sandcastles and playing with water instead.

Albin excitedly drew portraits of the two of them in the sand, then turned to ask proudly, “What do you think? Does it look like us?”

Black blinked and answered without hesitation, “It does!”

Xiao Bai is even adorable when drawing.

Thanks to the freedom of the dream, they played wildly through many scenes.

Until the final one: a castle tower they were both very familiar with.

The blue sky and white clouds were replaced by a nighttime room. Albin lay in bed, and the familiar sound of breathing approached him. A burning gaze fell upon him.

His heartbeat quietly quickened.

He suddenly opened his eyes, grabbed the other person, and pulled him onto the bed.

“I caught you~”

Smiling just like before, he said, “Welcome back, Xiao Hei.”

They fell asleep leaning against each other. The surroundings shifted into the small house in Thorn City where they once lived with Yake.

Foreheads touching, they felt each other’s breathing and drifted into sleep as they had in the past, as if nothing had ever changed.

Black had already been completely immersed in this beautiful dream. If only he could never wake up—or if time could stop here forever.

But a dream is still a dream.

When he fell asleep in the dream and opened his eyes again, he saw only the familiar tree shadows.

No one was beside him.

His gaze couldn’t find the person he longed for.

His heart felt as if it were violently seized by an invisible hand, stopping abruptly. An overwhelming wave of loss surged through him, nearly driving him mad.

Black’s expression darkened. He walked toward the nightmare beast not far away.

“Thank you.”

The Albin in the dream had been too real—so real that he almost believed it was the real Albin.

He wanted to see him.

The brief dream did not satisfy him at all; instead, it intensified his longing.

He suddenly remembered what Albin had said in the dream.

Albin was in Pearl City.

Was that real, or just an illusion?

What if it was real?

It was the only clue he had. Even if it was false, he wanted to try.

Even if it was just to see the city where the dream-version Xiao Bai lived.

When the gray-robed man arrived, Black, as always, stated his request without hesitation:

“I want to go to Pearl City to find Xiao Bai.”

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