Was I too harsh?
Lady Black fell into deep concern as she noticed the sudden gloominess on her daughter's face. She thought to herself: Adele, despite her exceptional talent, good family background, and strong-willed nature, is still just a young girl barely out of her teenage years. In the grand scheme of her long life, these twenty years are just a small fraction. Were my words too hard for her to handle?
Imagine, when Adele is several hundred years old, Gordon might already have children, while she might not even have a marriage partner. It's possible that… Gordon's next generation could become her potential suitors. It's absurd to think that someone of the same generation and age might end up as Adele's mother-in-law one day.
Lady Black felt she had been too harsh but didn't know how to comfort Adele, as she was not the type of person who could easily offer comfort. Seeing Adele's unpleasant expression, she simply waved her hand, dismissing her. After Adele left, Lady Black called in a maid and, still worried, asked:
"Did I go too far? Did I hurt Adele's feelings?"
Faced with her mistress's question, the maid could only reply, "Miss Adele is a very strong person; she wouldn't be defeated by something like this."
Lady Black remained concerned, sighing heavily.
Little did she know that Adele's mind was filled with thoughts like: What will I do if Molly leaves before I do? Right now, she was in the throes of passionate love with Molly and couldn't bear the thought of losing her. If the world were to lose Molly, would it still be worth living in?
Adele thought that if the world wasn't worth living in without Molly, she would choose to die with her. That wouldn't be so bad. Even though a mere hundred years would be short for a vampire, it would still be all the time she had with Molly. She would rather die with Molly than face a world without her.
In her world, there was no option for living alone—she couldn't even imagine it. Losing Molly and facing an eternity of loneliness, forced to remember every day she spent with her as if she were a walking corpse, was a fate far worse than death. She instinctively rejected such a future.
For the first time, Adele found being a vampire not so wonderful. If she could, she would love to live with Molly forever. But if that wasn't possible, she would choose to join Molly in the world of the dead when the time came.
As time passed, Molly would surely grow old, wouldn't she? Her once shiny black hair would gradually lose its luster and turn white, perhaps even as silver as Adele's—a sort of couple's color. Her smooth, full cheeks would wrinkle and sag, turning her into a frail old woman.
By then, Molly wouldn't be as strong as she was now; she might even be too weak to walk. When that time came, Adele would have to help her, walking slowly together to admire the flowers in the garden. But old ladies need plenty of sunlight, don't they? That would mean Molly would have to sleep at night, leaving little time for them to be together.
Adele thought about all of this, and in the end, she pictured Molly leaning on her shoulder, slowly closing her eyes as she turned into a little old lady.
—No, I can't let that happen!
Watching her beloved die in her arms would be too cruel! As Adele returned to her room, the more she thought about it, the more her eyes filled with tears. When Molly arrived, she was met with Adele's tearful, pitiful expression. Molly was taken aback, her first thought being: Did Adele get bullied by her own mother?
Molly walked over to Adele, who looked up at her with tear-filled red eyes. Molly hesitated, unsure of what to say, but Adele spoke first: "Molly, I don't want you to become a little old lady, and you absolutely can't die in my arms!"
"?" Molly couldn't help but feel completely puzzled. She wondered if Adele had perhaps revealed their relationship to her mother
but then dismissed the thought since, if that were the case, Lady Black would have already sent someone to arrest her. It seemed more likely that Adele was letting her imagination run wild.
Molly sighed and asked, "Why do you think I would suddenly become an old lady and die in your arms?"
Molly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and gently wiped Adele's face, dabbing away the tears from the corners of her eyes and even helping her blow her nose. Adele wrinkled her nose as Molly wiped, then began to mutter, "But a hundred years from now, wouldn't that be exactly what happens? I don't want you to die before me, Molly!"
"And didn't you once say that when people get old, they need more sunlight and longer sleep? By then, you'll only be active during the day while I'll only be awake at night. I might not even know when you pass away!"
Adele's imagination really was top-notch.
Molly silently acknowledged this as she looked at Adele and asked, "Why are you so sure that I would die before you?"
Adele paused, then thought for a moment and responded, "You're right! It doesn't have to be you first. When your time comes, I'll just join you in the sunlight, and that way, I'll go before you!"
That wasn't a good idea at all! Molly resisted the urge to facepalm. Thanks to Adele, Molly now had her own vivid mental image of that scenario.
In this vision, she was an old woman with white hair and a wrinkled face, sitting on a porch, waiting for the sunrise. Next to her was the still-young and beautiful Adele, looking at her with a blissful expression. Then, as the sun rose, Adele was turned to dust, and Molly, with tears in her eyes, held Adele's ashes before soon passing away herself…
No, stop—what a horrifying scene!
Molly shook the image out of her head and continued, "No, what I meant was, why do you think my lifespan would be so short?"
"Because you're human…"
That's right, Molly was human—but she was a human with special abilities. She had already noticed that, thanks to these abilities, she wasn't quite like a regular human anymore. Previously, Molly had defeated many vampires and had, in fact, studied their physiology to some extent before they died. She discovered that vampires' longevity was not just due to the energy from blood but also because their hearts beat very slowly, and their body temperature was low. Molly wasn't a biologist and couldn't be certain, but she had a feeling these factors were related.
Moreover, modern science had taught Molly that human lifespan was linked to the number of times cells could divide. Based on what she knew about her own body, her cells divided at a slower rate and regenerated efficiently. She figured she could live for two to three thousand years without much trouble.
Molly honestly told Adele, "I think with my physical condition, living for two thousand years shouldn't be a problem."
Adele's jaw dropped in shock at Molly's response. She instinctively asked, "Molly, are you really human?"
"I'm human, and I'm also Molly." Before, if faced with such a question, Molly might have fixated on it, but after Adele's previous words of comfort, Molly had come to terms with it. Besides, this non-human aspect wasn't so bad; at least it meant that lifespan wouldn't become an issue between them.
Molly's special abilities were certainly extraordinary, probably unique, but she was a transmigrator, and it was normal for transmigrators to have special advantages. Other transmigrators might have systems, secret parentage, or other powers, but Molly's only cheat was her ridiculously strong body—so really, her abilities weren't that outrageous!
No matter how she looked at it, Molly was grateful for her abilities. At least they allowed her to punch through the issue of lifespan. Lifespan discussions were awful, and all literature that fixated on lifespan was terrible! Before transmigrating, Molly had read many novels and watched many films focused on lifespan issues, like elves with long lifespans realizing the importance of their human lover only after they had passed away.
Lifespan discussions were awful!
Molly emphasized this thought in her heart once again.
Hearing Molly's words, Adele remembered how she had comforted Molly before, telling her that no matter what she was, she was still Molly. Most importantly, she was her Molly. Thinking of it that way, lifespan and death seemed less significant. Then, she heard Molly say, "But I'm not planning on working for two thousand years—that would be too much."
"Work isn't something you should grind endlessly for two thousand years. After another decade or two, once the human resistance movement is on the right track, I plan to gradually fade from the spotlight."
This was the first time Adele had heard of Molly's plan, and she was curious: "And after you fade from the spotlight, what will you do?"
Molly replied, "Originally, when I didn't plan to be with you, I intended to travel the world, helping those in need and leaving behind my own legend." Hearing that she wasn't included in Molly's original plans, the young lady pouted, a little miffed. She huffed, with a hint of playful jealousy.
But when it seemed like Molly wasn't going to say anything more, Adele couldn't hold back and asked, "Then, what about now that you're with me?"
Since she was now with Adele, Molly hadn't yet thought about what she would do in the future. But since Adele asked, she began to seriously consider it. After retiring in a decade or two, she could travel the world with Adele, no longer a lone wanderer but a migrating zebra. They would stay in one place for a while, living a peaceful life away from the spotlight. Outwardly, they'd be a wealthy young lady and her ordinary maid; inwardly, they'd be lovers.
After twenty or thirty years, they'd move to a new place and continue living like that.
But instead of saying this, she replied, "Not telling you."
Once again, lifespan discussions were awful! In fiction, there were no lifespan issues! Molly would punch those issues away!