How to Stop the Villain from Going Crazy
Translator: Fuyu
Chapter 32 - As if someone was breathing behind her (2)
After Bo Li returned to the hotel, she asked a hotel employee to boil hot water. She went upstairs and took off the wig and the heavy dress.
Dressing as a woman was too dangerous. It was better to dress as a man from now on.
Also, it was too hot. The theater was very small, and the private boxes were even smaller.
There were only two people sitting there, but it felt like there were three people breathing.
… No, that was wrong.
She shuddered.
Was there a third person there? Only one person could hide himself that well, Erik.
But, he hadn't appeared in a long time. There was no reason for him to be in that private box.
The hotel employee knocked on her door and told her the bath water was ready.
Bo Li thought it over, found a pair of scissors, and cut off a tuft of hair from the wig to leave in the door.
That way, she would know if anyone entered her room.
After doing that, Bo Li specially instructed the hotel employee to not enter her room or send anyone to clean it. Then, she went to take her bath.
After she finished her bath, she returned to her room. She crouched down and checked the hair in the crack of the door.
No change. Was she overthinking?
She didn't sleep well that night. If that third person was Erik, he would probably break into her room in the middle of the night.
She stuffed the scissors under her pillow and held the scissors' handle all night.
The next morning, she immediately checked the hair in the door after waking up.
Still no change.
After that experience with Boyd, she didn't dare to lower her guard. She continued putting strands of hair in the door.
To prevent herself from remembering it wrong, she even took out her spare phone, turned it on, activated the power saving mode, and took a photo.
Time passed. On the fourth day, she finally saw a change in the hair strands. It was a very slight change.
The other party seemed to have noticed that she stuck hair in the door and then tried to restore it.
He couldn't have known that she had a phone and could take photos that captured every strand of hair in perfect detail.
Bo Li didn't know who had snuck into her room, Erik or Trique.
She thought about it for a while and realized the answer didn't matter. These two were both likely to be a threat to her personal safety, so what difference did it make?
And yet, a voice in her heart said there was a difference.
Boyd couldn't fill the spiritual emptiness she felt after transmigrating, but Erik could. He made her heart beat faster, her breathing difficult, and her adrenaline surge. She felt sensitive and alert.
When he was around, she could hear her heart fiercely pounding. She felt alive, truly alive.
Although Boyd could also make her alert, that type of alertness was a completely different feeling from the one that Erik gave her.
Why? She didn't know. She didn't know what to do next either.
Should she pretend that she didn't know anything or immediately leave? If she chose the latter, would it anger Erik and lead to worse things?
On the fifth day, the hair in the door disappeared. The other party seemed to realize that she had noticed and didn't bother putting the hair strands back in place.
Bo Li trembled when she discovered this. She immediately went to the docks and asked several captains if they would be going out to the sea in the near future. She wanted to book a seat with them.
Her actions seemed to infuriate the intruder. On the sixth day, the phonograph turned on by itself to play a worn record. A scratchy singer's voice flowed out. It was… the song she had heard when she was with Boyd in the theater.
Bo Li's scalp felt numb. Her chest felt tight, and her heart was rapidly beating as if it was about to explode.
She tried her best to suppress her panic and turned to open the door only to find out it was locked. The other party no longer wanted to play the intimidation game and started taking more aggressive action.
Bo Li didn't pause. She immediately tried to open the window, but it was also locked from the outside.
She took a deep breath. Just as she was about to get something to smash the window, a dark shadow fell from the ceiling to attack her.
For a few seconds, she was frozen in place. Her heart was clenched with fear. She could only watch as that thing stopped falling and was left swaying in front of her eyes.
… It was Boyd's finger. She had a deep impression of his fingers and could recognize them with a glance. Moreover, this finger was still wearing Boyd's ring with his initials engraved on the side.
It wasn't Trique Terry then.
It was Erik that kept breaking into her room.
After knowing that, instead of relaxing, she felt even more nervous.
Erik's behavior was becoming more unpredictable. She had no idea why he would break into her room or why he would cut off Boyd's finger.
The next moment, a cold dagger gently pressed against her neck and slid down along her carotid artery.
Erik.
He was right behind her and stroking her neck with the dagger. It felt as if he was going to cut open her artery at any moment.
Would he? He would. He had already killed Boyd.
Why did he kill Boyd?
She didn't know. During the time she spent with Boyd, they never said anything that could offend Erik. They didn't even mention him.
Still, something must have irritated him.
The temperature around her seemed to plummet.
Bo Li could hear his breathing behind her. It was so heavy and pressing.
Her frightened and helpless look seemed to… excite him.
This was scarier than angering him.
Bo Li had seen his excited state. At that time, he had single-handedly killed the manager and the circus guards.
She didn't want to know what would happen if he got excited.
Clatter.
Had he put down his dagger?
Bo Li felt like her heart had stopped beating.
From her perspective, she could see a tall shadow approaching and nibbling away at her smaller, weaker shadow.
And then, she felt warmth.
He leaned forward and hugged her.
T/N: Extra part to thank Zerganinja for their review.
I'm glad you like Bo Li's strengths and weaknesses. I agree; I like how the author has navigated their relationship too. I love that he knows she's lying to him, and that she knows he knows. It's a nice change of pace to have a protagonist that's a reliable narrator of her feelings and usually doesn't shy away from unpleasant truths.
I also think that Bo Li might think better under pressure.