Night quietly fell, revealing its true colors. 夜幕静静降临，显露出它本来的颜色。 Looking into the room, a trace of moonlight spilled in, falling on the back of the chair, on the fingers turning the pages of a book. Vena sat there, the book in her hands already turned to the second half, her eyes scanning line by line, occasionally pausing, her lips moving slightly as if silently reading some interesting sentence. 望向屋里，月光漏进来一些，落在椅背上，落在翻书的手指上。薇尔娜坐在那儿，书已翻过大半，她的目光一行行扫过去，偶尔停一停，嘴唇轻轻动一下，像在默念什么有趣的句子。 To one side, the girl sat quietly on the bed, her back to the light. 另一边，女孩背对着光，安安静静坐在床上。 The moonlight fell upon her, illuminating the scales that spread along the back of her neck, one by one, glowing with a dark red luster. Those scales were more visible at night than during the day, like some mark not of this world, silently telling of her difference from others. 月光落在她身上，照亮那些沿着后颈蔓延的鳞片，一片一片，泛着暗红色的光泽。这些鳞片夜里比白天更显眼，像某种不属于这世间的印记，静静诉说着她的不同。 The girl turned her head. 女孩回过头。 She secretly glanced at Vena by the desk. 偷偷看了一眼书桌旁的薇尔娜。 She opened her mouth as if to speak, then closed it again. Her gaze fell back to her own knees, paused for a moment, then couldn't help but lift again, darting another glance in that direction. 她张了张嘴，又闭上。目光落回自己膝上，停一会儿，又忍不住抬起来，往那边瞟了一眼。 "That's the seventh time you've looked at me tonight," Vena's voice came from behind the pages, without looking up. "Go ahead, say it." “那是你今晚第七次看我了，”薇尔娜的声音从书页后传来，没抬头，“说吧。” The girl's spine tensed for a moment. 女孩的脊背绷紧了一瞬。 "...It's nothing." “……没什么。” "Nothing, and you keep staring at me?" “没什么你老盯着我看？” Vena finally looked up, her gaze crossing the upper edge of the page, landing on the figure on the bed. The moonlight outlined her silhouette in a silver border, her expression unclear, but those eyes could be seen shining in the darkness, like two startled little animals, dodging and evasive. 薇尔娜终于抬起眼，目光越过书页上缘，落在床上那个身影上。月光替她勾出一道银边，看不清神情，却能看见那双眼睛在暗处发着光，像两只受惊的小兽，躲躲闪闪。 The girl didn't speak. 女孩没说话。 Today had started out as such a good day. 今天本来是很好的一天。 "Would you two ladies like a taste?" A fruit stall owner extended a bamboo basket toward them. "Freshly arrived dried apricots, really sweet!" “两位姑娘尝尝？”水果摊主递过来一只竹筐，“新到的杏干，可甜了！” So she reached out and took one. 她就伸手拿了一块。 She put it in her mouth, bit half of it, chewed, and chewed. 放进嘴里，咬了一半，嚼了嚼。 Not sweet. 不甜。 She put the remaining half back into the basket. 她把剩下那半块放回筐里。 The vendor's smile froze on her face. Those two squinting seams slowly opened, revealing a pair of at a loss eyes, looking at the half-eaten apricot, then at the two of them. 摊主的笑僵在脸上。那两条眯着的缝慢慢睁开，露出一双不知所措的眼睛，看看那半块杏干，又看看她俩。 "This..." “这个……” "Sorry," Vena had already taken out copper coins and placed them on the stall, then grabbed the girl's hand and walked away. “抱歉，”薇尔娜已掏出铜板放在摊上，拉起女孩的手就走。 They walked a long distance before Vena let go of her hand. 走出很远，薇尔娜才松开手。 "How could you put back something you've already bitten?" “咬过的东西你怎么能放回去？” The girl looked at her, her eyes as clear as a just-awakened kitten: "It wasn't good." 女孩望着她，眼神干净得像刚睡醒的猫崽：“不好吃。” "It wasn't good, but you can't just..." “不好吃你也不能……” "That person asked if I wanted to taste. I tasted. It wasn't good." “那人问我尝不尝。我尝了。不好吃。” Vena took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. 薇尔娜深吸一口气，又慢慢吐出来。 And so the two of them said nothing more to each other the entire way back. 就这样，两人一路再没说话。 Now the moonlight fell into the room. 此刻月光落在屋里。 Vena closed the book, stood up from the chair, and walked to the bedside. She knelt in front of the girl, looking up at those eyes that glowed in the darkness. 薇尔娜合上书，从椅子上起身，走到床边。她在女孩面前蹲下，仰头去看那双在暗处发光的眼睛。 "Tell me." “说吧。” The girl looked at her, her lips moving slightly. 女孩望着她，嘴唇动了动。 "That fruit stall today..." “今天那个水果摊……” "Mm." “嗯。” "Did I... do something wrong?" “我是不是……做错了？” Vena didn't speak, just looked at her. 薇尔娜没说话，只是看着她。 "That person kept looking at us afterward," the girl's voice was very soft. "You gave her money. She was smiling before, but later she wasn't. It was because of me." “那人后来一直在看我们，”女孩的声音很轻，“你给了她钱。她本来笑着的，后来不笑了。是因为我。” "Yes." “是。” The girl's eyes dropped, falling on the back of her own hands, as if looking at something unfamiliar. 女孩的眼垂下去，落在自己手背上，像在看什么陌生的东西。 "I'm sorry. I'll change, I'll become the way you like, I'll... please don't..." “对不起。我会改的，我会改成你喜欢的样子，我会……请你不要……” Vena took her hand. 薇尔娜握住她的手。 That hand was warmer than hers, slightly prickly with scales. 那只手比她热，有些鳞片微微硌手。 "Dear." “亲爱的。” The girl looked up. 女孩抬起眼。 "I hate it when you do this." “我讨厌你这样。” The girl's eyelashes trembled. 女孩的睫毛颤了一下。 "I'm sorr..." “对不……” "I never blamed you," Vena interrupted her, a rare occurrence. "Sweet dried apricots can be found again, people can be met again. This wasn't your fault." “我没有怪过你，”薇尔娜罕见地打断了她，“甜杏干可以再找，人可以再遇到，这不是你的错。” The girl trembled slightly. 女孩轻轻发着抖。 "In front of me, you have never been someone who needs to keep apologizing to stay by my side. You don't need to be constantly forgiven." “在我面前，你从来不是一个需要不停道歉才能留在我身边的人。你不需要一直被原谅。” In that moment, her lips trembled, but no sound came out. She looked at Vena, as if understanding those words for the first time, and also as if those words had struck some place inside her, leaving her speechless with ache. 那一瞬，她的嘴唇在颤抖，却发不出声。她望着薇尔娜，像是第一次听懂一句话，又像是被这句话击中了什么地方，疼得说不出话来。 Vena sighed. A long, slow sigh. She gently held the girl's hand, stroking her skin. "With me, you don't need to apologize." 薇尔娜叹了口气，很长，很慢。她轻轻握着女孩的手，抚过她的皮肤，“在我这儿，你不需要道歉。” Then the girl moved. She lowered her head, pressing her forehead against Vena's shoulder. Very lightly, like a fallen leaf touching the water's surface. She didn't cry—at least, she made no sound of crying—just leaned there like that, her shoulders rising and falling slightly, as if she could finally breathe, as if confirming something real that existed. 然后女孩动了。她低下头，把额头抵在薇尔娜肩上。很轻，像落叶碰到水面。她没有哭——至少没有发出哭泣的声音——只是那样靠着，肩膀微微起伏，像终于可以呼吸了，又像在确认什么真实存在的东西。 She held the girl tighter, her chin resting on top of her head, her gaze looking over her shoulder, out the window into the bottomless night sky. Starlight fell in the distance, on the ruins of the Watchtower, on the spires of the Mage Tower, on all those places that had once hurt the girl, exiled the girl, made the girl into the girl of now. 她把女孩抱得更紧了些，下巴抵在她头顶，目光越过她的肩，望向窗外那片深不见底的夜空。星光落在远处，落在守望台的废墟上，落在法师塔的尖顶上，落在所有那些曾伤害过她、放逐过她、让她变成如今这副模样的地方。 Then she withdrew her gaze and let it fall on the person in her arms. 然后她收回目光，落在怀里这个人身上。 This person in her arms. This one called a monster. This one who had once burned everything. This one who now curled up in her arms like a weary young beast. 怀里这个人。这个被称作怪物的人。这个曾经烧毁一切的人。这个此刻像只疲惫的幼兽、蜷在她怀里的人。 "Sleep," she whispered. “睡吧。”她轻声说。 The moonlight slowly dimmed, as if someone had turned down the wick of a lamp. 月光渐渐暗下去，像有人旋小了灯芯。 Only a gentle darkness remained in the room, and within that darkness, two figures nestled together. The sound of breathing gradually steadied, one deep, one shallow, slowly intertwining until they could no longer be told apart. 房间里只剩一片温柔的黑暗，和黑暗里两个依偎的身影。呼吸声渐渐平稳，一深一浅，慢慢交缠在一起，分不出彼此。 Good. 很好。