Chapter 18: Dreams

Silver was going to say something but stopped when she noticed the seriousness in the atmosphere around them. And how could someone like her endure that? She slapped her own mouth since she was the one who created that mood and shook her head, which amused Leon a little. After all, she had stopped talking midway only to punish herself, and he could practically read her mind. Silver picked up her chair, put it beside Leon, and placed herself on it while her arm automatically curled around his. A big smile formed on her face as she nodded in satisfaction. This felt much better. "What happened?" Leon asked curiously. "I didn’t like all the seriousness," she replied flatly. Leon chuckled, not a bit surprised. See? He was so right about her. Silver rolled her eyes at him and thought about what she had been going to say. "Forget all the big speech. I’ll just keep it short. So, because of my past on the streets, I’ve always had a dream. Do you know what it was?" Leon contemplated, and various thoughts passed through his mind as he wondered what her dream could be. But how could Silver wait for someone? In just a few seconds, she started talking herself. "It was to have a big family. It was a very rare thing to see back then, but then I saw true big families after Aunt picked me up." Leon was speechless at her words. Did she really have to word it like that? But then again, his mom had literally picked her up like a stray cat when she was running away from thieves. As for why they were after a kid like her? Well, she was also quick on her feet, so she had stolen their goods a lot. In her argument, stealing from a thief’s house was a morally legal thing to do. Leon had an urge to call her Half Robin Hood. Half because she stole from rich thiefs but never gave the loot to poor people. As for the big family she talked about, Leon knew them too. As the number of men dwindled, single-partner marriages had become incredibly rare. Every man would have a few wives at least, and if they had children, then the family would truly become large. But... "I still don’t like those big families, though," Silver said in her ever-so-cheerful voice. "So many of them don’t even talk to each other properly. I don’t like that kind of family." Well, even though the world needed such relationships, it didn’t mean everyone would accept such notions. People were used to it, but many still wanted their partner for themselves only. Sadly, that was something reserved for strong and influential women only. Silver grinned and said, "That’s when my dream changed slightly. I wanted a big family but full of love. That’s the best thing one could get in this world, in my opinion, and that’s what I want most." She turned to look at him and said, "I knew from the start that I can’t have you all to myself. I won’t lie and say it doesn’t upset me, but knowing that you would actually consider keeping only me as partner makes me so happy." She shifted slightly to cup his face in her hands and said, "But I also want to make my dream come true. And only someone like you can do that." Leon was stupefied hearing her. How could such a woman exist? But then he remembered her character in the game and realized that it suited her perfectly. All she really wanted from life was to have a loving family, but the world was cruel and did the exact opposite. It snatched her blood family from her, making her an orphan who wandered around the streets. And just when she found her family in Leon and his mother, it snatched them too. While one died close to her, the other died far away. She was once again without any family. The world forced her to build thick walls around her heart and seal away her dreams. She became too scared to even think of having a family because she feared they would leave her all alone again. But this also made her hate the world that took everything from her. In the fandom, she was known as one of the biggest racists and haters. Why? Because she truly didn’t care about anything or anyone except for humans and slaughtered everyone else mercilessly. Her kill count was also one of the highest in the game. Leon felt a pang of pain in his heart and tried to hide it from showing on his face. He sighed and wrapped his arm around her from the side, pulling her gently toward him. She was a little surprised but still rested her head on his shoulder with a smile on her face. "Your dreams will come true, so you don’t need to worry about anything," Leon smiled and said. "You sure you aren’t just happy because you’ll get many wives?" Silver asked casually. "Nope! It’s all for you. I’m making such a great sacrifice for you," Leon’s voice sounded hurt. Silver was amused and played along even though she knew he was lying. "Oh? What are you even sacrificing?" "My handsome face and perfect body, of course," Leon said with a straight face. Silver’s lips curled up as she said, turning her head towards him, "Aww! You’re so sweet. I’ll never forget this sacrifice. And I’m a grateful person, so tell me, how can I repay it?" Leon pretended to think for a moment and then grinned. "How about you just give yourself?" He had to bite his cheeks to stop himself from laughing at his own cringy words, but seeing the beautiful smile blooming on her face, he considered it all worth it. Silver chuckled and said, placing her hand on his chest, "Don’t you think you’re asking for too much? Is your body’s worth really comparable to me?" "Why don’t you check it yourself?" Leon wiggled his brows. That was the limit for Silver. She stood up and began laughing loudly. Fortunately, they had chosen a private room; otherwise, they would have surely received many stares. Leon smiled at her and was just about to comment on something when Silver all of a sudden fell onto her butt. Her eyes turned slightly dazed as her left hand clutched her right wrist. He instantly stood up upon seeing her state and held her gently in his arms, asking with concern, "Hey, are you okay?" But he didn’t get any answer, and that’s when he noticed her symptoms and a terrifying hypothesis formed in his mind. It was something he wanted to deny with all his heart. Because it put terror into it.