Mother of Insects

Chapter Forty-Six

It was a somewhat boring... story.

About Savile, Lin Xi.

"You know my family, our parents are really kind-hearted people. Me, Lin Xi... Savile, we're all adopted. Of course, we have other foster brothers and sisters. A family like ours comes and goes. But the three of us were set in stone, we've always known them as our home."

Bryce's voice still had the hoarseness from crying.

"Savile was the last one to come. He was very timid and scarred when he first came... they said Savile was being abused by his original family. I think that's why Lin Xi got so close to him."

Bryce paused for a moment.

"... a little too close."

Alyssa's eyes widened in surprise.

"Wait, you mean..."

Bryce was in a trance. He seemed completely immersed in the memories. When he mentioned Lin Xi and Savile's affairs, a helpless smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Yes, that's right, they fell in love. We don't know when it started, but when we found out, they were inseparable. When we discovered it, our family was a mess, you know, after all, the two of them were still family... but in the end, we accepted it. Anyone who's ever seen the two of them together will want to find a way to stop them from being together."

"They looked so happy," Bryce repeated in a murmur.

Alyssa stared at Bryce. She was very concerned about what was going to happen next, but she was a little hesitant about whether she should speak.

She's never seen Bryce look like this before.

Fortunately, she didn't need to say anything, Bryce continued.

"We're all thinking naively at that time, we thought our lives would continue on as ordinary as that. But then Savile died."

Bryce raised his eyes to look at Alyssa. His eyes were red and swollen.

"And it's my fault."

He said quietly.

"...What happened?" Alyssa couldn't help asking.

"... ..."

Bryce was silent, and after a while he spoke in a low voice: "Savile had a few... mental traumas. Well, that's what those people said. He was crazy, and he was just tranced-like at first. He talked about having a lot of nightmares. We didn’t pay much attention at the time, thinking that he was just under too much mental stress. After all, he was busy at work, planning a wedding with Lin Xi... But soon his condition deteriorated, so fast that we couldn't react. Savile became paranoid, his mind was filled with thoughts of human extinction and the demise of the world. We went to see a psychiatrist and gave him all kinds of damn tests, but they all say that he's just a little overly anxious. Lin Xi stayed with him from beginning to end, hoping that Savile would get better, but—"

There was another long silence.

"But Savile almost killed him."

"What?"

Alyssa couldn't help but let out a confused exclamation.

"Savile got a gun, he hid it under a pillow, and then he gave Lin Xi alcohol. He planned to kill Lin Xi while he was drunk and unconscious— because he thought killing him would save the world.

"And at the last moment, he hesitated. I noticed that something was wrong, I rushed into the room and stopped him. Savile was taken away by the police, and then... then he committed suicide in the police station."