Die Geschichte von Prinzessin Song in Heian-kyo

Kapitel 25

Mei Ling broke free from Scotty's embrace and ran towards the distant tower. Her mind was blank, her legs felt unusually heavy, and her steps were unsteady and faltering...

Standing on the grass by the tower, Mei Ling suddenly stopped. Her head was down, and her thin back showed a desolate and helpless look, as if she had lost her way and didn't know where she should go.

Scotty caught up with her, embraced Mei Ling's limp body, and held her tightly in his arms.

Mei Ling also opened her arms and hugged Scotty, as if she wanted to keep Scotty by her side forever.

“This is not fair… It’s too late… Things shouldn’t be like this… It shouldn’t have happened…” Mei Ling was somewhat incoherent, tears streaming down her face, which soaked Scotty’s cheeks.

"We love each other, and that's the most important thing."

Mei Ling smiled, a smile tinged with tears, a genuine smile. With those words, she gained boundless strength. Having received those words, Mei Ling was no longer afraid.

"Let me go!" Mei Ling struggled desperately, but Scotty did not let go of her hands.

For some reason, Scotty seemed to sense that there was a force trying to take Mei Ling away, so he crossed his arms...

It wraps around the ground more tightly.

Mei Ling stopped struggling, and her body gradually calmed down and stopped trembling. She let herself fall against Scotty's chest, her tender eyes still glistening with tears.

"Do you really love me? If you lose me, then you'll know I love you, and I'll continue to love you..." Mei Ling looked at the man before her, reaching out her hand. His face was so real, his arm so strong, and a deep love flowed quietly in his eyes...

"I won't lose you..." Rather than saying Scotty was making a promise to Mei Ling, it's more accurate to see this as a man's vow of love. But standing in such an empty village, Scotty's words sounded hollow and pale, like dust floating in the air without a foothold.

"Let me into the church, alone!" Mei Ling's expression was as firm as iron, leaving no room for refusal.

Before turning away, Mei Ling pressed her lips to Scotty's, her warm lips meeting his. There was no desire, no burning passion, only deep affection and a slightly cold, salty touch...

Before Scotty could respond, Mei Ling ran towards the tower's dark entrance. Scotty looked up at the white tower top, and for some reason, that aura of death descended once more, a suffocating chill engulfing his entire body.

"No!" Scotty shouted to himself. He realized that Mei Ling was heading down a path of no return, and he had to stop her at the last moment. So he ran towards the tower as well.

(5)

Hurried footsteps echoed down the stairs, but Mei Ling was no longer in the hall. The sounds were chaotic, with hurried knocking; Scottie immediately recognized them as the distinctive sound of high heels. The person on the stairs… must be Mei Ling.

The staircase is very steep, spiraling upwards to the top of the tower.

Scotty looked up and, sure enough, saw Mei Ling's back. She seemed possessed, running wildly upwards without looking back. Scotty followed, but damn it, these stairs should have been no problem for him; the darkness and the spiraling paths had no effect on him. He'd forgotten one thing—the height. Looking down from the handrail, the gap in the middle seemed like a deep abyss. Dizziness immediately gripped him; an endless abyss dragged him down, down…

Mei Ling continued running towards the top of the tower without stopping, while Scotty struggled to continue upwards. With each step he took, he felt a dull pain deep in his brain, as if he were being pricked by needles.

At a bend in the stairs, Scotty stopped. This was the limit of his endurance; his head throbbed with pain, the air seemed thin, and sweat streamed down his face. Scotty gripped the handrail tightly, supporting his weight. He strained to lift his head, his gaze following Mei Ling's retreating figure. With a brief shift in light, Mei Ling opened a small door leading to the top of the tower and vanished.

The moment the door closed, the entire stairwell went dark again, and Scotty's heart sank. He held his breath, waiting...

Suddenly, a piercing scream came from the top of the tower, and outside the window, Mei Ling's gray figure plummeted.

Scotty felt utterly exhausted, his heart pounding and blood pressure soaring from the terror and the struggle against his physical limits. When he opened his eyes, Mei Ling was lying alone on the jutting eaves of the tower. The cheek that had just been warm against his face, still damp with tears, was now resting on the cold roof...

fifteen

In court, there was none of the usual verbal sparring; everyone wore an innocent expression, as if it were a trial without a defendant.

This was indeed a prosecution without a defendant; the judge's lengthy speech had already clearly indicated the outcome of the case. The entire courtroom was silent, save for the judge's voice: "Of course, we must thank Mr. Scotty."

He had once saved this woman's life, jumping into the sea during a previous emergency. Unfortunately, after learning of her suicidal tendencies, he didn't make a greater effort the second time…

The judge seemed to pause deliberately, and all eyes were drawn to Scotty's face. Unfortunately, they couldn't find any information they wanted to know on that expressionless face.

Scottie responded to everyone's gaze with a blank expression. For a moment, he almost lost control of his emotions and wanted to shout to everyone present that he wanted her to live more than anyone else, to catch up with her, and to pull her down... because he loved her!

But what's the point? It might only increase the court's suspicions or provide more fodder for gossip. Mei Ling won't come back to life, and my guilt won't lessen either...

“But we are not here to judge Mr. Scotty. He did nothing, and the law has nothing to say about things that have not been done.” The judge’s words remained devoid of warmth.

The judge's implication seemed to be an attempt to manipulate Scotty's conscience with moral concepts. He couldn't understand that at that moment, Scotty would rather be found guilty to alleviate his inner pain and struggle.

As everyone judged, the jury unanimously concluded that Mei Ling committed suicide while in a state of irrationality, and that it was unrelated to anyone else.

sixteen

Scotty didn't care about the court's verdict; he knew the real wound was in his heart—Meiling had died because of her own acrophobia. The inability to forgive himself was the feeling he found hardest to express at that moment.

Sleep seemed to become a difficult thing. Mei Ling's last embrace, that last kiss on the cheek, a mixture of cold and salty, kept appearing in Scotty's mind.

Half a bottle of whiskey had been drunk, and the effects of the alcohol were slowly spreading through Scotty's heart, numbing the pain of his wounds. In a hazy, lightheaded state, Scotty finally drifted off to sleep.

I've lost count of how many nights like this have happened.

A bouquet of pink roses, petals scattering and falling, withering... swirling, still swirling, petals twirling in the air, disappearing into the darkness... Calado's icy gaze invaded his senses, leading him into a dark encirclement, a long corridor with no end in sight, surrounded by utterly cold darkness, the end of the corridor also shrouded in darkness... An open tomb unleashed its densest darkness upon Scotty... Suffocation, cold, sweat, no one appeared, no sound, Scotty struggled helplessly, his body falling towards the tomb, falling...

Scotty completely broke down; nightmares at night took over his nerves, his days, and his entire life.

Miki was forced to send Scotty to a mental hospital for treatment, and no one knew when Scotty would regain his senses.

Seventeen

Three months later.

Scotty is finally free. The sanatorium has helped him regain his senses, but it can't make him forget Mei Ling. The memories of their time together, their brief but passionate love, and Mei Ling's unexpected death remain Scotty's most unforgettable experiences.

He retraced his memories, reliving those unforgettable moments bit by bit. The apartment door, the bustling Ernie's restaurant, the quiet Hall of Fame, even the pink rose bouquets in the glass windows—everywhere could transport Scotty back to those scenes, making him vaguely aware of Mei Ling's presence.

Amidst the bustling street, Scotty suddenly spotted a figure remarkably similar to Mei Ling's from behind. But before Scotty could confirm anything, the figure had vanished into the doorway of a hotel across the street. Was it another hallucination, like before? His unwavering longing for Mei Ling had led Scotty to be repeatedly misled by the sights before him. But Scotty persisted; he decided to go and find out for himself.

The door opened, and Scottie carefully examined the face inside: she looked younger than Mei Ling, and her clothes were more fashionable, unlike Mei Ling's noble and dignified style; the hair color was also different—Mei Ling's was blonde, while the woman's hair was much darker, a deep brown. Mei Ling's hair was always styled in an updo, while hers was simply draped over her shoulders. But her face… her face looked exactly like Mei Ling's, except that her expression wasn't as cold as Mei Ling's; it was clearly Mei Ling standing before him.

"Can I ask you a few questions?" Scottie asked the girl politely.

"Who are you? Is this a poll?" A hint of panic flashed in the girl's eyes.

"No! I just happened to see you when you came in, so..."

"I thought so too. You're really bold, following me all the way to the hotel, even to my room... Get out of here, get out now!" the girl suddenly said.

However, when he flew into a rage, Scottie's presumptuous behavior, coupled with his constant staring at the girl, easily led her to categorize him as frivolous.

He's a lecherous scoundrel. She was already preparing to close the door, indicating that she didn't welcome this unexpected visitor.

"No! Please! I won't hurt you, really, I promise! I just want to talk to you... because you remind me of someone."

"!" Scotty pleaded, but this did not elicit any sympathy from the girl; on the contrary, she seemed even angrier.

I've heard that before! I'm reminding you of someone you used to love madly, right? And then she dumped you, and...

You fell into another's arms. And so, you became lovesick, but seeing me gave you hope again… This is impossible!

A barely perceptible hint of nervousness flashed in the girl's eyes.

“What you said is similar to my story. You can open the door; I just want to say a few words to you,” Scottie said sincerely.

His face was filled with sadness.

Perhaps it was the pain and pleading in his eyes that moved the girl. She didn't close the door; instead, she nervously took a few steps back, keeping a distance from Scotty. At the same time, she subtly moved a little closer to the phone, placing her hands behind her back above it, her eyes intently watching Scotty's every move after he entered, as if she were ready to call the police at any moment.

"What do you want to know?" The girl's voice was stiff, clearly very nervous.

Although the girl remained wary of Scotty, it was clearly a good start. Scotty decided to get to the bottom of things, though he didn't know how it would end.

"Your name?"

"Julie Batton".

"Who are you?"

“I’m just a girl who works at Manner.”

Why do you live here?

"This is just a place to live, nothing more."

How long have you been living here?

"It's been 3 years already."

Where did you live before?

Slay, Kentucky

Scottie's barrage of questions had clearly annoyed Julie. She simply didn't understand why this man had suddenly appeared in her room, and what right he had to ask her so many questions. To end this unpleasant conversation, and to prove her point, Julie took out her driver's license from her bag and showed it to Scottie.

“Julie Barton, No. 2967942, Maple Road, Sly, Kansas.” Julie turned another page of her driver's license.

"Look at this address, this is it. This is a California driver's license issued in May 1954. Do you want to check my fingerprints?"

Julie's patience had completely run out, and she turned her back to Scottie.

“You can leave when you’re satisfied,” Julie said, giving Scotty no room to maneuver.

Through the mirror, Scotty's deep gaze met Julie's, a fleeting look of confusion crossing Julie's eyes. She lowered her head and looked away.

"You really want to find her, don't you?" Julie's tone suddenly lowered, tinged with an inexplicable expectation.

"Do you really miss her?"

Scotty looked at Julie's face and nodded with difficulty. That face, exactly like Mei Ling's, drove him to the brink of madness, and an unspeakable pain tormented him. But he had to figure it all out; his intuition told him that this woman must have some connection with Mei Ling.

“She’s dead, isn’t she? I’m so sorry…” Clearly, Julie had accepted Scottie’s existence and the story he told her, and she had begun to sympathize with Scottie’s plight.

Scottie immediately noticed this and successfully used it to invite Julie to dinner at Ernie's restaurant.

The door closed slowly behind Scotty, who left satisfied. He would return an hour later to take her out for dinner. Even if she wasn't Mei Ling, what did it matter? Perhaps she was related to Mei Ling? Or perhaps this was heaven's compensation to him, a solace for his soul after taking Mei Ling away…

What Scottie couldn't see was that after the door closed, Julie's face immediately turned pale, as if she could hardly support her weight. Julie braced herself against the dressing table, fear creeping onto her face, her eyes looking around helplessly.

After a short rest, Julie felt her breathing finally become easier, her heart gradually returned to normal from its frantic pounding, and her mind began to clear, allowing her to control her thoughts. As she regained consciousness, Julie clearly saw that she was on the verge of danger. She rushed to the wardrobe, placed her suitcase on the bed, and haphazardly threw her clothes inside. A gray suit caught Julie's eye, and her hand froze in mid-air. That suit clearly belonged to Mei Ling; why was it in Julie's wardrobe?

eighteen

Dinner was enjoyable.

Ernie's Restaurant was as packed as ever. Perhaps to avoid Scotty's suspicions, Julie had specifically chosen a pale purple dress.

It's a very popular design; Mei Ling would never wear clothes like that.

Soon, Julie realized that Scotty was truly lost in his memories of the past. A flicker of excitement ignited in Scotty's eyes, though it was fleeting, but his focus and obsession were undeniable.

Julie was somewhat frustrated, and she began to wonder if her risky decision was the right one. But soon, Scottie's hope returned to her on the way home.

Can I see you again tomorrow?

"Tomorrow night?" Julie was somewhat taken aback.

“No, I mean tomorrow morning,” Scotty said calmly.

“I have to go to work, I have a job.” Julie found it somewhat amusing. Although she desperately wanted more opportunities to be with Scotty, this arrangement seemed a bit crazy.