She had never understood before why he was always so dictatorial. She had told him her innermost thoughts countless times, yet he always dismissed them with a smile. He never explained himself. Sometimes she was mad at him, yet her heart ached for the burdens he carried, overlooking the fundamental reason. "Why are you so silly?" He had his pride, but it wasn’t as heavy as she imagined. It wasn’t about saving face that he endured everything alone. He just... cared about her because he had experienced that feeling himself, understood how heavy it was to bear so many lives, so he didn’t want to be like him, didn’t want to drag her into that mire, didn’t want her to be burdened like him for the rest of her life. Liang Zhichen slowly lowered his head, his gaze falling on his fingertips: "Before the Wife-Master came to Jiangnan, my emotions rarely fluctuated. But with every person I killed, nightmares haunted me, the people I killed in my dreams coming at me like vengeful spirits, wanting to tear me apart, drink my blood, eat my flesh. Sometimes I couldn’t sleep at night because I didn’t want to dream those dreams again." "I’ve recalled some things about the past. The person you loved so deeply wasn’t as good as you imagined. Think about it, he was born in the wilderness, he maneuvered step by step accumulating his chips, undertaking great endeavors, even though eventually his foundation was destroyed by the Seventh Princess. But if he were kind and gentle, if he were a benevolent person, just when he was in Jiangnan in the past, he would have been devoured until not even a bone fragment was left." "In his bones, he was a despicable person, his schemes and plots all for the sake of profit, driven by self-interest, and if you knew this, would you look down on him?" "There is no right or wrong, only enemy and friend. Those who oppose him are his enemies, no matter if that person hasn’t committed grave mistakes, he can still be ruthless." "Such a person, how could he lay bare his true self before you? It’s not because the feelings are not deep, not because the feelings are not heavy, but because they are both deep and heavy, so he dares not take the risk." Because, in the face of love, who is willing to expose their shortcomings? Who wouldn’t want their significant other to see only their best side? His words left her speechless. What he spoke of were things she had never thought of, never pondered deeply, things she had overlooked, and beyond her sight, unknown to her. He slowly smiled again, "So, when the Wife-Master says she wants to share the burden with me, for me to rely on you, whether in the past or now, how could I bear it? How could I bear to use you, to make you my slaughterer?" "I can use everyone, I can manipulate the world in the palm of my hand, I can commit all sorts of cruel deeds, but only you, you are my Wife-Master, the pure land in my heart. The dirty, the filthy, I don’t want you to touch any of them. I want you to smile, to live peacefully, not like me, even afraid to sleep, fearing that the nightmares of vengeful spirits will awaken me." Her eyes gradually moistened, "Why are you telling me this?" He was silent for a moment, "Because I’ve been thinking, maybe you’ve resented me all along. Resentment can destroy a relationship, I don’t know how important I am in your heart, I feel insecure about my place, and if I continue to hide the truth, maybe... you’ll truly hate me, abandon me."