Chapter 7316

This feeling was different from Claire’s, different from Nanako’s,

And different from any other woman who had ever been close to him.

Because only Maria knew everything about him,

And only he knew everything about Maria.

That feeling of: Only I understand you best, and only you understand me best

There would never be another like it in the world.

Facing such an intelligent, beautiful, and incredibly resilient girl, it was impossible not to be moved.

For a moment, Charlie also felt that if one day, everything settled down,

And he no longer had to worry about revenge or cultivation,

If he could spend his remaining years with Maria, riding horses in the mountains, he would experience a feeling even more sublime than happiness.

Charlie didn’t know how to describe it,

So he tentatively called it a sense of destiny—it seemed that this was the most perfect and fitting ending for his life.

That ultimate perfection is like a drop of water in the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago.

It evaporated from the sea, crossed thousands of mountains and rivers,

And turned into snow in the polar regions.

For tens of millions of years afterward, it remained quietly there.

But that wasn’t its true perfect destination.

It waited and waited for tens of millions of years until the global warming at the end of the Permian period finally melted the ice and snow that hadn’t melted for tens of millions of years.

And that drop of water, after tens of millions of years, finally returned to the sea.

This is true destiny.

The former Maria possessed the gentleness, grace, and restraint of a woman from the Ming Dynasty,

While Charlie had the constraints of a married man.

They both treated each other with respect.

But after experiencing so much together,

Even after exploring the most wondrous ancient formations in the world together before returning to Antarctica,

Both of them unconsciously gained a sense of freedom.

Like weary cattle and horses in a bustling city, suddenly lying on a plateau free from light pollution,

Staring at the Milky Way all night without blinking, with the vast universe before them and their own insignificance in their hearts.

At that moment, one’s vision and perspective expand considerably due to the profound and magnificent Milky Way,

And the layers of shackles that previously bound one’s heart become weakest.

If you have the courage to shatter them at that moment,

They will never again approach you, and you will never be troubled by them again.

But if you miss that weakest moment, the difficulty of breaking them will only increase exponentially for the rest of your life.

The shackles will eventually become a cage, with no chance of escape.

Both of them shared the same feeling at that moment, staring intently at each other on the boundless Antarctic ice sheet.

Maria didn’t blush. Beneath her delicate appearance lay an immense spiritual strength.

She simply looked at Charlie with unwavering, clear, and bright eyes.

Charlie returned the gaze with equal determination.

At that moment, both of them saw the boundless and magnificent Milky Way in each other’s eyes.

Lost in their gaze, they didn’t even notice the snowmobile’s steering wheel slightly veer.

The massive snowmobile drew enormous circles on the endless ice sheet.

One circle, two circles, until the car’s map beeped, bringing Charlie back to his senses.

Maria also noticed, a flicker of disappointment crossing her eyes.

It was at this moment that she truly understood the meaning of

“a glance that lasts a lifetime.”

If time could have stood still for that moment,

She would have felt that the entire universe existed for this instant.

But time couldn’t simply stop.

She understood that in the vast universe,

She was no protagonist, merely an insignificant speck of dust.

Charlie felt a pang of disappointment.

In the past, he had never taken the initiative with any woman other than Claire,

Not even with Ito Nanako, who seemed tailor-made for him in every way.

But at this moment, he suddenly made a decision.

A decision he felt he would regret for the rest of his life if he gave up!

He abruptly stopped the snowmobile that had been circling in place,

Looking at Maria beside him as before, he then tightly grasped her hand.

At this moment, Maria’s heart leaped into her throat.

Four hundred years of tireless striving couldn’t compare to the tension she felt at this moment.

She looked at Charlie, afraid to even breathe deeply,

Even afraid that her pounding heart would affect what Charlie was about to say.

Charlie wasn’t nervous.

He simply looked earnestly into her eyes, a thousand words welling up in his throat,

But in the end, he only managed to utter a dry sentence:

“Maria, from now on, wherever we go, I hope you can come with me.”

Charlie wasn’t dull, but he also lacked romantic flair.

All the heartfelt confessions he could think of were reduced to this one sentence.

Maria’s eyes instantly welled up with tears.

In her life, she had seen too many people, experienced too many things,

And witnessed too much so-called deep affection.

But none seemed as sincere as Charlie’s simple words.

Tears streamed down Maria’s face uncontrollably.

She wiped them away with her other hand, gripping Charlie’s hand even tighter,

And choked out with a smile through her tears,

“Young Master, I’m afraid I can live for another hundred years…”

Charlie nodded emphatically, saying firmly,

“Then a hundred years!”