novelraw Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Chapter 146 : Chapter 146
Volume 2
Chapter 70 : A Maiden's Resolve
“It really has been a long time since I came back here.”
In a secret chamber somewhere in the Lower City, Anna looked at the instruments lying under a thick layer of dust in the dim room and sighed softly.
“I just hope they still work.”
With a wave of her hand, a faint current of Mana stirred.
A breeze blew in from outside the door, sweeping up the heavy dust and carrying it out through the exhaust fan, which had started running once more.
Before long, the instruments that had gone unused for so many years were spotless again.
Without wasting time on sentiment, Anna immediately set to work.
She took out all kinds of strange materials, including the odd black branch she had bought while shopping with Muen during the day.
She activated the precise instruments and began operating them with practiced ease.
Disassembly, smelting, extraction, blending.
As if she had rehearsed it countless times, every one of Anna’s movements was clean and efficient, without the slightest excess. It did not take long before a brand-new potion appeared in her hand.
At the end, she took out a tiny container no bigger than a finger joint and dripped the crystalline liquid inside into the potion.
Ripples spread across the surface.
The ice-blue liquid swayed gently within the transparent container.
Anna stared at the potion, as if confirming something.
“There is still none of the change a potion ought to have. It feels more like something completely unrelated was added to it.”
Anna sighed softly, yet there was not much disappointment in it.
She had long expected this result.
Or rather, she had already experienced it many times before.
In truth, this potion, painstakingly prepared through a complicated series of steps, was not important.
It merely existed to maximize a certain effect.
What truly mattered was that single drop of crystalline liquid.
“But I still have to try.”
Holding on to that faint sliver of hope, Anna drank the potion in one gulp.
Then she rolled up her sleeve and quietly stared at the black scales that had regrown on her arm at some unknown moment.
Five minutes.
Ten minutes.
Half an hour.
Two hours.
Anna seemed to turn into a statue, silent and unmoving, waiting for dawn.
But when the midnight bell tolled, what Anna saw was still nothing but a night that had grown deeper and darker.
“So it really still does not work?”
Her fingertips brushed over the cold scales, and a faintly mocking smile curved on Anna’s lips.
“What exactly was I hoping for? Did I not already know? This thing called true love is nothing more than a lie used to deceive innocent children.”
“Better to place my hopes in things I can actually grasp.”
With a casual motion, she tossed the container that still held a trace of the crystalline liquid into the trash can, as if severing every last lingering thought along with it.
She turned and left, then entered a shop that looked extremely old.
The shop sold all sorts of strange odds and ends.
In the most eye-catching spot stood lifelike clay figures of beautiful girls, full-sized mature-female mannequins, and 《Saintess Photo Album 3.0》.
There were no other customers in the store, and in the rocking chair behind the counter, an old man was asleep.
He was already very old.
By the faint starlight filtering in through the window, the age spots on his skin could just barely be seen.
Just like the shop itself, his whole body seemed steeped in decay.
Anna glanced at him, took out a thick wad of banknotes, and placed it on the counter.
After a long silence, she finally said,
“The usual arrangement. Please pass this money on to the orphanage.”
There was no reply.
The old man seemed to be asleep.
Anna said nothing more. She set down the money and prepared to leave.
“You went to see them in secret yesterday, did you not? Why not give it to them yourself?” Just as she was about to step out of the shop, the old voice suddenly rang out.
Anna’s footsteps paused, but she did not turn around.
“Someone like me is better off not becoming any more entangled with them.”
“Is that so?”
The old man opened his cloudy eyes and gazed at the lonely figure standing beneath the moonlight.
His gaze was filled with pity.
“Anna, if you do nothing but shut away your heart, you will never find redemption.”
“Redemption?”
Anna let out a self-mocking laugh, then stepped forward again and walked into the deep night.
“Who would ever bring redemption to a monster?”
...
...
Noon.
Muen was jolted awake by the harsh sunlight piercing through the gap in the curtains.
“Is it already this late?”
He glanced at the clock on instinct, and the heavy drowsiness vanished at once.
In truth, after their fierce battle all through the night, he had only managed to fall asleep sometime in the morning, so it had only been a few hours.
Naturally, he was nowhere near well-rested.
After all, last night’s exhaustion had far surpassed fighting an enemy through a hundred rounds.
But there were still things he had to do today.
A real man could not remain forever drowned in tenderness.
Muen shifted slightly and found that the entire left side of his body was tingling in an unusual way.
Lowering his head, he saw that even in her sleep, Ann was still wrapped around him like an octopus.
“She really is clingy.”
Muen smiled bitterly and gently eased Ann’s bare body off him.
Yet as he moved, the exquisite feel of her skin against his own, together with the alluring glimpse of flesh slipping out from beneath the blankets, nearly stirred him all over again.
Fortunately, Muen hurriedly recited the Calming Mantra several times and successfully forced down the rising heat.
What a joke.
If they went at it one more time now, the two of them truly would not be getting out of bed for three days and three nights.
Luckily, Ann was sleeping unusually deeply for once.
It seemed that even for someone who could drain a man dry, last night had genuinely exhausted her too.
After all, in terms of sheer physical toughness, the current Ann still could not compare to Muen, who had trained for more than two months and been tempered in the Mercury Well.
“Becoming stronger really is urgent. Otherwise, before the evil god kills me, this little temptress is going to squeeze me dry first.”
Muen sighed, then swiftly got up and dressed.
Now that Ann’s yandere affliction had been cured, he no longer had many reservations.
In any case, he could return to the Duke’s household whenever he wished, so why cling to this temporary warmth?
Yet thinking that, he still could not help but study Ann’s sleeping face once more.
Now that the morbid craving was gone, that face, so pure and beautiful, was all the more moving.
“Be good, all right? I’ll come back to see you often.”
Muen gently caressed Ann’s pretty face and smiled softly.
Then, moving as quietly as possible, he slipped out of the room.
...
Ann suddenly opened her eyes and looked toward the door that had just closed.
“Young master.”
A blissful smile hung on her lips.
She touched her own cheek, as if savoring the lingering trace of Muen’s scent there, utterly unwilling to let it fade.
But beautiful afterglows were always brief, and there were still things she had to face.
She rose and walked to the mirror.
In the mirror, her lovely body still bore the marks of last night’s passion, like some kind of brand, and they filled her with heartfelt satisfaction.
But then, her pretty face turned cold.
Like ice slowly sealing over.
She thought back to yesterday.
At that time, the reason she had not acted was not because she had not wanted to.
It was because she had sensed a trace of danger.
Though she had not known where it came from, she could not guarantee that in such a situation, she would not hurt the young master.
So she had chosen to leave for the time being.
But that did not mean she did not care about other women appearing around her young master.
“It seems I need to become stronger too.”
Ann looked at her own hand.
The power of a God’s Chosen was strong, but it was not invincible.
For example, she had been unable to control the white blade the young master had used last night.
And as the young master grew more and more outstanding, there would surely be some painted hussies drawn to him like moths to a flame.
That could not be permitted.
Rule Two of the Campbell family maid conduct: one must always ensure that the master’s surroundings remain clean and tidy!
So—
“Just you wait, young master.”
That morbid fervor and desire surfaced once more on Ann’s lovely face.
All the metal in the room began to hum together, as though responding to her unwavering resolve.
“I will definitely wipe out every last one of those preening vermin around you!”