Inside the dim room, a soft light source illuminated a corner of the interior.
Lin Shu watched the dancing speck of light on her fingertip, her heart pounding against her ribs.
‘It worked!’
She could actually cast spells after chanting the incantation without the corresponding casting materials!
After the phantom summoned by the key had kissed her forehead, Lin Shu tried chanting a basic **[Glimmer]** spell. Miraculously, a dazzling white light erupted from her finger.
Unlike the abilities of a Familiar, Lin Shu felt the surrounding air faintly flowing after she spoke the incantation, as if invisible energy were gathering. This did not come from her own body; instead, it was a spell formed by the magic surging in the air.
The collar around her neck did not react. This was a completely new power, one that was entirely free from its restraints.
Lin Shu touched her forehead. When she was casting the spell, the mark on her forehead had grown slightly warm. It hadn’t been an illusion.
The fire of hope burned fiercely in Lin Shu’s heart. With this new power, an escape was finally possible.
She looked down at the key in her palm.
‘Is the reason I can bypass the restrictions of casting materials because the phantom summoned by the key gave me a special ability?’
‘But why me?’
She had been summoned to this world, the Familiar contract did not restrict the Master’s race, and now she could use magic while skipping the usual steps.
‘If I am being watched over and cared for by a god, could it be that the deity needs me to do something?’
An inexplicable feeling wrapped around Lin Shu’s heart. The path home that the System had promised her was likely not that simple.
But now was not the time for deep reflection. She needed to familiarize herself with magic first.
Lin Shu opened the book and carefully read the laws of magic.
The book stated that the world’s magic network would sense a mage’s mana flow, limiting the categories of spells each mage could cast per day. For a novice mage, since the degree of mana adaptation still needed to be refined, they could only cast three types of spells per day.
After sunset, when the stars shifted, the spells available to the mage would refresh.
‘Three types, huh… I already used one when I was testing it just now.’
To escape, she had to make full use of the spells she had memorized that day.
Lin Shu flipped through the book, searching for suitable incantations. When the spell count refreshed at dawn and Liya was out of the room, she would seize the chance to escape during the guards’ shift rotation!
Lin Shu hid the book back under the bed, tucked the key close to her body, and lay down under the covers.
When Liya returned to the room, Lin Shu pretended to be asleep. She felt Liya gently pick her up from the floor and place her on the bed.
Lin Shu remained motionless with her back to Liya, repeatedly practicing the escape plan in her mind.
She did not sleep all night.
The next day, Liya did not go out. She ordered a maid to bring the things she had once collected and gave them to Lin Shu.
Liya stayed by Lin Shu’s side while she read, but Lin Shu was distracted and could not process a single word.
After an unknown amount of time, Liya put away her book and changed into formal attire. Lin Shu glanced at her.
Liya stroked Lin Shu’s hair and said reluctantly, “Lin Shu, my father assigned a family task on short notice yesterday. I won’t be able to stay with you all day today. You’ll understand, won’t you?”
“When I become the head of the family, I’ll definitely devote all my time to you.”
Lin Shu replied indifferently, “Mhm, I know. It’s fine.”
Liya smiled.
Before the door closed, Lin Shu saw that only one maid was standing guard outside.
The chance had come.
Lin Shu tore several strips of cloth from the bedsheets and wrapped them around the chains of her shackles to prevent them from making noise when she moved.
She took a deep breath and opened the door. The maid guarding the room was slightly stunned. “Lin Shu, do you need—”
“**[Quiet the Mind, Sleep in Peace]**.”
Lin Shu raised her hand, spreading her five fingers before the maid’s eyes as she chanted the spell.
The maid was completely off guard. Her eyes instantly lost focus, and her body swayed as she slumped weakly against the doorframe.
The magic had worked. She was asleep.
Lin Shu rushed to support her, struggling to drag her into the room and set her down. This low-level spell would not last long; the maid would wake up soon.
She had to hurry.
Lin Shu poked her head out of the room and, seeing that the hallway was temporarily empty, took the opportunity to slip out.
Following her pre-planned route, she vaulted over the railing and dropped directly from the third floor to the second-floor courtyard. If she jumped from the courtyard window, she could reach the back garden.
Lin Shu endured the pain from the fall and ran toward the window ahead.
*Thud!*
A sudden gust of wind whipped past her ear, and a massive Scythe slammed into the ground right in front of her.
“Where are you going, Lin Shu?” Liya’s trembling voice came from behind.
Lin Shu stood frozen, only a few steps away from the window.
“I wanted some fresh air,” Lin Shu forced herself to stay calm, searching for an excuse.
The sound of Liya’s high heels grew closer, and her voice pressed against Lin Shu’s back. “You’re lying to me. I took a break to come back and see you, but I only found the maid at the door fast asleep.”
“What did you do?”
Lin Shu had envisioned many scenarios where she might be discovered, but she hadn’t expected the worst one: being caught by Liya personally.
“You said you would stay. Why are you trying to escape?”
Lin Shu’s heart hammered wildly as she slowly calculated the distance between her and Liya. When Liya walked directly behind her, she would turn around and cast the sleep spell on her.
But just as she began to move, a powerful force shoved her to the ground.
Lin Shu’s face slammed hard against the floor. Her ears rang, and stars danced before her eyes.
Liya pinned her down, twisting one of her wrists behind her back. “I’ve been so good to you. I’ve bared all the love in my heart for you to see, so why do you still want to leave?”
A few drops of water fell onto Lin Shu’s arm. They were Liya’s tears.
“Let go of me!”
Liya screamed in a breakdown, “Why can’t I keep you no matter what I do? Do you really hate me that much?”
“Mother was right. To make a little bird belong to me forever, I should just break its wings.”
She freed her other hand and placed it on Lin Shu’s thigh, her grip slowly tightening.
Lin Shu’s breath hitched instantly. “No!”
“Lin Shu, after your legs are broken, I will take care of you for the rest of your life.”
She was actually going to do it!
Lin Shu struggled desperately, trying to turn her hand to cast a spell on Liya.
What was it… what were the words?!
In her desperation, her survival instinct overrode everything else, and Lin Shu couldn’t remember the specific incantation at all.
*Crash!*
The glass of the window ahead suddenly exploded.
Shards of glass flew everywhere as a red and black figure lunged inside, crashing into Liya.
Liya was knocked back, slamming heavily into the cabinet on the opposite side, and glass shattered across the floor with a loud clatter.
The weight was lifted from Lin Shu’s body. She hurriedly propped herself up and turned to look at the newcomer.
Her heart skipped a beat.
It was the Wolf Girl who had thrown the paper airplane to her in the plaza that day!
The girl shook her short red hair, and her white wolf tail swayed grandly. Her exposed skin was covered in scars.
The Wolf Girl stood up and rubbed her nose. “Damn, that glass really stings.”
She turned to Lin Shu, grinning to reveal two sharp canines. “Looks like you really were kidnapped this time.”