Ailia froze.
She had thought she was already mentally prepared and had even rehearsed what to say.
Yet now she could not open her mouth. She even doubted whether she had heard correctly.
“You didn’t hear wrong. I came back to find you after resurrecting.”
Zhe Zilin knew Ailia would not be able to accept it right away. After speaking, he quietly stood to the side and let her digest this extremely absurd information.
Although this world was filled with magic, resurrection was something unheard of.
As a witch, Ailia knew many secrets from ancient times to the present. None of them had ever mentioned any great figure reviving after death.
Could Ed be saying he was an agent descended from the gods, wanting her to obediently fulfill his request and let him leave with a wave of her hand?
Ailia found her own dandelion-like scattering thoughts amusing. But when she looked at Zhe Zilin, his face was very serious. There was not the slightest hint of a joke.
“I’m not joking.”
Zhe Zilin’s expression was calm. He knew that words alone were not enough to convince Ailia.
“In a while, Airigo, the guardian knight of North City, will come. He will say the following to you: Depart as soon as possible. If you’re late by even a step, you know the consequences. And you must arrive before nightfall.”
Ailia looked toward the boundary between the forest and the grassland with doubt and uncertainty.
To her surprise, Zhe Zilin’s words quickly came true. A knight clad in silver armor really did appear, passing through the trees.
To avoid influencing the prediction, Zhe Zilin proactively stepped back into the castle and listened from behind the door.
Seeing that the visitor was indeed the knight Airigo, Ailia turned back to glance at the door in disbelief.
“The King of the North is critically ill.”
Airigo dismounted and continued.
“Depart as soon as possible. If you’re late by even a step, you know the consequences.”
Before leaving, he added one more sentence: “You must arrive before nightfall.”
Ailia was even more shocked. She even forgot the proper etiquette for seeing someone off. She turned around and stared blankly at Zhe Zilin.
If guessing Airigo’s arrival had been a coincidence, then the fact that he had predicted the knight’s exact words, one by one, made Ailia begin to reshape her worldview.
Ailia’s breathing was quietly quickening. She believed Zhe Zilin’s words.
“Ed, I believe you now.”
She nodded. When she looked at Zhe Zilin, her eyes were filled with complexity.
“Since you have this kind of ability, you could obviously leave the castle easily. Why did you choose to confess it to me?”
Ailia frowned slightly and said something against her true feelings.
“I am a witch. If you tell me you can resurrect, I will definitely find a way to obtain this ability.”
Zhe Zilin lowered his eyes. “No, you won’t. I confessed it to you because I trust you.”
“You…”
“Ailia, you are my reliance.”
Zhe Zilin suddenly spoke, interrupting Ailia’s continued insincere words.
“After resurrecting, when I saw you again, do you know what I felt?”
Ailia turned her head away. Her fingers twisted together into a knot. A part of her skirt was wrinkled. She did not dare to look into Zhe Zilin’s eyes.
“I don’t know…”
“At peace.”
“It’s really good that I can still see you.”
Ailia’s head felt like a boiler had been lit inside it — hot and red. The next second, steam might start coming out.
Th-this… Ed actually said that seeing me makes him feel at peace!?
For the first time, someone told me it’s really good to see me…
In that instant, Ailia’s heart skipped a beat.
She slightly raised her eyes and secretly observed Zhe Zilin’s expression.
In his eyes there was sincerity, longing, and relief. There was also something she could not quite describe… stability?
No one could fake that kind of gaze.
Zhe Zilin did not tell Ailia about the system or the reloads. He simply replaced everything with a simple “resurrection,” letting Ailia assume it was some kind of holy magic he himself did not understand.
Some things could be known to heaven and earth, but absolutely not to a second person.
Of course, in a girl’s moment of emotional stirring, all small details would be ignored by her. Instead, she would automatically fill in the picture she wanted to see in her heart and believe it without doubt.
“Ed, such a huge secret as resurrection — if it got out, the whole world would be shaken. But you still told me without hesitation.”
“Besides, magic always comes with a price. Resurrection must have cost you an unimaginable price. Yet you still chose to rely on me.”
A price? Probably not.
Zhe Zilin did not interrupt Ailia. He was very happy to let her continue filling in the blanks. At the same time, he was also somewhat amazed by Ailia’s wild imagination.
Ailia’s eyes were already moist. Salty tears flowed into her mouth one by one. Her body also began to sob unconsciously.
“It’s all my fault for bringing you to this dangerous place. I clearly knew the forest was full of crises, yet I still self-righteously thought I could protect you.”
Self-blame and sorrowful emotions assaulted Ailia.
Zhe Zilin was stunned. Ailia’s imagination had deviated from the track he had designed. How did it turn into self-blame!? What he wanted was for Ailia to give him advice and solve the problem.
“You have to go to North City to pray. You can’t be blamed for that either. Maybe we can think of a solution together.”
Ailia nodded and wiped away her tears with her fingers. Since Zhe Zilin had chosen to trust her, she did not want to betray that trust.
“Ed, can you tell me what happened before you resurrected? I’m very stupid, but I’ll try my best to think of a way.”
“You’re very smart. You don’t need to deny yourself just because of self-blame.”
Zhe Zilin recounted in detail everything that had happened before his resurrection, only hiding the part where Ailia had died seeking revenge after his death.
Because he did not know how to explain it. Should he say his soul had seen everything?
Ailia nodded thoughtfully and began analyzing step by step.
“The Ice Demon came to kill me. We have grudges between us. But why would the half-orcs want to kill you?”
After thinking for a while, she did not dwell on this question. Instead, she raised her head and looked at Zhe Zilin.
“Ed, I will set off for North City right now to pray for the King of the North. I will rush back to the castle after nightfall. It won’t be too late. I will definitely make it in time.”
“If you go now, by the time you reach North City the sun will already be setting in the west. Even if you finish praying before nightfall, if you want to leave, the knights of North City probably won’t let you.”
Zhe Zilin lowered his head and stared straight into Ailia’s eyes, wanting to see through her thoughts.
“You know there is a way to avoid all of this, but you still don’t trust me.”
Taking Zhe Zilin to North City so he would not have to stay alone in the castle was the safest method.
But Ailia chose to take the risk. She was still afraid — afraid that the people from the Royal Capital would take Zhe Zilin away.
For her, Zhe Zilin was controllable in the castle, but uncontrollable in North City. So her choice was very clear.
“No one can resurrect infinitely. I will die too.”
Zhe Zilin understood that Ailia’s suspicious personality meant she would never completely trust another person.
But he did not need Ailia to trust him completely. He only needed her to trust him in this one matter — taking him away from the castle to North City.
To be honest, Zhe Zilin also wanted to see for himself whether Princess Osha was as terrible as Ailia had described. After all, in his memory, the other party was completely a weak and gentle girl.
Staying in the castle right now not only meant he could not find a way to escape, but also carried a very real risk to his life.
So Zhe Zilin felt that the time had come.
“You’re very afraid of Osha. Because she is my fiancée. You’re afraid I’ll be taken away by her.”
Ailia did not speak. Her silence said a lot.
“Ed, the guardian knights can’t stop me. Before the barrier is destroyed, I will definitely make it back in time!”
Zhe Zilin took Ailia’s hand and took out the Contract Ring he had already prepared.
In the end, the ring slid onto Ailia’s middle finger.