Yare’s bedroom door was once again gently knocked upon.
Silence lingered behind it.
Bai waited quietly in front for a moment, and at last, the wooden door slowly creaked open.
She was still seated there, holding a thick tome, its pages filled with strange symbols and illustrations.
Silent and unmoving, she seemed entirely detached from the world, nothing but reading could stir her interest.
“Master, Bai has finished familiarizing herself with the mansion,” Bai said softly.
“Mm.”
Yare gave a faint response, her eyes never leaving the pages.
“Can… Bai ask a question?”
Bai asked hesitantly.
“Speak.”
“Who is Lian? Bai saw a room labeled ‘Lian’ on the second floor. Was she a servant here before?”
The moment the name “Lian” left Bai’s lips, Yare’s body tensed slightly, and her fingers paused mid-turn on the page.
What followed was a long, heavy silence.
Bai swallowed hard.
She could clearly feel the shift in Yare’s aura.
She seemed… displeased.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything…”
Bai thought anxiously, quickly waving her hands and adding, “If Master doesn’t want to talk about it, it’s okay! Bai was just curious, nothing more.”
Yare sighed lightly, then resumed flipping through her book as if nothing had happened.
Her voice was calm, but carried a subtle, barely noticeable undertone.
“Like you… a blood slave who once served me. She’s… not here anymore.”
“A blood slave? So Master once had another blood slave named Lian? And judging from her reaction… they must’ve been close,” Bai thought.
But her instincts told her this topic shouldn’t be pushed any further.
She bowed politely and asked one last question, “May Bai leave now?”
“As you wish,” Yare replied indifferently.
Joy stirred in Bai’s chest.
She bowed again with respect, then turned and walked away quickly, unable to wait any longer to taste that long-awaited feeling of freedom.
“Even if that freedom is a little fake… Bai’s just a slave, how much more could she dare wish for?”
She took out the bright red flower from her pocket, then used the small knife she carried to cut her forearm, letting a drop of blood fall onto its petals.
In the next instant, the space in front of her began to twist and distort.
A white, swirling vortex, roughly her height, slowly appeared.
Bai swallowed nervously, filled with both excitement and unease.
“Even though I’ve gone outside before… I’ve never felt this nervous. What if… Bai can’t handle the outside world? What if she meets someone dangerous? What if…”
She shook her head hard, banishing the anxious thoughts.
Whispering to herself, she said, “Isn’t this what you wanted, Bai? What are you so afraid of?”
She took a deep breath and straightened her back, like a warrior heading to execution.
No more hesitation.
She stepped straight into the vortex.
Her figure was instantly swallowed whole, and the swirling gate collapsed behind her, vanishing from sight.
The vast mansion returned to silence, leaving behind only the soft sound of turning pages in Yare’s room.
***
“Hmm? What’s Master reading?”
Behind Yare, without warning, appeared a girl with long silver-gray hair just like Bai’s.
She bent forward, wrapping her slender arms around Yare’s neck in an affectionate hug, curiously peering at the book in Yare’s hands.
Her sapphire-blue eyes sparkled with lively light.
“A forbidden book of illusion magic. Created by an ancient mage six thousand years ago,” Yare replied calmly.
“Illusion magic? Master can use illusion too?” the girl tilted her head, her tone full of innocent curiosity.
“I can use nearly every type of magic that exists in this world,” Yare said with a calm, confident smile tugging at her lips.
“Hehe, Master is amazing, as expected!” the girl giggled playfully, then gracefully slipped around to the front and laid herself across Yare’s lap like a docile kitten, looking up at her.
“Say, can illusion magic affect you too, Master?”
“Hmph, no matter how powerful, illusions are nothing more than fleeting, hollow dreams. As long as one’s will is strong enough, they can’t deceive the mind.”
“There’s no illusion in this world that can affect me,” Yare answered with a hint of arrogance, gently stroking the girl’s cheek, her eyes unconsciously filled with a touch of tenderness.
“Really?” The girl blinked, then asked again,
“Then why can Master still see Lian?”
“…Eh?”
“Lian is already… dead.”
Yare snapped out of it.
The girl had vanished without a trace.
The room was dead silent.
Only Yare sat alone, her outstretched hand frozen in the air, as if trying to touch something, or someone.
She slowly pulled her hand back, trembling slightly, her fingers still tingling with warmth.
Her other hand rose on its own, brushing the white pendant at her chest.
After a long silence, her voice echoed softly in the empty room.
“Lian…”
***
A blinding white light filled her vision.
Bai felt a wave of intense dizziness, as if the entire world were spinning.
She didn’t know how long it lasted, but eventually, the light faded.
What appeared before her was a mysterious forest.
The trees soared into the sky, their branches etched with delicate silver markings that shimmered like starlight.
The foliage was lush, the leaves shaped in strange and beautiful ways—some as light as feathers, others as clear as crystal.
When the breeze passed through, the leaves clinked together like wind chimes, producing crisp, ethereal sounds.
The ground was covered in soft moss that shifted in color from emerald green to deep blue, making each step feel like walking on clouds.
Glowing mushrooms peeked up through the moss, casting a gentle luminescence that lit the winding path through the woods.
A faint floral scent drifted in the air, mingling with the fresh scent of soil, instantly clearing the mind.
Freedom…
The word rose in Bai’s mind unprompted.
Yes… wasn’t this what she longed for?
A world without shackles.
A freedom that belonged to her alone!
She walked slowly along the forest path, lifting her head.
Through the dense canopy, she could just barely glimpse the sun hanging high.
The surreal feeling unsettled her.
Just not long ago, she had still been in Yalbera’s ancient castle, locked in the daily routine of servitude.
But now, now she was in the free outside world, strolling through a radiant forest.
“Mm… it should be midday now. I need to find a town before sunset,” Bai murmured to herself.
Though she had finally reached the world she longed for, she had no idea what to do next.
She wanted to return to her old home—but the problem was,
Where even was she now?
What if she’d been transported into territory belonging to another race?
Bai only spoke the human language… well, and a little of the blood clan’s tongue too.
“Swish swish swish.”
As she walked, a sudden rustling came from the bushes behind her.
Bai whipped around, her shoulders tensing in alarm like a startled kitten.
“Um… is someone there?” she called out cautiously.
No one answered.
The bushes rustled again, swish swish, and then came a deep, beastly growl that rumbled through the forest.
A magical beast?
Creatures like that weren’t supposed to appear near human settlements!
If a magical beast had been in a forest near people, a subjugation force should’ve cleared it out long ago.
Bai swallowed hard, and her mind suddenly recalled something Lady Aiersha had once told her…
***
“Listen carefully, Xiao Bai. For humans, the unknown is where fear comes from. And the best way to deal with fear is… to run!”
“Run? But Lady Aiersha, if I figure out the unknown, then I won’t be scared, right?”
“No way! What if it’s actually dangerous? What if Xiao Bai gets hurt? So if you ever run into something strange, just call my name, then run as fast as you can!”
……
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