Chapter 29: The Strange Purple Glow — Blessing or Curse?

“Inform him alone?”

Astreia’s arms paused mid-embrace, her emerald starry eyes full of confusion.

They had just survived a harrowing assassination attempt, and right now, all she wanted was to take Wendy back to his room and guard him without leaving his side for a moment.

How could she possibly feel at ease letting him be alone with someone else?

What if this was another one of Edwin’s accomplices?

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The Priestess seemed not to notice Astreia’s murderous glare and only let out a gentle laugh, her voice as soft and bewitching as ever: “Your Highness, this is the guidance of the Goddess. It has nothing to do with me.”

With just one sentence, she blocked off all of Astreia’s suspicions.

Yet Astreia still couldn’t relax, her arms tightening protectively around the boy in her embrace.

As the stalemate dragged on, a flurry of footsteps approached.

“Your Highness! General Sera requests your presence to preside over the victory banquet!”

The Messenger rushed breathlessly to the doorway, breaking the silent standoff.

“Everyone’s waiting for you!”

Now, Astreia could no longer find an excuse to stay.

On one side were tens of thousands of high-spirited soldiers waiting to be reassured and celebrated; on the other, her beloved who had just escaped death and needed protection.

Duty and selfishness tore wildly at her heart, and for the first time, that heroic face showed such clear struggle and pain.

“Go on, Astreia, everyone’s waiting for you.”

Wendy gently patted her arm, forcing a comforting smile onto his face.

“It’s just a superficial wound, and I’m almost completely recovered.”

But what the Prince was really thinking was something else entirely.

This Priestess big sister radiated an “I’m a total weirdo” vibe from head to toe, but no matter how he looked at her, she seemed like one of those hidden bosses in a game, loaded with secret skills and key plotlines.

And any quest triggered at a moment like this usually came with outrageously generous rewards.

He’d just been lamenting his own weakness, but now opportunity was knocking, wasn’t it?

There was no way he’d let Astreia mess up such a golden chance.

Hearing these thoughtful words, Astreia’s heart softened, and all her stubbornness instantly crumbled.

Wendy… he’s always like this, always thinking of the bigger picture first, always so considerate…

After struggling for a few seconds, Princess Royal finally compromised.

But before leaving, Astreia reached beneath her skirt and drew out the dagger that had just pierced Edwin’s shoulder, and shoved it into Wendy’s hand without a word.

“Keep this for protection,” Princess Royal bent down, her hot breath brushing against Wendy’s ear, her voice lowered to a whisper, “If she dares try anything, you just…”

Halfway through, Astreia realized asking a Prince who couldn’t even kill a chicken to fight for his life was a bit much.

She could only grit her teeth and turn to the Priestess, her tone almost threatening: “Take good care of him! I’ll come fetch him myself in a bit!”

Only after saying this did she leave the infirmary, glancing back three times with every step, deeply reluctant.

As the heavy wooden door slowly closed, the din from outside faded away.

The sweet, cloying scent of flowers seemed to grow thicker in the air, and the candlelight flickered gently, stretching their shadows long and thin.

The atmosphere grew a little strange.

Wendy gripped the dagger in his hand, nerves on edge.

Here it comes, here it comes—the classic scene.

Was she about to reveal some earth-shattering secret, or give him a hidden quest with insane rewards but a one-in-ten chance of survival?

While he was lost in wild speculation, the Priestess big sister moved.

She slowly raised her slender hand and removed the veil from her face.

In an instant, the candlelight dimmed.

A breathtaking beauty, so stunning it was nearly suffocating, overwhelmed all of Wendy’s senses.

Wendy swore, even if he combined everything he’d seen in two lifetimes…

Even if he lined up every maxed-out SSR Character from Witch’s Conquest, none of them could match the woman before him.

It was a perfect oval face, with a short, delicate nose beneath which lay lips so full and shapely they seemed almost solemn.

Ultimate seductiveness and holy compassion—two utterly opposite auras—blended together in a beauty so contradictory, it could make the sun and moon lose their light.

Every feature of hers was a spell that froze the mind.

Even the blackened, max-charm version of Witch Astreia seemed a step behind when compared to this face.

Wendy was instantly dumbfounded.

But what shocked him most was—throughout every version of Witch’s Conquest, whether protagonist, side character, or villain, there was absolutely no one with this face!

A top-tier beauty who didn’t exist in the game at all?

Just who was she?!

“Prince Wendy Black,” the Priestess suddenly spoke, her eyes glowing with a faint purple light, “Have you not noticed anything strange about your own body?”

Her voice was still as bewitchingly gentle as before, but now carried a sorrowful insight that saw through everything.

Yet Wendy, as if unable to see the eerie purple glow, found himself wanting to listen to her, to trust her: “You… what do you mean?”

The beauty laughed softly, her voice so seductive it seemed to slip right into his bones.

“When I was stitching your wounds earlier, I sensed a very subtle Corruption Power.”

She picked up the silver needle she’d just used and slowly sterilized it over the flame.

“It’s entrenched deep within your bloodline, like a maggot clinging to bone, already tightly bound to your soul.”

At her words, Wendy’s face instantly turned pale.

Corruption Power?

Deep within his bloodline?

He immediately thought of the polluted Bamruck, the Holy Sword, and the game lore: as a direct royal of the Gallant Cavalry, he was bound by the Royal Bloodline Contract that had been passed down with that Holy Sword for generations!

Before Wendy could process this shocking revelation, the beauty dropped another bomb.

“This power is very similar to a certain deity’s ‘Blessing’. It does you no harm—in fact… it will make you irresistibly attractive to certain special beings.”

“But the terrifying part is…” the Priestess big sister turned, her enchanting eyes flickering with a strange purple light in the candle’s glow, “It spreads like a silent Contagion, quietly corrupting those around you.”

“The closer someone is to you, the stronger their feelings for you, and the more cracks in their heart, the easier they are to be affected by your ‘Blessing’.”

The Priestess slowly walked up to Wendy and bent down.

That heart-stoppingly beautiful face was so close their noses nearly touched, her breath fragrant as orchids.

“This ‘Blessing’ will endlessly magnify their desires, jealousy, and possessiveness… until their reason is completely devoured. Until they fall, becoming monsters who know nothing but madly taking, never satisfied…”

Boom——!!!

Wendy felt as if struck by lightning, frozen in place, as if he’d fallen into an ice cave.

He thought of the game’s plot.

Astreia only began to blacken after drawing the “Holy Sword,” and eventually fell to become that cold-blooded, tyrannical Witch Empress who imprisoned the Prince!

Could it be… from the moment he, bound by the Royal Bloodline Contract, was tainted by the corrupted sword, he’d already become a walking “Witch Incubator”?!

No wonder!

No wonder Astreia’s affection for him was rising at such an absurd rate!

No wonder the way she looked at him kept getting weirder!

So it wasn’t some innocent royal love—it was a curse fermenting!

The prelude to her blackening!

In an instant, a bone-chilling cold shot straight from his feet to the crown of his head.

“W-what should I do?”

Wendy’s voice was dry with fear.

The beautiful Priestess slowly straightened, her tone almost holy with compassion as she gave her advice: “This ‘Blessing’ was caused by the forced distortion of your Royal Bloodline Contract with the Divine Relic, after it was corrupted by external forces. My power is insufficient to purify it.”

“You must hurry to Saint City and seek help from the Light Church. Perhaps only His Holiness the Pope’s divine power can save you from this hopeless fate.”

As she spoke, she drew a silver Protective Amulet engraved with a complex holy sigil from her bosom and gently pressed it into Wendy’s hand—the one not holding the dagger.

“This is a ‘Protective Amulet’. It can temporarily isolate your ‘Blessing’ and slow the corruption of those around you, but it won’t last long.”

At the same time, she swiftly wrote a letter and handed it over: “This is a Letter of Introduction for an ‘old friend’ of mine in the Church. She will help you.”

Staring blankly at the amulet and letter in his hands, Wendy’s mind was a complete mess.

Staying at Sunset Fortress would mean personally pushing Astreia, step by step, toward the original plot—turning her into that possessive, imprisoning Witch Empress.

Leaving meant setting out on the unknown path laid out by this mysterious and beautiful woman before him.

In other words, the best way to protect Astreia… was to stay away from her.

This contradictory realization made Wendy feel, for the first time, the true malice and mockery of fate.