Chapter 31: Annie?

“Did it work?”

Opening his left eye, Roman quickly asked.

Lady Catherine slowly opened her eyes, filled with surprise and barely concealed joy.

Looking down at Roman, his concerned gaze sent a wave of unspeakable warmth through her chest.

Unconsciously softening with maternal affection, Lady Catherine reached out and gently touched Roman’s long hair.

“I can feel the cursed energy in my body has fallen asleep. It’s unbelievable.”

A curse is different from a simple toxin; it’s a spell tied to causality.

If a priest tries to dispel it recklessly, they’re most likely to get cursed themselves.

In most cases, it’s irreversible and unsolvable.

Lady Catherine had already prepared herself, if anything went wrong, she would protect Roman no matter what.

She hadn’t expected his Sacred Seal to be so forceful that it weakened the terrifying curse into something as mild as a basic toxin.

Even with Roman’s current level, he was able to temporarily suppress its effects.

“It didn’t get completely removed?”

Although Lady Catherine looked happy, Roman still picked up the meaning in her tone and spoke with disappointment.

“The path to transcendence is long. For someone like you, Roman, it’s only just beginning. You’ve already managed this much on your first try, maybe in a few days, you’ll completely heal me.”

Catherine smiled.

Only when she saw Roman’s spirits lift again did she truly relax her expression.

Lies are most effective when they’re nine parts truth and one part falsehood, Lady Catherine understood her own condition better than anyone.

With how deeply rooted the curse was, nearly all her internal organs had failed.

The curse wasn’t entirely a bad thing anymore.

Perhaps because it had become parasitic, it was now the only thing keeping her alive.

If it were completely removed, her body, deprived of its last source of support, would collapse in the very next moment.

The two continued talking for a while longer, and Roman’s lingering doubts were addressed.

After bidding farewell to Lady Catherine, Roman had just stepped out of the room when a hand suddenly grabbed him.

“Stay quiet, Lord Roman.”

Elise’s voice came from above.

Pulled into her arms by force, Elise said no more, but Roman’s cheeks grew redder and redder.

He opened his mouth to speak, only for Elise to press a hand over it.

Elise was tall, and Roman was still growing.

As he leaned against her, his head rested directly on her plump, snowy breasts, the softness on top of his head making his heart skip.

He looked up at Elise in confusion, only to see a strange glint in her eyes that he couldn’t quite understand…

After a moment, Elise finally released him and softly explained, “Someone just entered Lady Catherine’s room. If you were walking around in the hallway like this, you’d have alerted them.”

“I see. Sorry, I overreacted just now.”

Roman tidied the strands of hair messed up from the physical contact.

His tone still sounded a bit unnatural.

But while speaking, he glanced sideways, silently recalling Elise’s movements and expression just now.

Something about it felt… off.

Still, he said nothing more.

Returning to a normal state, Roman followed Elise and curiously asked.

“Was it that Annie who came back?”

“Mm. Her original job was to clean Lady Catherine’s room.”

The two walked silently forward and ran into Annie just as she was stepping out of the room.

Roman was startled, thinking they were about to be discovered.

He quickly put on a casual expression, pretending to be just passing by.

However, Annie simply walked past them without saying a single word, as if she hadn’t seen them at all.

Roman looked back, Annie had already disappeared into the corridor.

“Was that your ability?”

Roman finally realized.

He turned to speak to Elise, only to find she had vanished too, completely disappeared.

Roman blinked his left eye and curiously stepped toward the spot where Elise had just been, then looked around.

There wasn’t a single trace left behind.

At that moment, Elise revealed herself behind Roman, dropping the light distortion, and lightly patted his shoulder.

“Ah…”

Roman let out a soft gasp, clearly startled, his whole body flinching involuntarily.

“Lord Roman, that’s the effect of light concealment.”

Right in front of him, Elise held out her fingers, and under the sunlight, they instantly vanished into thin air.

Roman reached out in curiosity and felt the sensation of Elise’s fingers.

“Is this your Sacred Seal, Elise?”

“You’ll find out in time.”

Elise casually pushed open Lady Catherine’s door and stepped inside first.

A woman’s charm comes largely from her uniqueness, her mystery.

Roman stared at her retreating figure for several seconds before steadying himself and following her into the room.

A few minutes later, after a thorough inspection, Elise remained calm as ever.

Standing at the center of the room, she cupped her chin and murmured softly,

“Interesting.”

“Did you find anything?”

“She acted very obedient. Didn’t do anything at all.”

Roman approached Catherine’s room, took the flowers from the vase, and smelled nothing unusual.

Recalling the words he’d overheard that day, Roman furrowed his brow in confusion.

What exactly did she want Annie to do?

“Hm?”

Elise’s head, deep in thought, suddenly lifted as she looked toward Luo Xiya’s room.

While she was still analyzing the situation, Roman had already slipped away.

After awakening the Sacred Seal of Life, he had become exceptionally sensitive to certain unsettling auras.

He had already locked on to the source.

Without hesitation, he pushed open Luo Xiya’s door.

The maid Annie turned her head, looking at him in confusion.

She held a broom in her hands, and next to her was a bucket filled with rags.

From the looks of it, she was just doing routine cleaning.

“You are…?”

She had never met Roman before.

At first sight of his face, she was so stunned that she couldn’t speak, instinctively showing a respectful demeanor.

“I’m… Lady Luo Xiya’s friend,” Roman said awkwardly when defining their relationship.

“I see. Did you come here for something?”

Annie lowered her head, adopting the posture of a servant.

Roman stared at her for a long time, and the more he looked, the darker his expression became.

To an outsider, Annie appeared completely fine, healthy in both complexion and posture.

She looked like any other normal young girl.

But in Roman’s eyes, she looked like someone on the brink of death.

Her life force was so faint it seemed it could vanish at any moment.

Roman stepped forward, and Annie nervously gripped the broom in her hands.

“Have you been sick lately?” he asked directly.

At his question, Annie’s expression grew more flustered.

Her face even showed signs of resistance, and she began to shrink back from Roman’s approach.