Chapter 4: A Small Cube of Sugar

Listening to the coachman’s calls outside, Li Ang withdrew his consciousness from the simulation.

The carriage had now come to a steady stop beside a house—one he had bought with the money he had saved over the years.

Since it was located on the outskirts of the capital, it had been relatively affordable.

The main reason was to have a convenient place to keep his younger sister close by and take care of her.

After paying, Li Ang got off the carriage with his luggage.

Once he had tidied up his belongings and freshened up, he lay down on the simple bed, frowning slightly.

The flow of time in the simulation seemed much faster than in reality, so he didn’t have to worry about missing anything important in the real world.

However…

No matter how hard he tried, Li Ang couldn’t recall the content of that forbidden book from the simulation.

All he remembered was that it involved a life-draining ritual, but memories of little Elvie were surprisingly clear.

“It seems this kind of memory can’t be brought into reality,” Li Ang muttered.

He had originally hoped to exploit some sort of bug by doing this.

In that case, the only way to obtain that technique would be through system rewards.

Pulling his thoughts back, Li Ang glanced around the empty room, feeling a bit out of place for a moment.

At the duke’s mansion, Vasilia often sneaked into his room at midnight to sleep, and over time, Li Ang had grown used to waiting a little before going to bed.

Speaking of sleeping,

According to the maids, this was because the duke was away on business for long stretches, and combined with the fact that the young lady had been kidnapped as a child, she had an extremely low sense of security.

Her chronic lack of sleep had made her temper worse.

This situation persisted until Li Ang appeared, after which things improved considerably.

Images of Vasilia’s outrageous antics in his room kept flashing in his mind, and Li Ang found his drowsiness fading.

That young lady completely treated him like her personal toy to mess with!

He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to shake off those embarrassing memories, though the shameful scenes were still hard to erase.

To distract himself, Li Ang sank his consciousness back into the simulation.

He already had a method to improve Elvie’s strength; traditional training was just too slow.

***

In the early hours, Ashen City was still shrouded in a dull gray.

In a small courtyard, a blonde girl was sweating profusely as she held a horse stance.

Her slender calves trembled uncontrollably, but her expression remained stubbornly determined.

Notably, her breathing was subtle and rhythmic, rising and falling with her small chest.

Sparse traces of magic quietly flowed into her body with each breath.

These past days, little Elvie had been waking up early every morning to train.

Thanks to Li Ang’s careful feeding, her complexion had become much rosier than before.

There was no denying that Elvie was hardworking and diligent in her swordsmanship studies.

Sometimes, when Li Ang got up in the middle of the night, he could still see the girl practicing sword swings under the moonlight.

However…

Her efficiency in absorbing magic was painfully low.

Li Ang closed the forbidden book in his hands, his face suddenly pale as fresh blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Yet his expression relaxed as he muttered,

“Finally succeeded.”

He hid the book under his pillow, wiped the blood from his mouth, composed his breathing, and stepped outside.

The sound of the door opening quickly caught Elvie’s attention.

Her eyes immediately turned toward the entrance, her face showing panic.

But the next moment, her legs gave out, and she collapsed to the ground.

“Ah!”

Elvie instinctively tensed her body and closed her eyes.

But instead of the expected pain, she felt a gentle breeze lift her up.

She opened her eyes dazedly and saw her master’s familiar face smiling faintly. The little girl’s cheeks flushed deeply.

To embarrass oneself in front of her master was just too shameful!

“Ma—master, I’ll go prepare breakfast for you right away!”

Flustered, Elvie hurried toward the kitchen.

Ever since Li Ang took her under his wing, she had insisted on handling the laundry and cooking herself, which made Li Ang’s days rather leisurely.

This gave him ample time to thoroughly study the ritual described in the forbidden book.

Breakfast was simple—plain congee and bread.

After placing the food on the table, Elvie quietly stood nearby, swallowing hard.

Having trained since dawn, she was already famished, yet she suppressed her hunger to wait.

Seeing this, Li Ang felt helpless.

Every time they ate, this girl refused to eat until he finished.

No matter how much he persuaded her, Elvie stubbornly stuck to this rule.

It was the law of the slums—small, weak beggars had to wait for the strong ones to finish rummaging through garbage before they could pick up any scraps, or else they would be beaten and starve all day.

Survival of the fittest was a longstanding rule, symbolizing respect for the strong.

Elvie had spent a considerable amount of time in the commoner districts. Logically, as the daughter of a Knight, she should never have fallen so low.

But three years ago… her father had been assigned a covert mission from which there was no return.

The ultimate beneficiary of this was actually him.

Once Elvie’s father disappeared, he could easily ascend to the position of Knight Captain.

And Elvie was just a sacrifice in this power struggle…

After Li Ang finished breakfast and stood up, Elvie finally approached and devoured the remaining congee and bread, even licking the bowls clean.

For her, wasting food was unthinkable.

Seeing this, Li Ang ruffled her hair approvingly.

“Elvie, you’re amazing.”

Then, as if by magic, he pulled a small cube of sugar from his pocket and handed it to her.

The little girl’s eyes visibly brightened, but she only pinched off a tiny piece to put in her mouth.

As the sweetness spread through her mouth, Elvie’s golden eyes slowly closed in enjoyment.

Only after the sweetness faded did she reluctantly lick her fingertips, then excitedly held out the whole cube of sugar to Li Ang and said, “Master, it’s very sweet. You eat it!”

In her memory, sugar was a rare luxury.

Even when her father was still around, she had only seen those noble Ladies eat it.

Looking at the cautious and earnest look in her eyes, Li Ang felt an inexplicable pang of tenderness.

Softly, he said, “Master has plenty here. You eat it.”

Elvie hesitated briefly, then carefully wrapped the cube back up and tucked it into her clothes, saying solemnly, “Then… Elvie will save it for Master.”

Storing food was also a survival rule for beggars—you never knew if there would be anything to eat tomorrow.

What Elvie didn’t know was that the person responsible for her harsh past was actually her master sitting before her.

Even her father’s death was at his hands.

Li Ang pinched the soft little face of the girl and said, “Come, today we’ll continue practicing the Knight breathing technique. Master will help you adjust your breathing rhythm.”

Elvie obediently closed her eyes and began breathing slowly according to a certain rhythm.

Each breath brought a small amount of magic into her body.

Li Ang’s expression was serious as he controlled the flow of magic into her.

The life-draining ritual required inscribing magic arrays within both parties’ bodies, and these past days he had repeatedly tried it on himself, enduring countless backlashes until today’s perfect success.

Thankfully, after many attempts, he could now skillfully inscribe magic arrays without causing any discomfort to the other person.

“Hmph…”

Elvie gave a soft hum, her tender earlobes turning bright red, her cheeks flushed.

She could clearly feel her master’s magic moving inside her body, an indescribable sensation, as if… as if it were gently caressing her.

She opened her eyes, only to see Li Ang’s face tense, sweat beading on his forehead.

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing the little girl open her eyes, Li Ang asked, his voice a little hoarse.

“Nothing… nothing at all.”

Elvie, seeing her master in such a state, felt deeply ashamed.

He was working so hard, and she was still thinking about those kinds of things!

Elvie straightened her back, bit her lip, and refused to focus on the subtle sensation. Instead, she concentrated on the breathing technique.

Then she was surprised to discover that the magic she perceived had multiplied several times over!