So big—
That was the first thought flashing through Floria’s mind.
So tall!
That was the second thought bouncing through Floria’s head.
How… how is this possible?!
That was the third question she grit her teeth to utter.
In that brief instant, the air around them seemed to fall silent.
Turn back, or not?
It was a dilemma.
The familiar figure behind her was staring intently in her direction, and Floria had already shown the side of her face to that person.
Emotionally, Floria was more inclined not to look back, then turn and sprint—run all the way to the Underground Passage she knew best.
Silvie’s appearance had about eighty to ninety percent similarity with her own face, and with her disguise basically failing—she had deliberately removed her makeup before entering the shop so Julian would recognize her—
So at this moment, Floria’s heart was filled with complaints.
To be honest, with her current condition, she could still handle any other heroine she might meet… but why did it have to be the trickiest one?
Without a doubt, the nun standing behind her was Elisa Floro—the cold, expressionless little girl she had rescued from a Fire Stake in some remote village all those years ago, a magical prodigy with an extraordinary constitution.
…Of course, at this point, she could no longer be described as a “little” or a “loli.”
Her tall figure was easily a whole head taller than Floria, her long, strong legs forming an elegant curve, and not to mention the bulge pressing out from the front of her nun’s habit…
Elisa now was no longer the thin girl who looked malnourished more than ten years ago but had fully developed into a stunning beauty on par with Floria’s own “perfect form.”
If it weren’t for the iconic nun’s habit and her unique cold tone with stiff pauses when speaking, Floria almost wouldn’t have recognized her.
“Guh…”
Swallowing hard, during those few seconds of silent standoff, Floria’s mind raced with indecision.
She tried to analyze the situation rationally:
First, given Elisa’s kind and polite attitude without any extreme behavior, if she ran off immediately, it might look like she was hiding something.
If she were caught after fleeing, Elisa’s suspicion and scrutiny would only intensify, making it ten times harder to keep her identity secret…
Besides, she didn’t think her half-crippled, fragile body could outrun Elisa’s long legs.
Unless Elisa didn’t notice or chose not to pursue her—which, judging from Elisa’s personality ten years ago, had about a sixty to seventy percent chance.
But she couldn’t gamble on that now.
After weighing her options, Floria chose to look back.
Maybe she had mistaken the person?
What if she really was just some passing nun?
Maybe all her worries were just her own imagination—
…
Summoning her courage, she turned her head first. What met her eyes was a delicate, cold, and slender face.
Ice-blue eyes were staring fixedly at her, dark circles rimmed the sockets.
An aura of sacred purity and untouchability radiated from her entire body, the shadow of her hood partially covering some soft silver hair strands falling from her temples.
Her pale, almost sickly face was as pristine as snow, making one wonder if she’d melt under the sun.
…Those familiar features left no doubt.
Floria’s heart sank from the hope she had clung to moments before—
She watched as Elisa’s expression shattered within seconds after spotting her face. That eternal icy coldness twisted through a complex range of emotions.
First surprise and shock, then disbelief, followed by a slight frown and an involuntary opening of her mouth, rapid breathing, eyes wide and fixated on Floria’s face.
In the end, she could no longer contain the excitement threatening to break loose, her pupils trembling with joy as she stretched out a trembling hand.
“Could it be that you are… Li—”
“Ahem…! Excuse me, this… this unfamiliar nun, are you speaking to me?”
Seeing this, Floria knew she had to act, so she coughed lightly and interrupted Elisa’s words without much feeling.
“……”
Elisa’s outstretched hand froze mid-air.
Seeing this, Floria’s tense nerves loosened a bit.
Thank goodness.
After all these years, even if Elisa saw a face resembling her memory, she probably wasn’t fully certain of her identity.
That meant… there was still room for Floria to bluff and deceive!
The expression on the nun’s face strangely reminded Floria of Sophia, who had come to her a few days ago.
Though they weren’t the same time or place or person, the circumstances were similar.
But after reconsidering, Floria noticed a key difference.
This time, Elisa hadn’t been given a spy leaking information, nor did she have the “final straw” sword that had crushed Floria last time with Sophia, providing decisive evidence.
Sophia’s success was due to Floria’s long retirement and lack of vigilance, plus Silvie’s premature leak of information, leaving her at a disadvantage.
Also, she had just finished Poison Mushroom Soup, and her poor state contributed to it… all these stacked misfortunes allowed Sophia to succeed.
Under normal circumstances, as a seasoned and efficient Villain Role, Floria would never fail in this classic, anticipated situation.
Naturally, she had long since devised a mature, practical plan—to shamelessly deny everything!
“Uh… if Sister Nun really wants some Fried Mushroom Skewers… I guess I could share one with you…”
Floria cleared her throat, feigning distress and tilting her head as she adopted the innocent, naive girl act, pouting and holding out a skewer toward Elisa.
But Elisa ignored the skewer, staggering forward a step.
To Floria’s stunned eyes, she grabbed her wrist tightly.
“Liya… why do you pretend not to know me?
“All these years, I thought you were dead… completely gone from my life…”
Her voice quivered with a faint sob, and her ice-blue eyes were clouded with tears, full of anxious longing.
This reaction caught Floria off guard.
Though it had been a long time since they last met, the Elisa in her memories wouldn’t have reacted like this.
“Sister Priestess, I… I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
Floria mimicked the possible reaction Silvie might have, flashing a panicked expression and shrinking her neck fearfully.
“You must have mistaken me for someone else, Sister Priestess… my hand hurts from your grip, could you please let go?”
Seeing the sudden confusion and hesitation on Elisa’s face, Floria pushed the advantage, yanking her hand free.
Then she took several steps back, deliberately staring at Elisa warily, mixing panic with caution.
Unexpectedly, her resistance seemed to unnerve Elisa even more.
Her expression twisted through surprise, disappointment, and a hint of resentment from rejection.
“Liya… are you really going to keep pretending not to know me?
“Is this some cruel prank to watch me suffer?
“Or have you truly forgotten me? Forgotten the days we spent together?
“Are you going to just throw away all those things you did to me back then?”
Elisa spoke rapidly, then paused, biting her lip as she caught her breath.
“But I… I will never forget… all those things… the summer we met… those unforgettable memories… I’ve kept them in my heart—!”
From Elisa’s pouring out, Floria sensed a strong and complicated emotion, and involuntarily gasped.
…Honestly, although their time together was short, even among the various Destiny Heroines in the system task, Elisa was the most unique.
Just the first encounter—being saved from the villagers’ blazing Fire Stake—was unforgettable.
Not to mention later, when Floria personally taught the pure and innocent girl how to pleasure herself with her fingers, allowing this emotionally deprived, expressionless ice queen, who had been ostracized due to her special constitution, to feel joy from the heart for the first time.
Floria had even sneakily slipped her the Test of Willpower Tool during Elisa’s novice nun interview, secretly activating it as she recited scripture on stage.
Elisa was young and inexperienced, never having felt such tremors.
Standing on stage, clutching the holy book and reading carefully, she tried to keep calm but soon her breathing faltered, heartbeat quickened, palms sweaty, voice trembling, face flushed, eyes dazed, and her steps staggered.
Eventually, halfway through, she nearly collapsed, biting her lip desperately to finish, but her voice was hoarse and broken, and her throat felt blocked, unable to utter a word.
The nuns in the audience, unaware of the truth, thought she was just nervous, weak from a hereditary illness, and rushed to fetch Holy Water and Potions.
…Given all that, it’s no wonder she says she has “kept it all in her heart”—
Listening silently to Elisa’s confession, Floria felt a pang of guilt but relied on her acting skills to tighten her expression and not breathe a word.
…After all, she had done so many bad things while Elisa was still innocent and naive… any fool would know she couldn’t let anything slip now—
Floria blinked, squinted, and cast a strange look as she appraised Elisa’s figure before coldly and politely speaking:
“I’m sorry… Sister Priestess, I truly don’t understand what you’re saying. If you want the Fried Mushroom Skewers, I can give you all of them, but could you please stop pestering me like this?”
“What… you—”
“It’s so late already. I want to go home early. Please stay away from me. Thank you.”
Hearing this, Elisa’s face was full of shock, her emotions thrown into chaos, her pale lips slightly parted but unable to utter a word.
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