Ailia opened the door, a faint smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.
Zhe Zilin’s gaze fell upon the petite girl.
Their eyes met, and Ailia’s movements stiffened for an instant.
“Come in, Ed.”
Zhe Zilin stepped inside, closed the door behind him, and walked straight to the coffin of the King of the North.
He pushed it open a narrow gap.
Snow and the King of the North’s corpses lay stacked together.
Ailia felt a flicker of doubt.
She stood frozen in place, staring at the familiar face of the young man.
His appearance had not changed in the slightest, yet his bearing and expression felt somewhat unfamiliar.
There was an added composure and ease—a calm completely different from the night before.
Even the look in his eyes toward her carried a few extra traces of reliance and gentleness.
Only a single night had passed, merely a few hours from beginning to end.
What could have caused such a change in Ed…
Ailia suddenly remembered Tana’s threat that morning, and worry rose in her heart.
Had Ed made a deal with Tana? And was it because of her again?
She carefully stepped closer.
Yet Zhe Zilin’s expression remained calm, showing none of the signs of someone under threat.
“What’s wrong, Ed?”
Ailia asked softly, lips pressed together.
“Did that fake Leon threaten you?”
Zhe Zilin frowned slightly. So Tana had already come to find Ailia.
“She threatened you?”
Ailia nodded. “She ordered me to eat food mixed with the Ice Demon’s heart-blood, lose my magic for a month, and hand over the King of the North’s corpse.”
“Their goal is to lift the seal on the Ice Demon race. I could never agree to that.”
Zhe Zilin was silent for a moment, then asked in a naturally even tone,
“What did she use to threaten you? Me?”
Ailia pressed her lips together and explained a little anxiously, “Because I believed that if it were you, you would never submit to their coercion either. So even when they used you as a threat, I still refused.”
She lowered her head, not daring to look at Zhe Zilin.
Suddenly a hand gently stroked the top of her head, as if offering a reward and praising her for a job well done.
Ailia lightly bit her lip. Her pale cheeks flushed red once more.
“There’s something I want to ask you.”
Ailia paused, curiosity in her voice.
“What is it?”
“About the Ice Demon’s seal. Why was there one that slipped through the net?”
Ailia thought carefully about where to begin. After a moment she explained, “From what I know, this Ice Demon broke through the seal and left the northern polar region after Leon was born.”
“The eldest sons of successive generations of the Gareth family were only allowed to marry women of collateral bloodlines so that the bloodline would remain pure and the seal would stay stable. But the King of the North insisted on taking Snow as his wife, creating a gap in the seal. That was how this Ice Demon was able to freely enter the polar region.”
“However, for the Ice Demon to completely break the seal, it must obtain the purest bloodline of the Gareth family and cause the seal to lose its magic power. That is why their targets are me and the King of the North’s corpse.”
Zhe Zilin finally understood why, back at the castle, the moment the half-orcs tore open the barrier, the Ice Demon had so eagerly summoned Corpse Slaves to search for Ailia.
As long as the witch remained, the seal could never lose its magic power.
“Why didn’t you simply kill him?”
With Ailia’s abilities, killing a single Ice Demon should not have been a problem.
“I will not kill him, even though he has tried many times to eliminate me.”
Sadness overflowed from Ailia’s expression. Old memories rose once more in her mind—memories she did not wish to speak of.
“The previous Northern Witch repeatedly warned the King of the North of the consequences of marrying Snow. In order to make an example of her, the King of the North had the witch publicly hanged…”
“A few days ago, the King of the North was hunting in the forest when he encountered the Ice Demon. He was gravely wounded and lost half his life. In truth I could have healed him, yet I chose to watch him die. Everything that happened was the result of his own actions.”
“Snow’s death, Leon’s death—all of it was the result of their own actions.”
Zhe Zilin could hear the anger heavy in Ailia’s words.
That previous witch must have held great weight in her heart.
Otherwise she would not have continued serving as the Northern Witch even after becoming so disappointed in the Gareth family, simply waiting for the chance to take revenge.
He knew Ailia kept many secrets in her heart. Perhaps that was also the reason for her suspicious nature.
Zhe Zilin spoke at an inappropriate moment.
“The Gareth family has already reaped what it sowed. The Ice Demon should be eliminated as quickly as possible.”
Ailia nodded and gathered her emotions.
“Mm. You came to find me because you want to kill the Ice Demon, didn’t you?”
She continued, “The Ice Demon carries a curse. Ordinary magic and blades cannot kill him completely. Only Forbidden Blood Magic can.”
Forbidden Blood Magic!?
After Zhe Zilin’s title had advanced to Grand Mage, he could choose to learn one forbidden magic.
He immediately opened the magic book in the system and flipped to the forbidden chapter.
The very first page was Blood Magic.
In that case, the only thing he needed to watch out for were the Ice Demon’s Corpse Slaves.
“Then what about a way to kill the Ice Demon’s Corpse Slaves?”
Ailia’s expression turned extremely reluctant. When she spoke the name, her tone grew heavier.
“Osha. She is Lucifer’s divine envoy. Destroying Corpse Slaves is an easy matter for her.”
Possessing the magic of the King of Hell, dealing with a group of dead corpses was indeed effortless.
No wonder the Ice Demon had used Osha to deal with Ailia, intending for the two of them to destroy each other so that no one would remain who could threaten him.
What Zhe Zilin worried about most right now was Osha learning that Ailia had made him lose his memories.
The other party would certainly fall into madness and fight Ailia to the death.
At present, the only ones who knew of this were Tana and the half-orcs.
The half-orcs could be trusted. Since they were willing to follow him at the cost of their lives, they would not betray him.
Therefore, Zhe Zilin felt the current situation was clear: kill Tana.
The other party was currently impersonating Leon and was constantly accompanied by the knight Airigo.
The Gareth family, as the rulers of the Northern Territory, had already established deep-rooted influence.
If he killed Tana rashly, the people of the North would certainly not let the matter rest.
He recalled what he had learned about Tana in the forest before the rewind.
The other party had not been willingly working for the Ice Demon.
If he used her to lure out the Ice Demon, things would become much simpler.
Zhe Zilin lowered his head and met Ailia’s eyes.
“I need your help. Given Osha’s personality, if she learns that you fed me a magic potion that caused me to lose my memories, she will definitely fight you to the death. So she must not find out.”
“I don’t want either of you to be hurt.”
Zhe Zilin’s hand gently rested over his chest while his other hand settled on Ailia’s shoulder.
His gaze was sincere as he promised, “Although I know your personality can be a little vicious, after everything we’ve been through, I’ve seen everything you’ve done and kept it in my heart. Those things have told me again and again that I cannot abandon you.”
“I know you keep many secrets in your heart. Making me lose my memories is one of them.”
“I won’t ask, and I won’t dwell on right or wrong anymore.”
“Because you are someone very important to me.”
Ailia’s breathing paused for a moment.
This… this was a confession in disguise. No, it was already quite direct.
Her mind could no longer think. The girl simply froze in place, her eyes filled with both confusion and delight.
Her originally clear thoughts became chaotic in an instant.
She only heard Zhe Zilin’s steady, earnest voice continue, “Ailia, promise me you won’t conflict with Osha, all right?”
“N-no… I won’t.”
Ailia bit her lip.
Her body trembled slightly, and her face was flushed red.
What she did not know was that, on the many occasions when Zhe Zilin had fallen into desperate situations, the sacrifices she had made had shaken him to the core.
The trust and reliance Zhe Zilin now placed in her had only been proven, time and again, by the girl’s own actions—that she was worthy of them.