“You talk too much. Carrying you all this way has made my shoulder hurt. Does it really matter if you come or not?”
As if instantly recognizing Lin Nuo’s status from his clothes, Princess Amidina’s long lashes fluttered slightly.
She loosened her delicate hand from Lin Nuo’s collar and walked toward the Yuzhi Magic Array set up for Xiafuya.
Even though a small patch of skin was exposed to the air, Amidina yanked the gray bedsheet off and quickly covered it back over.
Xiafuya’s expression turned utterly hopeless: “Your words really hurt.”
“Why would it not matter…”
Even though her body was temporarily immobilized, Xiafuya still crossed her arms, shaking the teapot-shaped bulge pressed hard against her chest.
“I’m just not developed yet, not developed! Maybe some people just like the small ones!”
“She’s injured?” Lin Nuo glanced at the magic array and pondered for a moment, ignoring the wary looks from both Amidina and Xiafuya, then continued:
“At this stage… it should be an ancient spell from the Thunderblade’s enchantment scroll. The longer the chant, the greater the damage and area of effect. If the chant is interrupted or the spell forcibly redirected after being cast, the accumulated magic will backfire on the caster.”
This was a rookie mistake any beginner mage would make.
Lin Nuo deliberately left out the rest.
“…”
After a brief silence, a soft hum echoed from the center of the magic array.
“You should ask her—if it weren’t for some mysterious girl chasing socks under the moonlight suddenly barging into my attack range…”
If she hadn’t been worried about hurting that girl, how else could she have missed the Thunderblade after silently chanting for fifteen minutes in the shadows, turning the tide into a typhoon against the attackers?
Xiafuya rolled her eyes at Amidina, as if frustrated by how her exposure after the backlash had cost the adventurers their fighting ability.
After Amidina picked her up and escaped, Xiafuya muttered dryly how the sudden arrival of that strange girl had forced the spell’s redirection.
Her mood at the time was akin to urgently tearing off a beautiful girl’s pants only to find a chastity lock underneath…
“You’re injured too… Stiffening Magic?” Lin Nuo looked at Amidina, who had fallen silent, her eyes cold and still like a deep pool.
Since earlier, her movements had noticeably slowed on one side of her body.
His eyes were full of incredulity.
He recalled that in the original story, at this point Feng Aotian had just finished an auction and, like countless other protagonists in inspirational novels, used his cheat ability to buy treasures unnoticed by others at a bargain price.
Then, outside the auction house, he was targeted by the adventurer team called Black Cliff—the only bidders who had lost to him.
After Xiafuya discovered they were being followed, she ambushed on their only path, chanting the Thunderblade for fifteen minutes and wiping them out in one strike.
According to the original plot, Feng Aotian and Xiafuya should never have been injured, and Princess Amidina—who had come quietly from the Capital to Claremont Manor with her sister and servants—would never have casually gone outside.
So their early encounter off the original timeline was because… wait… socks?
Socks!
No way, right?
It seemed that Amidina had chased after a sock, accidentally coming into the Thunderblade’s attack range.
Xiafuya had to redirect the chant mid-spell, causing the backlash injury.
Knowing Amidina’s personality, she probably realized that her innocent action had caused Feng Aotian to be ambushed.
While rescuing her, she clashed with Black Cliff and got struck by Stiffening Magic.
Then the two fled here, only to be found by Lin Nuo…
His scalp tingled.
This…
Ah, this…
What a disaster!
This part of the story suddenly became unrecognizable—even to its own mother!
And now…
All this because the pet ball I raised snatched away one of Amidina’s socks?
So that really was Amidina’s sock!
Throat bobbing, Lin Nuo felt as if the lace stocking still in his pocket, separated from his skin by a layer of fabric, was burning his flesh.
“Chirp chirp!”
A sudden birdcall snapped Lin Nuo’s thoughts away from the sock.
Someone was coming!
The noisy footsteps crushed the rain-soaked leaves, and judging by the sounds, they had stopped not far from here.
“Could they have crossed the suspension bridge? Although we should leave Luke as soon as we get the goods, provoking the Clemence Family before leaving…”
“They shouldn’t have made it across yet. My Stiffening Magic clearly hit her, and there’s also someone who seems to be suffering magic backlash slowing her down.”
“Makes sense. The last sensed aura disappeared nearby. Let’s split up and search!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
“Thud thud thud…”
“Thud thud thud!”
The group seemed to split, two pairs of footsteps steadily drawing closer.
Amidina raised her hand and dispelled the Yuzhi Magic Array.
Xiafuya’s Healer’s Aura dimmed as the backlash’s negative effects hit, her gaze growing empty:
“Next time, could you… tell me before you dispel the magic array? Without any warning, even the most joyful things can feel dry and uncomfortable, caught in between…”
“Ugh… my head’s so dizzy.”
No time to leave!
Lin Nuo blocked the only crack in the window and kept recalling the original story’s details: Black Cliff was made up of wandering adventurers, numbering over a dozen, fearless in their actions.
At this stage, Feng Aotian could hardly win without an ambush, and if Amidina still controlled her magic array…
Lin Nuo turned his head.
Amidina’s hands moved in an odd pattern before her, her slender body lightly hovering under the influence of magic.
Her skirt fluttered gently.
Underneath her naturally poised jade feet, faint blue magical ripples spread.
The tassels and embroidery at her delicate waist rose and fell as if she were a goddess’s messenger untouched by worldly dust.
Even knowing she was off the ground because her lower body couldn’t move freely, there was no denying that this refined princess, Amidina, looked so ethereal that even wandering poets would praise her otherworldly beauty.
“Is there any way to get the Clemence Family’s guards to notice us here?”
Amidina’s voice was pure and clear.
“I’m only under Stiffening Magic, not completely helpless. If they find us and fight breaks out, the magic I cast will kill everyone present—I don’t like killing.”
“Under the side effects of Stiffening Magic, it’s easy for both sides to suffer. That woman who can’t move and you would both be affected.”
Xiafuya on the bed groaned softly twice.
Amidina’s delicate brows furrowed.
“Those people dare to ignore my identity as princess—they’re clearly disloyal to the Salidor Divine Empire. Even if I told them you were the young master of the Clemence Family, they wouldn’t believe it, and they might at least cripple you before the manor guards can intervene.”
“…”
Though it was expected that the sharp and decisive Princess Amidina would immediately recognize Lin Nuo’s identity, ending up in a potentially violent standoff like this was far from what he had anticipated!
“Bang!”
“There’s no one in this room…”
“Then keep searching forward!”
“Bang! Bang!!”
The sound of the door being roughly kicked open rang out repeatedly, the footsteps and voices drawing closer.
Amidina’s ears twitched.
Those searching this area were the only two female adventurers in the group capable of using Stiffening Magic—the most troublesome opponents.
She fixed her gaze on Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo: “With this weather, I have no way to get the guards’ attention.”
Noticing the flicker of seriousness on Amidina’s icy and beautiful face, Lin Nuo quickly scanned their surroundings.
His mind raced.
His eyes lingered for a moment on Xiafuya’s half-disheveled clothes, then glanced at the skirt outlining Amidina’s full curves, unabashedly burning with desire—got it!
“I never meant to involve you, you… you, what are you—don’t come closer, uh!”
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