“Heave-ho!”
Irene stepped forward, gripping Rita’s sleeping robe with both hands and yanking it down. The girl, stripped of her last line of defense, looked up at Irene, her face burning with embarrassment.
A wicked grin spread across Irene’s face as she tried to pry away Rita’s hands, which were desperately covering her chest. “Oh, come now, Rita, there’s nothing to be shy about! We’re both girls—there’s nothing here I haven’t seen before.”
She made a fair point, and Rita really couldn’t argue back. Still, something felt terribly off. Irene’s gaze was downright terrifying—in fact, just having her eyes sweep over her made Rita feel like she was being licked clean from head to toe.
“But—”
“No buts! If you keep covering up like this, how am I supposed to interpret the curse and remove it for you?” Irene’s face was all smiles, looking every bit the sly merchant.
At the bedside, Helga, who was sitting down, gave a sharp, concise comment on Irene’s lecherous behavior with a single “Tch.”
*****
The intention of the drunken one is not on the wine.
Irene’s sapphic thoughts were obvious—could Helga really not guess what was on her mind?
As the saying goes, “Irene’s intentions are known to all her teammates!”
Still, Helga had to admit Irene’s words made some sense. If Rita kept covering up, there’d be no way to examine her. A curse couldn’t be explained away with words alone. Without a thorough check, even the best doctor couldn’t prescribe the right remedy!
So she cleared her throat and coughed. “Miss Rita, being embarrassed won’t solve anything. It’s better if we take a careful look.”
With even the ever-composed Miss Helga saying so, what could Rita do? She hesitantly let go of her hands, and in an instant, the breathtaking sight fell into Irene’s eyes. Although still a bit small due to her age, the shape was undeniably enticing.
Just by looking, Irene could easily imagine how wonderful it would feel to touch.
But Irene was a professional. She only glanced before shifting her gaze away. Under Rita’s shy stare, Irene’s eyes settled on the girl’s lower abdomen—on the silver, no, the curse mark.
Then, she slowly reached out her hand. As she touched the mark, Rita’s body visibly trembled.
“Does it hurt?”
Rita blushed and turned her head aside, mumbling softly, “A little, just a bit. It’s not a problem, Irene, please go on…”
And so Irene did continue, making Rita even more embarrassed, especially when Irene leaned in, head almost touching the mark, examining it with intense focus. Even Miss Helga came over, the two of them discussing and commenting as they studied it.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen this kind of mark before, but it’s packed with magical energy.”
“It’s obvious, the person who laid this curse really wanted the child to be devoured by a monster.”
“I haven’t seen it before, but I don’t think it’ll be hard to analyze. At most, give me half a day, and I’ll have it removed!”
After careful observation and filtering the information through the Holy Magic King’s knowledge in her mind, Irene quickly understood how the curse worked and how to break it.
When it came to anything magic-related, you always had to follow the main principles of magic, like the Law of Conservation of Magic Power. As long as you understood the theory, most magical problems could be solved with the right formula.
“Helga, help me out with this curse!”
“Got it.”
Skipping the fight scenes doesn’t mean skipping life itself.
So, the morning passed in an atmosphere filled with the scent of oranges. Irene and Helga worked busily on Rita for half the day and finally succeeded in breaking the curse. Now, the two of them were sprawled on the bed like dead fish, not expecting curse-breaking to be such an exhausting task.
On the other hand, Rita, now free of the curse, looked more energetic than ever, her cheeks glowing with health.
That’s right—magic power never disappears, it only changes hands.
“Well then, Miss Rita, now that the curse is lifted just as you wished, may I invite you to join my adventurer party?”
In front of the carriage as they prepared to depart, Irene knelt on one knee, holding Rita’s hand. She looked for all the world like she was proposing.
Clarette and Lilisha, watching nearby, blushed. Helga pursed her lips and grumbled, “This is just like when Irene tried to pick me up.”
Looking back, Helga’s mind was filled with memories. If Irene hadn’t grabbed her hand back then and pulled her into the party before she could refuse, she wouldn’t have ended up on this pirate ship of Irene’s.
Now, she’d become dependent on Irene, shaped by her, unable to leave anymore.
Rita’s eyes shone with emotion, though she still hesitated a little. She glanced quietly at ‘Grandfather’, and only after receiving his approval did she nod solemnly. “I might not be able to stay long, but for now, I’ll be in your care, Sister Irene.”
Although the curse was gone, her destined ‘death’ had not changed.
If she didn’t die, Losweiser would. And Losweiser absolutely could not die. So the only one who could die was herself!
Only she and Grandfather knew about this. She couldn’t even tell Irene, because she believed that if such a gentle and kind sister Irene found out, something she didn’t want to happen would definitely occur.
That would only bring harm to her.
She even felt that, even spending a short time together was a dangerous thing for Irene.
But she just couldn’t refuse.
Irene was the first person, apart from Grandfather, to treat her so kindly.
Before the final day arrived, she wanted to let herself enjoy a little peace and normalcy.
That way, she’d have no regrets when the time came.
With these thoughts, Irene was already hugging Rita tightly in her arms. Little Rita, soft and fragrant, was simply wonderful to hold.
With a new companion, Irene’s caravan continued toward the Northwest Frontier. Inside the carriage along the way, Irene clung to her new teammate, making Helga, who was riding with them, a little jealous.
As dusk approached, the carriage suddenly came to a stop. Irene was just about to ask what happened when Ansel’s voice came from up ahead: “Young Miss, I suggest we take a detour. It’d be safer.”
“A detour? Why? That’ll cost us at least half a day, and we’ll have to camp outside again tonight!”
Camping was the worst.
Surprisingly, Leila actually agreed with Ansel for once. “Uncle’s right. We really should go around.”
“What’s going on with you two? Why do we need to take a detour?”
Irene opened the carriage door, only to hear Leila’s urgent voice: “Young Miss, don’t open the door!”
But it was too late. Irene saw exactly what Leila and Ansel hadn’t wanted her to see.
Her eyes widened in shock, stunned by the scene before her. Perhaps even more so as a transmigrator from the Civilization Era, she couldn’t comprehend the backwardness and brutality of this medieval-like world.
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