“???”
Hearing the pink-haired girl’s words, Ian was stunned, his mind going completely blank.
‘You’re not that person, right? Do I even know you? And why are you asking if Lillian and I are doing well when I’ve never even met her?’
Filled with confusion, Ian cautiously asked, “May I ask who you are?”
“You don’t recognize me anymore? Looks like our feelings have faded. You clearly said back then that you were going to marry me.”
The pink-haired girl’s lively voice carried a hint of sorrow and sadness, like a scorned woman blaming Ian for abandoning her.
“Huh? When did I ever say I’d marry you? You can eat anything, but you can’t just say whatever you want.”
Though the girl before him had a beauty capable of making all beings fall, Ian couldn’t shake the feeling that she meant no good.
A vague sense of fear crept into his heart.
“When was that?”
The pink-haired girl immediately dropped the scornful tone, waving her fingers as if counting the time.
“About five hundred years ago.” She spoke seriously, without a trace of joking.
Ian was dumbfounded by what he heard: “What? Five hundred years ago? I didn’t even know where I was back then.”
Ian had only lived for less than twenty years, yet this woman from nowhere claimed he had promised to marry her five centuries ago.
“Honestly, if you’re joking with me, then stop. I have urgent matters to attend to.”
“Urgent matters? You mean saving that redhead outside?”
The pink-haired girl said lightly and with a flick of her finger, a massive Light Screen appeared in the space.
Inside the screen was the scene of Sophia and the others confronting the King of Sand Scorpions, but it looked like Sophia’s group was at a disadvantage.
Because Sophia had just used her first skill, and it was an incredibly powerful ability that consumed a great deal of Blood Power, she didn’t have enough to use the first skill a second time.
Her normal attacks inflicted very limited damage on the King of Sand Scorpions, only able to briefly hinder its advance.
By all rights, there was only the King of Sand Scorpions present, and with its bulky, cumbersome body and slow speed, Sophia and her group could have easily fled.
So why didn’t Sophia run?
Ian leaned closer to the Light Screen and saw a figure lying stiffly on the ground behind Sophia, as if poisoned by some mushroom.
“Ah? Isn’t that me?”
Ian was dumbfounded.
His real body was here in this mysterious space, but there was also a version of himself lying behind Sophia.
Could it be that the body here was not really his?
“Correct.”
The pink-haired girl seemed to have mind-reading abilities, seeing straight through Ian’s confusion.
Then she looked at Sophia on the screen and admired:
“She’s truly a loyal and affectionate girl, but she loved the wrong person.”
She glanced at Ian as she spoke.
“What are you looking at me for? Don’t you know that’s easy to misunderstand?”
“Misunderstand what? Am I wrong?”
The pink-haired girl pouted, clearly dissatisfied with Ian’s words.
Ian thought carefully for a moment and felt that the girl wasn’t wrong—falling in love with Ethelrina, that heartless woman, was indeed loving the wrong person.Â
He pondered for a moment before nodding slowly:
“You might actually be right.”
But moments later, Ian realized he was getting sidetracked; his original intention was to ask her to send him back.
“When will you let me out? Sophia seems to be barely holding on.”
“Let you out? Let you out to die? Seriously, if some people don’t have the ability, they shouldn’t always try to be brave. You have to understand that when you get hurt, it’s not just yourself who suffers.”
The pink-haired girl’s voice carried a bitterness, like a wife locked away in her chamber for decades, waiting in vain for her beloved to return—a chill ran down the spine just hearing her speak.
“??”
Ian felt this pink-haired girl was mocking him, but he had no solid evidence.
“Worried about other girls in front of me? Interesting.”
The more Ian listened, the more he felt that maybe they really had some agreement.
Maybe she wasn’t lying.
Seeing Ian’s expression turning toward belief, the pink-haired girl’s lips curled into a smile, and she laughed loudly:
“You’d actually believe me? I was just messing with you. There was no such promise five hundred years ago. Back then, Lillian was still by your side, how could I possibly steal my disciple’s lover?”
“Five hundred years ago, Lillian, disciple, lover.”
Ian recognized every word, but put together, he was confused.
“Aren’t these words supposed to go together like this?”
“Let me make it clear: if you ever wrong my Lillian, I won’t let you off.”
The pink-haired girl shook her small fist playfully, showing no real threat—just a cute expression.
“Stop, stop, I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“You said Lillian is your disciple. May I ask, who exactly are you? How do you know Lillian? I never knew she had a master like you.”
Ian covered his head, searching his memories.
Whether in the original story or from the information he had, this pink-haired girl didn’t seem to exist.
“Don’t you really recognize me? We met more than once before. Besides Lillian, you even brought Veronica to meet me. But if I had to choose between the two, I’d say Lillian’s cuter.”
“Hold on, first tell me who you are.”
Just the mention of Lillian was enough to overwhelm Ian’s mind.
Now Veronica was brought up too.
Ian had every reason to suspect she was trying to fill his head with information.
“Who am I? Looks like in your heart, I really am someone unworthy of being remembered.”
“Listen carefully, after I finish talking this time, you must remember me. Don’t forget me again.”
“Otherwise, even I—the most understanding and kind-hearted person—will get angry.”
“I’m a Saintess, you know. Pretty impressive, right?”
The pink-haired girl tilted her head proudly and glanced at Ian, curious about his reaction.
“A Saintess?”
Ian’s first thought was that this pink twin-tailed girl must be an ancestor of Lillian and Veronica, since her hairstyle combined Lillian’s twin tails and Veronica’s pink color.
“Hmm, seems reasonable.”
Ian felt his deduction was flawless.
“Nope.”
The pink-haired girl tapped her fair chin and said,”Looks like, Ian, you really have forgotten me.”