Chapter 76: Laxana, Super Evolution!

“Actually… I sensed it long ago…”

Outside the door, Laxana heard Astreia’s voice, filled with helplessness and bitterness.

“I could feel that… forbidden emotion. But I… I always treated little Shanna as my dearest sister. I didn’t want to hurt her, so… I could only keep pretending not to know.”

Sister.

Just…

…Sister…

Those two words stabbed deep into Laxana’s heart.

Her hand gripping the edge of her nightgown tightened so hard that her knuckles lost all color.

“It’s okay.”

Wendy’s voice sounded gentle, as if comforting.

“From now on, I’ll be by your side.

I believe, seeing us so happy, she’ll slowly realize that her feelings were wrong, and then move on…”

Boom!!!

The last string called reason snapped.

Endless hatred and jealousy erupted from the depths of Laxana’s heart like a volcano.

She hated!

She hated this man called Wendy, who shared her taste, yet shamelessly arrived first!

He not only took Astreia’s body, but also her heart, and even dared to define her last pathetic hope as ‘wrong’!

Why!

Yet at the same time, she envied Astreia intensely.

Envying her for finding such a beautiful man who didn’t mind her figure at all, and doing things with him that she herself only dared to imagine in drawing books or in dreams.

She suddenly realized, even though the room was spacious, there was no place for her, not even at the door…

Laxana turned around, barefoot, like a puppet drained of its soul, and silently returned to Astreia’s room, tears tracing a glistening path through the darkness.

And long after she left—

The half-open door was slowly pushed open.

Two figures stepped out.

Wendy instinctively glanced at the floor, his gaze landing on a suspicious stain at the doorway that hadn’t fully dried yet, his brows furrowing slightly.

“Why… did you do that?”

He turned his head, puzzled, his tone carrying a hint of reproach.

“Why?”

‘Astreia’s’ face was now adorned with a playful smile, with no trace left of the shy expression from the bed earlier.

“I helped you get rid of a troublesome rival in love.

Isn’t that good?”

Wendy looked at this increasingly unfamiliar witch before him and wisely chose not to ask further, only sighing.

“That performance almost killed me.

Hurry up and go to sleep…”

Acting is exhausting, especially this kind of high-intensity, high-immersive roleplay.

He felt completely drained, not a drop left in him.

The prince turned to return to his room.

But a cold hand closed the door from behind, pressing him heavily against it.

“Thud!”

The witch’s tall, fiery body pressed tightly against him, her curves and strength making Wendy’s body heat up uncontrollably once more.

“That’s not allowed, my Prince.”

She leaned close to Wendy’s ear, extending her tongue to lightly lick his earlobe, her laughter seductive and dangerous.

“The demonic power inside me…”

“Still hasn’t been fully purified~”

***

The next day.

Under Wendy’s nearly exhausted effort to ‘purify,’ Astreia finally returned to normal.

She opened her eyes.

The dark purple on her skin faded, the magic marks disappeared, and her once-black pupils turned clear green again.

However, the moment she woke up, the memories belonging to the witch from the night before flooded in like a tide.

She remembered how she had cruelly set up Laxana, remembered the heartless words she had spoken, and remembered pressing Wendy against the door…

“Little Shanna… what have I done…”

Astreia held her head, regret and guilt nearly drowning her.

She threw off the blanket, grabbed her clothes, and prepared to rush out.

“I have to go explain to her!”

Wendy grabbed her, dark circles under his eyes, and spoke weakly.

“Big sis, calm down.

What are you going to explain?

That you were possessed by a witch last night and didn’t mean anything you said?

Or that the two of us staged that scene in the room to trick her for the sake of acting?”

Astreia froze.

“Between those two explanations, which do you think would hurt more, or be more humiliating?”

Wendy retorted.

The princess lowered her head, like a child who had made a mistake.

That’s right.

No matter how she explained, it would just be rubbing salt into Laxana’s wound.

“Then… what should I do?”

Astreia’s nose turned red as she clung to Wendy’s neck, crying like a helpless little girl for the first time.

“I don’t want to lose little Shanna… she’s my… my only friend…”

Wendy could only awkwardly hug the princess, patting her back lightly to comfort her.

Though the process had been bizarre and he had nearly been drained dry, looking at the result, he had undoubtedly benefited.

His greatest rival seemed to be out of the picture, and his position in the princess’s heart was even more secure.

He even began to feel a bit grateful to the lawless witch.

Sis, well done, but don’t do it again.

I really can’t take it…

But when breakfast came, Wendy realized he was dead wrong.

Laxana looked perfectly normal—no, even radiant.

She wore her signature blue-violet mage short skirt, her striking golden hair meticulously styled, and a sweet smile on her face as she greeted every passing soldier.

It was as if the person who had ‘cried’ herself to dehydration at the door last night wasn’t her at all.

But when this magical genius sat at the dining table, that strange feeling returned.

Her gaze toward Wendy was no longer hostile or wary.

Instead, it was… more like a gourmet appraising top-quality ingredients.

Yes, the kind of look that says, ‘Should I steam or braise it today?’

Wendy instantly felt a chill run down his spine.

This isn’t right, this plot development isn’t right!

By the script, shouldn’t the defeated rival have made a sorrowful exit?

Why does it feel like the blackened BOSS has awakened a new form?

He desperately shot looks at Astreia beside him:

‘Quick! Use your childhood friend power and ask her what’s going on!’

But Astreia kept her head down the entire time, using a slice of bread to cover her face, unable to meet Laxana’s eyes and pretending to be a clump of air.

The atmosphere at the table was suffocating.

Laxana elegantly cut into her fried egg and spoke in a voice so sweet it could rot teeth.

“Astreia, did you sleep well last night?

I saw your room’s light on for a long time.

It must have been exhausting, right?”

“Pfft–“

Wendy nearly spat out the milk he’d just sipped.

Astreia’s face turned bright red, her head lowered even further, as if she wanted to bury herself in the plate.

“St-still okay…”

“Oh, really?”

Laxana smiled even wider.

“Well, with Prince there to help with ‘purification,’ no matter how tiring it was, it was worth it, right?”

She deliberately emphasized the word ‘purification,’ and ‘accidentally’ pushed a glass of milk to the center of the table, right between Wendy and Astreia, as if drawing a dividing line.

Wendy: “”

A high-level hunter often appears as prey.

Overnight, this woman had evolved from a violent big sister to a master of tea art?

Breakfast ended amidst this suffocatingly bizarre atmosphere.

Wendy and Astreia were about to escape when they were called back.

“Wait a moment…”