Chapter 8: Skill

[Congratulations. You have completed the first of the witch’s heart’s desires: Sleep in the same bed.]

[You have obtained Passive Skill LV1: Empathy.]

[After maintaining physical contact with the target for three minutes, the skill can be activated to receive their current emotional feedback.]

Zhe Zilin opened his eyes.

Several lines of text popped up on the ceiling.

Huh?

Completing one part of the segmented task actually rewarded a skill?

Zhe Zilin steadied his mind and glanced at the skill description.

Compared to racking his brain trying to guess Ailia’s thoughts, having this skill now made things much more convenient.

Right. Where’s Ailia?

He felt completely relaxed.

The weight that had been pressing on his chest was gone.

Only he remained under the blanket.

Ailia had left behind a faint, clean fragrance and disappeared without a trace.

“Was what she said last night just sleep talk, or was she testing me?”

Zhe Zilin could not let it go.

If it had been sleep talk, he could ignore it.

But if it was real, then Ailia still did not trust him.

She might be in some corner right now, thinking about how to drug him again.

He did not want to threaten suicide a second time.

That had been a last resort.

It would hurt the enemy by eight hundred while damaging himself by a thousand.

His forehead was still faintly throbbing with pain.

At the thought, Zhe Zilin quickly got dressed and searched the castle for Ailia.

The castle was not large.

He walked up and down several times and checked almost every room, yet he did not find even the slightest trace of her.

Ailia, who usually could not bear to be separated from him, had actually left the castle?

Holding onto his suspicion, he pushed open the door and circled around outside the castle.

In the end, he stopped in front of the stable.

Inside the stable there were only two feeding troughs and one horse.

The difference between the two troughs was obvious.

The other one had clearly been hurriedly filled with fodder by Ailia.

She had left before the horse finished eating and ridden away.

She had deliberately left behind one well-fed horse.

Was this a test for him?

Such an obvious probe.

Did Ailia really take him for a fool?

Or had she already concluded that he would choose to escape the moment he had even the slightest chance?

Zhe Zilin fell silent.

His gaze drifted between the forest and the horse.

He tried to guess Ailia’s intentions.

Was this unintentional, or had she done it on purpose?

Zhe Zilin suddenly smiled.

Instead of overthinking, he might as well turn passivity into initiative.

He led the horse out, swung himself into the saddle, gripped the reins with one hand, and squeezed tightly with both legs.

Following the habitual shout of “Hyah,” the horse shot forward like an arrow from a bow and galloped across the grassland.

The forest grew closer and closer in his vision.

As if he had made some kind of decision, his gaze locked onto the darkness where nothing could be seen.

Time flew by.

He lowered his body and kept urging the horse to go faster.

They swept across the grassland.

The forest was now right in front of him.

All was silent.

Only the rhythmic sound of hooves echoed.

The forest was eerily quiet.

Countless eyes were watching Zhe Zilin’s every move.

They held their breath, crushed the birds perched on the branches, and waited silently for him to charge into the forest.

Five steps.

Four steps…

Two steps.

Just one final step and the hooves would enter the forest.

But a sharp “Whoa!” rang out at the boundary between grassland and forest.

Zhe Zilin used all his strength to pull the reins and turn the horse’s head.

The horse let out a few low neighs and followed the direction of the reins.

Zhe Zilin raised his eyes and tried to see clearly what lay inside the forest.

But this forest seemed to contain magic.

Unless one stepped inside, nothing could be seen.

He dismounted and gently calmed the horse.

For a brief moment just now, he had truly wanted to charge straight into the forest and escape the castle.

But the system’s voice had sounded.

The passive skill Empathy had activated.

After three minutes of contact with the horse, he received its emotional feedback.

“A kind of extreme fear.”

Ailia’s horse had traveled through the forest with her many times and had witnessed the dangers inside.

It should not have been this terrified.

Therefore, Zhe Zilin understood very clearly what the horse was afraid of.

Its master.

The World-Ender Witch, Ailia.

He picked up the reins and walked back toward the castle without looking back.

His back was already soaked with cold sweat.

The moment he stepped onto the grassland, Ailia would probably appear.

Without another word, she would tie him up.

Having lost all trust in him, she would unhesitatingly feed him the potion that could make him forget everything.

Even an oath sworn to the Saint Mother could not dispel Ailia’s suspicion.

On the contrary, it only grew heavier.

She had begun testing him so openly.

Zhe Zilin marveled at the original body’s ruined reputation and Ailia’s extreme distrust.

He sighed, mounted the horse again, and rode a few laps around the grassland to ease his complicated feelings.

Only when he felt somewhat drowsy did he return the horse to the stable and throw a handful of fodder into the trough.

Just as Zhe Zilin was about to head back to the castle, from the corner of his eye he saw Ailia riding out of the forest.

Behind her, a deer, several wild boars, and wild cattle followed obediently.

Just as he had guessed, Ailia had left in the morning to hunt in the forest.

She had only appeared after seeing him return to the castle, pretending it was natural.

What surprised him, however, was Ailia’s hunting method.

She had actually made a group of wild animals so obedient.

He stood in place and waited a while.

Ailia led her horse over and quietly looked at Zhe Zilin.

The two of them maintained eye contact and silence for a long time without speaking.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, Zhe Zilin spoke first.

“I just took the horse out for a few laps. Your horse is pretty good. It’s a fine steed.”

To his surprise, Ailia spoke honestly.

“I’m sorry, Ed. I was in the forest the whole time, watching you. I was only one step away from you.”

Zhe Zilin stopped thinking.

He had originally planned to claim that he knew nothing and had been completely innocent.

Now he could not say a word.

No, this isn’t right.

Shouldn’t we pretend nothing happened and keep testing each other?

For a moment, his mind went blank.

Ailia looked somewhat dejected.

The fact that Zhe Zilin had not charged into the forest made her feel both ashamed and relieved.

The two emotions intertwined and eventually turned into self-blame.

“Because I’m afraid you’ll leave, I can’t help but keep testing you.”

“I only wanted to come back early from hunting to prepare breakfast for you, but I still fed the other horse until it was full. Then I stood in the forest and watched your every move.”

“If I could, I would ask you every minute whether you’ve really accepted me. Whether you’re really willing to stay with me.”

Zhe Zilin remained silent.

He took the initiative to hold Ailia’s hand.

He let her show a confused expression on her face.

Three minutes passed.

He understood the emotion behind Ailia’s words.

Fear of loss.

He roughly understood Ailia’s personality.

Possessiveness made her choose to feed him medicine day after day, shaping a world that contained only her.

Suspicion made her constantly test him, simply to ease the unease in her heart.

A question rose in Zhe Zilin’s mind.

“The strange forest surrounds the castle. You’re always by my side. I have no way to escape. So Ailia, what exactly are you afraid of?”

A troubled wind stirred up some unpleasant memories.

Ailia lowered her head.

Her gaze drifted.

After struggling internally for a long time, she finally spoke in a low voice.

“Your fiancée has left the capital. She is currently heading toward the North.”