Chapter 197: The Saintess’s Green Hat (Part 2)
O’Niens couldn’t understand this sudden urge.
Sister Agatha was over fifty years old. Although well-maintained, wrinkles lined her face, and her skin wasn’t as smooth and delicate as Inas’s. Yet, O’Niens found himself inexplicably drawn to her, a powerful desire to possess her surging within him.
And for O’Niens, anything he wanted, he got.
A gentle smile appeared on his face. “Sister Agatha,” he said, “I want to sleep with you tonight.”
Agatha was surprised, but a warm, maternal smile quickly appeared on her face as she gently stroked his hair. “My dear O’Niens,” she said, “you’re not a child anymore. You should learn to sleep by yourself.”
She was surprised by his sudden request. After all, he had been sleeping alone for four years now, like a proper young man. She didn’t understand this regression.
Ah, right, it must be the uneven ground, the howling night wind, the flimsy tent, the buzzing insects… All of this must be very unsettling for the Saint Son, who had never left the comforts of the Imperial City before.
This harsh environment was torture for the pampered Saint Son.
It was natural for him to feel afraid and need comfort.
As the nun who had always taken care of him, Agatha felt it was her duty to provide that comfort.
So, she changed her mind. “Alright, Saint Son,” she said, “but just this once.”
O’Niens smiled.
Seeing his smile, Agatha shivered. There was something unsettling about that familiar smile, something that made her skin crawl.
She was puzzled by her own reaction, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it. O’Niens took her hand and led her into the tent.
Once inside, he waved his hand, creating a soundproof barrier. The next second, he shoved her roughly onto the bed.
His sudden violence terrified Agatha. She didn’t understand why the usually gentle and courteous Saint Son had become like this. She tried to struggle, but earth-yellow chains sprouted from the ground, binding her.
She vaguely understood what was about to happen, and her face turned pale.
Her eyes widened with fear, and she struggled desperately, the chains rattling.
“No, Saint Son, you can’t do this! This is blasphemy…!”
The Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, like the Holy See, had strict rules. The Saint Son and Saintess had to remain pure until they relinquished their titles at the age of thirty. Breaking this vow would result in their dismissal and even execution for disrespecting the deity.
Blasphemy?
This word seemed to strike a nerve with O’Niens.
Looking at the struggling Agatha, was she defying him?
A surge of rage and violence coursed through him.
“Submit, bitch!” he snarled.
…
Meanwhile, Inas bit her lip, her heart aching.
She was an orphan.
Because of her beauty and magical talent, she had been taken in by the former Holy Maiden, O’Niens’s mother.
She had been indoctrinated from a young age to believe that O’Niens was her destined husband, that she had to obey, care for, and protect him.
Because of this brainwashing, she didn’t see anything wrong with this arrangement. Nominally, she was the Saintess, his lover, but in reality, she was more like a pet.
O’Niens was her master, and she couldn’t refuse any of his commands.
However, Inas was no longer a child. Although the education of a Saintess was very strict, she was beginning to understand certain things.
Seeing O’Niens enter the tent with Agatha, a pang of jealousy stabbed at her heart.
It felt as if something was choking her, making it difficult to breathe.
She didn’t understand what she had done to displease O’Niens. She had always obeyed him, fulfilling his every whim.
His sudden change in attitude hurt her deeply.
Inas didn’t know that it was precisely her obedience that made O’Niens lose interest in her. In his eyes, she was already his possession, offering no challenge, no thrill of conquest.
After a few seconds, Inas shook her head slightly, a forced smile appearing on her face.
Perhaps she was overthinking it. Sister Agatha was much older, old enough to be his mother. O’Niens probably just wanted to cuddle with her, like when he was a child.
The poor Saintess didn’t realize that she was now wearing a metaphorical green hat, a different style than the Grand Prince and Karsus, but the same color.
…
“What?”
“The thread I pulled from my soul entered O’Niens’s body?”
Sylph, curled up in Qin Chu’s arms, was shocked and worried.
Although O’Niens was a good-for-nothing idiot whom she despised, his status was still very important.
If that thread had some adverse effect on him, even causing a transformation like Karsus and eventually leading to his death, the consequences would be disastrous.
The former Holy Maiden of the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess would definitely go berserk.
And if the investigation led back to Qin Chu and her, their lives might be in danger.
Qin Chu, however, just shrugged nonchalantly, “Why worry? Even O’Niens doesn’t know what happened. We just happen to be lacking a test subject. We can observe the effects of these things on a normal human body.”
“It’s just a pity that I only have this one sample. Perhaps I need to extract another one from your soul, Sylph.”
After a slight pause, Qin Chu suddenly spoke to Shaye in his mind, “By the way, Miss Shaye, can you go observe O’Niens’s situation?”
Shaye grumbled in dissatisfaction and left.
As for Sylph, her cheeks flushed crimson. She knew what Qin Chu meant.
Her breathing quickened, her beautiful eyes filled with anticipation… and this anticipation wasn’t just because of the possibility of reducing her corruption.
She seemed to crave more.
Although Qin Chu had rejected her several times these past few days, she had always made sure she was…prepared.
…
Under the cover of night, Shaye floated in the air.
She was dissatisfied with Qin Chu ordering her around, muttering complaints under her breath.
Soon, she arrived near the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess’s camp.
The Holy See, the royal family, and the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess had all sent people to accompany them.
The Holy See had one hundred Holy Knights and an Archbishop. The royal family had one hundred and fifty elite Royal Guards led by Morton.
The numbers weren’t large, but each of them was quite strong.
Only the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess’s contingent seemed excessively large, numbering three hundred. Nearly a hundred nuns were responsible for attending to Saint Son O’Niens’s every need, and the rest were powerful experts responsible for his protection.
They seemed to be here just to escort O’Niens on a tour.
O’Niens’s tent wasn’t hard to find. It was the most luxurious one. Seemingly afraid that O’Niens would be cold at night, and worried that the smoke from a fire inside the tent would irritate his nose, the people from the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess had set up a ring of bonfires around his tent, ensuring that it remained warm without any smoke.
The tent was surrounded by guards, and without the Saint Son’s permission, not even the Saintess could approach.
It was very quiet inside, clearly soundproofed by a barrier.
Shaye’s consciousness entered the tent. Seeing the scene inside, she frowned slightly.
Agatha was dead.
There were clear finger marks on her neck. She had been strangled by O’Niens.
There was a clear look of disgust on O’Niens’s face.
He didn’t understand what had come over him. Before he had Agatha, he had been consumed by a powerful desire to possess her… But after having her, only an inexplicable emptiness remained.
The more he looked at Agatha’s face, the more disgusted and irritated he felt.
And then, as Agatha screamed, he had snapped her neck, just to get rid of her.
O’Niens didn’t even notice that his eyes had turned crimson, a twisted smile playing on his lips.
This sight startled Shaye. She sensed a flicker of Karsus in O’Niens… but there was also a subtle difference.
…
Meanwhile, in the Demon Beast territory.
A dark corner.
A handsome, slender young man was cutting up the carcass of a beast with a sharp knife.
Looking at the bloody pieces of meat in his hand, the young man frowned, but he still stuffed them into his mouth.
He wanted cooked meat, but he couldn’t risk it. This was Demon Beast territory, and they were being hunted. A fire would reveal their location.
The smell of blood and raw meat made him gag, but he suppressed his nausea and swallowed the flesh, bite by bite.
Then he offered some of the cut meat to a petite girl beside him.
“Eileen, you should eat something too…”
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