Chapter 54: Living For Whom?
Caramy arrived late, returning with the setting sun.
He carried the heaviest load of the three, so it had taken him longer.
“A pile of rotten bones, that’s all you brought?”
Alice inwardly compared their offerings, feeling that hers was more likely to please their master, a sense of superiority rising within her.
“Don’t tell me the note actually said ‘bones’…”
“It did,” Emma chimed in, nodding along with Alice like a loyal follower.
After leaving Catherine, they had reverted to their familiar routine…
Flattering their master, attending to her every whim, echoing her every sentiment, doing her bidding…
“It seems Senior Lena doesn’t favor you that much.”
Alice sneered, practically spitting in Caramy’s face, her innate villainy shocking even Lena.
See, this was professionalism!
Truly worthy of a future prominent figure, the mastermind behind the Crimson Nunnery incident.
That look of disdain, mixed with a hint of flattery towards their master… Lena was impressed.
“Ahem, I asked Caramy to bring the dragon remains, not some rotten bones,” Lena interjected before the atmosphere turned too cold.
Alice immediately changed her tune. “Ah! You’re right, Senior Lena! I was being presumptuous…”
She lowered her eyes, her long bangs hiding her anxiety and fear.
They weren’t inherently malicious, but simply following the prevailing trend.
Belittling others to elevate themselves, a common tactic to gain favor with their master.
However, their usual tricks didn’t work on Lena.
They needed a new strategy…
Lena was different from the masters they had followed before. Perhaps the strong had peculiar personalities, but Alice believed she would adapt, especially with Emma by her side.
Meanwhile, Lena had finished examining the dragon bones, clapping the dust from her hands and beckoning the anxious Mines.
“Try placing your hand on it.”
Lena held Mines’s slender wrist, the prominent radial bone beneath her thin skin clearly visible, the delicate veins a pale purple-green.
Mines allowed Lena to press her hand against a large dragon leg bone.
“Can you feel the magic flowing through it…? You can conjure a hidden blade, which means you must possess magic power, but you said you don’t know your profession, and I didn’t see any professional mark…”
Lena muttered, a sudden realization striking her. “Could it be… Rapid Casting?!”
“What’s Rapid Casting…? I don’t know…”
Mines winced, instinctively trying to pull away, but Lena’s grip tightened, the slender girl unable to escape. “Tell me the truth, how did you learn a skill even I can’t master?”
Mines didn’t cry; she had forgotten how to cry. She simply repeated weakly, “I learned it by watching, Master. I can’t breathe… Master…”
She seemed to be suffering from a lung disease. Lena relented, releasing Mines, allowing her to gasp for air, her breaths coming in ragged gasps, the red spider lily in her hair trembling with her coughs.
In reality, Lena hadn’t threatened her, only embraced her, her soft breasts pressing against Mines’s face.
But Mines’s unusual reaction conveyed a message to Lena: aversion and distress.
Seriously, she couldn’t even be touched?
This wasn’t a lung disease, it was an allergy to people.
Lena thought she couldn’t continue with any intimate activities, while Mines thought… Master was going to send her away.
“Master…”
Mines stumbled to her feet, losing her balance and falling towards Lena.
The frail girl evoked pity no matter what she did. Lena caught her, using magic.
“How are you going to protect me, with that body of yours that no one can touch?”
Teasing Mines, Lena gently set her down, wanting to stroke her short, slightly coarse black hair, but ultimately refraining.
Ah… her hand itched… she wanted to touch…
Like an addict experiencing withdrawal symptoms, Lena grabbed one of the nuns, venting her frustration.
“It’s not like that, Master.”
Mines, clad in her black suit jacket, looked incredibly small, her already meek voice even softer before Lena. “I…”
She hesitated.
Always faltering at crucial moments. She had already made up her mind to sacrifice everything for her family, but she still couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Was she being too selfish?
It seemed so.
But shouldn’t such selfishness be allowed?
Her friend’s words flashed through her mind.
“Who are you living for? Yourself, or your family…? You’re asking for my answer? Hah, my answer is… spend money, dress up, be pampered by a rich Master, and live a life others can only dream of! It’s shallow, right? But it’s the best answer I can come up with… It’s all about perspective. If you haven’t seen the vastness of the sky, how can you understand the vastness of the world?”
“Don’t think about the consequences, just do it. Don’t worry about the process, it will only cloud your judgment. Don’t worry about what if it’s the wrong path. Living is already tiring enough, why burden yourself with so many thoughts? Mines, your talent is far greater than you imagine. You shouldn’t be in Cabaliga, but in a prestigious magic academy, under a bluer sky…”
“If I were you, I would abandon those burdens. But I’m not you. You should understand what I mean…”
Remembering her friend’s envious yet relieved expression, Mines felt a pang of pain.
She knew her friend didn’t have any magic talent, but what she should have known was that her friend had sacrificed far more for her than she could imagine…
…
“Did you return the bones?”
“Yes.”
“And the girl?”
“She went back. She left a message.”
Listening to Caramy’s report, Lena’s expression remained calm. With a glance from Lena, Caramy continued, “She said she’ll have an answer before tomorrow morning.”
“…As if I’m desperate for her, the little greedy ghost.”
Lena was amused.
Forget it, Mines’s story sounded pitiful, almost comparable to her own.
Lena didn’t judge this resilient girl; she was more interested in how to extract more value from her.
For example, the Rapid Casting technique, and Mines’s profession.
Hmm…
Time to go home.
Lena habitually touched the King of Narcissus, a daily habit, a subconscious protective mechanism.
But today, her fingers met empty air.
“Hmm?” Lena blinked in confusion.
Meanwhile, back at her home, Mines stared at the King of Narcissus in her hand, lost in thought.
“Master’s?”
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