My head was terribly heavy, as if wrapped in thick fog, too heavy to lift.
My whole body’s blood seemed to be burning, scorching my limbs and bones, even my breath carried a scorching heat.
My nose twitched slightly, a faint, delicate fragrance quietly drifted into my nostrils. It wasn’t the smell of ordinary plants, it was subtle and soft.
Anlis struggled to turn her eyes, following the scent, her gaze landing on Fula beside her.
Did Fula spray perfume?
A trace of bewilderment crossed Anlis’s heart; she hadn’t expected Fula to use such a luxury.
Her fingertip lifted uncontrollably, instinctively wanting to gently stroke Fula’s delicate, smooth cheek.
But her foot stepped out weakly, her body suddenly staggered, nearly tumbling to the ground.
This sudden sense of weightlessness, however, cleared her muddled mind a bit, and she hurriedly retracted her raised hand.
‘No!’
‘This feeling!’
‘It’s like something is itching in the bottom of my heart, constantly burning, wanting to get close to someone!’
‘I clearly experienced this not long ago.’
Anlis frantically pressed her hand against her lower abdomen. Without even thinking, she knew that curse mark planted by Vylian must be flashing with an eerie light right now.
‘Why did it trigger again?’
‘Can the frequency of flare-ups be this fast?’
‘It hasn’t even been a full day.’
‘This damn curse is really a complete nuisance.’
Suppressing it with willpower, Anlis deliberately kept some distance from Fula.
Perhaps it was truly as Vylian had said earlier, this curse merely amplified the desires in one’s heart. As long as one’s will was strong enough, they could resist it.
If… if she could find a quiet place, alone by herself, perhaps she really could rely on her own will to suppress this uncontrollable throbbing.
“Anlis? What on earth is wrong with you? Say something, you’re worrying me to death.”
But Fula, concerned about her condition, completely failed to notice her deliberate distancing and quickly closed the gap again. The fragrance on her grew even stronger, like a fatal poison.
The commotion behind caught Bolai’s attention.
Anlis was trembling all over. Noticing her father’s gaze shifting over, she hurriedly turned her head away.
But the desire in her heart grew more and more like a beast trying to break out of its cage. If this continued, she would inevitably do something in front of her father.
She was almost unable to hold it back!
‘No!’
‘Absolutely not!’
This wasn’t just a matter of social death.
Fula was her childhood playmate, her cherished friend. She absolutely could not let the curse control her and extend its claws toward her.
Anlis’s gaze swept frantically around, suddenly landing on the simple village marker at the village entrance. Only then did she belatedly realize she was already not far from home.
The Demon King Vylian seemed… to still be in her home.
If she ran back now, she could probably see…
Since…
Her footsteps suddenly began to run. A thought, formed in the last moment before her reason was about to hit zero, now occupied her mind.
‘Since this is a curse given to me by the Demon King, then wouldn’t it be fine to go find the Demon King to solve it?’
‘Yes, whoever cast the curse, go find them to solve it.’
‘This is revenge, and also resistance.’
Anlis abruptly quickened her pace, sprinting toward the village entrance. No matter how anxiously Bolai and Fula called after her, she showed no intention of stopping.
As she ran, familiar villagers along the way cast glances her way, full of admiration and awe. Anlis was completely oblivious to this and couldn’t be bothered to pay attention.
The closer she got to her own small house, the faster Anlis’s steps became, gradually leaving Bolai and Fula far behind.
The sound of the wind in her ears grew louder. Faintly, she could hear a few voices conversing from within the small house, mixed with gentle laughter, clearly drifting into her ears.
“Saintess, you are truly erudite and talented. Your mastery of Holy Light is so excellent. It’s hard to imagine you were merely a nun born in a remote area.”
“Archbishop, you flatter me. I have only learned a little bit.”
Vylian was conversing with the two archbishops, but it was basically an imperceptible background check and probing.
They seemed to have sensed something amiss but tacitly didn’t point it out, merely asking and chatting intermittently, trying to verify their thoughts.
But they found no flaws in Vylian’s rhetoric.
Apart from them, two other people stood in the small house.
One was the Village Chief of Kachi Village, the other was Anlis’s mother, Lisina.
Lisina stood in a corner, her hands nervously clasped together in front of her, her eyes filled with fear and astonishment.
She never dreamed that her ordinary, unremarkable little home would one day welcome so many important figures.
Just then, a series of hurried footsteps suddenly came from outside the house. Everyone present instinctively paused their conversation, their gazes sweeping toward the door in unison.
“Everyone, don’t be nervous, it’s Anlis…” Vylian, seeing who it was, couldn’t help but reveal a knowing smile.
‘It seems the trouble on the other side has been resolved too.’
‘It’s just…’
‘Why does Anlis look strange?’
“Anlis? The Hero has returned! So this is the Hero? Why does she look… somewhat… not quite right?”
The two archbishops also noticed Anlis’s state.
After all, that flushed, somewhat dazed complexion was really hard not to notice.
“She should… be fine.”
Faintly, Vylian seemed to sense something.
As soon as the words were spoken, Anlis violently pushed open the door and strode in.
Her target was incredibly clear, treating everyone else in the room as if they didn’t exist, her gaze firmly locked onto Vylian.
In a few strides, she reached her and crashed into her embrace, wrapping her arms tightly around Vylian’s waist like an octopus, with a force so great it almost seemed she wanted to embed Vylian into her own body.
“Oof!”
The impact was a bit strong! It was truly unexpected.
“This, what is this?”
The others hadn’t grasped the situation.
Lisina instinctively covered her mouth, the Village Chief also widened his eyes, and the two archbishops were utterly dumbfounded.
Only Vylian could clearly hear the heavy panting in her ear, unclear whether it was from exhaustion from running all the way or from something else.
“E-everyone, don’t panic. The Hero and I actually have a very good relationship. Presumably… presumably the Hero missed me too much, haha.”
In her fluster, Vylian took the opportunity to explain.
After finishing, she felt she might as well not have explained.
Because she clearly saw that the gazes of Archbishop Glen and Archbishop Meili had now become particularly subtle.
Finally, Anlis, who was clinging to her, moved. She opened her mouth and called out dazedly.
“Mommy~”
“Mom? Mommy?”
The people around were somewhat stunned, even Vylian was dumbfounded.
“Ah, this should perhaps maybe be friendship. The friendship between girls is really passionate, haha.”
Archbishop Glen laughed heartily as he spoke.
But his laughter gradually weakened and, in the end, completely froze on his face.
Because no one else in the room was laughing along with him.
“What, why aren’t you all laughing?”
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lisina’s urgent voice.
“Anlis, come over here!” Lisina quickly stepped forward, wanting to pull Anlis away, her tone full of urgency and helplessness.
“Your mother is right here! With so many important people present, how can you be so undignified? Quickly let go of the Saintess, be a bit more reserved!”
“Mmm~ I won’t!”