The muscles on Lynn’s face twitched.
He looked down at the cold metal ring around his ankle.
The other end of the chain was connected to a heavy bedpost, and its length was just enough for him to reach the door of the washroom in the corner of the room.
This wasn’t an exchange; this was precision distance management.
“Please,” Alicia said, making a “please” gesture.
Her face still wore that impeccable, holy smile, as if she hadn’t just changed the way she tethered her pet, but was instead performing some sacred ritual.
Lynn had no choice.
He got off the bed and stepped onto the icy floor with his bare feet.
The chain around his ankle dragged across the velvet carpet, making a slight “scritch” sound.
Every step felt like a reminder of his status as a prisoner.
He walked into the washroom.
The level of luxury inside was equally jaw-dropping; even the faucets were made of Mythril.
He was in no mood to admire them, wanting only to resolve his physiological needs quickly.
However, the moment he closed the door, Alicia’s hymn-like humming echoed from outside.
It was that same lullaby.
The melody, which should have been soothing, now felt like a death-dealing incantation as it drifted through the door, sending a chill down Lynn’s spine.
She was standing guard right outside.
A single door separated heaven and hell.
Lynn finished his business as quickly as possible.
When he opened the door, Alicia’s singing stopped abruptly.
She stood right at the entrance, the smile on her face unchanged, as if she had been standing there all along and had never moved.
**[Blackening Value: 81%]**
After being “out of sight” for only that short moment, the value had risen slightly once again.
Lynn’s heart skipped a beat.
‘This woman’s obsession with “control” has already reached a pathological level.’
He silently walked back to the bed and sat down.
Alicia followed him, skillfully using a key to unlock his ankle cuff, only to lock him back to the bedpost.
This time, it was both hands.
His right hand, which had just regained its freedom, was once again shackled.
“You recently came into contact with a filthy place; you require purification.”
As Alicia spoke, she brought over a basin of warm water that gave off the fresh scent of herbs.
She took out a brand-new white towel and began to meticulously wipe every one of Lynn’s fingers.
Her movements were pious and focused, as if she were polishing a rare treasure.
Lynn remained motionless and allowed her to do as she pleased, but his mind was racing.
‘This can’t go on.’
With his range of motion limited to a bed and a washroom, he wouldn’t be able to step foot outside this room, let alone escape back to the Academy.
He had to obtain a larger space for activity.
“Alicia,” Lynn spoke after she finished the “purification.”
“Yes? Do you have any further instructions?”
Alicia looked up, her blue eyes full of anticipation.
“I… want to go for a walk,” Lynn said, choosing his words carefully.
“Staying in this room all the time will make my body weak. Even a treasure bestowed by the Gods needs the touch of sunlight to maintain its luster.”
He tried once more to convince her using her own logic.
The smile on Alicia’s face faded.
**[Blackening Value: 84%]**
The air in the room suddenly became heavy.
“The outside… is very dangerous,” she whispered, lowering her eyes.
Her long eyelashes cast a shadow over her face.
“There is dust in the sunlight, a filthy scent in the wind, and those… malicious mortals.”
Her voice grew lower and lower, carrying a hint of neurotic paranoia.
“Their gaze is disgusting, and their breath is foul. I cannot allow those things to tarnish you. The servants who used to be responsible for cleaning this place, just because they took an extra look at your sleeping face while wiping the windows — “
She paused for a moment, then looked up and revealed a sweet smile once again.
“I ‘purified’ them all.”
Lynn’s heart skipped a beat.
“Purified.”
How many lives were behind those two casually spoken words?
He finally understood why he couldn’t feel the presence of a second living soul in this massive palace besides Alicia.
It wasn’t that there were none; it was that she had dealt with all of them.
**[Blackening Value: 87%]**
The jump in the value confirmed the truth of her words.
Lynn felt his throat tighten.
He wasn’t facing a simple paranoiac, but a lunatic who held power and could strip others of their lives at will.
Going head-to-head would definitely be a dead end.
“I understand.”
Lynn immediately changed his strategy, his face showing a look of understanding and approval.
“You’re right; I was thinking too simply. I shouldn’t make you worry about me.”
His submissiveness seemed to please Alicia.
**[Blackening Value: 85%]**
The value dropped slightly.
“I am truly happy that you can understand me.”
Alicia took Lynn’s hand again and rubbed it gently against her cheek.
“As long as you stay here obediently by my side, I promise you will be the safest, cleanest existence in this world.”
Lynn let her continue her actions while countless thoughts flashed through his head.
He couldn’t directly ask to “go out,” so he had to create a reason why he must go out.
A reason… that even she could not refuse.
Lynn’s gaze swept across the room and finally landed on the large French window.
Outside was a well-manicured courtyard, and the sunlight was just right.
He had it.
“Alicia, you are the Saintess, right?”
Lynn suddenly asked a seemingly irrelevant question.
“Yes, I am the Saintess who serves the Deity, who serves you,” she replied with absolute piety.
“Then… in the teachings of the Temple, is there not a ritual regarding the ‘Holy Light Baptism’?”
This was a detail Lynn had written into the game’s background lore.
The Holy Light Baptism was an important ritual for believers to show their piety to the Deity and receive blessings.
It was usually held at an open-air altar to directly bathe in Divine Grace.
Alicia froze.
“How… How do you know about that?”
“I just… the thought suddenly flashed through my mind,” Lynn replied vaguely.
“I feel that I need a ‘Holy Light Baptism.’ Staying indoors for so long, I feel as though the ‘Divinity’ within me is draining away.”
The words “Divinity is draining” hit Alicia’s heart like a heavy hammer.
To her, Lynn was a treasure bestowed by the Gods, and the Divinity he possessed was the entirety of his value.
If his Divinity drained away, then this treasure would no longer be perfect.
That was something she absolutely could not accept.
**[Blackening Value: 90%]**
The soaring value showed the extreme panic in her heart.
“No, that won’t do! Your Divinity must not drain away!”
She stood up abruptly and paced the room anxiously like a trapped beast.
“But a true Holy Light Baptism cannot be received indoors,” Lynn added at the right moment.
“It must be… in a place where the sky is visible.”
Alicia stopped in her tracks and stared intently at Lynn.
Her eyes were struggling, weighing her options.
On one side was the huge risk of exposing her treasure to the outside; on the other was the fundamental crisis of the treasure’s value being damaged.
It was a dilemma.
Lynn held his breath, waiting for the final judgment.
He knew this was his only chance to leave this room in the short term.
After a long time, the look in Alicia’s eyes returned to calm — or rather, a more insane kind of calm.
“You are right.”
She walked toward Lynn, a determined and even somewhat fanatical smile on her face.
“It was my oversight. As your Servant of the Deity, I should ensure your Divinity is always overflowing.”
From beneath her clerical robes, she pulled out a string of items.
It wasn’t a key.
It was a chain that was even thinner and more magnificent.
The links were made of white gold, inlaid with tiny Magic Crystal Stones that sparkled brilliantly in the light.
At the end of the chain was not a cold shackle, but an ankle ring as exquisite as a work of art.
This thing was less of a shackle and more of an expensive piece of jewelry.
“The courtyard has already been purified by me; there will not be any unnecessary people.”
Alicia lifted Lynn’s ankle and gently fastened the magnificent Platinum Chain onto it.
“Click.”
A soft sound echoed.
“To ensure that you are not blown away by the dust in the wind while receiving the baptism—”
She stood up, holding the other end of the Platinum Chain in her hand, and revealed a perfectly holy smile to Lynn.
“I will personally lead you there.”