Fanna let out a long breath and turned to go back inside.
Gal leaned back against the door, holding the cloth-wrapped box in his arms, quietly staring into the dark depths.
As if recalling something.
After a brief daze, hearing Fanna return to her room, he sat on the simple bed, closed his eyes, and dozed lightly, waiting for that opportunity to come.
Shu Yue slowly opened her eyes, her golden-red diamond-shaped pupils sweeping across her surroundings.
Judging by the remaining light of the Illumination Spell, it should already be near dawn.
“I need to get back early…”
she muttered to herself.
After being caught in her Dragon Maiden true form by Lin yesterday, she was a bit afraid to go out, worried that several people might be blocking the door.
However, the Stone Chamber Seal was still intact, which meant no one had forcibly broken in from outside.
Shu Yue believed that Mrs. Mei Er definitely had the ability to open the Stone Chamber Seal from the outside.
The fact that they hadn’t come meant Lin hadn’t been spreading the word that Shu Yue was a little she-dragon.
That’s not exactly wrong, is it?
Shu Yue lowered her head, her gaze passing between the snow-white mounds, settling on the three Dragon Scales on her flat lower abdomen.
She truly carried the Silver Dragon Bloodline, so being called a little she-dragon wasn’t offensive.
In fact, it was a quite fitting title?
She tilted her head to glance at her tail, the silver-scaled appendage swaying at her will.
“I really am a little she-dragon.”
Shu Yue had spent the entire night absorbing the Tier 5 spell from that card, and as she had expected, the eye technique perfectly fit the empty slot on her dragon pupils.
The moment she acquired the eye technique, her Silver Dragon Bloodline automatically devoured the spell.
With the Bloodline bearing that power, Shu Yue’s soul didn’t need to carry the spell’s burden.
The card’s usage was simple—hold it in hand and activate it with Spirituality.
The information would pour directly into her mind.
However, although Shu Yue had directly absorbed the complete Tier 5 spell [Eye of Truth], she couldn’t use it yet.
With her current strength, first, she couldn’t sustain its consumption, and second, it would damage her eyes.
But she could use the lower-tier spells derived from it.
Although these lower-tier spells weren’t powerful enough to unleash the full strength of a Tier 5 spell, at least they weren’t completely useless, and they were all support-type spells.
[Eye of Truth]‘s Tier 0 spell was [Clarity Spell], which could make one’s vision clear and clean, temporarily improving eyesight.
The downside was that prolonged use would cause eye fatigue, but resting for a while would recover.
It was a low-level spell typically taught to scouts.
The Tier 1 spell [Far Sight Spell], as the name suggested, allowed the user to see farther.
The Tier 2 spell [Insight Eye]—when used on an object, relevant information about it would surface in the user’s mind.
However, this information was limited to what the user already knew; it couldn’t conjure knowledge out of thin air.
A rather underwhelming ability, usually serving as a tool for Mages to facilitate learning.
For those with rich experience, this spell was quite useful.
The Tier 3 spell [Penetrating Eye] could see through simple disguises and concealments, and even through some walls. Shu Yue felt its practicality was decent.
The Tier 4 spell [Third Vision] granted an additional third-person perspective.
The Tier 5 spell [Eye of Truth] could shatter all falsehoods and even interrupt enemy spellcasting.
All support abilities, none with any offensive power.
Shu Yue wasn’t lacking in attack methods, though. She just didn’t have a one-hit finishing move yet.
That sword strike at the academy last time was essentially a super-sized Wind Blade released from a compressed Wind Field.
Aside from having greater output, it wasn’t fundamentally different from a regular Wind Blade.
That strike lacked a guaranteed-hit, guaranteed-kill quality.
Guaranteed-kill could be stacked with raw power, but guaranteed-hit was a matter of mechanics—she didn’t have an ability that locked onto an enemy, leaving them no chance to evade.
“Speaking of which, could I use [Eye of Truth] as a vessel for [Dragon’s Majesty]? If so, I could achieve targeted intimidation and simulate a guaranteed-hit effect.”
Shu Yue considered the application of her eye technique.
Support skills were a bit weak, but they had high expandability.
Without redundant mechanics, it meant she could continue strengthening it in the future.
She rose from the ground, and as the Bloodline Manifestation deactivated, those physical traits gradually faded away.
The silvery-white little she-dragon transformed back into a black-haired, gold-eyed young girl, still wearing that gray-black cloak covering her body.
She gathered the cloak with her hands to avoid exposure, but her bare feet had no choice but to tread on the ground.
She didn’t have shoes, let alone anything else—aside from the cloak on her body, she wore nothing at all.
All thanks to how convenient Mirror Flower Water Moon’s illusion form was.
It wasn’t that Shu Yue was too lazy to get dressed; she never had the chance.
It wasn’t like she deliberately went around wearing nothing.
She touched the cross-shaped star gem, ripples rippling across her form.
She opened the seal from the inside, carefully pushed the door open, and after confirming no one was outside, Shu Yue breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
She had considered earlier what to do if Lin found out.
If Lin spread the word, Shu Yue might as well walk right into a cage by herself.
She had heard that Nobles loved collecting Dragon Blood.
Someone like her would probably be treated as a precious Dragon Race material.
At the thought, she couldn’t help but feel a little worried.
“What if I try selling myself?”
As Shu Yue pondered, her pretty face flushed red.
She didn’t know if her power after Dragon Maiden Transformation had any special effects.
If she had free time, she could really try it out.
The sky wasn’t fully bright yet. Before the maids woke up, she sneaked back into the room she had stayed in before.
She slipped out from the stone door, closed it behind her, and took advantage of the early hour to quietly leave.
On the other side, a young lady’s boudoir.
Lin wore a pure white round-neck nightgown, trimmed with lace-embroidered ruffled edges, blankly staring into empty space.
The maids were picking out dresses in her room, preparing for Lin’s daily grooming and dressing.
A maid walked over carrying a basin of water, while another dipped a small handkerchief in it, wrung it gently, and then, as if polishing a work of art, carefully wiped the girl’s pretty, lovely face.
Lin snapped out of her dazed state, glanced at the maids who had cared for her for so long, and pursed her small lips.
At that moment, several maids gathered around Lin holding dresses.
“Miss Lin, which one would you like to wear today?”
“Hmm… that one!”
Lin swept her gaze from left to right, then from right to left, finally pointing at a deep blue dress.
A faux one-shoulder design—the triangular area connecting the chest to the neck was made of sheer black lace embroidered with vibrant roses.
The outermost layer of the fluffy skirt was deep blue, while the inner layer was pure white.
The hem fell just above the knees, revealing a small stretch of thigh.
She stood and walked to the full-length mirror, where a maid removed her white nightgown.
First, a white lace waist cincher was wrapped around her waist, then the dress was put on.
Two maids helped her with the corset, two more slipped long deep-blue sleeves covering half her arms over her limbs, and her fair little hands were fitted with white lace gloves.
Her tousled hair was being carefully styled by the maids.
A chair was brought behind her, and Lin sat down.
A maid lifted her slender, well-proportioned legs, holding the girl’s delicate pink feet, aligning them with the rolled white silk stockings.
The stocking tops were pulled up to her inner thighs, clipped to the garter straps, and secured in place.
The maids were long accustomed to this work; dressing up Lin was hardly a chore.
They also enjoyed adorning their young lady, feeling like they were dressing up a beautiful doll.
Lin looked at herself in the mirror, turning left and right.
She was quite satisfied with the outfit, but her hair felt a bit plain.
“That won’t do! I feel just like that cousin of mine, Sevina.”
So, Lin turned to the maid she was closest to among them.
“Sister Lisa, can you style my hair?”
It was early morning, and her voice was still soft and tender, making her sound like she was being coy.
“Of course~”
The maid named Lisa’s eyes flickered with surprise.
Normally, the young lady disliked braiding her hair, preferring to leave it loose when going out, thinking that wearing a dress was already a waste of time.
But since it was the young lady’s request, as an excellent maid, she naturally had to fulfill it.
After a while, Lin looked at her new hairstyle in the mirror and nodded in satisfaction.
She had thick hair, so even with blue silk ribbons tying two locks on each side, there was still plenty of hair cascading down her back.
With those two blue ribbons as accents, the hairstyle looked more dimensional, giving Lin a livelier, more energetic air.
“Miss Lin is so adorable~”
Lisa praised from the side.
Lin’s beauty was beyond question—an excellent Bloodline naturally bestowed a far superior appearance than ordinary people.
Compared to her sister Luolan, Lin was only a step behind.
The Holy Blood granted tremendous enhancements.
Luolan was born with a goddess-like bearing; there was simply no comparison in looks or temperament.
Lin smiled happily, but told the maids:
“Alright, all of you go eat breakfast. No need to crowd around me.”
“Hehehe~”
The maids all covered their mouths and giggled.
If Lin could actually take care of herself, would she need maids to wash her face, rinse her mouth, and dress her every day?
They were used to caring for Lin, and Lin was used to having them around, so some things Lin simply didn’t hold against them.
The Head Maid, however, would handle it.
No matter how lenient the Isolde Family’s rules were, there were limits.
Maids who crossed the red line would still be dealt with.
Minor offenses meant dismissal.
Serious ones meant imprisonment.
And if they crossed the Madam’s bottom line, they would face severe punishment.
Lin had told them not to bring up Liya’s matters anymore, so they dared not discuss him in front of Lin again.
Lin looked toward the floor-to-ceiling window, gazing at the dim morning light outside, and found herself thinking back to what happened last night.
From her perspective at the time, she had walked out from the corner and seen, beneath the full moon, a girl covered in silver-white, tilting her head up at the brilliant starry sky in a daze.
When the girl looked at Lin, Lin met those clear, transparent golden diamond-shaped pupils.
The girl had yet to fully grow, yet she was already stunningly beautiful.
She looked adorable, but carried an icy demeanor.
In her gaze was a trace of panic.
By the time Lin snapped out of it, the girl had already turned and run.
Lin gave chase with all her might but couldn’t catch up.
“Who was that cold, beautiful girl?”
Lin murmured to herself.
She still remembered that she had encountered her while chasing a black silhouette that looked very much like Shu Yue.
She couldn’t figure out what kind of relationship they had with each other.