Chapter 56: You’ll regret this later!

*A sheep beast passed by three meters away, the world pitch black, no human figure in sight.

The night was deep, shadows darting through the forest without a sound.

Even passing right beside someone, they wouldn’t be noticed—as if that figure didn’t even exist.

In the darkness, the ability of Shadow Concealment Art reached its peak, reducing her presence to a barely perceptible level.

It was a useful skill, though mostly a waste slot—yet she always kept it equipped.

Most of the time it was useless, but when she needed it, it became incredibly handy.

After escaping from Eustia, Shu Yue hid until late at night before returning.

She had changed her outfit; her previous clothes were tattered and uncomfortable.

Now that the Bloodline Manifestation was lifted, she was in her human form.

As she walked, she glanced down at herself.

“Ah…”

Shu Yue sighed.

The influence of the Dragon Blood on her body was growing stronger.

At first, Shu Yue hadn’t paid attention to the changes—just her frame shrinking, skin turning pale, hair growing longer and softer, a slight tightness in her chest.

It wasn’t until her primary sexual characteristics completely vanished and she became a girl that she realized what was happening, but by then it was too late…

Right after the transformation, she was still quite tall with some bust size.

But after absorbing the Dragon Blood several more times, she kept shrinking, as if gradually turning into her Dragon Princess form.

“Will I eventually become that completely?”

Shu Yue smiled helplessly.

It was inevitable.

All she could do was accept the change.

From the moment she drank the first drop of Dragon Blood Essence, there was no turning back.

She stopped walking, stood still, and looked around.

Shu Yue frowned.

She was standing right where the Black Feather Sect believer had been pierced through with a single sword strike.

Now there was nothing—not even a trace of the battle.

Eustia was a one-hit killer; it ended in an instant.

Shu Yue hadn’t picked up anything.

The Black Feather Sect believer died spotlessly—not even a finger left behind.

She had been planning to refine her.

“What a waste…”

She was somewhat interested in the Black Feather Sect believer’s abilities—not the tentacles, but the power to control corpses.

Since there was nothing, forget it.

Shu Yue didn’t linger long and continued along the same path back to the initial battlefield.

Back then, she had chased after Anna and hadn’t had time to loot the spoils, planning to clear the area first then “eat.”

But then the sudden Black Feather Sect believer chased her off, and later she ran into Eustia.

She didn’t want to lead Eustia over there; if she noticed something, it would be trouble.

“Hopefully the rats haven’t stolen anything,” she silently prayed in her heart.

Those corpses should still be lying there undisturbed.

Shu Yue had done plenty of corpse looting.

At first it made her sick, but she got used to it.

In the Outlands, maintaining high moral standards meant you wouldn’t survive.

Lowering the bar appropriately made things much easier.

Shu Yue had been tempered by this, and besides, having lived two lives, her mind was resilient.

She retrieved Wind Whisper Art from Anna.

Hehe~

Feeling the new Spell Art inside her, Shu Yue hummed happily.

When she returned to the original battlefield, her joy vanished.

It seemed the strong scent of blood had attracted many scavengers.

The corpses were either devoured on the spot or dragged away.

Seeing the carnage, even Shu Yue—the one responsible—felt a bit queasy.

Luckily she hadn’t eaten anything at night, so she didn’t throw up.

Shu Yue found the spot where she had tossed the Magic Cube, crouched down, and dug into the soil.

She casually picked up anything valuable and stuffed it into her small crossbody bag, too lazy to bury the bodies.

Staring at the silver-black cube, she could barely suppress her grin.

Selling this to someone who knew its value could net her tons of gold coins!

But she didn’t plan to sell it.

Her base form’s abilities were decent for her tier, but against stronger opponents, the gap between those with Protective Magic Power and those without was a chasm.

If not for her Silver Dragon Bloodline, she would have had to reveal all her cards to defeat a Tier 2 powerhouse.

Magic Cube could solve that problem effectively.

But now it had become pure magical substance.

Shu Yue only knew how to refine it with Star Tempering Art; she had no idea how to make armor from it.

She did dream of being an armored knight—who wouldn’t want a cool knight transformation?

She planned to craft a suit of Magic Element Armor.

When it was no longer needed, she’d sell it as “barely used, 99% new, female user.”

“Hehe, I’m so good at managing the household!”

Shu Yue reached out to pry the cube out of the ground.

The Magic Cube looked only about five cubic centimeters, but its mass was close to a ton.

Back then, she was in Dragon Princess form and could hold it with one hand—her strength was 3.14 times that of her human form.

Now she couldn’t lift it with one hand.

She used both hands, putting some effort into pulling it from the earth.

Staring at this tiny block, Shu Yue felt a headache coming.

How was she supposed to carry it?

Even though it was small, the weight was immense.

If she put it in her little bag, wouldn’t it snap her slender waist?

“Guh…”

While she was pondering, Shu Yue glanced ahead unconsciously and spotted a pair of high-heeled boots.

High-heeled boots meant a woman—the pale white calves were proof enough.

Shu Yue raised her head slowly, following upward, and finally met Eustia’s deep eyes.

She swallowed and tightened her throat.

She had indulged too much earlier and hadn’t adjusted yet.

Subconsciously, she was about to use her natural voice to talk to Eustia.

“Um, good evening?”

“Out for a walk too?”

“You… how are you here?”

“I’m waiting for you.”

Eustia looked at Shu Yue, whose tone was growing weaker, and said flatly, “So, how are you going to explain why you’re here?”

Shu Yue gave an awkward smile.

Inside, she was somewhat surprised—Eustia didn’t seem to notice the change in her appearance.

She hadn’t even put on a disguise.

Shu Yue couldn’t disguise herself.

What made Eustia miss it?

Shu Yue couldn’t figure it out.

“I heard some noise over here earlier, so I snuck over to scavenge. Everyone does it in the Outlands.”

“Oh.”

Eustia didn’t confirm or deny.

She just stared at Shu Yue, saying nothing.

A thin layer of sweat broke out on Shu Yue’s forehead.

Finally, she started the conversation herself, “How about we talk about the cooperation?”

“You’ve decided?”

“Yeah, I’ve decided.”

Shu Yue nodded quickly.

“Now let’s discuss what we’re cooperating on.”

Eustia was silent for a long moment before saying, “It’s simple. You continue to play the role of ‘Liya White,’ but everything you do must follow my instructions. Understand?”

“It’s not assassination or something, is it?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

Shu Yue couldn’t help but be curious.

She was being used as a pawn, but she didn’t want to marry Emily.

Marriage meant doing that.

She was a girl now; her belly would grow big!

Eustia’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.

After a long pause, she slowly said, “I want you to become Lorrain Isolde’s fiancé.”

“?”

“The identity of Liya White was originally infatuated with Lorrain and insisted on their marriage contract. You need to play the role of Lorrain’s suitor, first get engaged, and then see if marriage is necessary.”

“?!”

Shu Yue was shocked.

She timidly looked at the beautiful half-elf girl before her and asked incredulously, “You… you want me to marry another woman?”

“Mm.”

Eustia nodded, as if it were a trivial matter.

Perhaps it was trivial to her, but not to Shu Yue.

She never expected Eustia to make her date another woman and act like it was only natural.

Shu Yue stammered, taking a long time to get the words out, her voice trembling slightly, almost losing her fake pitch and revealing her real voice, “I… you… she… what’s she to you?”

The last two words were quite obvious.

But Eustia didn’t catch it.

Her eyes saw too much, completely ignoring the auditory information, or perhaps she didn’t care about the change in Shu Yue’s voice at all, nor the differences in face shape and body structure from before.

Eustia answered Shu Yue’s question: “Friend.”

“Friend?”

Shu Yue felt a strange tightness in her chest, as if she had been abandoned again.

She glared at Eustia with resentment and muttered, “You said it. Don’t regret it later!”

Eustia didn’t understand what Shu Yue meant by that and simply assumed she had agreed to the request.

Seeing that, Shu Yue felt she was being over-dramatic.

How could a bad woman like that regret anything?

It was right not to trust her!

Eustia noticed Shu Yue’s reluctance and asked, “You don’t know Isolde?”

“Hah, how could I not know…”

Shu Yue smiled, but the smile was lifeless, devoid of warmth.

“This is the Northern Frontier—who wouldn’t know the Isolde family of the Northern Frontier Duke? Yeah, I should feel honored to be in love with the noble eldest daughter of the Isolde family, right?”

Shu Yue spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

“Forget it. Since I already agreed, I won’t go back on my word. I’ll do as you say.”

Shu Yue quickly resigned herself.

What she wanted were the resources and knowledge for advancement.

This was a mutually beneficial cooperation with Eustia.

She would treat it like a job.

Wasn’t it just acting like a lovesick puppy?

It was just acting, not real.

Once she got what she wanted, she’d take down Lorrain!

Wait, this wasn’t being a simp—this seemed like being a gold digger…

Shu Yue looked at Eustia again, her expression odd.

Eustia also studied Shu Yue.

She noticed that Shu Yue looked far too frail, very different from the real Liya White.

If she went like this, she’d be seen through immediately.

She asked, “Are you and that Lady Lorrain really friends, or are you mortal enemies instead?”

She tossed a mirror to Shu Yue, saying, “Inside this mirror is three cubic meters of space. You can store items in it, and it won’t add weight.”

“!”

Shu Yue’s eyes lit up.

Finally giving me some benefits.

I thought you were going to promise without delivering!

The mirror was an ancient small round mirror with a silver rim, about ten centimeters in diameter.

When she shone it on something, it went in.

Storing the Magic Cube inside indeed didn’t add weight.

Shu Yue was about to thank her when she saw Eustia take out a full-length mirror and place it to the side.

The inside of the full-length mirror didn’t reflect the outside; it seemed to be its own world.

Eustia came over, grabbed Shu Yue by the scruff of her neck, and walked into the mirror.

Her attitude was completely different from when she handled the Dragon Princess form.

Shu Yue obediently let herself be carried into the mirror.

“Where are we going?”

“To help you with a disguise. You’ll be found out immediately looking like this.”