Ansu looked at Celia, who was staring at him expectantly.
He took a deep breath and continued speaking.
"Do you remember once when you asked me what I thought of you..."
"My answer was that I was disappointed."
"Of course I remember." Celia nodded, then hesitated. "Since you can ignore my hypnosis... wasn't that just another way of playing hard to get?"
Every time she thought of that, she felt a surge of irritation in her heart.
This guy had been using her trust and affection to do such things! He had actually been influencing her heart in reverse!
From the beginning until now, every word had been a carefully designed trap. Step by step, Ansu had made her more and more reluctant to kill him...
Until she had completely fallen for it...
"The disappointment was real," Ansu said helplessly. "But disappointment is predicated on expectation. I did have expectations for you, because things didn't change according to my wishes. Between me and Samantha, you still chose her."
"You..." Celia suddenly realized something. "From that moment on, you thought that teacher didn't trust me, and you even knew she... was wary of me?"
"Of course." Ansu chuckled. "My judgment of people is never wrong."
"Where does this confidence of yours even come from..." Celia frowned. Even now, she was full of questions about the man before her. This man had far too many secrets...
"So, if I really didn't care about you at all and didn't have a single thought for you," Ansu shrugged and confessed, "would I have gone to such great lengths... risking my life to drive a wedge between you? I wouldn't do that just for fun!"
"I was trying to save you! Because Samantha really would kill you!"
Celia's eyes widened, and those dark red eyes suddenly stared at Ansu with surprise and joy.
She didn't seem to care at all about the phrase "she would kill you." She just repeated Ansu's previous words over and over in her heart.
"If you say it like that... then doesn't it mean?"
"Ansu, you... toward me..."
Ansu leaned weakly against the cave wall. Having kept his emotions so tense for so long had almost exhausted his physical strength.
He couldn't help but lightly touch his forehead, thinking that this vile witch's forbidden curse was truly powerful...
It was comparable to a soul-stealing drug.
He hadn't expected her to have such a move. He would really have to be careful and guard against it after going back this time...
"Say it! Why did you stop talking!"
Celia urgently pressed closer, almost forcing Ansu into the corner of the cave wall. "Is that really what you think of me? You have that much affection for me??"
"I'll say it, I'll say it..." Ansu gave her a speechless look. "I have feelings for you! I have plenty of thoughts about you, alright!!"
To be honest, as a physiologically normal male, facing such a girl who was incredibly beautiful and who cared so much about him that her eyes were filled only with him... it would definitely be a lie to say he had no desire for possession at all...
A man's logic could be stubborn, but his instincts didn't lie.
This was also why Ansu had been conflicted and hesitant before. He wanted to escape this vile witch, but he also felt that if he truly changed her, it wouldn't be so bad to keep things as they were...
But how could reality allow someone to have it both ways? Hadn't he just suffered a heavy blow this time...
Although Celia was indeed no longer willing to kill him, and his reverse conquest plan had achieved great results... it seemed that the situation was starting to evolve in another terrifying direction he had never imagined...
The symptoms of the backlash from the forbidden magic were gradually fading from Celia. The black cracks on her face stopped increasing, replaced instead by a pretty flush.
However, the strange light in those dark red eyes only increased!
Celia stared intently at Ansu with a terrifying gaze, as if she wanted to eat the person before her alive!
"So, you were actually willing to do so much for me..."
"Ansu..." Celia breathed heavily, a sickly smile appearing on her face again. "Even if I didn't believe you... even in front of the suspicious and fickle teacher, you risked exposure just to find a way to help me... why didn't you say such things sooner..."
"Didn't you say it yourself? You wouldn't have believed it..." Ansu muttered.
Celia's entire body was trembling. It felt as if she had gone from hell to heaven in an instant.
"Then after that... what were you thinking..."
Ansu didn't dare mention his "fake death" plan to escape her. He didn't even dare mention what Celia wanted to hear most, instead answering with a serious expression:
"I have a premonition that Samantha will definitely move against you. That day is getting closer and closer... The day of her death will also be your doom..."
"So I hope you can go to the ancient ruins according to my plan. That place will greatly increase our strength and give you the capital to stand on equal footing with Samantha. I decided to gradually undermine her authority within the cult and make you the one all the believers look up to..."
"Mhm! Mhm..." Celia kept nodding, and she was also waiting for Ansu to say something else.
"And then? When everything is over, then the two of us..."
Her smile became increasingly eerie and unsettling. "Shouldn't we also..."
"We should also run the cult well." Ansu continued, "We can reorganize the Echoes of Truth. We shouldn't be too radical anymore. After all, we should hold the legitimate banner of uniting all mages."
"The abnormal elders on the Truth faction's side who have lost their minds studying magic should be cleared out if they need to be. I actually feel that the Restorationist faction is more pragmatic. The underground intelligence network inside and outside the Empire should be put to good use. We will watch as the decaying and fallen Empire collapses on its own."
"Natural disasters and internal strife are bound to happen! As long as we lay low for two to three years, until Duke Berry raises an army in rebellion and leads the angry and hungry masses to storm the capital..."
"Then we can be together forever?" Celia seemed to be on a completely different wavelength.
"Huh?" Ansu was stunned for a moment.
He then stared speechlessly at the witch before him.
Where did you go off-topic to? Does it mean everything I just said was for nothing?
However, Celia wasn't just on a different wavelength. She thought excitedly for a long time before finally nodding repeatedly, as if she had made a momentous decision in her heart.
"Good! That's good! Ansu, I'll take you away. We're leaving this place!"
"Leaving?" Ansu looked at her in surprise. "Leaving for where?"
"Leave this cave, and then start a new life and realize those plans you want to do!"
Celia's hands trembled as she stroked Ansu's face, her emotions seemingly becoming even more pathological. "I won't lock you up anymore, and I'll also lift the forbidden curse. But before that, just in case... I have to do one more thing to you..."
"What other thing?" Ansu looked at her nervously, suddenly having a very bad premonition.
"I'm going to solve the problem of you being the Chosen One at its root! I'm also going to make sure you no longer linger on any part of the past!" Celia said loudly with excitement and anticipation.
"Since you care about me so much! Yet for various reasons... you can't remain honest with me, then wouldn't it be fine if I just made you forget that past?"
Crazy thoughts occupied her mind, and she kept talking to herself.
"I don't blame you for lying to me. You were also forced by circumstances... I'll make you forget your entire life before you met me, and I'll also make you forget your original mission... as well as your ability to be immune to black magic... Ansu, let's start over, okay?"
The more Celia thought about it, the happier and more excited she became.
"If that's the case, there will only be me in your heart! You won't have the burden of family, and you won't have to spend so much effort maneuvering between two organizations. The one you care about most in your heart will only be me! Only me!!"
"Assist me with all your heart! Help me! Isn't this what you wanted!" Celia gazed at the completely stunned Ansu, thinking he was also sharing in the surprise.
She tightly gripped Ansu's wrist.
"Let's go! We're leaving right now! To prevent you from being immune to my memory cleansing as well, I've already thought of a way! It will definitely succeed this time!!"
Ansu looked at Celia in shock.
He felt that she had completely lost her mind...
Rate on N.U.
