Chapter 30: Stay Away From My Husband!

Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Stay Away From My Husband!

At first glance, Xavier almost thought someone had actually entered the apartment. She looked completely human.

She wore a long, elegant white dress that seemed almost old-fashioned, yet strangely beautiful.

Her skin was unnaturally pale, smooth and flawless, while her long silver-white hair fell nearly to her waist.

Her features were delicate. Her eyes were clear but distant, and there was an almost ethereal quality to her entire appearance.

Yet something was wrong. A faint milky glow surrounded her body. The edges of her figure constantly flickered, occasionally becoming translucent before returning to normal.

She wasn’t physically there.

Xavier’s expression changed.

It looked like a projection. No. Something much stranger. It resembled a soul given temporary form.

Mira immediately noticed Xavier.

"Darling, stay back," she said.

She stepped in front of him without hesitation. Her newly awakened power was already spreading through the room, but she didn’t attack.

She simply kept herself between Xavier and the mysterious woman.

"She’s been inside me," Mira said, her voice tense.

"For the last six months, every time I cultivated, she took the mana I absorbed. That’s why my strength kept falling," she added.

Her eyes remained fixed on the woman.

"I don’t know how she got there, and I don’t know what she wants," she said.

She clenched her fists.

"But she’s been feeding on everything I’ve cultivated," she added.

Xavier’s gaze sharpened. So this was the reason. For six months, Mira hadn’t been losing her strength because her cultivation had somehow failed.

Someone, or something, had been consuming the mana she gathered.

But why had it appeared now? And why had the awakening of the Frost Phoenix Bloodline brought it out?

Mira stared at the woman.

"What exactly are you?" she asked.

The woman didn’t answer immediately. She simply looked around the room as though she had awakened in a place she had never seen before. Her expression was confused.

"Who am I?" she said, repeating the question softly.

Then she frowned.

"I..." she said.

Her eyes became distant.

"I think my name is..." she said.

She paused for several seconds.

"Lydia," she said.

Her brows furrowed.

"Yes. Lydia," she said, seeming almost surprised by the answer herself.

"My name is Lydia," she said.

Xavier exchanged a quick glance with Mira. The woman’s reaction was strange. She clearly didn’t remember much. Possibly nothing at all.

"Why am I called Lydia?" the woman murmured.

She touched her own chest, looking genuinely puzzled.

Xavier’s eyes narrowed.

Memory loss? That could be good. Or it could be very bad. At least the woman didn’t appear hostile. And, more importantly, she seemed capable of communicating.

Mira wasn’t nearly as patient.

"Lydia, why were you inside my body?" she asked.

The woman didn’t answer. Her attention suddenly shifted. Her eyes locked onto Xavier. The confused expression on her face vanished. Her pupils widened.

"The chaos..." she said.

Xavier’s expression changed.

"What?" he said.

"The chaos energy," she said.

Lydia slowly stepped toward him.

"It woke me," she said.

She inhaled deeply, almost as though she could smell something invisible in the air. Her expression became strangely fascinated.

"You have it," she said, her eyes remaining fixed on Xavier.

"You smell like chaos," she added.

She took another step.

"It feels so good," she said.

Mira immediately moved in front of Xavier again. Chaos energy or whatever this woman was babbling about, she didn’t care.

She only wanted to protect Xavier from what she deemed a threat to both of them.

Lydia didn’t relent as she faced Xavier, eyes glassy as if she could cry.

"Give me some," she said, her voice almost childlike.

"Just a little," she added.

As if she didn’t care about Mira’s protective stance over Xavier, she reached toward Xavier. Mira’s Frost Phoenix power instantly surged.

Xavier’s attention, however, was no longer on Lydia’s strange behavior. Something had caught his eye. He slowly looked upward. His expression changed completely.

There was something hovering above Lydia’s head.

It was the system’s notification. That’s strange.

This has only appeared on Mira. Why this woman?

A system notification suddenly appeared above Lydia.

[Heaven Swallowing Bloodline — Awakened]

Xavier’s eyes narrowed. So this was the second investment target the system had detected inside Mira.

The confusion he’d carried since first examining her finally had an answer. Back then, the system had shown him two potential investment targets associated with Mira.

He had naturally assumed both bloodlines belonged to her, but one of them had never actually been hers.

It belonged to Lydia. She had been hiding inside Mira’s body the entire time.

The Heaven Swallowing Bloodline had shown awakened while Frost Phoenix had been dormant until now.

Now he understood why the first had shown awakened but didn’t benefit Mira in any way. It has been working against her.

"I need that energy..." Lydia said, continuing to drift toward Xavier, her eyes fixed on the strange black and white radiance surrounding him.

"Give me some," she added.

Mira immediately stepped in front of him.

"Don’t come any closer," she said.

Lydia didn’t stop. She took another step.

Mira’s expression hardened, and she threw a punch. The attack was so fast that Xavier barely caught the movement.

Her fist passed straight through Lydia. There was no impact. Lydia’s translucent body rippled around Mira’s arm before returning to normal.

Mira stared at her. She had only just awakened the Frost Phoenix Bloodline and reached the second star of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Her physical strength and speed had increased dramatically. Yet her attack couldn’t even touch Lydia.

Xavier’s expression became serious. Whatever Lydia was, she clearly wasn’t in an ordinary physical state.

"Sweetheart, calm down," he said.

He stepped forward and caught Mira’s arm.

Mira kept staring at Lydia.

"She was inside me," she said.

"I know," Xavier said.

"She took my energy for six months," she added.

"I know," he said.

Anger tightened Mira’s expression.

"You’ve been draining my cultivation all this time. How can you say you were protecting me?" she said.

Lydia looked genuinely confused.

"I didn’t mean to hurt you," she said.

"Then why did you keep taking my energy?" Mira asked.

"I needed it so I could protect you," Lydia said.

"That doesn’t answer my question," Mira said.

Mira’s frustration finally boiled over. Frost exploded from her body.

Ice spread rapidly across the floor as several sharp shards formed in the air and shot toward Lydia. Once again, every attack passed harmlessly through her.

Lydia didn’t fight back. She simply watched Mira with a puzzled expression.

Xavier studied her carefully. There was clearly something wrong with Lydia.

Her memories seemed incomplete, and her reactions were strangely innocent. She didn’t behave like someone who understood the situation around her.

That didn’t mean she was harmless. Someone who couldn’t fully control themselves could be even more dangerous.

Xavier slipped an arm around Mira and pulled her back.

"That’s enough," he said.

Mira looked at him.

"What are we supposed to do with her?" she asked.

"I don’t know yet," Xavier said.

He turned toward Lydia.

"You said you could protect Mira," he said.

Lydia nodded.

"How?" he asked.