Chapter 69: Marking

Chapter 69: Chapter 69: Marking

She didn’t finish her sentence, but the blood and cruelty it implied were already obvious.

Hesia listened in silence. All his previous questions had been answered.

So that was why Zoya’s gaze always seemed to drift toward him. Her target wasn’t him, but the dagger at his waist.

No wonder she’d enjoyed reading that book with the bloody title, *The Skin Peeler in the Forest*, and even called it "very moving."

To her, any story about an Elf suffering was likely a form of comfort.

As for that innate Hypnosis Talent...

’But that scent really is lovely.’

Hesia looked at Zoya’s unique purple eyes under the moonlight.

Now, struck by grief and memory, they were veiled by a shimmering layer of moisture. They looked like amethysts submerged in a clear spring, adding a fragile, broken beauty to them.

’Her eyes alone are so captivating. I wonder what beautiful face is hidden beneath her mask.’

To be honest, as a Soul Transmigrator, he wasn’t particularly moved by the plight of this body’s original owner.

The destruction of his supposed family, the so-called contract of vengeance—to him, it was all like reading someone else’s biography, lacking any real, personal connection.

’Revenge? Restoration? What does any of that have to do with me? It just sounds exhausting and pointless.’

Yet, at this very moment, looking at Zoya before him, he truly wanted to help her.

This impulse even transcended any consideration for "practical benefits" like Affinity and Decryption Points.

’What’s gotten into me? This protective urge... it’s so strong, it doesn’t feel like me.’

He couldn’t explain it himself.

’Maybe... she really is a Succubus in disguise.’

Hesia could only use such a jest to explain this protective urge that had risen out of nowhere.

Still, a powerful Elf Tribe... that was no laughing matter.

He just hoped this girl, already suffocating under the weight of her hatred, wouldn’t run headfirst into a brick wall and waste the life her mother had died to give her.

Hesia looked at her and asked seriously, "So, do you want to go get your revenge now?"

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +5]

Zoya shook her head, looking lost.

She didn’t know.

Ever since escaping, she had never known what to do.

She seemed to possess a powerful Magic Talent, yet it was sealed by shackles. To survive, she could only clumsily learn Stealth and assassination, becoming an Adventurer.

Every day, she lived in fear, never knowing when those Elves might capture her and drag her back.

And suffer the same fate as her mother.

No, perhaps being dragged back would be even more terrifying than death itself.

An Elf’s long lifespan would become the cruelest of punishments inside a cage.

So, the moment Hesia said, "I can help you," a deep part of her desperately wanted to grasp at that straw.

She didn’t need a champion to avenge her; she just needed someone to tell her what to do next.

But her rational mind made her hesitate. She was afraid this kindness would drag the only person who had extended a hand to her down into the Abyss as well.

And to her, Hesia’s question sounded as if he was willing to face the enemy alongside her, despite knowing how powerful they were.

"I... I don’t know..." Her voice was filled with helplessness.

Hesia could see her confusion and helplessness.

His heart softened. He reached out and gently patted the top of her head, right through the black fabric of her hood.

"In any case, let’s focus on getting stronger first."

"I’ll figure out a way to help you break that Demon-Banning Seal."

"Remember, you have to stay alive until you’re absolutely sure you can succeed. Otherwise, everything your mother did will have been for nothing."

He paused, his tone growing firm.

"Don’t worry about them. You’ll stick with me from now on. I’ll protect you."

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +5]

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +4]

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +4]

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +3]

The string of system notifications was a silent testament to the girl’s intense emotional turmoil and her rapidly growing trust and reliance.

Zoya tilted her head back and simply gazed up at Hesia in silence.

The moisture that had just receded from her purple eyes seemed to be gathering once more.

The moonlight traced Hesia’s silhouette with a soft, silver lining, leaving her momentarily mesmerized.

After a moment of silence, she finally asked in a trembling voice:

"Why... are you helping me?"

She was asking Hesia, but it was as if she were questioning fate itself.

In her heart, she sent a silent prayer to the shared Faith of all Moon-eyed Elves, to the eternal, unchanging silver moon.

’Mother of the Moon Eyes, weaver of fate and dreams... have you finally heard my plea and sent this glimmer of light down for me, your lost child?’

Yet the Deity high above remained silent. The ancient moonlight was as cold and clear as ever, offering no reply.

As for Hesia, standing before her, the question caught him off guard.

’Why?’ He couldn’t quite say himself.

’Was it because her purple eyes, shimmering with moisture, were too captivating?’

’Or was it the absolute trust she placed in him from beneath her helplessness that touched some soft corner of his heart?’

’Or was it simply a Soul Transmigrator feeling a pang of cheap sympathy for this real and cruel world for the very first time?’

He looked into her eyes, full of both hope and confusion, and knew that what she needed right now wasn’t a complicated explanation, but a simple reason to hold on to.

So, almost subconsciously, Hesia dredged up the most cliché answer from his barren heroic vocabulary:

"Because I’m an ally of justice."

The moment the words left his mouth, Hesia himself was taken aback.

The promise came out sounding far more earnest and firm than he’d intended, as if it were a response to the unusual impulse stirring within his own heart.

[Affinity from Moon-eyed Elf Zoya Selene has increased. Decryption Points +3]

Zoya didn’t know what an "ally of justice" was. The phrase was too foreign and abstract for her.

But she knew that the Deity hadn’t answered her, while the person before her had.

For someone who had wandered alone in endless darkness for so long, that was enough.

The light radiating from him might not have come from a Deity, but its warmth was real and tangible.

The mist in her eyes finally condensed into tears that slid silently down her cheeks.

When she looked up again, her gaze was clear and resolute.

"Okay. I’ll listen to you."

Seeing her obedient and earnest expression, Hesia couldn’t help but want to lighten the heavy atmosphere.

"So, you only learned the human Common Language recently?"

"Yes."

"No wonder it sounds a little strange. Next time, I’ll have Bruce teach you. His pronunciation is way more standard than yours."

Zoya seemed to consider this seriously, then nodded. "Okay."

Hesia gave a helpless smile.

’Right, she completely missed that it was a joke.’

He looked at Zoya, who was now following quietly beside him, with only a single thought in his mind:

’I’ve really ended up with a lost Little Elf.’

...

The two of them returned to the house in silence.

Bruce, who had been lying by the door, noticed their return. Only then did he bury his head back in his front paws and go back to sleep.

Hesia lay back down on his cot.

It had been an exhausting day, filled with battle, the contract’s activation, and his late-night talk with Zoya. This time, it wasn’t due to hypnosis; a profound wave of drowsiness washed over him. The instant he closed his eyes, his consciousness began to fade.

However, just as he closed his eyes, in the instant before his consciousness sank into dreams—

A languid, fatally seductive whisper echoed without warning in the deepest recesses of his mind.

The voice sounded as if it were coalesced from pure desire, every syllable laced with a power that could bewitch the very soul.

"Hah, what an interesting little one... I’ll come and play with you when I have the time."