Chapter 303: Regret

Deep in the mine.

Ansu jolted awake, his back drenched in a cold sweat.

He instinctively looked at the nightstand beside the bed.

A note was pinned to it, bearing a single line of elegant handwriting.

“Dear, I’m going out for a bit. I’ll be right back.”

He raised a hand to push himself up, only to find his wrist held back by something.

One end of those invisible magic handcuffs was clamped around his wrist, while the other was firmly locked to the bed frame.

Ansu: “...”

Did Celia really think this could hold me?

A moment later.

Ansu decisively dismantled the bedboards and walked out of the room dragging half the bed frame behind him.

The mine was empty. He called out “Celia” a few times, but received no response other than his own echoes.

She really left?

Ansu cast Mage's Hand and slowly tore away the remaining half of the bed frame.

The mine where the treasure vault was located had been decorated by her to be bright and cozy, radiating the warmth of a home, but Ansu was in no mood to appreciate it right now.

He leaned against the wall, trying his best to recall his memories before falling into a deep sleep...

Celia had indeed cast magic on him. He remembered the feeling at that moment; it was most likely Soul Dominion - Hypnosis.

The bad news was... he hadn't blocked it.

Previously, to gain immunity to the demon’s self-destruction corruption, he had to toggle Magic Immunity Lv2. He had been waiting for her to make a move... but this time, she didn't follow the usual routine at all.

The method Celia used to make him fall asleep this time wasn't magic at all!

A faint, strange, and exotic fragrance lingered in the air. Ansu followed the scent to a corner of the corridor.

Sure enough, he saw a bronze candlestick. The spent incense ash inside still held a trace of warmth. Moreover, just getting close made his head feel heavy and drowsy.

Ansu quickly held his breath and used Mage's Hand to toss the candlestick into a bucket of water in the kitchen.

Good grief, this was physical hypnosis...

(Chemical)

On a scientific level... he couldn't defend against it...

However.

There seemed to be one piece of good news.

Celia didn't seem angry after she finished questioning him.

Ansu closed his eyes and tried desperately to remember. His memories while under hypnosis were like they were covered in a layer of mist. He could only vaguely recall Celia’s face close to his and the changing expressions as she asked questions, but he couldn't remember any of the questions or answers.

At first, she had hugged him and cried happily.

Then, she fell silent for a very, very long time.

Finally, she snuggled against him tenderly, lying there for who knows how long. Everything was peaceful and warm until he fell into an even deeper sleep...

To be honest, if she had asked simple questions like “Do you love me?”, Ansu wouldn't have needed to lie to her at all.

But if she had asked about Freya... that would be different.

Of course, besides those, there was one more massive ticking time bomb between them that had yet to explode.

And that was the story of “hypnosis and the reverse conquest”...

Ansu felt that this bomb would explode sooner or later, but now was not the time.

Given how much they loved each other now, even if it did explode... there probably, maybe, wouldn't be much of a consequence, but Ansu was a man who sought stability.

It was better to wait until the end of the story, after everything had settled, before letting it go off...

Still, regardless of what questions Celia had asked... how was she so calm afterward? She was much more peaceful than he had imagined.

Strange.

What on earth did I say? Did I lie even in my dreams? Was I seducing her even then?

If so, I'm pretty impressive...

Or was this just the calm before the storm? Was she waiting for him to wake up to settle the score?

While Ansu was lost in his anxious thoughts, a violent tremor suddenly shook the earth.

He immediately rushed to the cave entrance. He saw the towering trees in the Black Forest swaying wildly as flocks of black crows took to the sky with startled cries.

It wasn't an earthquake.

Ansu’s gaze snapped toward the distance, where powerful holy light and magic were clashing.

Celia and Freya were fighting.

He instinctively wanted to step out of the cave, but the entrance was sealed with a heavy magic seal. A deep, mysterious light flickered slightly, making it impossible to break through.

Ansu touched the seal with his fingertips and squinted, observing the series of extremely complex magic formulas. They looked a bit familiar.

He remembered that there should be a corresponding magic book in the treasure vault. He hurried back, grabbed the book, and began attempting to inject mana while flipping through the pages, slowly dismantling the seal piece by piece.

A long time passed...

The sun was setting, and the battle in the distance had already quieted down over an hour ago.

Ansu was meditating with his eyes closed to recover his mana when a faint voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

“Don't waste your energy. This is a 9th Circle magic seal...”

Ansu was startled and snapped his eyes open, looking at Celia, who had suddenly appeared before him.

There was a hint of fatigue on her face that was hard to notice, but none of the hostility one would expect after a battle. Her expression was strangely calm.

Ansu stared straight at her.

Celia looked at Ansu in silence.

A moment later.

She touched her cheek and tilted her head suspiciously. “Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that? Is my face scratched?”

“N-No...”

Celia stepped closer, a hint of a mischievous smile flashing in her eyes. “Then... are you afraid of me? Afraid of what terrible things I might do to you now that I'm back?”

Ansu frowned and thought for a long while.

Celia let out a little giggle and leaned close to his ear in an intimate manner.

“Dear, you just took a nap. Why are you so scared to see me again? Did you have a nightmare? Did you dream that I was a big villain who would torture you?”

Ansu stared at her blankly, the more he looked, the more things felt wrong.

Celia’s breathing was steady, and her eyes were clear. That previous blackened yandere look was completely gone; it was as if she had become a different person...

Didn't she just have a fight with Freya?

And before that, shouldn't she have heard some true feelings from my heart that she shouldn't have heard?

Why is she like this now...

“Did I... travel through time? Did I end up in a parallel world?” Ansu asked inexplicably.

Celia blinked. “Huh?”

Ansu reached out and pinched her soft, fair cheek, asking tentatively, “Are you a fake Celia? Has my Miss Witch been swapped out?”

Celia pursed her lips, slapped his hand away, and gave him an annoyed glare. “I think you're the one who’s been swapped! Why is your brain so dysfunctional today?”

“You're really Celia?” Ansu leaned in even closer, then suddenly had a realization. “Oh! I get it! Celia was taken out by Freya, and you're Freya in disguise! Stop pretending, little Holy Maiden, take off the disguise!”

Celia burst out laughing and turned toward the kitchen. “You must be hungry. I’ll go cook for you.”

As she spoke, she gave a casual wave, and the magic seal at the cave entrance vanished instantly.

Ansu was completely baffled.

His head was full of question marks, and he could only instinctively follow her. “You... you're going to cook for me? Then I’ll help you out...”

“No need, you just rest.” Celia’s voice was so tender it could practically drip with sweetness. “You need to rest, dear.”

“Oh...” Ansu rubbed his head and turned to leave.

“Oh, right!”

Celia suddenly stopped.

Ansu turned back and saw her expression darken. She sat by the table, crossing her long, smooth legs, and watched him with a sharp gaze.

That cool, mature witch vibe was back in an instant.

Ansu finally let out a sigh of relief. Right, that was the real her...

“Aren't you going to change how you address me?” Celia raised an eyebrow, her voice calm, but her eyes held a trace of anticipation that was hard to miss.

“What did you call me before? Did you have a change of heart after just one nap?”

Ansu was stunned for a second before he reacted. “...Wife?”

Celia looked away and gave a soft “Mm.”

“Go on... go rest.”

Then, a faint blush gradually spread across her cheeks.

Ansu breathed another sigh of relief. It seemed she was still that same high-offense, low-defense Miss Witch.

“Yeah, I’ll go rest. See you in a bit.”

However, after he left.

The brief, cozy warmth in the kitchen vanished instantly...

The lively, playful, and forced smile on Celia’s face disappeared without a trace.

She looked down at her reflection in the sink. A drop of water fell, sending ripples across the surface.

“Ansu...”

She sighed softly, her voice filled with regret and a touch of sorrow.

“I won't hypnotize you again...”

“Ansu... if only I had never done it.”

...