Chapter 126: You’re Not Allowed to Share With Others

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: You’re Not Allowed to Share With Others

Judith explained helplessly that her Power was now completely exhausted.

To force a separation, they would have to wait until Nia successfully acquired a Profession.

She couldn’t figure out why she had appeared in someone like Nia, an Ordinary person who wasn’t even a Professional.

All she remembered from her fragmented memories was a single, engraved mission.

She had to help the one who awakened her, at any cost, set foot on the Ascension Ladder.

After that conversation, Judith seemed to exhaust the last of her Energy and fell completely silent.

No matter how anxiously Nia called out to her in her mind afterward, the mark gave no response.

Faced with this persistent presence she couldn’t shake, she could only resign herself to her fate.

At least the other party had given her something to hope for—a promise of complete separation once she acquired a Profession.

Fortunately, since the other person was also a girl, Nia didn’t find it too difficult to accept. She decided to just think of her as a talking pendant she carried around.

Things changed last night.

At the time, Nia had been lying on her stomach on the bed, using a device to replay the scenes from the Panoramic Card over and over again.

Judith suddenly spoke in her mind again.

She told Nia in a cheerful tone.

After several days of slumber, she had finally gathered just enough Energy to maintain her consciousness and could now communicate normally.

The mysterious Spirit Body’s first reaction upon waking was to immediately assure Nia in an extremely sincere tone.

She promised that as soon as she recovered her Power, she would do everything she could to leave Nia’s body at top speed, putting Nia’s mind completely at ease.

She said that although she had been too weak to speak these past few days, she had actually been using her Perception to sense everything that was happening outside.

Then, in a teasing tone, as if she were enjoying a good show, she dropped a bombshell on Nia.

She told Nia with certainty that the mysterious, cloaked girl following Lance earlier that day was, without a doubt, a rare Half-Elf.

Moreover, that little girl was currently in the Elf Race’s extremely special "Flowering Stage"!

Fearing that a sheltered small-town girl like Nia wouldn’t understand, Judith was even considerate enough to use extremely explicit terms to give her a detailed lesson on what the Flowering Stage entailed.

This late-night barrage of scandalous talk left Nia tossing and turning in bed all night, her mind in turmoil.

First thing in the morning, acting on some strange impulse, she’d crawled out of bed, gone to the kitchen to knead dough, and made pastries.

Then she grabbed a basket and hurried to find Lance.

And that’s what led to this very scene: her, standing at his doorstep, wrestling with indecision.

But it wasn’t until she was standing right in front of the door, a cool breeze washing over her, that Nia’s overheated brain finally began to cool down.

She suddenly realized an extremely awkward problem: she had no idea if Lance was even home right now.

’Knowing Lance and how hard he works to make money, could he have already gone to the Guild first thing this morning to accept a quest and leave town?’

’I just foolishly ran over here with a basket without checking anything first. I’m such a thoughtless idiot.’

Just as Nia was biting her lip, her head lowered, debating at the door whether to knock or not...

Lance’s familiar voice suddenly sounded from the street behind her.

"Nia?"

The sudden voice made Nia jump, and she quickly spun around.

She saw Lance striding toward her.

As Lance drew closer, the sunlight revealed a conspicuous speck of white flour on the tip of Nia’s nose.

"You didn’t go to the Guild to accept a quest today?"

Nia tried to calm her racing heart, posing the question in the steadiest voice she could manage.

Lance heard this question, looked at the flour on the girl’s nose, and couldn’t help but smile.

"No, the fighting’s been a little intense the last couple of days. I plan to take it easy and rest at home."

He actually hadn’t slept much at all last night.

After finishing off Buck, he had gone to the Patrol Bureau late at night to deal with the messy aftermath of the body.

After all, someone had died in his yard. According to the town’s regulations, he had to go through the proper channels and file a report.

Fortunately, the Patrol Bureau was already aware of Buck’s sordid history and confirmed he was the one who had planted the bomb last night. After a glance at the scene, they didn’t give Lance much trouble. They just reminded him to be more careful in the future or move to a safer house before letting him go.

By the time he left the Patrol Bureau, it was nearly dawn.

Then, this morning, he’d headed straight to White Oak Manor without a moment’s rest and had only just now rushed back.

Seeing Lance now, Nia’s face couldn’t help but turn a little red.

She felt as if she’d been caught red-handed.

Without another word, the girl took a step forward and pushed the heavy wicker basket in her hands into Lance’s arms.

"Here! This is a return gift for that Starlight Album!"

Nia turned her face away, explaining very quickly.

"My aunt kneaded some extra dough in the kitchen yesterday. I had nothing to do this morning, so I just baked some extra bread."

"Don’t you go getting any ideas! Just hurry up and eat it while it’s hot!"

’Yesterday?’

Lance’s gaze once again lingered for a moment on that speck of fresh flour.

But he was a sensible adult and chose not to expose the girl’s clumsy lie.

He smiled, lifted the gingham cloth, and pulled out a steaming herb-and-meat-patty bread. Without any hesitation, he took a large bite right in front of Nia.

"This is delicious. Thank you, Nia."

Lance praised her sincerely while chewing.

"This afternoon, I have to go with Cecilia to the market to buy supplies. I still need to go inside and make a detailed shopping list."

"You brought this bread at the perfect time. It saves me a ton of time on making lunch."

Nia couldn’t stop a happy smile from spreading across her face when she heard Lance praise her baking.

But when the name "Cecilia" reached her ears...

The smile on the girl’s face visibly stiffened a little.

That sour feeling in her chest surged up again.

She took a deep breath.

She suddenly took a very bold step forward, instantly closing the distance between them.

She tilted up her delicate little face, stared into Lance’s eyes, and instructed with an extremely bright and brilliant smile:

"Well, when you two go to the market this afternoon, make sure you choose carefully, okay? Don’t let the vendors rip you off."

She paused.

Then, she extended a slender finger, gently poked the rim of the wicker basket, and her tone turned serious.

"And another thing, I made all the bread in this basket specifically to your tastes."

"You have to eat all of it. You’re absolutely forbidden from sharing it with anyone else, you hear?"

After saying her piece, Nia took a step back and gave a cool wave.

"I still have things to take care of at the Guild, so I’m off. Bye!"

"Okay, bye. Be careful on your way."