“Lili… Lili… Wake up.” A voice rang, waking up Lili from her deep slumber, cutting her off from another strange dream of hers. Feeling dizzy from the light nudging she had received from the owner of the voice, Lili groaned. With difficulty, she squinted and tried to open her rebellious eyelids. She felt like her eyes still wished to lengthen their rest. She squirmed out of the embrace of the warm quilt and glanced sideways, searching for the origin of the familiar voice. The old mistress sat on the side of the bed. She wore a warm, but tired smile on her face as she stared at Lili. There were also dark lines forming under her eyes, a good proof that she possibly hadn’t taken even a wink yet. “Old mistress,” Lili said. She yawned as she rubbed her eyes. Sleeping there on a fluffy bed really made it easier to enjoy sleep as compared to when she was still in the orphanage. She stretched and hugged the old lady’s waist, something that had always calmed her down when she

Chapter 23: Behind the Shadows Darkness and silence loomed inside a mid-sized mansion. Just three days ago, this mansion was once the home of a local noble of Antacast. But for some mysterious reason, the prideful noble suddenly sold the mansion and brought all his liquid assets away as if he was fleeing from a deadly plague. He even brought his entire clan away as if a blight was after his entire household. He explained nothing, not even to his circle of friends, and simply ran away. A few gossips and speculations soon spread to the masses and in the aristocratic circles about what really happened. Some said that the mansion had become hunted, and that forced the noble to move away. Some believed that a demon had visited the mansion. They said that the demon cursed the mansion after the noble tried playing with some forbidden magic. Whatever the real reason was, they were sure that something eerie had happened to the mansion. After all, the once lively mansi

The lady who wore a dazzling crimson dress felt her legs quivering. She wanted to rush back to the old headmistress… and, if possible, back to the orphanage. Unfortunately, the sharp gazes she felt from the servants behind her halted all those thoughts. Controlling her emotions, she remembered the teachings of the old headmistress. She gently curtsied towards the servants who escorted her. An unfathomable smile slid out of her inviting lips. “Thank you, good sirs and ladies, for guiding me here.” Her simple acknowledgment had those male servants flushing while the lady servants had their eyes turned into saucers. The servants looked intoxicated and spelled bound as they tried to peel away their eyes from the fairy-like existence before them. “Goodbye now.” She let out a sigh, leaving the tongue-tied servants standing like fools. Lili trudged, snail-paced, entering the conspicuously shimmering door. Soon enough, she heard the chatters and giggles comin

From the balcony of the auction house, an old man wearing a full-white magus cloak watched how the infamous duke caught a few bad eggs, acting like a knight in shining armor that was out of his character. Instead of someone’s savior, he appeared like a visiting reaper instead. There was also the lass. Even though she wasn’t the target of the duke, the little lass still sprinted away like a scared rabbit. She didn’t even know that she was sitting at the young duke’s reserved seat without his permission. The old magus couldn’t help but chuckle after seeing the funny sight. “Anyway, what do we have here? It seemed the stupid duke brat really liked the lassie for him to waste time like this.” The chief magus of the Antacastian royal court frowned and shook his head. “He’s not joking. He’s dead set for that little lassie. Anyway, his old fossil of a grandfather will surely love this news. Who could have thought that his grandson who usually hates women would suddenly beco

“H-Headmistress?” Lili tilted her head, confused. She shifted her gaze to the left and saw the fake noble who dragged her into this. The once prideful fake noble was shuddering on the side. But unlike the last time, he didn’t dare to show courage and just lowered his head. He kept silent as he slumped on his knees. He was sweating like a pig under a roasting blaze. “What is happening?” His pudgy chin trembled, and if a pit suddenly appeared somewhere, he looked like he’d be more than willing to jump. And after seeing Lili, the fatty lowered his head, his quivering lips paling. On the other hand, the headmistress’ eyes lit up after seeing Lili. She stood up from her seat, circling around Lili, making sure she was safe and sound. Assured that Lili was fine, the headmistress let out a sigh of relief. She then gave the confused Lili a deep hug. “Thank god you’re safe. Lili, listen to me. Please wait for me in the other room. I will need to talk to the old master.”