Chapter 74: The Kiss and the Uninvited Guest

As Theresia finally reacted, attempting to bite him, Theodore swiftly pulled away, creating distance between them.

A mere tenth of a second after his retreat, Theodore distinctly heard the loud, resounding clack of teeth snapping shut.

A sharp hiss.

Theodore accused her indignantly, “Are you attempting to inflict bodily harm upon me?”

Theresia’s eyes widened.

‘The sheer audacity! Why had she never noticed his impudence ran this deep before?’

‘It was he who had suddenly kissed her!’

“No,” Theresia retorted, “I’m preparing to sentence you to death. You’ve violated our agreement, and thus, you no longer deserve to be called human!”

Adopting a boxer’s stance, Theresia launched a barrage of lightning-fast jabs, relentlessly assailing Theodore.

Under Theresia’s fierce assault, Theodore skillfully dodged each blow, remarking with an air of nonchalance, “What’s wrong? It was just a little reward. I didn’t even delve deeper.”

Theresia’s fair skin flushed a vibrant crimson with shame and fury. Clenching her fists, she cried out, “Of course not! This is a grave desecration! Theodore, you have committed an act deserving of death!”

“Oh? Are you suggesting this isn’t merely the tip of a hair on a single ox among nine, compared to my initial plan of punishing you for three days and three nights, just as you once did to me?”

Theresia’s fists froze mid-air.

“…”

‘He has a point?’

“No, wait! You could have chosen a different reward!”

Theresia’s boxer stance reactivated.

Theodore sneered, seizing the opportune moment to grasp Theresia’s wrist. “Hmph, you think you can just change it? This is exactly what I wanted. Honestly, I feel like I got the short end of the stick with such a brief reward. I should have kissed you longer.”

Theresia began to wrestle with Theodore, the veins in both their arms bulging with strain. She glared at him, demanding, “Shouldn’t the decision of whether or not something is a reward be a mutual one?”

Theodore’s body trembled slightly as he replied, “My apologies, but only good people consider others’ wishes for a reward. I stopped trying to be a good person long ago.”

‘Inhale… exhale…’

‘Calm down, calm down, I must be calm!’

Theresia took several deep breaths. In this situation, it would be difficult for either of them to truly win, and more importantly, her dignity was at stake.

If she couldn’t control her emotions, she would fall right into Theodore’s trap. She had only just managed to get him to agree to treat her gently.

She couldn’t let such a favorable situation be ruined by this. Theodore, in the future, wouldn’t care about being gentle.

Theresia composed herself, then said, “Alright. Then I’ll exchange the kiss for something else. How about…”

Theodore smiled, interrupting her. “It doesn’t matter. A reward is still a reward. But it won’t nullify your desecration of me.”

“I, I didn’t desecrate you!”

“You made me unhappy, so it counts as desecration.”

“That was self-defense, even a counterattack!”

“I made you unhappy? When?”

“You, you, you…”

“Don’t forget, I am your master,” Theodore added teasingly. “You wouldn’t get angry at your master’s command, would you?”

“That’s not a command at all!”

“Then weren’t you just trying to exchange it for another reward?”

“…”

“What? Are you scared now? Aren’t you a battle goddess? Do you lack even this much courage?”

“Hmph! I’ll exchange it then!”

A blush spread across Theresia’s face. She turned her head away, muttering softly, “I’ll… I’ll exchange it for a hug.”

Theodore’s smile suddenly vanished. He narrowed his eyes, looking at Theresia. “You think a hug can nullify your desecration?”

“Of, of course!”

“Oh?”

Theodore raised an eyebrow, a mocking smile playing on his lips. “And what degree of hug are we talking about?”

“Degree? What do you mean?”

“Surely it can’t just be holding each other, without any movement?”

Theresia’s face instantly deepened in color. She lowered her head, speaking in a voice only she could hear, “Of course not.”

“Oh?”

The mockery on Theodore’s face intensified. “Then how should it be?”

“I… I…”

Theresia twisted the hem of her clothes in front of her, stammering for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.

“What’s wrong?” Theodore sighed, feigning disappointment. “Are you saying you don’t even want to hug your own master?”

“No!”

Theresia abruptly lifted her head, her face flushed, and declared, “I, I’ll hug you, alright?”

“Fine. But there’s a condition.”

“What?”

“It needs to be… a deep hug!”

“Mm…”

“What does ‘mm’ mean?”

“…Fine!”

Theresia took a deep breath, then suddenly lunged into Theodore’s arms, embracing him tightly.

Theodore remained motionless, allowing Theresia to hold him.

After a moment, Theresia rubbed her face against Theodore’s chest, asking in a low voice, “C-can I stop now?”

“Just a little longer.”

“I feel so uncomfortable…”

“Uncomfortable?” Theodore raised an eyebrow, a teasing smile in his eyes. “Where do you feel uncomfortable? Tell me.”

“I…”

Theresia squirmed in Theodore’s embrace, feeling her face burning hot.

“No, don’t ask anymore.”

“I don’t want to hug anymore.”

“Let go of me!”

“No.”

“You, you, you…”

Theodore chuckled softly. “Didn’t you say you wanted to hug me?”

“Let go of me!”

“No!”

Theodore held Theresia tightly. He felt her body trembling, her cheek pressed against his chest, the heat alarming. Theodore lowered his head, whispering softly into Theresia’s ear, “Don’t move, otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?”

Theodore chuckled softly, then leaned in close to Theresia’s ear and whispered a few words.

Theresia’s body stiffened abruptly. Her eyes wide, she stared at Theodore in disbelief. “You, what did you say?”

“What do you think?”

Theodore gently kissed Theresia’s forehead, then whispered in her ear, “You’re very cute today.”

“No, stop!”

Theresia abruptly pushed Theodore away, her face flushed, breathing heavily. “You, you pervert!”

“Pervert?” Theodore raised an eyebrow, smiling. “I am your master, after all.”

“You, you bastard!”

Theresia trembled with rage, pointing at Theodore and shouting, “You, you freak!”

“Freak?” Theodore chuckled. “Are you complimenting me?”

“I, I am not!”

Theresia was almost in tears, her face red, her eyes brimming. “You, you big bad guy!”

“Big bad guy?” Theodore raised an eyebrow, smiling. “But I’m the bad guy you like, aren’t I?”

“I, I don’t like you!”

Theresia spun around abruptly, turning her back to Theodore, and whispered, “I, I hate you!”

Theodore smiled but said nothing. He walked behind Theresia and gently embraced her.

Theresia’s body stiffened, but she didn’t struggle, allowing Theodore to hold her.

After a moment, Theresia’s body slowly relaxed. She leaned into Theodore’s embrace, whispering, “I, I…”

“You what?”

Theodore asked softly.

“I, I like you.”

Theresia’s voice was very faint, but Theodore heard her clearly.

Theodore smiled. He lowered his head and gently kissed Theresia’s hair.

“Let’s… let’s go to bed.”

Theresia’s face was flushed. She turned around and looked at Theodore.

Theodore smiled. “Alright.”

He carried Theresia and walked towards the bedroom.

Besides, it was indeed logical; after all, neither she nor Theodore had truly ‘gone in.’

They had done everything else possible, and a mere kiss was nothing compared to Theodore’s earlier threat of making up for those three days of memories. It was truly just the tip of a hair on a single ox among nine.

Theresia consoled herself this way. At worst, she simply wouldn’t ask Theodore to work for her again in the future.

“Although you’re not acting human, I am still a reasonable and good dragon. Considering this is your first offense today, I won’t pursue it further. However, don’t let there be a next time!”

Theresia let out a soft hmph and turned to leave, completely oblivious to Theodore’s triumphant expression.

‘Yes, yes, this is exactly it. Didn’t she start to understand step by step?’

‘Today was just a light kiss.’

‘Next time, I can try a deep kiss.’

‘The time after that, I’ll try touching her chest.’

‘And after that…’

Theodore nodded to himself. Perhaps he wouldn’t even need to choose a perfect time, place, and situation to make up for those three days of memories.

****

Meanwhile, in Lola’s room.

As Lola had stated, elves don’t die suddenly.

Instead, she had collapsed from exhaustion on her research desk.

It was evident that even an elf’s stamina and physical resilience were insufficient to sustain seven days and seven nights of continuous, high-intensity research (or destruction).

Just then, a figure silently emerged from the shadows of the room. After glancing around to confirm no one was present, they pulled out several small ornaments from the shadows and placed them around the room, finally letting out a huge sigh of relief.

She then crouched beside Lola. After a quick check, she placed a pill into Lola’s mouth. Following this, she stretched, yawned, and then slipped into Lola’s bed, using the unconscious Lola as a body pillow as she fell asleep.

Approximately four hours later, the sky gradually darkened.

A groggy Lola awoke from her slumber. She had slept incredibly soundly, her sleep quality easily ten times better than usual.

The familiar sweet scent enveloped her nostrils, and the softness against her back prevented Lola from moving immediately upon waking. Instead, she maintained her position, pondering the difficult points of her previous magical artifact research.

She planned to directly ask Samuel about those particularly challenging aspects once Samuel woke up.

‘That witch possesses an immense wealth of knowledge.’

Lola: “…”

‘Wait, Samuel?’

Lola took several more sharp sniffs. This body scent was indeed Samuel’s, and the massive presence behind her was certainly Samuel’s size.

Samuel’s pupils contracted.

Having been accustomed to being used as a body pillow, Samuel hadn’t reacted immediately upon waking.

‘Why is Samuel here!? She’s a witch, isn’t she?’

‘Witches and wizards are prime targets for the Holy See!’

However, unlike the Holy See’s purpose in hunting witches in Theresia’s previous life, if there was one witch or wizard, nine out of ten would be killed.

Similarly, if there were ten witches or wizards, none of them would be unjustly killed.

This was because ‘witch’ and ‘wizard’ were simply the Holy See’s derogatory terms for alchemists.

Just as Promen referred to alchemy as divine art, it was knowledge that existing races should not possess.

Alchemy excessively pursued equivalent exchange, directly extracting results while ignoring the process.

The taboos it provoked and the distorted understanding of equivalent exchange led to numerous horrific events.

The correct sequence for studying alchemy should actually be to first reach the pinnacle of magical achievement, and only then proceed to learn alchemy.

Only by fully understanding the processes and steps of converting magic into other forms of power and elements can one truly grasp the essence of equivalent exchange in alchemy and the price required for its use. This allows one to maintain rationality and objectivity amidst the allure of seemingly omnipotent power, rather than succumbing to insatiable madness.

However, if one has already reached the pinnacle of magic, then most things achievable through alchemy can already be accomplished through magic.

Moreover, magic is far safer than alchemy. Even Samuel, in her exploration of alchemy, suffered greatly, completely abandoning her human body to reside within the vessel she crafted—an outcome Samuel herself did not desire.

Therefore, few are willing to delve deeply into alchemy. Even elves and dragons, whose racial capabilities far surpass humans, treat alchemy with great caution, referring to it as anachronistic power.

To research alchemy without falling into unchangeable madness, one needs to reach the pinnacle of magical achievement.

But if one has already achieved peak magical prowess, then studying alchemy becomes rather superfluous.

Currently, the only eccentric willing to do so is Samuel.

Thus, every remaining witch and wizard is a troublesome individual.

Without sufficient magical foundation, achieving anything significant in alchemy can only be done by sacrificing lives.

Furthermore, the deeper one researches, the more lives are required, and the lives of intelligent beings are more suitable for alchemy than those of beasts.

Once people lacking sufficient magical proficiency begin studying alchemy, it’s akin to drug addiction; they only sink deeper and deeper.

Therefore, the Holy See’s bounty on witches and wizards was one of the few commands that the Aral Empire strongly agreed with.

Returning to the main topic.

Lola carefully curled her body, attempting to slip away without disturbing Samuel.

But as soon as she moved, she felt herself being hugged even tighter.

A lazy voice drifted out.

“Little Lola, where are you going?”

Lola replied, “…Samuel, though you are powerful, do not forget where we are! This is the Holy Light Church’s headquarters. If I simply raise my arm and call, tens of thousands of paladins and nuns will surround you, and the Pope and cardinals will personally apprehend you!”

“However, I, as an elf, am kind-hearted. If you leave obediently, I will let bygones be bygones and not tell anyone you were here. What more could you want?”

Samuel blinked, then revealed a sinister, cold smile. “Go ahead and shout. The louder you scream, the happier I’ll be. Haha, the room has already been prepared by me. Even if you turn this place upside down, they won’t detect any disturbance.”

Seeing Lola’s despairing expression, Samuel burst into laughter. She voluntarily released Lola, then sat cross-legged on the bed, looking utterly heartbroken.

“Little Lola is truly disheartening. In the labyrinth, you called out for your master so desperately, but now that you’re done with me, you’re so distant. I’m going to cry.”

Lola rolled off the bed, looking at Samuel with caution. “If you hadn’t appeared so startlingly, I might have given you a better reception. How did you find your way here?”

“I simply heard you were here, Lola, so I came specifically to see you,” Samuel said sincerely. “It’s truly wonderful that you’re alright, Lola.”

Seeing her expression, Lola’s heart warmed. “Of course I am. Who do you think I am?”

“Of course, you are the great Elf Princess. The day after I brought you home, I recognized your extraordinary talent in magic and alchemy.”

“Not to mention, in just seven short years, you were able to shed all that useless pride, calm your mind, and hone your will, delving into magic and alchemy. Lola, you are truly a prodigy seen only once in a millennium!”

A beautiful blush blossomed on Lola’s face.

“Haha, I’m not as amazing as you make me sound.”

Samuel suddenly lunged forward, grasping Lola’s hands, her eyes shining as she eagerly asked, “Considering how well we know each other, and how much I’ve helped you, how about you cover for me?”

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