Chapter 68: A New Path Emerges

‘Cough, cough…’ Lovelenica coughed twice, slowly pushing herself up from the floor, using the table corner for support. Her head throbbed, feeling heavy and muddled. The crystal ball on the table had dimmed, its light faded, indicating that Liliana had already severed the connection. Leaving her. She hadn’t even waited for Lovelenica to awaken. There was no telling when she had broken the link.

Lovelenica glanced at the wall clock in the room. Three hours had passed since Liliana had summoned her, meaning she had been unconscious for at least two hours.

Her nightgown was completely soaked with cold sweat. All Lovelenica wanted was to change her clothes quickly and then lie back down in bed for a proper rest.

However, as Lovelenica stood up, she discovered something far more alarming.

“This feels terrible…” she murmured weakly. “No, my power… how could it be gone?”

Lovelenica quickly tried to sense the magical energy within her. While her human abilities remained unchanged, the portion of her power belonging to the Bloodkin had significantly diminished.

Originally, after consuming the blood bags stolen from the orphanage and devouring Rachel, her Bloodkin strength had reached the mid-tier of the Profane rank. Now, however, it had plummeted back to the Impure rank, mirroring her power level before she had ever consumed blood.

Lovelenica instantly understood. Liliana’s torment hadn’t been, as she claimed, merely for pleasure or to revel in Lovelenica’s suffering. Its true purpose was to restrict her power.

From Liliana’s previous reactions, Lovelenica could already draw a general conclusion.

Liliana couldn’t completely monitor her every move, but she could perceive changes in Lovelenica’s power to some extent. Furthermore, she seemed deeply wary of any increase in Lovelenica’s strength, so much so that she had eagerly sought to weaken her the moment she returned.

It appeared the original novel’s lore held true: Lovelenica’s genuine power surpassed Liliana’s, but her original power had been banished for some unknown reason.

The strength Lovelenica had absorbed from Rachel was merely a byproduct of her overflowing original power. As such, it offered little augmentation and remained susceptible to Liliana’s weakening influence.

Though the current situation remained grim, this recent struggle with Liliana had provided Lovelenica with some crucial insights.

Before this incident, the only way Lovelenica could conceive of defeating Liliana was to use Lucia to kill her.

However, after sensing her own original power, a new path forward seemed to open before her.

That path was to reclaim her original power and use that strength to confront Liliana.

If she could recover this power, she wouldn’t need to risk exposure by having Lucia face Liliana directly.

Indeed, sending Lucia against Liliana was an exceedingly perilous endeavor. If Liliana discovered Lovelenica’s machinations, she might very well expose Lovelenica’s true identity in front of Lucia. Should her identity be revealed, Lucia might stab her to death first, turning the entire plan into a self-destructive act.

Collecting her original power, however, was a far more clandestine affair. Since these powers could be harnessed to create incomplete Bloodkin, it logically followed that they must be some form of substance or energy.

Even if she gathered these original powers, she could choose not to absorb them immediately. Instead, she could wait until all of them were collected before absorbing them at once. By then, Liliana would be utterly unable to react, left with no means to counteract her. Not even Lucia would pose a threat.

Considering this, she might also need to subtly suppress Lucia’s cultivation speed, preventing her from advancing too rapidly, lest she become a future threat.

In short, a new, albeit vague, plan had begun to form in Lovelenica’s mind. Covertly gathering power might prove more reliable than cultivating Lucia, though Lucia would still serve as a viable contingency.

Her next step would be to await the Church’s investigation results and then continue her own inquiries, following Rachel’s clues.

“Sigh… it’s a long road ahead,” Lovelenica sighed, a weight settling upon her.

She didn’t know if her power could truly overcome Liliana’s, as her memories before arriving in the Arcadia Kingdom remained exceedingly hazy. Yet, with even a glimmer of hope, Lovelenica was willing to try.

For now, however, a proper rest was in order.

Lovelenica shed her sweat-drenched nightgown, revealing a black lace brassiere beneath. Barefoot, she walked into the bathroom, inadvertently catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror as she passed.

It would have been better if she hadn’t looked, for that single glance compelled Lovelenica to stop before the mirror.

“So… this body is actually quite well-developed, isn’t it?” she mused.

Gazing at her voluptuous reflection, Lovelenica couldn’t help but marvel.

Her physical age as a human was over thirty, and as Elena had mentioned, her skin texture indeed made her appear like a young woman in her early twenties. However, her body’s development was undeniably that of a mature woman.

She was over 1.7 meters tall, with a slender yet curvaceous figure. Her waist was narrow, her legs long, and her bust and hips were pronounced. The towering peaks of her chest, gathered by her bra, even created a long, alluring cleavage.

Upon first transmigrating, she had been too preoccupied with myriad tasks to pay much attention. It wasn’t until her battle with Rachel a few days prior that Lovelenica had sensed something amiss.

She realized that if she fought with her full strength, the two ‘fruits’ on her chest would actually jiggle, somewhat impeding her movements.

Meeting her own gaze in the mirror, Lovelenica found herself flushing, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.

‘Never mind, I shouldn’t stare,’ she thought, shaking her head.

She walked past the mirror. Perhaps it was her imagination, but her brassiere felt a little tight. It seemed it was time to remeasure her size; otherwise, it wouldn’t just affect her daily life, but might also hinder her in crucial moments of combat.

After a quick shower, washing away all the sweat from her body, Lovelenica changed into a fresh nightgown. She then lay back down on her bed and gradually drifted off to sleep.