“Just woke up…ah…”

The ether that was about to touch her soul and fill it was suddenly yanked away by Ansel. The huge gap made Ravenna let out an uncontrollable gasp.

“Just woke up, really?” Ansel asked.

“…Hydral.” Ravenna gritted her teeth, swallowing back the sound that was about to leak out again, “You want to use this method… to make me submit? Is there something wrong with your brain?”

“Of course I know that you are only limited by your ‘perception’ now, and your true will has never wavered.”

Ansel smiled, his fingertips slowly sliding down, gradually probing into that ‘place’ where he had constructed the most and densest etheric circuits for Ravenna last time.

“But who told you that I was trying to make you submit?”

“!!!”

A huge amount of dense ether, with the instantaneous penetration of multiple etheric circuits, rushed straight into Ravenna’s soul. The feeling of her entire soul being penetrated from all directions almost dissipated her entire will.

The woman whose eyes were frozen in her sockets was looking at herself in the mirror.

Her face was expressionless, her look was extremely cold, but… the puppet’s lower limbs were already trembling uncontrollably without her control.

“Ravenna, I know that doing this cannot bend your will, it will only increase your dislike for me, but I still did it. Why do you think that is? Hmm?”

“Because you are such… an evil devil!”

Ravenna, who could hardly control her body, squeezed out a low growl from her throat, devoid of any embarrassment, just pure anger.

Just as Ansel said, in this ambiguous repair work, Ravenna did not submit at all, nor was she like some stupid dog gradually twisted by her mood. Her faith was as always, without the slightest wavering.

But this unwavering faith, this cold and frosty expression on her face, in contrast to the joyful twitching and convulsions of the puppet’s body, was so… delightful.

“No, your answer is incorrect, Ravenna.”

Ansel’s fingertips began to move more swiftly, traversing the densest region of the etheric circuit without fully connecting any of them. One, two, three… dozens of short-distance etheric circuits were shallowly connected by Ansel, tormenting Ravenna’s soul, which now craved ether after suffering consecutive injuries.

“I am merely reminding you of something,”

“That is, you are not as purely rational as you believe.”

The young Hydral laughed, “This, I only realized after acknowledging my own mistakes.”

“Because I am certain that if anyone else were in my place now, you would rather choose to end your life than accept this humiliation.”

“You are somewhat… overly narcissistic, Hydral.”

Ravenna squeezed these words through gritted teeth.

“Before I witness everything I desire, I will not give up my life.”

“Why were you deceiving yourself just now?”

Ansel chuckled delightfully, “Why deceive yourself, claiming you haven’t awakened when you merely need to boldly open your eyes and gaze indifferently at me in the mirror, allowing me to do as I please, regardless of what you feel, because once I tire of this, everything will end, won’t it?”

“But why… didn’t you behave that way?”

“…”

In an instant, the ether concentrated at Ansel’s fingertips burst apart, and all the etheric circuits he had sketched but not fully connected were instantly connected!

As this unparalleled impact washed over Ravenna’s soul, Ansel’s words echoed in her ears:

“Because I am your special, unique… friend.”

“Venna.”

Now, it was not just her lower limbs; the entire body of the puppet, except for its head, began to tremble violently.

And the face in the mirror still stubbornly maintained its final bottom line, its final coldness, but it seemed… even more unbearable.

It was as if, no matter how indifferent Ravenna appeared, her body betrayed her weakness with brutal honesty.

It could only be said that it was not Ravenna’s fault; the weakening of her soul, the damage to the puppet, and this bizarre experience were all beyond her ability to withstand.

Moreover… there were Ansel’s words.

The puppet’s human-like functions had begun to operate; amidst the violent convulsions and trembling, a crystal-clear strand of saliva overflowed from the corner of Ravenna’s mouth. Her lips parted slightly, and the unwavering coldness and hatred in her voice contrasted sharply with her body’s pitiful defeat.

“I… have no friends, Hydral,” she said, struggling with each word.

“Perhaps, Ravenna,” Ansel smiled, “but in that case, I have no friends either.”

He withdrew his hand, the etheric circuit repair work nearly complete, and the puppet collapsed entirely into Ansel’s arms, its head drooping to one side, as if its skeleton had been removed.

“I just wanted to tell you this, Ravenna.”

Ansel gently wiped away the unsightly liquid from the puppet in his arms, “Although you despise me, and although I no longer need you, we can still be friends.”

“No… this is just… your delusion of taming me, Hydral.”

Ravenna remained steadfast in her belief that everything Ansel did was to subdue her will.

“Being friends with you, huh… even though you all try to manipulate my fate, why would I choose you?” frёeωebɳovel.com

Ravenna struggled to climb out of Ansel’s embrace, only to stumble and fall to the ground, looking utterly pitiful.

But even so, she still shakily propped herself up, her cold, rational gaze unwavering:

“If I must have a friend, I would rather choose the mysterious person who, at the very least, stands by my side and has always been working for me.”

Ansel simply laughed and spread his hands, “As a friend, I respect your choice. Oh, by the way, do you remember this place? Our secret base, where I brought you to keep your secret safe from Evora’s punishment.”

“Here, there is no ‘us,’ Hydral.”

Ravenna dragged her slowly recovering body step by step toward the room’s exit:

“Only a person who doesn’t need friends and a despicable schemer.”

She never looked back, not even once at Ansel.

But even so, even with the hatred in her heart and the resentment from three years ago reaching its peak…

Ravenna Ziegler did not deny one thing—

She did not deny that, to her, Ansel was the most special person.

*