sequelae
It was Tiff who spoke first: "Princess Mira, where are you going?"
She looked at Mira with a meaningful gaze. "I remember this place was sealed off. How did you get in?"
Mira smiled slightly, avoiding the question, "I was worried about you, Your Grace."
"Worried about me?"
"Yes, halfway through the cultural exchange event, I discovered that His Excellency the Duke had gone missing. I informed the guards, and they searched for a long time outside the forest but couldn't find you."
“So you came in, what a coincidence, you showed up so soon.” Mira looked Tiffany up and down. “But… Your Grace, you…” She paused, glancing at the bloodstains under Tiffany’s dress, and raised an eyebrow. “You look like you’ve been kidnapped?”
"I didn't get enough of the last hunt, and now that I see Simonton Forest, I can't help but want to go in and kill a couple of magical beasts," Tiff said succinctly.
“Hmm…” Mira nodded, as if she believed it.
The two walked outside together.
Before seeing Mira, Tiff only suspected that Mira was interested in the Heart of Hess, but the moment she saw Mira in the forest, she was certain that she had come for the Heart of Hess.
Unfortunately, she made a wasted trip; the Heart of Hess was already hers.
"Duke!" Lisa and Dope, who were waiting nearby, immediately ran over as Tiff emerged from the forest.
Seeing Tiff's expression, Lisa opened her mouth as if to say something, but seeing Mira beside her, she immediately swallowed her words.
"Are you alright? Were you hurt by the 'monster'?"
Tiff shook her head at her, "It's nothing serious."
The guards breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Tiffany emerge from the forest. When it came to these risky large-scale events, their biggest fear was that something might happen to the important person.
Fortunately, Duke Stryker only appeared to be in a sorry state; in reality, he was not seriously injured.
The Duke of Ferrand, too, deliberately chose Simonton as the venue for cultural exchange; he was just asking for trouble.
Mira watched Tiffany's retreating figure as she boarded the carriage, a hint of doubt flashing in her eyes. She had a keen sense of smell since childhood, and the smell of blood on Tiffany was simply too strong.
This blood isn't from monsters; it must be from humans.
Did she kill someone, or was it her own blood?
Mira immediately dismissed the idea. How could that be? The smell of blood was too strong. If it really was her own blood, she would have died long ago.
"Princess, it's time to get in the carriage," said the attendant beside her.
Mira glanced back into Simonton Forest; it seemed she would have to wait until tomorrow to come back.
Then she thought that since she was now living in the Duke's mansion, Tiff would definitely send someone to follow her. It seemed that she would have to find someone to impersonate her.
——————
Hicks rushed back to the Magic Tower after killing Tiff.
All he could see in his mind was the image of Tiffany staring at him with wide eyes, and the look of pain on her face when he pulled out her heart.
He hesitated for a moment when he saw that expression on her face.
Do people have souls after they die? He felt that Tiffany was haunting him, otherwise he wouldn't have felt relieved after killing her, but rather had an indescribable feeling.
He then realized how ridiculous his idea was. He pulled a cigarette out of the drawer, was about to light it, hesitated, and put it back.
He doesn't smoke much; the last time he smoked was right after his rebirth.
He felt it was too unreal that Tiff had been killed so easily.
He's been good enough to Tiffany.
In his previous life, Tiffany killed him without leaving a complete body. In this life, he not only left her a complete body but also lured her to the deepest part of the forest. Tiffany's servants found her body and buried her.
"Tower Master!" The pink-haired boy ran in. The Tower Master had been having him keep an eye on Tiffany, and now he could finally talk to the Tower Master about Tiffany.
When Hicks saw it was him, he knew immediately that he would have to tell him about Tiffany's death.
"When Duke Strych emerged from the forest, he was covered in blood, as if he had been chased by someone. I suspect it was the work of that organization."
Hicks was momentarily stunned when she heard Bill say that. "She's not dead?"
Bill scratched his head. "No."
Look, the tower master hates Tiffany to the core and has been thinking about killing her.
“Tell me all the details.” Hicks narrowed his eyes.
"...She eventually came out with Princess Mira." Bill said simply, along with Tiffany's perfunctory explanation to the outside world.
“Tiff…”
I chose to remove her heart to prevent her from doing anything else, so how could she possibly...?
Thinking of this, a word popped into Hicks's mind.
Substitution technique.
Hicks lowered his head and chuckled softly. Sure enough, he had gone too far. He should have made her soul disappear, leaving her no chance to be reborn.
But as he thought this, his eyes welled up with tears.
——————
On her way back to the Duke's mansion from Simonton, her heart ached two or three times. The stray hairs on her forehead were soaked with sweat and clung tightly to her skin, and her lips were slightly pale.
She planned to ask Margaret after she returned to her room and finished studying the Heart of Hess.
But the moment she stepped off the carriage, her heart clenched with pain, her ears rang, and a metallic taste of blood rose in her throat.
"Pfft..." She swayed and was about to fall when, out of the corner of her eye, a strand of red hair brushed past her and she was caught.
She couldn't see the person's face clearly, and tugged at her clothes, saying haltingly, "Find... Margaret... the substitution spell..."
After saying that, she seemed to have exhausted herself and fainted.
"Find Margaret," Dope said, picking up Tiff and speaking to Lisa, who was a little too far away to hear.
Dope and Lisa knew that Tiffany had some dealings with Margaret, the witch who ran an alchemy shop, but they had no idea what those dealings were.
They could only go to the nearest alchemy shop first, not knowing if Margaret was there.
Margaret propped her legs up on the counter and calculated that Tiff should have obtained the Heart of Hess by now.
So, her return is not far off.
At most one or two years.
The shop door was pushed open, and in came the maid who was with Tiffany, followed by a red-haired woman who was holding Tiffany in her arms.
Tiff's breath was weak.
"No way!" Margaret's eyes widened. She was hurt like this by the Heart of Hess.
She rushed over, "This is..."
Before she could finish speaking, Dope immediately told her what Tiff had said.
"Substitution!" Margaret exclaimed in disbelief. "What was replaced?"
Dopelisa shook her head. "The Duke didn't say."
"Bring her in." Margaret turned and opened the door next to the counter, waving her finger to pause the shop's operation; the door remained locked.
Dope put her on the bed, and Margaret, seeing that Tiff was lying comfortably, quickly checked what had been changed.
After seeing the body part that had been replaced, she gasped in shock. Where did she learn this substitution technique? Didn't she know the consequences were serious? And who on earth had ripped out her heart?
After she finished treating Tiff, she fed her another pill.
Before Tiff could even see where she was when she opened her eyes, she heard the people next to her talking.
She turned her head and met Margaret's expressionless face.
Margaret began, "Good news or bad news, which do you want to hear first?"
Tiff didn't speak, and Margaret continued to mutter to herself, "The bad news is that the treatment will cost one hundred million gold coins."
"The good news is that you no longer have to pretend to be weak."
"Your body has suffered from the aftereffects of the replacement surgery."
"Because of the substitution technique?"
Margaret glanced at her. "It seems you really don't know that the Replacement spell can't completely replace damage; it can only absorb fifty percent of it."
"You're really bold to use a substitution technique like this."
Tiffany lowered her eyes and muttered to herself, "Can't the damage be completely replaced...?"
"Your heart has been forcibly ripped out; do you still expect it to shield you from all the harm?"
“So where exactly did you learn this kind of thing?” Margaret stood up and scrutinized Tiffany.
"Cultivating a Dark God in Eighteen Days"
"What!" Margaret exclaimed in disbelief.
When Margaret asked a question, Tiffany thought she hadn't heard her clearly and repeated herself.
“You…” Margaret hesitated, “Why would you read a book like this?”
"I originally thought this was just an ordinary novel, but I didn't expect it to include tutorials on various magical techniques."
"No, why would you be interested in novels like this?"
“Why can’t I?” Tiff asked her in return.
Margaret was only now realizing that Tiffany also enjoyed reading novels, and she could hardly believe it.
Tiff seemed unwilling to elaborate and changed the subject, "Will the aftereffects be that my heart will hurt from time to time in the future?"
"Yes, your lifespan may be shortened as a result."
“…” Tiffany fell silent.
"Will I live to be thirty?" she suddenly looked up and asked.
"Of course you can, what are you thinking? Your lifespan will probably be shortened by seven to ten years, but you'll definitely be able to live to thirty."
Seeing that Tiffany was lost in thought again, Margaret immediately woke her up.
"Give me the treatment fee right away. This is a small business and we do not support credit."
"Hmph." Tiffany scoffed. "The last thing I lack is money. Go to the Duke's mansion and get it."
After saying that, Tiffany lifted the blanket, walked to the door, opened the door, and sure enough, Dope and Lisa were waiting by the door.
Margaret watched Tiffany's departing figure and thought of the book title Tiffany had mentioned.
“A dark god…” Margaret murmured, sitting on the bed, “To raise… a dark god…”
"Was this written by his followers, or is it a way out he left for himself?"
Margaret was eager to know the contents of the book and its author, but she couldn't ask Tiffany rashly, for fear that Tiffany would find out.
——————
Tiff had no idea how many times she had failed to use Hess's Heart.
She leaned back on the sofa and closed her eyes to rest.
Could it really be that Hicks' blood is needed to activate this? She hadn't originally intended to harm Hicks, thinking of maintaining the relationship between the Empire and the Magic Tower for so many years.
Since Hicks was constantly opposing her, and it seemed that the Heart of Hess really needed his blood to activate, it appeared that she really had to kill him.
Margaret didn't know that what was needed to resurrect a person was the Heart of Hess, and of course, the Heart of Hess had to be "awakened," and the method of awakening it was a person's blood.
Having transmigrated from the modern world into the book, she naturally knew whose blood was needed.
Not only does Margaret need the Heart of Hess, but she does too.
Once she awakens the Heart of Hess, she will revive all the elves, in other words, bring them back to life.
Three thousand years ago, everyone began to learn magic and had their own guardian spirit, which was an elf.
She wants to awaken all the elves, control them, and then unintentionally let people discover the elves, making them their guardian spirits. Guardian spirits will be found from the empire to other countries, including the heirs of other countries. Everyone who learns magic will have their own guardian spirit.
Then we'll control the sprites to attack their masters.
Tiffany admitted that such methods were truly vicious.
It was too bad for both humans and elves.
However, this method consumes the least amount of the country's financial and human resources.
This method requires time the most, as people are always wary of new things.
So this was just a last resort for her.
Under normal circumstances, she would send troops directly.
She walked to the mirror and tilted her head slightly. There was a mole on her right temple, which appeared after the Heart of Hess entered her body.
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