Seemingly startled by the malevolent aura, Eileen finally came to her senses. Her face turned deathly pale. She seemed to want to say something, but dared not speak. She could only stand there stiffly, looking at the person helplessly.
Do I need to say it again?
"I understand, I'll leave right away."
Eileen snapped out of her daze, afraid of upsetting the man, and dared not linger. She hurriedly left, even as she stumbled and nearly fell, without daring to look back. It seemed she wasn't facing someone she liked, but rather...
High above, she can trample on her gods at will.
Upon seeing this scene, Ruan Qing'an was startled. She only knew that there must be someone behind Eileen, and that person must be a mission taker, but she did not expect that their way of getting along would be so twisted.
037 couldn't help but say: [Judging from the female lead's tone just now, it sounded like she was being affectionate with her lover, but how could this be...]
It was so humble it was almost like being a masochist.
Ruan Qingan's heart sank: "Suppression, control, PUA... the methods used by this mission taker are quite modern."
After Eileen left, the atmosphere became deathly silent. Ruan Qing'an also kept his eyes half-closed, not intending to pay attention to the person in front of him. However, he squatted down again, his eyes, hidden under his cloak, staring straight at her.
Seeing the purplish-blue marks on Ruan Qing'an's fair neck where Eileen had pinched her, the man reached out to touch them: "Are you alright?"
"...No need to worry about it."
Ruan Qing'an turned his head away and gave a cold reply.
Sensing Ruan Qing'an's resistance, the man laughed, seemingly unconcerned: "It's alright, we have plenty of time."
"Dolores, to everyone else, you are already dead, including the Lancaster family. They all know you are dead, so to them you are already a dead person."
Do you know what this means?
The man paused: "It means that everything you had before is now worthless. After being isolated from the elements, a mage's body is even weaker than an ordinary person's. Your magical talent, your family background, your power, your wealth... Dolores, you have nothing left."
"As for the Lancaster family, once they hear of your death, they will begin preparing for your funeral and the family's various businesses. You can rest assured, I think your representative will handle it for you."
"You have nothing left, and you don't need to worry about anything anymore."
Hearing this, Ruan Qing'an merely twitched the corner of his lips, seemingly unconcerned: "Is that so? So, what do you want to say, Your Excellency?"
Her drawn-out tone sounded particularly sarcastic.
Seemingly because they had hit a wall, the atmosphere became tense, and the person fell silent for a moment before laughing out loud: "It's nothing."
"I won't let Eileen touch you."
"Actually, Dolores, I've always liked you. You're different from Eileen, really different. She's like a pathetic worm crawling in the mud. No matter how high she climbs, she can't change the disgusting stains on her body."
Do you know why I made you fake your death?
"Do you know why, that time in the courtyard, I only allowed them to use forbidden techniques, but didn't harm your life?"
The man spoke in a low voice, leaning down to look at Ruan Qing'an.
Because of the cloak and the mysterious black power, Ruan Qing'an couldn't see the man's appearance clearly. He could only feel the man's lingering gaze on him, as if he was yearning for and coveting something.
Ruan Qing'an couldn't help but frown, but unexpectedly, she seemed to make eye contact with this person. Although she couldn't see his face clearly, she could feel his gaze.
The man continued, "Dolores, it's because I've indulged you time and time again. Although you don't understand my good intentions, it's okay. You'll understand in the future. Compared to Eileen, you are more important to me, and I like you more."
After speaking, the man stood up on his own, and just as he was about to leave, Ruan Qing'an suddenly spoke up behind him—
Is there any point in hiding it?
"Is it interesting to be like a rat in the shadows?"
Ruan Qing'an asked twice in a row, and then raised her head slightly. Even though she was lying on the ground with marks on her wrists from the rope, making her look particularly disheveled, the arrogance between her brows did not diminish in the slightest.
Her arrogance and nobility seemed to be innate.
Ruan Qing'an raised his eyes, his leaden gray eyes fixed on the person, and then spoke slowly and deliberately: "Why don't you take off your cloak and look at me with your true face? Are you afraid?"
"—Luc, Cas, S."
Upon hearing the name, the person remained silent, only smiling: "Dolores, you've mistaken me for someone else. Don't be so absurd."
Don't you even have the courage to answer me?
As Ruan Qing'an spoke, the smile on his lips grew even more sarcastic: "Did I teach you this? Lucas, after being the spokesperson for the Lancaster family for so long, don't you even have the courage to admit it?"
"Or do you think I'm just bluffing you?"
There was not a trace of hesitation or doubt in Nguyen Thanh An's tone; this was not a question, but a fact that had already been confirmed.
Upon hearing this, the man finally fell silent and stopped speaking.
In the tense atmosphere, he finally removed his cloak. After the eerie black power covering his body dissipated, a figure gradually appeared, just as Ruan Qing'an had said—it was Lucas.
For a moment, even 037 was stunned.
[Ancestors, this... how could this be him?!]
Ruan Qingan did not answer, but just stared coldly at Lucas.
The two stared at each other, clearly only a short distance apart, yet because of the betrayal, it seemed as if there was an insurmountable chasm between them, inspiring fear in those who looked at them.
Lucas finally stopped smiling and just looked at her.
"How did you find out...?"
"You hid it very well, but I never believed you."
Ruan Qingan said softly, "Magicians are indeed physically weak, but very few are as weak as I am."
"Is it because of the Fire Spirit Fruit you prepare for me every morning?"
"..."
The only response to Nguyen Thanh An was a deathly silence.
She continued, "My decision to go to the slave market was made on short notice the next day. How could Eileen have happened to be there at such a convenient time? As a saint of the Church of Light, why would she go there?"
"Why did you disappear during the magicians' exchange meeting? Did you really go looking for something? Of course not. The forbidden spell that Eileen and the others used, you'll probably be the one cleaning up the mess in the end, right?"
“You don’t intend for me to die from forbidden magic, so in the plan you will take me away after I’ve lost my usefulness, just like now.”
Ignoring Lucas's increasingly grim expression, Ruan Qing'an said nonchalantly, "And the token that appeared in Eileen's hand, it's yours, isn't it, Lucas? You gave it to her to prevent any uncontrollable situations from arising, so that Eileen could persuade the Lancaster family to back down."
“Eileen is here because I asked you to prepare a ship to the Xisha Empire. The so-called thing you found was also given to me on purpose, because it is closely related to Aldrich’s situation.”
As Ruan Qing'an slowly and methodically recounted all the unusual events, Lucas finally reacted, slowly raising his head to look at her.
"Since you knew, why did you fall for the trap?"
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