Chapter 23: It was me!

Colin sat on the sofa in the manor, waiting anxiously for Liyami’s return.

He kept glancing at the clock and then towards the main door, clearly worried and uneasy.

Seeing this, Sifney couldn’t help but speak up.

“There’s no need to be so worried. That girl’s escape skills are top-notch. If anything really happened, she’d have run off without a problem. Besides, she has the Teleportation Scroll I gave her, the Sanctum Knight Insignia you gave her, and she’s got some backup tricks of her own. She’ll be fine.”

At her words, Colin’s restless movements slowed, but deep down he still hadn’t completely relaxed.

“I get what you mean. It’s unlikely anything bad happened to her. But you know what they say—hope for the best, prepare for the worst. I can’t help feeling uneasy.”

After saying that, Colin glanced again toward the front door.

Seeing his anxiety, Sifney could only sigh and say, “Alright, if she doesn’t come back before midnight, we’ll go looking for her immediately. Is that okay?”

Colin nodded in agreement, unable to argue further.

Just as Colin and Sifney fell back into a tense silence, the manor’s front door opened.

Colin quickly looked toward the entrance but was caught off guard by the scene before him.

It was indeed Liyami, but instead of looking like a stealthy assassin, her hands were full of skewered barbecue, and she even had one dangling from her mouth—more like a cute little glutton than a shadowy killer.

Liyami entered the manor and froze for a moment when she saw the two on the sofa, then snapped back to reality and muttered some garbled words.

“BA…………..”

Sifney twitched at the corner of her mouth and raised a finger toward Liyami’s face.

“Can’t you finish eating first before you talk?”

Colin finally relaxed, his tone light as he said, “Looks like I was worrying for nothing.”

Liyami quickly finished the skewer in her mouth and, with some difficulty, pulled the stick out with one finger.

Only then did she ask Colin and Sifney, “Uh, why are you guys here? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t be back until two or three in the morning?”

Sifney pointed at Colin.

“Because someone was way too worried about you, we rushed back faster than planned.”

She paused, casting a slightly resentful look at Liyami’s gently rounded belly.

“But I didn’t expect that, instead of getting into trouble, you’d sneak off and eat all this midnight snack behind our backs. I haven’t even had dinner yet!”

Hearing Sifney’s plaintive tone, Liyami felt a little embarrassed.

She thought for a moment, then offered the skewers in her hand to Sifney.

“Want some? I’m already full.”

Sifney glanced at the skewers—looking somewhat unhygienic—and shook her head, pushing Liyami’s hand away.

“No thanks. These look a bit unsanitary. I’ll just eat some bread later.”

“Oh…”

Liyami felt a bit disappointed hearing that her barbecue was deemed unhygienic.

Noticing the change in Liyami’s expression, Colin reached out and took one of the skewers from her hand.

“Since Sifney won’t eat it, I’ll have it. I’m a bit hungry anyway.”

Colin took a bite, chewed thoughtfully, then swallowed.

“Hm, this tastes pretty good. Where did you get it? I want to buy some next time.”

Seeing Colin praise the barbecue she brought back, Liyami couldn’t help but smile slightly.

“Then next time we’ll go eat together.”

Colin smiled and nodded, promising for next time.

Sifney caught this exchange keenly.

“Next time, take me with you too.”

Colin raised an eyebrow, looking at Sifney in confusion.

“But didn’t you just say these are unhygienic?”

Sifney froze, not expecting her words to boomerang back on her like that.

She could only put on a brave face and say, “Well…yeah, I did say they weren’t very sanitary. But since Colin says they taste good, I want to try some too.”

“Then you can eat now. I still have some.”

Liyami held out another skewer toward Sifney.

Seeing this, Sifney reluctantly took the skewer and muttered, “…Yeah, you’re right. But next time, you have to take me with you!”

With that, Sifney took a bite of the barbecue.

Her eyes brightened slightly.

“Hm! Didn’t expect it to be so tasty!”

Seeing Sifney eating, Liyami proudly puffed out her chest.

“Told you! Next time I’ll take you both to eat!”

Then Liyami looked around.

“By the way, where’s Lavineia? Has she come back yet? Or is she already asleep?”

Sifney was taken aback for a moment.

“Lavineia? She’s not back yet? Didn’t she just go out to buy some local specialties?”

Colin frowned and began to activate his magic, sensing everything inside the manor.

But aside from the three of them, he couldn’t detect any other life force.

“She’s not here. Where did she go?”

Colin’s serious tone made Liyami and Sifney nervous as well.

Just as the three of them were about to get up and look for Lavineia, the manor door opened again.

“Sigh, why does trouble always happen when I’m off duty?”

Lavineia muttered as she walked in, only to find all three staring at her.

“What’s up? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Colin relaxed and picked up the barbecue again, speaking to Lavineia, “Nothing, we just thought something happened to you.”

“Something happen? Me? Ha! Like I’d get into trouble.”

Lavineia paused, then added, “But there was some trouble in the city today.”

At her words, Liyami’s hand holding the barbecue froze, a bad feeling creeping in.

Colin asked curiously, “Oh? What happened?”

Lavineia’s face fell, and she spoke as if deflated.

“Sigh, I don’t really know what went on. There was a big fight between a bunch of men over a woman—several times even. The city guards got involved too. The fight eventually ended, but the woman disappeared. The City Guard searched for her for a long time but couldn’t find anything. I happened to be nearby and went to help, but so far all I know is that she’s very beautiful. No other clues.”

“Oh, such a strange incident?”

Colin said in surprise.

He hadn’t been gone long, and already something like this had happened in the city.

He then grew serious.

“What did the witnesses say? Any signs of magic? What about the danger level?”

Lavineia answered wearily, “The male witnesses only said the target was a beautiful woman. Female witnesses didn’t really know what happened. There were signs of magic, though. It looked like Presence Reduction and Shadow Step-type shadow magic. Probably a wild assassin.”

At the third point, Lavineia showed a puzzled expression.

“But the strange thing is, the danger level was very low. The woman just caused a few disturbances and ran off. And I still don’t know how she made all those men fight. It can’t really be just because she’s beautiful, right?”

Colin frowned deeply, thinking it over.

“This incident is unusual…” Sifney sighed.

At that moment, Liyami slowly raised her hand.

“Um, actually, I mean…it was me!”