Walking through the bustling streets, Liamy reflected on those strange behaviors and thoughts from before. She wasn’t sure when exactly, but by now she had come to accept those thoughts as normal.
It seemed the effect of that magic circle was truly terrifying. In just half a month, it had transformed a grown man into what she was now.
Liamy gave herself a bitter laugh inside. She was beginning to feel that maintaining the status quo was the better choice. The desire to revert was fading day by day. Especially after seeing Colin, strange thoughts kept surfacing.
This couldn’t go on! At this rate, she really would become a woman! Liamy tried to reclaim the male part of her heart, but no matter how hard she tried to recall, she kept thinking of Colin and recent events.
“Sigh…” Liamy let out a soft sigh and decided to stop dwelling on these things. After all, no matter how much she thought, it wouldn’t change the current situation.
Sure enough, she had to find “Iqu,” find a way to turn back!
Liamy tried using this thought to stop herself from thinking about Colin and those unsettling feelings inside.
Feeling somewhat calmer, Liamy lifted her head to look around. She had been lost in thought for a while, walking on autopilot, and wasn’t quite sure where she had ended up.
When she recognized her surroundings, she was somewhat surprised to find herself once again in front of Lane’s house. Perhaps because she had passed by here before to check things out, she had subconsciously come here again.
Liamy looked at the house in front of her. It was now an empty shell, with nothing inside. Although Lane had left, he had only claimed to be out on a trading trip, so officially, the house still belonged to him and naturally had no other residents.
Maybe one day Lane would come back to stay for a night? Liamy amused herself with the naive thought. Lane was a merchant after all—not stupid enough to come back personally. If he still needed the house, he would have someone sell it on his behalf. There was no way he would come here himself.
Shaking her head, Liamy dismissed these fantasies and prepared to leave, intending to find a barbecue stand or a food stall to eat her fill, soothing her troubled soul.
But just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard noises coming from inside the house!
Liamy immediately stopped and carefully pricked up her ears. After confirming it wasn’t her imagination but real sounds coming from within, she instantly used “Shadowstep” to sneak inside.
Once inside, Liamy finally saw again the merchant who had been used as a shield by “The Furnace Hook”—Lane!
He was still the same round, sly-looking merchant. However, this time he wasn’t smiling; instead, he looked quite angry.
He seemed to be scolding someone. Liamy shifted her position and saw who Lane was berating: a beautiful silver-haired woman who looked young, probably barely in her early twenties.
At this moment, she was tearfully accepting Lane’s scolding, lowering her head and apologizing softly.
From Lane’s words, it was clear they had a master-guard relationship. This woman served as Lane’s guard but kept causing trouble, driving Lane to finally lose patience and list her faults.
Watching from the side, Liamy was reluctant to listen further. Their conversation contained no useful information.
She quietly wrapped the entire room in shadows, sealing any escape routes.
Then, in an instant, she used shadows to bind the two, who were still confused about the situation.
Once she was certain they were securely tied and unable to break free, Liamy stepped out from the shadows.
“Finally caught you, Lane. Now, I have some questions. I wonder if you’re capable of answering them?”
Liamy smiled as she looked at him and found a chair to sit on.
Lane’s face was ashen as he stared at her. He knew that being caught meant there was no turning back. From now on, all he could do was hope that after questioning, she would show mercy.
But before Liamy could ask anything, a clear voice interrupted.
“Ah! Y-you’re! Lilith! You remember me? I’m Rant!”
The silver-haired woman, still bound in Liamy’s shadows, suddenly spoke. She looked excited as she stared at Liamy, clearly familiar with her.
Liamy was puzzled. She didn’t remember knowing this woman, nor was her name Lilith. That must be a fake name she’d picked at random. So why did this woman know it?
And who was Rant? The name sounded familiar, but she couldn’t recall who exactly. Then Lane, standing nearby, also looked surprised and said, “You—you’re the mercenary who came with Rant before?!”
That’s when Liamy remembered who Rant was—the person who had introduced her to “The Furnace Hook”!
But if Liamy recalled correctly, Rant should be a man. So how was this silver-haired woman before her?
Looking closely at the woman who claimed to be Rant, Liamy’s confusion deepened into astonishment. This woman looked strikingly like Rant—a female version of him!
Moreover, Liamy felt a reaction from the silver marking on her lower abdomen. This person had indeed been marked by her charm magic, which meant this was truly Rant!
Until now, Liamy had thought Rant had turned into a little demon during that assassination attempt by Gavasa and died somewhere unknown. She hadn’t expected him to still be alive!
At that moment, Liamy suddenly thought of the magical item that vanished during “The Furnace Hook” incident. Could it have been taken by Rant?!
Things began to make sense. From the current situation, Rant had survived the chaos at “The Furnace Hook,” taken a magic item from there, and fled Kit City together with Lane.
But why had they returned? And why had Rant transformed into a beautiful woman?! What had they gone through?
Why had she become like this? Had she also encountered Alec’s magic circle?
Liamy’s emotions stirred, hoping she could glean some clue about whether she could turn back from these two.
Without delay, Liamy began questioning Rant and Lane about what had happened.
Rant was about to speak when Liamy interrupted her. Liamy demanded she explain what happened after leaving “The Furnace Hook” mansion.
Rant was reluctant at first but after a glare from Lane, she had no choice but to tell the story unwillingly.