As soon as he stepped into the dream, Li Qiuchen woke up on a huge bed.
The sensation around him was incredibly real, but the drowsiness had vanished, as if he’d woken from a peaceful sleep deep in the forest.
This eerie sense of reality reminded him of the words Grubb, the goblin mage, had written on the Fool’s Food scroll—
“The world of dreams may lie on the other side of the earth. Here we sleep, and there we awaken.”
This was no longer a battlefield ravaged by war, but the tranquil depths of the Moonshadow Forest.
Ancient trees soared overhead, vines hung down, and the air was filled with a soothing fragrance of grass and wood.
He was lying comfortably on a vine-woven bed inside a massive treehouse, and Hestia lay beside him.
“Hestia?!”
Right.
He had used Hestia’s power, so the rule was—whoever’s power you used, you had to sleep with them…
No, wait!
You had to be harassed by them!
The girl’s two pale, beautiful legs casually hugged the blanket, draped over his own.
Her short dark green hair made her skin look even fairer than snow, and her delicate profile held a hint of playful mischief.
“Husband…, why not sleep a little longer?”
“What did you just call me?”
Li Qiuchen’s voice instinctively carried a hint of sternness.
“Master…”
She softened her voice, with an almost unnoticeable hint of flattery.
“You’ve finally come. See? It’s so quiet here, so comfortable. No roaring lions, no nagging holy light women, just the two of us.”
Li Qiuchen remained highly alert.
He knew all too well the stubbornness and… danger hidden inside this seemingly harmless elven girl.
“Hestia,”
His voice was hoarse, struggling to stay calm.
“Enough with your tricks. What I need is sleep. Real sleep, undisturbed by anyone.”
“That’s why I can sleep with you, too. Come on, Master, let’s go back to sleep.”
Hestia’s eyes glinted with sly mischief.
“Forget it, I’m not sleeping.”
Li Qiuchen avoided Hestia’s legs and sat up, leaning against the headboard.
“I know, I know Master is tired.”
Hestia nodded earnestly, like a fawn trying to please its owner.
“I get it. They went too far. How could they treat you that way?”
“But I can help you! Whatever you need, I can provide! I’ve told you this so many times, but you never believe me, and…”
She offered a steaming cup of floral tea, its fragrance blending perfectly with the scent of the forest.
“This is tea brewed from Moonshadow Flowers deep within the Moonshadow Forest. It soothes your weary soul.”
Then, she produced a plate of Elven Pastry, radiating the aroma of fresh fruit.
“And this! Made from berries grown under the Golden Sacred Tree. Eating it restores your energy! Even in a dream, it can make you feel full of life, free from exhaustion.”
Li Qiuchen forced himself to look away.
No one knows a teacher better than their own student.
Hestia knew exactly how to tempt him.
His throat moved involuntarily, and the intense desire of his body wrestled with his rational mind.
“No need. Your ‘help’ comes at too high a price. I can’t afford it.”
Hestia’s gaze instantly dimmed.
Her long elf ears drooped in dejection.
She looked terribly aggrieved.
“Master… do you really distrust me that much? I just wanted to help… See, I didn’t even ask where you were…”
Her voice wavered with a hint of tears and sorrow.
Anyone unaware of the truth would have been moved to pity.
Li Qiuchen just rolled his eyes.
That trick worked at first, but after she used it too often, the entire Team became immune.
Li Qiuchen finally got a rare chance to breathe, and took the opportunity to ask a question.
“In the three thousand memories you gave me, why was there no ending where I chose you?”
Hestia’s cheeks flushed.
“Because those memories are a little embarrassing… But it’s simple, really. We lived in the forest, we were happy, and there were a lot of children.”
Hestia didn’t notice Li Qiuchen’s shocked expression.
“Actually, I don’t really like children. They’re noisy and always take your attention away from me. And as long as they’re around, you don’t want to be with me… But you love children.”
“You said they’re hope. So I had no choice. We lived in the forest for a long time, and I asked the Sacred Tree to bless us, so we could live together forever…”
Li Qiuchen’s expression was somewhat dazed.
So Hestia really thought choosing her meant a happy ending.
It seemed like everyone believed that.
Belinda spoke of marriage contracts and duty, Reina declared peace and order, and Hestia promised happiness and joy.
Each of them firmly believed that only by choosing her could he find salvation, and choosing anyone else meant falling into the abyss.
“Hestia, how do you feel about those Reincarnation Memories?”
Li Qiuchen asked.
“When approaching Demon King City, you mean? Master?”
Hestia snapped out of her rambling.
Li Qiuchen remembered the sapphire—the sapphire Wright had placed in his hand.
Almost instinctively, he tried to sense it with the pitiful amount of magic left in his body.
He needed a sapphire so badly.
And Hestia and the others?
They needed to believe they were right, and everyone else was wrong.
“Isn’t it possible that all these memories are fake?”
Li Qiuchen said hoarsely.
He knew how unbelievable it sounded, but it was too much of a coincidence.
Three teammates whose memories recovered as they neared Demon King City, while he himself remained oblivious.
It was as if some hand was spinning the wheel of fate.
“It’s normal for you to not understand. But you should know, even the dead Demon King couldn’t implant memories in our minds that didn’t belong to us. You’re just stalling for time, aren’t you?”
Hestia rolled over and lay on top of him, like a small beast intent on securing its prey.
Her emerald eyes brimmed with hunger for her quarry.
“So am I.”
He hadn’t eaten or drunk anything, but he’d overlooked the fragrance of the flowers.
At first, it was just the faint scent of Moonshadow Flower, then a hint of sweet, seductive Roland, and finally the cool sharpness of Dreamgrass.
Multiple floral scents silently intertwined, weaving together and infiltrating like an invisible web, gradually entangling his senses and will.
Li Qiuchen suddenly felt his limbs go weak.
A haze clouded his mind, and his once-clear vision blurred.
He realized something was wrong and tried to break free from the dream.
But his control over his body was rapidly slipping away.
It felt as though he were sinking into cotton—there was nothing there, yet he kept falling.
“You—”
He barely got out a single word before his whole body went numb.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed onto the bed.
Hestia gently arranged him.
By now, the pitiful, aggrieved look on her face had vanished, replaced by a flush of triumphant excitement and love.
“Master, you’re too cautious… but it’s all right. In the end, you’ll still be mine.”
She whispered softly, her voice trembling with excitement.
Li Qiuchen’s mind was clear.
He could “feel” everything happening, and that conscious helplessness filled him with terror.
He felt Hestia’s cool, trembling fingers clumsily but determinedly undo the buttons of his coarse shirt.
The girl didn’t avoid his gaze.
He thought she would feel ashamed, maybe even hesitate.
But she didn’t.
She looked straight at him, as if everything was perfectly natural.
“Master… Hestia missed you so much…”
She clung to him like a small animal seeking warmth, straddling his body and drawing her face close, like a beast about to close in for the kill.
Their breaths mingled.
When did she fall in love with “Master”?
Was it when he said she was like him?
Rebellious and timid.
Yes.
She was a timid elf, who looked bold and fearless on the outside but was actually terrified of the world’s rejection.
She fled the Moonshadow Forest to escape the elven coming-of-age ceremony, caused trouble to get attention, and grew rapidly for fear of being left behind by the Team.
She had never dared to like “Master”.
All she could do was watch him in silence.
Belinda, Her Highness, was so powerful—even without flames, she could defeat mighty foes.
She was like a dignified lioness, and she’d marked the Master early on.
Hestia didn’t know how to describe the feeling.
He looked barely older than her, yet he supported the Team alone.
He cooked, fed the horses, told jokes, encouraged Belinda to fight again, and was always forgiving of Reina’s deception.
And towards her…
It was a love deeper than family.
No matter how much trouble she caused, the boy always tried to save her.
Clumsy and earnest, but never giving up.
Until she finally grew up, unwilling to be his burden anymore.
Belinda might be the captain, but the one who truly brought everyone together was always Master.
All she could do was watch in silence, her gaze following him unconsciously, using any means to get closer.
That love was buried deep inside her, but it never faded.
Instead, without her realizing, it quietly grew—until it became a towering tree.
She liked Master.
She liked Master.
This feeling was love.
There was no denying it.
Until the three thousand cycles of memory set it ablaze.
To keep him, she was willing to do anything.
Better than watching Master fall into the abyss.
Even if it was cruel, even if she wasn’t accepted—if the ending was happy, who cared what the process was?
After all, they’d had a happy ending.
True or false, it didn’t matter.
She could turn a happy ending into reality, script and all.
“Master, I love you. I’ll always, always love you.”
Hestia confessed with unwavering resolve.
The girl’s eyes brimmed with love and obsession.
Li Qiuchen’s body began to change under the influence of the floral scent.
A slow-burning flame rose inside him.
The girl swiftly removed her clothes.
A simple brush of skin set desire ablaze.
Reason was swept away.
“Master, I knew you’d love this.”
Hestia moved her hips, ready to savor the sweetest fruit of love.
Just then, the man beneath her began to convulse and twist like a drowning man.
“Cough! Cough!”
After a fit of coughing, he suddenly vanished like a popped bubble.
Hestia buried her face in the blanket, muttering with a hint of grievance.
“You escaped like that? How awful. Even so, I still can’t bring myself to hate Master.”
She breathed deeply, inhaling Li Qiuchen’s lingering scent.
Her face was flushed, her eyes sparkling.
Li Qiuchen shot upright from the ground, his face contorted with pain from suffocation.
Jocelyn pulled the damp cloth from his mouth and nose.
“Did I ruin something for you? Sorry. Tide is calling you to work.”
“So close! Just a little more…”
Li Qiuchen muttered like a man who’d barely survived a disaster.
“Close to what?”
Jocelyn asked.
“Close to being eaten alive.”
Li Qiuchen replied grimly, leaving the storeroom.
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