Chapter 4: There is no way out…

Anis silently clenched her fists. Was she really going to fall for such an obvious “lure the tiger from the mountain” tactic?

Moreover, she wasn’t even the “tiger”—her current strength was inferior to Shirley’s!

However, the chance to go out was incredibly precious. She also wanted to buy some materials for brewing potions!

“A while ago, the church rehired a nun who had retired from the Royal City Church. I want to take Anis there to have her eye injury looked at.”

Anis fell into deep thought. She naturally understood what Shirley was implying.

Having read the original novel, she knew very well that the injury to her left eye couldn’t be healed with mere herbs. In the later stages of the book, it often led to infections and fevers, layering illness upon injury and accelerating the tragic ending!

It seemed there was no turning back now.

Returning to her bedroom, Anis looked at the few old dresses in her wardrobe and ultimately decided to wear her usual witch’s robe out.

“If I wear this and put this on, it won’t look too out of place.”

She put on her pointed witch’s hat. With the protection of the wide brim, she could maintain at least some distance from Shirley, preventing a sneak attack from that necklace.

Once dressed, she opened her medicine cabinet and took a bottle of light purple potion in her hand.

‘Her maid will definitely come for this. Should I hide it?’

The materials for this potion were extremely rare. Coupled with the high-level purification magic required for refinement, the original owner of this body had failed countless times, consuming a vast amount of materials just to brew two bottles!

Was she really going to let that maid steal it just like that?

It was heartbreaking!

She thought about the plot details in her mind and finally decided on a compromise.

That maid wasn’t taking the potion out of malice; on the contrary, it was a desperate measure. This potion was the only straw she could grasp to save her relative.

A strange thought suddenly occurred to Anis: although she was adopted by the family, she was still a young lady with a surname. It was only normal for her to have a maid serving her, right?

Suppose—just suppose—that the maid serving her “happened” to be Cybil, who had served Shirley for over ten years?

At the thought of that young girl stomping her feet in anger, Anis felt like laughing.

She stored the potion in a different location and left a note in its original spot.

“Lady Anis, the carriage is ready.”

As she placed the note and closed the cabinet door, the voice of the maid, Cybil, sounded from outside.

“Coming.”

Anis quickly suppressed her thoughts. She pushed open the unlocked door, and after they exchanged a glance, Cybil bowed her head. “Lady Anis, the young lady is waiting for you at the entrance. May you enjoy your outing in peace.”

“Thank you. I’m going now.”

She maintained her usual wariness toward outsiders, pinching the brim of her hat with two fingers as she walked outside. It was only when she heard the young girl’s childish voice ahead that she retracted her gaze.

During this time, the other girl didn’t move an inch, remaining respectfully bowed the entire time.

“Anis! Over here, over here!”

Shirley stood in front of the carriage and waved. Her attire, much like her name, wrapped her entirely in a color like fresh snow.

From her shirt on top to her pleated skirt below, down to her delicate white stockings, and similarly white ankle boots—her entire outfit was pure white.

The only exception was the “absolute territory,” the exposed skin between her white stockings and pleated skirt.

Her snow-white twin tails swayed gently with her movements. As she made eye contact with Anis, a sweet smile that seemed to come from the heart appeared on her face.

‘What a cute little girl. Too bad her heart is pitch black.’

However, the question that concerned Anis more was: wasn’t she cold dressed like that?

“Honestly, Anis, are you going to wear the same thing as always even when going out?”

She walked over affectionately, trying to close the distance. Anis pretended not to care and tilted her head slightly, using her witch’s hat to maintain a certain gap.

Without knowing where that necklace used to control people was hidden, she had to remain on guard.

Anis tested her with casual conversation. “I like this kind of loose clothing. But what about you? Aren’t you cold?”

The current season was late autumn bordering on early winter. An outfit of thin clothes, a short skirt, and white stockings clearly didn’t fit the season, yet she acted as if she couldn’t feel the cold, moving about outdoors as if nothing were wrong.

Anis knew she was a trained knight, but no matter how much training she had, it shouldn’t have made her that resistant to the cold, right?

Unless she was an ice-attribute mage… but how was that possible?

“I’ve done some targeted special training for cold resistance. This level is no problem at all!”

Shirley personally pulled open the carriage door and made a beckoning gesture toward Anis. Anis didn’t refuse; she lifted her leg and boarded the carriage in a single step.

But the next scene made Anis nearly lose her composure: the step she had scaled effortlessly was like an insurmountable mountain before Shirley’s short legs.

“Heave… ho!”

After standing on her tiptoes and straining, Shirley’s second attempt ended in failure.

“Apologies, Lady Shirley. I shouldn’t have stopped on a slope.”

Seeing this, the butler hurried forward to offer assistance, but Shirley refused him.

Anis, who was prepared to keep watching the show, heard a voice that made her bones feel weak. “Sister Anis… help me out…”

A petite, white-haired girl deliberately spoke in a forced, cutesy voice, looking pitiful and staring at her with eyes full of expectation.

In such a situation, who could refuse?

Yet Anis knew very well that Shirley’s personality wasn’t like this at all; this was clearly a calculated performance. Since things hadn’t reached the point of a complete fallout yet, she couldn’t just sit by and do nothing in the face of her plea for help.

‘I need to be careful.’

Anis shielded her front with her left hand and extended her other hand as far as possible without moving from her spot. Her expression remained blank, and she didn’t say a word.

“Hehe!”

Shirley was delighted. She grabbed two of Anis’s fingers and hopped onto the carriage with a light leap, not even using Anis’s strength to pull herself up!

She had been faking it!

What left Anis even more speechless was that Shirley wanted to push her luck!

Slender, soft fingertips strayed between her fingers, as if trying to pry them apart and force their fingers to interlock!

This itchy, strange sensation caused the unease in Anis’s heart to multiply. She quickly pulled her hand back, hugging her arms tight as she shrank further into the carriage.

In this moving carriage, she could only resort to such self-preservation measures.

“Hmph.”

Shirley pouted as she glanced at Anis, but soon, as if she had come to terms with it, she spoke a sentence to her.