The banquet hall doors slowly opened before Ishayat.
Contrary to Ling Xiya’s expectations of noise and extravagance, the scene behind the doors was one of unexpected silence.
Huge crystal chandeliers emitted a soft yet cold glow, illuminating the empty marble floor.
Snow-white cloths covered the long dining tables, where exquisite silverware and crystal-clear glasses were neatly arranged.
The air was thick with a faint floral scent and the mellow fragrance of Premium Magic Wine, which had not yet been fully masked by the breath of a crowd.
Several demon servants responsible for the arrangements were carefully making final adjustments.
Upon seeing Ishayat appear, they immediately lowered their heads respectfully, not daring to look her in the eye.
The party… had not yet begun.
Ling Xiya’s heart sank abruptly.
The panic she had just forced down surged back in an instant, even more intense than before.
This unplanned silence unsettled her more than the expected clamor.
She reflexively looked at Ishayat, hoping to find a clue on her face.
The smile on Ishayat’s face remained unchanged, but a hint of amusement and a barely perceptible scrutiny flashed in her deep eyes.
She did not seem surprised by this situation; in fact… it seemed as though she had anticipated it.
“It seems we arrived a bit early.”
Ishayat’s voice was soft, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.
She turned her head, her gaze falling upon Ling Xiya.
That look felt like it carried actual weight, making Ling Xiya nearly unable to breathe.
“Since that is the case, wait here for a moment. I will go greet the host and return shortly.”
“The host?”
Ling Xiya was stunned for a moment before realizing that the “host” Ishayat spoke of must be the true organizer of this party—that high-ranking Demon Dignitary.
She wanted to say something, like “I will go with you” or “I will wait for you here,” but her throat felt blocked, and she could only manage a faint wheeze.
Ishayat didn’t give her a chance to speak.
She gently patted Ling Xiya’s shoulder.
The gesture appeared affectionate, but it caused Ling Xiya’s body to freeze instantly.
“Remember your place, Ling Xiya.”
Ishayat’s voice dropped lower, carrying a sliver of cold warning.
“Do not wander, do not look around, and definitely do not cause any trouble for me. Wait for me obediently, understood?”
“…Yes, Master.”
Ling Xiya squeezed those few words out with difficulty, as if each one were being forced from her throat.
She lowered her eyelids, her long lashes veiling the complex emotions in her eyes.
She clenched her hands tightly at her sides, her nails nearly digging into her palms.
Ishayat nodded, seemingly satisfied with her response.
She stopped looking at Ling Xiya and turned to walk elegantly toward a Carved Corridor on the side of the banquet hall leading to the inner chambers.
Her silhouette was proud and composed, and she soon vanished into the deep shadows of the corridor.
In the vast Front Hall of the banquet hall, Ling Xiya was left alone, standing solitary at the wide entrance.
Time seemed to stretch infinitely at that moment.
The cold light from the crystal lamps spilled over her, casting a very long shadow onto the polished floor, making her look exceptionally frail and lonely.
The faint sounds of the servants working in the distance were magnified now, clearly reaching her ears and hammering against her frayed nerves.
“Do not wander, do not look around, wait for Master to return obediently…”
Ishayat’s warning echoed in her mind like a curse.
She tried hard to follow the command, focusing all her attention on the act of “waiting” and suppressing the impulse to flee from the depths of her heart.
One minute, two minutes, five minutes…
Ishayat had been gone for a long time—so long that Ling Xiya almost thought she wouldn’t come back.
The servants in the banquet hall had finished their work and quietly retreated, leaving the entire space in a state of near-deathly silence.
Only the occasional blurred footsteps and whispers from the distant corridor could be heard, but they quickly vanished as well.
Ling Xiya maintained her standing position, her legs already beginning to feel numb.
Her mind was in a state of chaos.
On one hand, the command to “wait for Master” echoed continuously.
On the other hand, a soul-deep fear of the unknown and a faint, almost unacknowledged longing for “freedom” were quietly germinating.
Just as Ling Xiya’s nerves were stretched to the breaking point and she was nearly unable to control the urge to turn and flee, a figure emerged without warning from the shadows on the other side of the banquet hall.
It was the figure of a woman, wearing a black gown that was entirely different from the maid uniform Ling Xiya wore—one that was more ornate yet also carried a sense of restraint.
Her build, her posture… they all gave Ling Xiya an inexplicable sense of familiarity and a strong feeling of dissonance.
Ling Xiya’s heart skipped a beat, and she reflexively looked up at the woman’s face.
When she saw that face clearly, Ling Xiya felt as if the blood in her entire body had frozen!
That face… that face actually looked seventy percent like her own!
The same eyebrows and eyes, the same bridge of the nose, the same lip shape… only, the other party’s eyes were hollow and numb, with no expression on her face, like a puppet that had truly lost its soul.
Her steps were somewhat stiff and her movements sluggish, as if she were being pulled by invisible strings.
“Who is she… why does she… look so much like me?”
Ling Xiya’s mind went blank.
Immense shock and an indescribable fear seized her.
She watched the woman who looked seventy percent like herself.
The other party didn’t seem to notice her, simply walking toward the depths of the banquet hall, toward another corridor leading to an unknown direction.
Don’t go! That was Ling Xiya’s first reaction.
That direction, and that woman’s hollow eyes, both gave her a sense of ill omen.
She should stay where she was and wait for Ishayat to return.
Ishayat’s command still echoed in her ears: “Do not wander, do not look around…”
But…
As she watched that back that looked seventy percent like hers about to disappear around the corner of the corridor, an unprecedented, intense curiosity burned like wildfire in the depths of Ling Xiya’s heart.
To go, or not to go?
Ling Xiya’s body was trembling slightly, not from fear, but because this was the first time in her memory that she faced such a difficult and dangerous choice.
The shackles formed by Ishayat’s voice in her mind were groaning under the strain.
“Do not wander…”
“Wait for me obediently…”
“Remember your place…”
Those words were like a curse, trying to nail her firmly to the spot.
However, that seventy-percent-similar figure and those hollow, numb eyes were like a needle, ruthlessly piercing the softest, most reluctant part of her heart.
She felt as if she were seeing her own possible future in that “other her.”
No, she didn’t want to become like that! Even if there were only a slim chance, she had to know the truth!
At the moment that seventy-percent-similar figure was about to completely vanish around the corridor corner, Ling Xiya suddenly made her decision.
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