Chapter 264: Chapter 263: Unknowing Zici

Iris leaned on the balcony rails with her eyes closed. Twilight breezes enveloped her perspiring body, fusing with her amorous pants. Her legs shivered every time the cold metal grazed her. She instinctively drew back but couldn’t pass through her Ludmint, who cornered her in this revealing position.

Fingers glided on her waist, lips on her neck. She bit her tongue, keeping her voice within her diffusing figure. Her frail arms shifted and swayed, restrained by another pair of hands examining her exposed flesh.

Against a torrent of cold winds, she lifted her head and opened her eyes. Dim starlight basked her face. Faint stars amidst the brightening sky gradually faded from her vision.

A spark flew beneath her skin. She perked up, her strength giving out. Her quivering lips part. Voices shimmering in her heart forced their way out.

The hands restricting her movement seized her face. Antina sealed Iris’s mouth with hers. Their interwoven breaths heated each other, melted each other, and thrilled each other.

Their still position separated only when Ludmint, pouting, inserted herself in between.

“That was mine,” Ludmint said. “My hard work, my reward.”

“You focus on her body, I on her lips.”

As her eyes cleared, Iris held her shoulders, covering her chest. The sun emerged from the horizon, highlighting her delicate shape.

A few people sauntered through the street below her. She dared not look at them.

“Isn’t it exciting?” Antina said.

“Terrible, wicked, depraved.”

“And exciting.”

Iris lowered her head. Her bliss-filled body could hardly move. A light touch would shake her heart, a light whisper her soul.

Ludmint covered her fiancée with a blanket and escorted her back to their messy bedroom. Extinguished scented candles sustained a romantic mood that soaked every action throughout the night.

Iris crumbled on her bed. As her breathing steadied, her mind wandered. Her body lightened, and the quiet thumbing of her fake heart comforted her.

The winds rustling the curtain sang a lullaby, but sleep mustn’t arrive. She forced her eyes open and got up. Her pale countenance worried her lovers.

“You should go soon, Ludmint,” she said.

“I’m using my paid leave today.”

Iris turned to Ludmint, whose grin radiated such bright joy. “You’ll be late if you linger.”

“They know my fiancée is sick.”

“Must I repeat myself again?” Iris touched her burning forehead. “Are you to aggravate my condition?”

Ludmint was about to comfort her fiancée when Antina blocked her path. Antina stared into Ludmint’s eyes, into her soul, into the truth.

Overwhelmed, Ludmint drew back. “She’s mine.”

“She relies on you.”

“That’s why I must—”

“Are you doing this for her, or yourself?”

Ludmint peeked at her fiancée, who gave her a feeble smile, a smile that bled into her heart, permeated her body, and muddled her thoughts.

She sighed, defeated by one unfair expression. “Can I not be by your side, Dear?”

“You don’t need to risk yourself to comfort me.” Iris coyly tilted her head. Her flowing hair obscured her eyes. “Even when you don’t look, I’ll still be here.”

“But I don’t want that. I want you to disappear when I’m not looking. I want you to exist only in my eyes.”

“We cannot get everything in life, Dear.”

After embracing her fiancée, Ludmint reluctantly dressed up and went to work. She looked up at the third floor’s window, where Iris waved at her, before boarding a carriage.

Iris wiped her reddened face with a wet towel prepared by Antina. She initially refused to bathe with Antina, but her fatigue made itself known, and she lost her only excuse. In a large bathtub, she rested comfortably while her maid cleansed every trace of passion out of her slimy body.

Perfumed and ornated, Iris left for Prime Archive. Her presence commanded respect and grace worthy of worship. Antina overdid it, but Iris was too exhausted to object. This feeling of delicacy reminded her of home.

Everyone assumed, from Iris’s disposition, Antina to be an exclusive maid of a noble lady. She’d already forged an identity as such.

“Secain will be happy,” Iris said.

“You can officially employ me.” Antina pressed her chest. “My only request is your touch.”

“Your mother might not agree to it.”

“I’ve never asked her for anything.”

Iris rested her head on a carriage wall, her eyes fixated on her maid. “What do I have that interests you so much?”

“Your charm.” Antina giggled. “The imagery of your floating beauty, surrounded by a tempest of petals, captivates me.”

“My secrets are solely mine.”

“I dare not imitate Lady Lilith’s successor. I only hope your grace inspires me.”

Iris looked down. Shadow Heart Core silently hovered inside her. “If the opportunity presents itself, would you take it?”

Antina’s eyes sparkled, though she shook her head. “Your maid is inferior.”

The carriage reached Prime Archive. Antina helped Iris down. All eyes focused on her entrance before politely retreating to subtlety. An attendant welcomed her. She gave her a card and praised her.

The pinkened attendant left. Zici swiftly responded to the call. She eyed Antina, who neatly cared for her mistress, before she guided her honoured guest through exotic sections and up the guarded staircase.

“Miss Iris, which floor would you like to visit today?” Zici said.

“What’s the highest floor of my privilege?”

“Then we shall proceed to the fifth floor.” Zici fiddled with her hair. “But I must trouble you to wait at the third floor’s great hall. The fifth floor has a special procedure that we must abide by.”

“As long as you need, Zici.” Iris’s crystallised voice lingered like a song. “I’m looking forwards to our first time.”

Zici’s awkwardly cute eyes couldn’t meet her lady’s. “Is it urgent?”

“I only want you.”

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Zici couldn’t respond. Her bubbling feelings oozed out of her heart, but she pressed it down by holding her breath. The surrounding quietude discomforted her, twisting her mind into a knot filled with unreliable predictions.

She led her guests to the great hall and fled to the staff zone, hoping to learn everything as fast as possible.

“Is she not adorable?” Iris said.

“Do you have a lover everywhere?”

“Only Ludmint is my fiancée.”

“Can I be yours, too?”

Iris leaned on her seat and sipped her cocktail. “Wrong question.”

Antina pressed her hand on her cheek. “Will you take care of my heart?”

“Will you take care of mine?”

Iris and Antina exchanged their drinks. Their differing tastes complemented each other. A few plates of dessert and fruits arrived. Iris fed Antina a piece of cookie, and Antina fed Iris a slice of apple.

As the waitress served the last order, Antina gestured for her ears. The waitress carefully leaned toward her customer. The whispers she heard wormed inside her chest, buzzing with an uncontrollable intensity. She absentmindedly nodded before walking away with her face burning, her soul gripped by an enchanting dream.

“Am I the one with a lover everywhere?” Iris said.

“She’ll forget about me, but your girl will forever yearn for you.”

“Give her a taste of dreams, then take away her memory. How terrible.”

“Mistress, you withhold the sweetest nectar while promising them eternal bliss.” Antina leaned closer to her mistress. “Will their wish ever come true?”

Iris revealed the most radiant smile. She said nothing, her dimmest eyes glinting with murky sparks.

Mesmerised, Antina no longer pressed forwards. That delicacy danced between her eyes, reminding her of her mother, of herself. Until she could look into her mother’s eyes and demand the truth, she had no right to do the same to her mistress.

“Why did you charm her?” Antina said. “Is it because of her jealousy, her appearance, her air, or her fate?”

“We met by chance, connected by chance, and captivated by chance.” Iris frowned. “Her past is ordinary, her life guiltless.”

“Yet a power of a Grandmaster crutched her soul.”

Antina swiped her hand on the table, producing a piece of parchment, on which engraved an intricated pattern. A pitch-black snake coiled around a heart-shaped crystal, greedily baring its fangs.

“How couldn’t I detect the Phantom Serpent in her heart?” Iris said.

“A powerful concealment art eludes your perception. However, Mother’s power eclipses theirs.”

Gripped by a premonition, Iris mulled over this enigma. Phantom Serpent was an exceedingly rare poison that left no trace. Who would use such a precious poison to assassinate an insignificant character like Zici?

An invisible, monumental veil flickered into existence, revealing a glimpse of what it obscured. Despite her mastery over divination, she couldn’t penetrate its depth. Only her otherworldly intuition, whose source she suspected originated from the grand design surrounding her, murmured a caution and a path.

“We must reevaluate her background.” Iris’s tone chilled. Her passionate eyes descended to coldness akin to a frozen abyss. “Use my credit to take out Investigation-Type Artefacts.”

Antina narrowed her eyes. “Is there anything we should look for?”

“My intuition whispered to me a hint of a conspiracy.”

“We shall unearth this scheme for you.”

“Be careful of coincidences.”

Iris clasped her hands and drew them apart. A deck of cards fell from her sleeves, scattering around the dining table. Their silver rims glimmered against lantern light above. Eyes closed, Iris let her feeling guide her motion.

Her fingertip pinched a card. It flipped, revealing an empty card, filled with impregnable mist, bordered by dry branches of dead trees.

A series of hexagonal arrays, whose symbols rotated and intersected each other, rose out of her palm and sank inside the card, which squirmed as if tearing itself apart.

The mist churned, but its infinite depth revealed only emptiness.

Other cards disintegrated into rays of golden light, imitating the Holy Power, and flew at the mist-filled card. The card jumped, illusory radiance gushing forth.

Yet the sea of mist remained. Light failed to find the end of this world, and the veil subsumed it.

Iris pulled back her hand while staring at the mist-filled card. Her dull eyes hid her thoughts, expressing only aloofness that came with otherworldly wisdom.

“Have you detected anything?” she said.

“I . . . haven’t.” Antina shivered. “But Mother’s power . . . reacts to something.”

Zici excitedly returned to find Iris and Antina seating opposite each other, feeding each other a piece of delectable fruit.

“Please forgive my tardiness,” she said. “I’ve already prepared everything. Although the visitors of the fifth floor need to have their belongings checked by security, the Fifth Princess’s authority guarantees your status.”

“Wonderful, Zici.” Iris took a piece of a sweetened orange and hung it before Zici’s lips. “Will you accept this gift?”

Ears red, Zici carefully chewed the orange. A lovely scent mixed with the sugary flavour joyfully coursed through her veins. She uncontrollably smiled.

Although she didn’t want to delay the matter, her guests invited her to join the table, to which she refused, to which they insisted. She surrendered, pleasure in her tone, and shyly nibbled on a variety of food, tasting everything, especially those her lady playfully fed her.

“Who will we be meeting before entering the fifth floor?” Iris said.

“The Grandmaster Mage overseeing Prime Archive, Lord Veridius Symbrone.” Zici’s excited tone wavered. “Is this also your first time seeing a Grandmaster?”

“May I learn of his feats?”

“He’s assumed the position of the Archive Overseer for almost a hundred years, the longest. His power over words and their meanings can turn imagination into reality, bestow epiphany, and resolve lifelong questions.”

“Will he give you a pointer?”

“I wouldn’t hope so.” Zici faltered but then lightened up. “Lady Iris, you’re extraordinary. It’d be enough to hear his insight for you.”

“It’ll be great if he can clear my doubt.”

Antina covered her gleeful smile. “I hope so, Mistress.”

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