Chapter 42: Krisha Is a Lying Bad Girl

“Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere, Cressa?”

In the meditation room.

A faint ticking sound echoes.

It comes from the mechanical clock hanging on the wall.

The hands sweep across the dial, emitting a steady and elegant ticking sound. Each click, each rotation, carries time forward to a more precise moment.

Xu Xi extends his hands, wrapping them around Cressa’s arms and waist, helping the dazed girl sit up.

The girl’s reaction is slightly delayed, and after a while, she shakes her head blankly.

“No…”

“Good, then I can rest easy.”

The furrowed brows relax.

Xu Xi helps the girl sit properly, then takes out a roll of homemade blocking bandages, wrapping them around her body, layer by layer, meticulously.

The hidden demon traits are in a very sensitive state, and if left untreated, they might reappear.

In more severe cases, they could even affect the girl’s control over her body.

Thus.

Xu Xi wraps the blocking bandages around her, using this magical material to carefully suppress Cressa’s residual horns and scales, silencing them completely.

Layer after layer.

The white bandages cover most of Cressa’s body.

Especially the residual horn on her head, which is tightly wrapped, leaving no gaps.

Xu Xi reaches out to touch it, then steps back to examine it, making sure nothing is missed before letting the girl stand.

“Cressa, you’ll need to keep the bandages on for the next few days. If you feel uncomfortable anywhere, remember to tell me.”

Xu Xi instructs.

“Yes, I’ll remember.”

Cressa responds softly.

Her small face is expressionless, already appearing pitiful and lifeless. After being wrapped in bandages, the fragmented sense of fragility becomes even more pronounced, like a broken toy forcibly stitched back together.

Empty eyes, pale lips, a frail body.

Every part has endured silent torment.

Though those wounds have long healed, the past pain remains deeply etched in unseen places, making the bandaged witch appear even more pitiful.

“…”

Cressa’s eyes are fixed on Xu Xi’s figure, watching as he begins to tidy up the tools and materials after the procedure.

That was originally Cressa’s task, but Xu Xi disagrees.

Insisting that Cressa, who just underwent the procedure, should continue to rest.

Ah…

Ahh…

She has truly become “human.”

Cressa lowers her head slightly, reaching up to touch the top of her head where the horn used to be, unable to believe that the cursed horn, which brought her misfortune, has disappeared so easily.

In the past, people would curse and beat her upon seeing the twisted,残缺 horn.

Countless painful nights, the girl had fantasized about the cursed horn disappearing.

But.

Now that the dream has come true, her heart remains unmoved.

Not due to a lack of emotion, but because she feels it’s only natural, not something worth being happy about.

Whether human or demon.

Such things no longer matter to her.

The reason she wanted to become human, the reason she had to become human, was simply because she felt this form would allow her to stand closer to that man.

“If I become human, maybe I can get closer to him?”

Cressa’s thoughts are that simple.

Just a little bit closer, just a little bit more, and she could more clearly feel that warmth, that light.

Unconsciously.

Cressa reaches out toward Xu Xi.

Tentatively, hesitantly, extending her small, trembling, bandage-wrapped hand.

For so long, she has been as quiet as a doll, without a will of her own. For the first time, she has something she truly wants to do, but her hand stops midway, silently retracting.

No, it’s not allowed.

As an “object,” how could she dare to approach her master on her own?

Thinking this, Cressa slowly withdraws her hand, even though she likes Xu Xi so much, wanting to be closer, she must remember her place.

“Cressa?”

Suddenly.

Xu Xi notices Cressa’s movement.

Looking at the girl’s hand frozen mid-air, like a shy half-blossomed flower, neither advancing nor retreating, he seems to misunderstand something.

He takes her hand, his tone apologetic:

“Sorry, we’ve taken so long today. You must be exhausted, Cressa.”

“Let me take you back to your room.”

With that.

Xu Xi leads Cressa by the hand, step by step, gently and carefully, toward the bedroom that belongs solely to the girl.

Several times along the way, Cressa wants to speak.

To say she’s not tired.

To say she can walk on her own.

But somehow, feeling the warmth from his palm, all words get stuck in her throat, unable to come out.

She just wants to feel more, to experience more.

Even wishing time could freeze at this moment.

“Sorry, Mom… Cressa has become a lying bad child…” As this thought surfaces, Cressa unconsciously tightens her grip on that warm hand.

Only now.

She absolutely doesn’t want to let go.

…

[Your transformation of the witch’s external appearance is successful. After four days of tightly wrapped bandages, you remove them, revealing a strikingly beautiful human girl.]

[No畸形扭曲的双角]

[No unsightly protruding scales]

[From head to toe, Cressa shows no trace of demonic traits. Anyone who sees her would only think she’s a human girl.]

[You’re delighted because this means, from today on, Cressa’s life will change completely.]

[It’s been nearly a year since you adopted Cressa. Though in this year, she has never expressed a desire to go out or interact with anyone other than you.]

[But you’ve always felt that Cressa’s life should be richer, not confined to this small courtyard.]

[Seizing this opportunity, you decide to gift Cressa a magic staff.]

[The witch, now an official mage, urgently needs a suitable staff to unleash her true potential.]

The staff is brown.

Its main body carved from ash wood.

Slender and elegant.

Embedded with several magic gems, capable of storing a large amount of magic, serving as a strategic reserve for the mage.

This staff, named “Gray Rekindling,” isn’t cheap, but Xu Xi believes it’s worth the price.

Thus, Xu Xi buys Gray Rekindling and presents it to Cressa.

In addition.

He also buys a spatial ring separately.

For a mage, a staff and a spatial ring are indispensable essentials.

“Thank you, I like it.”

The moment she receives the gift, Cressa remains expressionless, but from the slight tremble of her eyelashes, Xu Xi senses she must be pleased.

“Try it out, see if it suits you.”

Xu Xi smiles, beginning to teach Cressa how to more efficiently wield the staff and the various experiences a mage needs to know.