Chapter 49: Subtle and Gentle Guidance, Part One

Having Hitana clash with the revolutionary army and successfully fostering conflict between them was no easy feat.

Even though Anselm was intimately familiar with both sides’ personalities and thought patterns, in reality, their ideas and emotions weren’t something he could script on paper and expect to unfold exactly as planned.

Even he couldn’t perfectly predict every detail of how their conflict would play out.

Thus, Anselm was always prepared to adjust the course.

As for steering their relationship toward “hostility,” for Saville, it was a piece of cake.

In the end, it concluded without surprises, exactly as Anselm had hoped—not due to anything else but the sheer luck that favored the well-prepared.

That luck alone made it seem effortless.

However, the oddly “empty” defenses inside Chishuang Mansion were another matter, unrelated to what Anselm was currently doing.

In the mansion resounding with shrill alarms, Hydra, leaning on his cane, strolled leisurely past one open gate after another, stepping into the treasury, two-thirds of which had been plundered.

And Hitana? The neurotoxin from Stinger caused her intense pain, her body convulsing uncontrollably.

Unable to regain control of her limbs, she could only lie on her side, pitifully curled into a ball.

When she heard footsteps approaching, she initially panicked, but the closer the steps—and the crisp sound of something tapping the ground—the more something felt off.

Until, in her vision, she saw that black cane she’d seen countless times.

“What a sorry sight, Hitana.”

A teasing sigh rang in the girl’s ears.

“Hy… dra…”

The utterly humiliated young wolf struggled to squeeze words through her teeth: “Why… are you here?”

“That’s a good question. Why am I here?”

Anselm crouched down, gently stroking Hitana’s cheek, his palm slowly sliding to her neck.

“Hmm… they really didn’t hold back. What did you do to make them this angry?”

Hitana’s condition made Anselm raise an eyebrow: “If you weren’t so sturdy, you’d be spending the rest of your life as a cripple.”

See, this was something even Anselm couldn’t have predicted—he knew Hitana’s knack for drawing aggro, but he didn’t expect that in just a few minutes, his dear girl could pull this much hate.

“…” Hitana gritted her teeth, unable to speak and unwilling to.

Just out of prison and already causing trouble again, how could she face Anselm with any nonsense?

“Oh, the guards are coming.” Unlike his earlier leisurely swagger, hurried footsteps echoed from outside.

Stroking Hitana’s collar, Anselm chuckled softly, “Hitana, you’re in trouble.”

Yet he spoke as if he didn’t care about his own situation at all.

The golden-haired youth, smiling gently, pinched Hitana’s cheek and met her dark red eyes:

“You’ve always wanted to ruin my reputation. This is a golden opportunity—Hydra’s closest subordinate sneaking into Chishuang mansion at night to rob the Chishuang family’s treasury. Isn’t that a perfect topic to smear me with?”

Hitana’s body twitched.

Her lips parted, her voice trembling and weak: “I didn’t… mean it like that.”

She only wanted to expose this guy’s hypocrisy, not tarnish Hydra’s name with such near-slanderous means!

“So, what you mean is—”

Anselm’s smile grew radiant: “You need my help, don’t you?”

The footsteps grew closer; Hitana could even hear the furious shouts outside.

“Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock.”

Anselm, crouching and resting his chin on his hand, mimicked the sound of a clock: “Time’s running out, Miss Hitana. You know what to say, don’t you?”

What happens if I get caught?

Will they think worse of Hydra because of me?

Will Lina be angry?

Do I even have the right to demand another trial?

Hydra… What will he do then?

Does he… look down on me now?

Hitana didn’t feel particularly wronged.

Beyond her hatred for those two scoundrels, she knew this was her own mess.

She wanted to face it but didn’t know how.

The shame of a failed theft, the fury of being betrayed, the panic of not wanting to be caught, and at this critical moment, having to once again—countless times—ask for help from the person she despised most—

That complex, sour, tingling, and almost burning chaos of emotions made the already physically weakened Hitana feel even more delicate and fragile.

“Hydra… help me.”

The young wolf, her mind in a haze, murmured helplessly: “I’m sorry… I think I’ve caused trouble again.”

Time and time again.

No matter how much Hitana disliked Anselm, she couldn’t ignore her repeated recklessness, rudeness, and the trouble she caused—she was no longer the arrogant genius she was at twelve, having tasted the bitter fruit of her hubris.

Of course, there was a more important reason.

Anselm would always forgive her in the end.

At that thought, Hitana’s body curled even tighter.

The pain from the neurotoxin and the surge of emotions left her unsure of what to do or say.

Feeling ashamed of her own foolishness, the girl with reddened eyes met Anselm’s gaze and, almost instinctively, reached out… gently tugging at his hem.

“…”

The gleeful smile on the wicked Hydra’s face froze for a moment.

He stared into the guilt and vulnerability in those dark red eyes, silent for a second or two.

“Alright.” He chuckled softly, hooking his cane at his waist and scooping Hitana up in his arms.

“As long as you keep asking me with this attitude, I’ll always answer your call, Hitana.”

By now, the guards had rushed into the treasury, but they… bizarrely froze in place, like still silhouettes on a curtain or silent sculptures in a garden.

Hitana, perhaps realizing her earlier actions were overly delicate, didn’t want to be held like this, but the toxin’s pain made her curl even tighter in Anselm’s arms.

Utterly helpless, she tried to distract herself to escape the absurd emotions, coughing and asking in a hoarse voice: “What… is this?”

“You’ve always been curious about Saville’s abilities, haven’t you?”

Anselm strolled leisurely among the frozen guards: “As you can see, this is his power.”

“…Time?”

Hitana furrowed her brow: “That assassin… is he related to him?”

“No relation”

Anselm smiled faintly “The time manipulation achieved through spells is worlds apart from the power Saville wields—do you know what my father called him?”

The young Hydra seemed genuinely delighted, a pure joy untainted by anything else, making him talkative.

“[Chronospecter]”

Anselm spared no praise for his old butler: “The time spells that assassin from the Order of Time wields are mere child’s play before Saville.”

Only then did Hitana understand why Saville was so elusive, completely undetectable to her.

A time manipulator… such an unbelievably powerful figure was merely Hydra’s butler?

Anselm seemed to read her thoughts, smiling meaningfully: “You’ll be stronger than him, Hitana.”

The girl in his arms shrank slightly, her gaze drifting: “You’re… awfully confident in me.”

—Her tone carried a happiness even a fool could hear.

The young noble, as if strolling through his own mansion, carried the petite, short-haired girl through the corridors.

The guards, with their varied expressions—grim, furious, or confused—became decorative statues, finally easing Hitana’s tense heart.

Once her emotions settled a bit, she began to sense something was off—why were they lingering so long?

Why did it feel like they were heading deeper into the mansion?

“Hy-Hydra.”

Hitana asked softly: “Why aren’t we leaving yet?”

“Hm?” Anselm raised an eyebrow. “Who said we were leaving?”

“…”

Staring at the bewildered girl in his arms, the dark emotions in Anselm’s heart began to stir.

He carried Hitana through the corridor, arriving at a guest room door, and pushed it open casually.

“Hm, clean and tidy, unused.”

Anselm nodded with satisfaction, tossing the still-twitching Hitana onto the bed.

“Hydra… what—what are you doing!”

Hitana’s gaze turned increasingly furious because the guy who threw her onto the bed was… was undressing!

“Dear Miss Hitana, you seem to have misunderstood something.”

Anselm, shedding his wolf cloak, slowly unbuttoned his vest and shirt.

He tilted his head slightly, his smile pure and gentle: “My willingness to help you escape danger doesn’t mean I won’t punish your reckless behavior.”

“It’s two in the morning. I should be lying in bed, immersed in peaceful dreams, but that tranquility was ruined by you, Hitana.”

“You… I… I know I messed up! Don’t do anything crazy! I-I’m warning you! If you dare do something like that, I’ll absolutely, absolutely take you down with me!”

Hitana squeezed her eyes shut, shouting in a frail voice that carried no real force.

Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it! It’s all because of those two beasts! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be in this state… Hydra wouldn’t, he wouldn’t really do something like that, would he?

“Saville, you can leave now,” Anselm suddenly said.

“…?”

Hitana cautiously cracked her eyes open a sliver, seeing Anselm still wearing his last layer of shirt, and let out a slight breath of relief.

“Time in this mansion has started flowing again, Hitana.”

Anselm sat on the bed, grabbing the young wolf, who was struggling to shrink to the edge, and pulled her onto his lap.

With a beaming smile, ever so gentlemanly, he began to undo Hitana’s clothes.

The girl immediately wanted to scream, but Anselm quickly covered her mouth.

“Shh, listen.”

Footsteps and shouts came: “Have you searched this area?”

“It’s been searched, nothing! Move to the next floor!”

The sinister, frenzied serpent placed a finger to his lips, chuckling softly: “Make a sound carelessly, and you’ll be found, Hitana. Though, I wouldn’t mind…”

His fingertips glided over the girl’s snow-white skin:“Being discovered in this situation.”

Anselm deftly removed her tight leather pants, transforming the ferocious, brutal wolf into a tempting lamb, stripped of her fur, left with only two pieces of covering.

Hitana glared at Anselm with a gaze that could kill, but compared to the raw, violent emotions she felt at the start, after everything she’d been through… her current state was more bravado than genuine anger.

The shame and frustration that quickened her heartbeat was what the young wolf found hardest to accept.

“No need to worry, I won’t do anything more.”

Anselm lifted the blanket, slipping inside with Hitana in his arms, lazily resting his chin against her neck, his arms tightly encircling her slender, firm waist.

“Once I wake up from a nap, your punishment will be over. Simple, isn’t it?”

“But… you’d better be careful, Hitana.”

The devil whispered in the ear of the beautiful she-wolf turned lamb:

“If you don’t remind me in time when the guards come to search again…”

“In others’ eyes, you might go from being my subordinate to my plaything—ah, that is, hmm… a toy.”

“What! Wait, you… don’t sleep! Don’t sleep!”

At those words, Hitana could no longer care about her embarrassment.

Even the paralyzing toxin couldn’t stop her from forcibly twisting her body: “I can’t… I absolutely won’t accept that! Hydra! Hy-Hydra, don’t sleep! I… I’m begging you, okay?”

She refused to be seen as Hydra’s plaything—absolutely, absolutely not.

She didn’t believe the guards would keep quiet.

How far and wide would this news spread?

Hitana didn’t dare imagine.

She couldn’t bear to think of the day she’d walk the streets and be met with those kinds of looks.

How terrifying would that be?

“…Hitana, you’re being a bit too willful.”

Anselm opened his eyes helplessly: “If I don’t sleep, what else can I do? Hmm?”

“I… I…”

Hitana opened her mouth: “You, you can talk to me! Just don’t sleep! If you fall into a deep sleep and I can’t wake you, I’m done for!”

“Talk, huh…”

Anselm pondered for a moment, chuckling in response: “Fine, that’s not impossible. But just talking is boring. Let’s play a game, Hitana.”

Feeling like she’d fallen into another trap, Hitana trembled: “What… what do you want to do?”

“We take turns asking each other questions and neither of us can lie.”

Anselm said with a bright smile: “The way we verify is… by listening to each other’s heartbeat.”

“Oh… heartbeat? Hmm, heartbeat…”

“—Heartbeat?!”

The little lamb ensnared by the serpent struggled again: “You, you’re joking! In this state, you want to listen to my heartbeat? Then let me put my clothes back—”

“It seems Miss Hitana isn’t very willing.”

Anselm let out a long yawn: “Fine, I’ll sleep then. Going to bed this late, I’ll definitely sleep deeply, impossible to wake, right… don’t you think, Hitana?”

“…”

After a long silence, in Anselm’s arms, under the thick blanket, the self-inflicted-trouble she-wolf, now a delicate and lovely lamb, angrily and shamefully bumped her head against Anselm’s chest.

“Enough! I’ll play, I’ll play, alright!”

At least… at least she still had her chest wrapped.

Miss Hitana had sunk to consoling herself in this way.

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