Chapter 1481: Elena

"Hmm?"

Until this moment, the ladies still didn't realize what Xia De was doing.

Thus, they saw the silver arc appear at Xia De's fingertips. Xia De frowned slightly, listened to the force instruction given by "Her," and then pressed his finger on his skin. He drew a line downward lightly, quite crisp and neat. The flesh and blood separated to both sides, blood splashed on the table, stained the clothes, and frightened everyone.

Even the twelfth-order great witch couldn't react to what Xia De did at the first moment. Until she saw Xia De pointing to his chest, pointing to his fiery heart, she widened her eyes and instinctively leaned back toward the back of the chair.

"Although it hurts, it can be accepted. If the heart is pierced in battle, it won't affect my combat effectiveness."

Xia De thought in his heart, very satisfied with the test result of the sorcery "Heart of Stone." He looked at the Duchess who was shocked and had a look of panic, and then reached out and poked his heart, then his mouth twitched due to pain:

"Please allow me to present my heart to you. May I ask, Duchess Galina, do you want to get it now?"

"What?"

The witch asked instinctively. If she saw this scene on the battlefield, she wouldn't even blink, but facing someone she knew doing this in front of her, no matter how decisive and capable she was, it was hard not to be shocked.

"My lady!"

The loyal maid-in-chief reminded her behind her, and Galina reacted:

"Oh, my god! Xia De, what have you done? Quick, quick, stop the bleeding for him! Are you crazy?"

After a flurry of activity, Xia De smeared the soil from a flowerpot on the windowsill onto the wound, and the spell "Active Soil" healed the wound very easily. Afterward, he asked for a glass of water, processed it with "Satiating Food," and poured the liquid, which was emitting a blasphemous silver light, onto the wound. Now, even the scar had disappeared.

"Very good, very nice."

After the panic, the Duchess behind the desk covered her forehead, looking like she had been frightened... She was indeed frightened:

"Although the knights in stories who crave glory are never stingy about sacrificing themselves for princesses, queens, or other beautiful female characters, we don't need to do this."

"Hmm... because everything today is too much like a scene from a knight novel."

Xia De said, and Miss Galina nodded with her eyes closed:

"Your mission is complete, but I think I need to go rest; this is too stimulating for me. Difa, you take my place and go get the reward for Hamilton of Lei Jiede; I keep my word. Knight, you wait here; after an exciting adventure, you should take a rest."

Hearing her say this, Xia De knew that things were not over yet. So he sat down on the sofa in the study and looked around for his cat.

Half of the maids left with Miss Galina, and half of the maids left with Difa to get Xia De's reward.

But after a long time, when the black-haired maid returned, her hands were empty.

She said to Xia De with regret:

"Knight, that gift, I'm afraid you have to go get it yourself. After all, that is a treasure that belongs only to you."

Xia De nodded and stood up, following Difa out of the room. He followed the maid to the third floor, and strangely, he didn't meet anyone along the way, as if in just a few dozen minutes, this house had become completely empty.

And after arriving on the third floor, Difa walked toward the manor's master bedroom. Xia De subconsciously slowed his pace, and the maid, who had long guessed he would do this, turned her head and said again:

"Isn't it reasonable for the Duchess's most precious treasure to be placed in the bedroom?"

"If I remember correctly, you said the same thing when you brought me the potion last time."

Xia De pointed out, then saw Difa wink at him:

"Xia De, do you really not know what we are going to do?"

Xia De looked at the tightly closed door. If he hadn't realized it before coming to the manor, he understood it long ago now.

"You are hesitating."

Difa said, then didn't give Xia De a chance to interrupt, her black eyes looking at him:

"Think carefully, Xia De. Since she has already made up her mind, are you the one hesitating and refusing to move forward?"

She didn't give Xia De a chance to speak at all, directly taking his hand and continuing to walk forward. There was a smile on her face because she didn't feel any force in the opposite direction at all.

Xia De followed Difa into the master bedroom and found that the curtains were tightly closed, but red silk was hung all over the room, making the room look like a maze made of silk cloth. Not a single gas lamp in the room was turned on; the light source was those red dwarf candles standing on the floor, which made Xia De very worried about fire safety.

The specially made candles had a strange fragrance when burned, and the incense burner placed on the table by the wall made the smell in this pink maze-like room even more breathless.

Difa, with a smile, led Xia De through layers of red curtains and across red candles in the increasingly thick scent. Finally, they arrived at the bed. The large, soft bed was surrounded by thin gauze curtains, and through the curtains, one could see the graceful body lying on its side on the bed.

"Knight, look, the reward for you is right here."

Difa said with a smile.

"Hmm..."

"I really don't know if you're really stupid or pretending to be stupid."

The Duchess, wearing a gorgeous red long dress, waved her hand at her personal maid, who smiled, stepped back, left the room, and closed the door.

Galina Cavendish looked at the man standing by the bed, her golden eyes shining amazingly at this moment:

"In this manor, is there anything more precious than me? I thought you would have thought of this when you heard the reward content in the morning."

She sat up straight, lifted the layer of thin curtains, and saw Xia De standing against the background of red silk and dotted candles.

She saw the expression she hoped to see on that face, but also saw a serious expression that shouldn't have appeared at this time, like an angel judging a mortal:

"I hope you can think it through, rather than doing it because of what someone else did."

Xia De rarely showed such a serious expression in front of her, but in the atmosphere at this moment, this not only didn't make her angry, but instead made her feel as if a flame was burning in her chest.

Her face was flushed, and the temperature of her cheeks was rising. Especially when thinking that the young man in front of her was a "God's Favored One" who had truly carried the power of the holy Silver Moon Old God:

"I know what you mean, but this is my own idea. I originally had many concerns, yes, many."

Golden eyes gazed into Xia De's eyes, and she could see Xia De's thoughts at this moment from those eyes:

"But judging from the current situation, if I don't make a move, maybe even Angelina will laugh at me in the future."

"What does this have to do with Princess Angelina..."

"Don't interrupt me, Xia De."

Her voice was very gentle, and the emotion contained in her eyes was even gentler. It seemed a bit too hot here. Although Xia De restrained himself to stay calm, he could still feel his heavy breathing.

"Originally, I still couldn't make up my mind, so I chose to let fate decide whether doing this was right. I gave you five tests; if you could achieve them, it would mean that fate also allowed me to do this."

Xia De opened his mouth but didn't say anything.

"Difa and the others know me very well; she probably gave you a hint. As long as you found three, I would assume you had already completed them. The Holy Grail consumes time, which determines whether you value this matter; the crown tests your skills as a Ringed Sorcerer, examining whether you are smart enough and know how to use power; your heart represents your feelings for me..."

This was her truest thought, and as the curtains were completely lifted, Xia De also saw her attire at this moment. The red dress was actually a thin nightgown. On her legs, which were pressed underneath due to her side-sitting posture, were thin stockings that felt like skin itself:

"As for the fountain of endless fine wine, it was a dream I had in my childhood. The dream actually also included 'the flame that never goes out' and 'the unicorn,' but I know you have these."

The flame refers to the "Primordial Fire," and Xia De can go to the Academy to borrow a unicorn.

"And the Philosopher's Stone is a treasure that I thought even you would absolutely never be able to find. So, you only needed to bring three to pass my test.

The crown represents power, wine represents dreams, the Holy Grail represents holiness, the Philosopher's Stone represents wealth, and the last is your feelings. This is not a mystical ritual, but a ritual I chose for myself... a ritual of heart and emotion, which can be considered a unique, um, marriage proposal method. My marriage proposal to you."

The expression on Xia De's face moved for a moment, and the witch said with a smile:

"Look at you, moved by me? Or sad because of guilt? Xia De, oh Xia De, if you keep acting like this, you will be played with in the palms of the Cavendish family girls for the rest of your life."

Actually, it wasn't just five items. About an hour ago, the black-haired maid said gently that she was willing to become an extra sixth test, testing the knight's methods for the Duchess in advance. Of course, these things were not suitable to think about now.

Galina Cavendish reached out her hand to Xia De:

"You unexpectedly and perfectly completed all my tests, even better than I thought. So, fate is also catering to me; fate doesn't want to go against Galina Cavendish's intentions either. I don't need to hesitate anymore; my soul tells me what I want to do. And now, I need your answer."

She looked at him, and he was also looking at her:

"If you are prepared, I will not back down. Although I know that I am going further and further on the wrong path, at least in front of you, I will not back down. This is also my wish."

The smile in her golden eyes became more obvious. She straightened her body slightly, and the fabric on her legs rubbed against each other inadvertently as she stood up:

"I like hearing you say things like that, I've always liked it... Xia De Suren Hamilton, please look into my eyes."

The two continued to stare at each other, and the red-haired witch asked:

"In the future, when we are alone in private, can you call me by my name directly?"

"I think it's possible, Galina."

A smile appeared on her red lips, which were specially painted with lipstick:

"In the midsummer of 1853, when I first met you at the Lucky Southern Cross Club, I didn't expect there would be such a day."

Her hand reached out toward the bed and then hooked onto his hand:

"I don't need any subtlety; tell me now, do you like me?"

"Of course, not just the witch's appearance, but also your soul. In this boring era, it's hard for me to find a soul that shares my interests and is so interesting."

Xia De said very seriously. Compared to the hometown of the Outlander, the Steam Era was boring in both customs and fashion. But the soul of the witch Galina Cavendish was really interesting; witches were never bound by the era:

"My initial thought about you was to thank you for your help. But contact after contact, experiencing various things time after time..."

The witch licked her lips:

"I also like the way you look, wanting to speak but not knowing what to say. Alright, Knight, I didn't ask you to come here just to stand and talk to me. May I ask..."

She pulled Xia De lightly, her smile carrying a charming look:

"Are you ready to accept your reward?"

And so Xia De's body leaned forward with this force and knelt by the bed, but he still had one thing to mention:

"But..."

"Ressia knows about this, yes, Luvia Anate also knows; I won't make things difficult for you."

She leaned her head forward and rubbed her nose lightly against Xia De's cheek, as if sniffing something. The tip of her nose brushed across the skin of his cheek, and the scent of the witch rushed into his nasal cavity—it was a warm fragrance, the temperature belonging to a living person, a burning heart and soul.

It seemed even hotter here than just now.

"One more question."

"If you dare to ask my age, even now, I will punch you."

"No."

He looked at her:

"I want to know your middle name."

For a moment, it was as if some string had been plucked, and the soul in her golden eyes almost burned Xia De as well. Her red lips pursed, and then she gave the answer:

"Elena. It doesn't have any meaning; it's my grandmother's name."

"Galina Elena Cavendish..."

Xia De recited her full name, and the witch pointed her finger at his mouth:

"I have also heard stories about you and the princess. Since you can serve the princess well, you can also serve the Duchess well, right?"

She smiled and took one of Xia De's hands, placing it on her leg. After seeing Xia De's expression, she laughed softly and pulled Xia De completely onto the bed. Afterward, the curtains around the bed fell, covering all the scenes inside.

In the windless room, the red silk swayed gently, and the candlelight flickered ambiguously.

"The princess once praised the knight's bravery, but today, the one you are going to conquer is a real witch. Hamilton of Lei Jiede, are you ready? You must perform well."

The candles in the room were almost all extinguished at this moment, leaving only the candles at the four corners of the bedposts, reflecting two burning souls.

PS1: Try to write this kind of plot romantically.

PS2: In the future, the text will still use the address "Miss Galina," and only in Xia De's dialogue will the address "Galina" be used to highlight the status of the Great Witch.

PS3: It's the last day of February, please vote.