I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

Lynn sat up, looked at the food on the table, and had no appetite at all.

His current physical condition is very strange.

The life-saving potion healed his physical wounds, but the magic-suppressing chains were like a rusty saw, constantly cutting into his mental energy.

For a mage or warlock, magic is their second life.

The inability to meditate or communicate with the elements for extended periods feels like forcibly submerging a bird accustomed to soaring in the sky into the water, driving one to the brink of suffocation and madness.

Lynn took a deep breath and forced herself to eat a few bites.

He must conserve his strength.

Even if there is no opportunity now, he must always be prepared.

As evening fell, Enoria returned.

She was in even worse shape today than yesterday; her beautiful face was clouded with gloom, and her eyes held an uncontrollable murderous intent.

Instead of heading straight for the liquor cabinet as usual, she walked to the bedside and looked down at Lynn.

"Something has happened in Holy Song City."

"Your accomplice, Nora, joined forces with Marquis Laurent and slaughtered half of the nobles in the city hall. Now, the entire Holy Song City has completely broken away from the control of the royal family."

Lynn's heart skipped a beat, but her face remained expressionless.

Nora, well done!

He had known all along that Nora was definitely not someone to be trifled with.

Give her a spark and she can set the entire grassland ablaze.

"What does this have to do with me?" Lynn shrugged, looking completely innocent. "I've been locked up here by you for days. Do you think I can command them to rebel from afar?"

Looking at Enolia's face, slightly distorted with anger, he suddenly felt that this high and mighty empress dowager was actually quite pitiful.

She thought that by seizing power, she had control over everything. But she would never understand that some things cannot be bought with power.

For example, trust, and sharing life and death.

"Your Majesty, are you very afraid?" Lynn said softly, his warm breath brushing against Elolia's face. "Are you afraid that the commoners you trample underfoot will one day storm into this palace and trample you underfoot too?"

“I’m scared?” Enoria shoved Lynn away as if she’d heard the funniest joke, straightening up abruptly. “I am the ruler of the kingdom! I will kill them all! Leave no one alive!”

“You can’t kill them all.” Lynn shook his head. “As long as you have worries in your heart, you will always be a loser.”

These words struck a nerve with Enoria.

She suddenly raised her hand, as if she wanted to slap Lynn.

But Lynn didn't flinch; he just looked at her calmly.

Finally, Enoria's hand stopped in mid-air. She gritted her teeth, her chest heaving violently, and after a long while, she dejectedly lowered her hand.

“You’re right, I can’t kill them all.” Her voice suddenly sounded tired. “But I can kill you.”

"Are you willing to do that?" Lynn's lips curled into a mocking smile. "If you kill me, who will satisfy you tonight?"

“Lynn, don’t get too cocky,” Enoria said coldly. “Even if Holy Song City falls into chaos, even if someone rebels in your name, you will always remain my kept mantle, my pet in my room.”

After saying that, she turned and walked towards the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

Lynn stared at the closed bathroom door, her eyes gradually turning cold.

forever?

Nothing in this world lasts forever.

He had to find a way to break this deadlock. Now that Holy Song City had begun its operation, the Royal City would definitely be affected as well. Enoria was under immense pressure; this was his chance.

Chapter 196

Lynn walked back to the drawer.

"Click".

Lynn's fingers were as steady as a rock, and the metal spike he had broken off the vase was firmly wedged into the physical and mechanical structure of the magic lock.

Although his magic was imprisoned, the physical lock-picking techniques he had learned in his previous life were not sealed. Enoria was too superstitious about magic; she probably never dreamed that the mechanical gears inside this magic lock mixed with mithril would be so primitive.

Lynn slowly pulled open the drawer, her breathing becoming lighter.

There were no mountains of classified documents as one might expect, no alchemical blueprints to unlock the magic-suppressing chains, and nothing that could threaten the royal family's rule.

At the bottom of the large drawer lay a scroll wrapped in fine cloth, all alone.

Lynn frowned, dragging the heavy chain, and took out the scroll with one hand.

He used his thumb to loosen the ribbon, and with a flick of his wrist, the scroll unfurled in mid-air.

Lynn's gaze fell on the drawing paper, and she froze instantly.

The painting depicts a young girl.

At the age of sixteen or seventeen, she sat barefoot by a clear stream, wearing a simple floral dress devoid of any aristocratic embellishments.

Her hair was not styled into a neat bun as it is now, but rather casually draped over her shoulders, with a few playful stray hairs clinging to her cheeks.

What struck Lynn most was her eyes and her smile.

Those were crystal-clear eyes, filled only with curiosity and tenderness towards the world. Her lips curved upwards, her smile so radiant and innocent.

However, it is still obvious from her appearance that this person is Enochia.

Lynn stared at the painting for a full two minutes, his mind filled with images of the Empress Dowager.

The contrast is too great.

So much so that if it weren't for the fact that their facial features were completely identical, Lynn would have even suspected that this was a stand-in that Enoria had found from somewhere.

"Time and power are truly two butcher's knives."

He couldn't imagine what kind of betrayal, killing, and power struggles could have transformed the innocent and naive girl in the painting into what she is now.

Lynn rolled the scroll up again, put it back in the drawer, carefully pulled out the metal spike, wiped away all traces, and then pushed the drawer back into place.

He had just tucked the metal spike into his sleeve when the sound of hurried high heels came from outside the corridor.

Lynn immediately turned around, dragged the chains back to the bedside, and leaned lazily against the headboard.

"boom!"

The heavy golden door was pushed open roughly, and Enoria walked in, bringing with her a chilling aura.

Today she was wearing a deep purple, belted long dress, the gorgeous skirt adorned with a few unmelted snowflakes. Her face was horribly pale, and her eyes held a restlessness that seemed to want to tear a person apart.

She didn't say anything, but walked straight to the bedside and stared down at Lynn.

Lynn met her gaze without fear, his eyes brazenly sweeping from her taut jawline down her high chest, finally settling on her cold eyes.

"What? Skipping the foreplay today?" Lynn raised an eyebrow, his tone undisguisedly provocative.

Enoria gave a cold laugh, then suddenly leaned forward, grabbed Lynn by the collar, and pulled him towards her. The distance between them instantly shrank to less than an inch, their breaths mingling.

"Lynn, do you think you've already won?" Enochia's voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of gritted teeth.

"When did I say I won?" Lynn let her pull him, a nonchalant smile still on his lips. "I'm just a prisoner locked in bed by you, Your Majesty the Empress Dowager."

"Stop playing dumb with me!" Enoria shoved him back onto the bed and pressed herself against him, forcing one leg between Lynn's. "You think I don't know what you're thinking? You think I won't dare kill you? You think you can humiliate me with impunity just because you hold Olivier's life in your hands?"

Lynn did not resist, but gently stroked Enoria's tense back with his free hand, feeling the tension in her body that was about to explode.

“Isn’t that right?” Lynn retorted.

Enolia suddenly burst into laughter, a somewhat manic laugh. She abruptly lowered her head and bit down hard on Lynn's collarbone. The bite was extremely forceful, and she instantly tasted blood.

Lynn groaned, but instead of pushing her away, she wrapped her arms around her waist and pressed her even closer.

“Lynn, I admit, I really don’t dare to gamble.” Enoria raised her head, her lips stained with Lynn’s blood, looking incredibly alluring in the dim light. “But I also know that you don’t dare either.”

Lynn paused slightly.

“You don’t know how to use that thing that could make Olivier lose control.” Enoria’s eyes were sharp as knives, as if she could see through Lynn’s soul. “You’re a smart man, but you have a ridiculous bottom line in your bones. You know what the royal city will become once Olivier turns into a monster. Thousands of people will die, and the kingdom will completely fall apart. You don’t want to see that happen, so you don’t dare to crush it.”

Looking at the woman in front of him, Lynn had to admit that she was indeed an extremely formidable politician.

Yes, Lynn would not allow such a bloody tragedy to happen; that was his bottom line.

"Since you've seen through everything, then why do you pounce on me like a madwoman every night?" Lynn whispered in her ear, his tone full of provocation.

These words completely ignited Enoria's suppressed anger.

Without a word, she reached out and grabbed Lynn's collar, announcing the start of this power struggle anew with the coldest of gestures.

In this secluded palace, they were like two wild beasts trapped in a cage. Neither could kill the other completely, nor could they escape. They could only vent their unsettled fear and pressure by tearing at each other and conquering one another.

As Lynn looked at Enolia, whose eyes were glazed over yet fierce, the image of the portrait in the drawer involuntarily surfaced in his mind.

The innocent and naive girl and the mad ruler before them were strangely intertwined at this moment.

Enolia leaned against the headboard, exhausted, panting heavily. The arrogant aura she had displayed earlier was gone; now she was just a tired, ordinary woman.

Lynn leaned against the headboard, playing with a stray lock of Elolia's hair with one hand, his eyes clear and devoid of any lingering lust.

"Now, can we talk about the matter of Holy Song City calmly?" Lynn broke the silence, his tone as calm as if he were discussing the weather.

Enoria's body stiffened slightly, but she didn't get up. Instead, she shifted to a more comfortable position and pressed her face against Lynn's heartbeat.

“What’s there to talk about?” She closed her eyes, her voice heavy with exhaustion. “Nora and your bunch of cronies ransacked the city hall. Viscount Babbitt’s head is hanging on the city gate, and now the entire Holy Song City is ablaze.”

Lynn's lips curled up slightly: "Nora is a smart woman. If those nobles hadn't driven her to the brink, she wouldn't have been so extreme. Let me guess, did those nobles do something so outrageous and foolish behind your back?"

Enoria snorted coldly, without denying it.

"Taking advantage of the heavy snow, they cut off the relief supplies to the lower city, intending to resell them at a high price." Enoria's tone revealed undisguised disgust. "A bunch of short-sighted idiots. I gave them power to maintain checks and balances, not to force the common people to revolt."

"Not only that, is it?" Lynn keenly grasped the key point. "If it were just about stealing food, Nora would at most kill the mastermind. For her to go on a killing spree and wipe out the entire city hall, it must be because she knows something else."

Lynn lowered his head and looked into Enolia's eyes: "You're the one who spread the news that I'm being imprisoned in the palace, aren't you?"

Enoria suddenly opened her eyes, gave Lynn a complicated look, and then closed them again.

“Yes. I deliberately leaked the news.” Enoria said calmly. “I originally wanted to use your life or death to test the bottom line of those rebels and see how much they really cared about you, but I didn’t expect their reaction to be so strong.”

"You've gone too far," Lynn mocked without any politeness.

"The death of a few nobles is nothing to worry about." Enoria curled her lip in disdain. "The old nobles are like leeks; once you cut one crop, a new one will always grow. As long as the royal army is still in my hands, Holy Song City will not be able to turn upside down."

"So what do you plan to do?" Lynn pressed on. "Holy Song City is still nominally part of the kingdom's territory. You can't just stand by and watch it become independent, can you? Send troops to suppress it?"

"Suppress? Suppress with what?" Enoria sneered, looking at Lynn as if he were an idiot. "It's the dead of winter now, the mountains are snowbound, the roads are icy. If the Royal City's heavy armored knights set off now, half of them would freeze to death before they even reached Holy Song City! What's more..."

She paused for a moment, a complex and helpless look flashing in her eyes.

"Moreover, intelligence reports that after Burning Fire took over the city, they opened the nobles' granaries and distributed food. They also resettled the refugees from the lower city into the vacant noble manors and even organized people to clear the snow and repair the houses. Now, the common people of Holy Song City regard Nora as their savior."

Enoria took a deep breath, her tone carrying the sorrow of a ruler: "If I send troops to fight them now, I will be forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians and the royal family in the entire Holy Song City to fight to the death. I may be ruthless, but I am not stupid."

Lynn looked at her and couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for this woman.

Although she was cruel and extremely controlling, she was indeed very clear-headed when it came to the big picture. She knew when to kill and when to compromise.

"So, you're just going to accept it like this?" Lynn raised an eyebrow.

“It’s only temporary,” Enoria said coldly. “Once the ice and snow melt in spring, I will personally go to Holy Song City. As for now…”

She turned her head, staring intently at Lynn, her eyes once again blazing with that aggressive fire.

"As for now, all I want is for you to serve me well."

As she spoke, she leaned in again and pinned Lynn down.

"Lynn, guess what Nora's expression would be if she knew that their god-like hero pants like a dog in my bed every night?"

Lynn looked at her defiant gaze, sneered, and suddenly flipped over, pinning Enolia down beneath him.

"Your Highness, have you got the roles backwards?" Lynn lowered his head and bit her earlobe, his voice hoarse. "Don't you know who's breathing?"

Noon the next day.

The door to the bedchamber was pushed open, and Enoria entered, followed by two trembling maids. They carried a tall stack of parchment scrolls, placed them on the desk, and then withdrew, locking the door behind them.

Without even changing her clothes, Enoria went straight to her desk, sat down, and rubbed her temples in frustration.

Lynn lay on the carpet, staring at the ceiling listlessly. Over the past few days, he had figured out the pattern: whenever Enolia brought government affairs into her bedchamber, it meant that the situation outside had deteriorated to the point where she felt annoyed even if she stayed in the study for just one more second.