I'm really not a Sanctuary Warlock.

Lynn sat back on the large velvet bed, her hands folded behind her head.

“Winter is over, Lynn.” Enochia didn’t turn around, but gently swirled the wine in her glass, her voice carrying a rare languor and weariness.

"What? Is Your Majesty indulging in melancholy?" Lynn's lips curled into a mocking smile. "This is unlike you. I remember when you were choking me in bed, your tone was much colder."

Enoria turned around, her beautiful eyes no longer holding their usual sharpness and arrogance. She slowly walked to the bedside, looking down at Lynn.

"The situation in Holy Song City is getting out of control." Enoria took a sip of red wine, her tone as calm as if she were discussing the weather. "That woman Nora is indeed capable, opening granaries and gathering refugees. But she's too naive. Does she think that by ousting those old nobles, Holy Song City will be reborn?"

Lynn's eyes narrowed slightly, but his face remained impassive: "What? Have your vampires finally lost their patience and are ready to reap the rewards?"

“They’re not my men,” Enoria sneered. “They’re those reclusive, old-school grand dukes. Winter is over, and trade routes have reopened. As a transportation hub in the west, Holy Song City is now a piece of meat without any army to protect it. Nora’s Burning Flame can handle a few local viscounts, but against the private armies of real nobles, they’re not even good enough to fill a tooth gap.”

Lynn remained silent, but he knew Enoria was telling the truth. Nora had ideals and passion, but lacked substance. Without the deterrent of the kingdom's regular army, Holy Song City would sooner or later be torn to shreds by the old nobles who came drawn by the scent of blood.

"So what?" Lynn looked at her coldly. "Are you telling me all this to see me in a helpless rage, or to make me kneel down and beg you to send troops to protect them?"

Enoria stared at Lynn for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed.

She put down her wine glass, suddenly bent down, and reached out to grab the magic-suppressing chain on Lynn's wrist.

Lynn frowned slightly, his body tensing instinctively. He thought this crazy woman was up to something new again.

However, the next second.

Enoria took out a black key engraved with runes from her spatial ring and inserted it into the lock without hesitation.

"click"

A crisp click sounded as the mechanism clicked.

The Starry Mithril shackles that had bound Lynn for an entire winter suddenly slipped off his wrists without warning and slammed heavily onto the soft bed.

Lynn was stunned.

He had imagined countless ways to escape this palace, but he never thought that the empress dowager, whose controlling nature was outrageous, would personally untie his shackles.

"boom!"

The instant the chains broke, the magic that had been suppressed for an entire winter surged wildly within Lynn's body like a flood bursting its banks. The surrounding elements cheered and converged upon him.

Lynn took a deep breath, feeling that long-lost, powerful force filling his entire body. His eyes instantly turned dangerous.

"Are you crazy?" Lynn's voice was terrifyingly low. "Aren't you afraid that the first thing I'll do when I regain my magic is to snap your neck?"

Enolia did not back down. She didn't even raise any defensive magic. She just stood quietly by the bed, looking at Lynn.

“You won’t,” Enoria said softly. “If you break my neck, you won’t be able to leave this palace, and the people in Holy Song City will immediately face the royal family’s purging.”

Lynn narrowed his eyes: "So what do you mean by this? Have you suddenly had a change of heart?"

“Alice, you have no chance of taking her away.” Enoria looked directly into Lynn’s eyes, her tone leaving no room for doubt. “She has touched the edge of divine authority, and the royal family will not let her leave. She is safe at the top of the mage tower now, and no one can harm her, but you absolutely cannot take her away.”

“But…” Enoria’s tone shifted, a hint of compromise flashing in her beautiful eyes, “I can let you go. You can go back to Holy Song City.”

Lynn stared at her in astonishment.

"Help me stabilize the situation there, okay?" For the first time ever, Enoria's tone carried a hint of pleading.

The fact that she said those words was more unbelievable than the sun rising in the west.

“Nora can’t control those nobles, but I can’t openly send troops to help her right now, because that would completely enrage the entire noble class and trigger a civil war.” Enoria took a deep breath. “Go back and chop off the claws of all those nobles who dare to reach out, and turn Holy Song City into an impenetrable iron plate that no one can bite.”

Lynn looked at Enoria and suddenly laughed, the laughter echoing in the bedchamber, carrying undisguised mockery.

"Your Majesty, you've got a really clever plan. Not only did you take advantage of my body all winter for free, but now you want to use me as a free henchman to handle those troubles that you can't personally deal with?"

“This isn’t for me, it’s for the people you care about.” Enoria suddenly raised her voice, her chest heaving violently.

Lynn's smile faded; he knew that Elolia was telling the truth.

The air inside the bedchamber seemed to freeze.

Lynn moved his wrists, and the red marks left by the anti-magic chains were slowly fading as his powerful physique recovered. He felt the surging magic power within him, and that sense of security of being in control of everything finally returned to him.

“Let me return to Holy Song City, fine.” Lynn raised his head, “But why should I believe you won’t turn on me and wipe out Burning Fire after I’ve dealt with those nobles?”

“You can only trust me,” Enoria said coldly, “just as I can only trust you.”

She suddenly stepped forward, looking down at Lynn with a newfound dominance in her eyes: "But I have one condition."

"explain."

“After you’ve finished everything over there, you must come back,” Enoria said, emphasizing each word. “Once you’ve dealt with the troubles in Holy Song City, come obediently back to my side.”

Lynn raised an eyebrow: "What if I don't come back?"

"Then I'll send Nirvana to capture you."

"No matter where you hide on the mainland, no matter who you're with, Annihilation will kill everyone who stands in your way, break your arms and legs, and drag you back to this bed. Lynn, I'm not kidding."

Lynn looked into her eyes, which were filled with madness and obsession, and said nothing. He knew that this woman was absolutely capable of doing such a thing.

"There's one more thing."

Enoria suddenly turned around, walked to the dressing table, and opened a drawer. When she turned around again, she held a black ebony box that exuded a cold, eerie aura.

"Snapped."

She casually tossed the box onto the bed, where it landed right next to Lynn's hand.

"If I'm not mistaken, it was Nightingale, that rat in the gutter, who gave you the disguise badge and let you sneak into the palace, right?" A contemptuous sneer curled at the corner of Enoria's mouth. "You really think the palace's defenses are sieves? If I hadn't deliberately let you through, you wouldn't have even made it through the first gate."

Lynn's pupils contracted slightly. He looked at the black box on the bed; it was the sealed eye that Nightingale had entrusted him to find.

"You already knew?"

“I know far more than you think.” Enoria walked to the bedside, a hint of mockery in her eyes. “She wants her eyes, and I can give them to her. After all, a rat that has been crippled for over a decade can’t cause much trouble even if it gets its eyes back.”

“Take this to her.” Enoria raised her chin. “Tell her that this is the last act of mercy from the royal family. Take this and get out of the royal city. If I find her up to something again in the royal city, I will personally gouge out her other eye.”

Lynn looked at the black box beside him, then at the lofty Enolia in front of him.

Things went unusually smoothly.

He not only regained his freedom and magic, but also easily obtained the item Nightingale had requested.

Enoria simply let him go.

Lynn didn't ask any more questions. All he needed to know was that he could now leave this awful place and return to Anna and Lisa.

"Your Highness."

Lynn suddenly spoke, his voice low and somewhat hoarse.

Enoria was slightly taken aback: "What? Now you know you should say thank you..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lynn suddenly sprang up and grabbed Enolia's wrist.

"What are you doing?" Enoria exclaimed.

But Lynn didn't give her a chance to react. He pulled hard, dragging Enolia down onto the bed, then rolled over and pinned her beneath him.

Enoria's pupils dilated instantly as she watched Lynn mercilessly wrap the chain that was originally used to restrain him around her slender wrist.

"No... Lynn..."

Their identities were completely reversed.

On this vibrant spring morning, only a pool of spring water remained inside the palace.

……

Two hours later.

Lynn stood by the bed, slowly putting on the black mage's robe and fastening the belt.

Enoria lay slumped on the messy bed, covered by half a silk quilt, revealing her shoulders covered in red marks.

Her long hair was soaked with sweat and clung to her cheeks. Her eyes, which always seemed to hold a calculating quality, were slightly closed at this moment, and an ultimate lingering charm remained between her brows.

Lynn picked up the ebony box on the table and glanced at the woman on the bed.

"I am leaving."

Enoria didn't open her eyes, but uttered a few words in a hoarse voice: "Remember your promise. If you don't come back, I'll kill you no matter where you are."

Lynn did not answer. He put on his invisibility cloak, pushed open the window of his bedchamber, and his figure instantly blended into the wind of the royal city.

The underground black market of the royal city is always permeated with a pungent smell of moldy ale and cheap tobacco.

Wearing a cloak, Lynn walked through the noisy underground tavern and skillfully pushed open the door to an abandoned storage room in the corner.

The room was dark, and in the dim light, a slender figure draped in a gray cloak leaned against the corner of the wall. The left eye, covered by a metal eye patch, looked particularly cold in the darkness.

nightingale.

You're late.

Nightingale's voice was still as unpleasant as sandpaper rubbing against glass. She turned her head, her only remaining right eye staring at Lynn as he pushed open the door and entered.

"You promised a week, but you ended up staying in the palace for a whole season," Nightingale sneered. "I thought you were dead inside."

Lynn ignored her taunts and simply pulled the ebony box from his pocket and threw it at her.

"Snapped."

Nightingale caught the box steadily. The moment her fingers touched it, her body trembled violently, and a burst of fanatical light erupted from her right eye, which had been devoid of emotion.

She didn't open the box immediately, but instead held it in her arms as if it were her life.

"I've brought out what you wanted." Lynn looked at her, his voice cold. "Our deal is done."

Nightingale looked up and gave Lynn a deep look: "You actually managed to escape unscathed from that madwoman Enoria, and even got this eye."

“Don’t be too happy yet.” Lynn interrupted her mercilessly. “Enolia already knew that you were the one who brought me into the palace. She asked me to give this to you and to pass on a message.”

The nightingale froze abruptly.

"Take what you need and get out of the royal city right now." Lynn looked at her coldly. "If she finds out you're up to no good in the royal city again, she'll gouge out your other eye herself."

The nightingale was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a soft laugh.

"Did she think that by returning the eye to me, she could pretend that nothing had happened?" Nightingale stroked the black box in her hand. "Lynn, you have no idea what's sealed inside this eye. What the royal family owes me, I will collect with interest."

"That's your business, it has nothing to do with me."

Lynn turned around and pushed the door open. He had no interest in the royal power struggles or Nightingale's revenge plan. He just wanted to get out of this stinking place as soon as possible.

"Lynn."

Just as Lynn was about to step out the door, Nightingale suddenly called out to him.

"In return for helping me retrieve my eyes, I'll give you some free information." Nightingale's voice echoed eerily in the darkness. "The trouble in Holy Song City is far greater than you imagine. There are suspicions that someone is conducting a sacrificial ritual."

Lynn stopped abruptly, but he didn't turn around. He just snorted and walked straight out of the underground tavern.

Sacrifice? Whatever those nobles want to do, once he returns, he will chop off every claw reaching for Holy Song City, one by one.

……

Half an hour later, outside the north gate of the royal city.

Lynn stood on the wasteland where most of the snow had melted, and took a deep breath of the fresh early spring air.

He silently recited a spell in his mind, communicating with the ancient forest in his spiritual world.

"Om."

A holy white beam of light descended from the sky.

As the light faded, the pure white Holy Spirit Unicorn with a spiral horn on its forehead let out a joyful cry and affectionately nuzzled Lynn's palm with its head.

"Old friend, it's been a long time."

Lynn stroked the unicorn's soft mane and mounted the horse.

"Let's go home."

At Lynn's command, the Holy Spirit Unicorn transformed into a white streak of light, like lightning tearing the earth apart, and raced toward Holy Song City.

The wind was howling in my ears, and the scenery on both sides was rushing past me.

Winter has passed, and the spring breeze caresses this land that has endured so much suffering. Along the way, withered trees begin to sprout new buds, and the frozen rivers begin to murmur with flowing water.

Lynn lay on the unicorn's back, feeling the wind blowing in his face.

It's been several months.