Become their wicked yet gentle lord.

Looking at Hetia's expression, Ryuga guessed that she probably knew that he had bewitched Kira to do his work, after all, a knight's senses are very sharp.

"No," Hetia answered decisively.

Even though she wanted to complain, Liu Xia was not only ruthless, but also organized things perfectly. And with just a few words, he got the beautiful Qi La, whom he had just met, to do things for him, and she even seemed to have a crush on him. This little devil… Oops! Master, I meant Master!

Even if she had the guts to kill Bran and start a war, she wouldn't have dared to complain.

"You...you should know that I can read your mind, right?"

A cold laugh came from behind, making Hetia shudder. She understood that Ryuka's ability to see through things was not due to his ability to break the slave contract, but rather to his keen observation and overconfident, forceful judgment.

In other words, once Ryuka decides that he thinks that way, it's all over.

She began to regret her overconfidence and failure to control her expression. Perhaps the battle had reignited her passion and true nature, making her forget how terrifying Ryūka was.

"I...I didn't think of anything," Hetia still desperately tried to deny.

Ryuka didn't answer her question, but just spoke loudly and exaggeratedly.

"Ah~ Where did that cork go? I remember having it in my bag... Miss Hetia, have you ever seen an oval cork this size, pointed at the front and flat at the back?"

A chill ran down Hetia's spine, reminding her of painful memories, especially since Ryusha had spoken so loudly. Although the others heard it, they didn't understand what it meant, but Hetia not only understood, but her buttocks and stomach also began to ache slightly.

"Ah~ I found it, this is it, it's with the water bag."

Ruka seemed not to hear Hetia's apology, and loudly pulled a water pouch with a strange pointed spout and a cork from her bag. Although the person behind her couldn't see it, Hetia's face had already turned pale.

"Hey? Should we use it next time we set up camp?" Ryuga squinted, her whispered words striking Hetia's heart like battering rams.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong!" Hetia's tone became agitated, and she pleaded in a low voice like a little girl, "Master Ryusha, I will never dare to do it again!"

"What will happen if you make the same mistake again?" the black-haired little devil continued smugly.

"If you do it again, I'll... I'll pour cold water down your throat and make you wear this..." The red-haired female knight gritted her teeth.

"You said it yourself. If you get carried away again, not only will this happen, but there will be two or three times the punishment waiting for you."

Ryusha would never risk being exposed to torment Hetia, especially in front of Sister Luminova, but Hetia was already terrified and obediently restrained herself, trembling.

"But I'm still going to teach you a lesson tonight, so you'll remember it well."

Ryūka's words struck Hetia like a thunderbolt. She stared at Ryūka with wide eyes, squeezing out a desperate sob through her teeth.

"You...you can't do that...you promised you wouldn't touch my virginity...and you promised you wouldn't use this thing this time!"

"Don't worry about those two things, but there are many ways to punish someone, aren't there? Just like last time we were camping. You seem to have gotten too cocky lately."

As the saying goes, imagination and waiting are the most agonizing things. It was still a long night ahead, and Ryuka eagerly anticipated Hetia's continued inner turmoil.

Seeing Hetia's ashen face, Ryusha needed to calm her down to prevent the rescue operation from going wrong. While using the stick as a threat, a carrot was also essential. (The last sentence appears to be unrelated and possibly a fragment from another context.)

"So you'd better perform well in the rescue operation this afternoon, or things will get really bad tonight."

Ryuuya revealed a wicked smile, then switched to a harmless expression the next second, and asked Evelyn, who was walking up behind him.

"Evelyn, can you ride a horse? No? Should I take you, or should Sister Hetia take you?"

Chapter 20 Snow and Ice, Bear Witness to Our Vows

As the golden twilight descended, ice and blood adorned the shattered manor. Ryuka pressed his frostbitten right arm, realizing he had underestimated the rescue operation...

There weren't many soldiers left at Bran Manor, and Ryuga originally thought that using Bran's warrant would make it easy to rescue them. Even if a conflict broke out, he and Hetia were strong enough to handle it...

But the ice and snow mage floating in the air shattered his expectations with cold winds and ice blades.

A wide-brimmed mage's hat and an ice-blue robe encased her impressive figure. Her short, blue-green hair gave her a tomboyish look, and her beautiful face wore a confident smile. Her icy pupils reflected the defeated scene of Ryuuka kneeling on one knee.

Melanie Snowfield, a graduate of the Imperial Military Academy's College of Magic, was last year's top student. Two years older than Hetia, Melanie's family supports the Third Prince, and the two have been bitter enemies since their time at the academy.

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know she had already advanced…” Beside Ryusha, Hetia, also covered in ice and snow, struggled to maintain her fighting stance.

A group of people huddled in the corner included Lindsay's companions from when she set out, as well as several other groups of the princess's faction that had been captured.

At the front was Evelyn, holding a girl who looked 90% like her. The difference was that Evelyn looked like a country bumpkin, while the other girl was dressed exquisitely, or rather, too mature and seductive.

Elena, Evelyn's twin sister, was the daughter of a serf family near Bran Manor.

The two naturally beautiful women were taught by their parents from a young age to dress in a disheveled manner in order to protect themselves. However, Elena's beauty was revealed one night when she was washing herself by the river, and she was caught by Bran's butler and taken to the manor within a few days.

"Once you've trained her in etiquette and skills, you'll send her before Lord Bran," he said. Meanwhile, Evelyn's father was beaten to death when he came to plead for her life; his body was still hanging on the flagpole outside half an hour earlier.

Evelyn's mother, traumatized and suffering from a heart condition, died that same day. Two days later, a slave escape occurred at Bran's plantation. Evelyn, having buried her mother, also escaped from the landowners amidst the chaos, but her sister was not among the escaped slaves.

That's why she volunteered to lead the way for Ryūka, hoping he could rescue her sister, Irene.

The first half went smoothly. Ryuka used the token and the copied [Charm] skill to enter the manor's prison and release the princess's faction. They were not mistreated much, since most of them were students from the capital.

Evelyn also found her sister in a nicely decorated room, where a madam was instructing Elena on the 'skills' of serving nobles. Afterwards, she and the butler were hung on a flagpole by Ryūsha.

Evelyn's father's body was also taken down; the poor man's body weighed less than eighty pounds.

All the changes stemmed from Hetia hearing from her rescued companions that the person guarding them was the 'Ice Witch' Melanie, who was resting in her room at the time.

It is unknown what deep-seated hatred the two had, but Hetia immediately declared that she would kill Melanie, and that she didn't care about a sneak attack, throwing all the rules of nobility and knighthood to the back of her mind.

Ryusha didn't want to cause any trouble, but Hetia pleaded with her, confidently saying that Melanie was a magician and that the two of them could easily take her down first.

She even went so far as to hint to Ryusha that she would offer herself to Melanie if she could capture her alive... She also said that if Melanie were alive, the subsequent personnel would not have been able to reach Linhu Town.

Ryūka agreed and led his men toward the tower where Melanie was resting.

But Melanie became a Grand Mage a month ago, which is why the manor looks like this...

"What's the use of apologizing... Let's talk about it when we get back alive."

Liu Xia used his limited battle qi to circulate the blood vessels in his right arm; if it weren't for his amazing physique, it would probably have already died.

"That's going to be a bit difficult."

Melanie smiled, and countless ice blades attacked again. Hetia unleashed astonishing battle aura, but could only block a portion of them. Ryusha dodged and weaved, having just shattered one ice blade with his sword, yet a terrifying chill emanated from it, freezing his right arm.

"Hetia, you didn't expect me to come to Sochi, did you? To be honest, I came for you. So what? I got promoted first after all."

"What's so great about that old lady who's two years older than me!"

"I'm sorry, but you probably won't even have the chance to live to this age."

Melanie was not angry at all. As she chanted, her staff stirred up wind and snow again, and a frost golem more than four meters tall appeared in front of her. Its huge body blocked Ryusha from leaping up to attack.

Boom! The frost golem, despite its seemingly clumsy body, was incredibly agile, sending Liu Xia flying with a single punch as she leaped into the air and lost her footing.

"What an amazing physique, but it's a pity he doesn't have much battle aura or combat skills. He can't even change positions in mid-air, haha."

Melanie looked at Ryusha, who had been slammed into the wall but was still staggering to her feet, and couldn't help but admire her.

The chill seeped into her body like a parasite, causing Liu Xia to tremble uncontrollably. She once again used her meager battle qi to resist and dispel it. If she hadn't only been training for half a month, she wouldn't be in such a miserable state.

"Senior Hetia! I'm sorry I'm late!"

A clear and bright voice rang out, and a girl with short dark red hair and wearing overalls, carrying a heavy package, joined the battle, calling out to Hetia, who was fighting Melanie.

"Everyone! We've retrieved our equipment!" The girl tossed the package to her classmates from the Princess Faction in the corner.

"Well done, Anjaberg!"

The engineering students erupted in cheers, pulling out all sorts of bizarre and wonderful magical weapons from their packages, and then...

"Anya! Where's the magic crystal?!"

"Huh?! It's not inside?" Mei ne yong you ne yong kong Mei mei mei mei mei mei xiang ne xiang...

"Hehe, you're looking for this?" Melanie raised her slender, white fingers in mid-air, with a thin, purple crystal between each finger.

"That's why I said that engineering students are all useless. They can't do anything without magic crystals, and they don't even deserve to be called an extension of magic."

Melanie tightened her grip, crushing several magical crystals into powder with her magic. The intense magic emanating from them, woven from her cool chanting and nimble fingers, transformed into dense hailstones that rained down upon them.

Screams rose and fell, but Melanie did not kill the younger students; she only beat them until they were bruised and swollen.

"Damn it..." Feeling deceived and insulted, Anyaberg endured the pain, got up, spat out a mouthful of blood, kicked off one of his boots, tore open the insole, and took out a magical crystal hidden inside.

"Get ready to escape." She whispered to those around her, her voice reaching the ears of Ryusha and Hetia, who both had keen hearing. Then Anya raised a magical weapon that looked like a short-barreled shotgun, opened the trigger, and skillfully loaded it with magical crystals.

Anya skillfully dodged the hailstones and fearlessly charged towards the frost golem, adjusting the knobs on her weapon at the same time, while Ryusha and Hetia cooperated well to restrain Melanie's magical attacks.

"No! You're looking down on the engineering department!"

Anya slid in front of the Frost Golem and pulled the trigger at close range.

Maximum output power! A magic circle instantly forms at the muzzle of the gun!

Boom!!! A deafening explosion and a wave of steam swept in, the massive fireball from the gun muzzle melting the entire upper body of the Frost Golem, and the entire manor was instantly enveloped in steam...

And then! Smoke mode! Anya turned the knob again, firing wildly in all directions.

"Tsk! All flashy and over-the-top!"

The intense heat made Melanie uncomfortable. Losing her sight, she quickly cast several defensive spells, creating an ice shield around herself, and then conjured a storm that dispersed the steam around her.

All that was left for her was an empty ground and smoke that continued to spread outwards...

"Ha~ha~ Did it escape? Anya, your invention finally worked for once." Hetia complained breathlessly.

Ryuka and her group had already run out of the manor and arrived at the horse storage area outside.

The dozen or so horses were all captured after the battle with Bran, but the number of people rescued seemed to exceed the number of horses...

Everyone was panting heavily; the long prison sentence had robbed them of their strength. Evelyn and Elena were still in shock, and tears were welling up in Evelyn's eyes.

She abandoned her father's body.

"It's alright, Evelyn, Father would definitely want us to be safe..." Elena seemed to see through her sister's thoughts and hugged her to comfort her.

"Looking for this? Luckily, I'm quite healthy!"

Anya's voice suddenly came. She was carrying the emaciated corpse on her back. Her foot, which was not wearing a boot, was worn out from running and the socks were bleeding, but the smile on her face was very sunny.

She had witnessed everything that had happened and could guess what the two girls had gone through, so in the moment of their escape, she decided to carry their father's body on her back.

“Thank you… but we can’t…” Evelyn was initially surprised and delighted, but after considering the situation, her expression turned somber yet resolute.

If there aren't enough horses, to ensure speed, all unnecessary loads should be discarded...

"Heavy riders should ride one horse each, lighter riders should ride two horses together, and those who can't ride should quickly find someone who can!"

Taking into account speed and the number of people, Ryusha quickly issued commands, while simultaneously lifting Evelyn and Elena onto her horse and using [Charm] to command the horse to obey Evelyn's orders.

Previously, with the nun present, he dared not use witch skills, but now, as long as no one else notices, he can use them freely.

“Mr. Ryūka, aren’t you coming up?” Evelyn asked worriedly as she watched Ryūka place her father’s body on the horse’s rump.

"One horse is enough for me and Hetia."

Liu Xia smiled as she spoke, but her eyes glanced at the manor behind her. The storm was rapidly swirling around the manor, seemingly searching for a way for them to escape.

"Hetia, leave one horse behind, and I'll cover your retreat with you."

"You're crazy! She's a great mage! The two of us..."

“I still have a trump card. With no one covering our retreat, she’ll catch up quickly.” Ryuga gave Hetia a look, and Hetia immediately thought of Ryuga’s previous [Witch’s Corruption] state.

"Me! I'll stay too!"

Anya shook her dark red short hair and held up her magic gun as she spoke.

"Keep the gun, the man is no longer needed."

Without saying a word, Ryusha snatched the magic gun from Anya's hand; he had just witnessed its power.

Although she didn't know much about Anya, Ryuka could tell that she was a kind and cheerful girl and didn't want her to stay and take risks. Besides, her [Witch's Corruption] state... well, it was a bit inappropriate to show it to others.

"Are there any more magic crystals?"

Ignoring Anya's objections, Liuxia pushed her onto a horse, his gaze falling on her only remaining boot.

"And another one, oh!"

Before Anya could react, Ryuka had already taken off her boots, ripped open the soles with brute force, and taken out a magical crystal that still retained the warmth of the girl's feet.

"Can you ride a horse?" Ryusha asked Anya. After seeing the girl shake her head, he put her soft little feet, clad in gray cotton socks, into the stirrups and then used [Charm] on the horse.

"Grab the reins and spur your legs, the rest is up to the horse. Everyone, let's go! Stick close to Evelyn!"

Ryuka slapped Anya's horse's rump hard, watching the herd neigh and gallop away into the distance...

Including infiltrating the manor, Ryuka had already used [Charm] several times, leaving him somewhat exhausted and his head throbbing. But he couldn't relax yet; the ice and snow behind him were getting closer, seemingly finally locking onto their direction…