Chapter 003: Holding the Red Thread with One Hand
"Lia, you also want Miss Fortuna and Petelgeuse... Uncle Geuse to be together, right?"
Yet Pandora paid no attention to Fortuna's threat... As if!
She was actually quite nervous! But once this step succeeded, it meant this matter was nearly over.
"Y... yes..." Feeling the touch on her head, Emilia nodded stiffly.
"Miss Fortuna still gets agitated so easily." Then she walked back to Petelgeuse's side: "In that case, even with the little princess's blessing, I'd find it hard to entrust such an excellent subordinate like Petelgeuse to you..."
Oh! She decided! She must major in performing arts in university! Uh, wait... would she even get to attend university?
Seeing this, Fortuna breathed a sigh of relief while somewhat awkwardly dispersing all the ice spears around her.
"My lord..." Looking at the platinum-haired girl before him, Petelgeuse was at a loss for words.
"Now then, we happen to have witnesses for you two." Pandora turned her gaze toward the nearby forest.
"Lady Fortuna!" As if confirming Pandora's words, a voice called out from the forest.
"Archi?" Hearing the familiar voice, Fortuna looked toward the source in surprise.
Soon after
"Lord Geuse..." A man with yellow hair came running out of the forest.
"It's great that both of you and Emilia are unharmed..." When he woke up in the forest earlier, he'd heard continuous noises that frightened him terribly, but
All traces of the Black Serpent had completely vanished! He was still alive! His body was completely intact! These were what surprised him most.
So his first action was to rush over at maximum speed.
"This..." Seeing Pandora standing beside Petelgeuse, even Archi couldn't help being stunned by the girl's beauty.
"My name is Pandora..." In response, Pandora smiled at Archi: "Though you may also call me the Witch of Vainglory."
"Ha... Hello, Vainglory..." Halfway through his greeting, Archi suddenly stared sharply at Pandora.
This girl was the enemy Lady Fortuna had always wanted to kill!
"Fura!" A spell was chanted as a wind blade flew toward Pandora.
Petelgeuse was too disoriented by the Witch Factor to react, while Fortuna couldn't respond in time.
Rip!
Blood splattered across the ground as the platinum-haired girl collapsed.
"Archi!" Seeing Archi about to launch a second magical attack, Fortuna urgently called out.
"Lady Fortuna! Don't worry! I will definitely avenge them!" Archi only showed a determined expression before swinging another wind blade.
Thud!
The fallen Pandora on the ground was cleanly bisected.
"Stop..." Watching Archi's futile efforts, Fortuna said helplessly.
"It's alright now, Lady Fortuna, the enemy has..." Archi smiled, but before he could finish
"Sir, you've experienced pain before, haven't you? What you just did was quite rude." Pandora's voice came from behind him.
She felt that her way of speaking was somewhat influenced by the original body, just like now—her tone was gentle while conveying respect for the other party.
Moreover, to be honest, the first wind blade had truly struck her, but Pandora didn't feel any additional emotions.
She merely activated her Authority out of curiosity.
It felt as if she had lightly fallen onto the snowy ground.
A very peculiar sensation...
"You..." Archi widened his eyes as he stared at Pandora standing unscathed in the snow.
"Alright, Archi, you've worked hard. Rest for a while now." At this moment, Fortuna spoke as well.
"But..." Archi, who had wanted to say more, could only sigh upon seeing Fortuna's resolute gaze. "I understand."
He then silently walked over to Petelgeuse and helped him up.
"He absorbed the Sloth Witch Factor, so he's a bit disoriented," Pandora explained to Archi.
This only made Archi even more confused about what Pandora intended to do.
"Then, do you have a way to extract this factor?" Even Fortuna, seeing Petelgeuse in such distress, could only place her hopes on Pandora.
In response, Pandora shook her head.
"It's fine if it isn't extracted." After all, the original body had said it couldn't be removed, and she had secretly tried as well. "As long as he doesn't use the Witch's Authority, Archbishop Petelgeuse won't suffer any serious harm. He just needs to rest more than usual."
As she spoke, Pandora suddenly sighed.
"I'm sorry, I truly didn't expect Archbishop Petelgeuse to actually absorb the Witch Factor."
There was no helping it—this was indeed a burden the original body couldn't shake off.
"I understand..." Fortuna nodded in response.
This is how people are: when someone holds a grudge against another, you instinctively resent them. But once that hatred is resolved and the other party sincerely apologizes, you can't help but want to forgive them.
So, when Pandora heard Fortuna say this, she understood.
Even if Fortuna still didn't fully trust her, she at least believed her halfway.
"Lady Pandora, I'm fine." At this moment, Petelgeuse also shook his head and spoke.
This scene left Archi utterly bewildered. He had no idea what had happened among the three of them—something felt a bit off...
"Alright, in that case, could you please leave now?" Fortuna said at this point.
"Forgive me, but my goal has not yet been achieved." In response, Pandora walked over to her and stood still under her wary gaze.
"Archbishop Petelgeuse, could you come here?" She then waved to Geuse.
"Lady Pandora..." Geuse hesitated for a moment before rubbing his head. "Lady Fortuna, we..."
"Don't say it! I understand!" Hearing this, Fortuna hurriedly covered Petelgeuse's mouth.
Although she had been the one to speak those loving words earlier, she had done so with a resolve to die. Who could have expected...
"Alright, Miss Fortuna, now with Mr. Archi and the little princess Emilia here..." Pandora smiled. "Your love will be witnessed."