Chapter 21

“Chapter 21: Tell me, what are you thinking?”

A glimmer of vibrant green flashed by.

With a mark resembling a vertical pupil appearing on her palm, an invisible mental force spread out.

Ivyst stared intently at Lynn.

Under her watchful gaze, the Black-Haired Youth gradually stopped his pointless struggling.

After a moment, his hands drooped helplessly to his sides, his entire body slumping as if all his strength had drained away.

Not only that, but Lynn’s originally lively and bright blue eyes began to lose their spark under the effects of hypnosis.

Until finally, they completely dimmed, becoming vacant and listless.

In just a few seconds, he transformed from a defiant rebel into a pitiful existence resembling a servant.

Seeing this, Ivyst felt a wave of relief wash over her.

It seemed that Milani’s experiment had indeed made significant progress this time.

Ivyst extinguished the Eye of the Mind mark in her hand, then slowly sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at Lynn, who was kneeling before her.

For some reason, a light smile crept onto her lips.

This obedient appearance made her feel somewhat out of place.

However, Ivyst had accumulated quite a few questions she wanted to ask this guy.

As she pondered, she absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair around her fingers.

Unfortunately, such a scene was not meant for anyone to witness.

At this moment, the room contained only Ivyst and Lynn, making it a perfect opportunity to ask questions.

According to Milani, once a person is hypnotized, their subconscious will be revealed.

Then, she’d get to see the most honest side of Lynn.

Recalling that night when he boldly ripped off his mask, Ivyst couldn’t help but chuckle coldly.

Whether it was real or just an act would soon become clear.

Just as she was about to speak, a sudden knock came at the wooden door nearby.

Following that, a deep voice called out.

“Guest, I’m the tavern waiter. I heard you say someone is plotting against you. Do you need assistance?”

Dammit.

Hearing the inquiry from outside the door, Ivyst frowned deeply.

Wordlessly, she raised her right hand, a ball of blood-red energy slowly materializing in her palm, ready to morph into sharp thorns to shred whoever dared intrude upon her peace.

But if she did that, it would probably cause quite a commotion, and she’d have to take this guy and leave.

Hypnosis seemed to have a time limit.

Though she didn’t understand the principle, it likely had to do with the mental will of the one being hypnotized.

If she waited until she returned to Augusta Manor, she probably wouldn’t be able to use hypnosis to interrogate him tonight.

She didn’t want to wait an entire night, so she had no choice but to compromise.

Thinking of this, Ivyst reluctantly extinguished her supernatural power.

Noticing the unusual silence in the room, the waiter outside seemed to sense something.

His knocking and voice grew louder.

“Guest? Guest? If you don’t respond, I’m coming in!”

The waiter dutifully asked.

Though this place was on the edge of town, due to its unique business, many nearby nobles and wealthy merchants came to the town every year for celebrations and to taste freshly opened fruit wine.

So at this time, the local security was heightened.

And if a violent incident occurred in their tavern, they’d likely have to shut down for an overhaul the next day. Just as he was about to pull out his keys to check what was going on, a cool, pleasant voice came from inside the room.

“What? Do you have an opinion?”

The waiter froze.

A woman’s voice?

Even without seeing her appearance, he could picture her imposing figure in his mind.

Could it be… the waiter suddenly enlightened, an expression of regret surfacing on his face.

“I’m so sorry to disturb your rest, I’ll leave immediately.”

As he spoke, he let out a sympathetic sigh and quickly exited the floor.

The earlier cry for help was clearly from a young boy; judging by the voice, he couldn’t be very old. Yet the woman’s voice coming from the room sounded quite mature.

It seemed she was indeed the dominant one.

The waiter couldn’t help but picture some noblewoman’s wicked preferences, immediately feeling a pang of sympathy for that boy.

Little did he know he was the one who had narrowly escaped the jaws of danger.

Inside the room, sensing the absence of outsiders, Ivyst finally relaxed her tightly furrowed brows.

She turned her gaze back to the hypnotized Lynn.

Thank goodness, my buddy reacted quickly.

Feeling Ivyst’s gaze return to him, Lynn didn’t dare to breathe.

He would have welcomed the earlier waiter to pop in and take a look, at least it would help him escape this predicament.

Unfortunately, Lynn didn’t expect Ivyst to play it cool instead of blowing up and to go along with the idea of a plot against her, completely shattering his perception.

This woman probably genuinely thought he was hypnotized, which made her slightly lower her guard.

Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t have cared if she had to kill that waiter; she could handle him without hesitation.

As he felt his body responding sluggishly, Lynn couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

From the moment he caught sight of the Eye of the Mind, he realized what Ivyst wanted to do to him.

Fortunately, he had swiftly utilized the Liars’ Devourer ability to transform into his current state, hence avoiding revealing his true self.

He had needed a mirror as assistance the first time, but this time he was quite skilled.

It seemed he would only get better at it from here on out.

Realizing the dangerous gaze from Ivyst, Lynn thought to himself.

I’m still a bit naive.

According to the original story, this woman wouldn’t let go of anything she couldn’t have, even if it meant destroying it.

And given how keen her interest in him was, how could she easily let him go? But right now, the only good news was that she didn’t know he could maintain his composure during hypnosis.

Though it seemed like it would be quite some time before he could escape her clutches, at least there was a glimmer of hope.

There’s plenty of time ahead.

For now, the most important thing was to get through this crisis first.

Lynn, with a blank look, lowered his head and pretended to be dazed and confused.

Seeing him like this, Ivyst, who was sitting on the bed, lifted her slender, fair right foot and propped the toe of her high heel against Lynn’s chin, forcing him to look up at her.

Then, she gently removed the mask from her face, revealing a portion of her features covered by a wicked curse mark.

As their eyes met, Ivyst suppressed a faint annoyance that bubbled up inside her.

“Look at my face, and tell me…,” her gaze holding a hint of danger, “what exactly are you thinking right now?”