Chapter 413
In just a few hours, the emotional rollercoaster had begun to settle for Aivina, her feelings returning to a state of calm.
However, when she spoke with Shaer, there was something in the air—perhaps it was just Shaer’s imagination—but Aivina’s voice seemed softer, more tender.
Maybe it was the near loss that made Aivina appreciate what she had even more.
“I’m feeling a bit dizzy... maybe I haven’t slept enough...” Shaer turned her head and glanced out the window. “Oh, it’s already night... I should get some sleep...”
As she spoke, Shaer slowly turned over, preparing to crawl toward her pillow.
But in the next moment, Aivina grabbed the hem of Shaer’s dress.
Aivina’s nightgown was already a size larger than Shaer’s, the straps barely hanging on her shoulders. Now, with Aivina’s tug, the entire gown nearly slipped off Shaer.
Feeling the fabric being pulled, Shaer turned back to Aivina, a hint of confusion on her face. “What’s wrong?”
Aivina was silent.
Not long ago, Shaer would have preferred to stay awake all night, using every hour of the day to work. Now, given the chance, she wanted to sleep.
Aivina didn’t mind letting Shaer rest a little longer, but it seemed there was something urgent that required Shaer’s attention.
“The goddess of salvation, Ailinuo, has arrived... She seems to be here to see you and has been waiting downstairs for over ten minutes.” Aivina looked at Shaer and asked, “Do you want to go down and meet her?”
Shaer gazed at Aivina, tilting her head slightly. At that moment, her somewhat foggy brain finally kicked into gear.
“Oh right...”
The simulation would end in just a few hours...
So, she needed to stay awake for a little longer...
Shaer nodded, crawled back a few steps, and placed her feet on the thick carpet. After adjusting her straps slightly, she headed toward the door.
But the next moment, Aivina pulled on Shaer’s dress again.
“Is this how you plan to meet her?” Aivina shook her head gently, observing Shaer with one strap hanging down and her hair a tangled mess.
“Sit down for a moment. I’ll find you something to wear.” Aivina gently pushed Shaer back onto the bed and stood up, heading toward the door.
With the chance to avoid doing the work herself, Shaer gladly accepted, sitting still as she watched Aivina leave.
When Aivina returned with a new outfit, Shaer was already slumped over, entering “fishing mode.”
Aivina brought a sleeveless dress that would prevent the thorns on Shaer’s arms from tearing the fabric, paired with a wide leather shawl that should hold up better than softer ones as long as Shaer didn’t make any sudden movements.
“Let’s go.” Aivina nodded in satisfaction at Shaer, who was now dressed—except for her still-messy hair.
Aivina walked ahead, while Shaer leaned forward, resting her forehead against Aivina’s shoulder as they moved forward... this way of walking was easier for Shaer.
Unfortunately, when they reached the stairs, Shaer had to abandon her energy-saving method, but once they reached the first floor, she leaned her forehead back against Aivina’s shoulder.
“Shaer.” Aivina suddenly stopped and turned her face slightly to look at Shaer, who was leaning against her right shoulder.
“Hmm...?” Shaer turned her head slightly to meet Aivina’s gaze.
“I feel like your personality has changed a lot... Is this the effect of the potion?” Aivina looked at Shaer’s dark purple eyes, a hint of worry in her voice.
The old Shaer would never have been so affectionate in public, leaning against Aivina like this. Many maids had witnessed the scene, their faces showing surprise.
Even Aivina, who had trained in the social arena and claimed to be indifferent to the gazes of others, felt her cheeks flush as they walked.
“Yes.” Shaer replied with a single word, adopting her energy-saving speech method.
“It’s okay... I’ll find a way to help you return to your original self...” After saying this, Aivina hesitated for a moment, then took a step back, allowing Shaer to walk beside her.
This way, Shaer leaned against Aivina’s shoulder.
Then, Aivina slowly reached out and wrapped her arm around Shaer’s slender waist.
Aivina had never imagined it would be so easy to have Shaer lean on her like this, in such a “little bird relying on its mother” manner.
This feeling filled Aivina with an unprecedented confidence; she even thought that continuing like this wouldn’t be so bad...
As long as she slowly helped Shaer perfect the revival ritual and found a powerful “newborn” to help Shaer with the potion’s effects on her hands...
She would end up with a soft, clingy Shaer.
Moreover, Aivina had a vague feeling that in this state, Shaer wouldn’t resist anything she did... she would be too lazy to resist.
But soon, Aivina pushed those selfish thoughts aside.
‘How can you think like this, Aivina... You must do your best to help Shaer return to her original state...’
‘But it wouldn’t hurt to let Shaer stay in this state a little longer, right? After all, your own spirit hasn’t fully recovered yet.’
In Aivina’s mind, it felt like a little angel and a little devil were arguing with each other.
Before long, Aivina, still holding Shaer, arrived at the reception room.
Having heard the footsteps early on, Ailinuo looked up toward the door and saw Aivina walking in with Shaer in her arms.
Ailinuo paused for a moment, seemingly unable to process the change in Shaer’s appearance.
She couldn’t reconcile the soft, fragile girl before her with the formidable, commanding presence that had once shattered defenses with just a few words.
Yet Ailinuo didn’t show too much surprise; many extraordinary individuals had their personalities twisted by the effects of potions, and Shaer’s transformation was relatively normal.
After Aivina helped Shaer sit down across from Ailinuo, Shaer leaned back against the soft couch, almost melding into it.
“It’s been a while, Ailinuo...” Shaer smiled slightly at Ailinuo, offering a greeting.
Ailinuo first nodded gently at Aivina, acknowledging her, then turned her attention to Shaer and said, “I’ve managed to extract some information...”
As she spoke, Ailinuo handed over a neatly organized set of notes to Shaer.
Shaer took the notes, flipped them open, and quickly scanned through them.
Her page-turning was rapid; in less than twenty seconds, she had memorized nearly half a notebook’s worth of interrogation notes.
After finishing, Shaer closed the notebook, shut her eyes, and began to digest the contents.
The notes recorded the correct memories of each “retrace” by Qiangyin, encompassing nearly two hundred years of usage since gaining “uniqueness.”
Half of it detailed Qiangyin’s encounters with danger and life-threatening crises, while the latter half chronicled her battles and resource plundering after utilizing her “uniqueness.”
However, none of this was new to Shaer.
Qiangyin’s retracing and reincarnation didn’t retain previous memories, meaning her recollections only included the puzzles and outcomes, completely omitting the processes.
Moreover, some events that would have been easy for Shaer to resolve were repeated multiple times by Qiangyin due to her inability to retain more information.
But this was still a tricky situation for Shaer...
In terms of “uniqueness,” Qiangyin posed no threat to her, but the real challenge was that Qiangyin was a 4th-tier extraordinary being.
This was enough to negate her disadvantage of not frequently using “uniqueness.”
Unfortunately, Qiangyin’s brain didn’t contain information about the upcoming days—this brain came from Windsor on July 20, not from Windsor a hundred days after the initial simulation, so it lacked future information about Qiangyin.
However, one thing Shaer could confirm was that Qiangyin’s remaining retrace attempts might be even fewer than she imagined.
In fact, if she simulated a few more times in the future, during the time Qiangyin needed to retrace, using up several attempts could potentially drive Qiangyin to madness or even death.
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