Possessed

In the office, after knocking, Caroline gently pushed open the door.

A scene that made her scalp tingle unfolded before her eyes.

The room was filled with manuscripts covered in dense, twisted, and chaotic text, almost covering every corner within sight. The words on the paper were distorted and frenzied, resembling terrifying incantations that opened the gates of hell.

Ophelia, with a grim expression and disheveled hair, was sprawled on the floor, rapidly scribbling on one blank sheet of paper after another. The cryptic, spell-like text and intricate, indecipherable diagrams were all her creation.

Moreover, the atmosphere in the room was unnaturally eerie and oppressive.

Caroline nervously looked around, feeling as though there was some other indescribable, eerie presence lurking in the shadows, silently watching her.

The ominous sensation that made her scalp tingle originated from that unseen entity...

"Your Highness... breakfast is ready. You..."

Caroline cautiously stepped forward.

"Don't come in!" Ophelia raised her blood-red eyes, her voice hoarse and stern.

"Don't step on my blueprints!!"

"Yes, Your Highness..." Caroline quickly agreed.

"I'll bring your breakfast in, please eat something..."

She looked worriedly at Ophelia's behavior, but her Highness remained silent, seemingly lost in her own world.

The dutiful housekeeper gently closed the door, and after a moment, she returned, placing the breakfast on the table.

Your Highness..." Caroline struggled internally, then mustered her courage to advise:

"Please stop this. Your current state... it frightens me..."

"Stop! You can't continue delving deeper into the Dreamlands! That place isn't safe; you'll be consumed by it..."

"Shut up!" Ophelia impatiently glanced at her.

Although it was just a fleeting moment, the cold, eerie gaze sent shivers down the housekeeper's spine.

She had never seen such a look, nor such mad behavior, on her Highness's face before...

Why had she become like this?

Was it because of...

Because of Luo Wei?

Caroline felt deeply confused and incredulous.

After all, in her mind, Her Highness had always been confident and composed, possessing a shrewdness and ruthlessness beyond her years. She even believed that Ophelia was the most suitable heir among the Emperor's children.

Since she and the Shadow Guards had been assigned to the Princess by the Emperor four years ago,

they had been assisting her in handling extremely difficult tasks, as if the Emperor had deliberately set challenges for her.

Princess Ophelia had briefly taken over the leaderless 'Special Affairs Department.' Her decisive actions and remarkable talents had subdued even the most notorious troublemakers. In just a few months, the city's public order had greatly improved as the mutated creatures were eradicated.

The Emperor had also tasked Princess Ophelia with resolving the issue of the rebellious territories on the empire's frontier. Her third brother, as well as many enemies, had been watching her fail, but... now that region had become her fief, an honor even her older brothers who had long been in court had not achieved.

All this demonstrated the Princess's capabilities, yet here she was, for a man...

In this frenzied state...

Watching Princess Ophelia muttering to herself and continuously scribbling on the papers, Caroline deeply sighed.

She had thought that the Princess's four years of meticulous planning and power struggle were for some grand, unspoken goal.

But now, she was trapped in such a trivial matter.

For a man?

It was laughable!

Once Princess Ophelia defeated the ruthless and cunning Third Prince and the power-hungry Second Prince, what man couldn't she have? The entire country's handsome men would be at her disposal!

Caroline desperately wanted to voice her thoughts, but she hesitated.

Hesitating, her words came out in a stutter.

"Your Highness... Luo Wei, Mr. Luo Wei..."

The room responded with only the hoarse, repetitive muttering.

Seeing her Highness in such a frenzied state, Caroline couldn't hold back any longer.

"Your Highness!"

"He... he seems to have discovered our plans. Your current state... it's likely because of him! That cunning man must have done something in your Dreamlands!"

Ophelia remained lost in her world, unresponsive.

Caroline's voice gradually rose:

"Your Highness! You can't go on like this! It's not worth it for Luo Wei! What's so special about him??"

In that instant, the room fell into complete silence.

Ophelia slowly raised her head, as if she had finally heard.

"Your Highness!?" Caroline was momentarily delighted.

But then, the Princess's transformation frightened her.

She seemed to be suppressing some intense emotion, her body trembling uncontrollably. At the same time, black, scaly fragments began to emerge from her skin.

Her red eyes, now vertical pupils, locked onto Caroline, glowing with an otherworldly light.

Caroline's blood seemed to freeze; she had a hallucination, as if she were being stared at by a demon from the depths of a black abyss...

It was utterly chilling.

Caroline shivered and didn't dare to continue.

She regretted...

She had truly overstepped her bounds...

Fortunately,

Ophelia eventually regained control of her emotions. The black scales gradually disappeared, and her pupils returned to normal.

She looked at Caroline, speaking softly and indifferently:

"Leave."

"Yes..." Caroline quickly bowed her head, not daring to meet her gaze.

She fled the oppressive office.

After a long while, a barely audible sigh came from the office.

"You don't understand..."

Over these four years, she had suppressed all her smiles, doing things she didn't enjoy...

Not for power...

She just wanted to be free from constraints, to do whatever she wanted.

That was all.

At this moment...

A smiling face of a young man gradually appeared in her mind. Ophelia thought of that peaceful countryside.

She remembered the afternoon the mysterious boy had taken her to sneak out.

A world without him had no meaning.

I will get everything I want.

...

In the Dreamlands, Luo Wei gazed at the still bustling and vibrant Saint Callen City, lost in thought.

He couldn't see any changes since the last time, perhaps it was more realistic and complex, or maybe it had expanded.

But for Luo Wei, it was still useless.

Ophelia's obsessive plan, once exposed and counteracted by him, only backfired the more she tried, even tormenting herself.

Luo Wei looked at the towering skyscrapers and bustling traffic of the city, and smiled helplessly.

Didn't Ophelia realize that such a place was better for "suicide" than a rural estate?

Compared to "hanging oneself," this place offered countless ways to die. Could her increasingly fragile psyche withstand the upcoming scenes?

After all, no one in this world knew better how to die than him.

Let it end in a spectacular fashion, he thought.