Chapter 289: Carrying the Burden

Chapter 289: Carrying the Burden

How vicious could women be when scheming against each other? Zheng Yichen did not know. But how about women who had lived for centuries or even longer? When it came to that, Zheng Yichen thought if he ever encountered such a situation, he should do nothing—try not to look, listen, or speak, and see if he could avoid the whirlpool.

Anyway, when Dan Marina was doing certain things, especially once she entered a certain “discussion” mode—if it wasn’t aimed at allies and wasn’t part of daily behavior—he felt it was best not to speak if he could help it, and even if he could speak, he should stay silent. In daily situations, dealing with it was quite simple. He just closed his eyes, struck a “I’m not listening” pose, and that was about enough.

When the contract in Annie’s hands turned to ashes, Zheng Yichen stretched his body. Having remained silent until now, he could finally release some pressure. Dan Marina’s goal was clearly achieved, and what followed would be easy to handle. As for Annie saying it was meaningless, that depended on who did it.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but glance at Dan Marina, expressing his thought, ‘This Witch senior of yours doesn’t seem very smart?’

“What do you mean? It’s just because of her abilities; she’s a bit childish.” Dan Marina glanced at Zheng Yichen, seemingly not caring that the person involved was right there, and spoke very bluntly. Annie frowned slightly. There wasn’t even a hint of indirectness in those words—was she just straight-up calling her brainless?

“Hurry up and show her your true form, to reassure her.”

“Reassure?” Annie frowned slightly, sensing that things might not be so simple. But although Dan Marina loved stirring trouble, she still followed certain rules. Even if there was something fishy, she definitely wouldn’t take things to the extreme in this regard… She might trick people, but she always left room for compromise.

So what had she overlooked?

She saw Zheng Yichen’s Projection emerge from the Alchemical Avatar’s head. Annie’s eyes widened, and she immediately realized what she had overlooked. Her actions from some time ago? Damn “some time ago”—it was just yesterday! With that different phrasing, she had been led to misunderstand completely. If Dan Marina had said “yesterday,” she would never have overlooked this!

“You’re something else.” Annie gave Dan Marina a deep look, staring somewhat dazedly at the dragon’s Projection on the Alchemical Avatar. Although she hid her tracks and identity, she wasn’t completely cut off from the world. She still knew about some special news, such as this dragon…

As one of the few dragons active on the Continent, each one drew considerable attention.

“I don’t think I deliberately hid anything, did I?” Dan Marina blinked her eyes, speaking innocently.

“…” Annie shook her head. She hadn’t hidden anything, but different phrasing made it too easy to cause misunderstandings. However, the Contract had already been signed, and it was too late to say anything now. Fortunately, that Contract was just a simple Confidentiality Contract. Although its strength was the highest, as long as she didn’t violate it, it wouldn’t affect her.

“Even if the one you care about is a dragon…” At this point, Annie couldn’t help but give Dan Marina an extra look. If you said the one you cared about was an Alien Race, that would be one thing, but a dragon? That’s quite the taste. “…it doesn’t rule out the possibility that he might betray you… or rather, you all?”

She knew that the first Witch this dragon had connected with wasn’t Dan Marina, but that Witch whose ability had a very unreasonable destructive nature.

“So what do you plan to do?” Dan Marina asked with a smile. If it were just her alone, Annie would definitely ignore some of her thoughts and do something to Zheng Yichen. But now, if she acted against Zheng Yichen, it would draw the attention of two Witches, so she really had to think it over. Extreme measures were definitely off the table.

“I can add a harmless restriction to him. As long as he has no thoughts of betrayal, it won’t have any effect. How about that?”

“Not interested.” Dan Marina gently shook her head. Annie wasn’t surprised by this response at all. If it could be done so easily, the other Witches wouldn’t have fallen because of it.

“I’ve also signed the Confidentiality Contract. I won’t actively leak any information about him. So take me to see his true self.” Annie said. “As for restrictions, although I won’t use those special methods, I will still choose ones you can accept—as long as he shows even a hint of betrayal.”

“Show me what you’ve got.” Dan Marina yawned slightly and glanced out the window. “It’s almost dark. Let’s talk about this tomorrow.”

“Fine. Next time you play these mind games, I’ll definitely teach you a lesson!” With a bit of lingering resentment, Annie pulled her hood back up. Not only was she annoyed by Dan Marina’s schemes, but she was also upset about having waited here for almost a whole day!

“If you want there to be a next time, I don’t mind.”

“Hmph!”

Strangely, after Annie put her hood back on, her Witch’s Aura completely disappeared. Even when looking at her face, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but feel a slight illusion.

After leaving the Bar, at a restaurant, Zheng Yichen rested his chin on his hand and stared dryly at Dan Marina enjoying the delicious food. He couldn’t help but smack his lips. So delicious. Thinking about his current body, the disadvantages of his large size immediately became apparent. In Human Form, it was easy to enjoy delicacies; in his large form, he could still eat them, but not so easily.

When dealing with large-sized ingredients all at once, it was hard to fully permeate the flavors. Splitting the process was too troublesome… What could be done in twenty minutes could drag on for two hours. Since it was a delicacy, of course, you wanted to eat it all in one go for the full flavor. But for Zheng Yichen’s dragon body to eat enough in one sitting, the amount of food needed was no small matter.

A cake that could fill a normal person was like a candy bean to him!

“Ahh~ so satisfying.”

“So, you made me watch you eat for a whole hour? ‘A feast for the eyes’? You think I’d say that!?” Zheng Yichen complained, then waved his hand impatiently. “What, you’re not really caught in the so-called ‘Witch’s Curse,’ are you?”

This was something that could become a “fatal weakness” for a Witch. Possessing a Witch’s Power inevitably came with such a trait, as if one lacked a certain essential part. When encountering this “part” in another being, one would uncontrollably give, wanting to “exchange” for this essential part… If it was about possession, it might be slightly better.

Even though Zheng Yichen seemed to ignore this trait, Witches couldn’t. This feeling was like… Anyway, Zheng Yichen didn’t feel too good about it.

“Who knows about that.” Dan Marina gently wiped the corner of her mouth. “You don’t need to worry about it.”

“What nonsense. How could I not worry?”

“You’re being sentimental.”

“Then let me be sentimental.” One thing was one thing. If their current relationship was influenced by some special circumstance, those who didn’t overthink might not notice or feel anything wrong. But after hearing Dan Marina and Annie’s exchange today, he couldn’t help but overthink. At that time, Annie’s gaze held a certain malice toward him, like the destructive malice one feels when looking at a harmful poison.

“As for this Curse, just think of it as the world’s disgust toward Witches.” Seeing Zheng Yichen so serious, Dan Marina still spoke very lightly. Whether it was the one a Witch cared about or the malice other Witches felt toward such a being, in the end, wasn’t it the Witch who suffered the negative effects?

Betrayal by the one they cared about would trap a Witch in an inescapable quagmire, while another Witch taking action against such a being would create enmity with that Witch…

“And also, as for you… my current situation probably doesn’t count as being deeply infatuated.” Dan Marina tapped her cheek thoughtfully. “For example, sometimes I still think about tricking you. Hmm, that’s from a long time ago, and it hasn’t changed much since.”

“To be specific… I guess it’s like… I haven’t found anyone better, and I’ve been in contact with you for quite a while, so I’m just making do with you for now.”

Zheng Yichen’s mouth twitched. These words might be meant to reassure, but why did they sound so uncomfortable? It must be because of this woman’s overly casual tone.

“See? I told you the truth, and you make that face. Men, really.” Dan Marina looked at Zheng Yichen with a light smile, a smile that was incredibly irritating no matter how you looked at it. “What about Loris? Do you want me to check for you?”

After hesitating for a moment, Zheng Yichen gave a slight nod. After all, compared to the relationship with Dan Marina, which was mostly built over time and through contact, his relationship with Loris had developed at lightning speed. This made him a bit conflicted again. If it really was that so-called Curse, what should he do?

Silently watching the worried and conflicted Zheng Yichen, Dan Marina didn’t speak, just observed his constantly changing expressions. Before long, Zheng Yichen’s conflicted expression vanished completely.

“What did you think of?”

“Since you’re fine, why should I tell you?” Zheng Yichen glanced at Dan Marina.

“I’m fine now, but what if something happens later? If you let me know in advance, even if something happens later, there won’t be regrets, right?”

“What ‘right’? I think nothing will happen to you!” Zheng Yichen snorted lightly. “If it’s really some unavoidable situation, then why should I be conflicted? I’ll just shoulder the responsibility.”

“Oh? Hearing you say that actually makes me a bit happy.”

Looking at Dan Marina, who had revealed an unusually bright smile, Zheng Yichen slightly opened his mouth, holding back the words that almost slipped out. But this woman was sharp-eyed; she clearly saw the fleeting expression on Zheng Yichen’s face. “You seemed to want to say something else just now? Isn’t it uncomfortable holding it in?”

“That’s my business.” Zheng Yichen muttered. Thinking of Dan Marina’s smile earlier, it was better not to say something that would spoil the mood. However, Dan Marina seemed to have lost her supposedly max-level skill of reading the room, as she continued to press.

Harassed into helplessness, Zheng Yichen said, “Those words are meant for Loris. As for you, think of it as taking care of someone with a disability…”

As he said this, Zheng Yichen thought it sounded a bit embarrassing, as it was too hurtful. He kept watching Dan Marina’s expression, and after hearing this, the woman seemed even happier. Was she an M?

This thought flashed through his mind. Thinking about her actions, probably not, right?

“It’s getting late. Let’s go back.”

Dan Marina, who had just been unyielding, now very straightforwardly changed the topic. She patted Zheng Yichen’s shoulder. “If only you weren’t a dragon…”

“…If I weren’t a dragon, we definitely wouldn’t have crossed paths.” Zheng Yichen immediately said. After transmigrating to the Otherworld, if he were still human, he would definitely have followed a different life path. Either he would have walked a genius path due to exceptional talent, or he would have been average in talent, blending into the crowd except for the knowledge from Earth, which might attract unwanted attention if mishandled.

Meeting someone like Qin, who could be considered “decent,” might have led to a better life. But if he met someone sinister… well, the rules of the Otherworld were much looser than Earth’s.

“That’s true.”

Back at the residence, Irene looked at Dan Marina and raised an eyebrow slightly. Had this woman taken the wrong medicine today? Why did she feel a bit off? Not wanting Dan Marina to notice and bother her later, Irene quickly averted her gaze and discussed with Zheng Yichen the subsequent plans for setting up the Personal Space.

She had her own plan. According to this world’s style, there wasn’t much to improve. But adding Zheng Yichen’s own knowledge and design style, there were new points to supplement. After finishing the discussion, Zheng Yichen controlled the Alchemical Avatar and tossed it into the bedroom, shifting his attention back to his true self. He let out a long yawn. “This has been a fulfilling day.”

Returning to the bedroom in the Underground Base, looking at the small figure lying on the huge bed that didn’t match at all, Zheng Yichen couldn’t help but curl his lips into a smile. Then he took out a mirror and looked at the dragon face reflected in it, pursing his lips. “So ugly!”

Even though he was used to this dragon face, it was still a dragon’s face, not a human’s. The smile it made could only scare children and held no appeal. Normal people wouldn’t find it pleasing to look at for long, and they might even feel a strange sense of affinity. And with these rock-black Scales, Zheng Yichen was completely cut off from the aesthetic style of beautiful dragons.

After watching the lonely, sleeping Loris for a while, Zheng Yichen threw the mirror back into his Personal Space. As for responsibility, he’d shoulder it. Since someone cared about him, he must also bear something in return.

“You’re back?” Sensing slight movement, Loris opened her eyes and saw Zheng Yichen tiptoeing around. With his size, no matter how careful he was in the room, it was hard to hide the noise. “I don’t need much rest. No need to be so careful.”

“Easier said than done. In a scene like this, how can I not be careful?” Zheng Yichen shook his head. After all, as someone from Earth, he still had the incurable habit of judging by appearances.