"After dinner, let's head back ho. I'll get you properly cleaned up."
"B-back to your house?"
Paqina was still a bit shy, a little embarrassed.
"Of course, where else?"
"Well... alright..."
Paqina fidgeted as she followed Loren's pace, but in truth, her heart was bursting with joy. However, she quickly realized sothing—right now, Loren could sense her true emotions through the synchronized heartbeat ring she wore.
So Paqina began an internal struggle, doing her best not to let any strange feelings surface. But the more she tried, the less she could control her thoughts, leaving Loren feeling quite speechless.
"Stop agonizing over it. I'm turning off the emotion-sensing function now."
"You can turn it off?"
When she'd had the ring made, Paqina had been completely lovestruck, only thinking about bonding more with Loren. She'd simply made the function a passive effect, without even setting up a way to deactivate it.
"Your ring can't, but I can. Can you still sense my emotions now?"
Paqina closed her eyes, concentrated for a mont, then shook her head.
"See? Problem solved."
There was one thing Loren didn't say—this was one-way. Loren could block her perception of him, but he couldn't block his perception of her.
And even without the ring, thanks to the [Sensitive Heart] talent, Loren could still sense her emotions pretty accurately.
Though Paqina looked calm the whole way, inside she was incredibly excited.
She'd initially felt a bit awkward about going to Loren's house, especially since there were so many won there already. But since Loren had sincerely invited her, she decided to graciously accept—at least, that's how Paqina convinced herself.
The mont Paqina stepped through the door, she felt countless eyes on her. Naclis's gaze was especially burning, making Paqina feel like she might get punched at any second.
"Hello, everyone..."
Paqina nervously swallowed, then raised her hand slightly to greet them.
"Go take a bath first and change into so clean clothes. You're too filthy right now."
"Take a bath at your house...?"
Hearing this, Paqina grew flustered again, but looking at the spotless floor and her own grimy clothes, she decided a bath was the right call.
But after taking just two steps, Paqina turned back and leaned close to Loren:
"Where's the bathroom?"
"I'll take you there."
Paqina's decision to have Loren lead the way once again provoked the others. They stared daggers at her until she disappeared into the bathroom.
"Put your old clothes in the basket. The maids will wash them. I'll go find you so new ones."
"Yes..."
Paqina's reply from inside the bathroom was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
There were plenty of won's clothes in the house, so finding a suitable outfit for Paqina wasn't hard. However, Loren's place didn't have many of his own clothes. Even the wardrobe in his bedroom was filled with won's clothing for entertainnt—things Mirrorheart occasionally wore—while his own garnts were few.
After all, Loren usually wore a black robe, so what he had on underneath didn't matter much as long as it was comfortable.
Loren pulled out a relatively normal outfit from his wardrobe. There were normal clothes here too—occasionally Loren felt like going for sothing a bit fresh and clean.
And Loren didn't worry about the clothes being unclean. Used garnts were all collected by Mirrorheart. Loren had no idea where she stored them all; logically, so many things should have filled the warehouse long ago.
"I'm leaving the clothes by the bathroom door."
The outfit included underwear, though it was only relatively normal. Loren wasn't sure if Paqina would accept it.
The bathroom door cracked open, and a hand reached out to pull the clothes inside.
When she erged, she was already dressed in the new clothes, clutching her wet hair with both hands, afraid of dripping water onto the outfit Loren had given her.
"Sit here."
Loren led Paqina to the dressing table and cast a wind spell on her hair—a blow-dryer magic he'd developed out of boredom. The spell even blew hot air.
Paqina was experiencing this sensation for the first ti. She rarely washed her hair since it was such a hassle.
With this magic, washing her hair would be much more convenient.
Loren noticed her curiosity and offered:
"Want to learn? I can teach you."
"Yes."
As he spoke, Loren also began combing Paqina's hair.
Suddenly, Paqina felt incredibly happy—so happy that even if she died the next mont, she could accept it. At least she'd die at her happiest.
It was then Loren noticed that Paqina's hair was actually quite ssy, unevenly cut in places:
"Did you cut this yourself?"
"Yeah. If it got too long, I'd just hack off a piece myself."
"I see. Well then, I'll trim it for you while I'm at it."
Loren pulled a pair of scissors from the drawer. His technique was actually pretty good; even Anna loved having Loren do her hair.
"Alright, thank you..."
Paqina stared at herself in the mirror, the sound of scissors snipping in her ears. She suddenly felt this mont was almost too beautiful to be real.
A shut-in like her had accidentally t her greatest idol in the library, exchanged words with him, and discovered during their chat that he could accept the lowly identity of a witch.
Then she beca his student, and he generously taught her invaluable knowledge, even treating her like family.
And now, the person she admired most—the most esteed human in the entire world—was cutting her hair.
Even fairy tales wouldn't have a plot like this.
Every now and then, Paqina would pinch herself, terrified that everything happening was just a dream.
This ti, Loren didn't tie Paqina's hair into a ponytail. He even trimd her blunt bangs. With her new hairstyle, Paqina stared at herself in the mirror as if looking at a stranger.
"So this is what I really look like?"
Paqina pinched herself again to confirm it wasn't a dream.
Loren placed his hands on Paqina's shoulders, letting her fully admire her new appearance.
Witches weren't vain, but seeing herself look prettier still made her happy.
"Master ntor, the people from the Chailros Family have arrived."
"Perfect. Let's go out and et them together. They're probably here to deliver gifts."
"Yes..."
Paqina took one last reluctant glance at herself in the mirror, then followed Loren to the door.
The Chailros family had sent many people, led by William and Yvonne. Now that William was the head of the family, Yvonne's status had risen accordingly. The two of them were essentially the highest-ranking mbers of the family, a show of great respect for Loren.
They had brought plenty of gifts, including various dicinal herbs and precious materials, among other things.
Yvonne froze for a mont when she saw Paqina standing behind Loren. She rubbed her eyes, thinking she might have mistaken the person.
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