Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”We’re here.”

Loren landed steadily in front of Cecelia’s door. Even though he hadn’t been here in a while, he still remembered the exact location clearly.

”Mm-hmm. Don’t leave yet.”

”What’s wrong...”

Before Loren could even finish asking what was going on, Cecelia pinned him against the wall.

...

It wasn’t until early the next morning that Loren finally returned. Everyone else was still asleep, with only Mirrorheart already awake.

She had always woken up this early to cook and handle household chores.

Loren didn’t eat breakfast, but Anna did.

Even after other maids joined the household, Mirrorheart maintained this routine without ever changing it.”Did you spend the whole night with Cecelia before parting ways? She looks frail, but I didn’t expect her to have that much stamina.”

Mirrorheart said this with her usual calm expression, and Loren had long grown used to it.

”How did you know Cecelia left? Did Movila tell you?”

Even if Mirrorheart hadn’t found Cecelia in Loren’s room, she shouldn’t have guessed she’d left, so Loren was a bit curious.

”That’s not important. Would you like to start a round now?”

”...”

Loren checked on the others. They were all still fast asleep, and given their usual schedules, none of them would be waking up anytime soon.

”Ahem... since I’m already here...”

In the end, Loren agreed to Mirrorheart’s request...

When Anna and the others finally woke up, Loren had already prepared breakfast for them—bought from outside, since Mirrorheart had no time to cook.

After eating, everyone got ready to catch the train back.

Thinking back on everything he’d witnessed in the Uridia Kingdom along the way, Loren couldn’t help but sigh:

”It’s gone back to how it was...”

Thanks to the drug trade, the Uridia Kingdom was now even wealthier than before the Bloodline Rebels appeared. But just because the kingdom had money didn’t mean the people of Uridia did.

Homeless people still lined the streets, and a finely tuned new execution threshold had already emerged.

These days, the hottest jobs in the Uridia Kingdom were at the drug factories. The pay was relatively higher there, and positions were constantly open because employees died off fast.

There were fewer vampires, but more resources, which meant each vampire got a bigger cut of the profits. Even human nobles were receiving more resources.

These changes showed up in many places. For example, Loren checked Lilith’s residence and noticed that the subsistence allowance they’d been sending her had increased recently.

Loren returned that money to Lilith, who promptly used it to buy him a brand-new outfit. She still remembered when Loren had given her so many clothes.

These clothes were completely different from Loren’s usual style—very flashy and handsome, so much so that Loren’s entire aura shifted when he put them on.

Before, Loren always dressed plainly. You could barely spot him in a crowd. His handsomeness was understated.

But in this new outfit, Loren instantly became eye-catching. Anyone could tell at a glance that he wasn’t ordinary. His sealed good looks were finally unleashed.

”Lilith really knows her clothes...”

Loren admired his new outfit, feeling a bit impressed but not surprised.

Lilith had always owned plenty of beautiful clothes. They might have been a bit old, but they were genuinely nice to look at.

She was someone who cared about her appearance.

But Loren didn’t care much about how he looked. Rather than being handsome, he preferred to stay low-key.

After letting Lilith admire him for a while, Loren threw his black robe back on, led the group onto the train, and prepared to head home.

Once aboard, Anna stared out the window and suddenly asked:

”Is Cecelia coming back?”

”Cecelia’s gone?”

Hearing Anna’s question, Laila finally caught on. She immediately searched under the bed but found no trace of Cecelia.

That was when she realized Cecelia had disappeared.

In that moment, Laila felt a wave of defeat. She hadn’t even noticed her child was missing. She wasn’t a qualified guardian.

It wasn’t just Laila. Naclis hadn’t noticed Cecelia’s absence either, but she still kept her composure.

Since Loren was so calm, there had to be nothing wrong.

”She stayed behind in the Uridia Kingdom. She plans to use it as a starting point to develop her influence...”

Loren explained Cecelia’s situation to everyone. It wasn’t a big deal. If Loren wanted to, he could bring Cecelia back anytime, so the others didn’t react much.

At most, it was like she’d gone on a trip. It had nothing to do with saying goodbye.

Loren wasn’t worried about Cecelia’s safety either. The Corrupt Blazing Sun was still here. If Loren got desperate, he could just release it.

Even if he couldn’t destroy the entire Uridia Kingdom outright, he could still cause considerable damage and give Cecelia cover to escape or counterattack.

Loren had left contingency plans in many places. On the God of Night and Thunder’s side, there were the vampires and the Corrupt Blazing Sun. On the God of Plague’s side, the entire Bardo Kingdom was his backup.

Loren’s main body was in the God of Bountiful Harvest’s territory, so his control there was the tightest.

On the Eastern Continent, he had Noah for the God of Confusion, those wandering souls for the God of Light and Fire, and he’d already raided the Forest of Dreams several times against the God of Dreams.

The God of Freedom’s followers were mostly pirates, and the Merfolk could easily deal with them.

For now, only the God of Vows and Wind and the God of Pain had no contingency plans. The God of Pain was kind of a nobody anyway, not worth targeting specifically.

”Before I knew it, I’ve done this much...”

Loren couldn’t help but feel a bit emotional. From the moment he’d transmigrated—or rather, from the moment he’d picked up Anna and Naclis—he had already begun laying his groundwork.

Step by step, steady and stable. It wasn’t until he sacrificed the Flesh Giant Tree that his plans finally bore fruit, setting off a chain reaction.

If Loren hadn’t painstakingly built up his identity from the very beginning, he never could have achieved any of this.

The Uridia Kingdom’s unique electric train sped along the tracks, and Cecelia’s songs played through the carriages. Loren had no idea if these songs had any mind-controlling effects.

Nothing else happened along the way. The earlier crash had scared Paqina a bit. She kept glancing out the window, terrified the train would smash into someone else.

Finally, the train arrived safely in the Gedlan Kingdom. This was the first time Loren got off without any Church members coming to greet him.

Normally, he hated their sycophantic behavior. But when they didn’t show up, he only felt even more annoyed.

”Let’s go home first. We’ll settle scores after that.”

Loren pulled out the list and glanced at it. Every name on it was written by Horn.

He knew one thing for certain: if anyone other than him brandished this list, they’d be lucky to survive three minutes.

This wasn’t a list. It was a curse. A death warrant.

But now, Loren was the one holding it. In his hands, this list became a death note—whoever’s name was written on it would die.

When they got home, Loren spotted William at the doorstep. He was sitting alone on a nearby rock, waiting for something.

His clothes had started to look worn and tattered. No one knew how long he’d been waiting there.