Chapter 40 - Fuck... I’m still single here!
In a dense forest surrounded by towering ancient trees, a woman in skin-tight black clothes moved like liquid shadow, jumping from branch to branch with the grace of a seasoned assassin. Her movements were swift, economical—each leap like a blink.
Her black robe fluttered behind her, adorned with cuts and tears from the recent confrontation.
She pulled it free and hurled it downward. The moment the fabric touched the ground, it dissipated into nothingness, revealing the voluptuous figure beneath.
After covering approximately eight hundred meters, she finally stopped, perching on a sturdy branch to catch her breath.
Her face, though still partially covered, was flushed crimson.
Her mind was hazy—unfocused in a way that frustrated her deeply.
Seeing him after so long. And the moment he’d touched her, all rational thought had evaporated. She’d wanted nothing more than to pull him into an embrace and stay like that for a day, maybe two.
Pulling her mask down to expose her lower face, she untied her hair and let it cascade freely around her shoulders. The strands fell like obsidian waterfalls, framing features made sharper by exertion and emotion.
Her face glistened with sweat, a deep red blush suffusing every inch of her pale skin. Those purple-black eyes were hazy, unfocused—the moisture only accentuating her sharp jawline and delicate features.
She placed her right hand against her chest, taking deep, measured breaths to calm the storm raging inside her.
"Sigh... haah... haah... he’s become more mature now, hehe."
This was Rexa Sinfroste—our ’neighborhood yandere’, though she preferred to think of herself as a simply devoted wife.
She’d had always been quite strong even as head maid of the Midgar mansion at just twenty-two as she was Cale’s caretaker and a bodyguard too.
But now? Now she was a peak Advance stage cultivator, standing on the precipice of breakthrough itself.
A few months back, before Cale had mentioned his impending departure, he’d given her permission to call him by his name.
Not "Young Master," not "sir"—just ’Cale’. The boundary between them had dissolved completely.
And she’d made her decision instantly: she would follow him.
What was the point of staying in this backwater continent if Cale wasn’t here? The thought was almost physically painful.
She needed to be strong—strong enough to fight alongside him in whatever unknown places awaited beyond this land.
The monster-infested wastelands between continents were no joke. Hell, she didn’t even know if other continents actually existed, but if Cale said they did, they had to.
Why did she believe it so absolutely? Simple, Cale said it!
Her grin widened as she gazed out at the darkening forest.
"Heh, it won’t be long now, I guess," she giggled, her voice carrying an edge that would have made anyone listening quite uncomfortable.
According to Cale’s plan, a portal-like thing would appear at some random location near the academy.
She’d asked for specifics, but the infuriating man had kept it secret.
Typical. Either he’d be gone by the time it closed, or he’d stay at the academy until an opportunity presented itself, then slip away.
To avoid suspicion, they had to maintain distance.
He didn’t even know her true identity yet—she was just another masked ninja to him.
What even was a ’Ninja’ anyways?
Which worked perfectly because if two people suddenly disappeared within days of each other, the Midgar house would be immediately suspect. They’d dispatch every fighter they possessed to track them down.
Problematic didn’t even begin to describe it.
And then there were those bitches, those infuriating wenches.
She knew the knight wouldn’t be an issue—that hag had her own issues.
But the other one? The elf? Oh, she’d definitely be in their lives in the future. She could feel it in her bones, that woman even changed her race to an elf just because Cale had said elves are beautiful in passing.
She was ready to break moral bounds, thin as they were in this case.
Cale was far too handsome for his own good. He would obviously attract more women. She’d braced herself for it.
One or two companions were manageable, as long as she was ’Number one.’
What could she do?
Cale was too kind, too genuine and timid, of course he would fall in these traps set up by these sluts.
Women would flock to him like moths to flame, but that was fine. She’d sort them out.
Establish hierarchies, else kidnapping him and running away wasn’t too hard.
’Yes, that’s how it should be. Then we’ll get married and have ten kids. A BIG family. Hehehe.’
Her grin was absolutely deranged—the kind that would make casual observers question what was happening inside that beautiful head.
Then someone arrived.
Rexa’s expression shifted instantly, she pulled out a dagger with fluid grace.
"Come on, kid... you aren’t planning to kill me? Oh, I’m so scared!"
Silvester stepped out from between the trees with a smirk, his casual demeanor at odds with the weight of his presence.
This man—the one who’d somehow ended up managing this ragtag group of ninja-like students—had only proposed the idea initially. Who knew they’d actually dump the entire responsibility on his shoulders?
He’d come to the academy specifically to relax, and yet...
"Haah... that kid sure knows how to attract women, huh," he sighed, watching her with knowing amusement.
"Look at me—I’m still single here!"
Rexa covered her face again and bowed slightly,
As if he could sense exactly what Cale was attempting, a rainbow-colored crystal materialized in Silvester’s palm from his spatial ring. His grin widened with barely contained mischief.
"Let’s see if he manages to handle this."
Rexa’s eyes widened instantly.
’He wouldn’t... not a Spirit essence core crystal.’
But he was.
Silvester wasn’t just using it—he was breaking it, letting the massive accumulation of qi and various energies contained within spill outward in a controlled flood.
To prevent the outside world from detecting what was happening, he formed his domain around the area.
Rexa could sense Cale’s domain easily enough by now, but Silvester’s? People wouldn’t even realize they’d entered something.
To gauge how rare—how costly—such a core crystal was, even the royal family possessed only six of them.
She asked hesitantly, "Lord... is it fine to use it here? Although I don’t mind using it for ’him’, surely some of the elders would..."
Of course they would. Strong cultivators would absolutely notice the sudden surge of energy. Those with special eyes, heightened senses—they’d detect it immediately.
Silvester simply smiled, reading her mind with ease.
’Look at this girl. If this were any other kid, she’d argue about wasting something so precious on a mere newbie. But this one? She’d burn down the academy for that boy without hesitation. Hehe, oh, the things people do for love... fuck, I’m single.’
He studied her carefully.
"You know it, and I saw it too—that kid used a freaking domain. That’s not something to be used at his stage. Hell, those black flame-like eerie energies... isn’t he from a ducal clan? Red-hot flames are supposed to be their signature style. Seriously, that kid..."
He shook his head in disbelief. "First he was pathetically weak, then as if blessed by some old man in a ring, he started growing way too fast."
Rexa laughed softly, though her eyes remained serious.
"Sir, do you know what that energy is? I can’t even sense qi from it," she asked with curiosity.