"What did you say?"

Caroline couldn't quite believe her ears. In her entire life, this was the first time she had ever heard words like these.

Not even her family in the Witches' Church had ever said such things.

Witches often suffered from a lack of self-worth, and Caroline felt she didn't deserve praise like this from Loren.

"I said witches are deeply loyal and value relationships. Compared to humans, I prefer witches."

Loren cupped Caroline's face, speaking each word clearly and deliberately.

He wasn't trying to be a traitor to humanity; Loren was simply telling the truth.

"Mmm..."

Caroline's face gradually turned red, her heartbeat quickened, and she suddenly found herself unable to speak.

"You're the succubus here..."

Movila, who had been watching from the sidelines, muttered under her breath. As for Caroline joining them, Movila didn't have any particular feelings about it. She had a very clear understanding of her own position—she was Loren's pet—so she wouldn't get jealous over this.

"For now, you should lay low. Hide in the basement of my house for a while, and come out once the heat dies down.

"Koranda has already memorized your face, and I'm not even sure if Koranda is dead."

Loren's goal at the time had been to take Caroline away, and he had also sensed something anomalous about Koranda, so he had temporarily given up on delivering a finishing move to Koranda.

That Night-Rending Comet was already one of Loren's strongest spells at the moment. Using an even stronger spell like Blood Moon Condensed Light would likely have revealed his true capabilities.

"Yes..."

"Did you read the letter I sent you earlier? I warned you in the letter, but you still ended up fooled by Koranda's clumsy acting..."

Koranda's subordinates probably didn't include any women; otherwise, she wouldn't have had to personally play the victim. Only a naive witch would disregard these details and rush to save her without a second thought.

This time, when Koranda came to the Gedlan Kingdom, she hadn't brought many people with her, only her most trusted confidants. This point was also rather strange.

But it's fine now. Koranda's confidants have basically been completely wiped out by Loren. She brought many people with her tonight, the vast majority hidden in the shadows, but Loren still managed to detect them.

"I... I can't read..."

Movila's speculation was confirmed by Caroline herself. Loren felt a bit exasperated. He had accounted for many possibilities, but he never expected that Caroline was actually illiterate.

"Let me take you to the basement first. You should get some proper rest. Tomorrow, I'll teach you how to read."

"Mhm, thank you..."

Hearing that she would have a chance to learn to read, Caroline felt a spark of joy. As a witch, she had basically never had an opportunity for education. The witches in the Witches' Church were all very busy and simply didn't have time to teach her, which was why Caroline remained illiterate to this day.

However, when they reached the basement door, Loren suddenly realized something.

Since moving, Loren hadn't entered the basement. Usually, only Lilith stayed down there. It had just occurred to Loren that Mirrorheart seemed to have renovated the basement.

He opened the basement door. It was very well hidden; an outsider would never discover there was a basement here.

Caroline looked around curiously, her eyes wide with novelty. As they went deeper, Caroline saw more and more strange things.

Many torture instruments hung on the walls, and numerous iron chains dangled from the ceiling, seemingly meant for suspending something.

So far, it was still somewhat acceptable. Loren led Caroline to what should have been the room—the space reserved for Lilith. Loren thought this area probably wouldn't have undergone major renovations, but in the end, he had still underestimated Mirrorheart.

The moment he opened the door, Loren saw a large iron cage. Inside was a silver-haired girl wearing a gothic-style long dress, giving off a tragically beautiful feeling.

That wasn't the most critical part. Next to the cage were arranged many different types of torture instruments. These were real torture devices, not a metaphor. Loren even spotted an iron maiden.

In this world, probably only Mirrorheart would treat these things as toys.

"You... want me to live here?"

Caroline saw all of this too, her voice trembling slightly.

Her mind raced, thinking for a moment before Caroline resigned herself to her fate:

"After all, you saved my life. My life belongs to you now. And you harbor much less malice toward witches than other humans do. So compared to being killed by the Church, I think falling into your hands would be much better. At the very least, I won't die..."

Caroline's words made Loren tense up. His greatest fear had actually come true.

"Actually, I'm quite easy to satisfy. As long as you show me a little tenderness from time to time, I'll be able to see a glimmer of light in this sunless life. Then I won't break down so easily from the torment, and you can play with me a little longer..."

At this moment, Caroline seemed to have calmly accepted her fate, even managing a smile:

"Am I going to be locked in this cage too? If possible, I hope you can come see me early tomorrow..."

Watching Caroline about to step into the cage, Loren hurriedly pulled her back:

"No, don't, this is a misunderstanding..." 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

If Caroline had any complaints and turned to question Loren, that would be better. It would be easier for Loren to explain then.

But Caroline had directly resigned herself to her fate, not even planning to put up a fight.

"Then... are you planning to start now? Where should I go first? That cross with spikes?"

"No... Let's go back upstairs first. I had no idea my basement had been renovated like this..."

Loren first opened the cage and carried Lilith out.

Awakened by the commotion, Lilith saw Loren's face in her daze, instinctively hugged him, and quickly fell back asleep.

At this moment, Caroline also sensed Lilith's dependence on Loren. She couldn't help but wonder if she had truly misunderstood Loren?

Then Caroline glanced again at the basement's furnishings. She felt it was unlikely to be a misunderstanding. After all, a normal person wouldn't turn their own basement into something resembling a dungeon.

No, even the torture instruments in a typical dungeon weren't as comprehensive as the ones here.

Loren also knew this was hard to explain, but at the very least, Caroline trusted him. He could explain slowly later...

In the end, Loren took Caroline back to his own room. Actually, as long as the curtains were drawn properly, the outside couldn't see inside at all. Loren had wanted Caroline to stay in the basement purely as a precaution, because he initially thought the living conditions in the basement weren't much different from upstairs.

"This bed is so big. It's my first time seeing such a large bed."

Caroline sat on Loren's bed, stroking the mattress. The material of this bed was also extraordinary; Caroline had never seen such a high-quality bed before.

Loren didn't reply. Instead, he first carefully placed Lilith on the bed, afraid of waking her. Loren's gentle demeanor was also observed by Caroline.

Now Caroline was starting to believe Loren's words. But for some reason, she actually felt a hint of regret.