After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 17

Chapter 17: The Wolf and the Whip-Wielder

◎ Her little tail was caught ◎

With screams and pleas for mercy filling her ears, Jiao Qingyin looked at her hand in confusion. She had clearly only used one illusion spell—why did Loddin look like he had been struck twice?

Could her lack of skill have caused the spell to release in accidental installments?

The textbook noted that without incantations or focus tools, the success rate of direct casting was very low. Thus, after being disgusted by the look of naked greed and lust in Loddin’s eyes, Jiao Qingyin had cast the spell with a “let’s give it a try” attitude. She hadn’t expected it to actually work.

However, the effect of the illusion was slightly different from what she had envisioned.

Seeing Loddin squirming and crawling toward her feet, Jiao Qingyin felt a wave of revulsion. She set the mystery aside for now and looked at Meg. Without needing a word, Meg stepped forward, grabbed the man—who was nearly twice her size—and tossed him away like a sack of grain.

Nameless watched the scene, her mood reflected in her physical actions: her tail began to wag in tiny, rhythmic arcs. Though she knew Jiao Qingyin’s motives weren’t for her sake, it didn’t stop her from feeling a subtle sense of gratification.

Jiao Qingyin felt something brush against her thigh. It was ticklish. Turning her gaze, she caught the sight of that wagging tail. She tried to resist, but ultimately couldn’t help herself—she reached out and pinched the little tail.

“!” Nameless jumped.

Before she could yank her tail free, she was scooped up and pulled into Jiao Qingyin’s embrace. Jiao Qingyin rubbed Nameless’s head, and finding the soft sensation pleasing, she simply held the little wolf cub tight and refused to let go.

Because they were surrounded by people, Jiao Qingyin maintained her expressionless mask. But when Nameless looked up, she saw the woman’s lips move, silently mouthing something.

Al is so… so what? Nameless couldn’t catch the last word of the lip-sync, but based on their recent interactions, she concluded the woman must be calling her “stupid” or something similar again.

Feeling a spark of irritation, Nameless opened her mouth and bit Jiao Qingyin’s hand—not with force, but just grinding her teeth against the skin. She thought as she bit: I am a guest under her roof and secretly learning magic; I shouldn’t bite too hard so as not to offend her completely.

Jiao Qingyin, meanwhile, grew thoughtful. She vaguely sensed that Al wasn’t as resistant to her proximity as before… Good, that’s progress.

Today, she was dressed in trousers with a thin leather belt connected to thigh straps, ending in polished black boots. The outfit made her look colder than usual, with a touch of “ascetic” charm that didn’t match the original owner’s reputation at all. Yet, with the soft white wolf in her lap, that stern aura was largely diluted. Liz, standing guard nearby, couldn’t help but steal several glances at her.

Finally, Loddin regained his senses after the second round of pain. He looked up, drenched in sweat, to see Jiao Qingyin resting her chin on one hand, leisurely playing with her pet and ignoring him entirely. Loddin let out a harsh, rasping sound from his throat.

Jiao Qingyin acted as if she had only just remembered someone was on the floor. She lifted her eyelids and looked over. “You look quite unhappy?”

“…” Loddin clenched his fists. After several deep breaths, he spoke in a low voice. “I have sinned. Your punishment is just.”

Jiao Qingyin chuckled. “Since you want to confess… why don’t you tell me exactly what your sin is?”

“…Yes,” Loddin had to force himself to crawl up to answer, losing a few more scales in the process. He looked at the table full of untouched food and gambled on a guess: “Is it… that you are dissatisfied with our refreshments?”

Jiao Qingyin neither confirmed nor denied it, asking instead: “And do you think the things here are delicious?”

Loddin paused, carefully sidestepping the dangerous topic with a forced smile. “How could I possibly know how to critique fine food? I simply ordered my subordinates to do their best. They must have been lazy to have provoked Your Highness. I shall call them at once—”

Jiao Qingyin cut off his attempt to shift the blame. She leaned back against the chair, sounding interested. “It seems that before you sent these things up, you didn’t taste them yourself?”

“…I wouldn’t dare touch food meant for you.”

“Then come here and eat all of it.”

Loddin froze. He looked instinctively at the pile of nearly untouched food. Jiao Qingyin added: “If you don’t try it yourself, how will you know if it’s bad? You might misunderstand and think I’m looking for trouble on purpose…”

Loddin realized things were going south. Cold sweat poured off him; his smile grew more distorted, looking worse than a crying face. “You joke, Your Highness. How could I ever think that? You surely wouldn’t…”

He wanted to bargain for a way out, but Jiao Qingyin’s voice turned abruptly cold, making the air pressure in the room plummet.

“Come here—eat it all. Don’t make me repeat myself a third time.”

Loddin ate slowly. Every item before him was excessively sweet. By the second pastry, he felt his throat clogging up, even feeling a sense of suffocation. Demon-kin primarily ate meat; with his heritage, he rarely touched anything else, let alone desserts.

Eating this food was like being tortured. Thinking that Jiao Qingyin might have more tricks up her sleeve, Loddin nearly ground his teeth to dust. He could endure physical pain, but if she intended to strip him of his power… he knew that with a single word from her, his years of painstaking work would become a joke. He could not accept that.

Just then, there was a “knock-knock” at the door. Loddin’s chewing slowed. Jiao Qingyin didn’t stop stroking Nameless’s fur. Without looking up, she said: “Enter.”

The door opened. The person entering let out a gasp of shock at the scene, followed by a flurry of apologies and pleas for mercy. Annoyed, Jiao Qingyin interrupted: “Get up. What is it?”

The attendant rose tremblingly and held out an auction catalog. “Y-Your Highness… the auction is about to begin…”

Before entering, she hadn’t imagined the person being punished would be her boss. Though they had heard screams, screams were common in the Princess’s room. Who knew it would be… Amidst her fear, the attendant felt a flicker of secret joy seeing Loddin’s state.

“I see,” Jiao Qingyin said casually. To everyone’s anxiety, she stood up while holding Nameless. “Let’s go. Change rooms.”

Loddin, kneeling by the table, stopped eating. But before any hope could rise, Jiao Qingyin looked back. As he stiffly bit into another cake, she turned to Meg: “You stay. Watch him finish everything before you leave.”

Meg obeyed. Loddin’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head. He hated the unfairness of fate—why should his life be dictated by a single sentence? Why could that idiot Princess stand on his head? Why—!

Even then, he maintained a shred of reason, hiding his expression behind his crude eating. He didn’t know his “caution” had already been seen through.

Nameless, nestled in Jiao Qingyin’s arm, had blue-green eyes that seemed to glow. She didn’t know if Jiao Qingyin intended to let Loddin go, but she certainly didn’t.

A drop of black liquid fell silently to the floor, turning into a thin line that slithered like a snake toward the miserable Loddin, sinking into his body.

Nameless hadn’t hesitated for a second when striking. But after the deed was done, feeling the gentle hand stroking her head, she dazed for a moment. She looked up, and Jiao Qingyin, sensing the gaze, looked down with eyes that were incredibly tender.