After the Black Moonlight’s "Death Escape" Failed [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Wolf and the Whip-Wielder

◎ She had always wanted to raise a dog ◎

Hearing Jiao Qingyin’s words, the protagonist’s eyes noticeably widened. However, because she had exhausted too much physical strength earlier, she had no time to do anything before she lost consciousness, carrying an expression of unwilling resentment into sleep.

After confirming that the protagonist had indeed lost consciousness, Jiao Qingyin turned to the butler and the knight. “Bring her back to the castle and arrange for her to stay in the room right next to mine.”

The butler failed to hide her shocked expression in time.

In the past, those who offended the Princess—even if it was just saying one wrong word—paid a tragic price. For example, she herself once…

Thinking of this, the butler instinctively hid her left hand behind her back. Her expression quickly shifted back to the standard, respectful mask as she asked for instructions: “Then, should Pupp—”

Before the word “Puppy” could fully leave her mouth, Jiao Qingyin squinted at her and interrupted coldly, “Did I give you permission to call her that?”

Jiao Qingyin had only called her that on a whim to spite the protagonist for biting her; she hadn’t intended to humiliate her personhood publicly, so she certainly wouldn’t allow that name to spread.

Hearing the chill in Jiao Qingyin’s tone, the butler’s knees went weak. She knelt immediately and kowtowed heavily, her forehead hitting the floor with a thud.

Jiao Qingyin’s expression stiffened. She didn’t tell the woman to rise, but simply averted her gaze.

Kneeling on the ground, the butler’s low vantage point meant she could only see Jiao Qingyin’s boots and the long whip hanging from her waist, reaching down to her thighs. She had experienced it personally, so she knew well that when this whip struck, it didn’t just draw blood—the barbs on it would scrape off an entire layer of flesh.

However, she waited for a long time and the expected pain never came. The Princess only dropped a curt “Remember it well” and walked away without looking back.

After kneeling in the heart-pounding silence for a good while, the butler slowly raised her head. She looked at Jiao Qingyin’s silhouette against the light and couldn’t help but feel a sense of daze. She felt that Her Highness seemed… No, perhaps she was just in a better mood today.

Not daring to think further, the butler hurried to her feet and followed the group. The elemental lamp she had been carrying earlier was left forgotten in the pitch-black Red Tower.

After a period of travel, Jiao Qingyin returned to the castle just before the rain started. Almost at the exact moment the party stepped inside, a torrential downpour began, the dense raindrops blurring the view outside.

As soon as Jiao Qingyin took off her overcoat, a maid stepped forward to take it and asked softly, “Your Highness, the hot water is ready. Would you like to bathe?”

Jiao Qingyin instinctively glanced at the unconscious protagonist nearby. The girl was covered in blood and filth, her long hair matted together; she looked like she desperately needed a cleaning.

The order was on the tip of her tongue, but Jiao Qingyin thought better of it and desisted. The protagonist didn’t seem like the type to appreciate someone else bathing her; it was better to wait until she woke up.

Fortunately, the magic in this world was quite miraculous. When Lottis treated the protagonist, the magic had automatically cleared away the shredded fabric near the wounds. Otherwise, the protagonist would have had to endure the agony of tearing fabric away from her skin during a bath.

Jiao Qingyin looked at the maid waiting for her answer, gave a quiet “Mhm,” and signaled for her to lead the way.

The original owner of this body had a particular fondness for gold. The decor of the entire castle reeked of extreme extravagance. Even the bathhouse walls were made of gold and encrusted with night-luminescent pearls, causing Jiao Qingyin to be momentarily blinded by the glare.

Bathing in a place like this long-term would definitely affect one’s eyesight…

Standing by the pool, after bracing herself mentally, Jiao Qingyin turned to dismiss the maid. To her shock, she found that the maid, who had been fully clothed a second ago, was now wearing nothing at all.

“Your Highness, please… please enjoy…”

The maid knelt trembling before Jiao Qingyin. She looked terrified, yet she still proactively pressed her body closer.

“No need,” Jiao Qingyin recovered from her panic in an instant. She took a step back, making her voice sound impatient. “I’m not in the mood today.”

The maid’s body stiffened, unsure of what Jiao Qingyin meant.

“…” Jiao Qingyin realized that the people here, under the oppression of the original owner, had basically lost the ability to think for themselves. Every action required a direct command.

“Go wait outside.”

“…Yes.” The maid stood up and prepared to leave just as she was.

Seeing this, Jiao Qingyin couldn’t help but helplessly add, “Put your clothes on before you go out.”

After the maid left, Jiao Qingyin sank into the steaming pool. This unexpected interlude had left her physically and mentally exhausted. She tried to take a short nap, but as soon as she closed her eyes, the faint pain in the webbing of her hand woke her up.

The protagonist’s teeth were certainly sharp; she had not only drawn blood but left a ring of bite marks that looked like they would take many days to fade.

Wondering if she was hallucinating because she was thinking about the protagonist too much, Jiao Qingyin suddenly saw a dark shadow moving in the misty environment.

Half-dazed with sleepiness, Jiao Qingyin blinked and looked again. The shadow was still there.

Jiao Qingyin snapped awake. She quickly adjusted her “salted fish” soaking posture, braced her right hand against the pool wall, and wrapped a towel around herself. She was ready to call for guards if things looked bad, but the shadow remained motionless in the same spot. After waiting for a while, Jiao Qingyin decided to move closer to investigate.

As she approached, she realized the shadow was very small—clearly not human.

Thank goodness it’s not a person… After all, the System wasn’t twisted enough to force her to stay in character in front of non-human creatures. She could relax a bit.

Moving closer, she finally saw the shadow’s true form. It was a puppy—a tiny ball of fur curled up, biting its own tail while asleep.

Jiao Qingyin was stunned. The weather was so cold, and the original owner (who hated small animals) had banned the keeping of pets in the castle. How did this puppy, clearly just a newborn, sneak into the castle and even make its way to the bathhouse?

Before she could think further, she noticed the puppy’s breathing was extremely weak. It looked like it had been frozen stiff and was on the verge of dying.

Jiao Qingyin had always wanted a dog of her own. Unfortunately, when she was alive, although she often dealt with animals, the zombie dogs that bit everyone on sight clearly didn’t fall under the category of “suitable pets.” After becoming a Time and Space Bureau employee, she never had the chance either. Now that a puppy was right in front of her, she was tempted.

To be safe, she asked the System: “System, check this for me. Is it related to the plot?”

The System only cared about the outcome of the mission and didn’t monitor Jiao Qingyin’s specific actions during the process. As long as she didn’t disrupt the main storyline, she had a high degree of freedom.

[Ding! Scanning… Scan complete. No corresponding character found in the plot.]

Hearing this, Jiao Qingyin hesitated no longer. She put on her bathrobe, wrapped the puppy in a soft towel, and carefully tucked it against her.

Since she couldn’t break character, she thought for a moment and stuffed the bundled-up puppy inside her robe. The puppy kicked its hind paws and instinctively burrowed closer to the source of warmth.

Jiao Qingyin felt the movement against her abdomen and couldn’t help but smile. The robe was loose, and no one in the castle dared to look her in the eye anyway. All the way back to her room, no one discovered that their violent and tyrannical Princess was hiding a tiny puppy in her bosom.