The Gift... and Her Purpose

"Tilis...?"

Luo Wei noticed her condition becoming increasingly abnormal and quickly tried to remind her with concern.

However, he realized that Tilis seemed completely unresponsive, as if she had already immersed herself in her own world.

"Four years..."

"An entire four years..."

Her face was lowered, strands of black hair falling and hiding her expression, which was shrouded in shadow and filled with extreme gloom.

"I thought... you would never come back..."

"I even prepared for the worst..."

She clenched her fists tightly, trembling slightly from the intensity of her emotions.

This damned world, utterly terrible...

If even you were gone...

I don’t know what meaning there would be in staying here!!

As these thoughts crossed her mind, the ferocity in her violet eyes grew stronger, and a hint of killing intent flickered within them.

"Tilis?" Luo Wei grew tense. From the moment he first met the witch lady until now, Tilis had never shown such hysterical emotions.

Yet, Tilis remained unmoved. Her negative emotions seemed to have transformed into a tangible force, creating a terrifying and oppressive atmosphere that enveloped the dining table, even causing the surrounding air to ripple unnaturally.

Suddenly, the sound of a vase shattering came from the table.

"Brother..."

Helena also began to struggle under the pressure, her body tense as she anxiously looked at Luo Wei.

Evelyn tugged at Luo Wei's arm and pointed at Tilis, "Look at her!"

This was the second time Luo Wei had seen such a strange change in her, that eerie fluctuation.

"Zzz..."

If Tilis were compared to an image on a screen, for a moment, it was as if the signal had been disrupted, causing the image to skip frames or even display garbled data...

Luo Wei even thought his eyes were playing tricks on him.

What was going on? He had never seen such a change in a supernatural being before; this wasn’t how backlash usually manifested...

Could it be that she had gone mad from practicing some obscure magic??

Seeing that the oppressive atmosphere caused by Tilis was making it difficult to even breathe, Luo Wei stood up abruptly and grabbed her hand.

Tilis suddenly raised her head, a flash of cold killing intent in her eyes.

"Tilis, look clearly, it's me!"

When she realized that the person right in front of her was Luo Wei, her lips parted slightly.

"Tilis, what’s wrong with you?" Luo Wei asked helplessly, not even questioning her about the strange fluctuation just now.

"I'm sorry..." Tilis gazed deeply at Luo Wei, her tense expression softening instantly.

The invisible pressure in the air vanished, and both Helena and Evelyn let out sighs of relief.

Tilis simply shook her head with a bitter smile.

"Perhaps there’s been too much going on in the Hermit Order lately, and I haven’t been resting well..."

With that, she quickly offered an apologetic smile to Helena and Evelyn, "That was a special situation just now. Don’t worry, I mean no harm to you."

Evelyn couldn’t help but purse her lips, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

Hmph, no harm...

Yeah, right!

The atmosphere finally returned to how it was at the beginning, and everyone quietly continued their meal.

Tilis smiled at Helena and pushed the food toward her.

"You must be exhausted from the journey and haven’t eaten properly, right?"

"Go ahead, why aren’t you eating?"

Luo Wei noticed Helena’s conflicted and slightly annoyed expression and chuckled, "She doesn’t like this kind of food, so don’t force her."

"Ah?" Tilis covered her mouth in surprise, "Helena doesn’t like seafood?"

She quickly reached out and patted Helena’s head apologetically, "I’m sorry, after living together for so long, I didn’t know there were things you didn’t like to eat..."

Helena took a small piece of bread that Luo Wei handed her and silently began nibbling on it.

"It’s fine... I won’t waste any food..."

"How can it be fine!" Tilis’ smile carried a hint of self-reproach, "You’re Luo Wei’s sister, which means you’re my sister too... Oh, right!"

She seemed to think of a way to make up for it, "I almost forgot, we were just talking about gifts for you earlier. Let me go get them now."

With that, she quickly stood up and headed to the next room.

The three of them watched her silently, and soon she returned with two beautifully wrapped gift boxes.

She handed one of the boxes to Helena and smiled gently, "Go ahead, open it and see if you like it."

Helena nodded and quietly unwrapped the box, revealing a wooden doll lying inside.

"This is..." Helena took out the doll and looked at Tilis in confusion.

"Good thing I remembered you like dolls," Tilis said with a smile, "I came across this when I was traveling in the eastern kingdom of Florenza. I saw it in their capital and thought it was adorable. I figured you’d like it, so I bought it for you."

Helena held up the doll and scrutinized it carefully, then turned to Luo Wei with a look of mixed amusement and exasperation.

"It’s ugly..."

"Ugly?" Tilis blinked in confusion. In her aesthetic, this doll was quite beautiful...

"Luo Wei, what do you think?" She turned to Luo Wei.

Luo Wei looked at the doll’s appearance and was momentarily at a loss for words.

The pale skin, bizarre makeup, hollow eyes, and that eerie, inexplicable smile...

Was this something a girl would like? It looked more like a cursed object used in black magic or a haunted doll possessed by a ghost...

It was giving him the creeps...

Luo Wei silently glanced at Tilis, "Your taste is as morbid as ever."

"What does 'morbid' mean?" Tilis asked curiously.

"It means beautiful," Luo Wei said flatly.

"Oh..."

Tilis then looked at Helena expectantly, "So, do you like it?"

Helena forced a smile and tried to express gratitude.

"I like it."

Even though she found it utterly hideous, Tilis was still the second person to give her a doll.

No matter how ugly the gift was...

No matter... if her real intention was just to win over her brother...

...

After giving Helena her gift, Tilis turned to Luo Wei, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"What kind of treasure did you get for me?" Luo Wei was even starting to look forward to it, curious about what kind of surprise the witch lady had prepared this time.

Under Tilis’ gaze, Luo Wei opened the gift box and was momentarily stunned by what he saw.

It was a key, an ordinary-looking key.

"This is..."

Luo Wei looked at Tilis in confusion, only to see her face light up with excitement.

"This is the key to the Divine Research Institute. The corpse of a god, as well as all the research I’ve done over the past six months, are there, on that island."

Luo Wei suddenly recalled the information he had gotten from the innkeeper.

He had said that on the day the witches arrived, the corpse of a god had washed ashore.

Could it really be true?

Tilis stared intently at Luo Wei and continued, "Do you remember what I wrote to you in my letter? I wasn’t lying."

"I truly touched the edge of truth. Through my research on the divine, I gained unimaginable knowledge and power."

"Do you know what this means?"

Her voice grew fervent as she spoke, "I will become like a god! Possessing infinite power!"

She gripped Luo Wei’s hand tightly, her eyes burning with intensity.

"Something like what happened in Blackwater Town will never happen again! I will never be powerless to stop you from leaving! No one in this world can take you away from me. We can be together forever!!"