The Extra's Regressor Wives

The smile on Aldric’s face instantly froze. A violent gust slammed into him, and he had only enough time to blurt, "What the..." before a massive claw swept across his body.

BOOM!

Aldric was hurled off the ground. His body crashed into the sand and rolled for more than ten meters. The audience immediately erupted into cheers, most of them still thinking this was merely part of the fight. Aldric pushed himself up, blood running from the corner of his mouth, but anger quickly overwhelmed the pain.

"You damn beast..."

He raised his wand, but the Dire Beast was already in front of him. Aldric had only enough time to widen his eyes before a massive foreleg stomped down.

CRACK!

"ARGH!!!"

His scream echoed throughout the arena. Aldric’s right forearm immediately bent at an unnatural angle, causing the previously noisy stands to fall silent. The Dire Beast lowered its head. Aldric used his left hand to launch a fireball straight into its face, but after the explosion, the creature only took half a step back. Before he could even crawl to his feet, a claw struck his ribs and sent him crashing into the sand again.

"ACTIVATE THE BACKUP SEAL!" Kiyome shouted.

"Activating!"

The Dire Beast raised its leg. Aldric looked up, his pupils contracting sharply just before the enormous paw stomped directly onto his chest.

BOOM! CRACK!

Several ribs broke in succession. Blood sprayed from Aldric’s mouth, and all the air in his lungs was forced out. The creature raised its leg again. Kiyome immediately realized what it intended to do and shouted, "HURRY!"

BOOM!

The second stomp produced a deep, muffled impact. Aldric’s chest caved inward while his entire body convulsed. The female subordinate beside Kiyome instinctively grimaced.

"My Lady..."

"What?"

"It looks like... it still wants to stomp on him."

"I can see that!"

"Yes."

Blue light finally erupted from all four corners of the arena. Dozens of magical chains appeared at once, wrapping around the Dire Beast’s neck and four limbs before violently dragging it backward. The creature roared as five Mages circulated mana at the same time, using the backup seal to force it away from Aldric.

"Save him!"

Two Herbalists and several gladiators immediately rushed in. Aldric was dragged out while barely conscious, his right arm deformed, half his body covered in blood, and every breath from his chest produced a sound painful enough to make anyone listening wince. The moment one of the Herbalists placed a hand on him, his expression changed.

"His forearm is broken."

Kiyome walked over. "I can see that."

"At least three ribs..." The man checked again, then corrected himself. "...Five."

Kiyome looked at him. "Save him first."

"Yes."

The Herbalist continued examining him. "His sternum is cracked as well."

Kiyome took a deep breath and said coldly, "I pay you to treat him, not recite a list of injuries."

The man immediately lowered his head. "Understood."

Aldric barely opened his eyes. His unfocused gaze landed on Kiyome as though he wanted to say something, but the moment his lips parted, another mouthful of blood spilled out. She looked at him for several seconds before turning away, leaving only one sentence behind.

"Take him to the treatment room."

"Yes."

After Aldric was carried away, Kiyome immediately headed toward the seal control area. Three Mages were examining the shattered Magic Crystals, and every one of them wore an ugly expression.

"Sabotage?"

"No."

"External magic?"

"None detected."

"Then why?"

The Mage in charge held up the broken Magic Crystal and explained, "This one already had a tiny internal fracture. Under normal circumstances, it should still have lasted several more months, but for some reason, it shattered today right after the match began."

He pointed toward another component. "The second-layer mana conduit was the same. There were signs of wear, but it was still within acceptable operating standards. After the first layer failed, too much mana rushed into it at once, causing an overload."

Kiyome continued, "What about the warning bell?"

"The control panel lost power at exactly that moment. Only for about seven seconds."

Seven seconds.

Enough time for Aldric’s arm to be broken.

Enough time for the Dire Beast to recover most of its strength.

And enough time for the entire fight to turn from a performance into an accident.

Kiyome said nothing. She only lowered her gaze toward her palm. The cold sensation was still there, even though Lathel was clearly only slightly annoyed with her. If one day he discovered that she intended to hand him over to Aldric...

Her fox ears lowered slightly.

For the first time since being cursed, Kiyome truly felt a trace of unease.

But only a few seconds later, her gaze turned cold again.

Fear would solve nothing.

If the source lay in Lathel’s emotions, then she only needed to change those emotions before the plan began.

Kiyome closed her fan. "Accelerate the investigation into Lathel."

The female subordinate behind her immediately lowered her head. "Yes."

"I want to know what he likes, what he hates, where he usually goes, and what habits he has."

The woman looked slightly surprised. "My Lady wants to..."

Kiyome turned around, her familiar smile slowly returning.

"If you want someone to lower their guard, you first have to make them feel comfortable around you."

She looked toward the direction Aldric had just been carried away.

An idiot who had run into the arena on his own and nearly gotten stomped to death.

A curse that could not be defended against with mana.

And a man she was required to deliver into Aldric’s hands.

Kiyome opened her fan.

"Looks like I need to make Lathel like me a little faster."

...

At the same time Aldric was having his broken ribs set by an Herbalist in the eastern part of the city, Catrina was having such a good morning that even she found it slightly strange.

The first report arrived two days earlier than expected. A medicinal herb Black Rose had been searching for nearly half a month had unexpectedly appeared in the warehouse of a familiar merchant guild, and the other party had even taken the initiative to lower the price because they urgently needed money. Even the minor supply issue that had been giving her a headache for several days was resolved before Catrina had to give the order a second time.

Everything was going smoothly.

Far too smoothly.

Catrina stood beside the window, looking at the reports on the table before slowly raising one hand. No special light or mana appeared, but that familiar sense of protection had returned.

Lucky Star Halo.

The eyes behind her mask immediately softened.

She was not happy because of a few contracts or some medicinal herbs.

What made Catrina feel better was that Lathel was becoming less uncomfortable around her.

Perhaps it had not yet reached the point of complete trust, much less liking her, but at least he no longer looked at her as though she might chain him to a bed again at any moment.

That alone was enough.

Catrina turned away from the window.

"Prepare the carriage."

The female knight nearby asked, "Where would Your Grace like to go?"

"I don’t know."

Seeing the woman pause, Catrina calmly continued,

"Ask Lathel."

...

Lathel had barely stepped out of his room when he saw Catrina standing in the corridor.

Today, she was not wearing her usual combat attire. Instead, she had changed into a simpler black dress fitted neatly around the waist, with a thin cloak draped over it. The silver mask still covered her face, but her hair had been tied low behind her head, making her presence seem less cold than usual.

The two looked at each other for several seconds before Catrina asked,

"Want to go for a walk?"

Lathel was slightly surprised.

They had only gone to the auction house yesterday, and now they were going out again today?

Catrina seemed to read his thoughts and asked,

"You don’t want to?"

He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

There was nothing for him to do if he stayed inside the stronghold all day. His body had already recovered quite a bit, and Lathel also wanted to take the opportunity to learn more about the city.

So in the end, he nodded.

Catrina immediately reached into her pocket and took out a very thin silver thread.

Lathel’s expression changed the moment he saw it.

Pandora also immediately made a sound inside his soul.

"Oh?"

Lathel looked at the thread.

Then at Catrina.

Then back at the thread again.

The Duchess remained silent for two seconds before finally understanding the problem.

"It’s not a chain."

Lathel kept staring at her.

"Really."

Catrina tied one end around her own wrist and pulled hard.

The thread snapped with a soft "snap."

She even held up the broken piece for him to see before taking out another one.

"There’s no locking magic. If you pull hard enough, it breaks."

Lathel asked in sign language:

Then what is it for?

"I want to connect our wrists."

Lathel: "..."

Pandora immediately burst out laughing.

"And she says it isn’t a chain?"

Catrina could not hear her and continued explaining, "Yesterday, I saw a man and woman with matching ribbons tied around their wrists. It looked rather nice. I don’t have anything that matches yours, so I thought..." She lifted the silver thread. "...this would work too."

Lathel rubbed his forehead while Pandora laughed even harder.

"Progress. Before, it was a silver chain. Now it’s a silver thread. Maybe in a few months, she’ll finally learn how to just hold your hand."

Lathel deliberately ignored her.

Catrina simply stood there waiting. She did not step closer or grab his hand without permission. The end of the silver thread remained resting in her palm.

After watching her for a while, Lathel finally sighed and held out his wrist.

The eyes behind Catrina’s mask immediately brightened.

She stepped closer and tied the thread very gently, deliberately leaving the loop slightly loose so it would not tighten against his skin.

One end was tied around her wrist.

The other was tied around Lathel’s.

Nearly half a meter of silver thread connected the two of them.

Catrina looked at it for a while, clearly very satisfied.

"Done."

Lathel gave it an experimental tug.

The instant the thread tightened, Catrina immediately followed half a step.

He looked at her again.

She calmly asked,

"Doesn’t it look good?"

Lathel did not know how to answer, so in the end, he simply shook his head.

"Shaking your head means it doesn’t look good?"

He nodded.

"Then you want a different kind?"

Lathel immediately shook his head much harder.

Catrina looked at him.

"You don’t want another kind?"

He nodded.

"So you want to keep this one?"

Lathel: "..."

Pandora was practically laughing without pause.

"You lost."

Lathel did not want to continue the conversation, so he turned and started walking.

The silver thread immediately stretched taut, and Catrina happily followed after him.

...

The commercial district was slightly more crowded today than yesterday.

The moment Lathel stepped down from the carriage, a few people looked over because of the silver thread connecting their wrists. He felt slightly awkward, but Catrina paid no attention at all.

She even walked a little closer so the thread between them would not pull too tight.

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