“Young Master~ What are you doing here~”
The crescent moon hung in the sky.
The eyes were beautiful.
But at this moment, Mu’en felt like a little white rabbit cornered by a predator, his blood freezing and a chilling sensation spreading uncontrollably in his heart.
“An… you, how did you find me?”
“Hehe, I could smell Young Master’s scent from ten meters away~”
So, yanderes are this powerful? Maybe world peace should just be left to you guys?
Without further thought, Mu’en’s muscles tensed up abruptly.
He was never naive enough to pin all his hopes on the option of “sneaking away.” He had long prepared himself for the possibility of facing An again.
The training he had undergone day and night in the black book was not in vain!
Bang!
Mu’en slammed a fist against the cabinet door.
The already aged door let out a groan of protest, detaching from the cabinet and pressing against An, who was leaning against it.
An seemed caught off guard by Mu’en’s sudden aggression, and the sheer force of it pushed her back several steps.
Seizing the opportunity, Mu’en leaped out of the cabinet and delivered a powerful kick to the door.
The metal door caved in instantly, and An, light as a broken-winged bird, was flung against the wall by the momentum.
“Sorry,” Mu’en murmured an apology before turning to flee.
But An apparently had no intention of letting him escape so easily.
With a loud bang, the battered cabinet door was sent flying again, this time hurtling toward the fleeing Mu’en. Forced to stop, Mu’en sidestepped to avoid it.
As the door sailed past him, he suddenly noticed a ghostly figure clinging to the back of it.
An!
Using the door as cover, An closed the distance rapidly, her hand gripping a cold, gleaming blade that she thrust mercilessly toward Mu’en’s abdomen.
“Don’t worry, Young Master, I anticipated this and specifically studied human anatomy. I won’t hit any vital organs,” An said expressionlessly.
“That makes it even scarier!”
Mu’en panicked for a moment but quickly regained composure.
Almost instinctively, he raised the hatchet in his hand to meet the incoming blade.
Clang.
Clang.
Clang.
Blades clashed, sparks flying as their weapons wove a dense web of afterimages in the air.
An’s attacks were relentless, like a torrential downpour, her blade an extension of her arm, each swing executed with near perfection.
Yet, despite this, An suddenly realized she couldn’t gain any advantage over Mu’en.
The hatchet in Mu’en’s hand moved as if it were second nature to him, not only perfectly deflecting her suffocating offense but also hinting at a chance to counterattack?
But the Young Master had never even held a kitchen knife under her watchful (scratch that) protective eye. How did he become so skilled with a hatchet?
Self-taught?
An couldn’t understand it.
Just as she couldn’t figure out how Mu’en had escaped from confinement.
“Young Master, when did you become so strong? Have you been secretly practicing martial techniques?” An narrowed her eyes. The Young Master had indeed changed a lot these past few days.
“But why didn’t I notice?”
“Hehe, who knows? Maybe I practiced in my dreams,” Mu’en replied with a sly smile.
Dagger Combat LV5!
The countless times he had wielded the dagger and the countless deaths he had experienced in the black book’s space had finally borne fruit in this moment.
Though the hatchet wasn’t exactly a dagger, its similar blade shape didn’t hinder Mu’en’s performance.
He had truly managed to fend off An’s attacks, no—it wasn’t just defense.
The style of Mu’en’s hatchet suddenly shifted, moving from a defensive posture to a more aggressive, sweeping one.
At the same time, Mu’en pressed forward instead of retreating.
“What…?”
A rare flicker of panic flashed in An’s eyes.
Against Mu’en’s rusty hatchet, she felt overwhelmed for the first time.
But how?
Her martial skills, though limited by her role as a personal maid and the little time she had to train, had still been honed over several years.
But you, Young Master Mu’en, were always under my watch. Where did you find the time to practice?
Did you really train in your dreams?
“It’s over!”
Seizing the moment An was distracted, Mu’en parried her blade and closed the distance, bringing the hatchet down toward An’s abdomen!
Just as the hatchet was about to strike, seeing An truly unable to dodge, Mu’en frowned and shifted the blade’s direction.
The blunt side faced her.
Even so, the sheer force of the strike made An curl up in pain, a look of agony she couldn’t hide spreading across her delicate, beautiful face.
“It’s over,” Mu’en suppressed the pang of pity in his heart and forced a stern expression.
“An, your plan has failed.”
“Hehe, the Young Master is so kind, using the blunt side like that,” An said weakly.
“After all, you haven’t done anything truly harmful to me, and you’re still my personal maid,” Mu’en sighed.
“Anyway, you can’t keep me locked up anymore. Give up, An. I’ll go easy on you.”
“Young Master… do you still love me?”
As if not hearing Mu’en’s words, An raised her head, her face flushed with an abnormal redness.
“I love you too, Young Master. Since that’s the case, why not come to my side and stay with me forever?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t accept this twisted kind of love,” Mu’en shook his head.
“Is that so? Then I have no choice. I’ll just have to use my even more passionate love to win you over, Young Master,” An said, a hint of madness creeping into her smile despite the lingering pain.
I want.
I want.
I want to possess you forever, my dear Young Master.
“Huh?”
Seeing An’s increasingly deranged expression, Mu’en suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
What’s going on?
Does An have another trick up her sleeve?
From their earlier fight, Mu’en had sensed that An’s skills weren’t all that strong. Otherwise, she probably wouldn’t have resorted to poisoning and ambushes.
It made sense—after all, An was his personal maid, responsible for his daily needs. Where would she find the time to train?
At most, she might just be a bit stronger.
But now, a loud alarm rang in Mu’en’s mind, as if something terrible was about to happen.
“Damn it, strike first!”
Without hesitation, Mu’en swung the hatchet at An again.
Still with the blunt side.
This time, the target was her swan-like neck.
He aimed to knock her out.
That was Mu’en’s intention.
But…
“Huh?”
Mu’en let out a surprised exclamation.
Because halfway through the swing, the hatchet stopped moving.
