Chapter 23: Yan's Secret
"What... what is this thing?"
The window had been opened at some point, and the red blood moon outside illuminated the room. Herr, who had originally intended to just take a quick look and leave, was frozen in place by what she saw.
Her normally calm and beautiful blue eyes were now filled with shock, as if she had witnessed something that shattered her entire worldview.
And indeed, inside the room, something unimaginable was taking place.
A white-haired woman in white clothing was tied to the bed, moaning and growling, her face contorted, her limbs thin as withered branches, like a wild beast following instinct without reason.
But even so, Herr immediately recognized her as her only friend in this mansion—Bai An'an.
And on top of Bai An'an was Bai Xueruo, wearing a black lace-trimmed dress and revealing black stockings that displayed her allure. She wore a pointed hat on her head, with red gems embedded at her abdomen and chest that glittered in the night.
Herr recognized Bai Xueruo's appearance—the school principal had shown them before—this was the witch form of the Red Moon Witch.
Beautiful yet dangerous—this was the definition of the strongest living witch.
Whenever a witch revealed her true form, the world would experience some anomalies, just like now—the moon had turned blood red, both here and in the outside world.
But Herr didn't understand. When a witch revealed her witch form, the white swan in the sky would slowly approach her, bringing down divine punishment.
So why would Bai Xueruo risk her life by revealing her witch form now?
Could it really just be for punishment?
Herr didn't believe it, but soon, she saw what Bai Xueruo did next.
Bai Xueruo slowly bent down, looking at Bai An'an's contorted face as if gazing at a precious treasure, the red in her eyes growing more vivid.
Then, she moved her body downward, placed her face against Bai An'an's abdomen and kissed it. At that moment, the blood-red moon emitted a beam of light, which condensed into red particles that gathered at Bai An'an's abdomen.
The next second, Bai An'an let out a painful wail, but due to the vines around her neck, it quickly turned into a low growl that made Herr's heart tremble.
From Herr's perspective, it looked like Bai Xueruo had spread Bai An'an's legs and was doing something unknown, causing her great pain.
"So this is the punishment the witch spoke of... How can she still call herself a mother?"
Herr could hardly believe it. She felt cold all over, powerless to help her friend who was being subjected to something terrible.
Just then, a sudden gust of wind came through the window, blowing open the door that Herr had already pulled ajar. Her shadow was instantly elongated by the blood-red moon, reaching the edge of the bed.
Seeing the shadow suddenly appear on the ground, Bai Xueruo, who had been transmitting magical power to her daughter, quickly stood up and looked toward the doorway.
"Who's there?"
"Not good!"
Bai Xueruo moved very quickly, almost too fast for Herr to react. She hurriedly backed away, but her back bumped into a soft object.
Herr quickly realized it was that maid.
With danger before and behind... she was truly trapped now...
Before Herr could make any sound of resistance, her neck was struck with a chop that knocked her unconscious, and then she was dragged under Yan's long maid skirt.
"It's you?"
Just then, Bai Xueruo had reached the doorway and, seeing Yan suddenly appear before her, breathed a sigh of relief despite not understanding why she had come to see her today.@@novelbin@@
"What are you doing here? You weren't like this before."
Bai Xueruo crossed her arms, leaned against the door, and said coldly. She was very unhappy because her spell-casting had been interrupted.
Now, with her witch form fully revealed, compared to Yan in her maid outfit, it was like comparing a common pheasant to a phoenix.
"The new maid who came today is missing, so I came up to look for her. But it seems I don't need to ask you, after all, you were so focused on your task that you probably wouldn't have noticed if she saw you."
Facing Bai Xueruo's questioning, Yan showed no sign of backing down. After answering Bai Xueruo's question, she even mocked her.
"Hmph, so talkative. Anyway, that little one isn't with me. Now get out, Yeye has appeared tonight, so I need to speed things up."
With that, Bai Xueruo was about to close the door to continue her unfinished witch transformation ritual. However, just as she closed the door, before Yan could catch her breath, the door opened again.
"By the way, have you found those teachers I asked you to find?"
"Yes, they should arrive tomorrow."
"Good, remember to place the Red Moon mark on them when they arrive, to prevent them from revealing our location. You may go now."
As Bai Xueruo closed the door, her gaze fell on the area beneath the maid's skirt, and the corner of her mouth turned slightly upward.
Yan didn't notice this. When Bai Xueruo finally closed the door, she sighed with relief.
"You really know how to cause trouble."
She lifted her skirt to reveal a blue-haired girl leaning against her.
Hmm, fast asleep.
Yan picked up Herr and carried her to the room they shared.
Their room wasn't as large as Bai An'an's. It could barely fit two beds with a passageway in between. The various clothes that had been collected were carelessly tossed at the foot of the bed, making a mess.
If Bai An'an saw this, she probably wouldn't believe that the normally meticulous Sister Yan would randomly throw her clothes around when no one was watching.
"Fortunately, she wasn't discovered, otherwise another life would have been lost in this mansion."
After placing the unconscious Herr on the other clean and tidy bed, Yan's typically cold and emotionless face showed a rare smile of happiness.
It was the satisfaction of having saved a life.
Yan lay back on her own bed and pulled aside her pillow, revealing a photo album resting underneath.
She opened the album, which was filled with selfies of a black-haired, red-eyed girl with a big belly and a smile on her face.
To others, this girl would appear to be Bai Xueruo, but a closer look would reveal that the girl's demeanor was completely unlike Bai Xueruo's aloof nature, and instead resembled Yan the maid.
Turning to the last page of the album, looking at the baby girl in swaddling clothes in the photo, Yan's lips curved into a smile, her eyes filled with tenderness.
This was her own secret. Not even Bai An'an, let alone Bai Xueruo, knew she had kept this album, because when she took these photos, Bai Xueruo hadn't yet "been born."
Of course, looking at these seemingly ordinary, warm photos always gave Yan a sense of guilt.
Because everything now, everything that had happened, had begun with her first morbid action...
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