Lili wrapped her wet hair in a towel and went back to her room.
Though Prince was once criticized for his hedonistic lifestyle, let's be honest—bathrooms are truly... amazing. The cool shower water instantly washes away the sweltering heat and sticky sensation from the blazing sun, leaving you feeling like a completely refreshed after a long day.
Yet after her refreshing shower, she felt a twinge of guilt. Had she really crossed the line that day, shouldn't she have apologized to Your Highness?
"Traitor!" "What?" Lily lifted the strands of hair clinging to her forehead.
"You claimed you never believed in the Small Ball Theory, yet now you've become the first to evolve new abilities," Muyue knelt on the bed, her upper body upright as she pointed at her. "You're a complete fraud!" Lily rolled her eyes. "I don't believe it either. Everything's made of small balls... How could that be?" "But Sister Nightingale said your Magic Power condensed." "It has nothing to do with the Small Ball Theory," she shrugged, climbing onto the bed and pressing down Muyue's hand. "Your Highness said evolution doesn't require accepting the Small Ball Theory. As long as you deeply understand your abilities, your Magic Power can still undergo a qualitative change." "Really?" Muyue pouted.
"He said so anyway," Lily mused. She had always lacked confidence, having been overlooked in the Guild of Mutual Aid. Unlike her, food preservation was a vital skill for the resource-strapped guild. She could empathize—her abilities had become a liability in Border Town, utterly useless. She'd feared expulsion, but the outcome defied all expectations. Though Your Royal Highness didn't assign her extra tasks, her treatment was no different from other witches.
This might explain why Mysterious Moon has shed her former timidity and insecurity, growing bolder with each passing day. Her timidity stems largely from Hakkara never giving her a second glance, and even forbidding her from using her powers in the camp.
"That..." Muyue frowned. "How can I even understand my own abilities? Your Highness said magnetic fields are invisible and intangible, and microscopes are useless." "Don't ask me—I don't know either," Lily yawned. "All I know is what my abilities look like. The cells, bacteria, fungi... Your Highness's explanations are completely incomprehensible. He even said he'd write a textbook for me," she said helplessly. "Forgive me—I can't even read properly." "I want to become stronger too," Muyue rolled on the bed. "I want to do more for Your Highness!" Lily sighed. She was older than her age, yet acted younger. "Just ask Sister Anna." "Ask her?" The rolling stopped abruptly.
"Exactly, you're worried about wasting Your Highness's time, so why not consult Sister Anna?" Lily suggested. "She's the only one in the entire town who knows more than Roland Your Highness." "But Anna's swamped too. I heard she's the one who built all the town's machines," Muyue mused.
"So you could find a convenient time to consult her, such as after dinner, or ask her to help heat the bathwater, or even invite her to take a bath together. Wouldn't that give you plenty of time to ask?" the young girl suggested.
"Your words... seem quite reasonable," her eyes lit up.
"Then go to sleep. You'll have to wake up early tomorrow." Lily untied the towel from her head, wiped it twice, and leaned her head onto the pillow. "Go blow out the candle." "Mm, alright." She climbed to the foot of the bed and blew out the candle. "Good night."...
The next day, instead of going to the kitchen or wheat storage to practice her skills as usual, Lily sat at her desk and began learning to use a microscope.
This is the new task assigned by Your Highness: Before the textbook arrives, thoroughly identify the types and shapes of various cells and fungi, and document their differences. No need to write—just draw.
Moreover, Your Highness mentioned that Anna is still developing a microscope with higher magnification. If she can achieve 400x magnification, she will be able to observe even smaller microorganisms—bacteria.
Future exercises will naturally shift from preserving organisms to exploring diverse applications of the original and replicated entities. Lily found this concept somewhat perplexing, but Your Highness provided several practice directions—such as instructing them to mimic a single bacterial cell or using consciousness to manipulate cellular structures. Naturally, these require a thorough understanding of various microscopic life forms. Though uncertain if she could achieve such precision, Lily decided to give it a shot.
What's more, exploring the unknown is inherently fascinating.
By evening, Muyue returned with a look of frustration.
"How so?" she asked curiously. "Did Sister Anna say anything?" "She said a lot," Muyue collapsed onto the bed. "But I couldn't understand a word. She said magnetic fields are everywhere, and compasses point because we're in a massive magnetic field. Does that mean my abilities are useless? Let alone the principles of magnetic fields—like how moving charged balls interact with magnetic forces, or how magnetic fields can generate electricity... So, not understanding the ball theory means no progress?" She muttered. "Tell me, am I too stupid?" "A bit," Lily said, resting her hand on her forehead.
"Traitor!"...
Another member of the Witch Alliance has gained a new ability, which makes Wendy overjoyed.
Lily's transformation ignited the other witches' passion for learning. After tonight's class, some kept pestering the books with questions. Even Maxie, who had heard that studying could boost her abilities, obediently squatted on the chandelier to listen.
One person was excluded.
As she returned to her room holding *Fundamentals of Natural Science Theory*, the nightingale was perched at the desk, absorbed in organizing something.
Wendy knew it definitely had nothing to do with studying.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Would you like some dried fish?" The nightingale offered a piece of dried fish, its voice hesitant. "Just brought from the kitchen." "So much?" Wendy stared in surprise at the golden pile of grilled dried fish on the table, the rich honey aroma filling the air.
Well, the chef, seeing me come every day, decided to roast all the leftovers since this stuff could be stored for a long time. She took out a small cloth bag and stuffed a handful of food into it. Five or six identical cloth bags were also placed on the table, each stuffed to the brim.
Wendy instantly understood her task—preparing provisions. Whenever the Aid Society prepared to leave the town, they had to measure out the food and pack it into their cloth bags. No matter how hungry they were along the way, they could only eat the allocated portion to avoid running out of supplies. Since arriving in Border Town, with their regular meals and frequent afternoon tea, the sisters had never done this before.
For the nightingale, it would be more accurate to describe this as preparing snacks rather than dry food.
"Are you not reading books?" "I can't comprehend them anyway. Just hearing those theories and theorems makes my head spin," Nightingale swallowed the dried fish and chuckled, "and my abilities are sufficient. It doesn't matter if I don't evolve." So that's how it is.
Her eyes now sparkled with a natural radiance, free from pretense or hesitation—unlike her former self. 'Such divine grace,' Wendy thought, 'is impossible for a lost soul to show. I've found my purpose.'
When she finally grasped the path she was destined to take, her resolve shone through—whether it was leaving the Noble family, confronting Hakkara, or now facing this new chapter.
But Wendy didn't ask, because she believed she would one day see the answer with her own eyes.