Hate me, Miss Witch!

"Since you're not interested in what I'm saying, let's talk about something you are interested in," Shiayar said.

"For a girl of your age… let me think, is it dress-up dolls, romance novels, or decorative Pet Beasts?"

"Why do you want to save me?" Enola asked.

"Does saving someone need a reason? Aren't you my friend?"

Enola shook her head slightly, "I had many who I thought were friends back home, but when the beast tide struck, they all just thought about saving themselves; none of them considered saving me."

Shiayar paused slightly in his step, "A young girl like you shouldn't be all caught up in Chanting Flowers and Courting Butterflies, believing the world is a big, beautiful family filled with truth, kindness, and beauty, right?"

Enola did not respond but simply lifted her azure blue eyes to look up at the boy's profile.

"All right, all right, I admit I've got my own selfish reasons too," Shiayar sighed.

"For instance, I envy those noble young masters with their maids following behind them. I aspire to the sweet love of childhood friends described in novels, and I also feel anxious when I see those faking innocence to deceive the honest.

"You should have died in Ceylon; it was me who saved you.

"That being the case, your life now belongs to me. Whether it's in the past, the present, or the future, you can only live for me.

"And for my part, I need a loyal girl whom I know through and through, who is competent, and preferably also very capable in a fight—because having a tough and pretty girl as a follower is every man's vanity."

Shiayar's tone suddenly became serious. "Would you like to be my beautiful girl?"

"Okay…" Enola's murmur was lost in the blizzard.

"Then you better live well.

"Otherwise, if you die here, you'll just be a little dried corpse buried in the snow, and that wouldn't be pretty at all."

Shiayar picked Enola up again, settling her firmly onto his shoulder.

Then, he swiftly strode forward, continuing towards the deep, frozen expanse of the tundra.

The two frail figures huddled together stretched long shadows through the snowstorm, accompanied only by sporadic conversation amidst the howling blizzard.

"Don't die, Ennie.

"There are so many beautiful things you haven't experienced. The world isn't just this snowfield or the small town in the ice field…

"Like the majestic ocean, the forest under the sunset… and also kissing, embracing…

"And, that moment when you fall in love.

"So, survive, and then come witness those unseen landscapes with me."

「Red Frost Territory, the main city.」

The train station was teeming with people.

The dreadful news of Ceylon's fall had already spread. As a neighboring region, the Red Frost Territory was now filled with people who had fled from the nearby towns of Ceylon.

No one knew how long the beast tide would last. If a city like Ceylon, guarded by a high-order Beastmaster, could fall, who could guarantee that their homeland would not be the next target?

Enola sat on the steam train about to depart, holding her baggage.

It had taken them a day and a night to find the hunter's cabin, where Shiayar used the medical kit to crudely dress her leg wounds.

After a brief rest, they reached the main city of the Red Frost Territory by dog sled and then planned to take the steam magical train to Knowledge City.

Shiayar said it was a place utterly different from the rugged Northern Territory. There, everyone spoke courteously and was filled with an air of scholarship, making it suitable for novice Beastmasters like them to learn theory and lay a solid foundation.

"I'll make a trip to the municipal library; I need to check some references."

"If I'm late, don't wait for me. I'll catch the next train," Shiayar left these words behind before he disappeared.

And so, Enola waited alone in the train's carriage with their luggage.

That was all they owned, consisting mainly of a change of clothes and some food, not worth many Rhine gold coins.

Shiayar had grabbed some valuable jewelry during their escape from Ceylon. However, it all went towards hiring a high-order Healing-type Beastmaster to treat her leg injury. The little that was left was exchanged for the two train tickets Enola now held.

With the beast tide raging, the price of train tickets had skyrocketed. Everyone was eager to flee the cold, barren Northern Territory and head to the civilized world inland.

Enola glanced repeatedly towards the station entrance, but that slender figure never appeared…

A sudden panic rose in her heart as Enola realized Shiayar hadn't left her any money to buy a new train ticket.

All their belongings were at her feet. Shiayar didn't have a cent on him.

If Shiayar didn't come back, she would have to go to that city full of scholarly air alone. Although Shiayar had said that city was much better than Ceylon, Enola was totally unfamiliar with it. She had only planned to go there because Shiayar was going.

"That's a very good talent."

Just then, an elderly voice sounded from behind Enola.

It was a white-haired old lady with silver locks, clad in a plain white robe, followed by several equally genteel female attendants.

Such a calm and tranquil demeanor set her apart from the other passengers in the station, who were all busy fleeing.

The old lady looked at Enola with a gentle gaze, "You have a fine soul talent, with the potential to break through to the Master level or even achieve Titled Rank Beastmaster… would you like to become my disciple?"