Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 120 — Saintess Miss’s Secret Techniques for Cheating

Chapter 120 — Saintess Miss’s Secret Techniques for Cheating

Fifteen minutes later.

Just as she finished analyzing the two mechanical constructs and was excitedly running back to report to Xia Ya, Yui paused, staring at the blacked-out, mosaic-like silence and blindsight barrier in front of her, falling into deep thought.

“Master, Mom, what are you doing in there?”

Yui tapped on the edge of the barrier.

She could sense Xia Ya and Suren’s presence inside, but couldn’t glean any specific intel.

Could it be... Dad and Mom were caught in a trap? Did the bad guys take them away?

Yui’s gaze sharpened.

The next moment, a pale gold alchemical matrix appeared at her fingertip.

After parsing the two constructs, Yui’s strength had taken a huge leap—worlds apart from before.

But just then, the barrier—black as mosaic to anyone else—quietly opened.

“Your dad and I were just sparring,” Suren said as she patted Yui’s little head.

Her clothes were tidy and proper, looking completely put-together and serious—except for the faint blush still lingering on her porcelain-white face.

“Sparring? Who’s the enemy?”

Yui instantly became alert, and the mana pulsing from her alchemical matrix surged.

But before anything could escalate, Xia Ya reached over and gave her a headpat of his own.

“There’s no enemy. I was sparring with your mom, Suren.”

“But why would Master fight with Mom? According to the definitions in my database... sparring is synonymous with combat. It’s an act typically carried out against enemies. But you two aren’t enemies. So how is this sparring different?”

Despite the onslaught of headpats, Yui blinked her wide eyes, full of curiosity.

Her database had been populated by Xia Ya himself. With his current level of knowledge, Yui’s data covered everything from mysticism and transcendental theories to solid foundational topics.

Except... in some very specific areas, it was lacking.

“Master, I’m really curious.”

Xia Ya was at a loss for words.

He had maxed out Yui’s “curiosity” parameter to make sure she would always have a thirst for knowledge—

but he hadn’t expected it to come back and bite him in this way.

He scooped Yui up and tucked her back into the Soul Pact Space.

“Little kids shouldn’t be poking into grown-up matters.”

Grown-up matters…? So Master means this kind of information is restricted until I come of age?

Humans become adults at eighteen. But how does that work for artificial intelligence...?

Sent back into the Soul Pact Space, Yui tilted her head in confusion.

But then she noticed—

from one direction of the space, two scorching gazes had locked onto her.

“Ying ying ying! (Suren stock may be soaring, but us Team Xiao Ai will never surrender!)”

The Little Snow Ferret looked at Yui like she was a mortal enemy, deadly serious.

“Mee mee mee~ (Long live Team Xixia!)”

The Little Silver Spirit’s gaze was equally unwavering.

“Mee mee mee~ (If true love had a color—it’d be witch-white!)”

“So that’s how it is...”

Sensing the rising tension within the Soul Pact Space, Yui quickly processed the situation using her super-AI-level intellect.

Stock market battles, huh.

“Kukuku… even knowing I’m Team Suren, you still dare challenge me?”

Yui stretched out her arms toward Silver and Crimson.

“Xia-Su love reigns supreme!”

……

Looking at the sweet, quiet, and well-behaved black-haired girl standing before him, Xia Ya felt a deep sense of satisfaction and clarity.

He couldn’t help it.

Suren really knew how to work him.

Six years apart, and yet her outfit was perfectly tailored to Xia Ya’s tastes.

And if a seductive, wicked woman goes this far—

Then justice must act to punish her.

Not making a move would be less than a beast.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

But when Xia Ya actually started “eating meat,” he realized—Suren was the textbook example of a glass cannon.

High offense, low defense.

Though bold and teasing with her words, she was incredibly sensitive when it came down to it—those sultry, half-lidded eyes practically dripping with moisture.

A master in theory, but a rookie in practice.

Her flushed, apple-red cheeks paired with her willingness to try all kinds of moves with Xia Ya perfectly triggered his conquest instinct.

“By the way, where’d you learn all those sneaky little tricks...”

“Did you forget the Brave Adventurer A-Bin novel you wrote?”

Suren shot Xia Ya a look as she smoothed out her slightly messy black hair.

“How was it just now?”

She leaned down and whispered softly into Xia Ya’s ear, “The things Xiao Ai can’t do… I can do them all.”

Xia Ya glanced at her chest, recalling the softness from earlier that felt like facial cleanser, and nodded seriously.

Back when they first met, Suren’s figure had been just as flat as Xiao Ai’s.

But six years had passed—

Suren had blossomed into a curvy, graceful beauty, while Xiao Ai was still as flat as a plank. Not a single sign of growth.

What used to be besties… now had a thick and cruel wall between them.

“These days, the Holy Court’s been pretty busy because of the Borgia family mess. I haven’t been able to leave for long.”

Suren reached out her delicate hand and carefully straightened Xia Ya’s collar.

“When things settle down at the Holy Court, I’ll come to the Capital to see you again.”

“Just… don’t let Xiao Ai find out.”

Xia Ya felt the desire he’d just barely suppressed flare right back up.

But Suren’s final sentence quickly poured cold water on it.

“I’ll… give it a shot.”

He pulled out a mirror and, with practiced ease, activated Tsukuyomi on himself.

“Ever since I entered the workshop, I’ve been fully focused on forming the Fifth Soul Pact and understanding the constructs.”

“Suren and I were polite and respectful—nothing happened.”

Even after this self-hypnosis session, Xia Ya didn’t have high hopes.

After all, intuition-type girls were basically cheating. They could find holes in any excuse.

He’d already been caught red-handed more than once, and by now, his confidence was shaky.

His little wife’s cheating-detection skills were just too elite.

“You really think that is enough to fool Xiao Ai?”

Suren rolled her eyes at him.

She pulled out a delicate perfume bottle, dabbed the potion with her finger, and began gently wiping Xia Ya’s face. The chill of her touch trailed all the way down to his neck.

“Girls will more or less have a lingering scent of perfume. You need this special potion to remove it.”

“The reason you can’t fool Xiao Ai, Xia Ya, is because men tend to care more about logic, while us girls focus on the details.”

As she spoke, her eyes flicked slightly and she plucked a few fine black hairs from Xia Ya’s collar.

“Even if it’s all black hair, long and short strands are different.”

“Sure, there are a dozen ways to explain it—like it accidentally stuck on—but intuition doesn’t need absolute certainty. As long as there’s doubt, it’s enough for judgment.”

Once everything was cleaned up, Suren stepped back slightly and gave Xia Ya a once-over.

She tapped her finger in the air, and with the dispersal of free metal particles, a small metallic photo frame materialized.

Inside the frame was an image of Xia Ya waving to her as he entered the hall—who knows when Suren had secretly taken the photo.

The Saintess of Dawn used that picture to carefully help him fix his appearance.

“Your hair was a bit messy when you came in... other people might not notice, but with how closely Xiao Ai watches you, even tiny changes like this will catch her attention.”

“And the creases on your shirt are different too. Alright, this part looks good now.”

“Oh, and the cuffs—your pant legs weren’t rolled like that when you entered.”

A moment later, Suren nodded with satisfaction. “Okay, that should do it.”

She tidied her long, inky-black hair, just about to rise when Xia Ya caught her hand.

“If you’re tired, you can come back.”

“Even if you stop being the Saintess of Dawn, it doesn’t matter. There will always be a place for you in our home in the Imperial Capital.”

This time, Xia Ya didn’t joke.

Upon hearing his words, Suren lowered her beautiful gaze in silence.

A few seconds later, when she looked up again, that graceful smile had returned to her fair face.

“You’re really greedy, you know, Xia Ya...”

“You already have Xiao Ai, and now you want me to give up the Saintess’s noble identity and status... just to stay by your side like her?”

Xia Ya didn’t mind her teasing tone. He simply looked deeply at the black-haired girl in front of him.

“In that case, give me two years.”

“In two years, I’ll ascend to Legend-tier, then come to the Holy Court and bring you home.”

Suren’s body trembled slightly.

She bit her lip and averted her gaze. “Even though the Holy Court doesn’t forbid romantic relationships... the standards for choosing a partner for the Saintess of Dawn are extremely strict, you know…”

“I don’t care. They don’t get a say.”

As soon as Xia Ya finished speaking, Suren felt something drop into her palm.

She looked down to see an old-fashioned pocket watch quietly lying there.

“Press the button.”

Suren gently pressed the brass button on the watch.

Click.

As the button was pushed, the ticking hands on the vintage timepiece froze in place.

“Keep it safe. Even take it into the bath with you,” Xia Ya’s voice whispered by her ear.

It was a life-saving artifact he’d originally prepared for Guderian.

But now that Guderian was dead and Xia Ya had gained his undying body, it no longer had any use for him.

With the current stability of the Imperial Capital—protected by two near-throne-tier powerhouses—and Xiao Ai always close by, well-stocked with one-time-use survival items thanks to Xia Ya’s constant pampering, there wasn’t much to worry about.

But Suren, being in the Holy Theocracy, was beyond his direct protection.

Of course, as the Saintess of Dawn, her status in the Holy Court was astronomically high. Even a typical Legend-tier wouldn’t dare raise a hand against her—any assassin would be dead in under thirty seconds.

Still, Xia Ya wasn’t going to entrust his girl’s safety to a bunch of sanctimonious clergy.

Suren was someone he’d long ago marked as his second big fish in the pond—just behind Xiao Ai.

The black-haired girl stared at the worn pocket watch in her hand.

Then, carefully threading it through a necklace chain, she wore it around her swan-like white neck.

She gently stroked the pocket watch.

After a long pause, she smiled sweetly. “So this is Xia Ya’s token of affection for me?”

“Even if it looks a bit plain... well, they say if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken; if you marry a dog, follow the dog. Since it’s from you, I’ll treasure it properly.”

Still holding Xia Ya’s hand, she stood and walked with him toward the workshop door.

Only a trail of long black hair floated through the air behind her.

“Don’t you agree... Daddy?”

……