Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 42: If Only This Time Could Last Forever

The royal capital of the Cangting Principality sat beside the Grandet Sea.

With such a geographical location, the advantage was a mild climate—warm in winter and cool in summer—but the drawback was unpredictable weather.

It was often sunny one moment, only for torrential rain to pour down the next, or vice versa.

Sylvia left her high heels on the pebble beach, stepping barefoot onto the damp sand after the rain. The fresh sea breeze carried from the Grandet Sea rustled her flowing white dress.

Tiny shrimp and crabs occasionally peeked out near her feet, prompting Sylvia to squat down and tease them with her fingers.

Not far behind her, Xia Ya stood quietly, admiring the serene scenery before him.

After completing the Branstat Family’s coming-of-age trial, his status within the family had risen significantly. He was no longer just an insignificant outsider but had earned the qualifications to enter the family’s management ranks.

With Elder Norton’s silent approval, Xia Ya no longer had to sneak around when taking Sylvia out of the Grand Ducal Estate. Now, he could submit an official application to the family without issue.

On his shoulder, Crimson had taken the form of a small Star-Spirit Body, resembling a fiery red ball. It flickered in sync with Xia Ya’s mental fluctuations.

As Xia Ya’s third Soul Pact partner, Crimson was different from his first two.

Silver and Shiny had been with Xia Ya for a long time, forming a deep emotional bond. Their souls were perfectly in tune, allowing them to synchronize their strength effortlessly.

But Xia Ya and Crimson had only just signed their contract, and their synergy still needed time to develop.

So whenever he had the chance, Xia Ya would summon Crimson to bond with it and deepen their connection.

Fortunately, their compatibility wasn’t bad. Perhaps due to their similar backgrounds, their Soul Pact’s synchronization had rapidly increased in just a few days.

This left Silver, who had lost its exclusive spot on Xia Ya’s left shoulder, feeling a little jealous—wondering if it had unwittingly invited trouble into its home.

As for Shiny, it was even more distressed.

Great, now both the left and right spots were taken. Where was it supposed to go?

Even after developing a new Detonating Clay strategy, it still couldn’t shake its fate as a mere tool monkey...

…

Plop—

Plop—

Sylvia splashed through the water, running over and placing a small hermit crab—curled up inside its shell—into Xia Ya’s palm.

The tiny creature was timid, refusing to come out and instead releasing small bubbles in silence.

Just then, Xia Ya heard Sylvia’s soft gasp—not a word, just a long, drawn-out breath.

Following her gaze, Xia Ya saw a rainbow arching over the deep blue sea, reflected against the sky that had cleared after the rain.

A colorful bridge connected the sea and sky—

Like the mythical Tower of Babel, forged by the achievements of mortals, piercing through heaven and earth.

“I want to see what’s on the other side of the sea.”

Sylvia dipped her finger into the seawater and wrote in Xia Ya’s palm.

The rainbow shimmered in her deep violet eyes, refracting a glass-like brilliance, like a radiant galaxy.

“The other side of the Grandet Sea... should be the Golden Plains within the Noble Alliance, right?”

“I visited there when I was twelve. According to legend, centuries ago, a Golden Dragon beyond the Legendary Tier met its end on that vast plain.”

“So even now, the lifeforms there remain under the dragon’s golden blessing.”

Xia Ya cradled Crimson—still in its round Star-Spirit Body form—in his arms and spoke calmly.

Sylvia listened intently.

Only after he finished speaking did she retrieve her diary and pen, writing something down.

Since that night, she had grown accustomed to communicating through writing instead of speaking.

She adapted quickly. In her past life, she had rarely spoken with others, and the few times she did, there was always an air of unfamiliarity and distance.

When she finished writing, she held up her diary for Xia Ya to see:

"Do dragons really love kidnapping princesses?"

“That’s an outright misconception,” Xia Ya chuckled. “Or rather, it’s a forced plot device that wandering bards use to create conflict in their stories.”

“A fully grown pureblood dragon is equivalent to a Legendary-tier being. And not every dragon is male—kidnapping princesses brings them no real benefit.”

Sylvia nodded seriously, then flipped to a new page and wrote with an almost playful stroke of the pen:

"What about airships? Do they actually exist?"

“With our current technology, they’re still just theoretical concepts imagined by steam-engine guild mechanists.”

Xia Ya summoned his Little Snow Ferret.

“But… in the future, as Magitech advances, airships will be widely used for military purposes.”

Silver activated Tsukuyomi, projecting an image before Sylvia’s eyes.

It showed rows upon rows of massive airships, flying in tight formation across the distant sky.

The airships were equipped with metallic cannons, and within their hulls were Magitech energy arrays, ready to unleash powerful energy blasts at any moment.

On the airships’ exteriors was the emblem of a soaring Black Eagle—a military showcase from the Fresta Empire’s recent founding anniversary.

Although powerful Beastmasters could change the course of a battle, on a national level, Magitech creations were equally indispensable in war.

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…

Their Q&A session continued for a long time, until Sylvia had filled several pages of her diary with elegant handwriting.

Some of her questions were well-structured, even carrying deep philosophical thoughts—like the reasons behind seasonal changes or why the same Summoned Beast species had different traits in different regions.

This triggered Xia Ya’s transmigrator instincts, making him eagerly explain everything to her in detail.

But some of her questions were completely absurd.

For example: “Why do knight girls who seem much stronger always lose to goblins, despite their overwhelming advantage on paper…?”

Or: “Why do the city guards and the Order Bureau always arrive after the killer has already struck, even though they clearly received reports in advance…?”

This forced Xia Ya to patiently explain again and again, telling her these were just plot conveniences that authors used to create tension in stories—purely fictional and not to be taken seriously.

The reason for this contrast was easy to understand.

Sylvia’s worldview was incomplete and fragmented.

She had never been outside the Royal Capital, nor had she ever chatted casually with outsiders.

Every night and every day, she remained in her small courtyard, reading the ancient books and story collections from her family’s library.

Through those dry lines of text, she imagined what the real world might look like—dreaming of the snowy mountains in the Far North, the vast Golden Plains, and the silent, deep Sage’s Forest.

So in her eyes, knight girls seemed like complete idiots—if they weren’t throwing themselves into goblin dens, they were already on their way there.

The world is full of demon kings and evil dragons that kidnap princesses, as well as countless senile old kings—

Despite ruling a nation and commanding vast armies, they never personally lead their forces to rescue the princess. Instead, they pin their hopes on a rookie hero who just stepped out of the Beginner Village, rewarding him with nothing more than the sharpest sword in town.

The children of nobles, too, seem to have far too much free time. They insist on falling in love with members of enemy factions, dragging their families into ruin and ultimately choosing a tragic double suicide.

Meanwhile, princes always ignore the perfectly suitable princesses of neighboring kingdoms, instead obsessing over some peasant girl who knows nothing of noble etiquette, makeup, or courtly manners—whose only redeeming quality is her kindness.

The two remained on the beach until the afternoon, as the sky gradually darkened.

The tide, tinged with the glow of sunset, lapped against the shore in foamy white waves.

Sylvia silently gazed at the twilight sky, reluctant to leave.

“Don’t be disappointed. There will be a chance.”

“When your condition stabilizes, and you can fully control the power of the Bronze Cross…”

“By then, we’ll submit an excursion request to His Grace, the Grand Duke, and see the world beyond the sea with our own eyes.”

Xia Ya gently patted Sylvia’s head.

The future Argent Witch had soft chestnut hair, interwoven with strands of silver.

She didn’t resist at all, simply continuing to gaze into the distance.

She picked up her pen, writing on the paper for a long time before finally handing it to Xia Ya.

"Actually… it doesn’t matter if we never cross the sea."

"Right now, I’m already very happy."

She lowered her eyes slightly, like a cat that had done something wrong.

Xia Ya’s gaze flickered slightly.

Only now did he finally understand why he and Sylvia had become so close so quickly—despite being someone who was always cautious, never easily opening up to others.

If he hadn’t been that way, he never would have made it out of Ceylan, the city swallowed by flames and smoke.

It was simply because, eight years ago in another time and place, Xia Ya had met another girl just like Sylvia—someone who had lost everything, like a stray cat.

After spending eight years together, Xia Ya had grown accustomed to that girl’s presence.

It was a peculiar feeling, as if he had raised a black cat—one so quiet that he barely noticed its existence in daily life, yet the moment it was gone, every little detail of life felt incomplete.

So when he met Sylvia, he subconsciously felt a sense of familiarity and closeness, as if they weren’t strangers meeting for the first time, but old friends reunited after years apart.

Xia Ya averted his gaze, not responding to Sylvia’s words.

Only he knew—

This seemingly ordinary day, this fleeting moment of peace, would one day become an irreplaceable miracle for the entire Cangting Principality.

This was the final glow of an ancient kingdom—a beautiful yet fragile illusion, ready to shatter at the slightest touch.

From a purely pragmatic standpoint, after completing the third phase of the Sylvia Favorability Quest, Xia Ya had no real reason to invest any more effort in her.

In his timeline, this ancient nation’s fate was already sealed.

And whether this Historical Echo was a reflection of the past or an intersecting parallel world… it didn’t matter to him.

He could treat this entire Historical Echo as nothing more than a game—an ultra-realistic fully immersive RPG, where every person here was just an NPC, and he was merely grinding beginner quests to farm system rewards.

He could slaughter indiscriminately, use war crimes and ruthless strategies to speedrun the game—just as he had done countless times in Paradox Interactive games in his past life.

After all, the moment he exited the Historical Echo, nothing here would have ever happened. Even the most morally upright saints wouldn’t condemn someone for their actions in a mere game.

But Xia Ya knew—

He couldn’t do it.

He never considered himself morally pure, nor could he claim to have any particularly high principles. In fact, at times, he could be downright inhumane.

Yet some things… even if he knew they were more advantageous, he still couldn’t bring himself to do them.

…

"Apologies for the interruption, Lord Xia Ya, Lady Sylvia."

A voice called out from the distance, beyond the beach.

It was a member of the Branstat Family, speaking with utmost respect.

Before the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, Xia Ya had been just another expendable outsider within the family. But after passing the trial, he had become the center of attention—one of the family’s rising stars.

More importantly, it seemed that Elder Norton, the acting head of the family, held him in particularly high regard.

The messenger’s eyes flickered subtly toward Sylvia, a mix of rejection and fear in his expression. But he concealed it well, keeping his tone formal.

"Lord Xia Ya, Lord Norton requests your presence."

"Understood. Lead the way."

Xia Ya nodded, giving Sylvia’s head one last pat before standing up.

He had remained in the Historical Echo even after completing the Coming-of-Age Ceremony, all to await this final phase of his quest.

As Xia Ya’s figure disappeared into the distance, Sylvia remained on the dimming beach, bathed in the fading twilight.

She opened her diary on her lap, writing under the golden hues of the setting sun.

"Today, I visited the Grandet Sea again."

"The last time I came here, I had thoughts of ending my life. But this time, my heart feels completely different."

"I saw a rainbow over the rain-soaked beach. It was beautiful, like a bridge between heaven and earth."

"Xia Ya told me that long, long ago, a great many people gathered in a place called Babylon and built a mighty tower with baked bricks and stone mortar, trying to reach the realm of the gods."

"But their actions angered the gods. So they cursed humanity, making them speak different languages."

"The once-united people fell into discord, leaving behind the unfinished Tower of Babel. What a pity."

"I talked with Xia Ya about many things, all the way until dusk."

"To have met him on that cold winter night… perhaps it was the greatest stroke of luck in my entire life."

"I hope that this time—"

"Can last forever."

—Excerpt from The Argent Witch’s Diary, Page 9.

Sacred Calendar 346, Month of Blossoms, 23rd.