Strongest Warlock - Wizard World Irregular

"But what?" Chloe asked.

"It seems that he has also lost something precious to him," Lilian said softly as she held onto Ethan\'s hand.

The wedding ring on his finger, which she had seen the first time she met him, was nowhere to be seen.

Chloe\'s face turned solemn after hearing what the Mermaid Princess had to say. She had heard stories about people falling under the Witch\'s control after they had their paintings drawn by her.

However, the witch had only targeted maidens in the past.

Ethan was the first male victim, making Chloe assume that the teenage boy must\'ve had something the Witch wanted.

"Can he recover what he lost?" Chloe inquired.

"That depends on him," Lilian replied. "He can probably take back what he lost. And on his way, there is also a possibility for him to take back what I had lost as well."

"So, will you help him?" Chloe asked.

Lilian didn\'t answer right away, but her blue eyes shone faintly as he looked at the sleeping young man lying on her bed.

"I\'ll wait for him to wake up before I decide," Lilian answered after a minute. "As for you, you should return to the Tavern. The Witch will certainly try to look for Ethan in the town. If she finds you suspicious, you will probably be targeted next."

"I understand." Chloe nodded. "Please create a fog to cover the path I will take, so I won\'t be discovered."

Lilian nodded and slowly rose up to the surface. She conjured a fog that covered not only the path toward the lake but also the town.

"Go," Lilian stated. "You will be able to see through the fog. Do not come here to the Lake. Let me handle the rest. If there\'s an emergency, I\'ll call for you through the rain."

"Understood," Chloe replied as Lilian enveloped her in a bubble to send her to the surface of the lake.

Even after the young lady had left her Domain, Lilian continued to watch over her to ensure that she wouldn\'t be discovered as she returned home.

Once Chloe had finally returned safely, Lilian pondered if she should keep the fog active or not.

In the end, she decided to let it stay for half a day and make it dissipate naturally.

She didn\'t mind if the Witch came looking for her because that was exactly what she wanted to happen.

As long as Nicole was within her spell range, she would be able to teach the Witch of the East a lesson.

Lilian then walked toward the bed and sat on it.

Her gaze lingered on Ethan\'s face before shifting toward his neck, where the faint mark of puncture wounds could be seen.

The wound had already healed to a certain extent, but since it hadn\'t been that long, some of its traces still remained.

"You should have been more careful," Lilian said softly. "But then again, she is known for being good at deceit. Even I had fallen to her schemes."

Lilian sighed before raising her hand to summon a goblet made of blue crystal.

She then gently placed it on Ethan\'s lips and tilted it a little, allowing him to drink three drops of the water that came from the Spring of Life.

A few seconds later, Ethan\'s pale face regained a bit of its color.

Seeing the changes in his expression, the Lady of the Lake knew that he was on his way to recovery.

\'He looks a little like him,\' Lilian thought as he brushed away the strands of hair that stuck on Ethan\'s face. \'Or maybe he will look at him if he was given the opportunity to grow up.\'

Lilian looked at the young man, but her gaze seemed to be seeing someone else.

A boy who seemed to be around ten to twelve years old wandered far from the town and ended up in the lake.

Not only did he have the same hair and eye color as Ethan, but they shared similar features too.

The Lady of the Lake lowered her head and took a whiff of the young man\'s scent.

\'They smell the same as well,\' Lilian mused. \'It seems that Fate is making fun of me right now.\'

But for some reason, she felt sleepy after looking at Ethan\'s peaceful expression.

A being like her didn\'t really need to eat and sleep. And yet, for the second time in her life, she felt like sleeping beside the young man, who reminded her of a distant past.

A past when she was still happy, regardless of how fleeting it had been.

The lake was under a very powerful spell, and even the Witch of the East was unable to break through it easily.

Besides, the moment she appeared, the Lady of the Lake would be able to sense her presence no matter how much she tried to hide it.

Giving into her nostalgic memories, she laid down beside Ethan and hugged his cold body.

Ethan slightly stirred from the bed as if reacting to Lilian\'s hug.

Since Luna and Lilian were also in the same Manor as him, the two of them would often sneak inside his bed to sleep with him.

Because of this, his body remembered the sensation, making him slowly open his eyes to look at the young lady beside him.

Seeing that it was his lover, Ethan wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him.

He then kissed her forehead before once again closing his eyes to sleep, just like what he always did whenever his lovers decided to sneak on his bed at night.

Lilian, who didn\'t expect such a scenario to happen, fell into a daze as she stared up close to Ethan\'s sleeping face.

Although the arms hugging her were still a bit cold, she felt something warm spread in her chest.

For the first time in the past few decades, she felt calm and at peace.

Because of this, she, too, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She might have lost something important to Nicole.

But right now, she felt as if she had regained a bit of that happiness.

Her heart, which had become cold with time, showed signs of thawing, which she had yet to realize at this point in time.