Chapter 628: Awakening
"Scarlett..."
Loren felt a pang of pain in his chest. He had also guessed why Scarlett had locked herself inside the box. Inside it, she couldn't perceive the passage of time, nor could she see the outside world.
That way, she could fantasize that one day, Loren would suddenly open this box.
When Loren opened the box, his hands were trembling.
Laila could still sense Scarlett's mark, but judging by the dust on the outside, Scarlett had been lying inside there for who knows how long.
Even if she was still alive, her condition definitely wouldn't be good.
The cardboard box was opened, and Loren saw Scarlett inside.
At this moment, she was curled up in the box, hugging her knees, like a little puppy abandoned on a rainy night.
The glasses Loren had made for her before were also shattered, but she was still wearing them.
A witch's figure generally stayed at its most perfect state, so they didn't easily get thin from hunger or fat from eating. Anna was a prime example.
But Scarlett at this moment had indeed lost a lot of weight, so much so that she could even be described as withered. Her face was completely devoid of color, and her lips were cracked.
Loren's resources were all in Scarlett's Life Thief space, which also contained the meals Mirrorheart had made. So Scarlett couldn't possibly have been starving, it was just that extreme anguish had made her forget to eat.
She was still wearing the maid outfit Loren had prepared for her at the very beginning, thinking that this way, she could return to how things were at the start.
Loren carried her out of the cardboard box, and even so, Scarlett did not wake up.
The others also saw Scarlett's condition and grew worried about her state.
Loren used Abundant Magic to create a bed and placed Scarlett on it.
At the same time, Loren's hand never left Scarlett. He was continuously using Abundant Magic to transfer life force into her.
"You all go buy some easily digestible food."
While treating Scarlett, Loren gave orders to the others.
Loren hadn't had the chance to rob anyone on this trip, but he still had a decent amount of money on him.
"What's easily digestible?"
Veronica wasn't very knowledgeable about this, but it didn't matter, Mirrorheart was there.
"I'll go. Anna and Veronica, follow me. Anna is responsible for protecting me, and Veronica will provide cover for us."
"Okay."
Anna nodded and followed Mirrorheart. Before leaving, she turned back to glance at Loren and Scarlett.
Given a witch's physique, there was no need to be this cautious, but Loren still preferred to err on the side of caution.
"Laila, this house is abnormal, people outside can't get in. When you sense them approaching, tell me, and I'll go pick them up."
"Okay."
Laila nodded. The few of them gathered around the bedside, looking at Scarlett on the bed with concern.
Scarlett was far too weak right now. Even healing potions were of little use, she could only slowly recuperate.
Loren first fed Scarlett a little water, but there wasn't much improvement.
Loren just sat there waiting anxiously, continuously pouring life force into Scarlett with Abundant Magic.
No matter what Loren did, Scarlett showed no reaction, and it was the same even when Anna and the others returned.
Even with food, there was no way to feed it to Scarlett.
"How about you chew it up and feed it to her?"
Anna suddenly made a suggestion. Normally this suggestion was pretty ridiculous, but right now it was actually a viable option.
"Ah..."
Loren stroked Scarlett's hair and let out a sigh:
"Scarlett..."
"Master?"
Just as Loren uttered Scarlett's name, she suddenly opened her eyes. Seeing Loren before her, she immediately hugged him:
"I knew you would come find me... *sob sob sob*...
"I missed you so much during this time..."
Scarlett immediately started crying, tears smearing onto Loren's body.
"Stop crying, save your strength, eat something first.
"You're too weak right now. If you faint later, I'll have to chew it up and feed you."
Upon hearing Loren's words, Scarlett promptly collapsed.
Loren could tell at a glance that she was faking a faint. Not only had her heart rate increased, but she had also instinctively protected the back of her head when she fell.
"Stop pretending, get up quickly..."
Loren hadn't expected Scarlett to actually want him to feed her, but there was no way Loren was accepting that.
"Alright..."
Since Loren had seen through her, Scarlett no longer had any reason to keep up the act.
Although she was awake, Scarlett was still weak. Loren had to support her to help her sit up.
"It seems we'll need to rest here for a while."
Loren stroked Scarlett's hair, quietly watching her eat.
Scarlett's hair quality had also deteriorated quite a bit now, the texture wasn't as nice to touch as before.
Scarlett was too weak to recover in a short time, and it wasn't suitable to continue traveling.
"Don't you have a lot of food in your space? Why didn't you eat?"
"While you were gone, my mind was full of you, and also jealous of the others. I forgot to eat..."
"..."
"Then how did you come up with the idea of hiding in the box?"
"That's because I remembered your birthday last time, the game Mirrorheart came up with. I started fantasizing about whether you might suddenly appear and open the box..."
Loren glanced at Mirrorheart, so Mirrorheart opened her mouth and even stuck out her tongue. In the end, Loren had no choice but to look away.
Scarlett was both foolish and pitiful. Loren wanted to smack her, but he couldn't bear to do it.
"Then why did you draw those patterns on the box with blood? You had plenty of decorations and paintbrushes in your space, didn't you?"
"I forgot I had Arcane Ability..."
"..."
Loren was a bit speechless. He had thought Scarlett would have matured a bit, but she hadn't changed much.
Logically speaking, Loren's death should have hit her harder than her own death, and she should have turned darker to a deeper degree.
Loren felt like something was off.
Scarlett also noticed Loren's disdain and quickly spoke up to explain:
"I have changed, I can at least take care of myself now..."
That was a lie.
Seeing Loren's gaze growing more and more suspicious, Scarlett continued:
"At least I can take care of myself to a certain degree... Can't ask for too much."
"Do you think that's asking for too much?"
Loren ultimately couldn't take it anymore and pinched Scarlett's face, starting to knead it.
Scarlett's face now had far less plumpness than before. In the end, Loren let out a sigh and didn't continue questioning.
Scarlett not having changed too much was also a good thing. Loren wasn't in desperate need of combat power right now anyway.
Having one more or one less angel-level combatant didn't make much difference.
Loren guessed that Scarlett's combat power was related to jealousy. Now that Loren was back, Scarlett lacked nothing and wouldn't go around being jealous of others anymore.
Suddenly, Loren thought of something and asked:
"Scarlett, did you open the Box of Sin? The Box of Sin should be in your space, right?"
Loren hadn't forgotten this Anomaly he'd obtained a long time ago. He had kept it back then precisely for emergencies.
"I forgot I had Arcane Ability..."
Scarlett gave an awkward smile.