Stop Hypnotizing Me, Villainous Princess!

Chapter 174: Lifting Her Skirt with an Icy Expression

“Shut up! Stop talking!”

“You… you lying scoundrel full of nonsense!”

Staring at the barely breathing black-haired boy, Tiya subconsciously clenched her pale, slender fingers. Her emerald-green eyes flickered with uncertainty and turmoil.

She bit down on her teeth, trying to speak cold, heartless words to herself in order to chase away the strange sense of guilt stirring deep inside her.

Where was this guilt coming from?

Even Tiya herself couldn’t figure it out.

Perhaps it was because, deep in her subconscious, she believed that something had indeed happened between her and Lynn in the past twelve years—a past she couldn’t remember. As a result, she couldn’t bear to look at him in this pitiful, beaten state.

Kneeling on the dusty ground without a second thought, Tiya rested her small, round hips on the heels of her short boots, hands propped on her knees. She silently gazed at Lynn.

His swollen face, marred by bruises, made him look utterly ridiculous.

But Tiya felt no inclination to laugh at her former enemy.

She was trapped in an unprecedented tangle of inner conflict and confusion.

Due to the curse on her body, Tiya’s fleeting memories contained no trace of any close male relationships beyond Xiya.

Because of this, she had no experience interacting with men and felt completely out of her depth.

Fortunately, Lynn appeared unconscious after mumbling his fragmented words, lying utterly still. Only the faint rise and fall of his chest suggested he was still salvageable.

Seeing this, Tiya hesitated for a moment before finally deciding to shove aside her disorganized, maddening thoughts.

At the very least, she couldn’t let him die during her interrogation.

That’s all it was.

Just this much.

With that thought, Tiya frowned, slowly reaching out her hand to remove the small bottle hanging around Lynn’s neck.

As she did, a wave of resistance and rejection instinctively rose within her.

But then she suddenly realized that with Lynn, she didn’t need to endure the usual intense discomfort.

This realization only worsened Tiya’s mood.

“Get up and drink this,” she said coldly after pulling out the stopper from the bottle’s cap.

…

Lynn lay on the ground like a dead fish, motionless.

It was only then that Tiya noticed his arms were twisted at unnatural angles, seemingly broken.

He hit him so hard.

The thought surfaced in Tiya’s mind involuntarily, but she quickly shook her head upon remembering the culprit was her brother, Xiya.

Leaning forward slightly, she tried to keep as much distance as possible while tilting the bottle of Moonlight Elixir toward Lynn’s lips.

But Lynn was lying flat on the ground, his position too low. The bottle’s shallow neck made it prone to spilling even with a slight tilt, causing Tiya to fumble repeatedly in frustration.

What’s more, it was common knowledge that drinking while lying down could cause the liquid to enter the windpipe.

It wasn’t out of concern for Lynn.

No, it was simply because Tiya understood the preciousness of Moonlight Elixir and didn’t want to waste a single drop.

With that in mind, she resolved to use a different method to feed it to him.

…

Gazing at the weakened boy, Tiya took a deep breath.

At this moment, she had to focus on not thinking about Xiya to suppress the sense of betrayal and guilt gnawing at her conscience.

To make things worse, she realized that even with Xiya, she had never been in a situation requiring such close proximity.

Suppressing her racing heart, which threatened to explode from sheer nervousness, she leaned down slightly.

Her left hand slid gently behind Lynn’s neck while her right hand steadied his arm, carefully lifting him into a more upright position.

To her surprise, she felt no aversion.

What an unpleasant revelation.

Tiya noticed the signals her body was sending her: other than being overly tense due to her nerves, there was no trace of rejection.

At that moment, Lynn lay cradled in her slender arms, part of his body lightly pressed against her soft, warm frame.

Even through the moon-white priestly robes she wore, there was a faint sense of something unusual.

Too close.

Biting her teeth tightly, Tiya felt a flicker of discomfort, though it wasn’t repulsion.

Hoping to end this awkward moment as quickly as possible, she brought the bottle to Lynn’s lips again.

“Open your mouth,” she ordered coldly.

Perhaps because he was unconscious, Lynn didn’t respond to her command.

Instead, he mumbled something under his breath.

“Mom…”

The boy’s voice was soft and filled with longing, like that of an abandoned and abused puppy, helplessly seeking comfort from its master.

It was hard to imagine how Yveste, if she were here to witness this, would have reacted.

Besides anger, her heart might have shattered into pieces.

Fortunately, Her Highness wasn’t present in the interrogation room at this moment.

But as the person on the receiving end, Tiya froze when she heard the word that escaped Lynn’s lips.

Mom? Was he dreaming about his mother?

She fell silent.

Tiya suddenly remembered her days of training at the monastery. Whenever she was sick and feeling vulnerable, she would lie in bed, clutching the hands of the nuns and seeking comfort.

She had thought only women did such things.

She never imagined that men, in their moments of weakness, could show such vulnerability.

For a brief moment, Tiya felt as though she had unintentionally peeled back a layer of Lynn’s mysterious facade, catching a glimpse of a side of him vastly different from his usual self.

Her emerald eyes softened ever so slightly.

How did the nuns coax me into taking medicine when I was younger?

A thought occurred to her, and her expression darkened, as if weighed down by some unspoken dilemma.

However, Lynn’s current condition was far too dire. If she delayed any longer, his life might truly be in danger.

This is all for the sake of my plan, she told herself.

For that plan, he cannot die yet.

At this moment, Tiya had completely forgotten the bold declaration she had made the last time they met—about killing Lynn the next time she saw him.

Holding the glass bottle to Lynn’s lips, she hesitated for a moment before lowering her voice, speaking in a tone only the two of them could hear:

“Be good… drink your medicine.”

The words carried an inexplicable magic, like an incantation unlocking a door.

The moment her soft words fell, Lynn’s mouth parted slightly.

Seeing this, Tiya quickly tilted the bottle.

The pale silver Moonlight Elixir flowed into his mouth, and in the next moment, his entire body seemed to glow with the gentle radiance of moonlight.

The sacred remedy of the Silent Church worked silently but effectively.

The medicine acted swiftly, and soon the glow faded. Lynn’s thin yet sturdy frame once again came into view.

All the injuries Xiya had inflicted earlier had completely healed.

Lynn’s eyelids fluttered open slightly, his brilliant blue eyes filled with a hint of confusion and daze as they met hers.

In that moment, Tiya realized the position they were in and suddenly became cold again, shoving him away.

Thud!

Lynn’s head hit the ground with a dull sound.

Murdering her own husband, huh?

Lynn silently mocked in his mind.

“Hiss—”

Rubbing the back of his head, Lynn propped himself up slightly, as if waking from a dream. He looked around briefly before his gaze landed on Tiya.

In those bright blue eyes, she saw a trace of joy and disbelief.

It was as if Lynn thought he was dreaming.

Subconsciously, he tried to stand up.

But what awaited him was Tiya’s Moonlight Staff, the cold tip of the staff pressed lightly against his throat, as though warning him that one more step would result in his immediate execution.

Unfortunately, it seemed she had forgotten that they were in the Enforcers' Prison, where all extraordinary abilities were suppressed.

Lynn wasn’t surprised. He had anticipated this moment.

Tiya took a deep breath, but the thought of what she was about to do made her hesitate. It felt ridiculous and surreal.

To anyone unaware of the context, she might come across as an impulsive, shameless lunatic.

What’s more, it wasn’t until she was face-to-face with him that she realized how difficult this situation truly was.

But even so, in order to resolve the confusion in her heart, she had no choice but to proceed.

The human mind is an ugly thing, she thought, especially that of a man, full of filthy thoughts.

At this moment, Tiya believed that guilt had blinded her judgment, making her act out of character.

All she had to do was hypnotize him and uncover the darkness in his mind. Then, she could let go of her unease and sever this bizarre, imaginary connection between them.

This guy is just a liar, she told herself. That’s right.

Taking another deep breath, Tiya steadied her resolve.

Seeing the girl standing silently before him, Lynn thought she was unsure of how to face him. He instinctively opened his mouth to speak.

“Tiya, I…”

“Shut up!”

The staff shifted half an inch, pressing against his lips.

At this moment, Tiya’s expression was as cold as ice, brimming with anger.

But if one looked closely, they would notice the faint flush of pink on her sharp ears peeking out from beneath her hair, adding an unexpected charm to her demeanor.

This unexpected shift in her mood left even Lynn a little confused.

It felt as though this woman had suddenly summoned a burst of intensity out of nowhere.

What exactly was she planning?

Lynn glanced at her with a questioning look.

But Tiya ignored him completely.

Instead, she seemed to be murmuring to herself, as if trying to muster her courage.

“It’s just hypnosis. Once it’s over, he’ll forget everything... That’s right…”

Hypnosis?

Catching this word, Lynn thought he must have misheard.

But in the next moment, something so absurd, so shocking, that it would leave him dumbfounded for ten thousand years unfolded before his eyes.

Lynn had always assumed that getting to this point with Tiya would require far more effort.

After all, their current relationship was nowhere near one where she would open her heart to him, let alone fall in love.

The fragile bond between them was built on nothing more than lies and guilt.

As such, Lynn had never dared to entertain extravagant fantasies about crossing certain boundaries.

And yet, here and now, in the quiet confines of the Enforcers’ interrogation room, with only the two of them present, Lynn witnessed a scene that would be forever etched into his memory.

The staff in Tiya’s hand suddenly vanished without warning.

Then, with trembling hands, she grasped the edges of her priestly robe. Biting her lip lightly, her gaze flitted uncertainly, faint tears gathering in her eyes as though from the shame of the act she was about to commit.

“If you dare make a sound… I’ll kill you,” she said, her voice cold but trembling slightly.

Tiya tried her best to maintain her icy expression, but the subtle quiver in her tone betrayed her internal struggle.

In the next second, accompanied by the faint rustling of fabric, the hem of her robe began to rise under her hands.

A Heart of the Mind Sigil—vivid and emerald green—was revealed, glowing faintly against her skin.

Oh-ho.

Lynn couldn’t help but marvel inwardly, stunned at the sight before him.