Chapter 15: My Taming

The core essence of taming animals and training pets is not about the methods or patience, but understanding. Understanding is the prerequisite for all training, the key to ensuring that when you reach out, they will nuzzle their head into your palm.

So, when Anselm saw Sitana's expression change due to her parents' words, he knew the time had come.

At this moment, he was speaking to Sitana with an irreverent and casual manner:

"Do you really think those nobles' attitudes are because of your 'strength'?"

"What... what are you trying to say, Hy... Lord Hydra?"

Sitana's voice became somewhat strange, as if it was directly released from her throat, a suppressed growl.

"Miss Sitana, you were expelled from the highest institution in the North, the Tower of Skyfrost, at the age of twelve, after only one semester."

Anselm stood up, the snake-headed cane that was almost always in his hand transforming into the black whip blade that he was gripping tightly, like a rein that shackled a fiery horse.

He walked over to the bookshelf to look for something, speaking leisurely:

"In that one semester, you went from being an ordinary person with no connection to the supernatural, to advancing to the second stage of 'the Pathway of Heaven', the Crystal Staircase. You broke the record for the fastest advancement in the history of the Tower of Skyfrost."

"Quite an extraordinary genius, aren't you?" The young Hydra turned his head and smiled at Sitana.

The latter remained silent, clearly that period of study was not a pleasant memory for Sitana.

"But why would the Tower of Skyfrost expel such a genius in just one semester? Oh... let me see Miss Sitana's heroic deeds—"

"Publicly humiliated a young and inexperienced lecturer with harsh words, six times; in a public duel, acted too brutally causing classmates to be injured, twelve times; repeatedly made disrespectful remarks about nobles and imperial laws in public—"

Anselm waved the thick report in his hand and couldn't help but laugh: "It seems, Miss Sitana, that the Tower of Skyfrost was not blind, but rather had exhausted their kindness towards you."

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!"

As Anselm finished speaking, Sitana immediately became somewhat out of control, her beast-like roar echoing in the study: 

"THE NOBLES IN THE BIG CITY ALL THINK THEY CAN TREAT ME LIKE SOME WILD MUTT, BUT IF THEY WANT TO MESS WITH ME... THEY BETTER BE READY TO GET THEIR LIMBS SNAPPED!"

As her body moved, the sharp blades pressed against her delicate skin almost cutting into the thin flesh.

"Ah, calm down, calm down, Miss Sitana." The seemingly complex and difficult-to-control whip blade was docile in Anselm's hands, and even though Sitana was somewhat agitated, Anselm did not let the blade leave any marks on her body.

"I can understand your anger." He comforted her gently.

"..." Sitana exhaled slowly, averting her gaze, "You're a bit different from them."

Hearing this, Anselm paused, then couldn't help but laugh out loud: "I think you've misunderstood something, Sitana."

"I can understand you, not because I empathize with your situation, but because... I know the real reason for your anger."

The devil spoke softly:

"You resent your own stupidity and incompetence."

"..."

"Your family spent ninety percent of their savings to allow you to study at the Tower of Skyfrost, which shows the expectations and determination of your family."

"But you—" Anselm threw a piece of paper at Sitana's feet, his tone becoming somewhat indifferent.

It was a notice, an expulsion notice.

The cold words on it declared that a favored daughter of heaven at the Tower of Skyfrost, like a falling star, had been cast out.

"You let them down."

"THAT'S NOT MY FAULT!"

Anselm's words exposed the deepest wound in Sitana's heart that she could not bear. She ignored the blades wrapped around her body, directly stomping the expulsion notice on the ground into pieces, roaring and screaming: 

"IT WAS THAT DAMN PLACE! THOSE NOBLES COULDN'T STOMACH IT, THEY COULDN'T BEAR A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD FROM THE SOME VILLAGE SHOWING THEM UP, BEING STRONGER THAN THEM!"

"Look, look, Miss Sitana." Anselm slightly relaxed the whip blade's restraint on Sitana, sighing, "You always do this, never willing to admit your own mistakes."

"I DIDN'T—!"

"Shh."

The tip of the whip blade pressed against Sitana's throat, Anselm raised his index finger to his lips, whispering, "Listen to me, Sitana."

"You hate every noble equally, thinking they are all stupid, lowly, narrow-minded, and have no tolerance for others."

"First, I must admit one thing, the Empire is indeed in its twilight years, and because of this, most of the nobles in your eyes are indeed like that. But please ask yourself, Miss Sitana, when you displayed that unparalleled outstanding talent at the Tower of Skyfrost... was there not even one noble who showed you kindness. Was it really the case that all nobles at that moment only showed their ugly jealousy?"

Anselm looked at Sitana, who was frozen in place, and smiled as he slowly approached: "It seems you are clear about the situation at the time. But why... why did all the nobles become your enemies in such a short time?"

"The answer is simple—the little Sitana who deeply despises nobles not only refused to accept any kindness from the nobles, but also looked down on them, all high and mighty."

"Because you firmly believe in the greatness of your talent, and you place your arrogance and dignity even higher than your talent."

"That's why you were so angry... dear Sitana."

The handsome noble, who had approached the snow-haired girl, sighed softly, staring at the girl's trembling body, and said in a cheerful tone:

"The shock, disappointment, anger, and eventual forgiveness of your family made you realize your mistake, and as you grew older, you gradually came to your senses. You would fantasize in the dead of night—if you had accepted the kindness of even one noble at that time, would things have been different?"

"You regret, you resent that twelve-year-old child, that ignorant, arrogant, foolish child, foolish... you."

"SHUT UP!!!"

Sitana's dark red eyes trembled wildly, her pupils at the center of her eye sockets seemed to be on the verge of shattering and reforming, appearing very eerie. She roared in a frenzy, trying to lunge at Anselm, but was tightly bound by the whip blade, leaving a few shallow bloodstains on her body in a peculiar manner.

"Are you already this angry? But this is just the beginning, Miss Sitana," Anselm said with a calm smile, standing only an arm's length away from Sitana.

"Let's return to our original topic—what do you think has made you a ‘big shot’? Your strength? The Crystal Staircase? An ordinary second stage?" 

The golden-haired youth sighed and shook his head, "Miss Sitana... do you know how many Crystal Staircase-level beyonders there are in the North, or in Scarletforst? Do you know what level the guard captain of Earl Hardstone's manor is? Why would you think that those nobles, in just one night and one morning, would compete to handle everything so beautifully, for a mere Crystal Staircase-level beyonder?"

"Ah... I know what you're thinking, you believe they saw your unparalleled talent—just like those teachers at the Tower of Skyfrost who tried to protect you even with their lives."

"But here, Sitana, I can clearly tell you."

Anselm Hydra, the young noble with the blood of Hydra, the beast of the Terminus, flowing in his veins, delivered his judgment with an expressionless face.

"You are worthless."

"No one cares about your talent, no one cares about your strength. Sitana, you need to understand one thing, your existence, in the eyes of the Scraletfrost nobility, has only one value."

"—And that is to bring me pleasure."

"BULL... CRAP!"

Sitana roared, "WHY THE HELL DON'T THEY JUST KISS YOUR ASS DIRECTLY? WHY NOT DROP THOSE GOODIES RIGHT AT YOUR DAMN DOORSTEP! HA! DO REGULAR PEOPLE LIKE MY MOM AND DAD MEAN SQUAT TO A BIG SHOT LIKE YOU?"

"That's why, Sitana," Anselm took a step forward, gently and compassionately stroked her head, "You've grown, yet you're still blind."

"Why? Because you've received my tolerance, my indulgence."

He moved his fingers, and the whip blade deftly locked Sitana's hand that was trying to grab his forearm, continuing to smile and say, "You see, just like this."

"I've forgiven your offense, your rudeness, your arrogance... countless times."

"I've turned a blind eye to your crude words, I've laughed off your outrageous actions—do you know what that means to the nobility, Miss Sitana?"

Anselm's movements were as gentle as if he were caressing a lover.

"It means you are incredibly important to me, that you are worthy of such tolerance from the cruel, vicious, terrifying Hydra in their eyes. Therefore, if you can gain pleasure, it means my mood will also improve."

"So, Sitana... everything you've received has nothing to do with you."

"—It's only because of the mercy I've bestowed upon you."

"HYD...RA!"

The whip blade that bound Sitana actually emitted a sound of metal being squeezed, the contrast between her fair skin and the black whip blade creating a scene of bewitching strangeness.

And the protagonist of this scene was undergoing an even more bizarre transformation.

Her dark red eyes, fixed intently on Anselm, began to subtly twist and contract, gradually deviating from the shape of a human's pupils. The irises, amidst her roaring, seemed to be stained with blood, as if those eyes were morphing into... the pupils characteristic of a beast!

"HYDRA!!!"

Anselm frowned slightly and leaned back: "It seems Miss Sitana is still unwilling to accept reality... well, then I can only tell you something even more unacceptable."

"Linked to the previous analysis... in fact, after being expelled from the Tower of Skyfrost, Sitana, you have already learned to restrain your arrogance. You know you can't be too reckless in front of nobles, people with more power than you, even if it eventually exposes over time, but at least you can pretend well at the beginning."

"Otherwise, with the power of the Crystal Staircase after being expelled from the Tower of Skyfrost, you would have killed the tax collectors who came to exploit your village, and you wouldn't have been easily captured by the Earl of Scarletforst along with your sister, right?"

"So the question is, since that's the case... why were you so rude when we first met?"

Anselm's true malice, at this moment, turned into the most deadly fangs.

"Sitana, I have read the information about you and come to an interesting conclusion."

"You have many talents... and the one that interests me the most is your almost omnipotent intuition."

"Like sensing hostility and killing intent at that banquet, or helping you find prey, or even having the instinct to avoid harm, to make the most of the benefits, like a beast with extremely strong survival skills, right?"

Anselm watched Sitana struggle frantically, trying to knock him down and tear open his throat, while his tone remained leisurely and calm: "You can vaguely sense a person's character, even their essence, so when you face those dangerous nobles who are quick to cut off people’s hands and feet, you will choose to restrain your own restlessness."

"But on the contrary... when facing harmless targets, the savagery and arrogance in your heart will grow unchecked, am I right, Sitana?"

—In fact, of course, it's not like that.

Sitana's rebelliousness in her blood made her unwilling to bow her head to anyone. She would temporarily submit to those tough nobles only because she had to consider her family.

That's why the future Empress of the Azure Sky would appear so invincible—because by then, she had already lost everything precious to her and had come to higher stage of enlightenment.

But Anselm didn't need that future, and he wouldn't allow Sitana to have such enlightenment.

So, in this long, verbal dissection, Anselm prepared to give Sitana the final fatal blow.

"So, your rudeness towards me is not because you couldn't restrain your arrogance for a moment."

"But because your intuition told you... that I would not look into your offense."

"Hy... Hy... Hydra, Hydra..."

Sitana, who was struggling frantically, had now knelt down, her voice so berserk that it no longer sounded human, while Anselm continued his merciless judgment without pause:

"You are using me."

"You repeatedly provoke me, offend me, and gradually confirm that your intuition is not wrong, becoming even more reckless." "Hydra... I want... to kill..."

"Then, you even use my tolerance to seize benefits, although that was not your own actual intention, you still followed your intuition without hesitation, right?" 

"Kill you... kill you!"

"Not only that, but you also, after that, smugly attribute all the credit to yourself, well... from a certain perspective, this is indeed something you brought about, isn't it?"

Hydra sighed compassionately, delivering the cruelest and most merciless hammer with the most sorrowful and helpless tone, shattering the dignity the young wolf valued as her life:

"Sitana, you are so despicable, so cunning. You are just..."

"A bully and a coward."

"HYDRA!!!"

Her almost frenzied roar even shattered the glass in the study, the flame of her boundless fury, hatred, and cruelty... brought Sitana a power that did not belong to her at this moment.

CRACK—!

The whip blade that had tightly bound her was directly broken by brute force, her blood-red eyes tearing through the air like a thunderbolt, the girl with bloodstains all over her snow-white skin roared and instantly pinned Anselm to the ground—While Anselm himself had no time to react.

However, he was not worried at all.

Even if Sitana crushed his neck, it wouldn't take a moment.

Because he had already prepared a chain for this ferocious young wolf, a chain that could automatically tighten around Sitana's neck without him having to pull it.

At this moment, Sitana, under the provocation of her self-hatred and that nameless anger, should indeed have completely lost her mind.

But before that... she had once heard the sound of a future, pleasant and melodious.

Father, mother, sister, village...

[If Hydra were to die, what would happen to them?]

When this thought flashed through Sitana's mind, her hands had already stopped.

—Even though she was now clutching Anselm's neck with both hands.

"I..."

Straddling Anselm, the girl, without a thread on her body, covered in bloodstains, began to tremble.

"What am I... doing?"

She looked at her trembling, loosened hands, confused, fearful, and hollowly asked herself:

"Why... why am I doing this?"

"No... it's not like this... I didn't want to take advantage of..."

She would never be so furious over something she hadn't done, at most she would just beat the other person up.

But just now, that overwhelming killing intent... could it be that her intuition, her true heart...

Did she really tacitly approve of herself, taking advantage of Hydra's... tolerance?

"Impossible, I couldn't... I absolutely wouldn't... waah..."

"Waah...waah... how could I possibly be..."

"... such a person?"

The girl riding on Anselm lost all her strength, crying helplessly and confusedly.

"How unsightly, Miss Sitana."

A compassionate sigh sounded by the howling cub's ear.

"Whether it's the frenzied behavior out of embarrassment, or the helpless crying now."

Anselm sat up, held her waist with one hand, pulled out a silk handkerchief from his collar, and gently wiped her cheeks, saying softly, "It's all very unattractive."

"Hy, Hydra... get off me! What the hell are you up to!"

Her shattered dignity was Sitana's last struggle, but thinking of the consequences of her previous actions, she no longer dared to have any extra movements, only able to speak up a little.

"I don't want my follower to be such a wretched, is that strange?" Anselm tilted his head and looked at her.

"..."

Sitana was stunned, allowing Anselm to skillfully wipe her face clean.

"What... what did you say?"

At this moment, she no longer considered her current state and the distance between her and Anselm, still sobbing and incredulously saying, "I... follower, you... you still consider me a follower? Weren't you... seeking revenge on me?"

"Look, Sitana, your old habit is acting up again." Anselm chuckled.

Sitana blushed and turned her head: "But I... I just almost—"

Anselm shrugged: "You stopped—of course, that's a lie."

He reached out, pinched Sitana's chin, and slightly lifted her face:

"Let me tell you my answer, let me tell you the truth of your intuition, Sitana."

"I am so tolerant towards you because I believe in your value."

"Remember what I said to you at last night's banquet? 'You are worthless to me now.' But that's only the current you, Sitana."

He stared into her now normal dark red eyes: "Your self-assessment is not wrong, you have the talent to achieve greatness, and I firmly believe in this, so I tolerate your offense, your foolishness, your savagery—only that night's you disappointed me too much."

"And now, you're back, with reasons, with sincerity, with the calmness that stopped you at the last moment after being so humiliated by me, so I think I can give you another chance."

Anselm's face slowly approached, Sitana was a bit flustered and leaned back, but Anselm's face only stopped at a very close distance, close enough that the tips of their noses almost touched.

"Sitana, are you angry?"

"I... what am I angry about." The wolf cub meekly dodged his gaze.

"The taste of being looked down upon." Anselm chuckled, "The taste of being seen as my underling, the taste of being despised like a speck of dust—are you angry about that?"

Not knowing what Anselm was thinking, Sitana still tried to avoid: "I—"

Anselm directly held Sitana's face with both hands, fixed her gaze, as his voice and expression became extremely serious:

"Answer me, Sitana—are you unwilling and angry about this?"

"..." Unable to avoid it, Sitana was forced to look into those sea-blue eyes.

For a moment, she seemed to feel... something wrapped around her.

"I..."

The wild flame that had just cooled down in her heart reignited without warning, Sitana was annoyed in weakness, irritated in annoyance, and confused in irritation .

Amidst the confusion, the girl gritted her teeth and shouted in a self-destructive manner: 

"ISN'T THAT JUST A LOAD OF CRAP! HOW COULD I POSSIBLY STAND IT! WHY DO I ONLY GET A SHOT AT THOSE THINGS JUST BECAUSE OF YOUR DAMN FACE!"

After shouting this, her body went limp, and she glared at Anser, puffing up with anger: "Are you satisfied now? Or do you need to scold me twice for being selfish and self-serving?"

Anselm laughed heartily: "No, it's not necessary, this is good enough. Sitana... I need you like this, I need your anger, your... greed!"

He held the girl's cheeks tightly, and the sea-blue eyes burned with a pure fervor, sincere and unadulterated, seen by only a few.

"Then prove it to them, Sitana, prove that you will become such a great figure that people will submit to, not just a footnote of Hydra."

"And before that, I will become your food, your nourishment, your strength. If you have the capability—then devour me as much as you want!"

In the stunned gaze of the wolf cub, the crazy Hydra made such a promise:

"This is my promise to you, and you must also become my aid."

"My dear Sitana—"

The devil who completed the sermon invited the girl:

"Will you sign this contract, witnessed only by you and me?"

"..."

Sitana was silent for a while, then responded with the utmost seriousness:

"Sometimes I can't even control my own temper, so you'd better think it through."

"Could it be more dangerous than just now?"

"I—oh, fine, fine, I won't argue with you!"

Sitana first subconsciously averted her gaze, then forced herself to look Anselm in the eye, and said word by word:

"I promise you, Hydra. if you can really pull off what you said, then... you can damn well use me however the you want!"

Anselm smiled contentedly: "Good, then it's time to make a perfect guarantee for our agreement."

Sitana's heart rose with a very ominous premonition: "You, what do you want to do?"

Anselm smiled without saying a word, picked up the whip blade on the ground and swung it lightly, the parts that had been broken by Sitana instantly reassembled, he then swung the whip blade behind the table, hooking over an unknown object.

The cheerful Hydra caught the thing with his other hand: "Then, put it on, Sitana, as a proof of this contract."

Sitana looked at the item in Anselm's hand, and her mind instantly flooded with blood.

"You—you!" She exclaimed in disbelief, "YOU WANT ME TO WEAR THIS?!"

—This thing, it was a collar!

"I will often have you by my side, Sitana, but can you guarantee your..." Anselm pointed at her mouth.

"I've said it, I will tolerate your savagery, but the more savage you are, the more it appears to outsiders that you are favored by me—Miss Sitana, you don't need me to repeat what that means, do you?"

Anselm unfastened the buckle of the collar and said leisurely, "The things you gain from my mercy do not belong to you, but to me. If I do not allow it, you cannot simply ask for it, understand?"

Sitana looked at the collar with uncertainty: "What does this thing have to do with it?"

"It can ensure that I immediately stop you from saying something inappropriate or committing an offensive act, without being noticed."

Anselm said calmly, "And it can be removed at any time."

After hesitating for a long time, the girl finally took the collar from Anselm's hand and, with a fierce look in her eyes, put it on herself.

"How can this thing—ahh!!"

She suddenly let out a sharp and high-pitched moan, tinged with a bit of coquettishness, and trembled all over, collapsing into Anselm's arms.

"Although it looks like an ordinary collar, it has been fused with the magic crystal of the Thunder Skyhawk, capable of releasing electric currents of any unit according to my will—rest assured, the maximum will only make you slightly numb." 

Anselm placed Sitana's head on his shoulder and couldn't help but laugh, "How does it feel, Miss Sitana?"

"Hydra..."

Sitana, weak all over and even slightly twitching, roared in extreme embarrassment:

"YOU'RE A REAL PIECE OF CRAP, AREN'T YOU?!"

Author's Note:

ps: The first climax has come to a satisfying end, I wonder if everyone enjoyed it.

Don't worry about the pace being too fast, Sitana's favorability has gone from -99 to -10 to 0, and there are still several stages to go.

This chapter is a full 7K words, and it should have been split for two days. My friend said that during the new book period, if you write too much, the pace will be too fast and you'll get fewer recommendations. However, I really couldn't bear to not finish it all at once, and everyone wouldn't feel comfortable reading it that way, so I just released it as one chapter. So, please give me lots of collections and tickets!

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