A saintess? She's just a bad woman.

Page 76

"Restraint."

With a whoosh, a transparent and invisible rope bound Curtis.

The rope had no knots, but rather an unusually slippery texture, as if covered in some strange, sticky glue, which gave Curtis a very unsettling feeling.

No girl would like this feeling.

Unless, of course, her xp is the thirteenth letter of the English alphabet, the first initial consonant of the molar sound.

"What the hell is this thing! Ugh, it's disgusting! Get away from me!"

Curtis struggled wildly, but her body was like a quagmire; the more she struggled, the deeper she sank, her body becoming more and more firmly bound, like a small flying insect caught in a spider web.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

Finally, Curtis was exhausted, and she let out a desperate scream as if to vent her frustration.

Saint Karina had been watching all of this as if it were none of her business.

She watched with a cold smile as the spoiled princess struggled, raged in helplessness, swore, and finally broke down in screams.

Now, it's time for her to make her move.

"Your Highness, let me treat you to some of the Sea Kingdom's specialties, various dishes related to octopus. I have been to many seas, and recently I also visited the Mermaid Kingdom. The seafood barbecue by the sea is truly amazing."

Santa Karina's first recommendation is the stir-fried baby octopus with sauce. The dish is a feast for the eyes, nose, and palate. The golden and crispy octopus skin is incredibly tempting, while the red and green fillings add a nice touch of color and make it a delicious side dish.

As for how to do it, it's actually not complicated.

首先准备好食材清单，小章鱼500克、料酒1勺、线椒1个、小米辣2个、姜3片、蒜3瓣 、豆瓣酱1/2勺、甜面酱1/2勺、辣椒酱1/3勺 、生抽2勺、糖2小勺。

Then, turn the prepared baby octopuses inside out, remove the internal organs, cut off the eyeballs, rub off the sticky, indescribable stuff with salt, and finally rinse them clean with water.

Next, prepare the ingredients: slice the garlic, shred the ginger, and cut the chili peppers into rings.

Prepare a pot of hot water. Once the water boils, blanch the cleaned octopus in the boiling water for 1 minutes. After blanching, rinse it with cold water and drain.

Next, you can adjust the sauce to your personal taste; there are two options: fermented bean paste and sweet bean sauce. For those who prefer a stronger flavor, there's a third option: chili sauce. Adjust the spiciness to your liking.

Saint Karina could use any of the three, but considering that Princess Curtis was just a newcomer, she chose sweet bean sauce, and finally added white sugar and mixed it well.

Next, heat the oil in a wok, add ginger, garlic, and chili peppers, and sauté until fragrant. Reserve one-third of the chili peppers and add them back in just before removing the wok from the heat.

Then, add the prepared sauce and stir-fry until well combined.

Add the baby octopus. Add a little light soy sauce, stir-fry quickly until well combined, and remove from heat.

After plating, the delicious and visually appealing stir-fried baby octopus dish was ready. Saint Karina, being a kind person, naturally gave Curtis the chance to enjoy the steaming hot dish, demonstrating her saintly magnanimity.

"Your Highness, come here, open your mouth."

Saint Karina manipulated invisible ropes to slip under Curtis's skirt and then plunge straight in, the destination being the mouth of the taste buds savoring the delicious food.

"Paji."

With each bite, the rich, oily flavor exploded in the mouth, creating an overwhelming sense of happiness. The sauce made Curtis drool and sweat from an indescribable place.

The abundance of water was so great that it left Saint Karina speechless.

So she immediately served the second dish, called "The Little Kitchen Made Exclusively by the Saintess".

食材清单，大章鱼触脚150g或根、彩椒红黄都可以100g或个、洋葱150g或半个、西红柿250g或个、蘑菇50g或半个 、黄油或食用油15g至20g、盐20g、黑胡椒碎15g、辣椒粉适量、糖适量、香料百里香碎或欧芹碎适量 、喜欢的其他蔬菜适量。

First, thaw the octopus tentacles and then blanch them in boiling water. This is to thaw them. If the octopus tentacles are sticky after thawing, rub them with salt until the slime comes off.

After blanching until curled, remove from the water and cut into 2 to 3 cm thick squid slices. It is strongly recommended to remove the outer skin on the tentacle side! If you prefer softer squid, you can also remove all the outer skin.

Next, chop similarly sized onions and garlic into minced form to make the sweet chili sauce. Cut most of a tomato into chunks to make the sauce for the sweet chili sauce. Slice bell peppers, mushrooms, and the remaining tomato and onions diagonally for later use.

Melt butter or vegetable oil over low heat until it reaches medium heat, then sauté the chopped onions and garlic until fragrant.

Add diced tomatoes and chili powder, turn to medium-low heat, and sauté until fragrant with chili.

Add boiling water and simmer over medium heat until the tomatoes are soft. Mash the tomatoes with something, add salt, black pepper, and sugar to taste, and reduce the sauce over high heat until thickened. The sauce is now ready.

Brush oil on a pan or melt butter over low heat. Place the prepared octopus and vegetables on the pan, turn the heat to medium-high, add salt, pepper, and a suitable amount of spices (strongly chopped thyme), and fry until golden brown.

If the octopus is not perfectly shaped, you can apply pressure with the bottom of a plate. It will likely smoke during the grilling process. When it starts to smoke, it's time to flip it over. This process will give the octopus meat a wonderful smoky flavor.

Spend a little time arranging the plating and then pouring on a sweet, spicy, and bright red tomato sauce.

Finally, the new dish is ready! The sweet, spicy, and robust tomato sauce paired with the smoky and flavorful vegetables and seafood is simply amazing!

Because bell peppers are rich and juicy, the flavor explosion of chili and butter further highlights the sweetness and tenderness of the bell peppers themselves.

The skinless and grilled octopus has a rich smoky flavor and a chewy, delicate texture that makes you want to eat it right away!

Saint Karina didn't intend to have Curtis's first experience, so she just let Curtis use his mouth to relieve her lust. It was like cooking poisonous food late at night; the best was saved for last, so that the happiness and anticipation would reach their peak.

143. A strange sense of incongruity

After Saint Karina taught Curtis her lesson in her own way, the princess finally learned her lesson.

She realized that if she didn't get out, she would really be trapped in this strange place and be completely exploited.

After her body was freed from its restraints, she spat out the salty, bitter taste that still lingered on her tongue, her expression contorted and uncomfortable.

It was a humiliating disgrace. As a princess of the country, this was the first time she had been forced to serve others, and in such an unspeakable way.

"I have to get out of here."

Needless to say, such a strong thought arose in Curtis's mind.

She had to leave this palace, leave this high-walled compound, and go to a farther place.

Ideally, it would be somewhere outside the capital of the strange and discordant Toran Empire, as Saint Karina described the rules of the game.

Didn't Saint Karina say that she would let her go as long as she could successfully reach the outside of the city?

She has to leave here, right now!

Once the thought of getting away from this place of trouble took hold, her body would act quickly, even though her mouth felt more uncomfortable than if she had blew ten boxes of bubble gum that night, and the strange taste wouldn't go away. But she already knew what would happen if she stayed here.

If she could, she wished she could bite the holy sword in half, but the holy sword was much stronger than she had imagined.

"Damn woman."

Having been taught a lesson, Curtis no longer dared to call Saint Karina a country bumpkin in this strange place.

She straightened her clothes. Although there were strange stains on them, as a princess of the country, she had to try her best to dress properly.

She ran wildly, initially full of energy, riding the wind in the moonlight and starlight, but gradually, she became exhausted and went from running to walking.

Curtis is just a magician. Magic can make her recover her strength faster than ordinary people, but it cannot directly change her physical abilities.

After all, her character is that of a princess of the Toran Empire, not a full-time mage or a melee mage.

However, when she escaped from the palace, she found that it was not so quiet outside the high walls. There were all sorts of people, each of them looking vivid and lifelike. But while such a bustling scene would be normal during the day, it was very eerie at night.

Nightlife is nightlife, but it depends on the occasion. According to Curtis's memory, these people are doing their daytime routines, just like she had seen them during the day.

They all have two eyes, a nose, and a mouth—everything a normal human has—so Curtis couldn't see any flaws. Yet, he still felt something was off.

But the priority now is to leave the city quickly, not to dwell on these "people".

"Your Highness, let's leave this place together."

Suddenly, such a sound came to Curtis's ears. Curtis did not make a sound, and did not even dare to turn around.

She lowered her head even further and quickened her pace.

The voice was that of a stranger, but the more she listened, the more familiar it became, making her heart pound with fear.

She walked through bustling streets, noisy farmers' markets, and even through the dirty roads of the downtown area, and throughout this hurried journey, Curtis always heard that unknown voice behind her.

The human and the ghost crossed most of the city and arrived near the city gate.

However, the city gates, which should have been wide open during the day, were closed, and there were still many patrolling soldiers around the city. Putting aside whether these soldiers would recognize Princess Curtis and politely open the gate, just seeing that the wanted poster on the city gate was of Curtis herself made her dare not rush out so rashly.

Just then, Curtis wanted to change direction to see if there were any areas of the city wall that had been breached in other city gates or the lower city. When she looked back, she found that all the pedestrians behind her had disappeared at some point, and even the ghostly figure that had been calling her name had vanished.

This capital city has shed its sun-drenched coat and, in every sense, donned the evening gown of night.

All the buildings had become cold and hard, completely black. The thick brick walls and gloomy windows, from a distance, looked lifeless and cold, like a devil's lair.

In this eerie scene, the only light comes from the torches by the city gate not far away.

However, unlike the brightly lit area, the torches at this moment flickered with an eerie candlelight, casting a faint glow that seemed to fade in the darkness.

Although it might be an auditory hallucination, Curtis seemed to hear a series of shrill laughs coming from somewhere, like a group of ghosts chattering and laughing incessantly in the night.

"I won't admit defeat."

Curtis muttered to himself, as if both frightened and trying to bolster his courage.

She would never be intimidated by adversity; that is the refinement of a princess.

Looking up again, she noticed an even larger patch of dark cloud had appeared in the sky, obscuring even the starlight and moonlight. Upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't a cloud at all, but countless crows, entirely black with feathers as dark as ink, completely surrounding the light.

Tonight, the city is dark, civilization has vanished, and ghosts dance wildly in the air, like a living hell.

Just then, a series of shrill chirps and whooshing flapping of wings swept over Curtis from above, like a tornado, chaotic and disorderly like a farmers' market, so piercing it felt like hundreds of broken gongs were being smashed in the ear, accompanied by terrifying screams.

In the stillness of the night, the sudden explosion terrified Curtis, who was hiding behind haystacks and trees.

Then, in front of the tall city gate, weapons and armor were scattered on the ground. The city gate soldiers who had been lively just moments before were now all lying stiffly on the ground, and on each soldier's body crawled an extremely ugly, rotting humanoid creature.

These humanoid creatures were entirely yellow, bald with pointed ears, and had hunched bodies devoid of any color. Their gray eyes were lifeless, making them look like living corpses. At this moment, they were savagely stabbing their white, sharp teeth into the soldiers' necks, greedily sucking at them, and occasionally letting out excited shrieks.

Upon seeing such a bloody and horrific scene, the pampered Princess Curtis was so disgusted that she almost vomited up her dinner.

Curtis found the metal door intact; the bolt was firmly in place, and even the magical runes on it were undamaged. She still saw no hope of escape and found herself in an even deeper predicament.

144. Placed

"Your Highness, are you giving up?"

The strange sound that had disappeared for some time suddenly started again.

This time, however, Curtis saw the appearance of the owner of the voice. Behind her was no longer nothingness, but a ghostly girl wielding a black scythe that was longer than her own height.

The other person was dressed in a maid outfit, somewhat resembling a necromancer.

Her physical form was a materialized ghost; in fact, fear-filled life was the best meal for her. So she dragged her scythe and slowly floated toward Curtis.

However, the sickle was too long and very sharp, leaving a deep gash on the ground as it dragged.

"you you……"

Curtis was so terrified that she could barely hold onto the stick she picked up along the way, and her legs were trembling like a leaf.

This is a biological instinctive reaction when its life force is threatened: "You...you don't come any closer..."

Before she could finish her trembling words, a black light flashed over.

This was the ghost girl's slash, an attack that killed instantly. Curtis only felt darkness before her eyes, and then she was back in the room where she had woken up, in that bedchamber.

The moonlight was still the same moonlight, and the brightness of the stars hadn't changed noticeably. Curtis had no idea how long she'd been trapped in this silent place. She watched the clock on the wall tick away relentlessly, hour after hour... two hours...

Twenty-four hours...forty-eight hours...

She was like a child forgotten by the world, her stomach growling loudly. At first, it was just hunger, but now the hunger had become so bad that her symptoms not only didn't improve, but she was even hungrier.

She tried many ways to escape this bedchamber, but unlike the first time, she couldn't even leave the room after being captured again.

The room was blocked by an invisible wall of air. The doors and windows could be opened normally, but it was impossible to get out through them.

Not only that, but as if to humiliate her and erode her self-esteem, her hands and feet were handcuffed with metal handcuffs. This did not affect her walking or any posture, but the clanging sound of her walking constantly reminded her that she was now a prisoner of Saint Karina.

Curtis was a proud and arrogant person, so naturally she couldn't stand it. At first, she was cursing and swearing in an attempt to lure out Saint Karina. After cursing for a long time until her throat was dry, she still didn't see anyone come out, so she gave up on the idea.

"How long...how much longer am I going to be locked up...?"

Curtis lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

If the room hadn't been slightly lit instead of completely dark, Curtis suspected that his mental state would have already collapsed, and he might already be on the verge of a breakdown.

In this world where no one speaks and not even an insect chirps, she only hopes that there is a second person besides herself in this empty world, even if it is the undead girl who brought her terror before, or Saint Karina.

"Someone needs to come... anyone will do..."

Curtis lay quietly on the bed, his gaze fixed and lifeless, utterly bored and listless.

The "whoosh" sound was her changing position because she was tired of lying down.