At that moment, the two of them were essentially attending the banquet as partners, a man and a woman.
Yet even so, when he tentatively tried chatting with her just now, he only received lukewarm responses.
Normally, the Imperial Princess would probably have pinned him to his seat by now for a suffocating, deep kiss that lasted over ten minutes.
Lynn sighed almost imperceptibly.
However, this extremely faint sigh still reached Ivyst's ears.
The corners of her lips couldn't help but lift in an undetectable smile.
Her strategy seemed to be yielding significant results.
But just this wasn't enough.
With this thought, she suddenly pulled out a handkerchief, raised it to her mouth, and coughed lightly.
Blood dotted the white handkerchief as it spread out; Ivyst's expression remained unchanged, though her complexion turned slightly paler.
She didn't make a scene of it all, as if she didn't want Lynn to witness this.
But they were seated in the same carriage compartment.
No matter how much she tried to cover it up, how could she possibly escape Lynn's line of sight?
Watching Ivyst silently putting away the bloodstained handkerchief and then casting her cold gaze out the window, Lynn felt an inexplicable pain deep inside.
Why do I feel such heartache for her?
Realizing his lapse, Lynn clenched his fist tightly.
The atmosphere fell into silence for a moment.
After a short while, no longer able to bear the silence, Lynn suddenly stood up, took two steps forward, and grasped Ivyst's delicate shoulders.
"Princess, what in the world is wrong with you?"
He looked seriously at Ivyst and then noticed traces of blood on the corners of her mouth.
He hesitated, wanting to reach out and wipe it away with his thumb.
Feeling Lynn's concern, Ivyst's heartbeat skyrocketed.
But for the sake of her long-planned scheme, she suppressed the urge to throw herself at him affectionately.
Moreover, Ivyst forced herself to put on a cold expression and even blocked Lynn's extended hand.
"Don't be so affectionate with me," Ivyst's voice was distant, "If your beloved Witch finds out, she might cause trouble for me again, and as you've seen, I am no match for her."
"And there's no need for you to put on this sympathetic front."
"After all... nobody likes a loser."
Ivyst didn't even let her gaze linger on Lynn.
He could somewhat understand her reasoning.
This was like a fight between two matriarchal lionesses, battling for mating rights over a juvenile lion.
While it may be a distasteful analogy, the situation was indeed such.
Both the Imperial Princess and the Witch were extremely proud characters.
Though they showed it differently, their essence was the same.
And now, Ivyst had clearly lost this fight, not only sustaining serious injuries but also becoming despondent.
It was as if she were admitting her own defeat and handing over something precious to someone else.
Even if the Witch didn't demand it, the humiliation would still be etched in her heart.
At least, that's how Lynn saw it.
With this in mind, his intention to ask Ivyst about the Imaging Magic Stone faded considerably.
To his surprise, it was Ivyst who brought up the topic.
Her right palm faced up as she passed something to Lynn.
Seeing this, he thought she wanted to hold hands and subconsciously took her soft, white hand.
Does she think I want a paw shake?
Ivyst subtly squeezed her legs together, a faint blush appeared on her fair face, making her even more charming.
Fortunately, the mask concealed her expression so Lynn didn't notice anything amiss.
She let go of Lynn's hand, then coughed lightly and said indifferently, "Give me the Imaging Magic Stone."
Lynn's body stiffened, not expecting her to initiate this topic.
He had thought it was just a scheme to frame the Witch.
What was going on now?
For a moment, Lynn felt unprecedented confusion.
"Didn't hear me speaking?"
It was only when Ivyst's indifferent voice came again that Lynn snapped back to reality and took out the stone from his pocket, placing it in her palm.
Ivyst didn't hesitate, casually crushing the Imaging Magic Stone into powder.
"Did you see the contents?" she asked nonchalantly.
Lynn was silent for a moment, then nodded, "Princess, what exactly was... on there?"
Given Ivyst's character, even if it were fake, she would likely stubbornly claim it to be real to garner his sympathy and force him to admit it.
However, her next response was once again beyond Lynn's expectations.
"Fake," Ivyst replied softly, candidly admitting everything, "The image was forged by me, originally aimed to sling mud at that slut, but since I've already lost to her, such petty tricks are useless."
"Besides, with your intelligence, you should have guessed the authenticity of that thing, right?"
"After all, I have always been such a despicable and unscrupulous villain."
Ivyst gently brushed aside the hair near her ear, speaking calmly.
The images on there were real.
In an instant, Lie Swallowing activated, allowing Lynn to detect the underlying lie.
His expression became incredibly complex.
To him, the Imperial Princess was unwilling to lose her pride as well, having lost to the Witch.
Thus, she was enduring the pain and grief in her heart, defiantly showing her torn and bleeding wounds to him without care.
But the more she denied the reality of the images, the more she belittled herself, the deeper Lynn's suspicion of the Witch grew.
Could it be... she really altered my memory?
Was my first encounter actually with Ivyst?
(ps: The passing of my elder was quite sudden, I have to be at the funeral home for the next three days to keep vigil. I won't be taking any days off, but my daily updates might be a bit delayed, sorry.)