Get on My Lap!

"You really like... you really like... he said he really likes me..."

Phrolova repeated the words, her face so red it looked ready to bleed. Her eyes were practically spinning, and she could barely stand.

"That guy actually said he likes me. That's so sneaky! He's using a honey trap! Phrolova, you mustn't fall for his wicked trick!"

"But... but he looked so serious. It didn't seem like he was lying..."

Her heart was racing absurdly fast, pounding against her chest, and even her breathing had lost its rhythm.

She instinctively tried to step back, but her feet wouldn't obey. Her calves were weak, her knees trembled, and she felt as though she were standing on cotton.

Jinhsi looked over...

Cartethyia looked over...

Imperator looked over too...

"Charioteer, please stop recklessly radiating that charm of yours."

"Hey... Phrolova, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Looking worried, Rover leaned closer to examine her.

"Eep..."

Looking at that authoritative face, Phrolova felt her heart twist into a knot.

Her fingers tangled together, her nails digging into her palms, and a voice screamed in her head: He's read your diary! He knows everything! All those mortifying fantasies you wrote down—he's read every one of them! Is he saying this on purpose to make fun of me?!

"Ah!!"

Suddenly, she screamed and raised her baton high.

"She's gone mad! Watch out!"

Jinhsi went on alert in an instant. The Fractsidus really were mentally unstable. She was already prepared to stop time.

Bang!

The baton came slashing down, carving a huge fissure straight into the ground. The young warriors jumped in fright and stared blankly.

But immediately afterward, Phrolova did something unexpected.

Covering her face, she jumped right in! She hid in the fissure!

"Whoa, that's the first time I've seen that! A real-life version of wanting to find a hole to crawl into. I've really seen something new today!"

The Midnight Rangers exclaimed in amazement. They'd really lived long enough to see anything!

"Jailbreaker, don't think you can use this chance to escape underground!" Oblivious to the mood, Xixi rushed into the fissure and hauled Phrolova out, her face still covered with both hands.

"General Jiyan!"

"At your command!"

"Reinforce the defenses and keep watch over the Faceless Inferno Lord's seal. Don't let anyone unrelated come near it, especially anyone from the Fractsidus!"

"As you command!"

"Um... heroine in red, could you tell us your name?" Seeing that the important figures were about to leave, a young warrior nervously asked Phrolova.

"My name is... um... my name is Red Lotus... yes, that's my name."

After much hesitation, she still didn't give her real name. A Fractsidus Overseer always brought calamity.

"I'll remember it, Lady Red Lotus! I'll work hard to become a heroine like you and save more people!"

"Uh... you'd better not follow my example. I only hope you can live in peace, marry and have children, and grow old without worries..."

In the prison of Jinzhou City.

Phrolova was back in her familiar spot. Her merits didn't cancel out her offenses, and her imprisonment wasn't over yet, though her conditions were much better than before.

If Scar saw this, he would surely lose it. They were both in prison, so why did she get special treatment? How could there be such a huge difference in how people were treated?

Phrolova didn't see it that way. Bristling, she looked at her dolls, half of which were gone, and felt the urge to fly into a rage.

"That damn blind woman! If she wanted to take my creations, she should have just said so! Why make up some high-sounding excuse about confiscating illegal works created during reform through labor? Did she confiscate them straight into her bedroom?!"

"All right, stop dwelling on it!" Rover sat beside her and comforted her with a smile.

"Has the busy man stopped saving the world? How do you have time to chat with a bad woman from the Fractsidus like me?" Phrolova instinctively spoke with biting sarcasm.

"Heh... the frequencies inside Cartethyia have become disordered again. Imperator is working to balance them now. In about three days, I'll return to Rinascita with her."

"So you have three days to stay in Jinzhou?"

"That's right."

"My, my, instead of spending such precious free time with Lady Magistrate, you came to see me. Could it be that you need something from me?"

Phrolova ran both hands through her ponytail, her movements slow and rhythmic, as she asked seemingly offhandedly.

"No."

"Oh?"

Her hands stopped, and she looked down at her knees.

"If you didn't come to ask me for something, did you come to reward me? That can't be it, can it?"

"Why can't it be?"

"With that heart of stone of yours..."

"Then should I leave?"

"Stop right there!"

Phrolova gritted her teeth, then took a deep breath and gently patted her long, beautiful legs, pressed together.

"Come!"

"What are you doing?"

"Cut the nonsense and lie down on my lap!"