(Lian Li POV)

I should hate her.

All of us really should hate her, this infuriating, annoying and stuck up old woman...

But the fact that this Luna-what's-her-stupid-name was doing this for Master's benefit cannot be denied.

For Master who has been living all this while with missing memories and had not once expressed a desire for anything after taking us under His wing, the fact that He now expresses a desire to regain His memories was a very big deal for us.

Since Master had proclaimed what He sought for, we, as Master's first followers and disciples, will of course stop at nothing to get Master what He wants.

And yet…

"What do you mean we're not allowed in there with Master?!" I demanded, glaring at that hussy who dared to claim herself as Master's 'wife'.

She tilted her head upwards slightly, "As I have said. The hidden archives store national secrets that outsiders have no place in seeing. You might be husband's disciples, but I don't trust any of you one bit."

This bitch! It's obvious she was using this as an opportunity to separate us from Master to prevent us from getting any affection from Him! Who knows what she'll do if she's alone with Master?

She might even do something absolutely unforgivable like trying to rape Master!

There was absolutely no way we're allowing her to be alone with Master!

Manami scoffed at her, "Ara? You flatter yourself too much. None of us have any interest at all in this third rate country of yours. As if any national secret would even matter if any one of us could reduce the entire place to dust if we wanted to."

"Was that a threat?"

"Ufufufu, it can be one."

Brendan stepped in between us, "Now, now, ladies. Why don't we just ask Master's opinion on this? I think that's the more important thing, right?"

She turned up her nose even further, "Husband is already busy researching within the archives, as if I will let anyone disturb him right now."

Cai Hong waddled up to her while sucking on a finger, "Even Cai Hong?"

"Don't play coy with me, dragon. I saw your true form yesterday so your little tricks won't work on me."

Cai Hong looked away from her with a sour face and pouted, "Buuu… This Cai Hong's true form…"

For her to even reject Cai Hong's 'pleading face', she really is a formidable opponent. At this rate, we really might need to resort to sneaking our way into the archives or even subdue her.

Diao Chan stepped forward, "You say all that, but your main goal is to keep Master here isn't it? You're not even allowing us to see Master after we came all this way to reunite with Him! And now when Master has a desire that we wish to help Him fulfill, you're hindering Him instead of helping Him. It's a small wonder why Master rejected your proposal."

Oh? Judging by the slight furrow of her brows, I think sister Diao Chan's words actually hit a nerve.

She's definitely still sore about the fact that Master has embraced us and gave us His affection.

That woman gritted her teeth, "For husband… Fine. You there, male."

Brendan pointed a finger at himself, "Me?"

"Yes, you. I will allow you and only you to go help husband with his search. You at least know how to read, yes?"

Brendan pursed his lips, "Yes, I do know how to read."

"Good, then go see the archives director and tell her I sent you to help husband. That is all that I'm willing to compromise on."

At first I wanted to argue more but then I thought this might be a chance to show Master how selfish this woman was and get Master to despise her more.

If Master knew she was ostracising us and looking down on Brendan, surely this would sour their relationship even more.

With that in mind, I turned to Brendan and passed him a scarf I had knitted, "Pass this to Master when you meet Him. It's bound to be cold down there."

The other girls followed suit and also handed Brendan personal things we wanted him to hand over to Master to let Him know we were waiting outside.

Yes, and all we need to do now is to wait…

*

(Brendan POV)

I don't know why but when senior sisters sent me off to help Master with their blessing, I felt a cold chill run up my spine.

I suppose I should just be glad that sister Elaria and Master's newest sister were busy having what they call a "little sister showdown" and weren't here to cause even more chaos.

I'm actually quite curious what the showdown entailed but I think it would be something incomprehensible to me anyway.

And now I'm being led down the staircase by this woman who seemed very upset that she had to guide me here.

"Here it is. Don't break anything in there or I will break you, understand me, boy?"

"Very."

The director turned on her heel and left, grumbling something under her breath.

I didn't need to hear her words to know she was unhappy that she couldn't boss me around like the other males because of my position as Master's disciple.

I pushed open the door and entered a surprisingly opulent room. I was honestly expecting the hidden archive to be dark, dusty and foreboding but apparently I was wrong.

Before I could fully admire the place, a knife was thrusted towards my throat, an inch away from touching my skin.

The maid girl I remembered following the tall woman from before was standing in front of me with narrowed eyes.

"You… Brendan was it? What are you doing here?" She growled.

I raised my hands in surrender, "Your mistress… She allowed me to help my Master in searching for the cure for His memory loss."

She watched me for a few seconds before the knife disappeared as though it had been an illusion before taking a step away from me, "I see… I would warn you to be careful of the cursed books but I would be lying if I said I cared about your well-being."

Losing interest in me, she left me and returned to sit at one of the reading tables.

Deciding to just concentrate on what I'm supposed to be here for, I went to Master's side.

I spotted the two foxes laying underneath His seat, that tall woman must have deemed it unnecessary to separate them from Master.

I guess these two foxes must have taken up the role of Master's guards or something?

Now that I think about it, they were always with Master, weren't they? So they might very well be Master's guards the monsters have sent.

Master was so absorbed in His reading that I was nearly right beside Him before He looked up and noticed me.

"Oh, Brendan. Here to sate your thirst for knowledge eh? Here, I picked out some books that would be useful for you, take a seat," Master patted the chair beside Him with a bright smile while gesturing to a pile of books.

I tilted my head, "Wasn't Master looking for a way to regain your lost memories?"

He waved his hand at me, "Bah, I can do that any time I want. But having my disciples have access to all this knowledge isn't a common occurrence at all! So trust me, these books will help you a lot!"

"Umm… Well… That is… Senior sisters couldn't come in because of that queen… And they wanted me to give you this."

I quickly explained and passed Master the items the girls had given me.

"Ah… I suppose I'll have to ask Luna to grant them permission later. But in the meantime, just take a look at these books.

I spied the books on the table to read their titles.

"'Godlike alchemy for dummies', 'Panacea and other elixirs', 'Alchemy without the fuss of ingredients', 'Combat alchemy'. Master… I don't really know about this but… These books seem rather dodgy."

He waved his hand at me, "I know what you mean, but just trust me on this."

Since Master said so, there was no way I could deny that order.

I still worry about my senior sisters being left outside though...

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