Brandi Ratcliff took her first step away. Her boot snapped a dry twig, the sharp crack echoing loudly through the damp, silent trees.

Cason lay in the mud, his dark eyes locked onto her retreating back. His mind was a chaotic mess. The memories of his past life-the endless betrayals, the knives in his back from people who smiled at him-clashed violently with the reality of the crude linen bandage wrapped tightly around his chest.

He gritted his teeth and tried to force mana into his legs to stand. A blinding, tearing pain ripped through his damaged core. His muscles gave out, and he slammed back into the wet earth with a heavy thud.

Brandi heard the noise. She paused for a fraction of a second, her index finger tapping lightly against her thigh, but she didn't turn around. She kept walking.

She was about to disappear behind a thick cluster of thorny bushes.

The primal instinct to survive overpowered Cason's deep-seated paranoia. His throat was raw, his voice cracking as he forced the word out.

"Wait."

Brandi's lips curved into a tiny, victorious smile. She instantly wiped it away, replacing it with a look of deep annoyance as she turned her head to look over her shoulder.

She raised one eyebrow. "What? I stopped you from bleeding out. My charity ends there."

Cason swallowed hard, the humiliation burning in his chest. "Take me with you. Get me out of this forest. I will... I will repay you. Whatever you want."

Brandi rolled her eyes inwardly. A villain's empty promise meant nothing to her. She wanted the system's instant payouts.

She pretended to weigh her options, her eyes scanning his broken body. She walked back to him and stood over him, extending her pale, dirt-smudged hand.

"My name is Brandi Ratcliff," she said coldly. "I'll take you. But you are dead weight right now. You do exactly what I say."

Cason stared at her hand. He hesitated, his jaw ticking, before he finally reached up and gripped her fingers.

The moment their skin touched, the mechanical voice chimed in Brandi's head.

[Initial bond established. Daily investment task triggered: Share water.]

Brandi hauled him up. Cason's legs buckled, and he stumbled forward, his heavy frame crashing into her shoulder.

He instinctively tried to shove himself away from her, hating the vulnerability, but as he moved, he caught the scent of her hair-a faint mix of crushed herbs and fresh blood. The scent bypassed his defenses, forcing a strange, tiny knot of tension in his chest to loosen.

Brandi didn't complain about his weight. She grabbed his arm and threw it over her shoulders, wrapping her arm around his waist to support him. Together, they began the agonizingly slow trek through the dense forest.

After half a mile, Cason's breathing grew ragged. His skin was burning with fever, and his cracked lips were bleeding slightly.

Brandi stopped walking. She leaned him against the rough bark of a massive oak tree.

She reached into the deep pocket of her riding pants, secretly accessing her system inventory, and pulled out a leather flask filled with cold, clean water.

She popped the wooden cork and shoved the flask toward his face.

"Drink," she ordered, her tone harsh. "I'm not carrying a corpse."

Cason eyed the flask suspiciously. He took it with shaking hands and brought it to his lips. He drank greedily, the cool water soothing the raw burn in his throat.

The system panel flashed gold in Brandi's vision.

[Investment task 'Share water' complete. Reward: 50 Premium Mana Crystals.]

Brandi's heart did a happy leap, but her face remained a mask of stone. She snatched the flask back the moment he finished and shoved the cork back in.

Cason wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He stared at her sharp profile. The contradiction was driving him crazy. Her words were venomous, but her actions were keeping him alive.

"Why are you doing this?" Cason asked, his voice low and laced with heavy suspicion. "You don't know me."

Brandi knew exactly how to handle a paranoid villain. If she claimed she was just a good person, he would never trust her.

She let out a harsh, cynical laugh. "Don't flatter yourself. This forest is crawling with beasts. If something jumps out of the bushes, I need a meat shield to throw at it while I run."

Cason blinked. Then, the tension in his shoulders completely vanished.

That was it. That was the brutal, selfish logic he understood. It made perfect sense in this twisted world. He actually felt a wave of relief wash over him. He found this cold, calculating woman far more tolerable than the hypocrites who preached righteousness before stabbing him in the back.

They rested for a few minutes before Brandi hauled him back up.

Just as the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting long, bloody shadows through the trees, the dense foliage finally broke.

They stepped out of the tree line onto a wide, packed-dirt road. In the distance, the warm, flickering lights of a sprawling town illuminated the dusk.

Clearwater City.

Brandi stared at the lights, her index finger tapping a slow rhythm against her thigh. That city was a goldmine, the perfect place to start pouring her new wealth into her favorite investment project.

The night air was biting cold by the time Brandi Ratcliff dragged Cason to the towering stone gates of Clearwater City.

Two heavily armored guards crossed their pikes, blocking the entrance. The guard on the right sneered, his eyes raking over Brandi's torn, blood-stained linen shirt and Cason's mud-caked, half-dead state.

"No beggars after dark," the guard spat, waving his hand as if shooing away stray dogs.

Cason's eyes went dead. His jaw clenched, and his hand twitched toward his waist, a reflexive urge to slaughter his way through.

Brandi slammed her hand down on his shoulder, pinning him in place.

Without a word, she reached into her pocket. She pulled out a single, glowing High-Grade Mana Crystal and flicked it through the air.

The guard scrambled to catch it, nearly dropping his pike. When he opened his palm and saw the pure, concentrated magic radiating from the gem, his sneer vanished, replaced by a sickeningly sweet smile.

"Apologies, my lady! Please, come right in!" The guards practically bowed as they pulled the gates open.

Cason stared at Brandi, utterly bewildered. How did a woman who had to tear her own clothes for bandages possess a crystal that could buy a small estate?

Brandi caught his stare. She gave him a freezing side-eye. "Found it in the dirt. Keep moving."

She didn't give him a chance to ask questions. She hauled him through the bustling streets, ignoring the cheap, rowdy taverns. She walked straight to the center of the city, stopping in front of a massive building constructed of white marble and polished brass: The Golden Griffin Inn.

The lobby was a blinding display of wealth. Crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

The innkeeper, a fat man in a velvet vest, saw the two bloody figures tracking mud onto his imported rugs. He opened his mouth to shout for security.

Brandi walked right up to the mahogany front desk. She pulled a heavy leather pouch from her pocket and slammed it down onto the wood. The heavy, unmistakable clinking of dense crystals echoed in the quiet lobby.

The innkeeper froze. He untied the strings and peeked inside. The blood drained from his face.

He instantly plastered on a professional, groveling smile. "Welcome to the Golden Griffin! How may I serve you?"

"Your best double suite," Brandi demanded, her voice cutting through the air. "Send up a tub of boiling water, your highest-grade wound salves, and two sets of clean clothes."

Cason stood behind her, his eyes fixed on the back of her head. The confusion in his mind was snowballing into a massive, tangled knot.

Minutes later, they were standing inside a ridiculously lavish suite. Silk curtains framed massive floor-to-ceiling windows.

Brandi dropped Cason onto a plush velvet sofa. She walked over to the window, staring down at the busy street below, her arms crossed.

A team of nervous staff hurried into the room, setting up a large wooden tub behind a painted silk screen. They filled it with steaming water, left a pile of folded silk clothes and medicinal jars on the table, and practically ran out of the room.

Brandi pointed at the screen. "Go scrub the blood off. You smell like a slaughterhouse."

Cason looked down at his ruined clothes. He felt a flush of embarrassment, but he forced himself to stand. He limped behind the screen.

The moment the sound of splashing water filled the room, the system chimed.

[Investment task 'Improve living conditions' complete. Reward: Top-Tier Meditation Room access (Can be deployed in spatial inventory).]

Brandi's eyes lit up. A meditation room was exactly what she needed to stabilize her magic. The return on this investment was insane.

Half an hour later, Cason stepped out from behind the screen.

He was wearing a set of black silk loungewear. With the mud and blood washed away, his true features were fully visible. His sharp jawline, the straight bridge of his nose, and his deep, dark eyes were striking. The damp black hair clinging to his forehead softened his usual lethal edge, giving him a fragile, devastatingly handsome look.

Brandi turned her head. Her breath hitched slightly in her throat, a purely physical reaction to his looks. She immediately forced her face back into a mask of boredom.

She picked up a jar of expensive salve from the table and tossed it at his chest. He caught it instinctively.

"Fix your wounds," she ordered.

Cason sat on the edge of the massive bed. He unscrewed the lid and began rubbing the salve into the angry red skin around his chest wound. His movements were practiced, numb to the pain.

"Thank you," he said. His voice was low, barely a whisper, but it carried across the quiet room.

Brandi waved her hand dismissively. "I just need you able to walk tomorrow so you don't slow me down."

Cason didn't argue. He was starting to understand her language.

Brandi grabbed her own set of clothes and went behind the screen to wash. When she emerged, she was wearing a simple, elegant white dress. The grime was gone, revealing the cold, untouchable aura of a high-level mage.

They sat in the sitting area, a strange, heavy silence settling between them. The only sound was the crackle of the fireplace.

Suddenly, Brandi's stomach let out a loud, aggressive growl.

She didn't blush. She stood up, smoothing the front of her dress. "I'm starving. We're going to eat."

Brandi Ratcliff led Cason down the grand staircase into the Golden Griffin's luxurious dining hall.

Seeing their high-end silk loungewear, the maître d' practically tripped over his own feet rushing to seat them at a private VIP table by the window.

A waiter handed Brandi a menu embossed with gold lettering. She didn't even glance at the prices. She tapped her index finger against the heavy parchment, her eyes scanning the items.

"I'll take a large bowl of the snow feather chicken soup, heavily spiced," Brandi ordered smoothly. "And bring a basket of your freshest artisan bread."

Sitting across the table, Cason's body went completely rigid. His pupils contracted into tiny pinpricks. His fingers dug into the armrests of his chair so hard his knuckles turned white.

That specific soup. It was the exact dish his mother used to make for him when he was a child, the only comforting memory he had before his life turned into a bloodbath.

He stared dead into Brandi's eyes, his gaze sharp enough to cut glass. Was she investigating him? Did she know who he really was? The paranoia clawed at his throat, making it hard to breathe.

Brandi felt the sudden, murderous shift in his aura. Her stomach dropped. She had been so focused on triggering a system reward that she completely forgot to hide her future knowledge.

She didn't flinch. She kept her face perfectly blank, offering him her signature cold half-smile. She tossed the menu onto the table and pushed it toward him.

"I like my food heavy and spicy," Brandi said, her tone dripping with casual indifference. "Besides, you lost half your body weight in blood. That specific broth is pure, concentrated mana and iron. I'm not having you pass out on me tomorrow. Order whatever you want for yourself."

Cason studied her face for a long, agonizing moment. Her excuse was flawless. It was arrogant, self-centered, and perfectly in character. The logic was brutally practical. The tension slowly drained from his shoulders. It had to be a bizarre coincidence.

"That's enough food," Cason muttered, pushing the menu away. His stomach was still tied in knots.

The waiter quickly brought out the steaming dishes. The rich smell of roasted meat and savory broth filled the air.

Brandi picked up a silver ladle. She scooped a generous portion of the snow feather chicken soup into a porcelain bowl and shoved it across the table until it hit Cason's plate with a clink.

"Drink it," she commanded. "You need to replace the blood you lost."

Cason looked down at the golden broth. In his past life, he had survived on cold, stale rations while running from assassins. No one had ever pushed a bowl of hot soup toward him just to make sure he healed. A strange, tight feeling gripped his chest.

He picked up the silver spoon. He took a sip. The rich, familiar taste exploded on his tongue, a phantom warmth of a home he had long forgotten, and the hard line of his jaw finally relaxed.

The moment he swallowed, a deafening alarm went off inside Brandi's skull.

[Ding! Deep emotional resonance triggered! Investment rated as S-Class!]

[Congratulations, Host. Reward: Legendary Magical Artifact - 'Star's Eye' Necklace.]

[Passive Effect: Grants the wearer immunity to three fatal mental attacks and one instance of absolute concealment.]

Brandi's hand jerked. The silver fork in her hand clattered against her plate. Her heart hammered wildly against her ribs. A legendary artifact that could block mental attacks? Just for buying a bowl of soup?

To hide her violently shaking hands, she grabbed her knife and aggressively sawed off a massive chunk of the roast sheep, shoving it into her mouth and chewing with excessive force.

Cason watched her tear into the meat. She ate like a starving mercenary, not a noble lady. It was crude, but it was so fiercely alive that he couldn't look away.

The rest of the meal passed in a comfortable silence. The food worked its magic, bringing a healthy flush back to Cason's pale face.

When the bill came, Brandi tossed another high-grade crystal onto the table and walked away without waiting for change.

Back in the suite, Cason collapsed onto the velvet sofa, his exhausted body finally giving out. Within minutes, his breathing evened out into a deep sleep.

Brandi walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window, turning her back to him.

She opened her system inventory. A heavy, silver chain materialized in her palm, holding a gemstone that swirled with the deep, dark blue of a midnight galaxy.

She quickly unclasped it and secured it around her neck, letting the heavy stone rest against her collarbone. She pulled the high collar of her dress up to hide the faint, magical glow.

The moment the metal touched her skin, a wave of absolute calm washed over her mind. The mental barrier locked into place, making her feel invincible.

She turned around and looked at Cason's sleeping face.

Basic salves and food weren't enough. If she wanted to milk this villain for everything he was worth, she needed to fix his broken magic core. Tomorrow, she was going to find the best healer in the city and dump a mountain of cash on him.