"I was wondering if I could speak with you privately. I wanted to ask for a few pointers regarding cultivation."
My mother narrowed her eyes slightly, weighing my words in silence.
"Help him out. He's barely asked you for anything. Why are you hesitating?" my father interjected, shaking his head with faint disapproval.
Elizabeth gave no verbal reply.
She simply nodded toward the patriarch, then set down her fork with unhurried elegance before rising to her feet and walking out.
With light steps, I followed behind her.
As she moved, her robes swayed smoothly with each step, tracing the outline of her figure and only making her beauty more striking.
There was something unique about her coldness and elegance. Together, they gave her a flawless, distant charm, like untouched jade that needed no polishing.
We walked several meters before entering a spacious chamber.
The moment I stepped in and turned around, my blood almost froze.
Because my mother was already standing right in front of me.
Her cold silver eyes bore into mine with terrifying intensity, as if they could see through flesh and straight into my soul.
My heart pounded violently, but I quickly forced myself to calm down and put on a faint smile.
"What did you need pointers on?"
I paused for a brief moment, carefully arranging the lie in my mind before replying.
"Since I started cultivating," I said, pointing at my neck, "I've been feeling a strange wave of pain here whenever I absorb cursed energy."
Elizabeth stared directly into my eyes for a moment before slowly raising a finger.
Before I could even blink, she was already in front of me, her delicate hand lightly touching my neck.
One of the reasons I had chosen to make a move on her was because she was the only one who knew about my cursed nebula physique.
Because of that, she would understand that my cultivation path was bound to differ from ordinary people, and she wouldn't easily suspect my explanation.
Elizabeth's cold finger pressed lightly against the exact spot I had pointed at.
The instant she touched me, a chill spread through my entire body.
Her finger lingered there for several seconds before she slowly withdrew it and spoke in her usual cold, emotionless tone.
"I can't sense any difference in the flow of cursed energy around your neck compared to the rest of your body."
The moment she finished speaking, I raised my gaze to meet hers and froze again.
Her silver eyes had changed.
They were now a deep, intense crimson.
Under that gaze, I felt as though every secret in my body had been laid bare before her.
'Mother has a unique pair of eyes?'
In a cursed world filled with all sorts of strange abilities, it wasn't impossible for her to possess some kind of special ocular power.
And the moment that thought surfaced, another followed right after.
'If I form a bond with her… there's a chance I could obtain those eyes for myself…'
Just imagining it made my breathing hitch.
I was certain those eyes were already absurdly powerful.
So if I gained them and amplified their quality tenfold through the system…
The result would be monstrous.
The thought alone was enough to make my resolve harden.
As she continued scanning my body with those crimson eyes, I slowly clenched my fingers, hesitated for a moment, then finally spoke in a smooth voice.
"Mother… has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?"
The instant the words left my mouth, the air in the room seemed to turn colder.
A deadpan expression appeared on my mother's face as she stared at me.
For a brief moment, neither of us moved.
Then her lips parted.
"Get out."
I froze where I stood.
Seeing that her gaze remained fixed on me, I cleared my throat awkwardly. Not knowing what else to say, I quickly excused myself and left the room, confusion written all over my face.
'Was the system wrong about her? I complimented her. Was there something wrong with the way I said it?'
Questions echoed endlessly in my mind.
Meanwhile, inside the room I had just left...
Elizabeth's crimson eyes slowly faded, returning to their usual silver.
She stood there in silence for a long time before finally raising a slender hand to touch her face.
"Me? Beautiful?"
A hollow laugh escaped her lips as Aristarkh's image appeared in her mind.
Though it was laughter, there was no smile on her face.
It had been so long that she had forgotten how to smile.
Yet for reasons she couldn't fully understand, a faint warmth quietly spread through her chest at the memory of his words.
'He really asked me that…'
His voice replayed itself again and again in her mind.
The way he had said it so naturally.
The way he had looked directly at her and spoken without hesitation, as though her coldness, status, and authority meant nothing to him.
It should have felt disrespectful.
Yet strangely, she didn't feel displeased.
Instead, what lingered in her mind was his confidence.
Elizabeth was an exceptionally beautiful woman.
But over the years, she had devoted herself entirely to the clan. Every conversation around her carried hidden motives, calculations, and carefully measured intent.
As a result, sincere words had become exceedingly rare.
And a question spoken so directly, so simply, without scheming or restraint, struck her far more deeply than it should have.
'Why did I send him away?'
Only now did Elizabeth reflect on her reaction and realize she may have acted too hastily.
After all, he had merely asked a question.
For a moment, she remained still.
Then she lowered her hand from her face and released a strand of cursed energy that gently pulled the door open.
The corridor outside was revealed.
Empty.
It seemed Aristarkh had already left.
"Should I go and meet him?" Elizabeth murmured, only to suddenly freeze.
'What thought did I just have?'
Her eyes widened ever so slightly, one of the rare moments where visible emotion surfaced on her face.
It seemed that ever since Aristarkh's words, her thoughts had become somewhat disordered.
"Perhaps... I could go under the guise of checking the condition he mentioned. Would he say it again?"
The moment that thought surfaced, Elizabeth felt a trace of disbelief toward herself.
Such thoughts were improper.
She was supposed to be cold. Untouchable. Distant.
And yet, beneath that restraint, curiosity quietly gained the upper hand.
She wanted to know whether Aristarkh would still have the courage to say such words to her face.
Elizabeth didn't even notice when her pace quickened.
In just a few moments, she was already standing in front of his room.
She stared at the door in silence, her expression as cold as ever.
Yet for the first time in many years...
Her frozen heart, which had long since grown numb to emotion, skipped a beat.