Aena was filled with suspicion and stared intently at the Succubus, Kloeber, who seemed to have emerged from nowhere. She wondered in her heart what kind of bizarre tricks he would use in an attempt to make the queen smile.
Since she started following the queen, time had passed slowly, yet she had never seen the queen show even the slightest hint of a smile towards anything in the world. The queen's frosty temperament had been passed around by word of mouth among the people, and the title of the "Iceberg Queen" had thus come into being and become deeply ingrained in everyone's hearts.
Moreover, Her Majesty the Queen had achieved remarkable attainments in the path of magic cultivation and had already reached the realm of an Archmage. This realm was considered top-notch in the entire magical world, and she was only one step away from the most exalted realm of the legendary "Holy Archmage".
With the queen's such powerful magical power and mental state, it was simply a pipe dream to try to make her laugh with ordinary charm spells. After all, the queen had a strong resistance to magic, and common magical bewitchments were like an ant trying to shake a mighty tree in front of her, completely negligible.
However, Kloeber's next actions made Aena instantly widen her eyes, her face full of bewilderment and confusion. Kloeber unhurriedly took a piece of paper from the side, and the pen in his hand moved quickly across the paper, writing down a dense mass of words.
Then, he waved to a knight beside him, indicating that the knight should present the written note to the queen. He then said to the queen with a calm expression, "Your Majesty, please take a look at the content on it. If Your Majesty has any doubts, you can give it a try yourself."
Aena's gaze shifted back and forth between the Succubus Kloeber and the queen, her eyes filled with curiosity and vigilance. She stared closely at the queen, as if she wanted to capture every subtle change in the queen's expression, eagerly anticipating how the queen would react after receiving the note.
The queen took the note, and her jade-like fingers gently unfolded the paper. Her gaze slowly swept over the words on it. After reading, she closed her eyes slightly and fell into a brief moment of contemplation. Kloeber, on the other hand, stood there calmly, showing no signs of panic or nervousness.
He stood still in place, like a statue, with only a faint and hardly noticeable glimmer of expectation occasionally flashing in his eyes, quietly awaiting the judgment of fate.
Fortunately, with the Succubus system, as soon as he stepped into this world, he automatically learned the language here. Kloeber secretly rejoiced in his heart. This unexpected blessing somewhat calmed his flustered heart.
At this moment, the cold countdown voice of the system rang out mercilessly in Kloeber's mind again: "Three seconds." "Two seconds." "One..." However, before the word "second" could be fully pronounced in his mind, the mechanical yet somewhat excited prompt sound of the system suddenly rang out: "Congratulations, host. You have successfully completed the time-limited task. The reward has been credited, and you have obtained the Dark Mage occupation."
With a clear sound, an exquisite occupation system interface instantly popped up in Kloeber's field of vision. On the interface, the skill tree of the Dark Mage occupation was clearly presented, like a mysterious scroll slowly unfolding.
The current occupation level was level one, and the highest level could reach level 150. It was divided into seven realms in total: Magic Apprentice → Magic Apostle → Mage → Grand Mage → Archmage → Grand Archmage → Holy Archmage. Except for the Magic Apprentice realm at the beginning, which had thirty levels, each subsequent realm required twenty levels of experience to be upgraded.
Kloeber's gaze lingered on the division of the occupation realms for a while, and the identification information of the queen that he had seen before involuntarily emerged in his mind. The queen's realm was that of a Grand Archmage, which meant that she was only one level away from the highest realm.
Calculating it this way, the queen's level should be between 110 and 130. Kloeber couldn't help but gasp in surprise and secretly marveled in his heart at such a high level!
At the same time, the voice of the system rang out again: "New task issued: Please make the queen laugh a cumulative total of two times within three days. Task reward: Obtain the Charm skill." "Getting the Charm skill just by making the queen laugh twice cumulatively? And my race happens to be a Succubus. Judging from the name alone, this Charm skill must be the core skill of the Succubus race, right?" Kloeber instantly understood the great value hidden behind this task, and an inexplicable excitement and anticipation welled up in his heart.
However, just as Kloeber had just recovered from the shock of the system prompt, a series of exclamations suddenly rang out one after another in the entire hall. "Her Majesty the Queen actually smiled!"
"Can someone tell me if this is a dream?"
The knights responsible for guarding the hall were all stunned, their faces filled with disbelief. These knights, who were accustomed to seeing life-and-death battles and had wills as firm as rocks on a daily basis, were now so astonished by the queen's sudden smile that they stood there dumbfounded.
They widened their eyes and stared intently at the queen on the throne, as if they were looking at the most incredible sight in the world.
"Your Majesty, you..." Even Aena, who was always calm, composed, and fearless, was completely taken aback at this moment, her face filled with shock and confusion. She stared blankly at the queen, her eyes full of bewilderment.
Having grown up with Ashina since childhood, whether it was during the innocent and carefree childhood days or the highly competitive academy years, Aena knew Ashina's personality thoroughly.
In her memory, Ashina had always been that cold and distant figure who kept people at arm's length. But now, what on earth had this suddenly emerged demon shown Ashina that could make her bloom such a beautiful smile?
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This strange event was undoubtedly the most incredible thing Aena had ever experienced over the years.
Ashina sat quietly on the throne, her eyes closed slightly, the corners of her mouth raised slightly, and a faint smile bloomed slowly like the warm spring sun. That smile was like the snow and ice melted by the warm sun, gentle and full of charm.
Her smile was filled with endless tenderness, as if at this moment, she had shed her usual cold disguise and returned to her truest self. This dreamlike smile enchanted everyone present, as if they were in a distant and beautiful dream.
However, the moment she slowly opened her eyes again, that unchanging cold expression quickly returned like a tide, once again covering her face, as if that smile just now had been an illusion of everyone.
"Your Majesty, it seems that I've won." Kloeber slightly raised the corners of his mouth and showed a confident smile. However, beneath this seemingly calm exterior, he actually secretly let out a sigh of relief in his heart.
Only he knew the secret of what was written on that piece of paper. Clearly written on the paper was: [Dear Your Majesty the Queen, you can't smile when you close your eyes. If you don't believe it, you can give it a try.] Sure enough, after the queen read this piece of paper, she really smiled.
Although Kloeber didn't fully understand Her Majesty the Queen's personality at this moment, by observing the astonished reactions of the knights, the queen's haughty attitude when she spoke earlier, and combining with the relevant prompts from the system, he keenly deduced that the queen was a withdrawn and aloof person.
People of this kind usually possess a strong sense of independence and are often rather conceited deep in their hearts. And the queen's noble status has magnified this trait to an even greater extent. The content on the note ingeniously exploited the queen's conceited mentality. The queen thought highly of herself and firmly believed in her heart that she was omnipotent. Naturally, she assumed that she could easily smile even with her eyes closed.
So, in order to prove that the content written on the note was false, she subconsciously revealed that beautiful smile which she had never shown in front of others.
"Do you think I can't see through your little trick?" However, the queen's next words were like a basin of cold water poured over Kloeber's head. Her slender, jade-like fingers gently pinched the note and waved it in the air. Then, a cluster of faint blue flames quietly ignited on her fingertips.
The flames spread rapidly and consumed the note completely. In an instant, the note turned into a pile of ashes and drifted away with the wind. The queen's tone suddenly changed, "However, as a monarch, tolerance, fairness, and integrity are the principles I uphold. Since I have smiled, it means I have lost."
Upon hearing this, Kloeber's constantly tense nerves finally began to relax slowly. Although this queen had an arrogant and conceited personality, judging from the current situation, she seemed to keep her promise.
Just then, the queen slowly rose from that seat symbolizing supreme power. With an elegant posture and graceful bearing, she walked step by step down the steps. Each step she took seemed to carry an invisible majesty, making the surrounding air tremble.
This scene made Kloeber widen his eyes slightly and show a hint of surprise on his face. Previously, the queen had been sitting on the throne, and Kloeber hadn't fully appreciated the beauty of the queen's figure.
Only at this moment, as the queen slowly descended the steps, her graceful figure was fully revealed before Kloeber's eyes. The hem of her dress was like a gorgeous ribbon, gently trailing on the bright red carpet.
With each step she took, her snow-white feet, as smooth as mutton-fat jade, would appear and disappear, as if playing a mysterious game of hide-and-seek with everyone. And the crown on her head also kept shining brightly with her light steps.
That light was like the twinkling stars in the night sky, setting her off to be even more regal and noble, just like a goddess descending from the heavens.
The queen gracefully approached Kloeber, slightly raised her chin, stared straight into Kloeber's eyes with a piercing gaze, and said coldly, "I can spare your life. However, as a punishment for your use of that little trick, starting from today, you will stay in the palace as my slave."
After saying that, she gently raised one hand and made an elegant gesture in the air. In an instant, without knowing what kind of miraculous magic she had cast, a scroll of parchment exuding an ancient aura slowly slid down from her palm and hovered in front of Kloeber. "Sign this contract, and I will agree to remove the scythe of death from your neck."
......
"Is this where I'm going to live?" Kloeber opened his mouth wide and looked at everything in front of him in disbelief. There was a cold iron door standing before him, with a heavy iron lock hanging on it. There was only a narrow one-way window on the iron door, and through the window, he could only see pitch darkness, unable to even make out the corridor outside.
In the cell, the only source of light came from the faint torch on the wall. The dim, yellowish light flickered on the wall, casting a gloomy and terrifying glow over the entire cell. Kloeber looked around and saw that the walls were covered with mottled marks, the ground was damp and cold, and there was a pungent musty smell.
A tattered wooden bed was placed alone in a corner of the cell, with a thin layer of straw on it, looking extremely simple and shabby. This was no living place at all; it was clearly a dungeon like a purgatory on earth!
Kloeber turned around with a helpless heart, trying to find the knight who had escorted him here, but found that the knight was already gone. In the empty cell, he was left alone, accompanied only by the cold walls and the endless darkness.
Kloeber let out a deep sigh, slowly walked to the bed, and plopped down on it. He shook his head helplessly and softly comforted himself, "Since I'm here, I might as well accept it. It's already great to be alive!" As he spoke, he even found it a bit ridiculous, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily turned up slightly, revealing a bitter smile.
Suddenly, Kloeber seemed to sense something and abruptly raised his head to look at the wall of the cell. There was a dusty mirror hanging on the wall. In this gloomy dungeon, this mirror seemed out of place. There was actually a mirror here?
Filled with curiosity, Kloeber slowly stood up and walked towards the mirror. He stood in front of the mirror and reached out to gently wipe the dust off the mirror. However, when his gaze met his reflection in the mirror, he froze on the spot, as if he had been immobilized by a spell.
"Is this really me?!" Kloeber's eyes were filled with shock and disbelief. In the mirror, there stood a woman with an enchanting and alluring figure. On her head, there were a pair of pointed demon horns that shimmered with an eerie light under the dim, yellowish light.
Her long hair, as black as silk, fell softly over her shoulders. Her eyes were also deeply black, like the endless black holes in the night sky, exuding a mysterious aura. A black dress tightly hugged her curvy figure, outlining her curves vividly, full of seductive charm.
Her slender, snow-white legs were tightly wrapped in a pair of over-the-knee white silk stockings. The delicate ruffled hem and lace trim on the stockings added a touch more charm and coquettishness.
Kloeber let out several exclamations, "Ah???" and was completely overwhelmed by extreme shock. The first thing he did when he came to his senses was to quickly lower his head and check his own body. His hands groped rapidly on his body, looking nervous and anxious.
After a moment, he finally let out a long sigh of relief and showed a hint of relief on his face. "Thank goodness. I'm still a man. But why do I look like a woman? Could it be because of this Succubus race?"
At this thought, a strong sense of doubt welled up in Kloeber's heart. He quickly took off his gloves and carefully examined his hands. His hands were delicate and white, with slender fingers, as smooth and warm as mutton-fat jade, which had nothing in common with the rough and strong hands of a man.
