Chapter 53: No One Lives Easily
Duke's words made the room fall silent. Doze and Rocky looked at him in confusion.
"Why would Jenna be watching Saul's dorm?" Doze asked curiously.
Rocky had been watching Jenna's strange behavior but didn't dare ask because he was afraid of making her unhappy.
But now, he was tense—was Jenna really spying on Saul?
"I'm not! I was watching Keli!" Jenna instinctively defended herself.
"Oh~" Duke smirked. "So you weren’t watching Saul? I mean, Saul and I don’t get along, but we do share the same mentor. If you need something from him, I could help you out."
"Forget it," Duke shrugged, as if dropping the subject.
But Jenna couldn't hold back.
"Duke! Do you know... where Saul usually spends his time?"
The moment she asked, both Doze and Rocky turned their attention to her.
Doze was just curious, but Rocky was visibly nervous.
Duke paused for a moment before turning back to face Jenna, looking at her anxious expression. He smiled reassuringly.
"So you really are looking for Saul—" Duke dragged out his words before nodding. "Well, he does seem to be quite patient with girls. He’s mostly around Keli, and with our mentor, he’s on good terms with Angela too."
The first to react was Rocky—his lips pressed into a thin line.
The second was Jenna—she was actually relieved.
If Saul liked girls, then that was no problem at all.
Her family might barely be considered nobility, but if there was one thing she’d learned from the aristocrats, it was how to navigate their customs.
She wasn't afraid of Saul naming a price—she was only afraid that he wouldn’t.
The next day, Saul skipped class again.
Keli was worried.
She wasn’t sure if she was worried about his academic performance or worried that he would leave her behind.
During a break, she sought out the restless Jenna, following Saul’s instructions.
They found an empty classroom.
"Saul said if you want his help, be at the second floor of the East Tower at three this afternoon."
Jenna was overjoyed.
Even though she'd already learned Saul’s whereabouts from Duke, having an official invitation from Saul himself made her feel more confident about resolving her problem.
"Great!" Jenna agreed immediately and, without waiting for Keli’s reaction, hurried back to get ready.
Because she was nervous and excited, she skipped lunch, choosing instead to wear the best dress she had brought with her—a light red, puffy gown—before rushing to the East Tower’s second floor.
By the time she arrived, it was only one in the afternoon.
Inside the East Tower’s second floor, in the third morgue, Saul was running tests on his newly transformed left hand.
He paused, hearing unfamiliar footsteps outside.
One guess was all he needed—it was Jenna.
He lowered his head and continued his experiment.
He hadn’t been attending class, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t studying.
In fact, he'd been absorbing knowledge even faster, especially from Universal Cognition, which had given him deeper insights into dark-attributed materials.
His first successful body modification experiment had left him eager for more.
The experiments required a lot of resources, but if they succeeded, the rewards would be even greater.
He might even reach the level of a second-tier apprentice.
Right now, he lacked neither money nor materials.
Byron still owed him nearly a hundred credits, and his daily work provided him with plenty of materials. Anything extra, he could trade for using Byron’s credits.
Time crawled by, and by three o’clock, Jenna’s initial excitement had long since faded into dread.
It was her first time at the East Tower’s second floor.
Unlike the West Tower, the East Tower was filled with eerie and terrifying things.
She had never wandered alone beyond the classrooms, the library, and the registry office.
And this place… felt particularly unsettling.
Although the hallway was clean and quiet, the air carried a strange, indescribable scent.
A mixture of rot, blood, and filth.
Near the entrance sat a large, hulking figure. Jenna had been afraid he would stop her when she arrived.
Why was Saul working here?
Was this some kind of punishment from his mentor?
If so, could Saul really help her remove the parasite?
After all, this place didn’t seem suited for someone powerful.
As she wrestled with these doubts, a person suddenly passed by her.
It wasn’t until he had already walked past her shoulder that she even noticed his presence.
She jumped in fright.
The man walked to the second door and entered, never once acknowledging her.
"It was an older student," she thought, recalling his figure. "But he didn’t carry the aura of a second-tier apprentice. Maybe just a very experienced first-tier one. Could he be the one who helped Keli?"
Jenna hesitated, debating whether to call out to him.
Just then, she noticed another shadow appear before her.
She froze.
Had she not looked up just then, she might not have noticed this person at all.
Even now, as the figure disappeared down the corridor, she could barely recall their presence.
"That person… that person felt terrifying," Jenna swallowed hard.
She didn’t even dare try to recall their silhouette, as if doing so would summon something horrifying into her mind.
"Maybe that’s the real person who helped Keli?"
Jenna wanted to chase after them, but her legs were shaking too hard.
At exactly three o’clock, Saul finally stepped out of the morgue.
Jenna’s carefully applied makeup had long since smudged, and her once-lovely red dress was wrinkled from sitting on the ground.
She had curled up against the wall, looking as small and insignificant as the hulking man at the entrance.
Except, while the man still radiated an imposing presence despite his posture, Jenna simply looked like she was being swallowed by the shadows.
The light from the open door cast Saul’s tall, dark silhouette over her.
Jenna winced at the brightness, then blinked at the figure before her.
When she saw it was Saul—the person she had been waiting hours for—her face finally lit up again.
"Saul!"
She excitedly tried to stand up, but her legs gave out, and she plopped back down.
"Just stay where you are," Saul said in a low voice.
Jenna flinched.
Even Saul seemed creepy in this place. Had his environment influenced him?
Doubt crept back into her mind.
"Maybe… maybe Saul really was the one who helped Keli."
Jenna hastily fixed her messy hair and spread out her red dress, putting on a timid, vulnerable expression as she looked up at Saul.
She had no idea that her sweat had already ruined her makeup.
Instead of looking like a delicate, pitiable girl, she now resembled something straight out of a horror story.
Saul gazed at her blankly.
He had expected her to plead or bargain with him.
Instead, she was… trying to seduce him?
Did she forget she was only twelve?
The girl wasn’t bad-looking, but Saul wasn’t a creep. He wasn’t even remotely interested.
"Enough with the little tricks," he said coldly. "Tell me—who sent you to find me?"
my man
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