Two years later
[PSYCHIC SCALE: 6.01]
After more than two years, she had managed to advance her psychic scale to 6. As for the mind rune, after inscribing the 'Clear Mind' rune, all the other runes became easier, although it still took her more than half a year to completely etch them in her Psychic Sea.
She no longer passed out from exhaustion. And after two years and two months, she was now a Rank 1 Acolyte.
Crack!
The psychic scalar suddenly shattered to dust that drifted into the air; this was its seventh use in the course of her two years and two months.
The plaque had begun emitting faint cracks somewhere around the fourth use. Thankfully, it had lasted this long. Helice had long since planned for this.
Information is key, and she couldn't get it here. She needed to leave.
She had already made up her mind months ago: she would leave when she became a Rank 1 Acolyte, and now the time had finally arrived.
As for how she would break the news to Amis, she had decided to tell him.
Today marked two years and four months since her transmigration. Although she had been an ordinary mortal, things were different now.
She was a Rank 1 Acolyte with five mastered mind runes, and she could feel she was at least four times physically stronger than she was before.
Although she would still be no match for someone like Snake Face, who had been a Rank 1 Acolyte for a long time and who knew how many mind runes he had mastered.
Although she wouldn't be telling Amis of her departure, she would give him a goodbye package.
Amis was out today; he had gone into the village to gather supplies, which he usually did once in a while, and would be back before nightfall.
Helice decided to make supper. The previous Helice had been an ordinary slave, which meant she could cook, even more so than Amis.
Before long, the entire house was filled with a fresh aroma. Helice had to admit that, from the memories of the original Helice, there was an array of recipes she could try.
By the time Amis arrived, the sun had already begun to set on the horizon. By that time, the food Helice was preparing was only halfway done.
Amis was surprised to see her in the kitchen. After all, Helice hadn't cooked since the incident nearly three years ago, and for the past three years, he had been on kitchen duty.
So, it came as a surprise when he entered the house and caught a whiff of the aroma. He had to admit he missed her cooking.
Amis quickly joined her in the kitchen, and with their combined efforts, it wasn't long before there was food on the table.
Helice was calm during the whole process, as though she wasn't about to do something unspeakable, at least from Amis's perspective.
Supper went smoothly. For some reason, it lasted longer than usual, especially since Amis was constantly stealing glances at Helice.
It went without saying that Helice was an incredibly beautiful woman. She had unusual silver hair cascading down her shoulders and a pair of deep, clear blue eyes.
As they grew closer over the past two years, he found himself lost in them.
Although Helice had been his servant at the time when his psychic sea was destroyed, he had set her free. However, she had bluntly refused, mostly on the basis that she had nowhere to go.
This was normal among servants: when their master died, they would often have nowhere to go. Most times, they would be sold to the highest bidder.
At that time, he had already braced himself for death and thought he wouldn't survive due to how severe his injuries were.
Given that he had detonated the runes in his psychic sea, which would likely mean death, Helice had nursed him back to health.
He had agreed to marry her as payment for her service. In a way, they were both lost souls in a world where no one wanted them.
Helice was a lowly servant in the Adept Tower he had purchased to be his servant while he studied magic.
He, on the other hand, was a failure. His family had sacrificed everything they had for him to come to this elemental plane to study magic and walk the magi path, but sadly, he had failed in the end.
The two of them had decided to live in this small village in peace. Now that he thought of it, that was probably the best decision he had ever made, one he would never regret.
As he thought of this, he couldn't help but stare intensely at the woman in front of him. He then cleared his throat, causing her to pause.
She looked at him doubtfully, as if expecting him to say something, but he just sat there, frozen.
He wanted to say something; in fact, there were hundreds of things he wanted to tell her, promises he wanted to make, but he just froze.
They both sat there staring at each other. After what felt like an eternity, Amis cleared his throat once more, as if in an attempt to summon the required courage to say what needed to be said.
"Hel…" He uttered, only to stop halfway, incurring a sigh from Helice, which Amis had most definitely misinterpreted.
He had taken Helice's sigh of helplessness and frustration as one of disappointment.
Deep down, Helice was burning with rage and frustration. How could she not notice that look in his eyes? She wasn't stupid.
Here she was, thinking of ways to leave, and he was busy catching feelings. She didn't have time for this; it just made things a whole lot harder.
Helice couldn't help but shake her head. Seeing this only made the flames in Amis's eyes burn more fiercely.
He didn't know when, but he had begun falling in love with the woman in front of him.
She knew Amis had only married her as payment for taking care of him all those years ago. Their marriage wasn't one built on love, and it wasn't even consummated.
"Hel, I…"
Amis called once more, only to pause mid-sentence again. This time, Helice could potentially guess where all this was going.
Deep down, Helice was muttering, 'Don't say it.'
After what felt like an eternity, Amis seemed to have mustered enough courage. He straightened his back and stared deep into her eyes.
"Hel, I love you!"
'Great, he said it.'
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