Ivan walked quietly to the head of the bed. He knew in his heart that although Miss Susanna had her eyes closed, she must be able to keenly sense his every move. He slowly knelt in front of the bed, thinking in his heart that if possible, he really hoped that he could kneel at her feet as devoutly as Miss Susanna had done to him yesterday, using the most solemn etiquette in the world to beg for her forgiveness. After all, Miss Susanna was like a saint in the eyes of those poor children including himself who were suffering back then. She definitely deserved such solemn and sincere treatment.
"Miss Susanna, you are Miss Cister from back then, aren't you? Miss Betty has told me everything," Ivan said in a low voice, softly. There was a hint of sobbing in his voice, which was full of guilt and remorse. It seemed that each word carried the weight of his heavy heart. This was also the first time that he had spoken to Miss Susanna so softly and without any impurities of lust, purely as a sincere confession and outpouring from the bottom of his heart.
Hearing these words, Miss Susanna was obviously shocked. This was completely beyond her expectation. She suddenly opened her eyes wide and stared straight at Ivan, with an expression of disbelief in her eyes.
In front of her, Ivan's face was full of remorse and self-blame. On that still somewhat childish face, crystal-clear teardrops were hanging, constantly sliding down his cheeks. His originally sharp and fierce gaze now looked extremely confused, as if he were lost in the endless abyss of self-blame. He was biting his lip tightly, as if trying hard to suppress the pain in his heart, and his bloodless face clearly showed his nervousness and guilt at this moment.
Miss Susanna instantly understood everything. Actually, she had secretly guessed Ivan's true identity before, but Ivan's identity as a magician had made her hesitant and unable to make up her mind. In her perception, although Mr. Hyde was extremely powerful, he wasn't powerful enough to freely control a magician. So Ivan's identity had always been somewhat mysterious in her heart.
And now, everything was clear. It turned out that Ivan was a poor child from South Port and was one of those poor orphans who had received her kindness back then. The fate and destiny in this world were truly unpredictable, like a dramatic tease. Miss Susanna's mood instantly became turbulent and couldn't be calmed down.
Because of this, she suddenly felt that the drug addiction was surging towards her like a raging tide, uncontrollably, as if it was about to completely drown the last bit of her remaining reason.
If she hadn't known Ivan's identity, Miss Susanna would surely have fallen to her knees and begged Ivan to relieve her pain. Although she knew clearly that it was like quenching thirst with poison, when the pain that could devour one's soul hit her, she couldn't care about anything else.
Now that she knew Ivan was one of the children who had received her kindness, and seeing that he was about the same age as her younger brother who had left in anger because he hated her, Miss Susanna really couldn't bring herself to kneel in front of this young man and beg him to relieve her pain as she had done last night.
Although Miss Susanna didn't want to do so in her heart, the pain brought by the drug addiction to her body made it difficult for her to maintain her dignity and self-respect.
Ivan saw Miss Susanna's painful expression and knew very well that her drug addiction had flared up again.
"Miss Susanna, I have no other way to relieve your pain. I deeply regret the irreparable malice I had before. I only have the way of quenching thirst with poison to temporarily relieve your pain for you. Do you want me to..." Ivan asked with a flushed face.
Miss Susanna, who had been completely indifferent to such things before, also felt extremely ashamed in the face of this young man who had been taken care of and raised by her together with her younger brother. This feeling had long been completely forgotten by her, but now it suddenly emerged in her heart again.
Miss Susanna nodded shyly, then lay down on her side and buried her face deeply in the pillow.
Ivan looked at Miss Susanna's appearance and smoothed out her messy and scattered hair.
Ivan cursed himself inwardly for having such dirty thoughts about Miss Susanna. He took out his magic wand and carefully injected the medicine into Miss Susanna. This work obviously brought extremely strong stimulation to Miss Susanna.
Ivan withdrew his magic wand and saw that Miss Susanna trembled all over and her brows were tightly furrowed.
Ivan took the quilt and gently placed it on Miss Susanna's back.
He knelt in front of the bed and sincerely repented for everything to Miss Susanna, repenting for the pain he had brought to her, and repenting for his rage and cruelty.
Ivan begged Miss Susanna earnestly to forgive him.
Miss Susanna could clearly hear that the words of this young man who was kneeling beside the bed, crying softly, repenting, and begging for her forgiveness were full of sincerity.
Although Ivan had made her endure so much torture and pain, Susanna's hatred for Ivan had already disappeared with his repeated confessions like the wind.
What really made Miss Susanna sad was that she didn't know how to forgive this young man.
It wasn't about forgiving the harm he had brought to her, but about forgiving him for tearing open an even bigger and deeper wound in the same place when she was gradually healing the scars in her heart.
Susanna had originally thought that these years of wild, dissolute, and debauched life had made her forget the pain of her younger brother spurning her and leaving her.
She had originally thought that indulging in lust and carnal desires had completely numbed her spirit and that she would never be hurt by the world's views of her again and would never deeply regret the helpless choice she had made back then.
But now Susanna found that that kind of regret, that kind of inferiority complex that almost destroyed her, had never left her. She had never forgotten the curse that fate had placed on her.
The hidden demons that had been buried deep in her heart were released by the young man kneeling beside the bed and begging for her forgiveness.
What Susanna hated about him wasn't the pain he had inflicted on her. Compared with the pain in her heart, the physical pain was only temporary. Nor was it his cruel and tyrannical means, for those means were originally taught by her to him.
It was why this young man had suddenly changed his attitude and why he had used gentleness and repentance to dig open the bottomless abyss that she had sealed up with debauchery and decay.
For Susanna, what she hated and couldn't bear the most was sincere treatment, whether it was love or repentance.
Sincerity was like a ray of sunlight, which was exactly the opposite in nature to the "materials" she used to seal up that wound deep in her heart, just like fire and ice.
The sincere flame would melt the ice and release what was buried beneath it.
Susanna didn't know how to forgive this young man.
Ivan saw that Miss Susanna had no reaction and gently moved closer to her ear, wanting to plead softly.
To his surprise, when he got close to Miss Susanna, he heard extremely faint and intermittent sobbing.
Although Ivan didn't want to use means against Miss Susanna anymore, as he knelt on the ground, he gradually began to understand something.
As long as his intention was sincere, it wouldn't be unacceptable to use some means.
Wasn't it the same for Mr. Hyde and the others?
They had exhausted all their stratagems and employed every means, all for the sake of preserving South Port as a delightful land, a secluded paradise, hadn't they?
After coming to this realization, Ivan began to contemplate what methods he could use to help Miss Susanna relieve the heavy burden on her heart.
Although all the techniques for dealing with women were taught to him by Miss Susanna herself, from what had transpired in the past two days, it seemed that with the assistance of the hallucinogenic powder, Miss Susanna was unable to resist these methods.
Ivan gently turned Miss Susanna around.
Susanna turned her face aside, unwilling to look directly at Ivan.
After turning Susanna's face towards him, Ivan saw that Miss Susanna's face was streaked with tears. He licked all the tears away with his tongue.
"Miss Susanna, I truly can't find any other way to compensate you, to make amends for the harm I've caused you. You are the saint in my heart, you were in the past, and you remain so now. If you are willing to accept, I am willing to serve you for the rest of my life, my saint!" Ivan said softly, his expression filled with unwavering determination and infinite sincerity.
Miss Susanna opened her eyes wide and looked at the young man. However, she clearly wasn't surprised that Ivan would say such words.
"Miss Susanna, the potion I used on you, which has caused you great pain, has no effective antidote. Mr. Hyde once told me that after becoming addicted, the only way to break free from this dreadful potion is to gradually adapt the body to it and slowly escape the control of the drug addiction. That's how he managed to overcome the control of the hallucinogenic powder." Ivan said softly, his face showing a mixture of helplessness and shame.
Miss Susanna evidently understood to some extent.
Ivan lay down beside Susanna and held her tightly, saying, "I will gradually reduce the dosage of the potion bit by bit. When you are in pain, I will be by your side to protect and take care of you, just as you took care of us back then. Let me make up for my mistakes a little. Promise me, be my wife."
After saying these words, Ivan gently kissed Miss Susanna.
A warm current flowed through Susanna's heart, which had been previously sealed by ice.
A ray of sunlight penetrated into the deep and dark abyss of her heart.
Miss Susanna unexpectedly discovered that this was the promise she had been longing for all along, and that sincere love was what she had always dreamed of.
Although she clearly sensed that Ivan's love was more of a sense of guilt, a form of compensation, a repayment for the kindness from back then. Nevertheless, it was the closest to genuine love that she had ever experienced.
Miss Susanna didn't believe that she could obtain true love either.
Perhaps having such a young husband wouldn't be a bad thing.
Although that day, Susanna had told Ivan that she intended to train him into her personal young male servant. On one hand, it was to mock and provoke Ivan to satisfy her twisted desires. On the other hand, she hadn't completely dismissed the idea.
Now, although it was different from the original plan, replacing a personal young male servant with a affectionate young husband seemed more in line with her wishes.
Miss Susanna wasn't a sentimental woman.
She stared into Ivan's eyes, trying to discern how much sincerity was hidden within them.
"Are you really willing to marry a prostitute? I have served countless men, and there isn't a single clean part on my body. It has all been used over and over again. Don't you mind at all?" Susanna asked.
"Do you mind having a young con artist as your husband?" Ivan asked. "Besides, didn't you say that a prostitute and a young male servant make the best marriage combination?"
"What on earth is that stuff you gave me? Has Hyde ever tried it too?" Susanna asked.
"This was a hallucinogenic powder taught to me by my magic teacher to make. It's an extremely dangerous yet quite useful magic potion. In the forest, it was with this that I saved everyone's lives." Ivan said. "Mr. Hyde is well aware of the danger of this potion. He once obtained it from Teacher Lavash, but the result was devastating. All of Mr. Hyde's companions died from this potion, and even Mr. Hyde almost lost his life. By the way, Audrey's father was one of the companions who died at that time."
"Since you knew this potion was so dangerous, why did you use it on me?" Miss Susanna gave Ivan a hard pinch.
Although Ivan was almost about to cry out in pain, in order to appease Miss Susanna, he had to endure it with a grimace.
After pinching for a while, Miss Susanna seemed to have calmed down a bit. Then Ivan said, "Think about how awful you were back then. You mocked me so mercilessly. Moreover, I didn't know at that time that you were Miss Cister."
"So, you really wanted to kill me!" Miss Susanna said furiously. Then she turned her head and bit down hard on Ivan's shoulder.
This was different from a pinch. Ivan couldn't help but shout out for mercy.
"Why are you so obedient? You let me bite you and don't dare to fight back. What's the reason? Is it to let me vent my anger and compensate for the torture I've endured in the past two days? Or is it to make me forgive you?" Miss Susanna asked, glaring.
"No? It's nothing of the sort. You are the saint in my heart. I will never forget the scene when you distributed rice flour buns to us orphans in the glow of the evening sunset. Even if you want to kill me, I will never resist you," Ivan said sincerely.
Ivan's answer was clearly beyond Susanna's expectation. She let out a long sigh and turned her face aside. "The saint back then is now a prostitute covered in filth. Moreover, when I distributed the rice flour buns to you at that time, it was also to prevent you from bullying my younger brother."
"No." Ivan turned Susanna's face towards him again and said, "You just said that there isn't a clean part on you, but your heart is pure. It's enough for me to possess this pure heart."
"Just my heart? So you don't want my body?" Susanna asked with a smile.
Ivan was extremely happy to see Susanna's bright smile. Obviously, the shadow that had just lingered in Miss Susanna's heart was gone.
"Are you still willing to let me touch your body?" Ivan whispered in Miss Susanna's ear.
Susanna glanced at Ivan and said with a smile, "That depends on whether you can atone for your sins. You have to be responsible for the harm you once caused me. You have to reduce the swelling and relieve the pain of those red and swollen parts on my body."
Ivan complied and got off the bed. He carried the basin of hot water.
"No, hot water won't do. Go and fetch a basin of cold water and a basin of hot water, just like the ones Miss Susanna always uses," Miss Susanna stopped him.
"Why bother?" Ivan was puzzled.
"My body belongs to me and is the only thing that truly belongs to me. I must cherish it. I don't want any flaws on my wonderful body," Miss Susanna said.
"I originally thought that you endured this painful torture all day long just to make a living!" Ivan said.
"Go quickly. You can't fully understand a woman. Don't waste your time thinking about it," Susanna said with a smile.
Ivan really felt that he couldn't understand Miss Susanna. He wondered if Miss Betty was equally difficult to understand. And perhaps Miss Fanny wasn't as complicated.
Ivan opened the door.
To his surprise, there were many people standing outside the door.
Not only was Miss Betty there, but even the maids were standing at the door.
"Just now, we heard your shouts from inside the room and wanted to see if there was any accident," Miss Betty explained with a flushed face.
"Yes, yes," the maids echoed in response.
"Miss Betty, do you have hot water and ice water, the kind that Miss Susanna usually uses?" Ivan asked.
"Yes, but..." Miss Betty was about to ask Ivan why he was still thinking about these things at this moment.
But she immediately guessed that it was Miss Susanna's request. Any woman is always most concerned about her own beauty.
Miss Betty changed her tone and said, "But it might take a while. The ice is in the cellar and the hot water has to be boiled."
As she spoke, Miss Betty instructed the maids to prepare the water, and she herself led Ivan to the garden living room at the back.
"Have you already got Miss Susanna to forgive you?" Miss Betty asked softly when she saw that there was no one around.
Ivan nodded.
"How do you plan to arrange for Miss Susanna? Marry her? Love and care for her for the rest of your life?" Miss Betty asked again in a lower voice.
"Did you hear everything outside the door?" Ivan said awkwardly.
"I heard some, but most of it was guessed, because there is no more appropriate way. Isn't it?" Miss Betty said with a smile.
"Miss Betty, will you..." Ivan didn't know how to start.
"Miss Susanna deserves happiness. Moreover, you are the most qualified and also the one who should give her happiness. Don't worry. Miss Susanna and I can become good sisters," Miss Betty said.
Hearing Miss Betty's implication, Ivan was extremely happy. Originally, what he was most worried about was that Miss Betty couldn't accept Miss Susanna. Now everything was settled.