The morning arrived, and there was no mention of the last night. Alana ignored Zhang Ying since leaving the bed. In contrast, Minerva kept smirking whenever she looked at him. But Zhang Ying smiled right back at her.
Minerva was perceptive and knew something was wrong. However, no matter how much she racked her brain, nothing came up in her mind.
"I forgot to ask yesterday, but did you make any progress?" Alana asked, eating her toast.
"A bit," Zhang Ying replied.
"Good. Then tame the demon fox so I can get you admitted to Agraville Academy."
"...right, about that. There's something I want to talk to you about."
Alana finally looked at him with arched eyebrows, urging him to talk.
"Not here, alone. Some things should remain unsaid. Since we got busy last night."
As soon as Zhang Ying said that, Alana's face turned red, and she choked on the food. Minerva hurried to her side, but Zhang Ying was quicker. He began patting her back.
"Mistress won't let anyone touch—"
Minerva was about to shove Zhang Ying back when Alana raised her hand to stop her. The maids froze in shock. The young mistress let no one except Minerva touch her back. But now, she stopped Minerva and allowed Zhang Ying to do it instead.
"Are you okay?" Zhang Ying asked.
"Yes," Alana replied, once she regained her composure.
He played the role of a doting husband perfectly. Even Alana was a bit taken aback. After all, Zhang Ying was a glorified slave, nothing more. Yet he didn't seem to mind it. Clearing her throat, Alana set her toast down.
"Fine. Let's talk. What is it?"
In response, Zhang Ying held out a hand to her, nodding towards their room.
"It's better if we talk in private," he said. "Don't worry, I wouldn't dare do anything to you like last night."
Alana's face turned red for the second time. Her barely regained calmness evaporated instantly. As she panicked, Zhang Ying's grin widened. But before he could say anything else, Alana quickly covered his mouth with her hand.
"That's enough!" she yelled, dragging him out of the dining hall.
The maids exchanged surprised looks, shocked to see Alana drop her cool and collected calmness, and dragged Zhang Ying out like that.
While the maids whispered the mistress was in love, Minerva wasn't pleased. Zhang Ying was doing something to her, and she had to get to the bottom of it.
***
"What is it!?" Alana asked, closing the door behind her.
Zhang Ying opened the beast space and Jellybean jumped out of there. However, its appearance had changed once again. It looked like an azure version of Demon Slime.
[Your pet has evolved!]
[Jellybean has turned into
[Second evolution achieved. Control +10.]
[You've gained a new title:
[Control gain +5%]
Zhang Ying expected to see some notification. But this was beyond his expectations. But that wasn't all. Another strange notification appeared before him.
[User gained 10 Domination for their nightly activities.]
Zhang Ying looked at the notification and then at Alana before quickly dismissing the notification.
"A slime? You wanted to show me a slime?" Alana rolled her eyes.
"Appearance can be deceiving, my lady," Zhang Ying smiled.
He used inspect on Jellybean and let its stats speak for itself.
+++
[Name: Jellybean]
[Gender: None]
[Rank: Warrior]
[Type: Wild]
[Level: 3]
[Exp: 75/150]
[HP: 135]
[Mana: 7]
[Trait: Adaptive]
[Job: None]
[Species: Chimeric Slime]
[Strength: 28]
[Agility: 9]
[Stamina: 5]
[Intelligence: 4]
[Endurance: 21]
[Luck: 1]
[Magic: 1]
[Evolution: Possible] (1 new unique route available.)
[Potential: Count-level] (Upgraded!)
[Abilities: 3]
+++
"Wait... count rank potential?"
Alana looked bewildered. She had never seen a mere slime have such a high-rank potential. She looked at Zhang Ying, but he seemed equally baffled.
The last time he checked, Jellybean had knight-level potential. It jumped two ranks in terms of potential and even unlocked an
"Did you do something...?" Alana asked.
"Well... it defeated the dungeon's boss, so there's that—wait a minute!"
Zhang Ying opened the beast space again. Gobrina and Gozan walked out, but there was no sign of Gao Rong's corpse.
"You ate him?" Zhang Ying asked Jellybean.
Jellybean puffed its chest proudly. Gao Rong was an excellent warrior in his past life. People often said he had endless potential. Since Jellybean consumed him, the slime might have gained Gao Rong's infinite potential.
"Eat who?" Alana asked, crossing her arms. "That guy you killed in the dungeon?"
"How did you—?"
"I wasn't born yesterday," Alana scoffed. "You can fool the rest, but I never believed your story. Dungeons don't just collapse out of nowhere for no reason."
Zhang Ying awkwardly scratched the back of his head. He knew his lame excuses won't cover his tracks. However, no one could punish him. Even if someone used the truth serum on him, he would still say he didn't kill Gao Rong.
Technically, Gobrina did that, but no one knows about that.
Zhang Ying wasn't the only one lost in thoughts. Alana was, too, as she looked at Jellybean. Its growth potential was astonishing, but there was an issue.
Agraville Academy, the top training school on the continent, had a strict rule for the entrance exam: each tamer could only bring one pet. Since Zhang Ying already had Jellybean, bringing the demon fox wasn't an option.
His goblins are troublesome as it is, even with my connections, Zhang Ying might cause trouble and get blacklisted.
"No one will know," Zhang Ying said, looking at the goblins playing with Jellybean. "And if they do, well, I'll just have to deal with it."
"You want to tame the fox?" Alana asked.
She looked at Zhang Ying's tamed creatures causing havoc in the room. The thought of adding another one into the mix was... concerning.
"That's what you wanted, didn't you?"
Alana sighed before nodding, "Sure, let's get it over with."
Zhang Ying called all the beasts back into their space, grinning smugly as he stepped out of the room. When the door opened, Minerva was standing there. Her eyes fell on the exhausted Alana and then on the mess in the room.
"...clean it up please," Alana muttered before walking past her.
Zhang Ying shot Minerva a wink before trailing after Alana. He'd let the monsters make a mess on purpose. After all, the mess in the room paired with Alana's tiredness could mean only one thing.
Minerva clenched her fists at the thought of someone like Zhang Ying messing around with her beloved mistress's body.