Chapter 107: A Heartwrenching Trade

After the bath, Elias massaged Monica on her bed as he usually did, but this time, the session was much shorter and faster because she also needed to examine Stella’s Auracle.

His fingers moved across Monica’s arms, waist, chest, and abdomen with practiced precision, yet before long, he withdrew his hands.

A few minutes later, Stella sat in the chair beside the bed, her brows furrowed as she continued staring at Monica’s abdomen.

Her eyes remained fixed on the darkness only she could see, and the seriousness of her expression made her look almost like an entirely different person.

Monica, meanwhile, wore a distinctly grumpy look.

She had been looking forward to Elias’s massage, and the shortened session left her feeling as though someone had stolen something precious from her.

His touch was the only physical sensation she could properly feel anymore, aside from the pain that had become so deeply rooted in her body that she rarely showed discomfort on her face.

There was a constant ache running through her spine, while her throat felt as though an invisible hand was strangling it. Every part of her body seemed to be filled with blunt needles, each one pressing into her flesh without ever piercing through it.

She had endured that pain for three years, and over time, she had become numb to it.

The pain had never disappeared, but she had learned how to ignore it, burying it beneath layers of indifference until it became little more than a distant presence. However, that numbness had come with a heart-wrenching trade.

By ignoring the pain, she had also dulled herself to every other physical sensation. Touch, warmth, pressure, and affection had all become distant concepts that she could understand but no longer truly experience.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

Elias, her sweet husband, had somehow broken through that barrier.

Whenever his fingers moved across her skin, she could feel him. She could feel the warmth of his hands as they traveled over her arms, the gentle pressure against her waist, the careful movements across her chest and abdomen, and every other place he touched.

Each sensation was so clear that she instinctively engraved it into her mind, afraid that if she did not remember every moment, it might disappear.

Her heart fluttered whenever he touched her, her thoughts became sluggish, and her body seemed to churn beneath his hands.

The sensation was addictive, and if she had the choice, she would never allow him to stop.

Unfortunately, her husband had brought two housebreakers into her life.

’Why could the Mage Tower not have made me his only wife instead of putting all three of us together?’

The thought had begun appearing more often lately, and it had gradually grown into something far more dangerous. Nowadays, Monica sometimes dreamed about what it would have been like if she were Elias’s only wife, with no Natasha or Stella between them.

She knew such thoughts were unfair to the others, but knowing that did not make them disappear.

’Imagine him giving all his time just to care for me... ah... how sweet.’

Monica’s lips almost curved into a smile before she abruptly shook her head.

’Stop it, Monica!’ she scolded herself.

She drew a slow breath, then forced her attention back toward the inner layer of the Auracle.

’Focus,’ she muttered inwardly.

Her S-grade talent, Heavenly Arcane Comprehension, was already activated to its full potential, and the faint golden mark on her forehead shimmered subtly as she studied the complicated formations within the Auracle.

The deeper she looked, the more she understood.

The patterns were not random, and the symbols were not merely decorative.

Each formation connected to several others, while even the smallest alteration seemed capable of changing how the entire structure functioned.

It was like examining an enormous magical equation in which every answer revealed several more questions.

Despite her talent, she had only deciphered a small portion of the structure, and the vast majority remained beyond her understanding.

Still, she continued.

Hours passed while Monica explored the inner layer of Stella’s Auracle, and the room remained quiet except for the occasional movement of Elias or Stella. Then, without warning, the immense world of formations trembled.

Monica’s consciousness was suddenly pushed out of the Auracle.

Her eyes opened wide as she returned to her body, and the sensation left her feeling as though she had been thrown violently into the depths of the sea. Her breathing became uneven, and she stared at the ceiling while trying to regain her composure. ℴℴ𝘮

It had happened because Elias had moved Stella away from the bed and out of the room.

"Hoh," Monica muttered, still staring upward with wide eyes. "I cannot get used to this."

Elias glanced back at her, concern immediately appearing in his expression.

"Are you fine?" he asked worriedly.

Monica slowly turned her head toward him, and an amused smile briefly appeared on her lips.

"Oh?" she asked. "You care about me?"

Elias furrowed his brows, clearly confused by the question.

"Of course I do. You are my wife."

The amused expression on Monica’s face faded.

For a brief moment, she stared at him without saying anything, and then the warmth in her eyes disappeared, replaced by a bitter emptiness.

She turned her head away from him and looked toward the wall.

"Leave," she said quietly. "I am tired."

Elias hesitated, watching her back for a moment, but Monica did not look at him again.

"Alright," he said at last.

He then left the room with Stella, closing the door behind him.

As Elias walked down the corridor, a yellow screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Ding!]

[The Affection Rate is increasing!]

[Monica Ragnar’s Affection Rate: 16]

Elias stopped in his tracks.

’Sixteen? How did it increase so much?’

He remained there for a moment, unable to understand what had caused such a sudden rise.

Meanwhile, inside her room, Monica continued staring at the ceiling.

A bitter smile slowly spread across her lips.

"So he only cares about me because we are bound together by a marriage contract..."

A hollow laugh escaped her throat.

"Haha... fuck me. This must be why Master always told me to stay away from men."

"Only if I could run away with these legs of mine..." she whispered, her smile becoming even more bitter.

"Haha..."

Her gaze gradually lost its focus.

"I hate this. All of this."