Mage Manual-Chapter 1296 - 943: Love and War

Kingdom of Gospel, Nabistin Palace, the Empress’s Chamber.

On the royal plush cotton bed piled with dolls, Hanna slowly opened her eyes.

She didn’t get up immediately, but instead casually picked up the nearby Lala plush doll, hugging it tightly, with her legs clamped around the plush blanket, thinking while biting her nails.

These dolls weren’t her interest, all of them were placed by Liss. Perhaps every girl once had a phase of liking dolls, but they soon find dolls to be space-consuming, unfeeling, and unable to act cute. Like her and Diya, they had no interest in dolls because they preferred the dolls’ upper substitutes.

However, while dolls can be owned freely, the upper substitutes they liked were limited editions, exclusive, with numerous collectors eager to part with them, and none lacking in strength...

Hanna’s feelings were somewhat nuanced.

If the discussion was about ’love’, then her love was probably the weakest among all, even weaker than Siflin’s—if Siflin ever fell into the same pit in the future—the reason being, while others knew Ash during the most beautiful time of their twenties, longing for eternal, brilliant, and meteor-like romantic words, with Ash becoming a significant presence in their lives, reciprocating with hazy and passionate love.

But when Hanna met Ash, she had already toured a circle of Gospel, struggling for years in society as the head of an office. Tamasi’s experiences were somewhat similar, but Tamasi was too iron-willed, even more simple-minded than anyone else, not even understanding her own feelings.

Ash’s letter back then was accurate, questioning how much of Hanna’s feelings were a release of her fear facing a death crisis, and how much was the comfort of Ash’s complete dominance?

Ash indeed was her most favorable opposite sex, but this affection paled compared to Meiwa and Tamasi’s yearning, let alone the Sword Maiden and Witch’s deep love. Her relationship with Ash was more akin to an adult’s casual affair, not a heart-stirring love.

In a normal development, the most likely story for Hanna and Ash would be that they suddenly met one day, enjoyed the good weather by going to a hotel to catch up and reminisce about early school, then returned to their own lives, nothing more.

However, after Hanna met Meiwa and the others, her feelings shifted slightly.

She witnessed Ash’s legendary experiences through diaries and discovered many excellent women liked him. A figure she should have gradually forgotten only became clearer with a halo of brilliant spoils appearing.

Especially upon learning that Her Majesty the Empress also liked Ash, she became completely determined in her heart’s desire for Ash!

If she wanted to revitalize the Doran family, she needed an outstanding heir; for an outstanding heir, undoubtedly a remarkable partner was required!

And Ash, naturally both meets the criteria and is the object of her affection! Even if she would later withdraw from this love war, losing interest in Ash, she was determined to have a child with him!

But more importantly, the war of love itself was intriguing!

Hanna dared to blaspheme against the Divine Being of the Gospel, planning to destroy the Gospel System because the root cause was the curse placed upon their Doran bloodline by the same divine, leading no one in the Doran family to live past the age of 28. Without destroying the Gospel System, Hanna had no way out but death.

Now, although the curse has disappeared, living too long under the knowledge of impending doom, Hanna was unable to settle down. She was innately inclined to seek an exciting life. For example, she could completely relax and indulge, with Diya supporting her until the end of the world, yet she insisted on reforming Gospel society, not for personal gain, but simply because it was interesting.

The love war was the same, not only could she clash with many excellent women, but also gain rich rewards. Such an interesting affair, Hanna couldn’t think of a reason not to participate. Success isn’t the only reward; failure too could be a significant Chapter in her life.

Moreover...

Hanna touched her earring, a gift from Ash, which she had modified into a space storage device. She took out a sheet of paper from it, the very letter Ash had left for her.

She looked at the handwriting on it, then put it to her nose to smell the ink scent before returning it to the earring.

"We’ve really started anew..."

Purple Moth hugged the doll tightly, suddenly chuckling self-deprecatingly, "Do I still have some girlish heart?"

"However, without strength, I’m afraid I won’t even qualify to compete on the same stage..." Hanna mused, "But my gun technique talent reaching the Golden Level is already my limit..."

This is the awkwardness of specializing in gun technique—compared to other magic factions, gun technique’s future potential after reaching Golden Level plummets, with a progression difficulty nearly five times that of other factions. If not for climbing the Distant Realm through the Seven-colored Tail, Hanna would have almost no chance of becoming a Holy Sanctuary Mage.

At this moment, Hanna suddenly recalled having summoned a phantom in battle, and directly used the Gospel System to inquire about it.

Favored Mage’s Guardian Spirit... Hidden Concubine Dragon... Soul Faction Demigod creature...

The Gospel Book quickly directed Hanna to the most feasible path for growth. Hanna’s expression was a bit complex, but she soon made up her mind, opening the Gospel Book to dial a number.

"Little Hanna," a lazy yet elegant voice came from the other end, "I miss you so much."

"Last call was 68 days ago, about me pulling strings for the Senheiser family."

"I’ve already missed you, why do you still want me to contact you, I am a busy Clan Leader... I seemed to see you in Dream Heaven, are you unharmed?"

"No." Hanna paused: "And you?"

"Of course not... Hmph, you can’t possibly imagine what I encountered inside, unfortunately I can’t tell you. And what about you? Did you gain anything?"

"Even if I did, I don’t want to tell you." Hanna paused, "But I met Ash inside—"

"Oh? Did he return to Gospel? Make sure to bring him back to Senheiser, I have something to discuss with him."

"Why are you still thinking about him? You only met a couple of times, haven’t forgotten still after months!?"

"Isn’t it normal to be obsessed with things you can’t have? Not to mention, it’s something you’re also obsessed with, which fascinates me even more."

"You still haven’t changed." Hanna said with clenched teeth, "This time I need your help, Qinna."

"Even if you are my daughter, to get what you want from me, you must give something in return." Qinna said languidly, "However, it seems you mentioned Ash just now to deliberately lead me to propose a condition about him..."

"Think whatever you want."

"So, Hanna, what do you want from me?"

"I want to learn the Soul Faction legacy of the Senheiser family."