A glimmer of emerald light flashed by.
With the appearance of a vertical-pupil mark in the palm, an invisible psychic power spread out.
Ivyst watched Lynn intently.
Under her gaze, the dark-haired young man before her gradually stopped his futile struggle.
Moments later, his hands fell weakly to his sides, and his entire body hunched over, as if he had lost all his strength.
Not only that, but Lynn's originally spirited blue eyes also lost their luster under the effect of hypnosis.
Until at last, they dimmed completely, dull and lifeless.
In just a few seconds, he had swiftly transformed from a resistor into a servile existence, like a servant.
Seeing this, Ivyst's heart finally settled.
It seemed that Milani's experiments really had made significant progress this time.
Ivyst extinguished the Eye of the Soul mark in her hand and then slowly sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at Lynn, who knelt before her.
For some reason, a faint smile graced her lips.
Such obedient behavior somewhat caught her off guard.
However, Ivyst's mind was already filled with many questions she wanted to ask this fellow.
While pondering, she casually twirled a strand of hair around her fair fingertips.
Regrettably, no one was fortunate enough to witness such a scene.
At this moment, there were only Ivyst and Lynn in the room, making it the perfect time to interrogate.
According to Milani, once a person was hypnotized, their subconscious would be revealed.
When that happened, she would be able to see Lynn's most candid side.
Recalling the night he forcefully removed his mask, Ivyst couldn't help but sneer.
Whether he had been real or pretending, they would find out soon enough.
With this thought in mind, she was about to speak, her lips parting lightly.
But before she could say anything, she suddenly heard a knock on the wooden door not far away.
Following it was a deep voice.
"Guest, I am the inn's waiter. I heard earlier that someone might mean you harm, do you need help?"
Hearing the question from the doorway, Ivyst frowned deeply.
Without a word, she raised her right hand, where a blood-red energy slowly surfaced in her palm, ready to transform into sharp thorns at any moment, capable of shredding the person at the door who dared to disturb her peace.
But if she really did so, she feared it would cause quite a commotion, and afterwards, she would have to leave this place with him in tow.
Yet hypnosis appeared to have a time limit.
Although she didn't know the principle, it probably had something to do with the mental will of the person being hypnotized.
If she had to wait until returning to Augusta Manor, she probably wouldn't be able to use hypnosis to interrogate him again tonight.
But she didn't want to wait all night, so she had no choice but to compromise.
With this realization, Ivyst extinguished the extraordinary power in her hand, clearly displeased.
Noticing the unusual silence inside the room, the waiter outside seemed to sense something.
His knocking and voice gradually grew louder.
"Guest? Guest? If you don't respond, I'm going to have to come in."
The waiter inquired, quite diligently.
Although this place was on the border, due to its industrial features, every year many nobles and rich merchants from nearby areas would come to town to participate in the festival and to taste the newly uncorked fruit wine.
So at this time, the town's security management level would always raise another notch.
And once an aggressive woman committed such malicious deeds in the tavern he owned, he feared they might have to shut down for restructuring the next day.
Just as he was about to fetch his keys to unlock the door and check the situation, a cold yet pleasant voice sounded from within the room.
"What, do you have a problem with that?"
The waiter's actions halted.
Even without seeing her face, he could sketch out her imposing and unyielding presence in his mind.
The waiter suddenly realized and immediately a trace of apology appeared on his face.
"I'm very sorry to have disturbed the two of you. I'll leave at once."
With that, he sighed with pity and quickly left the floor.
The cry for help he had just heard was unmistakably from a young man, and by the sound of it, someone quite young, but the woman's voice that emanated from the room sounded more mature.
It seemed she was the dominant party.
The waiter couldn't help but think of certain wealthy noblewomen's wicked hobbies and immediately felt worried for the boy.
Little did he know, he was the one who had narrowly escaped from the brink of death.
Meanwhile, inside the room, Ivyst's tense eyebrows finally relaxed as the irrelevant person left.
She turned her gaze back to Lynn, who was under hypnosis.
Damn it, good thing I reacted quickly.
Feeling Ivyst's gaze return to him, Lynn didn't dare to even breathe deeply.
Actually, he was hoping that the waiter would come in to take a look, which might have helped him escape the predicament.
Unfortunately, Lynn hadn't expected Ivyst to back off as a strategy, holding back the urge to act and acquiescing to the insinuation of wrongdoing, which completely refreshed his understanding.
The woman probably really thought he was hypnotized, which is why she let down her guard a bit.
Normally, she might have killed the waiter rather than dealing with him using that explanation.
Feeling the sluggish response in his body, Lynn couldn't help but sigh in his mind.
In fact, the moment he saw the Eye of the Soul, he realized what Ivyst intended to do to him.
Fortunately, he was quick to use the ability of the Lie Swallowing to shift himself into his current state, so he didn't give himself away.
The first time he had needed a mirror to assist him, but this time he managed it quite handily.
He feared it would only get easier in the future.
Sensing Ivyst's dangerous gaze, Lynn helplessly thought.
I was still somewhat naive.
According to the original story, if there was something Augusta couldn't have, she'd rather destroy it than let it fall into someone else's hands.
And having shown such a strong interest in him, how could she possibly let him go so easily?
However, the only good news for now was that she didn't know he could stay rational during hypnosis.
Although it seemed far off to escape from this woman's clutches, at least there was a glimmer of hope.
The most important thing right now was to survive the immediate crisis.
Lynn lowered his head with a dull expression, pretending to be foolish and dazed.
Seeing him like that, Ivyst, who was sitting on the bed, lifted her delicate white right foot and used the tip of her high heel to tilt Lynn's chin up towards her.
Then, she gracefully removed the mask from her face, revealing the half of her cheek covered by the Evil Curse.
Feeling their gazes meet, Ivyst suppressed the irritation in her heart towards the unknown.
"Look at my face, and tell me..." her eyes conveyed a hint of danger, "what are you really thinking about right now?"