“If you can use mana, it means your faith has returned to normal. But why can’t you absorb mana? Is the flow being throttled?” Lilith asked, her brow furrowed.
Gymnopedie’s expression turned a bit more serious. As one of the Academy’s elite, she quickly deduced a potential reason.
“Demons belong to a polytheistic system with a clear hierarchy. Because of my faith, the President is effectively a minor deity. Therefore, I have the authority to use the secondary mana belonging to her, but I don’t have the authority to use the highest-tier mana of the world. In other words, I can only use the mana she transmits to me.”
Wang Yue was speechless. She had completely made up the “Acting Method” on a whim, yet these “pioneers” had actually found a way to make it work?
Pandora turned her head away, looking out the window with a bored expression. What were the Seniors talking about? They seemed intense, yet she couldn’t understand a word of it.
She listened idly for a moment before her gaze drifted back, surreptitiously glancing at the feet tucked beneath Lilith’s seated form. They were wrapped in black silk—dainty, perfectly proportioned, and utterly exquisite.
She hadn’t even looked for more than a few seconds before the crow flew down and gave her a sharp peck.
“Ow!”
Pandora hurriedly covered her mouth, but the pained cry still leaked through her fingers. However, the discussion nearby was so heated that no one noticed.
Mom!
Why did you bite me again?!
What did I even do?
Am I not allowed to look?
Are you two involved or something?!
Pandora sucked on the peck mark on the back of her hand, her mind racing with frantic complaints.
“Then isn’t it useless?” Lilith said irritably. “Karuta can pass mana to you through mana-storage materials, but she can’t absorb mana herself… What’s with that look?”
“But she can, can’t she?” Gymnopedie blinked mischievously.
Lilith’s face flushed an uncharacteristic red. “What are you talking about?! I… I… how could I possibly go back to her…”
“That’s what makes it fun. You put her on a pedestal first—it doesn’t matter if you have to act humble—and then you stomp her into the mud and ravage her at will. Doesn’t that bring even more pleasure? You don’t lift someone up to worship them; you do it so you can slam them onto the ground with a satisfying thud. Just like me…”
Gymnopedie suddenly lunged forward, pinning the silver-haired girl to the floor.
Hatsuyuki Karuta went down as stiffly and passively as a doll. Her back hit the tatami, arms spreading wide, as her long silver hair fanned out beneath her like metallic vines. Her clothes were disheveled, revealing large patches of snowy, translucent skin.
As if knowing what was coming next, she turned her face away. Her expression remained cold and inviolable, her emerald eyes shimmering with an arrogant, unyielding light.
Gymnopedie straddled her waist and leaned down deep, her lips lingering on the girl’s pale neck to leave a dark “strawberry” mark.
She then stood up, her eyes curved into crescent moons. Her breath came out hot and ragged as she said hoarsely, “I can’t hold back. I want you right now.”
Gymnopedie forcibly led the silver-haired girl into the inner room, locking the doors one by one behind them.
Lilith and Pandora watched, stunned. This “playstyle” was far too unique.
Wang Yue was slightly surprised as well. She realized that the Eye of Truth likely had nothing to do with the Restorationists; it was essentially just Gymnopedie’s private harem.
Of course, she didn’t use her vision to peek inside. She didn’t have that kind of hobby.
Pandora felt a thick aura of sin permeating the air. The “Seduction” and “Depravity” petals on her box trembled, opening slightly.
However, as the shoji screens closed, the sin value stopped rising. Pandora’s Box required proximity to harvest energy.
Pandora narrowed her eyes with a smile. This Senior was a real treasure! Engaging in such debauchery in broad daylight—there probably wasn’t anyone more depraved in the entire Academy. She would have to get closer to her in the future!
Lilith’s expression remained cold. Her clear, piercing gaze looked into the distance through her long, curled lashes. She sat gracefully yet casually, one hand on her knee and the other propping herself up on the floor, her lips pressed thin like a blade.
The violent, arrogant aura she had displayed at the start of the term had been completely replaced by a cold, gloomy detachment. She seemed to radiate a chill, looking like a small figure carved from ice, inspiring a sense of dread.
She didn’t consider Gymnopedie’s suggestion. She wouldn’t take out that deck of cards, and she didn’t even want to think of that person’s name.
Her life felt as though it had collapsed, and she stood on the edge of the ruins, staring into the dark void, lost and confused.
Sometimes she looked back, wondering why she had clung to that ridiculous pride. If only she had been a little more obedient, she could still be resting her head on that person’s lap, listening to stories.
But then, she wouldn’t be herself.
“You knew exactly what you were doing… You did it on purpose… The moment something wasn’t perfect… you used it as an excuse to throw me away…” Lilith murmured.
Wang Yue didn’t dare breathe. Lilith didn’t know she had obtained the Crow Raiment, and she couldn’t afford to be exposed now. She had to keep pretending to be the junior’s pet bird.
The large crow tucked its head in, making its neck look short as its beak sank into its fluffy feathers, putting on a convincing act of being a stupid bird.
A long time later, the shoji screen vibrated slightly as a pale, slender hand pulled it open.
Hatsuyuki Karuta stepped out, turning back to slide the door shut.
Her clothes were a mess, her chest covered in hickeys, and her legs were weak. She had been leaning on the door for support; the moment she let go, she collapsed onto the tatami. The handprints on her neck were particularly striking.
“Senior, are you alright?”
Pandora quickly rushed over to help the silver-haired girl up.
A lingering flush remained on Karuta’s cheeks, and her eyes were dazed.
Pandora glanced at the marks on her chest and neck, thinking to herself that it must have been incredibly intense. The other Senior had likely been far too rough during their intimacy—it bordered on torture.
Lilith looked at Karuta coldly. “This is tedious.”
The silver-haired girl first nodded with a smile, then let out a sigh.
“Can you not speak?” Lilith asked.
Karuta opened her mouth, struggling to reveal a stump of flesh where her tongue should be. Her smile, devoid of a tongue, was deeply unsettling.
“Did she do it?” Lilith asked, tilting her head.
Karuta shook her head and reached out toward Mirabelle. The orange-haired girl understood immediately and retrieved a peculiar stringed instrument from the bookshelf.
It was a hallucinatory, magnificent shell mounted with twelve silver strings.
Hatsuyuki Karuta held the shell lyre and began to pluck the strings slowly.
Within the drifting melody, Lilith heard her soft, leisurely voice.
The little mute of Hedge Town,
Her life was wretched and low.
Working until she spun like a wheel,
Her ten fingers like withered twigs.
A stench like a rotting corpse,
From the first light until dusk.
Limbs weak and feet cramping,
Curled up on a bed of straw.
In the bitter cold, no blankets to find.
Her body was so small,
Just right for sweeping chimneys.
Following a cruel master,
Slow moves met with fire.
Her stepfather was brutal,
A drunkard who beat her senseless.
A gallon of ale, a beating to match.
Promised to a man with a limp.
So, she ran away.
Darkness brought panic and lost paths.
Starving at the roadside’s edge.
Luckily, she found a small carriage.
A kind girl scooped her up.
Hot water, soap, and a tub.
Clean clothes to wear.
Bread, jam, and milk.
A warm bed waiting for her.
And a small night light.
Hatsuyuki Karuta smiled. Her hands stopped, and then she quickly plucked a few final notes.
“She is very good to me.”
“I truly envy you.”
Lilith showed a faint smile, but her eyes grew increasingly melancholy.
