Wang Yue’s limbs tightened around the pillow. A flicker of confusion crossed her sleeping face, but she didn’t wake up.
Success!
Helen’s eyes sparkled.
Prima looked at her in shock, mouthing the words, What are you doing?
“I’m stealing you away!” Helen whispered.
“Huh?”
Prima was utterly bewildered. She had been enjoying the warm, comfortable embrace, and being suddenly yanked out left her mind blank.
Brrr, it’s cold! Put me back, you idiot!
“Don’t be afraid. We’ll be starting a new life soon!”
“What are you even talking about? When Wang Yue wakes up, she’s going to pound your little butt into a pulp…”
“I’m not afraid!”
“But I don’t want to leave! Please put me back, I’m begging you!”
“How tragic… You’d rather deceive yourself than face reality? This is Stockholm Syndrome!” Helen said, using a term she had recently learned from a book.
She carried Prima and hurried toward the door, her heart thumping against her ribs. She was almost there. Escape was right in front of her… when suddenly, a slightly raspy, post-nap voice drifted from behind her.
“Say goodbye to your backside.”
Helen felt as if the sky had come crashing down. It felt as though a grey monster had risen up behind her, placing a large, furry paw on her shoulder…
The little girl screamed as she was hoisted up by the waist. She dangled there like a sheet on a drying rack. The feeling of being completely immobilized and at someone’s mercy made her face go pale with terror.
“I won’t hit you if you admit you were wrong,” Wang Yue offered with surprising mercy.
“Guh… I will never surrender to a She-Devil!”
The little girl puffed out her chest. How could a hero yield to the tyranny of a Demon King?
Even if it meant death, she would resist to the end!
Unyielding resolve flashed in her eyes. She grit her teeth and began to struggle with every ounce of her remaining strength!
Smack!
A crisp, loud sound echoed through the room!
“Eeeek—!”
Her legs kicked wildly like a leaping frog, her hair swayed like flying tassels, and her back arched in shock. The impact sent a ripple through her bottom, followed immediately by a stinging, tingling heat…
After a few more swats, Wang Yue saw that Helen had given up the ghost. She stopped and gently set the girl back on the ground.
The little girl turned her back to Wang Yue, clutching her smarting rear with both hands. She slowly crouched down, her face scrunched up in a pathetic, pitiful pout.
“Since you’ve surrendered, I’ll let it slide. After all, it’s not like I’m a demon or anything…” Wang Yue rubbed her fingers together, looking quite pleased with herself.
“I didn’t surrender!” the little girl cried out, turning back with tears in her eyes.
***
Back in Room 204, Wang Yue returned to the task of repairing Prima.
Half a day later, the ribcage and pelvis were fully restored. All that remained were the limbs.
Since the original limbs were gone, they had to be reconstructed from scratch.
“What kind of hands and feet do you like? Long legs? Short ones? Slender? Curvy? Perfectly straight, or maybe slightly pigeon-toed? What shoe size…” Wang Yue fired off a string of questions.
Prima’s eyes shimmered. Her lips trembled slightly as she whispered, “What… what kind do you like?”
“Me? Honestly, the shape of the legs isn’t the most important part. What matters is…”
“The soul?”
“It’s the stockings, Prima. Remember that. It’s all about the stockings,” Wang Yue said with deep, solemn sincerity.
“Eh…?”
Wang Yue opened her notebook and showed it to Prima, who was resting in her lap. She pointed to a schematic that showed only a head and a torso. “This is drawn according to your body’s proportions.”
Then, she pulled out various cutouts of different leg and arm shapes she had sketched. Prima could mix and match them, essentially DIY-ing her own body.
However, instead of joy, Prima felt a wave of overwhelming trepidation. Her nose tickled, her eyes filled with tears, and her breath became shaky.
“What’s wrong?” Wang Yue asked.
“Wang Yue… you’ve done too much for me… truly too much… How can I ever repay you? If I can’t… my conscience will never be at peace…”
Prima bit her lip hard, trying to suppress the urge to burst into a loud sob.
Wang Yue broke into a bright smile.
“Hey now, this isn’t just my doing! Lulu’anna drew the schematics for the limbs. Lilith and Medeili were the ones who went deep underground with me. The Academy teachers are the ones keeping you alive, and your sister and roommates have been looking after you this whole time… Everyone is helping you. If anything, I’m the one who should be saying thank you. After all, you’re the one who saved Lilith’s life!”
Thinking back, they had come so close to losing Lilith. Wang Yue still felt a lingering chill of fear; if Prima hadn’t stepped forward, she would be drowning in an ocean of grief right now.
Compared to that, moving her fingers to fix a body, killing a couple of Deep Ones, or taking a stroll through an underground river was nothing at all.
