Chapter 12: Taking the Initiative

Jiang Yeman froze. When she turned around, she felt inexplicably guilty. But wait, why should she feel guilty?

“Sis…”

“Come here. Stay away from her.”

Lin Zhihan heard them but didn’t even look back. She walked straight out of the corridor.

Back at the rented apartment, the cramped living room looked washed out in the afternoon light. Vaniel stood in the middle of it. Her silver-white hair fell over her shoulders, and she stood much straighter than she had a few days ago.

With a thought, the black wings behind her folded silently and disappeared, as if swallowed by the night.

Vaniel turned to look at her back.

A moment later, she willed her wings open again.

Whoosh—

Her black wings unfolded. A faint sheen of magic glimmered along their edges.

Vaniel couldn’t help smiling.

Her face wasn’t pale anymore. Color had returned to her lips. Both feet stood firmly on the floor. Even when she hopped lightly, she no longer felt the sharp, stabbing pain.

She had completely recovered.

It felt wonderful to have her strength back. She almost felt like she had when she was still a devil.

Just then, someone opened the door from outside.

Wen Qiao was home early today. She came in, looked up, and saw Vaniel standing in the living room.

They barely spoke under normal circumstances. They were both used to pretending the other didn’t exist. But today, Wen Qiao didn’t lower her head and walk past.

She stood in the doorway, biting her lip as if she’d had to summon all her courage.

After a moment, she finally spoke. “Little succubus, could you stop pestering Little Han every night?”

Vaniel stared at her in confusion. “What?”

Wen Qiao gripped her schoolbag strap. Her voice was quiet but earnest. “We have important exams coming up. You’re really distracting her. She’s already exhausted.”

Vaniel stared at her for a long moment before she finally understood.

“I’m pestering her?” she repeated, incredulous. “I’m not pestering her at all!”

The succubus flushed angrily. “She’s the one—she’s the one—”

She stopped, suddenly feeling a little guilty. “She’s forcing me.”

“Little Han is forcing you?” Wen Qiao frowned. “That can’t be right.”

“It is!” Vaniel was so angry her tail nearly appeared. “If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t…”

She stopped halfway through, realizing what she was saying. Then she clamped her mouth shut.

There was no need to tell this human about that.

Wen Qiao clearly didn’t believe her, though.

Lin Zhihan had never been the sort of person to indulge herself.

There were plenty of rich students at school who bragged about luxury goods, travel, and parties. Lin Zhihan never cared. The only things she cared about were how to find work, save money, and get by.

How could she suddenly become obsessed with a succubus?

Wait. Thinking of money, Wen Qiao suddenly understood.

Was it… the golden eggs?

After Vaniel arrived, Wen Qiao had looked up information about succubi, too.

The golden energy crystals were worth a fortune. A single one could bring in more money than an ordinary person could imagine.

Was that why Lin Zhihan was working herself so hard?

Wen Qiao sighed, feeling as if she finally understood.

She said nothing more, but Vaniel was still angry.

This human actually thought she was the kind of succubus who clung to people.

“If you don’t want Lin Zhihan and me together, then make her let me go. I don’t want to stay here, either.”

Wen Qiao looked up at her, her expression complicated.

She knew Lin Zhihan wouldn’t let Vaniel go.

But Wen Qiao thought that was because Lin Zhihan was softhearted. A succubus without a master couldn’t survive easily in human society. Once she left her master, she’d quickly grow weak or be caught by someone worse.

“She won’t let you go because it’s dangerous for you out there alone,” Wen Qiao said quietly.

Vaniel didn’t agree.

Other succubi might depend on humans.

But she was different.

She was a pure-blood devil, Vaniel. Even many devils had once feared what she would become when she matured.

If things hadn’t gone wrong at her coming-of-age rite, how would she have ended up here?

Vaniel suddenly realized she’d been in Lin Zhihan’s home for almost a month.

She’d told herself several times that it would be the last time, and yet she was still here.

This wouldn’t do. She had to leave as soon as possible.

When Lin Zhihan got home that night, she sensed something was wrong as soon as she walked in.

Wen Qiao was usually easygoing, but today she was especially quiet. When Lin Zhihan returned, Wen Qiao managed a small smile and said, “Little Han, dinner’s on the table.”

Lin Zhihan nodded, then looked toward the other side of the living room.

Vaniel sat there with her back turned, her spine straight, looking as if she didn’t want to speak to anyone.

Lin Zhihan quickly noticed what had changed. Her eyes brightened. “You can put your wings away now?”

Vaniel didn’t even turn around.

Lin Zhihan: “…”

Fine. The succubus was angry with her again.

She was a villain. That was only to be expected. Lin Zhihan didn’t dwell on it.

Vaniel didn’t look at her once throughout dinner. Lin Zhihan even worried that if she kept turning her head so far, she might strain her neck.

Night fell, and Wen Qiao returned to her room.

Vaniel was still standing in the living room, rooted to the spot, refusing to go back to Lin Zhihan’s room.

Lin Zhihan had a feeling the succubus wanted to negotiate again. She rubbed her forehead. “Come on. Let’s go to the bedroom.”

Vaniel didn’t move.

“Vaniel.” Lin Zhihan tried to look stern.

The succubus still didn’t move. If anything, she looked more stubborn.

Lin Zhihan had no choice but to go over and take her by the hand.

Vaniel dodged her again, lifted her chin, and said stubbornly, “I don’t need that anymore. I’m completely healed.”

Lin Zhihan paused, then looked at her honestly. “I do.”

Vaniel’s breath caught. Her cheeks turned red at once.

This human had just said it out loud.

Wen Qiao had said that Vaniel was the one pestering Lin Zhihan, but it was clearly Lin Zhihan who couldn’t live without her. Vaniel couldn’t understand what was so good about that sort of thing that the human liked it so much…

Without realizing it, Vaniel no longer thought Lin Zhihan would actually punish her with the collar. She grew bolder and made her demands.

“If you need it, then give me what I want, too. I told you I want to go outside.”

Lin Zhihan frowned. “No.”

Normally, if a master got too far away, the collar severely restricted the succubus’s movements. That was why the collar had shocked Vaniel when she tried to leave the room before. But if she stayed near her master, she could move around much more freely.

So Vaniel wanted to go outside with Lin Zhihan every day.

Lin Zhihan wasn’t willing to agree.

Even if Vaniel could hide her wings, her silver hair and mismatched eyes were still too conspicuous. One unexpected incident could make the plot collapse and start over.

“It isn’t safe outside,” Lin Zhihan said.

Vaniel turned away. She was more determined today than she had been before. “If you don’t agree, I won’t cooperate.”

They stared at each other for a moment.

Lin Zhihan watched her, then suddenly took a step forward as if she were about to kiss her.

Vaniel panicked for a moment, then remembered to push her away.

The succubus was tremendously strong now that she’d recovered. Lin Zhihan had been short on sleep for days and reacted a beat too slowly. She lost her balance and Vaniel shoved her straight to the floor.

Thud!

Her elbow hit the floor hard. Her brow twitched with pain.

Vaniel was startled, too.

She looked down at Lin Zhihan. The anger vanished from her eyes, replaced by a flicker of panic.

Humans really were fragile.

She crouched down, hesitating as she leaned closer. “Are you… okay?”

Lin Zhihan clutched her arm. Her elbow was already bruised. But as Vaniel came closer, Lin Zhihan suddenly lifted her other hand, gently cupped the back of Vaniel’s head, and pulled her down a little.

Then, before Vaniel could react, Lin Zhihan tilted her head up and kissed her.

Vaniel froze.

This human was hurt, and she was still thinking about that?

She remembered what Wen Qiao had said that afternoon. Then she noticed the dark circles beneath Lin Zhihan’s eyes. Confused and annoyed, she murmured, “You barely get any sleep. Why are you still thinking about kissing me?”

Lin Zhihan smiled.

She really was unlucky.

The plot, the system, the time loop, the score—everything weighed heavily on her. But there was no point explaining it all to Vaniel. She probably wouldn’t believe her anyway.

So she simply nodded. “I have to kiss you. If I have to, I’ll skip class. I still have to kiss you.”

Vaniel’s face turned even redder.

“Crazy,” she muttered.

She wanted to push Lin Zhihan away, but worried she’d hurt her again if she used too much strength. In the end, she could only stay frozen, trying to negotiate.

“If you let me go outside, I’ll let you kiss me. I’ll do more for you, too.”

“More?”

“Yes! Anything I can do.”

Vaniel lifted her chin proudly. Now that she’d regained her strength, she was stronger than any human.

Lin Zhihan looked up at her, studying her as if she were weighing a very serious decision.

After a moment, she sighed. “Fine.”

Vaniel’s eyes brightened.

“You’ll let me go out?”

Lin Zhihan added, “Not to school. You can’t go to school. I can take you to my workplace.”

Vaniel wasn’t happy with that.

But she thought that some freedom was better than none, so she nodded reluctantly.

“Then what do you want from me?”

Lin Zhihan was still sitting on the floor. Her gaze fell on the collar around Vaniel’s neck, and she reached out to touch it.

It felt extremely hard and heavy. As if what they were trying to restrain wasn’t a sweet-looking girl with only a pair of little horns on her head—

but a dangerous, terrifying beast.

If Lin Zhihan pressed the notch now, she could release the collar. But freeing Vaniel from her restraints entirely would be much more complicated.

“Tell me how to make sure you’re properly fed.”

Wh-what? Vaniel froze.

Lin Zhihan continued matter-of-factly. “You always say you don’t feel anything. That can’t be good for absorbing energy. I want to know how to make you feel more.”

Lin Zhihan sounded perfectly serious. Vaniel’s face turned scarlet.

What kind of demand was that?

“That’s not the sort of thing I meant.”

Lin Zhihan’s expression cooled. “It is what I want. If you don’t tell me, you can’t go out.”

Vaniel sprang to her feet, furious.

How could this human have only that on her mind? More importantly, how was Vaniel supposed to answer?

Every time, she had to fight with all her strength not to make a sound, not to show that she felt good, not to let her pink eyes reveal too much. Just doing that took all her attention.

With Lin Zhihan watching her so intently, she gritted her teeth. She was angry now, too.

“Fine. I-I’ll tell you…”

Vaniel turned her face away, her voice uncertain. “Everything you do is wrong. Every single thing!”

Lin Zhihan frowned. “Everything?”

“Yes.” Vaniel did her best to sound confident. “Anyway, it’s all terrible. Just do the opposite of everything.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” Vaniel tried to make her voice sound firm. “Every step is… awful.”

Lin Zhihan was somewhat wounded. She thought about it seriously, then asked, “So I shouldn’t take the lead now, either?”

Vaniel nodded, her voice quieter. “Right. Don’t keep pestering me.”

Lin Zhihan watched her.

After a moment, she nodded. “All right.”

Vaniel had just breathed a sigh of relief when Lin Zhihan said,

“Then you kiss me.”

Vaniel turned to her sharply. “W-what?”

Lin Zhihan sat on the floor and closed her eyes. “You don’t like me taking the lead. So you’ll have to take the initiative instead.”