Hearing Ye Feng's words, Kiana's breathing grew even hotter, her eyes fixed on him with a fervent gaze.
Moonlight spilled into the living room, bathing him in its glow, making him seem so pure and dazzling.
Is he going to... force me again?
Hmph, he looks harmless on the surface, but isn't he just a beast that devours anything it can get its hands on?
Huh? Ptooey, ptooey!
What do you mean, devours anything? Why did I just insult myself too?
Kiana's mind raced with rich inner drama, but Ye Feng simply stood his ground, as immovable as a boulder.
"Does Little Bug want it that badly?"
"You can have it, you can. Such a good girl."
"But if you want something, you should fight for it yourself. Kneel down, crawl over, and I can give you everything."
Ye Feng smiled.
!!!
"Kneel your head!"
Kiana's whole body trembled. In an instant, she became much more clear-headed.
Ye Feng's words were an insult to a knight of the Kaslana family.
Her face flushed crimson, and she clenched her fists so hard her fingertips dug deep into her palms. Her knuckles turned a pale, oxygen-deprived white, and the light blue veins on her wrists throbbed beneath her snow-like skin.
"—Kneel your head!"
Little Bug Headbutt!
Like a great Eden whale leaping from the water's surface.
With a BONG, Little Bug's head slammed into Ye Feng's lungs.
---o---
AM 6:31
The Valkyrie dormitories of St. Freya High School were submerged in a pale blue silence; even the air seemed to have solidified into transparent amber.
The wood grain of the spiral staircase, saturated with the morning sun, glowed with the luster of silk in the dawn light. A corner of the gauze curtain on the landing's viewing platform was lifted by the wind, revealing a HOMU manga Bronya had left out the previous night. A maple leaf bookmark was tucked between the brand-new pages.
The frosted glass of the second-floor bedroom was fogged with condensation, vaguely showing Kiana's sprawling sleeping posture. The goose-down quilt she had kicked off was piled up like a snowdrift, and on it, as if morning dew had fallen, a few dark, damp spots had spread.
Kiana's long, thin eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The usually lazy girl was, once again, the first to wake up today...
Why "again"?
Because with the [Unyielding Spirit] of a Kaslana, she had once more resisted the devil's temptation and halted the slippery slope of her thoughts with her own willpower.
But—
Kiana couldn't help but sit up on the bed in a W-sit, wrapping her arms tightly around herself, squeezing her thighs together.
The aftereffects... were also quite severe.
"Mmmph..."
Kiana grabbed her pillow, hugged it to her chest, and rolled back and forth on the bed.
She was trying to alleviate the heat in her body and the anxiety in her heart.
As luck would have it,
—perhaps it was a subconscious act—
The moment the morning light climbed onto Mei's bedside, Kiana, hugging her pillow, rolled to the edge of the bed. A pale golden halo spread across the bedding, coating the ankle exposed outside the white cotton quilt in a translucent amber color.
Mei's jade-like foot was actually sticking out from under the covers!
It was sparkling!
Kiana could even smell the cherry blossom shampoo from last night's bath still clinging to her skin.
Kiana's fingertips unconsciously tightened around the pillow, her nimble body suddenly becoming clumsy.
Little Bug stared blankly at that piece of exposed, cream-like white jade.
The slight curl of the toes reminded her of the glass wind chimes she had seen at the shrine, swaying with a clear and sacred beauty.
Pale blue veins meandered like early spring cherry branches beneath the almost transparent skin, and the bones that appeared when the instep tensed were like the most delicate curve on the rim of a white porcelain teacup.
The scenery outside the window became the background to Kiana's vision.
A drop of dew was accumulating, gathering gravitational potential energy, bending the leaf it rested on.
Kiana's gaze was pinned to the spot by that dewdrop, hanging on the verge of falling. The misaligned perspectives overlapped, making it seem as though the morning dew was flowing over Mei's beautiful foot—the bead of dew condensed at the tip of her toes was slowly sliding down her fair arch, and in the gap where her heel almost, but not quite, touched the bedsheet, it reflected the entire room's trembling morning light.
She didn't know when she had arrived at Mei's bedside.
Just as Ye Feng had described, she was crouched before the bed like a little puppy, her cherry lips slightly parted, as if waiting for her master to feed her, famished.
There was nothing else in her vision but that pair of jade feet.
"Gulp~~"
Kiana swallowed hard.
The sound was so clear in the crisp, quiet morning.
Kiana was starting to understand Ye Feng a little.
If she could hold those feet in her arms, even death would be worth it.
"What is idiot Kiana doing?"
Bronya's voice shattered the morning tranquility, startling the white-haired girl so much that her foot slipped. She fell backward, her head knocking over the photo album on the bedside table.
"Ow, ow, ow..."
Kiana rubbed her head and climbed up. She was wearing panties, and her two smooth, fair, and beautiful legs reflected a soft sheen.
"Bronya, what are you doing... being so loud all of a sudden? You scared me."
"The Bronya saw Kiana acting strangely and couldn't help but warn you."
Kiana looked bewildered. "Acting strangely? Who?"
"..."
Bronya just stared at Kiana silently, not saying a word.
Seeing her stare, Kiana couldn't help but argue, "You're not talking about me, are you? Even if you have the Core of Reason, my power is not to be underestimated! Shorty, are you trying to pick a fight with me?"
"...The Bronya has grown up. The Bronya will no longer do such childish things."
Bronya stated flatly.
Little Bug was not happy. "What do you mean by that? That I'm childish?"
Bronya looked Kiana up and down, then her gaze landed on her sweat-dampened panties.
"The Bronya still thinks Kiana should go take a shower first. There's a practical combat class today, and being sticky must be very uncomfortable... The Bronya means, it will be hard to perform well."
"!!"
Kiana's face instantly flushed red. She opened her mouth, her throat worked, but she could only stammer, unable to speak.
In the end, she could only stomp her foot, both ashamed and angry, and flee to the bathroom in a flash.
Neither of them noticed Mei, sleeping soundly on her side, her toes tightly curled.
---o---
"Hi, Fu Xuan. We meet again. A new day begins with a wonderful encounter."
"L-Lord Ye Feng...?"
The Grand Diviner's shoulders trembled slightly. Her hands, which had held the diviner's banner for years, were now awkwardly unsure of where to go.
Even when having an audience with an Aeon, she could remain "unflappable even if the heavens fell," but now, faced with a simple greeting, her mind was in turmoil.
Although several days had passed, she still hadn't mentally prepared herself to meet Ye Feng again.
After all, the once high and mighty Grand Diviner had shown such an不堪 side of herself in front of him.
Her self-respect, pride, and glory—all the elements of a superior—had been crushed into mud and scattered in a puddle.
Of course, she didn't blame Ye Feng.
This was all Qingque's doing.