"Aha, my little bed!"
Walking into the familiar dormitory, Victor was like a large dog finally let loose after being cooped up all day, cheering as he lunged toward his simple camp bed, which was placed near the bathroom door and looked rather aged.
He wanted to nostalgically relive the feeling of rolling around on this creaky little bed, just as he had when he left at the end of last semester.
However, the moment his body touched the mattress—
"Creeeeak— Bang!"
Following a series of tooth-aching groans, there was a dull thud.
The camp bed, which had carried countless memories of his lazy mornings last semester, ultimately failed to withstand his enthusiastic pounce after a whole summer break away.
It fell apart cleanly, with wooden boards and metal tubes scattered pitifully across the floor.
Victor was buried in the middle of a pile of fabric and broken wood, blinking his always wild and unruly peach blossom eyes as he looked at the mess before him.
His face was a picture of bewilderment and disbelief.
"Victor!"
Enid pressed a hand to her forehead, shaking her head helplessly. She walked over and reached out to pull this "King of Destruction" out of the ruins, her eyes filled with amusement and sympathy.
"This isn't that big, soft bed of yours back at the Hotel Transylvania. Looks like someone's sleeping on the floor tonight."
Victor stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.
His gaze wandered between Enid's bed, which was covered with a soft down duvet and looked warm and cozy, and Wednesday's bed, which was meticulously neat and had a dark, ascetic feel to it.
Finally, he decisively locked his target on Enid, who seemed to have a softer heart.
"Enid~"
Victor immediately switched modes. Those peach blossom eyes instantly became watery and misty, like a large dog soaked by the rain, and his voice softened into a long, wheedling drawl.
"Can I... can I sleep with you tonight? The floor is so cold and hard... if you don't take me in, I'll freeze to death on Christmas Eve like the Little Match Boy."
"What? No!"
A flush immediately rose to Enid's cheeks, and she shook her head like a rattle.
She immediately thought of Victor's 'the succubus cultivation guide,' especially since this guy had already studied the contents of the esoteric chapter.
Letting him into her bed? That would be like inviting a wolf into the house! What if he actually dragged her into an 'exam'—should she say yes, or should she say yes?
"But why—"
Victor pouted aggrievedly, trying to be reasonable.
"Back at the Hotel Transylvania, we were already at the stage of sleeping in the same bed!"
He deliberately used a phrasing that was easily misinterpreted.
"Idiot! Don't use such ambiguous phrasing!"
Enid's face turned even redder, and she shot him an embarrassed, annoyed glare.
"Besides, wasn't Wednesday there too?!"
Victor seemed to catch a lifeline, and his eyes lit up.
He immediately turned a hopeful gaze toward Wednesday, who was sitting upright at her desk, expressionlessly flipping through the dark codex. His voice became cloyingly sweet.
"Then let's call Wednesday and all sleep together! The three of us can be just like we were at the inn! It's warmer if we squeeze together, and it'll help us bond!"
Wednesday snapped 'the dark codex' shut with a 'thud.' She slowly raised her head and looked calmly at Victor, her pale face showing no emotion.
"Given someone's recent increasingly excessive and boundary-less intimate behavior—"
Her fingers brushed over several faint red hickeys on her face that had yet to fully fade.
"I have reason to highly suspect that someone is attempting to conduct irresponsible practice of certain dangerous theories from 'the succubus cultivation guide: esoteric chapter' within our relatively cramped dormitory space. Therefore..."
She tilted her chin slightly, her tone decisive and brook no argument:
"Don't even think about it."
"Alright, alright..."
Seeing that both major "heat sources" were firm in their stance, Victor instantly deflated like a punctured balloon.
He hunched his back and staggered toward the closet to get the spare bedding, humming a miserable, mournful little tune he'd made up on the spot:
"Little cabbage, yellow in the field; Victor is cold, with no bed to sleep in... Hmph, when I freeze to death and become a dormitory earthbound spirit, don't you dare regret it..."
Watching his drama-king act and his pitiful-looking back, Enid's heart finally softened.
She tugged at Wednesday's sleeve and whispered:
"Wednesday, this... he really does look quite pitiful. How about..."
Wednesday watched Victor's exaggerated gait, as if he carried the weight of the world's grievances, then glanced at Enid's reluctant expression and let out a nearly inaudible sigh.
"Fine, Victor Black—"
Her cool voice rang out.
"You win."
Victor's back stiffened, and his ears immediately perked up.
Wednesday leaned into Enid's ear and whispered a few words.
Enid blinked first, then revealed a knowing and slightly mischievous smile, nodding her head.
Then, under Victor's surreptitious backward glances, the two girls walked to the center of the room.
Working together, they pushed Wednesday's sturdily built vintage carved wooden bed and Enid's softer, warmer upholstered bed together, joining them side-by-side to form an incredibly spacious "super bed."
"This way..."
Wednesday clapped her hands and pointed to the massive joined bed, looking expressionlessly at Victor, whose eyes had instantly lit up like stars.
"Satisfied?"
"Satisfied! Beyond satisfied! Wednesday, Enid, you're both angels!"
The gloom on Victor's face vanished instantly, and he cheered, wanting to pounce over and give them a big hug.
"Stop."
Wednesday raised one hand, palm outward, halting his movement.
In her other hand, she had somehow produced a small but sharp silver dagger. She used the tip to trace an imaginary line right down the center of the joined beds.
"Watch closely—"
Her voice was unquestionable, her gaze sharp.
"Without permission, anyone who crosses the line..."
She flicked her wrist, and the dagger performed a nimble flourish between her fingers, a cold light flashing.
"...will face the consequences."
Victor looked at that flash of cold light and swallowed hard, but the smile on his face remained as bright as a sunflower.
"Understood! I promise to be perfectly behaved and never cross the line!"
Being able to sleep on the bed was a great victory!
As for the practice of 'the succubus cultivation guide'... ahem, a strategic detour and gradual progress would do just fine!
He happily picked up his pillow and carefully placed it on his half of the "territory."
In his heart, he was already calculating whether he should pretend to be well-behaved first and then "accidentally" roll over in the middle of the night, or use his "innocent" peach blossom eyes to launch a new round of acting cute.
"Hehehe, oh right, I'll go get some ice to help the hickeys on Wednesday's face fade."
Victor grinningly turned the dormitory doorknob, glancing back to throw a confident wink at Wednesday, as if to say, "Look at how considerate I am."
The moment the door opened a crack—
Swoosh!
A sharp whistling sound grazed the tip of his nose! It brought a chilling coldness!
Clang!
A crossbow bolt flashing with cold light slammed into the wall beside the doorframe, its fletching still vibrating slightly.
"Oh! Damn it!"
Enid screamed in fright, her eyes widening instantly.
Victor froze in place, the grin on his face instantly turning to ice.
He slowly lowered his head to look at the doorknob—
He saw a crude but effective trigger mechanism tied there, with a thin wire connecting to a fixed hand-crossbow trigger outside the door.
The force of opening the door had perfectly triggered the crossbow bolt.
"Wow..."
Victor blinked a couple of times. Recovering from the initial shock, instead of being afraid, he let out a whistle.
"This school year... is starting off a bit exciting."
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