Indescribably far away, in one of the countless worlds that were a part of the second round's event venue, an ineffably breathtaking young woman's lips blossomed into a slight but lovely smile. At first glance, one might mistake her for an angel, due to the three pairs of flawlessly white, feathered wings folded closely against her back. The crown-like halo of light above her head also further reinforced that holy image.
However, if one looked a little bit closer, then one would spy that in addition to those, she had a white tail with a heart-shaped tip. Peeking out from underneath her long, lustrous black hair, having grown from slightly above the positions of her temples, there were two purely white horns as well.
'This time, it's Theodore Winter. And he's even managed to capture her heart! He's quite the catch, for sure. But I can't make any overly hasty decisions here–I should try to learn more about him first, to see if he meets the qualifications.'
Her alluring rose pink eyes sparkling with excitement, she recalled the intel that she had just obtained. Although the white-haired young man was exactly her type, she had to stay calm and hold back.
Contrary to the vast majority of other Supreme Pillar heirs, she hadn't come here to fight for the position of the Heavenly Emperor or the Heavenly Empress. She also wasn't tasked to help one of her relatives succeed in the end. No, she had been sent here with one express purpose: To find a suitable husband.
Of course, in this pursuit, she wasn't alone–many of her peers were also trying to encounter a romantic partner, either to cling to them and rise in status, or for a plethora of other reasons. However, her exact motivation might be unique amongst them all.
To a certain extent, every single Supreme Pillar heir who was taking part in the competition could be argued to be the result of selective breeding and genetic manipulation. Deliberately, only the most optimal descendants had been created, with often little to no love involved in the whole process. Of course, there were exceptions, but those just further proved the rule.
This celestial girl was not too different from the majority of her fellows–but in her case, her mother had gone above and beyond to design the most outstanding being that she could conceptualize.
For many, many eons, the Losta Family had been studying procreation in excruciating detail. By now, they could confidently declare themselves to be the foremost experts on the matter throughout the entire Heavenly Court, surpassing any and all knowledge that even the deceased Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Empress have about it.
The end result of all of that research was her, who had become the sole member of an entirely new, unprecedented race. Due to this, it was imperative for her to choose the best possible husband.
Not only would he have to be practically guaranteed to survive the Heavenly Succession, so that they could busy themselves with repeatedly producing children and making her race's members increase in number, but he also should have fantastic genes of his own to contribute.
But of course, there were still quite many who could tick all of these boxes. That was where her own personal taste would come into play. Not just the physical, but also the emotional chemistry had to be a match.
'I only have one shot at this, so I better don't mess it up.'
Reminding herself of this fact, she managed to suppress her passionate emotions. Her race was very unusual, having been burdened by many more restrictions than any other one that had ever been a part of the Heavenly Dao. According to her mother, she had implemented these to more precisely control the development direction of her race in the future, and to ensure that the quality of all offspring would never be unsatisfactory.
'... whoever I end up choosing in the future, I'll definitely tell him about the downsides in advance. I don't want to force him into a... very awkward situation for all time to come without him being aware of what he's getting himself into.'
Sighting to herself, she lamented the fact that nobody even remotely in their right mind would ever want to be with her if they knew what she did. As her mother's prized creation, she understood perfectly well how deplorably cursed of a race she belonged to.
'But all of that is a headache for the far-off future. After all, the chances of the one who I'll eventually end up with being amongst the candidates that I've found so far are incredibly low.'
Focusing on more pressing matters again, she decided to aim to do the bare minimum to successfully pass this round without a hitch.
-----
"Hey, Theo. Why are we still watching her now? Didn't you already figure out many things about her?"
Having been told about everything that Theodore had deduced, with Cheong Suhyeon offering some additional input, Xie Mei shot her beloved a questioning look. For many hours now, Cadi had been naked in her bathtub–whether that be before or after her transformation.
"It's not like we have anything better to do at the moment. I'll have to monitor her anyway, so why not do it together?"
His casual, truthful response elicited a mischievous chuckle from her. Snuggling a little closer, she pinched his side playfully, her gaze accusatory in nature.
"Oh really? Is that all? Aren't you just enjoying the view?"
Rolling his eyes, he pulled her a little closer. Evidently, Xie Mei had had enough of him staring at a now-worthy competitor–at least in terms of appearance–and wanted to be pampered.
"Who can say? It has certainly improved. Still, that girl's a landmine if I've ever seen one. The Lostas always spell trouble."
Staring directly into his eyes, Xie Mei's brows were furrowed slightly. Her instincts were practically screaming at her that another potential competitor for Theodore's love was approaching. The last time that she had felt this way was before his most recent meeting with Eleanora, yet it was presently far more intense.
"... and when have you ever been afraid of trouble?"
Feeling his smirk widen, he planted a gentle kiss on the complaining girl's lips. He knew that she wasn't seriously annoyed at him, but simply wanted to use this chance to be showered with affection. And considering their current circumstances, he was anything but averse to doing so.
For quite a few hours afterwards, keeping tabs on Cadi was relegated to being a matter of secondary importance. With Han Junqiao and eventually Cheong Suhyeon also joining in, time passed quickly.
They only stopped and made themselves presentable again when they noticed Cristyn approaching their location. Contrary to before she had left, a palpable, cold killing intent was currently shrouding her. Naturally, with her being in an extremely awful mood, they shouldn't outright flaunt their excessive intimacy.
"Come on in."
The door opening by itself right before she could raise her hand to knock, Theodore's voice invited her into the cosy room. For a moment, she thought that she had picked up on a strange smell, but it was gone immediately afterwards.
'It was probably just my imagination.'
Not wasting more than a few thoughts on it, she glanced at the projection in mid-air, only to do a double-take. Why were these four spying on an astonishingly beautiful, naked young lady!?
"That's Cadi Owain. As you can see, she underwent some changes not long ago. She has a connection to a powerful competitor of mine, although she's not fully aware of it yet."
Theodore's explanation made her raise an eyebrow in astonishment, then she nodded and took a seat on a sofa directly opposite of the one that he and his lovers were occupying.
"I see. More importantly, as you can already guess, I'm done with my part of the deal. I've sent you a number of documents and pictures via the network, but I thought it would be best to come here in person so that we can properly discuss any potential questions that may arise."
Shooting her an appreciative smile, he spent a few minutes reading through all of her findings, committing them to memory. At the same time, he determined every single individual's exact position via his perception.
There were a few who were missing, because they had left this world a long time ago. Still, the overwhelming majority was ready to be cleansed whenever Vigdis' investigation finished–and if it found no immediate, significant threats.
"Excellent work! I have to say, you've got quite the gift for clerical tasks."
His evaluation of Cristyn rising, he nodded at her in praise, then focused on one particular part of these records.
"I see you've judged Cadi Owain to be guilty as well, due to instigating her grandfather to kidnap new partners for her. Yeonnie, what have you discovered on your end?"
Previously, they had been too 'busy' to talk about what Cheong Suhyeon had found, but now was as good of a time as any to compare notes.
"She hasn't personally harmed anybody, and even the worst actions that she's taken out of arrogance are practically innocuous misdemeanours. Still, it cannot be denied that families have been ripped apart due to her thirst for beautiful, intimate companions. Although none of them ever regretted being with her, the same can't be said for their loved ones and friends whose feelings frequently got hurt as a result of her voracious desires."
Before she had enjoyed herself, Cheong Suhyeon had naturally got everything done, therefore her findings matched with those of Cristyn. By now, it was apparent that Cadi was not amongst the worst criminals that this world had to offer, but she had indeed done a lot of harm to innocent lives.
"Thank you, dear. Well, there you all have it. Under normal circumstances, I would agree to getting rid of her, but considering that she has not only sworn to change completely, but already gone through something very painful, I think she can be given a second chance. I also don't want to turn the one who she is connected to into an enemy just yet."
Turning to face Cristyn again, he had the Surveillance Array project a second image in mid-air. It was a sped-up recording of what had occurred earlier, bringing the blindfolded Oracle up to speed. Even though most of the internal suffering couldn't be fully made out, it was abundantly evident how miserable of an experience it had been.
"... I can live with that, Mr. Winter."
Cristyn knew that protesting here would be pointless, as she wasn't in the position to make excessive demands. That aside, she agreed with Theodore–Cadi had been punished enough, and potential troubles should best be avoided. A new foe for him also signified a new enemy for the Sybillans, as they had already boarded his ship. Ever since he had appeared, they had never really had a choice in the matter.
'But being his obedient Students in exchange for him saving all of our kind is more than worth it.'
With this topic out of the way, there were still some others that they had to talk about. Fortunately, the evening had only just begun.
Two hours before midnight, Cristyn finally bade them all a goodnight and took her leave. As soon as she was gone, Xie Mei hopped on Theodore's lap, staring at him with a dangerously kind smile.
"So. You've recorded her all along. Pray tell: What are you planning to do with those precious hours of delightful content?"
'It's simply one of my Surveillance Array's default features. It comes in handy a lot–just like earlier, when it helped to bring Lady Reese up to speed.'
Although he could have easily given her an explanation along those lines, in truth, that wasn't what she was asking for. To put it frankly, she was not yet satisfied. And judging by the amorous gazes of the other two, she wasn't alone in this.
That night, none of them got even a single wink of sleep.