Lady Annie had come up with a triple-win idea.
It would push her to take that first step and get used to the life she might face once she was living with her young girlfriend.
It would help correct her girlfriend's current abnormal state of mind, so she could return to normal sooner.
And it would let her daughter let go of feelings she shouldn't have.
It all depended on whether Miss Grace would agree.
Under the girl's silent gaze, Lady Annie's face grew redder and redder. Shame nearly shredded her reason and tempted her to bolt out the door.
But what followed was a thrill of the Forbidden, born of defying morality and propriety. It kept prodding her flustered, anxious heart, and little flutters welled up from nowhere.
Do I want her to say yes?
The thought flashed past. Lady Annie searched her conscience and came back with a terrible answer.
Amid the thunder of her nearly uncontrollable heartbeat, the dent beneath Lady Annie's wedding ring burned hotter than ever.
Grace studied the nervous, bashful housewife before her, her small face a little troubled.
That mature face resembled Lilith's in places. It had the same touching innocence, but softer and more refined, the kind that made you want to protect her on sight.
Grace's eyes flickered. The easy warmth of her bedroom night talks with Lilith, and the gentle smiles Lady Annie wore whenever she hosted her, flashed through her mind like slides.
If the daughter was fine, then the mother should be fine too… right?
Miss Poker Face let out an almost imperceptible sigh. In the gray mood of someone who has already thrown in the towel, someone who figures that once things are rotten to the core they can't get any worse, she gave a small nod.
"Okay."
The moment the words fell, Lady Annie's heart lurched.
Before she'd had her answer, she'd harbored a faint hope. But once the yes reached her ears, this reserved, virtuous housewife didn't relax at all. Her thoughts tangled into knots, and mountainous waves rose on the lake of her heart.
What… what have I done?
I actually invited Lilith's good friend to [stay overnight] in my own home? With another girl young enough to be my daughter? In front of my daughter? Goddess of Nature, they're both Lilith's juniors. They're younger than my own daughter…
The jumble of chaotic thoughts left Lady Annie's eyes unfocused, and she could even hear a faint ringing in her ears.
But an arrow once loosed can't be called back. Even Miss Grace had agreed to such an improper, rude request, so Annie Teresa, as the older woman, could not possibly take it back now.
I really am a shameless, lowly adult… I only hope Lilith can forgive this failure of a mother.
Lady Annie said goodbye to Grace in a daze.
…
Li Fei paced the living room, peering this way and that, looking for a good spot to dig a tunnel.
The extraordinary path was rugged and full of obstacles, every step fraught with unpredictable danger. Clashes with others were unavoidable, but the word "steady" had to stay front and center in her mind at all times.
With the Year of Mist arriving, Loxibrook's defenses would be thin for a while. In theory the odds of meeting danger inside the city were still slim, but Li Fei had learned her lesson the hard way in the wolf den, and she decided to leave herself a way out in advance, just in case.
In the end she settled on a tunnel in the basement for emergency escapes. She'd put another under the wardrobe in one of the first-floor bedrooms as a backup exit, and one under the fireplace as the backup's backup.
As for construction costs, there was nothing to worry about. Li Fei would be back from Folded Space B-01 in under a month, having advanced to Sequence 6. By then she could raise Summoning Magic to the advanced tier and gain the ability to summon elemental creatures. And what better engineer is there than an earth elemental?
All she had to do was give up Summon Sprite for a while, and she'd have a batch of loyal, uncomplaining elemental workers.
Once the tunnel entrances were settled, Li Fei went back to her room, burned the midnight oil, and set about racing through the third-year textbooks on her own.
Beside her, Qin Zhihua gazed quietly at the Young Madam's profile, her heart a jumble of mixed feelings.
She used to be irritated by Li Fei's carefree, easygoing ways. Now that Li Fei truly kept herself pure as jade, Qin Zhihua couldn't feel happy about it.
This wasn't the person she loved at all. It was a different soul wearing the same skin.
In the end she pushed open the door, brewed a bowl of medicinal soup, and carried it over to the one she loved.
"Li Fei, it's time for your medicine."
"I'm not drinking it. I'm not sick."
The Young Madam glanced at the potion's effect and refused without a second thought.
[Qin Zhihua's Edition Azure Mint Neutralizing Potion]
Description: Drink it. Now.
Qin Zhihua sighed and didn't press her.
…
The night passed uneventfully. Li Fei rose early, dressed briskly, and headed straight for the War Academy.
Miss Angel had arrived at the gravity room ahead of her. Li Fei meant to change into loose workout clothes as before, but she was stopped.
"There may be a faster way to help you adapt to your power."
Miss Chloe was clearly no liar. Her expression was perfectly earnest, but the halo above her head flickered on and off like a lie detector, its blinking light announcing that the test subject was lying.
"Let's hear it."
Li Fei raised her chin.
"Dancing."
"If you can dance in the gravity room," Miss Angel said, "your control over your body is sure to improve."
Li Fei arched a brow. After a moment's thought, she realized it might actually work.
After all, dancing builds balance, coordination, and flexibility… especially dancing in high heels.
Trying a different kind of training now and then might bring surprising results.
"Good idea."
Li Fei agreed readily. She was about to pick out a pair of high heels from her spatial ring when a gift box came into view.
Miss Chloe held it out in both hands and said earnestly, "This is a thank-you for picking out that dress for me last time."
She looked a little nervous, and a little expectant. Li Fei could understand. This might well be the first time the socially stunted Miss Angel had ever picked out a dress for a "friend."
She didn't want to waste any more energy on this tangled mess of feelings, but the Vice Dean's face had to be respected. So Li Fei gave a slight nod and tugged the ribbon loose.
Inside lay a peach-pink pleated gown in velvet, its fabric sumptuous without being flashy, giving off a lazy, romantic, old-world charm. There was also a pair of matching heels, elegant and shimmering, their graceful lines lending them a natural beauty.
As a hostess, Li Fei knew at a glance that the gown was expensive. Very expensive. Beneath its seemingly simple, retro cut lay details that only a professional would notice, and be dazzled by.
Miss Top Courtesan's gaze swept over the gown and quickly found an inconspicuous swan emblem.
Even in her cold state, she couldn't help marveling inwardly: Simp Angel is seriously badass…
[Black Swan] was famed for elegance and refinement, a brand aimed squarely at "high-Sequence female clients." Every item could be tied to words like "custom," "luxury," and "limited edition," and a single garment often cost as much as high-Sequence materials. They insisted on hand stitching and carried no enchantments or attributes of any kind, all supposedly in pursuit of ultimate beauty, treating every piece of clothing as a work of art.
Clearly, even on the Enros Continent, [Black Swan] was the luxury of luxuries. High-Sequence powerhouses were no fools, but it was like on Earth: a watch that cost a few dozen bucks keeps perfect time, yet successful people still buy expensive name brands. High-Sequence experts cared about face too. Attending an important occasion in "a dress everyone knows is expensive" was what counted as proper, and a [Black Swan] gown could certainly deliver that.
And the current owner of [Black Swan], the pearl of Loxibrook's sister city and the youngest person on Enlos's top ten rich list, Miss Audrey, tearfully pocketed 99% of the added value on every item.
As for why Miss Top Courtesan, who could never afford a single [Black Swan] item, knew the brand so well?
All she could say was that when she first entered the trade, she'd cherished an unrealistic fantasy: that one day Miss Audrey would become her client, fall in love at first sight with a woman of the red-light world, and play out a stirring love story. In the end, the rookie hostess would marry into wealth and become the proprietress of [Black Swan]…
Li Fei quietly reappraised the financial strength of this Simp Angel who could hand out [Black Swan] as a gift, and her professional instincts as a hostess began to stir. Evidently, besides beauty, money could also stimulate hormone secretion and accelerate the neutralizing of [Azure Mint]'s effects. This was a major biological discovery.
Without a word, she changed into the gown. The retro, sumptuous peach velvet lent Li Fei a touch of mature elegance. One long sleeve was tugged slightly back at the cuff, and the folds of the sleeve and the sliver of slender, snow-pale wrist kept her from looking too stiff and severe. The V-neck showed off the charm of her fine collarbones, and below that things grew a bit dazzling, perhaps because her skin was too fair, and the view too deep and too full.
Below the waist, cinched into a graceful line, the pleated skirt didn't flutter lightly like a JK skirt. It had a rich, weighty drape that made her glimpsed, pearly ankles all the more alluring. Even the sound of the peach heels on the floor was pleasing, as lovely as a nightingale's song.
"Thank you for picking out this dress for me. It's beautiful. I like it a lot."
Li Fei's thanks were utterly without inflection, yet the anticipation in Miss Chloe's eyes plainly turned to joy.
Then candlelight flickered on inside the gravity room, which should have been a place of blood and sweat, and a mellow, jazz-like melody drifted through the air.
Does this really comply with the school rules, Madam Vice Dean…
Li Fei had barely begun to feel the soaring ambition of "Is a mythic bloodline something one is born with? I could take her place," when a fingertip sheathed in a silver-gray long glove was held out before her, palm up.
Miss Top Courtesan turned and found that the angel beside her had changed outfits as if by sleight of hand. The cold metal armor dress had become a sleeveless silver-gray gown, and her radiant silver hair fell like a waterfall. The straight, form-fitting cut accentuated her cool, holy aura and her tall frame, and the hem falling to her insteps made her already long legs look even longer, a strikingly beautiful sight.
So people really do dance a duet in ball gowns by candlelight at the crack of dawn… I came here to train…
Miss Top Courtesan sighed silently inside, yet her slender fingertips obediently settled on the glove in the angel's palm.
As the saying goes, one wrong step leads to many more, and she'd taken the plunge for a living. Li Fei only wanted to train, but after accepting a VIP client's luxury gift, the service ethic ingrained in her very bones left Miss Top Courtesan unable to refuse a request to dance.
Chloe led the helpless Miss Top Courtesan to the center of the gravity room, and the gravity multiplier slowly began to climb.
Miss Angel slipped an arm around Li Fei's waist and looked down at the stunning face of the human woman.
"Ready?"
Li Fei was already tall and alluring, but with the height gap between their races she had to tilt her head back to look up at Chloe.
The face reflected in her dark pupils was brighter than moonlight, and the exquisite tear mole stirred ripples of tender, shimmering water in those eyes. It was as if even the Azure Mint in her blood was being Cleansed under that cold white moon.
To the rapid, scattered clatter of her heels, Li Fei was led along like a puppet on strings, struggling to keep up with the rhythm.
"Control your center of gravity."
The Vice Dean cradled the petite human woman in the long, graceful crook of her arm. Through glove and skirt, her fingertips glided over the soft muscle fibers, mapping their grain as deftly as the legendary butcher carving an ox. She pressed lightly on several points where force was generated, helping Li Fei correct her faulty posture.
Li Fei steadied. Even under five times gravity she turned lightly, her skirt blooming like a rose and her flying hair lovelier than the melody itself.
Gravity kept climbing, and the steps quickened. To keep her balance, Li Fei instinctively let her tail out, which strengthened her equilibrium.
Chloe, who had walked here over the bones of countless demons, knew very well how to use a tail. She reminded her, "Don't force the tail itself. Use your waist to transmit the power…"
As she spoke, her flawless silver gloves moved over Li Fei's slender, supple waistline as if playing a piano. The force passed through skin into the depths of the muscle and set the tail swaying.
Li Fei quickly grasped the cleverness of this way of generating force. She tried to memorize and learn it, but she couldn't focus.
The force quivered through her waist, a tingling, aching sensation that spread from the inside out and wouldn't go away. It stirred memories she had nailed deep into the back of her mind over the last two days: different women gripping hard, steadying gently, pinching fiercely at her sweat-slick waist, making Miss Top Courtesan dance.
What am I thinking? This is the Death-Heralding Angel, the Vice Dean of the War Academy, giving me personal instruction! Do you know how many people would kill for this treatment?
Li Fei, focus!
Miss Top Courtesan roared in helpless fury inside her head, but her heart rate had clearly gone haywire.
Luckily, the melody was drawing to its end.
The romantic final note sounded, and the dance steps came to an abrupt halt.
Under the soft light, the tall, cool angel lowered her gaze. Pure white wings spread behind her and then folded forward, enclosing the delicate female in their embrace. In her arms nestled the succubus in a peach-pink velvet gown, her snowy skin spilling from the V-neckline and making her look especially bewitching, her long succubus tail swaying gently as it wound around the hem at the angel's knees.
Angel and demon were woven into a cocoon, nurturing something that set hearts fluttering, something called [Friendship], or so Chloe understood it, at least.
Cloud Dragon Fold (Lv5) → Succubus Dance Steps (Lv1)
Li Fei, gradually calming down, stared at the System Panel and reflected ruefully.
With such a wonderful teaching resource, what on earth was I thinking about?
Meanwhile, confusion rose in the angel's heart too:
Is the mood right to invite her to make a crystallization of friendship together?
____
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