The bedroom floor was covered in a tangle of vivid, grotesquely twisted lines.
At the foot of the bed stood a small black-wood statue of a succubus, and beneath it sat a copper basin filled with the ash of lily petals.
Morning light slipped through the gap in the curtains and fell across a knot of intertwined black and reddish-brown hair.
"Water… please…"
Li Fei moved her pale, chapped lips and managed the words in a feeble whisper.
A fairy of breathtaking loveliness was nestled against the Mother of Fairies' chest. Roused by the sound, she opened her eyes — their dewy depths still shimmering with a lingering, irresistible allure. She let out a long, lazy yawn, then wobbled out of the bedroom in a drifting arc and returned shortly after with her elder sister in tow.
Eve perched sideways on the edge of the pillow and lifted Li Fei's head, while Ram tenderly brought water to her lips — all while wearing a faintly pink expression of reproach:
"Eve, Mother still has school today, you know."
"I knoooow, I'll be more careful next time, I promise."
Eve stuck out her tongue, her slender, crystal-clear legs swinging like a child on a swing.
Glug. Glug. Glug.
After the cool water made its way down, Li Fei pried her eyes open with considerable effort. Having slept for less than an hour, her mind was a fog of static.
Slowly, painfully, her sluggish brain dragged itself back to consciousness — and the events of the previous night came trickling back.
The cultivation procedure for [Enthralling Blood] began with preparing a succubus figurine carved from abyssal black wood, exactly one and a third feet tall, and placing it due west in the room. Next, one had to inscribe the corresponding ritual markings on the floor, then burn forty-four lily petals in the copper basin. Seven grams of petal ash were to be collected and blended with other ingredients into a medicinal solution.
The final step: generate the necessary catalyst herself, squeeze the handmade "orange juice" into the solution, and consume it within thirty seconds.
All things going smoothly, the [Enthralling Blood] esoteric art required only seven days to complete. While the ritual markings, ingredient ratios, and material types changed from day to day, the overall difficulty was manageable.
The problem was that her household contained a tiny little succubus wearing a fairy's skin.
Which was why last night had played out like one of those scenarios straight out of a certain genre of film — "young mother in the middle of squeezing her orange juice when the door is suddenly flung open."
Eve had been born with far too much charm, and was exceptionally skilled at weaponizing every physical advantage she possessed. The result was that the Mother of Fairies, in a moment of half-willing surrender, had watched her Morality score come crashing down to -20.
Li Fei, thoroughly ashamed of herself as a parent, pressed both hands over her eyes.
Today is the third day of Zhihua's seclusion.
I — I'm so sorry… You've been in seclusion for too long, that's all…
A moment later, legs unsteady and face drained of color, Li Fei made her way to the dining table with the help of two supporting fairies. In the living room, a chorus of little fairy voices chattered and played.
"It's getting a bit cramped in here… but never mind, we'll be moving in a couple of days."
The Mother of Fairies managed a gentle smile, her voice barely above a murmur. "But once we're in the new house, I expect everyone to work hard — my dear little maid-ladies."
Amid the fairies' cheerful cheering, Li Fei's gaze drifted and landed on one particular fairy — one whose looks were especially striking, whose skin was especially luminous, whose figure curved with a sinuous, undulating grace that carried an unmistakable air of aristocratic elegance. She had violet hair.
"Sasha — unless I give you other instructions, you are to fly out to the Secret Garden every single day and check on things. Is that understood?"
"Y-yes…"
Sasha nodded with careful, tentative movements — looking for all the world like a meek young wife who had just been scolded.
Our ambitious Miss Li, who had a natural gift for poaching talent from right under people's noses, proved equally gifted in the art of wielding a puppet ruler to issue commands in her name.
Whatever one might say about Sasha, she had led the Secret Garden for several years and commanded genuine prestige among its inhabitants. Killing her outright or demoting her to a household maid would be a waste. But leaving her in the Secret Garden unsupervised made Li Fei uneasy — she was worried Sasha might stir up trouble and make Li Yue's life difficult.
So Li Fei had come up with a three-fold arrangement, requiring Sasha to make the round trip every single day.
First: with Sasha present to lend her authority, it would help eliminate any lingering threats and take some pressure off Li Yue, who had rushed out to Viranean overnight.
Second: even for a fairy, a full round trip every day would be exhausting enough to leave her thoroughly drained. As everyone knew, a fairy who had used up every last scrap of energy and stamina had neither the time nor the inclination to plot anything.
Third: reporting back daily kept the information pipeline flowing in real time, allowing Li Fei to refine her management strategy as needed.
As for travel costs — there was nothing to worry about. Last night, leveraging her considerable personal connections, Li Fei had received a full crate of transit passes delivered in person by Lady Kalida herself. Kalida had then turned on the spot and instructed her subordinates to adjust the patrol routes on the Viranean side, ensuring that at least three guard rotations would pass by the Secret Garden. She had also made a point of emphasizing: if any fairy — or any fairy who had undergone wraith-transformation — called for assistance, the guards were to conduct themselves with empathy, professionalism, and a spirit of public service, solving problems for those in need and ensuring every visitor felt the warmth of a spring day…
"Breakfast is ready."
Ram carried a large bowl of soup to the table and set it in front of Li Fei.
"That smells incredible."
Li Fei, who had toiled through the entire night, breathed in the sweet, savory fragrance of the broth and closed her eyes in bliss.
It had to be said — Ram truly lived up to her SSR status. Her domestic talent was off the charts, her culinary skill was climbing by the day, and her perceptiveness was sharp enough that the moment she noticed Li Fei growing tired of pastries, she had begun preparing a rotating variety of proper meals instead.
"Mm?"
Li Fei lifted the small white ceramic spoon, took a sip, and made a puzzled sound. Then she fell into thought.
There was a familiar flavor in this soup.
[Nourishing Fish Broth]
[Description: Contains powdered snake-demoness scales.]
"Ram — why did you add snake-demoness scales to the soup?"
Li Fei, whose pride in certain areas was both inflated and acutely sensitive, fixed Ram with a deeply suspicious look.
"It was Eve who asked me to make it before she went to sleep. She said —"
"— Mmph — mmphmm —"
Eve pressed her hand over Ram's mouth, her face wreathed in a dazzling, coy smile.
"My body is a little run-down. I need to build my strength back up."
"Mmmm…"
Li Fei puffed out her cheeks and attempted to think — but her swimming, foggy head scattered her thoughts the moment they formed.
And the little fairy's smile had somehow taken on the gracious warmth of an accomplished wife and mother — tender and attentive, with just a thread of irresistible charm woven through it. Like someone coaxing a child to finish her meal, Eve took a sip of the broth herself as demonstration, then ladled up another spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and held it up to Li Fei's lips:
"Your turn — open wide, ahhh—"
Under the fairies' devoted care, Li Fei drank the soup down to the last drop, spoonful by spoonful.
A knock at the door rang out without warning. Li Fei jolted upright, every trace of drowsiness instantly gone. She shot a glance at the dense cluster of strawberry marks covering Eve's neck and her eyes went wide:
"Get to the bedroom — and don't come out!"
Eve giggled and flew into the bedroom. Li Fei pulled on her sleep-robe at the speed of light.
Sofia, dressed in her white uniform, stepped out of her boots and padded inside on black-stockinged feet, moving with careful, quiet steps.
She was met with the sight of her young mother-in-law — who had somehow grown even more devastatingly beautiful and wickedly alluring overnight, radiating a magnetism that was almost painful to look at — seated at the vanity table, allowing a fairy to comb through her long hair.
The tall, supermodel-statuesque Blood Clan girl with the cool, composed face drew a short, sharp breath. She immediately dropped her gaze and offered a rather guilty greeting:
"G-good morning."
Sofia's voice carried a distinct undercurrent of guilt and self-reproach.
On one hand — she had gotten her mother-in-law into a crash yesterday, and while she herself had come through it all right, her mother-in-law had let out a yelp that sounded absolutely dreadful.
On the other hand, having reflected on her own wandering thoughts at the time of the accident, Sofia felt that this kind of mental infidelity was a profound betrayal of her pregnant fiancée.
"Morning."
Li Fei's voice was even and unreadable — no warmth, no displeasure.
She flicked her hair back over one shoulder with a casual toss, then gave her head a gentle shake. The dark cascade rippled and fell. She extended both arms outward, and the cluster of fairies hovering nearby began to change her out of her sleep-robe.
After briefly running through the day's schedule and confirming there would be nothing requiring strenuous physical activity, Li Fei gave her instruction:
"Sofia — fetch my bodystocking for me. It's in the wardrobe over there."
Because the bedroom couldn't fit all the fairies comfortably, Li Fei had long since moved her wardrobe and vanity table out to the living room — the better to use her morning grooming routine as an opportunity to interact with her daughters.
"Of course."
Sofia seemed to come back to herself and walked over to the wardrobe in a daze. Her eyes immediately landed on two garments of clearly superior quality — both deceptively thin. She asked with a faint note of nervousness:
"Which one would you like?"
Li Fei smiled — and gave her a sidelong look laden with just a hint of coyness.
"Which one do you prefer?"
"Both… both are perfectly fine…"
"That's a bit of a cop-out, don't you think? Whichever one you want to see me in — just pick it up and bring it over."
"A-alright…"
Sofia reached out with a slightly trembling hand and picked up the soft, smooth garment that had been in such intimate contact with her mother-in-law's skin, then made her way over on stiff legs.
"Oh? So you wanted to see me in the black one."
Li Fei propped her cheek on one hand, her alluring lips curving upward, voice tinged with playful mischief. "You have good taste, I'll give you that."
"N-no, it wasn't — I didn't —"
Sofia stammered for what felt like a very long time. Against all odds, actual color began to bloom across her pale face.
"Help me put it on."
Li Fei rose to her feet, arms extended to either side — and a certain snow-white topography quivered with the movement, in imminent peril of an avalanche.
"That… doesn't seem entirely appropriate."
Sofia's face flushed scarlet in an instant. She snapped her head to the side and squeezed her eyes firmly shut.
"Goodness."
The wicked mother-in-law was clearly not about to let her flustered little daughter-in-law off the hook. She heaved a long, mournful sigh. "We're not even officially family yet and you've already started treating your own mother-in-law like an inconvenience. I suppose I shouldn't count on enjoying any family warmth in my old age after all…"
Sofia folded. She turned her head to one side and pinched the exceptionally fine fabric between her fingertips — making every effort not to make contact with the even-more-exceptionally-fine skin beneath — and with painstaking care, helped her mother-in-law dress.
Not looking made it all too easy to accidentally touch. Looking made the experience just as deeply sinful.
In the time it took to put on one garment, Sofia's body temperature had climbed to something approaching that of a living human.
Of course, if she had looked more carefully, she might have noticed certain rather familiar-looking bite marks.
"All fingers and thumbs. How am I supposed to trust you to look after Eve if you can't even manage this?"
Li Fei delivered the scolding with theatrical exasperation.
"By the way… where is Eve? I don't think I've seen her."
Sofia asked in a very small voice.
"Oh, she was absolutely determined to have me teach her Chinese chess last night. She's sleeping it off right now."
Li Fei delivered this with a perfectly straight face.
"Then I'll just go in and check on her…"
"No. She only just fell asleep — don't disturb her."
"I won't wake her up, I promise…"
"Oh? So my word means nothing now, does it?"
Faced with her mother-in-law's stern yet slightly haggard and unexpectedly adorable expression, Sofia finally relinquished her plan to look in on her pregnant fiancée.
"Right then — take me to school."
Having changed into her mage robes, Li Fei broke into a bright smile and tucked her arm through Sofia's, sweeping out the door with her in tow.
―
"There are parasites in our City Hall!"
Melodia brought her hand down on the arm of the sofa with a sharp crack, her voice simmering with fury. "Managing the environment of Loxibrook is their responsibility and their mandate. And the financial reports that City Hall publishes spell it out in black and white — 'maintenance of Moonlight Wolf Den No. 3 ecosystem' is a listed expenditure. The citizens approved that budget line because not just our Academy, but a number of other Transcendents as well, occasionally need Moonlight Wolves for use as research specimens."
"But yesterday I took my students out there for a practical combat lesson — and after searching for ages, we managed to find a grand total of three wolves!"
"What in the absolute hell is wrong with those people at City Hall? Are they all brainless baboons?! For a measly handful of Moonlight Wolves, do they really need to be purchasing hundreds of herbivores for feed? Do they really need to station dedicated personnel on-site? It's an absolute farce!"
"I strongly suspect that enormous sum of tax money has been lining their own pockets — and I have evidence. That's the blood and sweat of every taxpayer in this city!"
"Those parasites — what do they think the law is? What do they think public opinion is?"
Today the glamorous senior teacher had swept her radiant golden hair up into a high ponytail, lending her an air of crisp, decisive capability. And her magnificent, full-grown figure — ever-majestic as ever — swayed in concert with her animated words and gestures, ponytail swinging along with the rest of her.
The Special Enrollment student — guilty as charged but wearing a face of utter innocence — very thoughtfully poured a cup of tea and passed it over to soothe the teacher's throat.
"Thank you."
Melodia's expression softened slightly. She uncrossed her legs and rested them flat on the floor, the soles of her long boots touching the ground. Her thighs, wrapped in flesh-toned stockings, looked delightfully soft — nothing like Zhihua's perfectly straight, slender chopstick legs.
Li Fei's gaze settled on Melodia's legs — partly to admire them, and partly to observe the hand that rested on them.
For the past few days, Li Fei had developed a new habit: whenever she saw another woman's hands, she would instinctively use Zhihua's hands as her unit of measurement and make the comparison…
By rough visual estimate, Melodia's hands appeared to be about half a centimeter to a full centimeter longer than Zhihua's.
"Fei-bao, you look absolutely terrible."
Irena leaned in and poked her cheek with one finger.
"She really does."
Melodia tossed back the last of her red tea, then turned and cupped Li Fei's pallid little face in her hand, her voice laced with genuine concern.
"Ahem, ahem — the soul injury hasn't fully healed yet."
Li Fei coughed twice, then let a smile cross her face. "But as long as there are more survivors because of it, everything I've paid is worth it."
"Don't let your Meditation fall behind schedule."
Nicole intoned gently from nearby.
Compared to Melodia's style — blazing and radiant as the sun, broadcasting her allure to the absolute fullest — Nicole was considerably more understated. Her elegantly refined oval face, her slender waist, her perennially simple pale-colored robes: she gave the impression of a graceful, literary young wife. But Li Fei knew perfectly well that in certain respects, Nicole was in no way inferior to Melodia in terms of… stature.
"Yes, yes."
Li Fei — who had not managed a single moment of Meditation since returning from Viranean — nodded dutifully. "Nicole-mama, is there anything that can speed up Meditation efficiency?"
"There is."
Nicole answered without a moment's hesitation. "Among the various privileges available to Special Enrollment students — in addition to access to the Druid Cathedral, use of the Mana Spring, and spellcasting permit rights — there is one fairly significant benefit: the Folded Space Key."
"Within the folded spaces controlled by the Magic Academy, certain ones can provide resources that substantially accelerate Meditation speed."
"That's wonderful news."
Li Fei let out a small cheer, then appeared to remember something. Her eyes curved into a smile. "Does Grace have the corresponding access as well?"
"Yes."
Nicole gave a clear affirmative.
Excellent. Handled correctly, this could yield double the returns…
Li Fei's eyes sparkled. In the space of a single heartbeat, ninety-nine different manipulation strategies had already surfaced in her mind.
She couldn't really be blamed for the greed — she was simply far too busy at night to fit in any Meditation at all. And she had absolutely no intention of taking the ascetic path, sitting there trying to cultivate sheer willpower like the monk Fahai.
Which raised a rather interesting question — how had Bai Mengtian, who was surely even busier than herself, managed to cultivate to that level of power? Could she possibly be using a "yin absorbs yin" technique…?
She tucked the scheming little thought away and let out a wistful sigh.
"Speaking of which — the exchange event a month from now. I already have my ideal teammates in mind, but the selection is by random draw. What a shame."
"Fortune always smiles on the kind-hearted. And it would be very difficult to find anyone kinder than the Angel of the Isolated Island — wouldn't it?"
Nicole casually dropped the nickname a certain newspaper had bestowed upon Li Fei, then extended one finger and pressed it against the vivid bronze medal on Li Fei's chest — letting it sink deep into the soft, vast warmth it rested against — and amid the sounds of Irena and Melodia both leaning back in their seats and drawing sharp breaths of astonishment, smiled serenely:
"I'm quite curious — which two talented students has our Special Enrollment student set her sights on?"
"Grace! And… Lilith, I think."
Li Fei brought her hands together at her chest, fingers interlaced — like a pure, innocent shepherdess making a wish to a genie for an end to all war and hunger in the world. The image was positively saintly.
But it was perfectly clear that on the Magic Academy's little patch of earth, making a wish to My Dean-Mama was a considerably more reliable method than any genie — wasn't it?
____
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