Li Fei cradled Mrs. Annie Teresa's face in her hands, the soft pad of her snow-pale thumb tracing gently over the faint shadows beneath her eyes.
"You've got bloodshot eyes," she murmured.
"I've been having a little trouble sleeping lately…"
Mrs. Annie Teresa had already half-guessed her student's intentions. She reached up and closed her fingers around Li Fei's wrist, dropping her gaze as she spoke.
"Lilith's tuition — let me handle it from now on."
"No."
Mrs. Annie Teresa answered without a moment's hesitation.
In her eyes, she was a divorced woman raising a daughter alone — while Li Fei was a young, beautiful, clever, and kind-hearted angel, one whose light had pierced through the sunless grey of her inner world ever since her wife had left. A warmth she hadn't known in a very long time.
And yet — even as Mrs. Annie Teresa had found the courage to face this forbidden feeling head-on, even as she had broken the vow of fidelity she had sworn to her wife, she could never quite silence the voice inside her that catalogued every difference between them: age, emotional history, future prospects, social standing, even appearance. Standing before Li Fei, she carried a shame and inadequacy she could not shed no matter how hard she tried.
Her pride would not allow it — not from a student who was barely older than her own daughter, someone she should have been the one protecting and doting on. She would rather grind herself down with part-time work and sell off her possessions piece by piece than accept so much as a coin from her.
"You… you really don't need to… I'm managing just fine…"
Mrs. Annie Teresa stumbled over her words in a way that was rare for her, but her tone — faint as it was — carried an unmistakable thread of steel.
Did the top courtesan, sharp-eyed in matters of the heart, truly fail to see through her?
If she had been a good woman, she might have pulled in a favor or two — quietly asked Nicole-mama to waive Lilith's tuition, or arranged through a third party for someone to offer Annie a comfortable, dignified, well-paying position. She might even have paid the tuition herself and had Nicole send word to Lilith under some convenient pretext that it had been "waived" — never taking credit, never making a sound. Both the financial burden and Annie's pride, handled cleanly.
Unfortunately, she was not that kind of person.
If I do something good for you, you have to know it was me. And you repay every drop with a flood.
"I just want you to work because you love it," Li Fei said sincerely, her gaze steady and warm, "not because of some kind of… pressure."
She meant every word — and yet somewhere in her chest, a wicked little flame was burning, urging her to poke at the sensitive, restrained pride of the woman before her. To probe the line, and then slowly, carefully, peel it apart and chip it away — the way you braise a cut of beef low and slow until the meat is soft enough to fall apart on your chopsticks, rich and yielding, perfect to ladle over a bowl of white rice. Rush the heat, and you'd choke on it.
The corner of Mrs. Annie Teresa's mouth curved, almost against her will. The warmth of being looked after, of being cared for, was something she had gone without long enough that tasting it again made her chest ache — but she still shook her head, with that same quiet stubbornness:
"Thank you for the kind thought, little Li Fei, but please don't underestimate your teacher."
"Lilith is my daughter too. Paying for her schooling is my responsibility."
Li Fei shook her head right back, utterly unyielding.
"Then she'd be both our daughter, wouldn't she? Does that make her my senior or my… daughter-in-law?"
The usually bright and tactful top courtesan said it with the apparent emotional intelligence of a brick — naming the question of generational hierarchy that Mrs. Annie Teresa had been very carefully not thinking about. It landed like a small detonation. Annie blinked, her smile freezing in place, her expression cycling through something complicated before she managed:
"You two… she… let's just keep it separate, alright? She's your senior."
"No. I'm her stepmother. Are you saying you plan to abandon me after everything, Teacher?"
Li Fei planted both hands on her hips, wearing the expression of someone who was completely, shamelessly certain of being the favorite.
"That's not — that isn't what I meant at all. We can revisit this later. Class first."
Mrs. Annie Teresa let out a breath and softened her tone.
"Fine, later. But I'm paying Lilith's tuition when I go to the Academy tomorrow, and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
The words came out with the stubborn, slightly petulant energy of a girl digging her heels in.
Mrs. Annie Teresa went very still.
The statement had steamrolled straight past her wishes — and confirmed, flatly and without ceremony, the thing she most wanted to deny: that she could not afford her own daughter's tuition. It was a blade driven directly into a pride already tender with self-doubt.
She stared at this student of hers — so usually perceptive, so warmly playful — and felt as though she were looking at a stranger. A quiet grief moved through her.
Went a little too far… I need to earn back what I just lost.
Li Fei dropped her head, her heart hammering — exhilarated, the way you feel after dancing across a minefield and somehow still being alive.
"I said — that won't be necessary."
Mrs. Annie Teresa's voice carried a flicker of disappointment now. And something cooler beneath it.
Li Fei kept her head down and said nothing.
In the suffocating silence, Mrs. Annie Teresa exhaled slowly. She reached for her lesson notes and broke the quiet, her voice smoothed back to something gentler:
"Alright. Let's get started."
Li Fei still didn't look up — head bowed, silent as a child throwing a sulk.
"Li Fei, you—"
Mrs. Annie Teresa frowned and was about to say something — when she noticed it. A faint tremor in Li Fei's shoulders. Then a single crystalline drop fell, glinting as it slipped through the curtain of dark hair.
"I scared you… I just wanted to help… I'm sorry, please don't be angry with me."
The tearful, wounded voice — soft and shaking with hurt and fright — made Mrs. Annie Teresa flinch. And then, in a flash, memory surfaced: herself at that age, tender and easily unraveled, prone to spiraling over the smallest thing, to lying awake turning trivial moments into catastrophes.
In that instant, she understood — perhaps the feelings Li Fei carried for her ran far deeper than anything she had ever let show.
The muffled, trembling sob cut through every lingering trace of her displeasure. Mrs. Annie Teresa's heart broke clean open. The faint resentment and hurt dissolved in an instant. She fumbled her lesson notes onto the table and pulled Li Fei into her arms, her voice aching:
"It's alright. It's fine, I'm not angry…"
Li Fei shuddered against her, hiccupping through tears:
"I saw the dark circles under your eyes and it hurt so much — I just didn't want you to be like this… but the look on your face just now scared me. Did I do something wrong…? Please don't be angry, don't blame me, I'm so scared you won't like me anymore…"
Mrs. Annie Teresa, thoroughly flustered, patted and soothed her in a rush:
"No — you didn't do anything wrong. That was my fault."
In that moment, she felt nothing but remorse. She had been far too neurotic about it — had responded to genuine, open-hearted kindness with coldness and reproach.
What possible bad intentions could a girl have, when all she wanted was to help?
Why on earth had she responded to something so sincere with something so complicated?
Full of guilt, Mrs. Annie Teresa rubbed gentle circles on Li Fei's back — her heart in quiet torment, wishing she could pry herself open and pour herself into the space her own coldness had carved out.
And a physically healthy woman, with absolutely no defenses up, holding close a Witch with over three hundred points in Charisma — whose very natural scent carried an intoxicating, enchanting quality — was a situation with a very predictable outcome.
The warmth against her. The dizzying fragrance. The yielding, elastic curves pressed to her chest.
Mrs. Annie Teresa let out a pained, barely audible sound of misery, and silently condemned herself with every name she knew. Not only had she hurt this girl who had given her such wholehearted affection — now, while that same girl was weeping in her arms, her mind was producing thoughts that had no business being there. The shame and self-reproach were so acute she wanted to disappear into the floor.
How much time passed, Li Fei couldn't quite say — but eventually the soft crying stilled. She rested her chin on Mrs. Annie Teresa's shoulder and murmured, quietly:
"You're really not angry?"
"Mm."
Mrs. Annie Teresa, finding Li Fei's presence rather difficult to withstand at such close proximity, had fine strands of hair clinging to her temple and forehead — dampened by a fine sheen of sweat against pale skin.
She pressed her fingernails into her palm, trying to use the small pain to drive back the heat gathering in her chest. It wasn't working very well. She straightened her posture, lifted her chin, and tried to keep as little contact between them as possible — afraid of losing her composure entirely.
"Then why won't you let me help you and Lilith?"
"Because… because you're still young."
Flush-cheeked and stumbling, Mrs. Annie Teresa eventually landed on a reason with absolutely no persuasive power whatsoever.
She genuinely believed — as the newspapers described — that the top courtesan of the Golden Kumquat Tavern was an honest girl waiting tables and earning her way, a lotus that had grown from murky water without a spot of mud on her. The last thing she wanted was to stain that pristine, innocent heart with the complicated calculations of an adult.
"Young in what way, exactly?"
Feeling the rise in Mrs. Annie Teresa's temperature, hearing the quickening of her pulse, Li Fei straightened her posture and pressed closer.
"You're — you're still a student… I can't take your money."
Mrs. Annie Teresa produced a sound that was nearly a whimper, practically steaming from the top of her head.
"So what?"
Li Fei murmured, low and unhurried: "Teacher — do you really have to draw such a hard line between us?"
"I…"
Mrs. Annie Teresa opened her mouth and found she had nothing to say.
"Let me help you, okay~?"
Li Fei pressed her advantage, wrapping both arms around Annie's and tucking her elbow snugly into the soft swell of her side, swaying gently back and forth.
What woman, lonely for too long, could hold out against that?
Mrs. Annie Teresa's cheeks were burning. Her voice came out trembling:
"…Alright. Alright."
This time, there was no resistance left in her heart. Only an overwhelming warmth, and something impossibly tender.
"Yes!"
Li Fei broke into a radiant, tearful grin, her eyes curving into little crescents.
Objective achieved. She had eased Mrs. Annie Teresa's financial burden — and in the process, dismantled yet another layer of her psychological defenses. The capture progress bar was maxed out. The ending CG was within reach. The hidden route, "The Full Course Meal," was practically already unlocked.
And Mrs. Annie Teresa was, by any measure, the biggest winner in this exchange: a ruinously beautiful, kingdom-toppling top courtesan throwing herself at her door, and even paying for the privilege.
A portion of that student assistance fund was actually going toward tuition after all...
So — who exactly came out behind?
Li Fei cast a sly sidelong glance at the wedding portrait on the bedside table and stuck her tongue out at the silver-haired bride.
―
Deep in the night, the top courtesan finally came home from her shift. Her feet — sheathed in black silk — twisted with practiced ease, and both heels slipped free of her high heels in one smooth motion. Then one leg swung up, and the pink stilettos were sent skidding mercilessly across the floor.
What a night. Before the shift, she had stopped by the Mercenary Guild; during the shift, she had spent the entire evening on guard against Margaret — Qin Zhihua's master, that handsy, shameless fox — trying to snag her expensive bodystocking, and on top of that she'd had to appraise several batches of potions…
Life is hard. The top courtesan sighed.
The lights were still on inside. Ram had dozed off on the sofa, her pink hair a little fluffy and out of place.
The moment she heard Li Fei come in, Ram perked up at once, flew to the door to greet her, and tidied the discarded heels neatly into the shoe cabinet.
Li Fei settled lazily into a chair at the dining table. The other two fairies on night duty sprang into action — one lifted the insulated cover on the table to reveal three dishes and a bowl of soup, still warm; the other scooped a bowl of soft, fragrant white rice and set it in front of Li Fei with the chopsticks arranged beside it.
"Good work tonight. Go to bed — Ram and I are fine."
She sent them off with their goodnight kisses, then picked up her chopsticks and set to work on the rice and dishes with unabashed enthusiasm.
A Witch is loyal to her desires — appetite included. The tavern had its own fine food, yes, but there was something about coming home late and sitting down to a warm, home-cooked meal that, once you'd had it, you simply could not give up — especially when you never had to worry about your figure.
Ram had only been learning to cook for a short while, but her raw talent was evident. The few stir-fried dishes were nothing extraordinary — but they suited Li Fei's palate perfectly, and they went down with rice beautifully.
"You worked hard, Ram."
Li Fei ate with evident contentment, pausing to give Ram a warm word of praise.
The two of them — one person, one fairy — enjoyed the rare, almost-private quiet of the night. Almost, because there were still a few fairy eyes peering hopefully from the sofa, little faces full of envy, all wanting to be near their Mother of Fairies too.
"If you can't sleep, come over."
With her bowl finally empty, Li Fei gave a lazy wave, her voice softened with tiredness.
The small fairies fluttered over without a sound and nestled against her — one draped over her shoulder, another curled up in her lap — breathing in the warmth that clung to their Mother of Fairies, eyes drooping shut in contentment.
Before her shift tonight, Li Fei had stopped by the Mercenary Guild and converted all of the Secret Garden's resources into cash. With Leona there to personally oversee things, she had even been treated to a comfortable dinner along the way, and picked up several useful pieces of information.
As for how all those considerable materials, crystals, and gold dust had made it back home?
That, of course, was entirely thanks to the city guards — those paragons of public service, ever eager to bear the burdens of their community. Such enthusiastic dedication moved Ms. Li Fei, who had never paid a single coin of taxes, deeply and sincerely.
Among the pieces of news she had gathered from Leona, the one that had caught Li Fei's attention most was this:
There was an auction tomorrow evening.
A quintessential feature of any isekai worth its salt. Absolutely not to be missed.
Full of anticipation, Li Fei extended one hand. Ram understood immediately and produced all of her goldsmith's notes, laying them into her mother's palm.
It had to be said — the "Angel of the Isolated Island," in her selfless sacrifice, had come to fully appreciate what it meant for virtue to be its own reward. Thanks to the tax reduction benefits tied to her Honor Medal, plus the not-entirely-insignificant social capital of Bai Mengtian and Leona, every last fee had been waived: the processing costs from buying the house, the Mercenary Guild's cut on liquidating the Secret Garden's resources, and all associated taxes.
As a result, the total value of the goldsmith's notes in Li Fei's possession had broken through fifty thousand gold coins — comprising twelve thousand from the battle spoils Zhihua-jie had entrusted Leona to sell, five thousand left over from the loan after the property purchase, over thirty thousand from the Secret Garden's wealth, plus income from selling drinks and appraising potions.
Gazing at the portrait of the Dwarf King printed on the notes, Li Fei found her mind drifting unbidden to the history behind the goldsmith's note system.
Long ago, the peoples of the Order-aligned factions stored their wealth in the royal treasury to keep it safe from thieves — never quite realizing that the lamia guardians, the nagas, and the titans who layered the treasury's defenses could ward off every pickpocket in the world, but were entirely powerless against the king they served.
One hundred and thirty-four years ago, the brilliant and audacious Dwarf King, Martin Jack, overrode the protests of his merchants and ministers, seized every last piece of gold in the royal vault, and embarked on a ruinously aggressive military campaign — using an army of golden golems and puppet dragons to grind through the Chaos-aligned cities' defenses one by one, expanding the territory of the "Ant Court" by a full third.
The war was won. The confiscated gold was returned, to the last coin. But the trust that had been broken could not be repaired.
The various peoples of the continent grew more in awe of their king than ever — and never deposited their wealth in a royal treasury again. Instead, they turned to goldsmiths: paying them to mint their gold into coins and hold it in safekeeping.
Before long, they discovered that the receipts the goldsmiths issued for stored gold could be used directly as currency, sparing the endless trouble of physical deposits and withdrawals. And the goldsmiths, for their part, realized that the notes they issued had come to be valued exactly like coin themselves…
Before counterfeit notes had a chance to flood the market, the colossal institution known as the "Golden Covenant" entered the world — dripping, from crown to sole, with blood and filth, and yet impossible for anyone to refuse its allure.
By the time the Golden Covenant's goldsmith's notes had spread to every corner of the continent — driving ordinary people to kill for them, to lose their minds over them — it became clear to all that routing five Chaos-aligned cities in a single campaign, vanquishing over a hundred hydras, and housing the immortal-eyed skull of a black dragon in one's trophy room were remarkable feats, yes. But the true, world-altering legacy of His Majesty Martin Jack, one of the Seven Supremes of the Continent of Enlos, was the Golden Covenant he had built with his own hands.
"Here's hoping there's something worth buying tomorrow…" Li Fei stretched out a long, satisfied yawn and rose unhurriedly to her feet. "Ram — don't forget to put the money somewhere safe."
She padded toward the bedroom doorway — and paused on the threshold.
Tonight: sleep, or Meditation?
Sleep felt like squandering her life.
Meditation felt incredibly exhausting.
After several seconds of genuine internal debate, the Witch — loyal to her desires — chose the third option.
She drew a slow breath, ran her tongue along her lips, and turned to look at Ram. Her voice came out soft, unhurried, and carrying just a thread of warmth beneath the laziness:
"Get yourself cleaned up, then come to my room."
____
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