Li Fei had a dream.
Asuna personally clasped a silver bracelet onto her wrist, then she and the treacherously righteous Sofia flanked her on either side, marching her into a cell sealed off by iron bars.
Kalida plucked a brand iron from a fire basin — glowing red-hot — and pressed the character for "Refine" into her thigh.
The fellow inmates she encountered were an odd bunch: some urban legend figure from Kamihama City, a "Nyanai," an "Ito Hachi"... And from the men's ward next door came faint, muffled cries for help — something like "Yao Lao, save me!" and "Chu Xuan, save me!"
Li Fei jolted awake from the nightmare, her bloodshot eyes flying open. On instinct, she turned her head to the left.
Ram's sleeping face was soft and endearing, the faint traces of dried tears at the corners of her eyes lending her an air of gentle pathos. The faint, honey-sweet fragrance of her breath drifted between them — though she was lying on top of Li Fei's hair, which pulled just a little.
Eve, who had crept in uninvited sometime in the middle of the night, was curled up against Li Fei's right side.
"Haah..."
Li Fei pressed both hands over her face and let out a long, weary sigh. She shot a glance at the barely brightening sky outside, then braced her lower back and hauled herself upright with considerable difficulty. Every single part of her body ached.
She shuffled unsteadily to the edge of the bed, lit a cigarette, and sat there with her ashen little face tilted toward the morning glow — eyes as blank and lifeless as a salted fish, the hand holding the cigarette trembling faintly.
For the record: the top courtesan's cigarettes were exclusively supplied by Bai Mansion, crafted from a particular variety of specialty mint leaves through an elaborate production process. Even an ordinary person could smoke them without harm — they were both non-toxic and good for clearing the head.
Her mouth was dry and parched, as expected — but she was gradually growing accustomed to the sensation. She had no choice but to.
Li Fei had always been clear-eyed about herself and never overestimated her own willpower. She understood perfectly well: some things, once started, could never be stopped again — just like that Morality value that had tumbled all the way down to -21.
From here on out, she suspected, there would be no more full nights of sleep.
"Not going back to sleep?"
A warm, silky presence pressed against her. Eve yawned, her mouth carrying a faint sweet-and-metallic scent.
The little creature with her eyes half-lidded exuded an elegant, languid allure in every movement — there was something in her that mirrored Li Fei's own shadow.
"I have some things to take care of today. Need to get to school early."
"Mm... then let me make you breakfast..."
Eve volunteered with a voice full of tender sympathy, reaching out to take the cigarette from Li Fei's hand. She exhaled a slow, perfect smoke ring — a trick Li Fei had only ever seen Bai Mengtian pull off before.
"Don't bother. You and Ram take the day off today — rest properly."
Li Fei puffed out her cheeks. "Were you the one who took my cigarettes? Two packs are missing."
She only smoked one every now and then, so the total count in the cabinet had barely changed over time — a few missing packs was immediately obvious. Though, admittedly, the frequency had shifted lately. After all, who could refuse a non-toxic mint cigarette after an especially... intense evening?
"Mm-hm."
Eve nodded, her reddish-brown hair tickling Li Fei's neck.
All the other little fairies regarded the Mother of Fairies with a mixture of adoration and reverence — even Ram was no exception. Only Eve, with her naturally bold and warmhearted nature, had never once shown the slightest hint of reserve around Li Fei.
"Smoke less. Being a chimney isn't a good look."
Li Fei added by way of reminder: "Oh — there's medicine in the cabinet. Rub it on your skin; it promotes circulation and repairs minor capillary damage. I've tested it myself. It clears strawberry marks in five minutes. Make sure you use it."
She coaxed Eve back under the covers, and only then did the Mother of Fairies make her way out of the bedroom on unsteady legs, moving carefully so as not to wake anyone.
――
Grace picked her way with painstaking care along a quiet, peaceful path of rounded cobblestones, her hood pulled up to conceal her soft, short hair, her sky-blue eyes darting ceaselessly in every direction.
The consequence of overextending her secret technique's fortune-drain back in Viranean was a prolonged streak of wretched luck. Falling objects from great heights, stray animals suddenly lunging at her out of nowhere — these sorts of accidents were happening an average of six or seven times a day. It had taken only a few days to train her into a habit of constant, sweeping vigilance no matter where she was, ready to dodge at the slightest disturbance.
Trailing behind her were several small, slight figures clad head to toe in forest green — hired Jungle Children — whose purpose was to ensure she had a "Fortune Spell" effect on her person at all times. Combined with the buffs from transcendent structures like the Rainbow Altar, they managed to take the edge off her catastrophically bad luck, at least keeping it from turning outright lethal.
"Morning, Grace."
The faint, low-energy voice came out of nowhere. Grace startled like a frightened rabbit, leaping back a full step.
The flash of alarm vanished from her face the moment she identified the source. She turned her head to find Li Fei — bloodless, listless, waving at her with no real energy behind it — and her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly as she said in a low, measured tone: "You... haven't recovered yet?"
"Soul damage isn't something that mends easily."
Li Fei shrugged, walked over to a bench at the side of the path, and sat down. She gave Grace a cheerful, squinting smile despite looking half-dead: "Though honestly, you don't look all that much better than me."
Faced with Li Fei's inviting pat on the empty space beside her, Grace hesitated, then made her way over and sat down — leaving a gap of roughly one fist's width between them.
"Why are you sitting so far away? We went through life and death together. We're practically sisters."
Li Fei made a show of indignation, then without a moment's hesitation, shifted herself over. Her long, graceful left leg pressed snugly against Grace's slender, toned right one. She caught Grace's wrist, guided her arm around her own waist, tilted her head to rest it on Grace's shoulder, then wrapped both hands firmly around Grace's and pressed them against her own lower abdomen — intimate as lovers, warm as the closest of friends.
As everyone knew: if you wanted someone to accept your proposal, it paid to make full use of your physical advantages.
Grace's fair, finely sculpted face maintained its aloof, "do not approach" expression — but the rigid tension running through every muscle in her body betrayed exactly what she was actually feeling.
"I came to school early today. What's your excuse?" Li Fei asked, tilting her head to look at her.
"Fewer people in the mornings. Less chance of accidents."
Grace answered in a voice with no particular inflection, her streak of misfortune written plainly in those flat tones.
"Hey, hey — have you heard? Good luck can be shared through a kiss."
Li Fei's expression lit up with sudden, lively interest. She poked Grace in the ribs, leaned in close to her ear, and said in a low, coaxing voice: "Want me to share a little of my luck with you? You poor, unfortunate Grace."
Grace's breath caught. From the corner of her eye she could see the graceful, slightly pale curve of the top courtesan's lips. Her mouth moved — she seemed about to say something — but stopped herself.
While she was still deliberating, Li Fei had already reached over without ceremony, tilted her chin up, and moved as if to close the distance.
Grace frowned. An extraordinarily complicated expression flickered across her normally cool face. In the end, she yielded to the top courtesan's allure, drew a slow breath, and quietly let her eyes fall shut.
Click.
Grace did not receive the touch she had been simultaneously anticipating and dreading. Instead, she heard a peculiar sound.
She opened her eyes. Li Fei was holding up a thin, glowing rectangular transcendent item — like a mirror — aimed directly at the two of them. In its surface, she could see her own reflection: bewildered and faintly crestfallen, and beside her, Li Fei pressed against her chest, flashing a V-sign.
Li Fei tapped the screen lightly, freezing the moment. Then she said in a voice tinged with theatrical regret:
"What a shame. I'm already Sister Zhihua's girlfriend, so I can't share my luck with you through a kiss."
She felt Grace's small, slender hand instinctively tighten around her palm. Li Fei smiled again, bright and warm:
"But this photo just might work just as well."
Bai Mengtian's extensively modified phone naturally included a photo printing function. Li Fei tapped the screen a few more times, and a veil of light peeled away from the device. When the glow faded, a photograph drifted slowly down out of thin air.
"Here — this is for you."
Li Fei took it and handed it over. Grace accepted it in a daze, staring at her own bewildered expression in the photo and at the woman smiling brilliantly, draped warmly against her. Something ached in her chest, pulse after pulse.
Was she really... the person Kenneth had spoken of?
"Oh, by the way — I was planning to visit one of the Magic Academy's Folded Spaces. Want to come?"
Li Fei shifted the subject abruptly.
"My luck hasn't recovered yet... and your injuries..."
Grace murmured, voice trailing off.
"Lei-bao~ we can pick a low-risk one."
Li Fei cradled Grace's hand against her chest, wore the most irresistible pout she owned, and wheedled in a coaxing tone: "Come with me, okay? Let's go explore a Folded Space together~"
"...Mm."
Grace drew in a deep breath and, in the end, could not bring herself to refuse.
Winning over an enemy's little sister in three days — that's the Chinese spirit! [Author's note: This is a famous Chinese internet meme.]
A glint of something unreadable flickered in Li Fei's eyes — she had, after all, commissioned Hathaway some time ago to quietly investigate everything there was to know about Grace's background. With a cheer, she seized Grace's hand and half-jogged all the way toward the Dean's office.
"Good morning, Dean~"
With Grace present, Li Fei naturally couldn't use the word "Mama" — but her voice was no less warm for it.
"Good morning, you two lovely young ladies."
Nicole appeared to have just woken up. Her silver-grey hair was loose over her shoulders for once, the slight dishevelment lending her an air of languid, unhurried allure she didn't often carry — like a wife who had just been coaxed out from under the covers. A simple, refined long dress fell barely past her ankles, and her bare feet — small, soft, and milky-pale — rested on the carpet, toenails a delicate, lustrous pink. They looked extraordinarily inviting.
She was combing her long hair to one side, while the teapot on her desk lifted itself into the air, pouring steaming red tea into two cups. Then the teacups sprouted a pair of wings each and flew themselves over to Li Fei and Grace.
"Good morning."
Grace settled onto the sofa, her posture curving slightly at the waist, and reached up to push back her hood, revealing her chestnut-brown short hair.
For most students, Nicole projected an image of warm, reliable competence. Even Grace visibly unwound in her presence, the anxiety of her bad-luck streak easing away.
Perhaps only Li Fei, Irena, and Melodia truly understood the depths of scheming, utterly unhinged perversion hiding beneath Nicole's refined and gracious exterior — not to mention a hint of petty vindictiveness.
Li Fei set her red tea on the desk, stepped forward, took Nicole's wooden comb from her hands, and began working it gently through a lock of her grey hair. At the same time, she smiled pleasantly: "Dean, do you happen to have any safer Folded Spaces to recommend? Grace and I were thinking of heading into one."
"D-07. It's an extremely small Folded Space. As long as you don't get surrounded by cave-dwellers or half-beast-men, and you're careful of the miasma, there's nothing genuinely dangerous about it."
Nicole, thoroughly enjoying her adopted daughter's filial attentions, answered at an unhurried pace. "So as long as you bring flight gear, antidotes, and keep your wits about you, you should come away with some decent gains."
"What's worth getting in there?"
"There's a Knowledge Tree inside. By regulation, each of you may pick three Fruits of Knowledge."
"The quality is nothing special — but the effect is that a low-Sequence Transcendent who consumes one will see a solid improvement in their Meditation efficiency for about an hour. Roughly equivalent to several days of hard cultivation. For mid-Sequence Transcendents it won't do much."
"The exploration itself won't take long either — half a day at the quickest, a day or two at the most, and you'll be back."
"All in all, it's a low-difficulty Folded Space with fairly modest rewards — but it's one of the Academy's recommended top-ten beginner spaces."
"Eh? Only three?"
Li Fei puffed out her cheeks. "That's a bit stingy, don't you think?"
"The Knowledge Tree is a fairly rare transcendent plant, and Fruits of Knowledge have a very slow growth cycle. Even a Dean can't play favorites too openly."
Nicole delivered the measured explanation first, then smiled. "That said — I have very high hopes for both of your potentials... so, each of you may pick five. Consider the extra two a personal sponsorship from me. I'll document it properly and have the corresponding amount deducted from my salary to compensate the Academy for the difference."
So that's the art of saying things well.
Li Fei marveled inwardly.
She didn't believe for a single second the bit about deducting from her own salary — not from a Dean whose record of "keeping things strictly professional" included using a Special Enrollment slot to tip the top courtesan of the Golden Kumquat Tavern... But obviously, if Nicole had simply led with "five each," Grace would never have made that faintly moved, slightly uneasy expression.
Learned something. Truly learned something today.
Li Fei filed the lesson away in silence, the picture of bright, warm smiles on the outside.
"Thank you, Ma — ahem, thank you, Dean~"
"Just don't disappoint me at the exchange event."
"You can count on me. I meditate every single evening without fail — not a moment of slacking."
Li Fei made her vow with complete conviction: "Bringing honor to our Academy is a duty I take most seriously."
"Confidence is good, but don't let it tip into arrogance."
Nicole's eyes were bright with a smile, and she gave Li Fei a sidelong look that carried a certain playful, beguiling charm.
Grace watched the two of them in their cheerful, banter-filled back-and-forth — the kind that had the energy of flirting — and found herself somehow tasting a thread of bitterness in her fragrant, sweet red tea.
Before long, Li Fei and Grace took their leave together.
"It's a date, then — tomorrow morning, Folded Space, together."
Li Fei linked her arm through Grace's, her expression eager.
"Mm..."
Grace paused, then tilted her head away, and a small, quiet sound reached Li Fei's ears: "Thank you."
She was clearly thanking Li Fei for getting her those five Fruits of Knowledge.
"Hey, what are you thanking me for."
— All ten are going to me anyway. What does it have to do with you? Do you even understand what the top courtesan's words really contain? (Hands on hips.)
Harboring every intention of keeping all the spoils for herself, Li Fei replied in a mock-aggrieved tone: "We're sisters who've faced death together, you know."
At those words, Grace's lips pressed into a thin line, and something shadowed moved behind her eyes.
Sisters... huh.
If you knew why I was getting close to you, would you still think of me as a friend?
Is this really all it can ever be?
"Oh right — I have something to talk to Dean Nicole about. Head to class without me."
Li Fei seemed to suddenly remember something. She fished a lip balm from her pocket and wrote an address on the inside of Grace's smooth, delicate wrist: "Breakfast together tomorrow morning. Seven o'clock, sharp — don't you dare stand me up."
Transcendents didn't technically need lip balm.
But the severe fluid loss of recent days had left even a Witch's lips dried and cracked, compelling Li Fei to carry one at all times.
Apparently missing the wistful, forlorn look Grace cast after her, Li Fei walked back into the Dean's office and locked the door behind her with a click. She shrugged off her mage robe in one casual motion, revealing a pink halter dress that made her look unexpectedly youthful.
She sauntered toward Nicole with an air of complete ease, raising one hand without looking and sweeping the hair off her shoulder to expose the smooth, luminous curve of it. Then she hooked a finger into Nicole's collar, guided her toward the sofa, and with one firm push — sent the refined, elegant silver-haired beauty dropping squarely into the cushions.
The top courtesan looked down at Nicole from above, smiling with the pleased, seductive confidence of someone who had just won. She turned, and sat herself down on Nicole's lap.
The elegant taper of her waist and the widening pear-shaped curve below it formed a composition so visually devastating that it could bend even the most thoroughly straight woman in existence.
Nicole, a veteran patron of the tavern, looped an arm around the top courtesan's waist with practiced ease and said languidly: "Student Li Fei. To what do I owe the honor?"
"Dean, I believe there is a non-negligible structural flaw in this institution's management model."
Li Fei said this with perfect gravity.
"Oh?"
Nicole caught the tie at the back of Li Fei's snow-white neck in her teeth, her gracefully alluring face turning slowly to one side, and let out a low, intrigued hum — a wordless signal for her adopted daughter to continue.
— Not that she couldn't afford her stepdaughter's tuition — but why spend what you could save, right?
Li Fei turned her head, took Nicole's mature yet delicate face in both hands, and said:
"It's my belief that this Academy lacks a proper, systematic tuition reduction and waiver scheme — one designed to help hardworking students from disadvantaged backgrounds complete their education. Don't you agree?"
After what followed — a frank, earnest, and nearly quite thorough exchange of views — the Special Enrollment student successfully persuaded the Dean, who deeply cared about student welfare, to draft a preliminary set of tuition waiver regulations, with Lilith of Class 2, Year 2 designated as the pilot case.
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