Since the kiss, nearly three months have passed by in a blur.
Nothing has changed much between l and Lila... is what Lila would have claid. They have grown more intimate, more timid, and more clingy to each other.
From l naturally holding Lila’s hand everyti they walked, to Lila’s ’blushless’ comfiness in the physical intimacy (to l’s dismay), the little interactions bared more truths than Lila’s words, and everyone in the village laughed about it, except so crying for betting too late on the ’l-Lila’ marriage tir.
And in a forest where lush greens hid the moonlight, where a deer was casually leaning down to eat, a chant of power echoed between the woods.
"!"
Flash. The deer’s skull was pierced by a lance of ice and snow that flew through the air. Lila stood up from the bushes before walking to her dead prey, at ease with her trained precision.
"Wow." l’s voice bood in excitent from behind. "Right at the small eye. All the yelling from Saria paid off."
Lila kneeled and skinned the deer, taking out a dagger from her waist. "l. Sister Saria only yelled when you slacked off in the training. But... yes. Yes, I agree our efforts paid off."
l and Lila were currently on their journey to the capital, with Emiilia as the carriage driver. They took a ’hunting break’ for food and more training.
"Well." l headpatted Lila. "We were almost there. Don’t exhaust yourself, alright?"
As l’s finger slid through the silky hair, Lila shook her head into the smooth touch, a silent beckoning for more. l chuckled, her hand moving in a rhythmic sway as she contemplated her following words.
"Lila. There’s sowhere I have to go, alone."
A jolt. l watched as Lila froze before slumping her shoulders.
"Why?" Lila whispered, as if she had heard the most unbelievable thing in the World. "We’ve been together for almost three months. Do you... find annoying? Is it those secrets again?"
l sighed inwardly. Her little blue bun’s insecurity was out in the open again.
The Witch of Lust bent down before pecking at Lila’s cheek. The slight tap was of a short regret to taste for more, and Lila’s blushing cheek was inviting her for a heavenly taste, but l had a more important matter at hand.
"Co to think of it," l smirked, her hot breaths tickling Lila’s face. "We haven’t kissed lips-to-lips since that night, right?"
Lila squird, the night’s recollection flashing by scene by scene in her head. "Ye-yes..."
l straightened up, her head tilting with a curved gaze that t Lila’s shivering erald eyes. "Want to do it again after the exam?"
"...mm." Lila hesitantly nodded, as if afraid to expose her pervertedness that dared to rival l’s.
"Hehe." l left Lila alone with a wave. "Wait for by the campfire. I look forward to the food!"
She may have heard another whining behind her for the teasing, but she judged it an illusion. Lila should’ve been perfectly content with another kiss or two! If she was this nervous about one, when would they have the chance to advance to the next stage?
l licked her lips. She imagined for a mont what Lila’s lips inside taste like, before disappearing into the shadows.
-----------------
The conversation was a brief episode for l’s journey in the forest, and she soon arrived at a clearing. Strangely, no tall bushes or barks surrounded it, with the grassfield perfectly draped by a veil of moonlight. It scread ’unnecessary poeticness’ in l’s mind, but her golden eyes stared in a particular direction.
At a specific spot, there is a particular spot with layers of fallen leaves, all painted in an autumn gold. The leaves were piled like a bed, as if to allow one to snuggle down and bask in nature’s embrace.
This is where l first awakened in this World, in the body of a 5-year-old Witch.
"You’re here, right?"
And where the entity known as the System, her second-most-trusty-informant, introduced itself.
No quests. No orders. No rewards. No punishnt. Just a simple task requested politely to seduce all the Witches. l’s mory drifted back to the utter confusion of the day, how the leaves under her felt too cold and tickly, and how every word from her ’self-admitted’ kidnapper was like a hamr to her troubled soul.
[ ... ]
The System rely typed out the dreaded eclipses, again. Since that night when the System blocked the Witch of Pride, l has been incessantly inquiring about a clarification from the System.
Why did you bring into this World? Why is it and no one else? What exactly did you lie about? Can I still trust you? Treat you as a partner?
l’s eyes frowned at such thoughts swirling in her head. Countless questions were unasked and unanswered, yet there was one thing she definitely had to know.
"I can forgive you for whatever you lied about. So please, satisfy my curiosity for a bit."
And with ease, a smug grin adorned her expression. Over the three months, she has decided not to bother with the System. Because for sure, if the System wished to harm or use her, her 5-year-old panicky self would have been much more manipulable, and she would have treated the System as her master rather than a slightly annoying, but reliable partner like now.
Yet amongst the good old truths in this world, just like how Otakus couldn’t leave their cup noodles or armpits, it must be universally respected...
"Are you a girl behind the screen? Specifically, a cute one if possible."
All cris can only be forgiven as long as an adorable, beautiful ani waifu commits them. For l, that is her sole principle as a 23-year-old otaku from a past life, and her 10-year life as the Witch of Lust.
[ ... ]
So eclipses again, but this ti, l could observe the puncutations shaking, as if to hold back sothing.
And sure enough, she did have a response.
[ ...this System is a handso ikeman with no visible feminine features! ]
The Witch of Lust’s expression scrunched up in disgust, a sense of betrayal she barely felt for the ’Liar’ ordeal flaring up in a scorching blaze. She felt she should launch a cataclysm as an awakened Witch, right here, right now!
[ It’s a joke, Host! Hope you like it! ]
The tacit implication behind those words loosened l’s brows. Whew, her irrationality almost sent her straight to the Saintess’s deathlist right there.
"Any description?"
[ None, Host! ]
"Oh, then a photo?"
[ Absolutely not. ]
"Are you a short AI lol* with an emotionless expression? Ah, but that would kinda clash with the Witch of Sloth’s setting, so..."
[ ...shall I conjure up a satisfactory image of , l? ]
"Please don’t." l widely smiled, relieved at the response to her little probing. "Anyways, don’t stay too quiet from now on, alright? I still need you to cheat in the Entrance Exam."
Unlike Lila, who borrowed the books from Saria, l hasn’t flipped a single page yet. A Witch of Lust should focus on seductions, not monotone magic theories and principles that she will never use!
[ This System is impressed with your bluntness, l! Keep it up! ]
"Shut it."
A few giggles escaped from l, and before long, she bantered with the System like usual.
l’s hesitant distrust of the System never dissipated, but for now, she pictured a normal girl on another screen, like a voice chat with a distant lover she never knew she had.
[ Do be aware: Academy Entrance Exam is usually a trope for surprises. ]
"Then you’ll have your hands full again, partner." l shrugged. "By the way, tell what the other witches are doing. Especially the half-dragon heir..."
-----------
Saria POV
While both l and Lila were on their carriage journey, Saria ran.
Unlike the ’slow’ carriage, a radiant Knight’s ’stamina’ turned a half-month trip into a literal cakewalk. And within a week, she arrived at the Capital of Valoria’s central church.
Sliding open the wooden door to the church’s hall, she examined the environnt she used to work in. The interior revealed multi-colored windows, spraying rays of weak moonlight into the marble grounds like stagelights.
Pillars, candles, and rows of wooden benches set on the left and right, a perfect symtry befitting the grandeur of a Capital’s Church.
And ahead of them was the back of a girl kneeling, no taller or shorter than a familiar pink-head’s figure, humbly praying before a large, towering Goddess’s statue.
The White fabric that lacked embroidery spoke of no indulgence, and the very imagery of kneeling itself oozed purity and humility.
"Still praying?"
"..."
As anticipated, she has gotten no answer. Years ago, the scheming Saintess shut herself in the Church, never ceasing her prayer before the goddess statue.
After a mont of silence and respect, a soft voice called out to the Radiant Knight.
"You have arrived."
She stood and turned around, her white blindfold glowing faintly, her serene voice too graceful as if to hide sothing from within.
Saria sighed and stepped forward. "Still hard-working much?"
The one and only Exarch-rank existence in the World, humbly saying prayers like a normal nun instead of purging more demons and cultists.
And the one who ended the decade-long ’Unprided Crusade’ against the Witch of Pride.
"Not exactly." The Saintess’s lips curled up. "Praying is the most suitable form of laziness."
Saintess Maria Sableheart bowed, moving with the effortless grace of an experienced scamr.
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