BRIGHT~ BRIGHT~ BRIGHT~
The skies above the academy were splashed in soft purples and fading blues, the final hues of twilight clinging onto the world before night claid its throne.
Down a narrow alleyway, nestled between two towering buildings of polished stone and enchanted brick, a figure skipped—barefoot and unbothered—its silhouette jagged and unpredictable under the flickering light of mana-lamps that buzzed overhead.
"Hehehe~ Hmm~ Hehehe~ Hmm~"
The voice was fractured, teetering between lullaby and nightmare, bouncing with delight yet cracking like glass dragged across steel. With every skip of its step, the air itself seed to tense.
Then, it stopped.
A slow creak of joints—unnatural, puppet-like.
Its neck twisted, its chin tilted high as it stared directly at the moon.
A swollen, yellow crescent leered back.
"PAPA~ SAID~ SAID~ HIDE~"
"BUT~ HOW~ LONG~???"
It sang, a question to no one.
A plea sared in amusent.
The figure grinned, or rather, its face twitched into sothing that mimicked a grin.
The blood-red lipstick around its jagged mouth smudged and cracked as its smile stretched unnaturally wide—too wide.
Razor-sharp teeth reflected the moonlight. Rows upon rows like shattered glass and bone.
Its eyes, empty pits of black, flickered to life with a deep crimson glow—pupil-less and unblinking.
The clown’s skin was pale, almost deathly, the kind of white that seed to reject warmth entirely.
With a pointed, colorful hat bobbing atop its head and patched motley clothes hanging off its skeletal fra, it looked like sothing torn straight from a child’s nightmare—and spat into reality.
It collapsed onto a rusted pipe with a soft clang, swinging its legs like a carefree child at recess.
Then ca the clapping.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"Patience~ Paaatience~"
"Papa~ ALWAYS~ Guarantees~"
Its fingers were too long. Too thin. The sound of each clap echoed too far, like it wasn’t just in this alley—but leaking into another world.
There was love in its voice. Twisted, manic, and obsessive. This thing—this being—was created for one purpose: to be his son. The son of sothing far greater. A devoted child born of Evil.
It giggled again, shaking its head.
"Light~ Son~"
"MINE~ Soon~"
"Kekekekekekekekekekeke—!"
It laughed and laughed, its tongue lolling out like a bloodied ribbon, panting between shrieks of glee.
But then—
It stopped.
The laughter died in its throat. The air shifted.
It turned its head sharply to the right. Then left.
Its twisted smile dropped for the first ti—brows furrowing. Its grin curled into a confused pout.
There—just beyond the alleyway—blueish-white particles hung in the air like fading embers of starlight.
A trail.
The creature sniffed the air, head jerking in inhuman flicks.
It stood up slowly, arms dangling loosely at its sides, joints clicking as though adjusting to the wrong shape.
Its mana flared subtly, a sickening blend of chaos and cursed energy stretching outward like a cloud of fog—searching.
But... there was no one.
No movent. No heat. No breath.
Nothing but the lingering trace of sothing divine.
It blinked once, then again, its grotesque face twisting in visible irritation.
It tilted its head, murmuring.
"Tricksy... tricksy..."
Then, just beneath the thin skin of its neck—a mark glowed temporarily... a mark filled with Evil.
.....
Up above the alleyways, perched on the edge of a crumbling rooftop—
Two figures watched in silence.
The wind brushed past them gently, carrying with it the faint trace of twisted laughter from below.
Mana particles flickered faintly around them, as the sky slowly transitioned into night’s embrace.
Lavine floated beside in her small fairy form, her delicate wings shimring like glass under the twilight.
Her expression was tight, clearly displeased.
"Do we really just leave that thing behind, Master?" she asked, her voice clipped with concern.
I nodded without looking at her.
"Yes... for now, at least."
She narrowed her eyes, small arms folding across her chest.
"Really? Although that thing might be weak right now, I can feel it—it’s connected to sothing far greater. You’re not planning to summon its master or sothing, are you?"
"No," I said calmly, tone absolute. "Not at all."
...Though deep down, I knew I didn’t have to.
That grotesque puppet of a demon would eventually bring forth its master all on its own.
The demonic energy embedded within its very mana was like a flare—one that would eventually draw its ’father’ back.
I didn’t need to tell Lavine that.
No need to burden her with things that haven’t happened yet.
She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Tch... at least let seal it in a temporal lock. That way, it won’t move unless we allow it to."
I shook my head lightly.
"No need. That clown’s fate is already sealed."
My eyes narrowed slightly, focusing on the distant figure still skipping down the alley, unaware—or perhaps uncaring—that it was being watched.
"It’ll be destroyed soon. What we did was just a minor pre-caution. Besides..." I glanced at Lavine, "do you really think it can escape your celestial mark if sothing goes terribly wrong?"
She went silent at that, only grumbling internally as she floated in place. "Hmph... I suppose not. But I still don’t like it. Sothing about it... it’s wrong."
I exhaled slowly, standing up and brushing off my coat.
"Let’s go for now. We’ve got more pressing matters to attend to."
Lavine turned with but snuck in a jab. "You an you have a lot to do. Just so you know, Master—" her wings fluttered playfully, "I can already feel the presence of that pink-haired girl inside your room again."
I chuckled, not even trying to deny it. Alice, huh.
She must be done with her thesis work now.
My eyes lingered one last ti on the figure below.
The clown demon.
It behaved exactly as it did in the ga.
The twisted phrases, the childish cadence, the obsession with "Papa" and "Light Son"—all of it matched the behavior of that minor sub-boss ant to ignite Stacia’s growth arc. It was, essentially, just another stepping stone.
But still...
What is this weird feeling?
Why did it feel familiar?
Not in the ga-scenario way. But sothing deeper.
A ripple of déjà vu stirred in my chest, unwelco and uninvited.
I narrowed my gaze, eyes glowing faintly with suppressed mana. The creature’s aura, while weak now, had a stain—sothing familiar and unsettling. Sothing I couldn’t quite place yet.
I sighed, brushing the thought away for now.
It wasn’t ti to jump at ghosts.
Not yet.
I had prepared Stacia well enough.
Her path was set.
The demon clown may serve as her firestarter—but she would burn through it with her own will.
That was the point.
"Let’s go," I said again.
Lavine gave one last look down at the alley, her tiny hands glowing softly with divine magic—ready to unleash hell at a mont’s notice.
Then, with a burst of celestial sparkles, we vanished into the night.
....
"Pamper ~!"
"Yes, yes, my lovely Alice did her very best today~"
"Hehehehe~"
The mont I stepped into my room, finally done with the day’s preparations—the clown demon, the upcoming exams, and the tangled chessboard of characters already set—I was t with the familiar sight of her.
Alice.
Resting comfortably on my bed, sprawled on top of my blanket as if she owned the place.
Which, to be fair, wasn’t exactly wrong.
Just as I’d predicted, she had finished her rounds with her thesis defenses and final project revisions ahead of schedule... though I seriously doubted she completed everything.
Most likely, she escaped halfway just to see .
"You know Riley, everyone was so harsh on today." Her tone was exaggerated, lips pouting as she dramatically rolled to face . "I get that I was the one who proposed the group paper’s new direction, but can’t they at least be nice about it? Even Lorraine yelled at !"
"Yes, yes, you endured a lot," I said with a soft chuckle, reaching out and patting her head gently.
For reference: she had already crawled over and now rested her head comfortably on my lap as I sat upright on the bed.
Her soft pink hair spilled like silk across my legs, catching the gentle light of the room as I ran my fingers through it.
This pink-haired goddess of mine... she really did exude a warmth that cald the world around her.
There was sothing soothing about her presence—like a hearth in the cold, or the feeling of sunlight filtering in after a long storm.
It was the kind of atmosphere I always wanted to co ho to.
She continued venting for a while—small grievances here and there, codic impersonations of her professors, and occasional complaints about her groupmates being "useless morons with no taste in aesthetics"—until her energy finally settled.
"Hehe, thanks for listening to , Riley."
"You can talk to about anything," I replied without missing a beat. "As freely and as often as you want."
She giggled softly, turning her head just enough to look up at .
"Fufu~ then don’t mind if I start visiting very often, okay?"
"You already kind of do. And technically, you co-own this room. Yui still hasn’t finished clearing out most of your things."
"Oh?" She raised an amused brow. "Really now? I was actually planning to sleep here tonight, but now I feel like I’ve been living here for months. But... don’t tell the other girls, okay?"
"Sure." I smiled lightly. "But you know they’ll find out sooner or later."
"Hehehe, it’s fine~" she sang, resting back into my lap like a cat who had claid her favorite perch. "Although we all agreed to share you equally and fairly, the current situation can’t really be helped, can it?"
Her smile turned sly.
"After all,... I’m the only one who has the free ti to visit you right now."
She glanced up again with narrowed golden eyes.
"So, sleeping together with you is my privilege for now~"
I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly.
She always acted like she was teasing ... but I knew, behind her playful smirks, she genuinely treasured these quiet monts between us.
And honestly... so did I.
Getting up from my lap with a soft sigh, Alice stretched her arms out slightly before padding barefoot across the wooden floor of my room.
Her nightgown swayed gently behind her as she made her way toward one of my cabinets.
"Looks like most of my dresses are still here..." she murmured, opening the wardrobe with a small grin. She skimd her hand through the hangers before her fingers stopped on a drawer below. "...Even so of my underwear..."
"Trust ," I said imdiately, raising my hands slightly as if to swear innocence. "I didn’t touch any of them."
She paused for a mont.
"Y-You didn’t?"
There was a very slight disappointnt in her tone.
"...Did you want to?" I asked, already regretting it.
She turned her head toward with a half-pout, half-smirk.
"No, but you could’ve at least tried to lie about it."
"......"
I blinked slowly. For so reason, she was being reasonably unreasonable. But I couldn’t complain.
I guess we really were official now—if she could talk about underwear in my room like this and still expect to keep a straight face.
"Look, Riley~ Tada~! How is it?"
Turning around with a light twirl, Alice stood before in a sheer, lacy nightdress I had never seen her wear before.
It clung to her skin like morning mist, delicate straps resting on her shoulders, with garter-like fabric tracing down her thighs.
It was almost transparent.
My breath hitched for half a second.
I blinked again.
Was that always in my closet?
She gave a mischievous wink, one hand resting on her hip, her pink hair cascading over her collarbones like a waterfall of silk.
I always knew there was sothing a little hidden behind her usual soft, warm deanor... but since we beca official, she really hadn’t held back at all.
"It looks good on you," I said, keeping my voice even, but my heart definitely wasn’t calm.
"Thanks~ Hehe~"
With slow, quiet steps, she walked over and sat beside on the bed again.
Leaning over, she gave a gentle kiss—light, unhurried, but with a trace of temptation.
"Do you want to do it?" she asked, her voice low, but calm.
I looked at her, brushed a strand of hair from her cheek.
"No... Maybe next ti," I replied. "Honestly, you’re quite tired, right?"
She blinked.
Then paused.
"You could tell?"
"Yeah. I can always tell."
Truth be told, even if the thought tempted , I didn’t want our ti together to be about that—especially not when I could see the exhaustion still lingering in her eyes.
Doing it while she was stressed or worn out would be aningless.
And besides... when we did do it, neither of us held back.
"Fufu~ I guess we’ll just relax for tonight then," she whispered, smiling softly.
"Let’s do that."
She nodded, content.
With slow, deliberate movents, Alice lay back on the bed, shifting into the space beside .
I followed her lead, sliding under the covers, and gently pulled her into my arms.
She curled naturally against , her warmth settling into my chest like a heartbeat.
My hand rested softly on her back.
Hers pressed lightly against mine.
For a mont, there were no words. Just soft breathing. Shared warmth.
As I closed my eyes, letting the silence take over, I felt her shift slightly.
And then she mumbled quietly—
"Riley..."
"Hm?"
A pause.
"N-Nothing..."
My brow twitched slightly. I looked at her, but her eyes were facing down.
"Is sothing the matter?"
"U-Uh, forget about it for now... It’s just an embarrassing thought. A question, really... Please don’t ask about it..."
She turned further into my chest as if trying to hide from her own curiosity.
...Now she was only making more curious.
But knowing Alice, it probably wasn’t anything dangerous.
Still, sothing told I’d want to know, eventually.
"Alright," I said softly. "Tell when you feel like it."
"Thanks..." she whispered.
Then, almost like a breath slipping between her lips:
"Uhm... Riley, I love you."
I smiled, eyes still half-closed as I held her tighter.
"Yes... I love you too, Alice."
She smiled against my chest.
And just before she drifted off, thinking I wouldn’t notice—her hand gently moved downward, resting lightly on her belly.
She stayed like that in silence, her fingers barely pressing against her skin.
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