Midnight at the dormitory for the female first year student of the academy, underneath a deactivated magic lantern that was hanging beside a door, there was a girl sitting while hugging her knees. Her name was Louise Raevender.
She had been there for hours and did not bulge at all. She did not mind the cold breeze of the early winter night. The other students were already sleeping in their own rooms, so no one else was going to see her in that state.
Her eyes were somewhat distant and tired, but she was actually trying to escape from her nightmares. After all, those nightmares were the live footage of her little brother and her lover being in heat.
It had been a month since Raphael showed her their weekly live sex tapes, and Louise had seen four episodes so far. They discussed that he would have Mary only once, but he broke it and had been having sex with her once a week.
When their act was broadcast for the second time, Louise could not stomach it anymore and kept walking out of her room, waiting for it to end. She did not mind to bear the cold air and wait until dawn; at least she did not have to make herself suffer.
Every time she tried to destroy the television with Absolute Severance, Raphael had been cloaking the device with Impregnable Fortress to effectively block her attack. Thus, the television was still in her room.
Sitting against the wall, her heart was hurting as the footage was still being played inside her room. She even disabled all of her hearing abilities to not hear the moans of her lover being rammed by another person.
She was supposed to be alone in the hallway until she heard a student opening her door a few rooms away.
Click.
Louise slowly raised her head and turned around to look at the source of the closing door. Once she took a glance at the dark hallway, she saw a girl walking along the hallway on her bare feet.
"Louise Raevender?" The girl asked from a distance once she saw Louise and walked faster toward her. "What are you doing outside in the middle of the night?"
"Ah. It is just you, Christine Grise."
Standing before her was a beautiful, young adolescent who was the same age as her and whose name was Christine Grise. Christine was a beaut with long, silky, dark purple hair and eyes. Even covered in her knee-length, white nightgown, the prominence of her bust could not be contained by it.
Like almost all the people residing in the building, Christine hailed from an aristocratic family. Apparently, she was the daughter of one of the two archdukes of the Dixon Empire, a noble rank just below the Imperial Royal Family.
The Archduchy of Grise was formerly an ancient kingdom that was situated on the east side of the empire, the Kingdom of Grise. But the kingdom was conquered by the demons for several centuries before the empire took it back to humanity.
Once the demons had been fended off, the empire then absorbed the kingdom into its sphere of influence. The kingdom took too much damage from the demons, so they had no choice but to become a part of the empire, making the king of Grise the archduke of the former kingdom.
Louise had been acquainted with Christine since they were in the same year; above all, they were classmates to begin with. They were residing in the same building, so they were going to see each other every day anyway.
"Why are you sitting there in the middle of the night?"
"I do not want to go inside..." Louise peered up before she replied. "Why are you here as well?"
"Well, I am going to go to the toilet to relieve my bladder, and I happened to meet you along the way."
"I see. Go ahead, then."
"Just wait me here. I will be right back."
As soon as Christine remarked that, she immediately walked fast along the corridor and went to the toilet on that floor. Louise just waited in her spot for a few minutes before Christine finished taking care of her business.
"You still here?" Christine pondered as she saw Louise still embracing her knees against the wall of her room. "Are there any problems inside?"
"It is not in your business."
"If you stay here any longer, you will get colds, you know?" .
"I don't care." Louise plainly responded. "I don't want to go inside."
"What the hell is wrong with your room, then?"
Soon after she asked that, Christine then approached the door of Louise's room and attempted to take a peek inside. But as she was about to touch the knob of the door, her body suddenly froze in terror, and she heard Louise say it coldly.
"Do not dare to ever open it, Christine."
When Christine cautiously looked back, she saw Louise glare at her, sending shivers down her spine. It was just a simple glare, without the influence of any skills, yet it was enough to intimidate and freeze Christine in fear.
"Okay, okay." She backed out as she raised her hands in submission. "I will not open it, so please stop that."
"Hmph." As she pouted, Louise then averted her eyes from Christine and stared at the floor instead. "Please leave me alone if you are going to disturb me."
She requested that she leave her, but Christine did not listen to her and stood in front of her. She then crouched down to level her eyes with Louise's and looked at her purple eyes.
"But I cannot just leave you here alone and lonely. If you don't want to go inside, how about resting yourself in my room?"
Hearing that, Louise bobbed her head up and fixed her gaze on Christine's. "At your own room? So it means I would be sleeping in a room with you?"
"Yes, Louise." Christine flashed her a gentle smile. "My bed is quite big for one person, so there would be no problem if someone joined in, right?"
"There is, and that would be me. Did you know that I like women, right?"
If it were others who offered her their room, Louise would have accepted it. But Christine was in a different situation since she was an archduke's daughter. In addition, she could be considered a princess since the archduchy was formerly a kingdom.
Louise knew to herself that she could not stop herself and would lay a finger on someone as desirable as her. It would cause conflict once others discovered it. That was why she had been so careful with Christine during their duels and in every other way.
"Even though you are one of the most beautiful people in the academy and have always styled yourself better than I do, I am aware that you are a lesbian with a lipstick."
"..."
"But I know you are a kind person, and I actually do not mind if we share a bed."
"Why are you doing this?"
"It is because I don't want my rival to get sick after all."
"Frankly, you are too weak to be considered my rival."
Among all of the students, Christine was the one Louise thought to be the closest to her. After all, Christine was the only female student who challenged her to a duel.
After she miserably lost, Christine peered up to her and utterly realized the massive gap between them. But every time she stumbled over, Christine always kept going up and challenging Louise again.
Since then, Christine has been competing with Louise, as well as continuing to improve herself with her sword every time she finds her lacking flaws and learning from her mistakes.
"Hmph. You dare decline the offer of an archduke's daughter?"
"That is the reason why I cannot just accept your offer."
"It was just a rank, you know. Well, if you like, if you want someone to lean on when you feel isolated, I am here."
"Well then, milady. If you insist, I will accept your kindness."
After she said that, Louise raised her body and stood up from her former sitting position, just as Christine did. Once Louise was done brushing off the dust from her butt, Christine grabbed her hand.
"Let's go, Louise."
"Wait, Christine!"
Christine immediately jogged along the hallway while dragging out Louise.
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