After tidying up the remaining blood bags, Luna had already returned to the dormitory building.
The whole way back was quite smooth; she hadn’t seen any guards patrolling like when she first went to the infirmary.
Sigh…
If only going there had been as easy as coming back now.
But then again…
She glanced at Eliza, who had been walking beside her the entire time.
Eliza had accompanied her all the way from the infirmary back here. Strangely, Eliza’s appearances today seemed longer than usual; before, she barely came out at all.
It was almost as if she was deliberately keeping Luna company.
“Still waiting for what, kid? Hurry up and go inside.”
Eliza suddenly turned to look at her, noticing Luna hesitating to go up and kept urging her.
Luna glanced at the time on her phone—it was already 5:55. Dawn was just around the corner.
Pocketing her phone, she headed upstairs, sighing involuntarily along the way.
Tonight really hasn’t been peaceful…
Even if I get back to my room, I won’t be able to sleep for long.
Looks like I’m going to be dozing off again during class this morning.
Soon, Luna reached her dorm room door, her heart pounding nervously as she slowly opened it.
Honestly, she was terrified!
She was afraid that the moment she opened the door, she’d see her sister standing there with a stern look, asking where she had been, or maybe catch her sister coming out of the bathroom just as she opened the door…
That would be it for me!
If it were someone else, like Qingyan or Su Luoluo, she could still bribe them with some snacks to keep quiet about her sneaking out.
But if it was her sister…
“Hiss…”
She suddenly remembered something bad.
Fortunately, when she opened the door, it was nothing like she had feared—everything was unusually quiet and just as it had always been.
Whew—
Thank goodness.
After making sure no one was around, Luna cautiously stepped inside and closed the door.
Eliza, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have such concerns and just walked straight into Luna’s room.
She really doesn’t worry about anything at all…
Wait, they can’t see her, so why should she be worried?
Luna followed into the room and saw Eliza already sitting in the chair.
“Tonight was really fun, kid. The exercise today almost equals a whole week’s worth for me.”
“You’ve got to have a pretty low weekly exercise quota, then,” Luna whispered softly, still unaware that the room was sealed with a Soundproof Barrier.
“Hey, no need to whisper like that! I’ve already sealed this room with the [ Soundproof Barrier ]. Nobody outside can hear what we’re saying.”
Seeing Luna whisper so quietly, Eliza realized she had forgotten to tell her about activating the barrier.
“Really?”
“Really. Don’t believe me?”
Eliza grabbed the game console and cranked the volume all the way up.
“Yuanchao, activate!”
The loud game sounds filled the entire room, startling Luna!
“Okay, okay, I believe you! Turn it off, it’s too noisy!”
Eliza shut off the game volume and said again,
“How about now? Believe me?”
“Got it, got it.”
Luna had to admit she was impressed. She never expected Eliza to use this method to test the barrier.
Really impressive.
“Hehe, looks like you haven’t finished your daily quest, kid. I’ll go ahead and play for you.”
Without waiting for a response, Eliza started playing the game, completely ignoring Luna’s reaction.
Wait—
You’re just going to stay here openly like that?
Shouldn’t you have returned to your body by now?
Luna stared at Eliza intently, making her a little uncomfortable.
“…Hey, why are you staring at me like that?”
“…You usually stay for just a bit and then disappear, right? So why are you still here now?”
“Oh? So that’s what you’re worried about? Don’t you like me being around? Oh… so that’s how you really feel about me?”
Eliza suddenly put on a pitiful expression, looking at Luna with eyes full of grievance.
Luna was helpless at the sight, her lips twitching slightly.
Seriously… who taught you that expression?
It can’t be me, right?
“No, I just meant that you usually appear and disappear suddenly. Why have you been out so long this time?”
That was what Luna wanted to ask—she was curious why Eliza could stay out this long.
“Oh~ that’s what you mean.” Eliza looked as if she’d just realized something, then continued:
“Actually, I haven’t told you another thing yet, about you drinking blood.”
Hm?
“Basically, when you replenish your blood, it also replenishes my energy. Correspondingly, I can stay in the real world longer.”
“Oh… so that’s how it is.”
But why was there a need to hide that?!
“What’s wrong, kid?”
Seeing Luna’s reaction, Eliza was puzzled.
After a moment, Luna said,
“…I think we should be honest with each other.”
“What are you talking about, kid? I just thought you didn’t need to know, and I’ve always been honest with you—it’s you who doesn’t believe me.”
…
That actually makes sense!
Eliza hadn’t hidden anything from me; it was just my disbelief.
Like when she said, “I’m your mom,” I could never believe that!
Also! Could you stop calling me “kid”? I’ve been wanting to say that for a long time.
“By the way, there’s one more thing.”
While still thinking about it, Eliza, still playing the game on the chair, spoke again.
“More trouble…”
“I think you better look in the mirror, kid. Your current appearance…”
Eliza stopped halfway through her sentence.
“What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense,” Luna urged anxiously.
“You better see it for yourself—I can’t explain it,” Eliza smirked, pointing at the mirror.
Full of curiosity, Luna walked over and examined herself carefully.
At first, she didn’t notice anything unusual, but upon closer look, she finally spotted the clue!
Her two upper canine teeth had grown longer, looking just like vampire fangs!
Wait!
This is…
“Ahhhhh—!”
Luna suddenly screamed in horror.
“Pfft hahahaha—!”
Eliza finally burst out laughing, as if she had anticipated this reaction.
“Hey, Eliza! What’s going on with my teeth?!”
Luna opened her mouth wide, demanding an explanation.
Eliza laughed harder at her exaggerated expression and movements.
“Ha ha ha ha—!”
Seeing Eliza laughing uncontrollably, Luna was genuinely angry.
“Stop laughing, Eliza! What’s going on!?”
Luna asked anxiously, her face filled with unease and confusion.
After laughing for a while, Eliza finally stopped and began seriously explaining: “This is the beginning of your Demonization, kid.”
“Demonization!?”
Luna’s eyes widened in shock.
“That’s right,” Eliza nodded, “Because you’ve been drinking blood, your Demon features are starting to show. Don’t worry, it’s a normal phenomenon.”
“You’re lying! I’m clearly human! How could I possibly be—” Luna argued fiercely, unable to accept this sudden truth.
“But it’s a fact, kid.” Eliza looked at her calmly. “Your teeth changed because of contact with blood. This is one of the signs of Demonization. You can’t deny it.”
“Impossible! I’m human—how can I be Demonized!”
Luna stubbornly refused to accept it.
“Then what if you were a Demon all along?” Eliza posed.
“That’s even more impossible! I’m telling you again, I’m human!”
Luna’s emotions flared up; she just couldn’t accept the idea of being a Demon!
“Kid.”
Eliza’s face suddenly darkened.
“Don’t you realize it by now?”
“I…”
“You’re a Demon, and you’re still fooling yourself!?”
“Think about it—why does the blood taste sweet to you? Why are your teeth like that?”
“Fooling myself? I’m human! That’s undeniable!”
“You really are something, kid—!”
It was obvious Eliza was getting angry too. She couldn’t understand why Luna refused to accept the truth.
With a “hmph!”
Eliza put down the game console and disappeared right in front of Luna.
My phone died—sorry for the disturbance.
“Hey! Eliza!?”
After she vanished, Luna was left completely alone in the room.
“Eliza! Come out and explain this!”
Luna clearly didn’t want to let it go, suspecting Eliza had returned to her body and wanting to call her out.
But all that followed was long silence.
“You’re so noisy… little Lu.”
Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway. Luna knew that voice all too well!
“Sis!”
She quickly turned toward her sister, covering her mouth so she wouldn’t be seen.
“When… when did you get here, sis?”
Lusina was standing at the door in pajamas, watching her.
“Just now. I happened to come out to use the bathroom and saw your room light still on and you yelling inside.”
***
Thank goodness.
It seemed Lusina hadn’t overheard anything.
Luna was still worried that her earlier conversation might have been heard, but it looked like her fears were unnecessary…
Or so she thought!
“What’s wrong, little sis? Why are you covering your mouth?”
Lusina noticed and asked curiously.
Luna’s heart skipped a beat—this was trouble. She had to quickly come up with a story to get past this without Lusina discovering anything!
She hastily made up a reason, coughing a few times, “I… I have a bit of a cold, sis. Cough, cough—!”
Lusina immediately became concerned upon hearing this.
“A cold!? How are you feeling? Any fever? Do you need to see a doctor?”
Seeing Lusina’s worry, Luna felt a little guilty but also secretly relieved that her excuse was working.
“It’s nothing serious. I’ve taken cold medicine and I’m wearing a mask for prevention, sis,” Luna replied casually, trying to reassure her.
“Oh, alright then. Take care of yourself, little sis,” Lusina said, still worried but slightly relieved seeing Luna didn’t seem too bad.
“Mm-hmm. You should get back to sleep now, sis,” Luna urged, inwardly celebrating that she’d gotten through this.
However, just as Lusina was about to leave, her gaze caught the snack wrappers in the trash and the few snacks on the desk. A hint of suspicion appeared on her face.
Oh~ cold medicine, huh?
“Hey, little Lu.”
Lusina stopped by the trash can, turning around with a gentle but teasing look at her sister.
She pulled a snack wrapper out of the trash with a smile.
“Sis, what’s this?”
“Uh… I… this…”
“Are you sure you were eating cold medicine and not these snacks?”
Being stared at by her sister, Luna suddenly felt a chill run down her spine!
Damn!
She’d been caught sneaking snacks!
How could I be so stupid?
I forgot to throw out the trash when I came back downstairs!
“I thought the snack wrappers were supposed to be on the living room table? How did they end up on your desk, my dear sister?”
Luna stammered, unsure how to respond. She knew no matter what she said, it would sound weak.
“Sis, I… this…” Luna faltered, her eyes flickering nervously.
She knew that telling Lusina what really happened tonight would only make things worse. Besides, Lusina would probably think she was just making excuses again.
“Cold medicine, huh.”
Uh-oh!!!
I’m doomed!
Now little Xi’s sleepiness is gone, and all she can think about is how to scold her little sister.
“That’s strange, sis. You say you took cold medicine, but I haven’t seen any. Just the snacks I bought yesterday and a little glutton here.”
“What’s going on, my dear sister?”
“Could it be you’re not sick at all? You just finished eating snacks, and crumbs are still at the corners of your mouth?”
“I…”
“Put your hands down, Luna!”
This is it—I’m completely finished!!!