Riya, on her end, had originally come here only for matters concerning her own secrets, wanting to continue probing Yize.
However, the moment she leaped down from the skylight, an invisible force abruptly enveloped her whole body.
She felt the magic power coursing through her body was firmly locked down by something, rendering her completely unable to manipulate it.
This sudden change caught her off guard; she lost her balance and plummeted straight down from midair—
Bang!
Without the slightest deviation, she landed right on top of the sleeping Yize.
The impact jolted both of them awake at the same time.
In the darkness, Yize reacted instinctively—swiftly rolling over and pinning the person on top of him onto the bed.
His movements were crisp and decisive, completely unlike what one would expect from a second-rank Mage.
“Mmph!” Riya let out a muffled groan and tried to struggle, only to find herself, now bereft of magic power, utterly powerless against this brute strength.
Riya?!
Yize’s mind felt like it had been struck by a sledgehammer, going blank in an instant.
He jerked his hand away from her as if burned, scrambling to the corner of the bed in a panic, his voice full of genuine fright and lingering shock, “S-sorry! I didn’t know it was you! What…what are you doing sneaking into my room in the middle of the night?!”
With the grip on her neck gone, Riya sucked in a sharp breath, coughing violently as she propped herself up.
Her silver hair hung down, the tips of her ears red as blood, her chest heaving with emotion.
“You… let go of me first!” she repeated, her voice trembling with uncontrollable anger and embarrassment. It was only after speaking that she realized the suppression had been lifted.
Yize awkwardly averted his eyes, not daring to look at her any longer.
Only now did he belatedly realize just how ambiguous their earlier position had been, and that his actions had shown no mercy at all.
Riya took several deep breaths, trying to forcibly suppress the waves of emotion inside, but found it completely futile.
A burning sense of humiliation seared her reason.
She, the genius of Liyue Academy, the heir of the Arsaid family, had been subdued so easily by a mere second-rank Mage from Xingyao Academy, with only five percent elemental affinity! And the other party had only used brute strength!
What made it even harder for her to accept was that, in his attempt to pin her down, Yize’s hands had inevitably left distinct sensations on her body.
The feeling of those strong fingers brushing past her waist, pressing down on her shoulder—just recalling it made her skin tingle and her shame reach a new height.
Since childhood, when had she ever had such intimate—or even rough—physical contact with a member of the opposite sex?
But more than her shame and anger, what truly shocked her was the sheer physical strength Yize had displayed.
In order to maintain her image as a “male heir,” she had never slacked in martial training and physical exercise; though not matching her magical talents, it far surpassed ordinary mages.
Yet just now, Yize’s seemingly casual restraint had been like an iron clamp, leaving her unable to move at all, the absolute difference in strength rendering her completely unable to resist.
“Have you trained in martial arts?” Riya raised her head, her silvery-grey eyes locking onto Yize as she almost gritted her teeth to ask the first question.
Being stared at like that made Yize’s scalp tingle, but he forced himself to answer, “Uh… I haven’t really systematically trained in martial arts, just… exercise a lot, I guess.”
His face was filled with embarrassment.
That was the truth—he really didn’t know any martial arts moves.
But his physical stats… were entirely the result of the system “favoring” his [Defense], [Constitution], and [Agility] attributes with relentless stat boosts over the years.
His [Defense] in particular was astonishing.
As for [Constitution], it encompassed many things—simply put, it meant greater physical strength, higher HP, and better elemental magic resistance.
Basically, [Constitution] and [Defense] were complementary attributes.
Yize’s magic attacks weren’t anything special.
But his fists packed quite a punch.
He hadn’t actually tested the extent of his strength, but it definitely wasn’t something ordinary human warriors could contend with.
Riya’s gaze made it clear she didn’t believe him.
Could simple exercise really achieve that?
But for now, she had more pressing concerns.
“Second question,” she tried to restore her usual cold tone, though a slight tremor still remained, “Why is there a magic formation in your room?”
This was the real reason for her embarrassing predicament.
She’d intended to sneak in silently to investigate, but the moment she touched the skylight, she triggered an unknown restriction. Her magic was instantly suppressed, leaving her to fall straight down like an ordinary person, landing right on Yize.
Yize’s heart clenched, but he kept a straight face and skillfully pushed the blame elsewhere:
“Ah, that… should be Senior Sister Shala’s doing, right? She’s always been careful. I’d guess she set up similar protective formations outside not just my room, but also Luke’s and Emma’s rooms.”
He secretly rejoiced at being prepared.
In truth, he had quietly arranged several hidden and defensive formations in and around the room himself—without such measures, he could never sleep peacefully.
After all, this wasn’t the peaceful world of his previous life. Who knew if one day he might die silently in his sleep?
Shala was indeed skilled with magic formations—this, Riya knew.
She frowned, but accepted the explanation for now.
“Then,” Riya’s cheeks flushed again, this time because she recalled an even more mortifying scene, “what did you just… make me drink?”
While restraining her, Yize had all but forced open her mouth and poured in a cold potion.
That feeling of being completely dominated and unable to resist still made her heart race and filled her with humiliation even in retrospect.
Yize’s heart skipped a beat.
This was bad.
He had acted on reflex just now, thinking she was an enemy, so he’d grabbed the “self-defense” potion he always carried and forced it down her throat.
That was no ordinary stuff—it was a “Veritaserum” he’d secretly developed by combining system knowledge with his own “abundant” alchemy experience (he called it ‘Obedience Water’ in his head).
Its effects were simple and direct: for a certain period, the drinker would be unable to resist his commands or questions and would have to answer truthfully.
It was extremely difficult to make, with rare and expensive ingredients, and he had very little left. He’d intended it as a last-resort tool for extracting information or creating a chance of survival if ever cornered.
Who would have thought, by a twist of fate, he’d use it on Riya?
What was worse, he wasn’t even sure of all its side effects… In experiments on minor magic beasts, they’d become agitated for a while after drinking it, rolling and squirming as if itchy all over.
He must not, under any circumstances, reveal the real name or effects of the potion!
“It’s just… a potion that might cause some itching… I think?” Yize did his best to look both sincere and believably uncertain. “I heard it could have that effect, so I kept a bottle around…”
“You gave me a potion and you don’t even know its exact effects?” Riya almost laughed from exasperation. How could this guy act so recklessly?
“Uh…” Yize could only continue down this path, “I bought it by chance from a wandering alchemist whose whereabouts are unknown. He said that’s what it does… I haven’t tried it myself. I was just saving it for emergencies—like interrogating enemies.”
The more he spoke, the smaller his voice became—even he thought this excuse sounded flimsy.
Riya stared at him, searching for any trace of a lie on his face.
At last, she exhaled softly.
If it only caused some itching, then though annoying and unpleasant, at least it wasn’t anything more destructive or sinister.
By comparison, the more pressing matter now was making sure Yize kept his mouth shut.
She straightened her face, trying to regain her usual coldness and intimidation, but the blush lingering on her cheeks greatly undermined her aura. “What happened tonight—don’t you dare tell anyone. Otherwise…”
Her words suddenly trailed off.
Otherwise what? Kill him?
Never mind whether she could do it with her magic suppressed—Yize was, after all, Dean Kleya’s direct disciple, and blowing things up would benefit no one.
More importantly, she still couldn’t be entirely sure whether Yize remembered her biggest secret or not.
If he didn’t remember, then in his eyes, she was always the “young master of the Arsaid family.”
A physical scuffle between two “men” caused by a misunderstanding—though embarrassing and the poses a bit questionable—didn’t seem to be a secret worth killing to keep.
If she overreacted, it would only seem suspicious.
Yize, seeing her halt mid-sentence, grew even more nervous.
He’d been expecting to hear a standard threat like “Or I’ll kill you,” but instead, she just fell silent.
The strange, stifling silence made him more and more uncomfortable. Almost involuntarily, he blurted something out to break the suffocating awkwardness.
Without thinking, he asked the question that made him regret it instantly:
“Um… Lady Riya, why did you fall through my skylight in the dead of night?” The words left his mouth and he wanted nothing more than to rewind time—he’d completely forgotten the “Veritaserum” was still in effect!
Sure enough, Riya’s lips parted. She seemed about to make up some random excuse—investigating the area, looking for a lost item—but uncontrollably, her truest, most hidden intention burst out:
“I came here to ask you if you still remember that I might be a woman.”
Her words, clear and direct, echoed sharply in the silent room.
The moment she finished, Riya froze, pupils contracting in utter disbelief and panic.
How… how could she just blurt out her deepest secret without control?!
Yize was completely stunned too, inwardly wailing.
It’s over! Completely over!
He had personally destroyed his hard-maintained “playing dumb” act!
He wished he could slap himself right then and there.
The room fell into a deathly silence, an awkwardness as tangible as “the truth revealed” and “utter helplessness” suffused the air, so heavy it was hard to breathe.
Just as Yize’s mind was spinning at full throttle, nearly overheating as he desperately searched for a way to salvage the situation, Riya—standing by the bed—suddenly began to show visible changes.
She started to twist her body slightly, out of her own control. The blush that had just begun to fade on her cheeks now deepened at a pace visible to the naked eye, this time an unnatural red, as if her face were aflame.
Her breathing turned rapid and uneven, a flash of dazed confusion crossing her eyes. She seemed to be struggling mightily against a strange, unfamiliar sensation surging from deep within, something so hard to endure it scattered her thoughts.
“Yize…” She spoke again, but now her voice was laced with an odd, sticky softness, utterly unlike her usual cold and clear tone. It was almost enticing, as if with a hook. “Just what… did you make me drink?”
Inside her, it felt as if countless tiny insects were crawling and gnawing away, bringing waves of itchiness—but it was much more than that. An unfamiliar, flustering heat and emptiness was spreading through her limbs and bones, assailing her reason and making it almost impossible to concentrate.
Watching her, so drastically different from before, Yize was even more bewildered and alarmed.
This reaction… wasn’t at all what his observations had suggested!
Weren’t the side effects supposed to be just skin itching?
From the look of things now, the problem was much more serious—and much more complicated—than he had imagined!