At this moment, it was exactly like that moment back then.
The girl before her gradually overlapped with the girl in her memories.
Though her figure had changed, her singing remained the same.
They could never go back to how things were before.
If anyone else had witnessed this scene, they would probably be utterly captivated, exclaiming something like “The saint has descended to the mortal world.”
But Sevitis knew in her heart that this holy appearance was nothing but a deceptive facade.
Deep down, that girl was nothing short of a vicious schemer!
Fortunately, the other seemed completely immersed in her singing and hadn’t noticed her.
So Sevitis held her breath and was about to quietly crawl back into the bushes on all fours, bottom in the air.
Gently, slowly, inching backward…
Rip—
A sharp tug yanked at her scalp. Sevitis drew in a sharp breath.
The black ponytail she had carelessly tied up earlier had somehow gotten caught on a branch at this exact moment.
She tried to pull her hair free, but instead of succeeding, she only caused the surrounding leaves to rustle.
‘No, she could yank it off, but making such a racket would definitely alert Eulalia.’
‘Tch, I shouldn’t have been lazy and fixed my hair properly before going out.’
Fortunately, most of her body and head were already hidden in the bushes, with only that section of black ponytail hanging out.
It was late at night. No matter how capable Eulalia was, she was still just a human.
Without a light source, there was no way she could spot Sevitis concealed in the darkness.
‘It’s not like she’d be crazy enough to toss an Illumination Spell into the bushes in the middle of the night, right?’
‘As long as she hid until Eulalia was done singing and left, she could quietly untangle her hair and slip away. The posture of being stuck halfway in the bushes with her butt in the air was extremely embarrassing, but that was fine. Enduring for a while would bring calm after the storm, which was much better than being caught red-handed by that woman.’
‘Either way, coming face to face with her now was definitely not a wise move.’
‘She had already been caught once before when she first turned into a vampire. Even if she had changed her appearance with the pendant, it was hard to guarantee that Eulalia’s unreasonable intuition wouldn’t recognize her.’
‘More importantly, there was a wager between them that she absolutely had to win!’
‘In the script Sevitis had envisioned, she would successfully pass the Academy Assessment, then stand proudly before Eulalia, looking down on her and telling her…’
‘”I’m no longer the weak boy you looked down on back then. I’ve grown into a real man who stands tall between heaven and earth!”‘
‘…Not like this, having devolved into a petite loli stuck in the bushes and unable to move.’
‘But it was fine. Even if she was now a loli, as long as she completed the assessment and then found a way to turn back, she could still stand before her with dignity. For now, she would just bear the humiliation a little longer.’
But her thoughts were nice; reality wasn’t going to let her off so easily.
Sevitis inexplicably felt a soft touch on her bottom. It seemed to be that black cat from earlier.
‘W-Wait! What are you trying to do?!’
‘Sevitis instantly panicked. This little rascal cat wasn’t going to retaliate against her for chasing it all the way here and try to do something sinister to her, was it?’
‘No, no! She absolutely couldn’t make a sound! If she accidentally made a noise and Eulalia noticed… The thought of falling into that scheming woman’s hands in this deserted place in the dead of night made Sevitis’s scalp tingle.’
So Sevitis could only bite her lip hard and kick her legs slightly, trying to shoo the black cat away.
‘Shoo, shoo. Go play somewhere else.’
Fortunately, the black cat seemed to sense Sevitis’s thoughts and retracted its soft little paws.
Then, the faint sound of footsteps on fallen leaves gradually faded away.
Sevitis’s heart, which had been in her throat, finally settled back down. That troublesome little menace was finally gone.
But as she came to her senses, she felt a bit regretful. She hadn’t managed to grab it while she had the chance.
She didn’t know if she could still run into it later, or else all her efforts tonight would be wasted.
However, before Sevitis’s heart could fully settle, she heard footsteps coming from behind her again.
‘Why did it come back? Did it get lost?’
‘Strange… Why were the footsteps getting quicker and closer? Was it running away?’
Pat, pat.
‘No! That little thing is gathering strength!’
Sevitis suddenly realized, but it was already too late.
She guessed correctly.
The next second—
Whoosh!
She felt a sharp gust of wind slice past her bottom, followed by a searing sting.
“Ugh!”
“Holy shit!”
The pain, coupled with an indescribable sense of shame, shot straight to her head.
Sevitis couldn’t hold it in any longer. Like a kitten whose tail had been stepped on, she scrambled out of the bushes with a loud “ow,” tumbling and rolling.
After rolling awkwardly on the grass, Sevitis stood up, clutching her little bottom, and glared back fiercely.
Fortunately, it was just an ordinary kitten and hadn’t even torn her dress.
‘But ambushing a defenseless young lady was totally against the rules of martial virtue!’
Sevitis let out a breath and was about to dust herself off when she suddenly felt that something was off.
‘The surroundings… were too quiet?’
‘And… she felt like countless pairs of eyes were staring straight at her.’
Sevitis slowly and stiffly raised her head.
The commotion she had caused was just too loud.
Now, not only were the animals gathered around the stone all staring at her in unison.
Even the golden-haired girl sitting in the center had stopped singing, and her clear sapphire blue eyes were blinking at her.
Sevitis drew in a sharp breath and decisively turned around, wishing she could crawl back into that bush the same way she came.
‘Can’t see me… You definitely can’t see me…’
However, since Eulalia was looking this way, how could she possibly not have seen Sevitis?
“Where are you going?”
Far from showing any aversion to this little black cat that had suddenly rolled out of the bushes, Eulalia smiled and pointed behind herself, saying,
“There’s a path over there you can use. Or… do you actually prefer crawling through the bushes?”
Sevitis stopped in her tracks.
She gritted her teeth and could only turn around silently, following the direction Eulalia had indicated, and walked around the center of the clearing with grim determination.
‘Oh well, since she had been spotted, taking a path was still more dignified than crawling again.’
Just as she was passing the large stone, the small animals in the clearing seemed to sense some dangerous aura and scattered instantly.
And the golden-haired girl moved lightly, precisely blocking Sevitis’s path at the waist.
“Haven’t we met somewhere before? You look so familiar to me.”
“You must have the wrong person.”
Sevitis’s expression remained unchanged, but alarm bells were ringing in her heart.
She didn’t know whether the other was referring to the human boy from back then or the white-haired loli who had fled the other day.
But no matter which one, it didn’t affect her plan to continue playing dumb.
‘Life is a stage, and acting is everything. Being timid now would only seem more suspicious. It was better to retort boldly. With her current little girl appearance, even her gender had changed. There was no way Eulalia could recognize her!’
Eulalia not only didn’t move aside, but her smile deepened:
“Meeting again after such a long time, and you’re in a hurry to leave without even saying hello. Could it be… that you’re afraid of me?”
“Sorry, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just passing through. I have urgent matters, so I’ll take my leave.”
Sevitis said coldly, stepping to the side, trying to continue on her way around Eulalia.
But Eulalia seemed not to hear Sevitis’s words. She stepped lightly and blocked her way again, continuing on her own:
“But I think you look a lot like the person I’ve been waiting for.”
“What a pity. I don’t know you at all.”
“The person I’m waiting for also has black hair and blue-purple eyes, just like you. However, his hair isn’t as long as yours.”
Eulalia stared intently into her eyes, her tone as light as if she were making small talk.
“If you meet someone matching that description in the academy, could you please let me know?”
“Mm-hmm, a boy with black hair and blue-purple eyes, right? Okay, I’ll remember that.”
Sevitis replied perfunctorily. She just wanted to get out of this damn place quickly.
But Eulalia wasn’t finished yet.
“Oh~ I see…”
She nodded as if understanding.
Just as Sevitis was secretly sighing in relief, Eulalia’s next words came.
“Think about it,” she said casually.
“When a normal person hears a girl waiting late at night in the woods for someone who looks like them but has ‘shorter hair,’ their first reaction wouldn’t be to assume that person is a ‘boy,’ would it?”
“Because!…”
Sevitis was momentarily at a loss, about to retort.
But Eulalia’s next light and airy sentence plunged her into an icy abyss:
“Not to mention, the person who blurted that out just now was a little loli who isn’t even five feet tall.”
Sevitis’s eyes darted away. She was completely speechless.
‘How could I forget that? I’ve only been in this form for a little over two weeks, yet I’ve already gotten used to a view that’s over four inches shorter than before.’
“So, unless…”
Eulalia’s smile grew wider.
“You knew from the start that the person I was waiting for was a guy, so you naturally assumed that.”
“…”
“Then the question is, how did you know I was waiting for a guy? I’ve never mentioned it to anyone.”
“…”
“When you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”
“…”
Eulalia bent down slightly, bringing her face within a few inches of Sevitis’s. Her red lips parted:
“You’re the guy I’ve been waiting for, aren’t you…”
She deliberately slowed her speech, her lips curving into a mischievous smile.
“Sev.”
Her tone was light and playful, just like before.