When her consciousness returned, Lilia only felt a splitting headache.
Pain.
A piercing pain.
She moved her fingers and found herself lying on something soft, covered with fabric.
Wait.
Wasn’t she knocked unconscious by the mana backlash?
Did that pervert take advantage of her?
Lilia snapped her eyes open, greeted by the familiar dome of the study.
She pushed against the carpet, trying to sit up, but her arms gave out, and she tumbled back down.
“Awake?”
Lucia’s voice came from the side.
Lilia turned her head, and that excessively perfect face was right before her eyes.
By reflex, she tried to shrink back.
But her body wouldn’t obey; she could only freeze in place.
“I…”
As the words reached her lips, Lilia realized the clothes on her body had been changed.
It wasn’t the gothic dress she had crumpled up.
Instead, it was a long white dress.
It was a very simple style, without lace or bows.
Only the cuffs and hem were embroidered with faint golden patterns.
“You changed me, meow?!”
Lilia’s voice jumped an octave, and her face instantly flushed.
Was she stripped naked by this pervert again?!
“Lilith changed you.”
Lucia stood up, looking down at her from above.
“I have no interest in laying hands on a corpse while you’re unconscious.”
Lilia grit her teeth.
Hearing that was even more infuriating.
She struggled to crawl up.
Just as she propped up half her body, a warm current suddenly surged through her.
That power flowed along her meridians.
Everywhere it passed, the original tearing pain actually began to subside.
“This…”
Lilia looked down at the white dress she was wearing.
The mana fluctuations were coming from this garment.
“A healing robe, meow?”
She asked tentatively.
“Sort of.”
Lucia walked to the window, her back to her.
“The ‘Robe of Serenity.’ It can stabilize the rampaging mana in your body and repair damaged meridians.”
Lilia was stunned for a moment.
This pervert… was healing her?
No.
Something was wrong.
This woman never did anything without a purpose.
She had tortured her half to death.
Now she was bringing out such a treasure to treat her—what was the catch?
Lilia wanted to stand up, but her body was incredibly limp.
The mana seeping from the dress was too gentle.
So gentle that her entire body relaxed, and she couldn’t even summon the thought of resisting.
She suddenly bit the tip of her tongue.
The pain cleared her head a bit.
“Master is truly generous, meow.”
Lilia spoke with a fake smile.
“But does this outfit… have other functions, meow?”
Lucia turned around, her blood-red eyes looking at her.
“Smart.”
She walked back, squatted in front of Lilia, and reached out to pinch her chin.
“It indeed has another function—to make you more obedient.”
Lilia’s pupils shrank.
As expected!
“You…”
“Don’t be in such a hurry to curse me.”
Lucia let go, her fingertips tracing the golden patterns on the dress.
“It’s just soothing your emotions so you don’t do something stupid out of impulse.”
“Like just now, using a suicidal attack to resist me.”
Lilia clenched her teeth.
She wanted to argue.
But the warm power in her body made it impossible for her anger to ignite.
The feeling was like someone had installed a switch in her brain, forcibly suppressing her violent temper.
“I won’t listen to you, meow!”
She shouted with all her might.
But her voice was soft and weak; even she felt it lacked any momentum.
Lucia let out a laugh.
“Is that so?”
She stood up, took Lilia’s hand, and pulled her up from the carpet.
Lilia wanted to pull away, but her fingers uncontrollably gripped that cold hand.
“From today on, you will wear this.”
Lucia led her toward the door.
“Get some rest. Tomorrow, we continue our lessons.”
The words fell, and Lilia had already been sent back to her own room.
The door closed behind her.
She stood there, staring at herself in the mirror.
A long white dress, long silver hair, and an unnatural flush on her face.
In those heterochromatic gold and blue eyes, resentment was written clear.
“Damn it.”
Lilia cursed under her breath.
She raised her hand, wanting to tear the dress off.
As soon as her fingers touched the collar, the warm mana in her body surged up.
It wasn’t stopping her.
It was reminding her—
If she took off the dress, the pain from those wounds would return.
Lilia’s hand froze in mid-air.
Wearing it, her body was comfortable, but her spirit was being slowly eroded.
Taking it off, it would hurt like hell, but at least she could stay sharp.
She bit her lip, her fingers lingering on the collar for a long time.
In the end, she let it go.
“Dammit…”
Lilia tumbled onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow.
This life was unbearable.
That pervert’s methods came one after another.
A slap followed by a piece of candy.
“No way…”
Lilia rolled over, staring at the ceiling.
She couldn’t give up.
Absolutely not.
She closed her eyes and began to mobilize the mana in her body, trying to strike the Magic Circuit on the dress.
Just as the mana condensed, it was dissolved by that gentle power.
Again.
Dissolved again.
Lilia refused to believe it, trying over and over.
The meridians that had just been repaired began to throb with pain, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
But she didn’t care.
She was determined to fight this damn dress.
After an unknown amount of time, she was too tired to open her eyes, and her consciousness gradually blurred.
In her daze, she seemed to hear footsteps outside the door.
Very light.
They stopped at the door but didn’t come in.
Lilia wanted to open her eyes to look, but her eyelids were too heavy to lift.
The footsteps stayed for a while and then faded away.
She completely sank into darkness.
In her dream, she returned to that lightning maze.
But this time, she didn’t run.
Instead, she stood her ground, looking up at Lucia in mid-air.
“You just wait for me, meow.”
Lilia’s voice was very soft, but every word was heavy.
“One day, I’ll let you taste the feeling of being electrocuted too.”
“When that time comes…”
She paused, her cat ears standing straight up.
“I’m going to make you kneel on the ground and beg me not to shock you, meow!”