Somewhere near the Imperial Academy dormitory.
As night fell, a girl strolled through the garden shrouded in darkness.
“Hmm…”
A cheerful hum escaped her lips.
With each light step, the distinct ears of an elf peeked through her lime-green hair.
The wind gently lifted her skirt, revealing the charming line from her slender calves to her plump, pale thighs.
Liliana Mapleflower, a freshman in the Academy’s Magic Department.
The elf girl, hailed as a magical genius, was enjoying a late-night walk.
“I found a good book at the library today. As expected of the Academy.”
Liliana’s lips curved softly as she hugged the book dearly.
It had already been over a week since she left the Elf Dominion to enroll in the Academy.
Life at the Academy had been as enjoyable as she had hoped.
The class placement test after the entrance ceremony and the classes in the Magic Department.
For Liliana, who had lived over a century within the Dominion according to elven customs, everything was a new experience.
And to think she would be attending classes with Her Highness the Princess.
It was truly fascinating.
Her Highness Justia, who had enrolled in the Magic Department.
Liliana recalled being placed in the top class with her and attending magic classes together.
Even to an elf like herself, the princess’s beauty was dazzling.
Moreover, her kindness knew no bounds.
It was easy to understand why she was called the Empire’s treasure.
“But why did she suddenly become cold towards me?”
When they first met in class, she had been warm and kind beyond measure.
But at some point, her attitude towards Liliana had changed.
It was hard to describe.
She was still kind, but…
For some reason, it felt like she was being guarded against.
‘…Is she competitive about grades?’
Interpreting the subtle glances as academic rivalry, Liliana nodded to herself and continued walking.
‘Huh? Someone else is out at this hour?’
As she ventured deeper into the garden, Liliana tilted her head at the presence she felt nearby.
Leaning to take a closer look, she saw a man and a woman close together in a place decorated like a giant cage.
At this hour, most students would be preparing for tomorrow in their rooms.
For Liliana, this was a time to comfortably communicate with the spirits, so she hadn’t expected to encounter anyone else in the garden.
‘Who are they?’
Having lived most of her life within the Dominion, curiosity naturally arose.
Holding the book carefully, she tiptoed closer like a cat.
As the two shadows drew closer, their lips met.
“!”
Followed by their tongues dancing between them.
It was undoubtedly a kiss meant for love.
And a rather bold one at that.
‘Goodness, kissing in the garden!’
Liliana quickly hid behind a low wall-like bush and covered her mouth.
Though she had no sexual experience, as an elf past adulthood, she wasn’t entirely ignorant.
In fact, she knew more than most other female students.
The book she held so dearly.
She had read and seen things through erotic tales obtained from the library’s secret section.
‘But I’ve only seen such situations in books…’
She thought kissing was usually done indoors.
Perhaps humans are more proactive about such things.
As she tried to calm her pounding heart, a pitiful moan seeped into her ears.
“Haaah…!”
“!?”
The girl’s moan made Liliana’s eyes widen like a startled cat.
While she stood frozen in shock, the moans continued mercilessly.
“Hng… Not there…”
“Haa… Does this feel good?”
“Aah…!”
The heated atmosphere and the moist voices.
The young couple exhaled hot breaths under the moonlight.
‘Ugh… I can’t take this.’
Eventually, Liliana couldn’t endure the night’s heat and left the garden.
Holding her flushed cheeks, she headed back to the dormitory, where a beautiful woman in her late twenties with glasses stopped her at the entrance.
“Liliana! You’re back now.”
“Headmistress Vanessa? What’s the matter?”
“There’s a message from the four families of the Elf Dominion.”
Vanessa, the headmistress of the Academy’s first dormitory, spoke urgently.
Sensing something unusual in the bewildering situation, Liliana’s expression turned serious.
It was rare to see the usually calm Vanessa like this.
Had something happened to her family back home?
Anxious thoughts swirled in her mind until a shocking statement struck her.
“Stay calm and listen. Your sister Aila has been kidnapped.”
“…What?”
“She went outside the Dominion with her friends and was captured by slave hunters. I thought you should know immediately…”
“…..”
Liliana was speechless.
The news that her only sister had been kidnapped.
She struggled to process the situation, her thoughts frozen like a broken machine.
‘It’s dangerous for elves who haven’t completed their spirit contracts to leave the Dominion. Everyone’s been educated about that, so why did they go out? Could it be because of the stories I told her about the outside world?’
She clutched her hair in self-reproach.
Ayla, like her, was very curious.
That’s why she had shared stories of what she knew, feeling proud to see her sister’s joy.
But for it to come to this…
“Liliana! Snap out of it!”
A firm voice pulled her sinking consciousness back.
Vanessa gripped Liliana’s slender shoulders and spoke with a stern face.
“I heard your family has organized a pursuit team. Just wait a little…”
“I have to go. Right now.”
Liliana shook off Vanessa’s hand and dashed towards the Academy’s main gate.
Vanessa’s shouts echoed behind her, but she ignored them.
Rescuing Aila was her top priority now.
There was no time to hesitate or despair.
“Levitation.”
As she murmured, her body began to float.
The flight spell, Levitation.
Though it consumed a lot of mana, it might just allow her to make it in time.
Whoosh.
The evening wind enveloped her entire body.
Focusing her consciousness, she felt the wind brushing past her skin.
She continued her incantation.
“Sylphier.”
As mana spread through the air, the high wind spirit Sylphier appeared.
Liliana spoke with a determined expression.
“Take me to where Aila is. Track her location.”
Nod.
Sylphier nodded in understanding and led the way.
Following Sylphier, who flew like the wind, Liliana’s figure swiftly crossed the sky.
‘Please wait for me, Ayla.’
In her desperation, villages and rivers flashed beneath her feet.
The rushing wind struck her face.
Her hair was a mess, and her mana was draining rapidly.
But she couldn’t stop.
The thought of her precious sister being captured felt like thorns piercing her heart.
How much time had passed?
“Haa. Haa.”
By that time the full moon had moved overhead and began to set on the opposite side.
Liliana’s figure halted above a dense forest of towering trees.
‘This is the midpoint between the Dominion and the capital. Have the slave hunters already come this far?’
As confusion washed over her.
In the distance, she saw about twenty people gathered around a large carriage with a fire burning.
‘There they are.’
It was undoubtedly the slave hunters’ camp.
Flying slowly, she landed a short distance away.
Using Sylphier’s power to conceal her presence, she approached, and the slave hunters’ lively chatter became clear.
“Hey, how much further to the destination?”
“At this rate, we should arrive by the day after tomorrow.”
“Then shall we have a little taste tonight?”
“Huh? I thought they were for entertaining the nobles. Is that okay? That knight might throw a fit.”
“It’s fine, man. If we use the back door, there’s no evidence. Plus, we need to check if the goods are intact.”
“Oh, you’re right. As expected of Giedin!”
The slave hunters’ lewd laughter echoed.
As she eavesdropped, cold sweat dripped down Liliana’s temple.
‘There’s no time…!’
Those violent criminals were targeting her sister.
She couldn’t wait for the Dominion’s pursuit team to arrive.
She had to attempt a rescue immediately.
Scanning her surroundings quickly, Liliana’s eyes caught a large carriage.
As she tried to get closer.
“Well, well, we have a little mouse here.”
“!”
A voice like scraping metal came from behind.
Simultaneously, a burning pain seared her back.
“Kyaaah!”
“Quite the survivor. Judging by the resistance to my aura, you must be a high spirit user.”
From the deep shadows of the trees.
A knight in blue armor emerged, exuding a terrifying killing intent.
Desperately calling for Sylphier, but having lost strength from blocking the surprise attack.
The knight silently approached and forcefully pinned Liliana down.
“Kgh! Get off…!”
“Coming alone? You have skill, but it was reckless.”
The blue-armored knight spoke with icy words.
In the pain that pierced her very core, Liliana desperately lifted her head to see the slave hunters dragging an elf girl out of the carriage.
Recognizing the face, Liliana screamed as if her heart would tear apart.
“Ayla!”
“Sister! Ugh!”
“Sir Knight. Did you catch another elf? By the way, can I use this one’s back door? I promise there won’t be any traces.”
A man with a long scar on his face smiled obsequiously.
Ayla, trapped in his grasp, was shedding tears like a downpour.
“How many times do I have to tell you? You’re like a damn insect.”
“Hehehe, are you allowing it this time? As expected of someone as great as you, you’re so generous!”
The scarred man tore his lips into a grin towards the blue-armored knight, who responded with a tired tone.
Then, with a face gleaming with greed, he reached out towards Aila.
“Nooo!!!”
“Hey, you wait too. I’ll make you feel as good as your sister in a bit!”
The scarred man moved his hand without hesitation.
A despair darker than the night pressed down on her entire body.
The laughter of the surrounding slave hunters pierced her ears like the jeers of demons.
At that moment.
“Stop right there.”
A voice with an atmosphere distinctly different from the slave hunters.
A commanding baritone, as if looking down on the world, resonated across the scene.
“?”
The air froze in an instant.
Liliana, lying on the ground, slowly lifted her eyelids.
And she saw.
Standing majestically among the slave hunters.
A masked knight with crimson eyes.