Staring at the system panel’s three options, Iana’s mind swirled with confusion.
Option One—what was that about?
A treasure left by her mother?
How could she not know about it?
She was a transmigrator, her soul thrust into this world from another.
Did “mother” refer to her past life’s parent?
But she’d been an orphan back then, with no family to speak of.
Could it be that her mysterious, never-known mother had also crossed into this novel’s world?
Had she foreseen Iana’s plight and left behind a treasure to conceal her form and aura?
The idea strained credulity, teetering on the edge of absurdity.
Iana’s head ached from the tangle of questions.
In the end, she gave up trying to unravel the mystery.
The system had offered a solution, and that was enough.
She’d trust it—for now.
“System, I choose Option One. Retrieve the treasure my mother left for me.”
[System Notification: Host has selected Option One. Commencing search for the treasure.]
A cold, mechanical voice echoed in her mind.
Iana waited, half-expecting the treasure to materialize in her hands.
Instead, a sudden force surged through her, shoving her toward the door with relentless strength.
“What’s happening?” Iana gasped, bewildered by the invisible power propelling her forward.
“It’s the system’s doing,” she muttered, realization dawning.
The system wasn’t delivering the treasure—it was forcing her to find it herself.
“No, stop! I’ll die out there like this!”
Her demonic aura pulsed around her, a beacon of her otherness.
In a place like Saint Roland Magic Academy, that aura marked her as a spy, a demon infiltrator.
Discovery meant death, swift and certain.
But the system ignored her pleas.
The force pushed her onward, unyielding.
“I can’t go out like this—I’ll be killed!”
Iana didn’t surrender to despair.
She summoned every ounce of strength, straining against the system’s power.
It was futile.
Her body slid toward the bedroom door, a prisoner to the system’s will.
She’d been sitting on her bed, but now, draped in a blanket, she was dragged forward.
If she couldn’t fight the system, she’d minimize the damage.
Wrapping the blanket tightly around herself, she hid every inch of her draconic form—horns, tail, scales.
It was a flimsy defense; the blanket couldn’t mask her demonic aura.
Anyone with a shred of sensitivity would sense the dark energy radiating from her.
Miraculously, the hallway outside her dorm was empty.
The early hour meant few students roamed the grounds, a small mercy that eased her pounding heart.
“Don’t let anyone see me,” Iana whispered, glaring at the system in her mind. “Hurry up and get me where I’m going, you wretched thing.”
If not for the system, she’d still be asleep, dreaming of a lazy afternoon coaching Lillian.
That simple life felt like a distant fantasy now, replaced by this nightmare of scales and demonic taint, pushed toward an unknown destination.
“What’s that?” a male voice cried, laced with fear, pointing at the blanket-wrapped figure shambling forward.
“What’s got you so spooked?” his companion yawned, glancing toward Iana.
His eyes widened as he sensed her aura, his drowsiness vanishing. “It is a demon! Run!”
They knew better than to confront a being exuding such potent demonic energy.
In moments, they were gone, their footsteps fading into the distance.
“I’m done for,” Iana groaned, watching them flee.
They’d seen her—or at least her blanket-clad form.
They’d surely fetch a teacher, and once that happened, she’d be captured, imprisoned, and executed.
Despair clawed at her, snuffing out hope.
“I’m sorry, Lillian,” she murmured. “Looks like I won’t be helping you win over the Proud Dragon after all.”
But then, a spark of hope flickered.
The treasure—if she could claim it, she could hide her aura.
They hadn’t seen her face.
If she could mask her demonic energy, no one would know she was the intruder.
“Come on, system, move faster!” she urged, clinging to that fragile thread of optimism.
The invisible force propelled her onward, guiding her to the girls’ dormitory.
A sign loomed overhead: Girls’ Dormitory. No Men Allowed.
Iana could only scoff.
This wasn’t her choice—the system was in control.
Why would her mother’s treasure be in the girls’ dorm?
Was her mother a student here?
The age didn’t add up.
“Maybe a staff member?” Iana mused, grasping at straws.
The system halted her before a specific dorm room.
The door, oddly, was unlocked, creaking open as she approached.
Inside, the room mirrored her own in layout but gleamed with a touch more luxury.
Best of all, it was empty.
“Thank the heavens,” Iana breathed, relief flooding her.
The force guided her to a wardrobe in the bedroom, then vanished.
“This is it?” she wondered aloud.
Why her mother’s treasure would be stashed in some girl’s dorm was beyond her, but she wasn’t about to question it.
Perhaps her mother had lost it, and someone else had picked it up.
She was merely reclaiming what was hers.
Opening the wardrobe, she found an array of neutral clothing, alongside a few child-sized dresses and skirts, pristine as if never worn.
Iana ignored the oddity, her eyes drawn to a deep corner where a jade-green orb rested, pulsing with an otherworldly aura.
It was no ordinary trinket.
She reached for it. “This is it? The treasure my mother left?”
[System Notification: Host has acquired the treasure left by their mother. Reward distribution complete.]
The system’s confirmation rang in her mind.
This was the artifact meant to conceal her aura—but how did it work?
“I’ll figure it out back in my room,” she decided.
Lingering here was too risky.
At that moment, a familiar voice sounded from the doorway. “Strange. I’m sure I locked the door before I left yesterday.”
Iana’s blood ran cold.
Eserina.
The heroine herself, the Proud Dragon of the novel, whom she’d seen just last night.
“What do I do? If I leave now, she’ll see me!” Iana’s mind raced. “Say I was just passing by? Who ‘passes by’ someone’s dorm room?”
As Eserina’s footsteps drew closer, Iana’s panic surged. “No choice—hide!”
She dove into the wardrobe, pulling the door shut, hoping to go unnoticed.
But her demonic aura betrayed her, seeping through the cracks like a beacon.
“This stupid orb—how do I use it?” Iana fumbled with the treasure, desperation mounting as she tried to activate its power.
Eserina entered the bedroom, her gaze locking onto the wardrobe.
A faint, enigmatic smile curved her lips as she sensed the thick demonic energy within.