“What?”
Flovi’s golden eyes flicked briefly toward the window, as if confirming something.
Without hesitation, she walked straight to the door and opened it decisively.
Standing outside was a figure utterly different from the one everyone at Oselenka Academy knew.
Her flowing black hair cascaded down like fine silk, glinting faintly under the dim light at the villa’s entrance.
The eyes always hidden behind thick lenses were now unobstructed—pitch-black, lustrous pupils gleaming with striking depth and sharpness in the night.
She wore a fitted dark casual outfit, standing tall with her arms crossed over her chest. Her entire bearing had shifted from “unremarkable assistant” to a composed, slightly aloof mature woman.
It was Feliel.
“F-Feliel?”
Mia was the first to gasp, her blue eyes going wide as a cabbage leaf nearly slipped from her hand.
“What are you doing here? And… dressed like that?”
Ellaria and Kefi were clearly stunned as well, their emerald and gray eyes filled with shock and confusion.
The Feliel before them—aside from her recognizable face—shared almost nothing in common with the quiet classmate who always wore braids and oversized glasses.
Feliel’s gaze swept coolly over the three startled girls before settling on Sefina.
Her brow furrowed slightly. She ignored Mia’s question entirely, her tone carrying a hint of disapproval, lowered but still perfectly clear.
“Why did you bring them here?”
“You didn’t go and tell them about the Organization too, did you?”
“The Organization?”
Mia was even more confused now, looking between Feliel and Sefina.
“What Organization? Teacher Sefina, Feliel… what… what’s going on here?”
Ellaria and Kefi held their breath, watching Sefina for an explanation.
Sefina looked at the unexpected yet inevitable meeting before her and let out a soft sigh.
She gestured for Feliel to come inside, then closed the door, shutting out the winter night’s chill.
“Feliel and I… are currently cooperating on certain matters.”
Sefina chose her words carefully, offering a deliberately vague but close-to-the-truth explanation.
“We’re both investigating certain… dangerous incidents connected to the Church. She has her reasons, just as I have mine.”
Sefina avoided naming the specific organization or its nature, revealing only fragments of information.
“As for the finer details—it’s complicated, and not something I can explain in a few minutes. All you need to know is that Feliel is trustworthy, and we share the same goal right now.”
Sefina looked at the three girls, her wine-red eyes carrying reassurance.
“Everything else—when the time is right, and if necessary, I’ll tell you. For now…”
She turned to the ingredients laid out on the counter, trying to steer the atmosphere back toward the mundane.
“It’s getting late. Let’s eat first. Feliel, stay for dinner.”
Though Mia was brimming with questions, seeing that Teacher Sefina seemed unwilling to elaborate and that Feliel simply stood silently without denying her words, she suppressed her curiosity.
Ellaria and Kefi exchanged a glance and chose to accept the explanation for now. After all, they trusted Teacher Sefina’s judgment.
Seeing this, Feliel dropped the matter. She removed her coat and walked over to the sink to wash her hands naturally.
“Need any help?”
Dinner proceeded in a slightly awkward but overall peaceful atmosphere.
Sefina’s cooking was as reassuring as ever—steaming stew, perfectly seared meat, fresh bread, and vegetable soup quickly softened the mood at the table.
Six people sat around the dining table, tacitly avoiding sensitive topics, chatting only about travel anecdotes, the capital’s snowfall, and the general plans for the next nine days.
Mia occasionally stole curious glances at Feliel, but the latter simply ate quietly, responding now and then—her reticence overlapping somewhat with the “Feliel” they knew at the Academy.
The exhaustion of a long day gradually set in.
***
After dinner, Mia let out a big yawn, and Ellaria and Kefi also looked weary.
Sefina told them to head upstairs and pick rooms to rest.
The villa had plenty of rooms on the second floor, so each of them could settle in on their own.
Once faint sounds of doors closing and soft movements drifted down from upstairs, the living room was left with just Sefina, Feliel, and Flovi, who sat silently in a corner of the sofa like a still life.
The fire in the hearth continued to burn quietly, emitting soft crackling sounds.
Sefina and Feliel sat facing each other in two single armchairs.
Flovi sat upright on the longer sofa at a slight distance, her golden eyes gazing into the void—seemingly on standby, or perhaps simply “existing” there.
Flovi probably couldn’t understand Sefina and Feliel’s plans, but she had no trouble following orders.
This operation was different from previous ones in difficulty. Some past missions, Sefina could handle alone. This time, with Feliel and Flovi added, that made three main combatants—yet even that couldn’t guarantee safety.
After all, the Fourth Seat’s gruesome death was still a stark warning. They had to exercise extreme caution.
Sefina cut straight to the point.
“You arrived a few days before me. How’s the situation? Any movement from the Deputy? Has he contacted you proactively, or… noticed anything?”
Feliel shook her head, her black hair swaying with the motion.
“I’ve been careful. I changed temporary lodgings three times after arriving and maintained counter-surveillance measures throughout.”
“So far, at least, I’ve seen no signs of being watched. The Deputy hasn’t reached out to me either.”
Sefina gave a slight nod, a flicker of thought passing through her wine-red eyes.
“Good. That means he can’t directly track a cadre’s location the way he could at Oselenka. He probably doesn’t know we’ve already—”
Sefina paused mid-sentence, but Feliel understood her meaning.
The Deputy didn’t know the Seventh and Ninth Seats had already joined forces in secret.
“Then, the meeting in consciousness space should be convened soon. We need to prepare our talking points in advance.”
Feliel nodded in agreement.
But then, her black eyes sharpened toward Sefina, and she abruptly changed the subject.
“The Fourth Seat’s death, and that ‘Demon’ you mentioned—still hard to believe. The Deputy doesn’t know this core intelligence yet, does he?”
“No, he doesn’t.”
Sefina answered with certainty.
“My deductions about otherworldly beings lurking within the Church, and their possible direct connection to the Fourth Seat’s death—I’ve only shared those with you and a very small number of people I trust absolutely.”
“All the Deputy knows is that the Fourth Seat died at the Sakax Capital Cathedral under suspicious circumstances. Nothing more.”
Feliel nodded, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
“We can exploit this information gap. At the meeting, we control how much we reveal, and steer the Deputy’s judgment.”
“Or… we could fabricate some ‘accidental’ discoveries to redirect the investigation in a direction favorable to us—or at least divert the Church’s attention.”
Sefina was about to respond, ready to discuss the feasibility of this strategy in detail—
“Stop eavesdropping. Come out.”
Feliel suddenly spoke out of nowhere, her voice quiet but carrying unmistakable coldness.
Sefina immediately caught on as well, her gaze snapping toward the shadowed corner of the staircase leading to the second floor—a blind spot in the living room’s line of sight.
Her wine-red eyes sharpened instantly, focusing on the same direction.
The shadows at the staircase corner fell silent for a few seconds.
Then, a slender figure hesitantly stepped out from the darkness.