Hearing that, Seraphina’s face instantly flushed a little. She had only been thinking about the way she and Movira had been pressed so tightly together last night.
“Nothing at all… We just soaked in the hot spring and then fell asleep. What else could have happened?”
But in Dekalorin’s eyes, this explanation and evasion only confirmed the guess in her mind.
After “confirming” her inner suspicions, Dekalorin dropped the topic and changed the subject. “Alright, alright, I won’t tease you anymore. I actually came to talk to you about something serious.”
Seraphina lifted her head again, trying hard to cool the heat on her cheeks. “What serious matter?”
Dekalorin pulled over a chair and sat beside Seraphina. “It’s about your public lectures. The timing is flexible. Whenever you feel ready, we’ll start. But you won’t actually have to teach—M Movira can just use transformation magic to take your appearance and handle it.”
“Don’t worry. With her ability, it will be flawless. No one will notice a single flaw! You can just stay with me and hide somewhere. What do you think?”
Seraphina had no objections to this. It was the only solution that could resolve her dilemma.
“Thank you. It’s just… won’t this be too much trouble for her? I don’t even know how to thank her properly. It feels like she doesn’t need or want anything.”
Seeing her pure, troubled expression as she tried to figure out how to repay the favor, Dekalorin genuinely wanted to say that the best thanks would be to wrap herself up nicely and deliver herself to Movira!
But that wouldn’t do—at least not right now—so she immediately put on a serious face.
“Why are you overthinking it? She’s your sister. That alone is enough!”
Those words felt like a warm current, washing away the small worry in Seraphina’s heart.
She gave a soft reply, accepting the explanation.
With the serious matter settled, Dekalorin showed no sign of leaving. Instead, a mysterious, mischievous grin appeared on her face again.
She pulled out several beautifully bound books from behind her and handed them to Seraphina.
That ability to produce things out of thin air was probably only possible with magic.
“Here, these are for you.”
Seraphina took them and examined the books.
The covers were in soft pink tones, featuring elegant, artistic illustrations of two girls’ silhouettes pressed intimately together. They looked refined yet carried an ambiguous atmosphere. They were neither classic literature nor profound magical treatises.
“What… kind of books are these?” Seraphina asked as she accepted them.
She reached out to open the cover and take a look.
“Hey! Don’t rush!” Dekalorin quickly pressed down on the cover to stop her. Her smile grew even more mysterious as she leaned close to Seraphina’s ear and whispered, “These are carefully selected ‘good stuff’! They’re all about… mm, knowledge that’s beneficial for the body. Wait until I leave and read them quietly by yourself for the best effect! Oh, and try not to let Movira see them!”
She deliberately emphasized certain words, her eyes full of hints that Seraphina couldn’t quite understand.
Seraphina stared at her blankly. She didn’t understand why reading a book had to wait for a specific time, and Dekalorin’s expression—both her eyes and her face—felt strangely off.
Still, thanks to her subconscious trust in Dekalorin, Seraphina obediently nodded. “Alright. Thank you, Dekalorin. I’ll read them.”
“Mmm, good girl!” Dekalorin’s smile turned satisfied. She subconsciously reached out to pat Seraphina’s head but stopped herself.
After giving a few more reminders about resting well, she quickly left the room.
The room fell quiet again. Seraphina lowered her head to look at the books in her hands. Remembering Dekalorin’s strange yet meaningful smile and words, she couldn’t help feeling a surge of curiosity.
Knowledge beneficial for the body? Was it really that mysterious?
She sat cross-legged on the bed and opened the topmost book.
At first the content seemed normal enough—scenes of two girls going about their daily lives, taking walks together, drinking afternoon tea, reading, strolling in the garden… The illustrations were exquisite and the story warm. Although their interactions were much closer than ordinary friends, Seraphina felt it was still within normal bounds.
But she was puzzled. She couldn’t see any of the “beneficial for the body” knowledge Dekalorin had mentioned. Had she brought the wrong books?
“The drawings are really nice,” Seraphina muttered softly.
However, as she turned page after page, the plot began to feel off.
The girls were no longer so innocent. They started doing things Seraphina found hard to process with normal thinking… intimate, lingering scenes.
Their proximity grew closer, shifting from leaning on each other to full embraces.
“This… is still okay, I guess.”
Then the scene changed to… soft lips touching gently.
“Ah… is this right?”
Seraphina’s heartbeat quickened involuntarily. Her fingers turned the pages more and more slowly, hesitation creeping in.
Until…
“This isn’t ordinary closeness at all! This… this…”
Her mind went completely blank. The various behaviors and actions inside shattered her worldview!
If what Seraphina and Movira had done was merely “getting close,” then the scenes in the book were, to Seraphina…
“Hiss…” Her cheeks exploded with heat. She sucked in a sharp breath and slammed the book shut with a thud!
She should have felt repulsion and disgust, yet… why had that single unclear outline of a scene already burned itself into her mind like a brand?
“No… I must have seen it wrong!” she murmured, shaking her head.
How could this be? Would Dekalorin really give her a book like this? Either she had misread it, or Dekalorin had grabbed the wrong one.
Yet her eyes drifted back to the closed book, and as if possessed, her hand reached out again.
Just as she was about to open it once more, clear footsteps sounded outside the door—footsteps on the wooden floor.
They drew closer. It was Movira returning!
Seraphina jumped in fright. With the fastest speed of her life, she frantically stacked the books together and shoved them into the wooden storage box under the bed. Once done, she quickly sat up straight and smoothed her slightly disheveled clothes.
At that moment the door opened. Sure enough, it was Movira. As soon as she stepped inside, her gaze locked onto the figure on the bed. She immediately sensed something unusual in the air.