The moment Teacher Emilia finished speaking, the air seemed to freeze.
Helos’s already deathly pale face slowly dropped open in extreme shock.
She subconsciously stuck her pinky into her ear, wondering if she was hearing things because of that earlier mental storm.
The four of them fell into an eerie silence.
The wind rustled through the withered leaves, becoming the only background sound at that moment.
After a long while, Helos finally couldn’t help but ask again, a hint of disbelief in her voice:
“Who?”
“The three of you.”
Teacher Emilia held up three fingers, pointing back and forth between Helos, Julius, and Gavi, a professional smile on her face.
“Where?”
“The Rose Pavilion.”
Emilia pointed toward the quiet forest deep within the academy.
“Who???”
Helos pressed again, stubbornly.
“You live!”
Emilia emphasized, shattering Helos’s last hope.
“We… live?”
Helos felt like her brain was short of oxygen.
She mechanically turned her head, first looking at the tall, upright Julius on her left, then at the expressionless yet exquisitely beautiful blonde girl Gavi on her right.
Finally, she fixed her gaze back on Julius’s angular face.
Sure, this guy was really handsome, and he was her personal bodyguard, and their relationship before had indeed been… indescribably intimate.
But!
Living together?!
And at the academy?
“Th-this appropriate?”
Helos blinked frantically with her pale violet eyes, her voice stammering.
“Teacher, did you get something wrong? I’m an unmarried noble lady! And Julius is a… a grown man! Even with Gavi added, this doesn’t follow the rules, does it?”
“Rules?”
Before Emilia could answer, Julius interjected with a perfectly timed comment.
He crossed his arms and looked down at Helos, who only reached his chest, a malicious glint flashing in his black eyes.
“Didn’t we live together when we were kids? I stayed by your bed every night back then, and I never heard you say it wasn’t appropriate. What, now that you’ve grown up, you’re getting shy?”
“How is that the same?!”
Helos almost roared out.
Her face instantly flushed bright red, like a ripe tomato.
“I was only ten then! And you were a squire! A squire! Do you understand?!”
She stammered for a while, too embarrassed to say the words “grown a lot.”
“Now we’re both…”
She retorted angrily.
Even though the male soul from her past life inside her wasn’t really opposed to it, and even thought living with acquaintances would be more convenient.
But it had to be said, after three years of Lilith’s devilish lady-like education, certain concepts had been carved into her bones.
For example, unmarried men and women sharing a room was an absolute taboo.
Her current shame was purely an instinctive reaction from this body and its upbringing.
“What’s so different.”
Julius shrugged, looking completely indifferent.
“Either way, it’s all to protect you. To me, you at ten and you now are no different. You’re still that dim-witted miss who needs taking care of.”
“You’re the dim-wit! You and your whole family!”
Helos was so angry she wanted to jump up and bite him.
But what she didn’t expect was that Gavi, who was always silent and only followed orders, would choose to “betray” her at this moment.
Gavi’s clear, pleasant voice rang out at the perfect time.
“That’s right, Master.”
She tilted her head slightly, a glint of what could only be called “gossip” shining in her grey eyes.
She looked at Helos, then at Julius, and spoke in a meaningful tone.
“Based on my memories, you and Mr. Julius back then already…”
This girl even smacked her lips at the end, and a very human-like smirk appeared on her doll-like face.
“Don’t use such misleading terms!!!”
Helos was stunned by Gavi’s expression.
She never imagined that the cold golem that only used to carry out orders would learn to make light-hearted jokes and sarcastic remarks after turning into this young girl!
What had gone wrong?
Was it a side effect of that Enlightenment Arts?
Or did Gavi’s soul originally have a hidden switch for being cunning?
Just then, Emilia clapped her hands, breaking up the farce.
“Alright, alright, stop arguing.”
She spread her hands, looking helplessly at these three comedians.
“Helos, I understand your concerns. But this is the result of a joint decision by Lord Christ and Dean Finalais.”
Emilia explained.
“Although the Rose Pavilion is an old school building, its defensive barrier is independent and far from other student dormitory areas. For your special constitution right now, it’s the only safe place that won’t affect others.”
She pointed at Helos.
“You don’t want to accidentally drain your neighbor’s mana while sleeping at night, do you?”
Helos was speechless.
This was indeed a big problem.
Her current Curse of Silence was like a ticking time bomb; living where there were many people was indeed a hazard.
“And.”
Emilia added.
“There are plenty of rooms there, enough for the three of you. As long as you don’t misbehave, who will know what happens inside?”
‘Teacher, your words sound like you’re hinting at something terrible!’
Helos complained wildly in her mind.
But she also knew it was already a done deal.
“Things have come to this, no turning back.”
Julius looked at her dejected expression, sighed with regret, then reached out and gently patted Helos on the shoulder.
“Accept your fate, Miss Helos. Looks like you’re destined to never get rid of me in this life.”
“…Stay away from me.”
Helos disdainfully slapped his hand away.
“Just seeing you gives me a headache.”
“Is that how you treat your rescuer?”
Julius raised an eyebrow.
“That night in the forest, someone was crying and calling—”
“Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up!”
Helos, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, jumped up to cover his mouth.
“Don’t mention that night! That’s a dark history! Absolute dark history!”
Julius, with his mouth covered, let out a few muffled grunts.
“Mmph…”
But his eyes were full of laughter.
Watching the two of them bickering, along with Gavi who was calmly watching the show on the side, Emilia shook her head with a smile.
“Alright, follow me. I’ll show you the way.”
And so, under the “escort” of Gavi on one side and Julius on the other, Helos had no choice but to accept fate and follow Emilia toward the deepest forbidden area of the academy.
Passing through the somewhat desolate forest, the stone path beneath their feet became covered in moss.
The surrounding air seemed to grow a few degrees colder and darker.
After about ten minutes of walking, an ancient building hidden under a dense canopy of trees slowly came into view.
A pointed roof, black iron railings, and dark red vines covering the walls.
It was a typical Gothic-style independent villa.
The vines were covered in large roses that bloomed brilliantly even in the harsh winter wind, red as blood.
This was the Rose Pavilion.
Though a bit worn, you had to admit the building exuded a kind of decadent and mysterious beauty.
And it was large enough, even having a small independent garden.
“We’re here.”
Emilia stopped at the rusty iron gate.
She took out a huge brass key and handed it to Julius.
“No one usually comes here. The facilities inside might be a bit old, but basic necessities are still there. I’ll have the logistics department send some supplies over later.”
She pointed at the closed door.
“This will be your territory from now on. Feel free to use it, as long as you don’t blow up the dorm—I know Helos has quite the ‘talent’ in alchemy.”
Helos gave an awkward smile.
“Well then, I’ll head back now. Don’t forget you have classes tomorrow.”
After finishing her instructions, Emilia quickly left.
This place was too remote; as an ordinary elemental mage, she always felt uneasy staying here.
As Emilia’s figure disappeared at the end of the forest path, the surroundings instantly fell into dead silence.
The wind rustled through the blooming red roses, making a rustle like countless people whispering.
Creak—
Julius stepped forward with the key and opened the large iron gate with a harsh noise.
“Let’s go.”
He called back.
Helos stood still, looking at the gloomy mansion before her, and suddenly shuddered.
She looked at the strangely red roses.
At the wide-open door like the mouth of a giant beast.
At the second-floor window that had thick curtains drawn even in the daytime.
A thought that she had long ignored, but had flashed through her mind when Emilia mentioned the name, suddenly occupied her mind.
She suddenly remembered something very important.
A widely circulated rumor among the academy students about the Old School Building and the Rose Pavilion.
Helos swallowed her saliva.
She reached out and hesitantly tugged at Julius’s sleeve.
“Um… Julius.”
Her voice trembled, having completely lost the momentum from her earlier argument with Julius.
“What is it?”
Julius stopped and looked back at her in confusion.
Helos shrank her neck, her gaze shifting toward the dark corners around them.
She asked in a small, almost crying voice.
“This place… wasn’t it said to be haunted?”