Ariel opened her eyes.

Gentle sunlight squeezed through the gap in the gauzy curtains, falling across her slender, girlish figure. It gathered in her loosely clasped hands and painted her entire field of vision in a quiet, pleasant glow.

Perhaps because she had slept for too long, her mind was still somewhat hazy. But as her long lashes trembled apart, she could still tell that the ceiling above her was not one she recognized.

The carved hollow ceiling, the crystal lampshade, and the formation carved from expensive magitech metal—used for nothing more than maintaining the room’s temperature—all radiated a kind of blinding, extravagant luxury.

“...What happened? And where am I?”

Ariel’s head still ached, as if the mind that had once been torn apart had yet to fully heal. Her memories were a complete mess, and it seemed it would take some time before she could sort them out. She couldn’t remember at all why she would be lying in a place like this.

But it definitely wasn’t somewhere she had come to on her own.

A place this expensive was something she simply couldn’t afford.

Well, not that she completely couldn’t afford it now—but someone as motivated and ambitious as her would never waste money on something this meaningless.

The entire place practically reeked of the filthy ostentation of rich nobles and newly rich tycoons.

It was disgusting.

The moment that thought surfaced, Ariel’s mind snapped fully awake, and she immediately became alert.

The caution she had trained since childhood urged her to carefully slip out of the ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ covers at once. The warm, unbelievably soft bedding had an enormous pull on her—like a black hole. She had to summon tremendous willpower to tear herself free.

But once she sat up, the sense of vigilance only intensified.

The clothes she was wearing were no longer her usual outfit.

Instead, she had on a thin nightgown.

It was white, trimmed with lace along the cuffs and hem. The V-shaped opening at the chest was cut just right—despite how flat she was, it still managed to hint at a faint, suggestive curve.

The silk fabric was extraordinarily soft as well, like flowing water sliding across her skin. Clearly it was extremely expensive silk. With Ariel’s sharp eye for value—an eye that never misjudged the worth of anything—she could tell that this single nightgown alone was worth half a year of her food expenses.

Of course, none of that was the main point.

The real point was that Ariel Bugaard was currently in an unfamiliar place, lying in a large bed, wearing a nightgown she had never seen before.

Damn it.

Who changed her clothes?

It definitely wasn’t herself. She didn’t sleepwalk, and she had no memory of doing it.

But it couldn’t be that the nightgown had grown onto her body by itself either.

Could it be...

Ariel’s heart skipped. With trembling fingers, she slowly lifted the hem of the gown.

With a dreadful resolve, she lowered her head and looked.

...Thank goodness.

The worst possibility had not happened. There were no signs of that sort of thing.

She was still pure.

Most importantly, the thing she had planned to give one day to the girl she loved most was still there.

Ariel let out a long breath, feeling some of the tension in her heart ease.

But she did not relax her vigilance.

Because the moment she lowered her head, she discovered another very serious problem.

“Teacher...”

Ariel stared at her hand.

Her hands were pale and slender. Even after years of harsh training, they still bore almost no rough marks. Yet at this moment her hand felt strangely unfamiliar.

Because on the middle finger of her left hand was a faint reddish ring-shaped imprint.

Even years of relentless training had never left a trace—but that pale red mark was incredibly clear.

For ten full years, that spot had held an ancient ring. She had almost never taken it off.

Inside that ring was her teacher.

For ten years, even in the most dangerous moments, Ariel had never felt alone—because she knew her teacher was inside the ring, always by her side.

Even though, due to the nature of her soul, Teacher Peles spent most of her time asleep.

But now the ring was gone.

And with it, the connection between her and her teacher had vanished completely.

“The storage ring that held my things is gone too... and Heavenly Fire is nowhere to be found.”

Ariel fell silent for a moment.

Since the day more than ten years ago when she had burned that little courtyard to the ground, this was probably only the second time she had truly felt alone.

No teacher.

No weapon.

Trapped in an unknown enemy camp.

And on her entire body, the only thing she had was a thin silk nightgown.

One that didn’t even belong to her.

A crushing sense of loneliness surged up and wrapped around her.

“No!”

Ariel suddenly shook her head violently, driving away those weak emotions that should not exist.

“I’m not the weak girl I used to be!”

That was right.

Ever since she walked out of that courtyard, she had been moving forward on the path of becoming stronger. She had never been afraid.

How could she possibly submit to some inexplicable predicament like this?

She was Ariel Bugaard.

The determination returned to her face, and her thoughts began racing.

After a brief moment of analysis, she decided that the most urgent matter right now was to figure out the situation—and retrieve what belonged to her.

The question was...

Where should she begin?

Click.

At that moment, the faint sound of a door opening came from the room.

Through the hazy curtain beside the bed, Ariel sharply sensed the breeze that slipped into the room—and the silhouette of a stranger entering.

Someone had arrived.

Perfect.

What a gift from heaven.

Silently congratulating herself once again on her excellent luck, Ariel suppressed the excitement rising inside her and scanned the surroundings.

Though it looked like nothing more than a harmless, comfortable bed, Ariel could see many ways to use it.

She quietly rolled up the soft blanket, twisting it into a long strip. She tugged at it experimentally with both hands and nodded in satisfaction.

Very flexible. And it wouldn’t make much noise.

Judging by the newcomer’s footsteps, the person was probably just a weak second-rank warrior.

More than enough.

She could even keep them alive.

With the plan quickly finalized in her mind, Ariel held her breath and waited.

When the figure drew closer, she quietly lifted the gauzy curtain, tightened her grip on the blanket, and suddenly lunged forward.

The person happened to be facing away from her.

Ariel confidently looped the blanket around the figure’s neck and yanked hard.

“Ah!”

The person cried out in alarm, instinctively grabbing both ends of the blanket.

Ariel sneered inwardly.

A mere second-rank warrior had no chance of breaking free—

“Huh?”

In the next instant, Ariel’s eyes widened.

Because with a gentle pull, the other person effortlessly neutralized her flawless ambush.

The blanket was tugged loose, lifted upward, and easily pulled over the head.

Since the person was about half a head taller than Ariel, she ended up being lifted along with the blanket she was clutching.

Dangling awkwardly, she could only touch the ground with the tips of her toes, swaying slightly in the air.

The sight was... rather ridiculous.