Huh?

Liya?

Ariel’s body jolted violently. For a moment, she thought that maybe her soul had floated too high, and the distortion in her senses had become so intense that she was hallucinating something absurd.

How could Liya possibly be here?

This was the Campbell ducal estate. More specifically, Muen’s room. Liya was the Pure Saintess, a flawless being in the eyes of countless believers. How could she possibly sneak into a man’s room in the middle of the night and hide under the bed to peep?

No matter how you looked at it, there was simply no way that line of logic could ever come true. If anyone said something like this out loud, even the lunatics in the Salvation Society, who treated smearing the Church as their life’s work, would think it was ridiculously over the top.

And yet, when Ariel’s soul crashed back down from the shock and clarity returned to her eyes, the girl beneath the bed was still there, still just as familiar and just as real.

Those wide, watery eyes were fixed on her without blinking, brewing with some strange, indescribable meaning, as if silently telling her...

This was no hallucination.

This was real.

Liya was under the bed, watching her!

"W-wait, Liya... Liya, why are you here?"

Ariel suddenly started struggling, slapping at Muen’s arm.

"Stop—stop, hurry!"

"What do you mean, Liya?"

Focused entirely on the battle, Muen had not noticed the third person in the room at all. He merely assumed this was some little kink of Ariel’s.

"So you shameless little slut can come up with this on your own. You’re pretty inventive."

"I’m not playing around... it’s real, Liya is right there... mmph... I can’t... Liya, don’t look... don’t look at me..."

Unable to make Muen stop, Ariel suddenly covered her face, because at the exact moment she discovered Liya hiding beneath the bed and watching her, Muen also pushed her over the finish line that had already been dangerously close.

Her lovely body shuddered violently. Her little feet went rigid.

The mirror in front of Ariel suddenly fogged over, as though a wave of hot damp air had swept through it. Droplets slid down the surface, and it could no longer clearly reflect the figures before it.

Liya’s form blurred within it as well.

"Hiss—"

Even Muen could not help sucking in a breath.

"Damn it, why did you bite so hard this time?"

Could this position really have embarrassed her that much?

No way. After these past two days, Muen could say one thing for certain: whatever else Ariel might be, the toughness of her will was absolutely real, not just empty bravado. There was no way a position like this alone could shame her so badly she lost all control.

Muen lowered his head.

The girl in his arms, her taut body driven to the limit, had gone limp like a puddle.

And yet she was still murmuring over and over, "Don’t look... mmph... don’t look..."

"Hm?"

Muen frowned, now vaguely sensing that something was off.

But the mirror had already been ruined by Ariel, so he could only hold her and slowly turn around.

And then... beneath the dim golden glow of the room’s deliberately lowered magic lamps, a lovely young girl with a pure, sacred aura crawled expressionlessly out from beneath the bed.

Though her figure was perhaps a little too generous, and she got stuck for a second while wriggling out from under the bed, that did not diminish her beauty or presence in the slightest.

The moment she emerged, the whole room seemed to brighten. The Holy Light leaking from her unstable emotions not only formed a radiant backdrop around her, but also illuminated every detail of the limp, dazed, sweat-slick, blushing # Nоvеlight # girl in Muen’s arms with almost cruel clarity.

"Liya?"

Muen froze for a moment, his face equally full of shock.

"What are you doing here?"

"I came to take a look." Liya let out a tiny, almost inaudible huff.

"Take a... look at what?"

A jolt ran through Muen.

"How long have you been watching from there?"

"Not long. Just a few minutes, really. But..." Liya let out a cold laugh. "In those few short minutes, I saw some very exciting things."

Exciting enough to nearly make her question her entire life.

"Liya, listen to me, I can explain—"

"Muen, don’t say anything for now. I’ll punish you properly later. As for right now..." Liya’s face remained stiff. "I need to deal with the most important thing first."

"The most important thing?"

Muen looked completely baffled, with no idea what Liya meant.

But the Ariel in his arms quietly parted her fingers, and when she saw how obviously angry Liya was, she had already begun to feel that something was very wrong.

Unfortunately, she still had not recovered from her earlier state and had no way to prepare any sort of defense before Liya suddenly lunged at her viciously.

"You hateful Ariel... so you were the little cheating cat all along!"

"W-what cheating cat? Liya, I have no idea what you’re talking about..."

"Stop playing dumb. I went to see that crystal palace myself. You even left behind fabric that shameless there, and you still say you’re not the cheating cat?"

"Ugh... that was because of Muen..."

"Shut up, you shameless little slut. You used to act like men were beneath your contempt, and now look at you! Aren’t you embarrassed?"

"I... I’m not shameless..."

"Pah. You sprayed this much and you’re still saying you’re not shameless?"

Liya pinned Ariel down in one move, cheeks puffed as she huffed furiously.

"I’m going to punish you!"

She had calculated and calculated, counted practically everyone in the ducal estate into the equation, and yet never once had she counted her own childhood friend.

She had worked so hard juggling the Church, gathering information, and searching the entire enormous ducal estate in the middle of the night.

And while she was doing all that, Ariel had been here with Muen, doing the things she loved doing... The moment Liya thought of that, her chest filled with sour jealousy, and her anger surged straight upward!

"Huh? P-punish?" Ariel asked in alarm. "What are you trying to do?"

"Hmph... this is something I prepared specifically for disciplining shameless little cheating cats like you, Ariel!"

Liya let out a proud little snort. As she pulled something out, the surrounding Holy Light suddenly gathered around it, casting a sacred cross-shaped radiance over the object.

"Th-this is?"

"This is the Holy Sword!" Liya held up the cross-lit object, her tone solemn, as though she were reading out Ariel’s crimes on the spot.

"The Holy Sword?"

Ariel’s beautiful eyes widened in shock.

Wasn’t this too much?

There was no need to go this far... If it came down to sneaking around, Liya, hadn’t you been doing the exact same thing before?

Just as Ariel was beginning to think Liya had actually pulled out a Holy Sword to purge her rival in righteous fury...

Bzzzz...

A strange sound came from within the cross-shaped light.

"..."

"..."

Muen could not help rubbing his forehead speechlessly.

So it was that Holy Sword.

He should have known. There was no way that outwardly pure but inwardly filthy-minded Saintess was actually going to pull out a real Holy Sword and cut Ariel down.

"W-what?" Ariel, the only one here who had never seen the thing before, still asked nervously, completely at a loss. "What kind of Holy Sword is it exactly? Which one? Justice? Temperance? Or Tolerance? Has the Church become so lax about guarding the Holy Swords that they’d actually let Liya bring one out for something like this?"

"None of them. It’s an artificial one."

Muen’s expression turned strange.

Looking carefully, the thing seemed oddly familiar.

And yet some parts looked different from the one in his memory, somehow... more refined?

"Hmph. This time is different!"

Hands on her hips, Liya declared, "This time it’s the ten-times enhanced version!"

"T-ten times?"

Ariel began struggling violently. She had heard of the Holy Sword long ago. Even in its normal state, it was something countless evil beings fled from in terror. So what did ten times mean? Was Liya trying to burn her alive on the spot?

Had Liya already come to hate her that much?

No. She had to run!

Unfortunately, Ariel, drained moments ago, was now no match for Liya at all. After only a few struggles, Liya bound her completely in Holy Light, leaving her unable to move.

"L-Liya, calm down. What exactly are you trying to do?" Ariel asked in terror.

"What else would I do?"

Liya smiled wickedly. "A Holy Sword is obviously meant for stabbing people and purifying filth. Here I come!"

Liya moved sharply, giving Ariel no time at all to react, and directly thrust the Holy Sword into her body.

And Ariel, naturally, was forced to bear that tenfold power, her lovely body trembling as she let out a cry of anguished despair...