After a long while.
The lingering warmth of their passion gradually faded.
Ling Cheyin, filled with contentment and ease, lay beside Qiye, who was utterly exhausted and unwilling to stir.
The two, completely unclothed, lay sprawled on the bed, enveloped in a profound silence.
They hadn’t even bothered to pull the covers over themselves, remaining exposed.
Ling Cheyin gazed at her slightly trembling, sticky right hand, her mind replaying the recent events.
After a moment of hesitation, she brought her fingers to her lips and gently sucked them.
In that instant, the taste was intensely salty and bitter, and she could almost still feel Qiye’s warmth.
***
Several more minutes elapsed.
The suffocating silence became unbearable for her.
Consequently, Ling Cheyin reached out, pulled the blanket from beside them, and gently draped it over both their bodies.
Then, she tentatively extended her arm, intending to embrace Qiye’s waist, yearning to prolong their intimacy.
However, Qiye recoiled sharply as if scalded, and a choked sob escaped her lips:
“Don’t touch me, please…”
Her voice was laced with profound anguish.
At this, Ling Cheyin froze.
She could not fathom why Qiye would be so resistant.
Only moments before, they had been locked in an embrace, responsive and mutually desiring.
Nevertheless, she pressed herself against Qiye’s back and softly uttered:
“I will take responsibility for you…”
Yet, Qiye’s eyes remained vacant, staring blankly at the windowsill as tears welled up.
Her body curled into a fetal position, shoulders subtly trembling, her suppressed sobs exceptionally poignant.
After a prolonged silence, she finally spoke, her voice thick with revulsion:
“You’re disgusting! You forced me… what right do you have to speak of responsibility!”
Upon hearing this, Ling Cheyin initially stiffened, her fingertips unconsciously picking at the bedsheet.
A sharp, cold glint flickered in her eyes, yet she maintained a nonchalant tone:
“Why shouldn’t I take responsibility?”
She rolled over, propping herself up beside Qiye, her gaze sweeping over the other woman’s trembling chest.
“My standing isn’t so bad, is it? I have looks, wealth, and a Great Witch sister backing me.
Within the organization… I’m a rising witch star, and in terms of power—”
She leaned close to Qiye’s ear, her breath ghosting over it.
“I’m stronger than your entire squad combined!”
However, Qiye turned her head away, shying from Ling Cheyin’s proximity.
“Does strength entitle you to do whatever you please? Your character is so vile; who knows how depraved you are in private…”
“Heh, I certainly possess a sense of responsibility, and furthermore, I’m not just anyone…”
Ling Cheyin seized Qiye’s hand and pressed it against her own chest.
The warmth there, mingled with the tremor of her heartbeat.
“Since this has happened, I am very willing to cultivate this relationship.”
Her voice, uncharacteristically soft, was barely a whisper, her hair falling to obscure their flushed earlobes.
“Moreover… I genuinely like you.
I’ve harbored a secret crush on you ever since I first saw you at Qinghe High.
You know me, perhaps my thoughts are a bit… sordid…”
“But normally, I’m quite socially anxious.
It’s only when we’re engaging in… those activities, that I become much bolder.
Ah, you could even call me a closet pervert…”
“And another thing, ever since that time I saw you in my sister’s laboratory, do you know how I felt then?
I knew, without a doubt, that I would eventually have you!”
These words ignited a spark, like a fuse touching gunpowder.
Qiye snatched her hand back abruptly, grabbed a pillow, intending to hurl it, but then hesitated.
“You’re going too far! You clearly knew that I…”
Her voice choked, remembering the leverage held against her, her eyes rimmed with red.
“You heartless wretch! You don’t understand what love is; you’re just toying with me!”
However, Ling Cheyin caught the pillow, cradling it in her arms, the curve of her lips turning bitter.
She gazed at Qiye’s back, curled up like a shrimp, her fingertip tracing the faint kiss mark on the nape of Qiye’s neck:
“You call me heartless, yet when it comes to using each other—”
She leaned in, her long leg brushing against Qiye’s knee.
“Which of us is truly innocent?”
“Qiye-jie, your lips might have said ‘no’ after the fact, but your body was quite honest before it, wasn’t it?
Weren’t you also eager to come here, obediently, all to appease my sister?
And wasn’t it to leverage my affection for you to keep my sister placated?
Hmph~”
As she spoke, Ling Cheyin’s hand drifted to Qiye’s lower abdomen.
The faintly visible mark, a dark green demonic eye, pulsed subtly beneath her touch.
Qiye abruptly pushed herself upright, glaring furiously at the woman before her.
Perhaps, subconsciously, she might have considered such a thing, but when fully lucid, she would never entertain such a thought!
“What you’re saying is too far-fetched, it’s nothing but fabrication…”
“Fabrication or fact, it matters not.”
Ling Cheyin let out a cold sneer, then reversed her grip, pinning Qiye down with one hand while pressing her knee into Qiye’s waist.
“Regardless, you will eventually be mine.”
“When the demonic eye upon you fully opens—”
“You will no longer be the illustrious ‘Crimson Star’, but will willingly descend into a witch.”
At these words, a chill ran through Qiye’s entire body.
She attempted to resist, but was held down immovably.
The mark on her lower abdomen began to burn.
“You… you had this planned all along?”
Qiye’s voice trembled.
Ling Cheyin turned Qiye onto her back and pressed a forefinger against her lips.
“Shh, don’t spoil the surprise so soon.
After all—”
Her tongue lightly grazed Qiye’s earlobe.
“I haven’t yet let you experience true witch’s love…”
Outside the window, dark clouds had gathered, though she hadn’t noticed when.
A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, casting their entwined figures into flickering light and shadow.
At that moment, the demonic eye opened a little further, oozing a single drop of dark green blood-tear.
Yet, it quickly dissipated.
***
Qiye, barefoot and completely naked, stumbled out, clutching the doorframe.
“Here, put these on.”
Ling Cheyin, equally unclothed, leaned against the doorframe, dangling Qiye’s school uniform—
A white shirt, a grey pleated skirt, and undergarments… while her white socks and shoes lay on the floor.
She tossed the clothes towards Qiye; the fabric, still holding residual warmth, enveloped the girl’s trembling form.
Qiye, trembling, struggled to put on the shirt, her fingers fumbling to align the buttons with their holes.
Seeing this, Ling Cheyin sighed softly, stepped forward, and took Qiye’s hand, her fingertips brushing against Qiye’s sensitive palm.
“Allow me.”
Her slender fingers deftly moved through the fabric.
Once the clothes were on, Qiye’s awareness slowly returned, and a flicker of life rekindled in her eyes.
Ling Cheyin also quickly dressed herself, and the two stood by the doorway, a heavy atmosphere settling between them.
Inside the room, the window stood wide open.
The wind howled through, causing the curtains to whip wildly.
The sky, which had earlier greeted the rising sun, was now completely overcast.
Behind the desk, Ling Qinghe rested her chin in her hand, a pen twirling deftly between her fingers.
She sensed her sister and Qiye emerging.
A faint, almost imperceptible smile played on her lips as she began to tease:
“Little sister, you didn’t use your extraordinary fertility on them, did you?”
Ling Cheyin swiftly approached, feigning indignation:
“Of course I have boundaries!
How could I possibly let them get pregnant…”