The Night Raven’s Kiss

My bedroom, it should have been the last sanctuary in this world. Yet, at this moment, a black raven perched on the windowsill, its head cocked, stared at me with an unsettling, mocking gaze. Its eyes were purple, like two brilliantly polished amethysts.

“…What an impolite guest.”

I sighed, not screaming despite the sudden appearance of a talking bird in my room. After all, in this magical world, I had witnessed far more preposterous occurrences. For instance, my father once praised me for having the bearing of an emperor.

I walked to the window, not bothering to shoo it away. Instead, I expressionlessly reached out and closed the window.

Slam.

The window mercilessly shut before the raven, nearly catching its beak.

“Oh dear, Lilliana is truly cold-hearted.”

The voice did not fade with the obstruction of the window; instead, it resonated directly within my mind.

Immediately after.

The raven on the windowsill transformed into a plume of purplish-black smoke, seeping through the window’s cracks like a liquid. The smoke coalesced and twisted upon the carpet, ultimately forming a diminutive human figure.

Chloe.

She was clad in a Gothic Lolita dress adorned with lace and ribbons, her twin pigtails swaying gently with her movements. Her bare feet made no sound as she landed. An innocent smile graced her delicate, doll-like face.

“You received such a wonderful gift, so your mood should be quite pleasant, shouldn’t it?”

With her hands clasped behind her back, she skipped towards me as if strolling through her own private garden. Leaning forward, she fixated on the Eye of the Abyss ring on my hand.

“Is this the Eckhart Ducal Family’s heirloom? It’s truly beautiful… The terrifying magical power within it is practically identical to yours, Lilliana.”

She leaned in very close. So close that I could detect the cloyingly sweet scent of overripe berries emanating from her.

I subtly took half a step back, widening the distance between us.

“Trespassing is a serious offense. I have every right to throw you out,” I stated, my tone devoid of warmth. “If you’re here for idle chatter, I must decline. I intend to read.”

“Don’t be in such a hurry to send me away.”

Chloe giggled, unfazed by my coldness. On the contrary, she seemed to revel in my disdain.

With a nimble leap, she perched directly on my desk, her two calves, clad in black and white striped over-the-knee socks, dangling in the air.

“I came specifically to deliver some information. It’s about… His Royal Highness, the Prince, who, enraged after your harsh rejection, is now plotting something.”

Hearing the word “Prince,” the hand I was about to use to pick up a book paused. While Alexis was, in my eyes, a troublesome idiot, he was nonetheless the First Prince, wielding significant secular power.

If he truly intended to use the state apparatus to cause me trouble, my plans for peaceful study would likely be ruined.

“…What is he planning?”

I looked at Chloe.

“You must know that tomorrow is the Academy’s monthly assembly, right?”

Chloe swung her legs, idly twirling a strand of her hair.

“As is customary, all S-class students are required to attend and receive a lecture from the Dean of Students.”

“And what of it?”

“His Royal Highness Alexis plans to conduct an inquisition against you at the assembly, right in front of all the faculty and students.”

Chloe’s eyes narrowed into crescent moons, her voice brimming with schadenfreude.

“He has requested a high-purity Holy Appraisal Stone from the Church. That’s a premium item, capable of detecting all evil curses and dark magic.”

“He intends to force you to touch the stone at the assembly, under the pretext of ‘suspecting the Eckhart noble daughter is possessed by a demon.’ Once the stone turns black… hmph hmph, it will prove you are a fallen one, a cancerous growth harming the kingdom.”

“At that point, he can legitimately strip you of your noble status, imprison you in the tower, or… execute you on the spot.”

Having finished speaking, Chloe leaned forward. Her purple eyes stared intently at me, seemingly eager to glimpse a look of panic on my face.

“So, what do you think? Isn’t it terrifying? Don’t you want to beg for help?”

However, I merely listened quietly, and then…

Oh.

I pushed up my glasses, my tone as bland as if I were listening to a weather forecast for tomorrow.

“Is that all?”

The smile on Chloe’s face froze for a moment.

“…Is that all?”

She blinked in disbelief.

“Lilliana, didn’t you understand? That’s a Holy Appraisal Stone! It specifically counters dark attributes! And it’ll be in front of the entire school! Once exposed, you’re finished!”

I looked at the young girl, who clearly wanted to watch a show but was instead bewildered by my reaction, feeling a slight amusement within me.

Alexis’s plan was indeed a checkmate in the eyes of ordinary people. However, he had made a fatal error.

He assumed I possessed a “dark attribute.”

But as Beatrix had seen in her manuscripts, and as recorded in the ‘Book of the Nameless’.

The power within me was not simply dark.

It was chaos.

It was nothingness.

It could devour light, and it could devour darkness.

That so-called Holy Appraisal Stone, before me, would most likely…

…simply become a useless rock.

“A tiresome charade.”

I approached my desk, extending a hand to signal Chloe to get down. “If he wishes to stage a play, then let him. So long as it doesn’t consume too much of my time.”

Chloe watched me. She observed my placid red eyes and my naturally arrogant demeanor.

The inherent contempt for imperial authority and judgment, emanating from my very core, sent a jolt through Chloe’s spine.

“…Ha… haha…”

She suddenly burst into laughter. Her shoulders shook with mirth, and tears welled at the corners of her eyes.

“Simply magnificent… truly magnificent, Lilliana!”

She abruptly leaped from the desk, yet did not land. Instead, she launched herself directly onto me.

Hey!

I instinctively tried to push her away. But like an agile koala, she wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging to me entirely.

“I knew it! I knew you weren’t the type to be intimidated by such petty tricks!”

She nuzzled into the hollow of my neck, her flaxen twin pigtails brushing against my cheek, a slightly ticklish sensation.

“Lilliana… this utterly disdainful air about you, it truly makes me… want to break you, and yet also makes me want to see you trample everyone underfoot…”

Her sweet voice held a hint of morbid fascination.

“Oh… the information fee.”

She suddenly lifted her head, her purple eyes mere centimeters from mine.

“I don’t want money.”

She seized my left hand. Her gaze fell upon the newly donned Eye of the Abyss ring, and my long, pale fingers.

“Let me… have a taste.”

Huh?

Before I could react, she lowered her head.

For a fleeting moment, I thought she would bite me.

But she did not.

She simply opened her mouth and enveloped my ring finger.

Wet…

Warm…

A soft tongue encased the cool obsidian surface of the ring, then traced the edge of the band, licking up to the base of my finger.

The sensation was utterly bizarre, akin to a gentle nibble from a small beast, yet imbued with an intensely suggestive intimacy.

Ngh…

My entire body stiffened, and my scalp tingled.

Pleh!

Chloe released my finger, leaped back, and landed steadily on the windowsill. A trace of glistening saliva lingered at the corner of her mouth, and her face bore a satisfied, cunning smile.

“So this is… the taste of the Abyss? A little bitter, yet also a little sweet.”

She licked her lips, as if savoring an unparalleled delicacy.

“My information fee has been collected. Well then… I look forward to tomorrow’s execution, Lilliana.”

With that, she once again transformed into a plume of purplish-black smoke, slipping through the window’s cracks and vanishing into the night.

Leaving me alone, standing in the center of my bedroom.

I raised my left hand, gazing at my moist ring finger and the ring, which appeared even deeper in hue after being dampened by her saliva.

My cheeks, finally and belatedly, began to flush.

‘…Is there even a single normal person left in this academy?!’ I thought, feeling a touch of exasperation. ‘First, a knight who wanted to wash my feet, then a saintess who wanted to cling to me, and now an information broker who likes to lick rings.’

‘And yet…’

‘I looked at that finger…’

‘A strange feeling inexplicably arose within me.’

‘Though I truly didn’t want to admit it, still…’

‘It wasn’t unpleasant…’

‘Even…’

‘In that fleeting moment of contact, the chaotic magic within me seemed to become even more active, stirred by her provocation.’

“…Never mind.”

I shook my hand, using magic to cleanse away the residue.

“Tomorrow’s matters can wait until tomorrow.”

“My current task is… reading.”

I forcibly suppressed the tremor in my heart, returned to my desk, and opened the ‘Book of the Nameless’.

Yet for several hours afterward.

The finger I used to turn the pages seemed to retain a lingering, indelible warmth and dampness.