Under the night sky, Qingruo walked through the winding stone paths of the castle garden, clad in her academy uniform dress. Her standard yet refined leather shoes crunched on the rustling fallen leaves.

Her disciplined lifestyle kept her perpetually energetic, emitting an aura of sharpness. Beneath the deep blue sky, ancient black trees pierced the night, looking somewhat ghostly.

After passing through the woods on the hillside, she reached the teachers' apartment building. It looked ancient and secluded, its walls mostly covered in ivy. Only a few rooms glowed with candlelight.

"Teacher Yedi... have you truly encountered something? If so, it must be extraordinary. Otherwise, how could it affect your strength so much..."

As Teacher Yedi's most prized student and Student Council president, she naturally knew his residence. She had visited during the day before to seek his advice on swordsmanship and martial arts.

She entered the unguarded building. Even if guards were present, they wouldn't stop the Council president.

"I remember Teacher lives on the third floor, to the left after the stairs..." Qingruo recalled. Except for the first floor, the stairs had no candlelight, relying only on moonlight from windows at each turn. But this was no issue for her. She ascended the old wooden steps with dignified grace.

A hint of nervousness stirred in Qingruo's heart. After all, this was the teachers' apartment.

She reached the third-floor stairwell but stopped just before stepping onto the corridor. Her slender fingers pressed against the thick, carved wooden handrail.

The corridor was dimly lit. Only a small wall-mounted candlestick glowed near the bathroom on the right. It felt like no one else lived on the entire floor.

Only one room on the left, not far from the stairwell, had warm candlelight seeping from under its door.

From memory, that should be Teacher Yedi's room.

"Wait... is it proper to disturb him like this? It's quite late." Qingruo's exquisitely beautiful face showed hesitation, her pink lips pressed together slightly.

Though Teacher Yedi was absolutely respectable—an exemplar of the Holy Temple Knight with high moral character—and she herself was beyond reproach...

But late at night, her visiting his room alone, just the two of them... still felt inappropriate.

Yet Qingruo was deeply worried. For such a top-tier powerhouse to suffer such a drastic drop in strength was no small matter!

"I'll... visit tomorrow during the day, when Teacher Yedi has no classes, hm." Qingruo made her decision.

With a hint of worry, she glanced at his door and turned to leave.

At that moment, the door opened.

!

Qingruo's heart jumped. Instinctively, she pressed against the wall to hide.

"Wait—what am I hiding from? Is this befitting a noble Holy Temple Knight? Since I've seen this, I might as well meet him at the door."

Her long hair swayed gently as she leaned out slightly to peer down the corridor.

The door was strangely half-open, unlike usual. Inside, a figure in white pajamas cautiously leaned out, peering down both ends of the corridor.

The figure first looked toward the far end. She had layered mid-length hair, white lace straps hanging on delicate shoulders. Her arms were slender and smooth. She held the door carefully, ready to shut it.

"A girl!?"

Qingruo's soul trembled like never before. When the girl turned this way, she quickly spun around, pressing her back against the cold stairwell wall through her thick skirt.

"What's going on? How can there be a girl in Teacher Yedi's room!?"

A soft click of the closing door and footsteps echoed. Qingruo hurried down a few steps to hide in the shadows, holding her breath. This shamed her—was a noble Holy Temple Knight really sneaking like a thief?

But this was truly shocking.

The footsteps grew closer. Qingruo saw the girl in white lace-trimmed pajamas. A long, thin braid fell over her shoulder, swaying with her steps. In the dim light, her profile seemed beautiful. She was curvaceous, her full chest pushing against the pajamas with each sway. Her legs were long, skin fair...

In short, a sexy, beautiful girl who could easily stir men's base desires!

The girl seemed sensitive. As she passed the stairs, she paused, as if sensing something. Qingruo quickly sidestepped behind the stairs.

The stairwell was pitch-dark. The girl noticed nothing and continued forward.

After a moment, Qingruo carefully climbed a few steps to watch. The tall, cute girl in white pajamas entered the door at the far end of the other corridor, beside the candle lamp.

"She must have gone to the bathroom. Earlier, I thought I saw her holding a towel. Is she bathing?" A faint blush appeared on Qingruo's snow-white face.

Her own ample chest rose and fell deeply in the quiet night. She heard her breathing. Gradually, faint water sounds came from the corridor's end. She really was bathing.

What's going on?

A sexy, beautiful girl walked out of Teacher Yedi's room at night—in pajamas—and went to bathe!?

This clearly wasn't a concerned student or teacher like herself.

Could this be why Teacher Yedi's strength dropped so drastically?

At that moment, Qingruo felt an unbreakable wall she trusted in her heart crack.

"No—I shouldn't jump to conclusions. Maybe she's a new teacher? But she looked younger than me..."

"Another possibility: Teacher Yedi's been away days, and this room was reassigned. Hmph... the academy has a few disreputable male teachers. A girl leaving such a man's room at night wouldn't surprise me. But that girl didn't seem like that type..."

Qingruo shook her head, thoughts unsettled. "Forget it. Better not overthink. Tomorrow, I'll ask Gallilu first if the teacher's room was changed."

Qingruo didn't stay to pry further. She left with quiet doubts swirling inside.