Carlisle, following close behind her, saw her every move. He dispelled his wings too and chased her into the woods.

The trees planted around the academy stayed green all year. Even in late autumn, their branches were thick with leaves, luxuriant green everywhere you looked.

Those leaves could also blur Carlisle’s vision, giving Sherry a chance to escape.

But she knew that if she relied on the trees alone, it was only a matter of time before Carlisle caught her. Luckily, she knew the academy grounds well. There was an abandoned drainage shaft in the woods, and if she jumped inside and summoned a spirit rabbit that could disguise her, she might be able to evade Carlisle.

A ring of crumbling walls surrounded the drainage shaft, overgrown with green vines. At its center was a pit whose bottom was visible, filled with branches and stones.

The shaft had supposedly been abandoned nearly a century ago, after a cave-in. Harrison had ordered it filled in.

If she hid inside, she could disappear from Carlisle’s sight for a little while. That would give her time to summon a spirit rabbit that could disguise her. It was her only way to escape his pursuit.

She acted as soon as the idea came to her. When she reached the shaft, she flipped over the broken wall and leaped inside.

The pit wasn’t deep. Stones falling into it made a few muffled thuds.

But just as she thought her feet were about to touch the solid earth at the bottom, the pit shattered like a bubble. She passed right through its illusory floor and fell even deeper!

“Ah!”

She landed face-first with a solid thump and cried out in pain.

Only at times like this did she truly feel how much the two white rabbits on her chest got in the way!

“Ow, ow, ow!!”

She braced both hands against the ground and slowly got to her feet. Clutching her chest, she waited for the pain to subside before looking around.

Before her stretched a cavern with no visible end. Pale green crystals occasionally jutted from the stone walls, driving back the darkness. Scattered across the cavern floor were the remains of human tools, clear proof that people had been here long ago.

Above her was the illusory underside of the pit. She’d just passed through that phantom and fallen down here.

What was going on? Had the drainage shaft never really been filled in?

Question after question surfaced in her mind, but no matter how she thought it over, she couldn’t find an answer.

Should she go farther in?

The thought barely crossed Sherry’s mind before she dismissed it.

She had a feeling that something terrifying lurked at the very bottom of this cavern. Going farther would only lead her to her death.

After all, a drainage shaft that was publicly declared filled in but clearly wasn’t had to be hiding some kind of secret.

She didn’t like getting involved in other people’s secrets. They only ever brought trouble.

With the phantom pit overhead, Carlisle might not even notice her. Once he’d searched everywhere and finally gave up and left, she could climb out of the shaft.

For now, all she had to do was wait patiently.

But things never went according to plan. The moment she’d worked out what to do, a dark figure suddenly appeared in the pit above her and landed right on top of her!

“Got you!”

The voice of her pursuer rang out like a demon’s, drilling into Sherry’s mind. The heavy impact and the pressure on her chest made her vision go black.

It was over.

That was her final thought before she passed out.

……

When she opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a pair of black academy shoes. Judging by their shine, they must’ve been new, worn only recently.

Looking up from them, Sherry saw the demon Carlisle, wearing a vicious grin.

“You’re awake already? The Witch’s constitution seems pretty good.”

His earsplitting mockery spilled from his lips. Only then did Sherry realize she was lying on the ground, her hands bound tightly behind her back so she couldn’t move.

The slightest twist sent aches through her whole body. If she couldn’t still clearly feel her arms and legs, she’d have thought every bone in her body was broken.

Her dress felt terribly uncomfortable, as if someone had shifted it around. The hem had been pulled up to her upper thighs, leaving so much pale skin exposed that even down in the cavern, she felt a chill.

Any higher, and her panties would be showing!

At least her lower body didn’t hurt in any unusual way. Otherwise, she’d have been terrified that some pervert who’d seen her naked had taken advantage of her while she was unconscious!

……Oh, the [Heir-Ender] potion probably hadn’t worn off yet.

According to her test on a little white mouse, the potion’s effect on men—making them impotent—lasted about three days. By her reckoning, only two days had passed since she’d drugged Carlisle.

His little Carlisle still couldn’t get up!

The shift in her clothes was probably just because Carlisle had searched her. The petty bastard must’ve been afraid she’d secretly hidden another potion on her, ready to blindside him at a crucial moment.

Searching a girl like that—what a beast!

She wore dresses without pockets. Aside from her chest, where else could she hide a glass potion vial?

He’d definitely used the search as an excuse to cop a feel!

The nerve! The nerve! The nerve!!

Sherry was furious, but the moment she thought of that night when he’d seen her naked, her feelings somehow settled down.

It was like… compared to being seen naked, being searched through her clothes didn’t seem like such a big deal after all…

And soon, her attention was drawn to the ring that had vanished from her finger.

While she was unconscious, Carlisle hadn’t just searched her—he’d taken her ring too.

And the ring held not only the Witch’s potions, but also the Saintess’s ceremonial robes and the Recording Orb she’d planned to use to blackmail Carlisle!!

If he found any of that, she might not make it out of this cavern alive!

Seeing Carlisle examine her ring, Sherry realized she hadn’t been unconscious for long. At the very least, he hadn’t had time to look inside it yet.

Which meant she still had a chance to stop Carlisle from going through her ring!

“Ahem, it was all a misunderstanding! Big brother Carlisle!” She cleared her throat, trying to make her voice as sweet as possible to bring out just how innocent she was.

No man wanted to hurt a delicate beauty, did he? Carlisle didn’t seem all that violent, either.

“A misunderstanding? If it was all a misunderstanding, why did you run?” Carlisle pinched the ring, still carrying a faint trace of a girl’s fragrance, and raised his brows high. “All my things are in here, right?”

“……” Sherry wasn’t sure how to answer.

Apart from his necklace, everything of his was indeed in the ring. And it wasn’t just his things—there were also things belonging to the girl he loved, Liya.

Luckily, the only thing that belonged exclusively to Liya was a set of ceremonial robes……

“Big brother, snatching a girl’s ring isn’t gentlemanly at all.” She shifted her body, letting her skirt slide down to cover her smooth, pale thighs, while trying to talk Carlisle out of looking inside the ring.

“But I’m not a gentleman to begin with.” Carlisle shrugged, not the least bit bothered.

Carlisle had learned one thing over the past decade or so: if you had no shame at all, nothing anyone said could get under your skin.