~ 💎 WEEKLY POWER GOALS 💎🔥 60→1ch | 100→2ch | 200→5ch ⏰ Resets Monday!
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“Brother…” In the dining room, Alpha stood beside Li Ancheng with her head lowered.
Rurikawa Tsubaki and Karen stood silently behind him, one on each side.
The long table was covered with dishes.
Asia gripped her knife and fork, staring at the tempting food in front of her.
She swallowed.
But she didn’t dare move.
The atmosphere was so tense…
Was this elf sister about to be punished by Mr.
Ancheng?
She knew what had happened.
Mr.
Ancheng had sent the elf sister to rescue someone, and now she had come back like this…
Had the mission not gone well?
Then her own healing ability…
Maybe she’d be able to help in the future?
Li Ancheng set down his wine glass and looked at Alpha, who stood beside him with her head still bowed, a trace of puzzlement in his eyes.
“Why aren’t you eating?
Tsubaki, Karen — you too.
No need to be so formal.” “Yes, Master.” Rurikawa Tsubaki and Karen nodded and took their seats on either side.
“Alpha…
my first mission…
I didn’t complete it perfectly…” Alpha’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“In the end, you still had to step in…” She didn’t finish.
A warm hand settled gently on top of her head.
“What silly things are you saying.” Li Ancheng ruffled her soft golden hair and shook his head with a rueful smile.
“Didn’t you protect Hyoudou Issei just fine?” “I stepped in because I didn’t want to see you get hurt.
That’s all.” “…Brother.” Alpha’s eyes glistened.
Her pointed ears quivered softly.
“Alright, alright.” Li Ancheng laughed and rapped his knuckles on the table.
“Hurry up and eat.
Asia prepared all of this especially for everyone.” “U-Um…” Asia spoke up timidly, her cheeks faintly pink.
“I hope it suits everyone’s tastes!
If anything isn’t right, please tell me — I’ll work hard to improve!” “Asia?” Alpha turned and looked at the girl with the same golden hair.
Li Ancheng nodded.
“Starting today, she’s a member of the Demon Court.
She specializes in healing.
Alpha, you’re the steward — make sure you look after her.” Alpha’s eyes lit up.
She nodded immediately.
“Yes!
Alpha will take very good care of her!” Dinner ended in a warm, easy atmosphere.
The clock read 7 in the evening.
Alpha announced she was heading out for special training and took Asia along with her as they left.
Li Ancheng lounged on the sofa out on the third-floor terrace.
Karen quietly sliced fruit nearby, but her gaze kept drifting toward Rurikawa Tsubaki.
At that moment, Rurikawa Tsubaki was nestled gently against Li Ancheng’s side.
A faint, indescribable feeling stirred in Karen’s chest.
Was it…
jealousy?
It shouldn’t be.
It really shouldn’t.
That was Tsubaki-senpai, after all…
Li Ancheng noticed the silence between them and glanced over.
“You two really aren’t planning to go to school?” Karen spoke first.
“If it means attending to Master, Karen will go!
But school itself…
Tsubaki-senpai finished all her coursework long ago, and so did I.” Rurikawa Tsubaki nodded, the corner of her mouth twitching.
“Does Master need…
hmm.
A study companion?” Li Ancheng laughed and pinched the tip of her nose.
“That won’t be necessary.
Stay home and relax.” He flicked his fingertips lightly.
Two streams of warm, gentle light sank into the center of their brows.
“Your bodies have already started adapting to my power system.” “From here on, just follow the method I gave you and improve slowly.” Rurikawa Tsubaki closed her eyes and felt the information flood her mind.
Gather qi.
Focus the spirit.
Perceive heaven and earth…
The abstruse phrases left her momentarily dazed.
Then, gradually, understanding settled in.
She knew what to do.
She knew how to follow it.
“Master…” She opened her eyes and spoke carefully.
“Why not let Karen and me gain power directly, the way Alpha-nee did?
We could help you so much more…” Karen nodded vigorously and speared a piece of apple.
“And Master still hasn’t let us join the Demon Court!” Li Ancheng took a bite of the apple and shook his head with a quiet laugh.
“Alpha is an elf.
Her physique already far surpasses a human’s — she doesn’t need slow nurturing.
As for the Demon Court…” He paused and let his gaze move between the two of them.
“If you want to join, go find Alpha.
I don’t much care for managing these things.” “Then I won’t join!” Karen shook her head immediately.
She picked up a small piece of apple between her lips, leaned in, and brought it to Li Ancheng’s mouth.
Li Ancheng accepted it.
As they parted, he caught her lip gently between his for just a moment.
Karen’s ears went bright red.
“I don’t want to join either.” Rurikawa Tsubaki spoke softly.
She glanced at Karen, then rose without warning, swung one long leg over, and sat down in Li Ancheng’s lap, facing him.
“At the very beginning…
all I thought about was how to survive by your side.” Her voice dropped.
One hand reached behind her back and slowly drew down the zipper of her dress.
The delicate fabric slipped from her shoulders.
Fair skin.
The clean, elegant line of her collarbone.
“But now…” Rurikawa Tsubaki leaned closer.
The memory of that afternoon surfaced quietly.
“I only feel that meeting Master…
was truly the luckiest thing in my entire life.” …
8 in the morning.
The bedroom.
Li Ancheng surfaced from meditation.
His aura retracted, settled, still.
On his left, Rurikawa Tsubaki’s dark hair spilled across the pillow as she slept soundly.
On his right, Karen lay curled up, her sleeping face still carrying the exhaustion from the night before.
A brief thought, and the Kuoh Academy uniform Boiman had delivered yesterday was already neatly on.
“Mmm…” A soft sound beside him.
Karen’s lashes fluttered.
She struggled to sit up.
She pressed a hand instinctively to her waist and abdomen, her brows drawing together slightly.
“Ma-Master, I’ll go prepare breakfast…” “No need.” Li Ancheng was already at the bedside.
He leaned down and pressed a light kiss to her lips.
“Sleep a little longer.” Before the words fully faded, his form dissolved into shadow and was gone.
Karen sat there, fingers drifting to her lips.
The blanket slipped down, baring skin marked with the traces of the night.
She glanced sideways at Rurikawa Tsubaki.
Does Tsubaki-senpai not feel any pain at all?
The next second.
Li Ancheng stepped out of the shadows in the basement.
“Brother.” Alpha moved aside, clearing his line of sight.
On the bed lay an elf girl.
Striking silver-white hair, cut short, the ends slightly curled.
A thin braid woven into the left side.
Beneath her left eye, a teardrop mole, the kind that made her features look both refined and coolly dangerous.
Li Ancheng’s gaze passed over the familiar elf in an instant and moved to the corner.
Asia Argento sat there.
Her hands were clasped tight against her chest.
Her nun’s habit was still perfectly neat, not a wrinkle out of place.
But her face was pale.
Those eyes, always so full of warmth and devotion, now stared emptily at the floor.
“Asia.” Li Ancheng went down on one knee, bringing himself level with her, and asked gently, “What’s wrong?” She looked up like a startled deer.
“Mr.
Ancheng, I…” “Last night, Miss Alpha took me to rescue slaves…
We went to the North Port underground trade association…” The memories came crashing back.
Iron cages.
Bloodstains.
Mutilated limbs.
And the guards.
They laughed as they calculated how much money this elf would fetch.
That beastman was missing an ear, had to knock the price down.
When the whip came down, one of them was humming a light, cheerful tune.
“I know they were villains.” Asia’s voice trembled.
“But when Miss Alpha was about to act…
I actually wanted to stop her.” “I remembered the Lord’s teachings.
Thou shalt not kill.
Love your enemies…” Her tears finally broke.
“But those people in the cages…
the way they looked at me…” She pressed a hand to her chest, as though something there genuinely hurt.
“Mr.
Ancheng, I feel like I’m splitting in two.” “Why would I feel compassion for the ones who did this?
Is my faith…
wrong?” Li Ancheng was quiet for a moment.
He reached out and wiped the tears from her cheek with his fingertips.
“Asia.” His voice was still warm.
“The Lord you believe in teaches the laws of an ideal world.” “But open your eyes.
Look at the world in front of you.” Li Ancheng stood.
His shadow fell over the trembling nun.
He pointed to the unconscious elf girl on the bed.
“Before you healed her, she had 3 broken ribs on her left side.
Her magic had been forcibly extracted 5 times, because elf magic fetches a fortune on the black market.” “When those people did that to her, did they once think of ‘do no harm’?
Did they hear a single word of your mercy?” Asia’s breath caught.
“Hypocritical compassion is a second act of violence against those who have already suffered.” Li Ancheng kept speaking.
His hand rested briefly on her head.
“True goodness requires two things: the wisdom to tell right from wrong, and the courage to act on it, even when that action draws blood.” “If your Lord is truly all-knowing, all-powerful, and loving…” “Then He ought to know that in this world, sometimes salvation requires a hand on a sword.
Not just lips in prayer.” Asia sat frozen, like a statue that had lost all its color.
Li Ancheng sighed.
He bent down and pulled her into his arms.
“My Asia has a good heart.
If God does not punish evil, perhaps it’s because He placed the sword of judgment into the hands of those willing to be dirtied by this world for that purpose.” “People like me.
Like Alpha.” “But Asia doesn’t need to do any of that.
I’ll protect you.
Because you are my family.” “…Mr.
Ancheng?” Asia shivered.
Her heart hammered in her chest, beat after beat.
She steadied her breathing.
Then, without quite meaning to, her arms wrapped around his waist, and she pressed her cheek gently against his chest.
“Yes…
Asia is Mr.
Ancheng’s family.” ➤ Next: Beta’s Crash Course, Campus Debut