Chapter 11

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Volume 2 + Chapter 11: Hidden Side of Mirexia

He don’t know if it’s because of the recent change in seasons, but many students at Carillian Academy have caught colds.

Winnie noticed that many of his classmates had come down with colds. For instance, among his card-playing buddies, several had fallen ill, including Fred, who had recently started feeling weak all over, with sore and limp limbs.

However, even a cold couldn’t stop the card players’ enthusiasm. Classes could be skipped, but the game had to go on.

Fred even declared that he’d rather die on the battlefield than miss a game. He often played through his severe cold, and Winnie thought that if he showed the same enthusiasm for studying, his grades wouldn’t be so low.

But the fact that even these magically gifted individuals could catch a cold showed that this flu was no ordinary one.

Winnie wasn’t sure if his constitution was better than Fred’s or if his high affinity for ice elements helped, but he hadn’t caught the flu.

Still, the number of students who caught colds was relatively small. If it had been any higher, the academy would have taken notice.

For a supernatural being to catch a cold, it was just bad luck or a sign that they hadn’t been taking care of their physical health.

Winnie didn’t know if his card-playing buddies had been gathering as usual, but the student council’s workload had been increasing.

Even someone like him, who wasn’t particularly skilled, was swamped. He wished he could split himself in two to handle everything, which showed just how busy the student council was.

Even Aesphyra had been too busy to be seen.

Winnie could understand that if even a lowly worker like him was being pushed to his limits, Aesphyra would be even more overwhelmed. The capable always bear more responsibility.

The matter of the mole had also progressed. While they still didn’t know who the mole was, the mole had clearly received the note Winnie and Mirexia had sent and had replied to discuss the next steps.

Winnie played the role of a hesitant nail, afraid to make decisions and worried about exposure.

He used Zoe’s tone to portray the attitude of someone who had done something wrong and was scared of being caught, letting the mole take the lead.

Due to the low efficiency of communication, the conversation dragged on. The mole seemed indecisive and told Winnie to wait for instructions from “above.” Finally, after some time, “above” gave new orders.

[Bronze Blood] decided to strike during the celebration gala of the Holy Healing Festival.

They were confident they had tracked Mirexia’s movements for that day and instructed Zoe to cooperate in kidnapping her and smuggling her out of Carillian Academy.

When Winnie asked about Zoe’s brother, [Bronze Blood] reiterated that as long as everything went smoothly, Zoe would see her brother again. Otherwise, she’d be left to collect his corpse.

Upon receiving this reply, Winnie had a sinking feeling that Zoe’s brother was likely already dead.

Having read parts of the original work, Winnie was familiar with the habits of the Demon Pillar cultists. These ruthless individuals would never return a hostage alive. They only used such tactics to manipulate the victim’s family.

How could the purely chaotic and evil Demon Pillar cultists let a hostage who had witnessed their crimes survive? After receiving the message, Winnie discussed it with Mirexia and informed the academy about the note and their communications with the cultists.

Upon learning about the situation, Carillian Academy stationed many combat instructors and several deans at the gala.

With so many students present, no one knew if the cultists would resort to extreme measures if cornered. To ensure the students’ safety and to capture the cultists, the academy deployed powerful forces to protect the students.

Uncovering the mole within the academy was a top priority. Leaving such a ticking time bomb in the academy was too dangerous to ignore. Thus, a plan to lure the snake out of its hole was set in motion.

“Whew, I’m exhausted,” Winnie sighed in the afternoon, finally finishing all the labor-intensive tasks assigned by his senior.

His senior had been treating him like a beast of burden. Were these tasks even meant for humans?

But he had no complaints. He wasn’t cut out for paperwork, lacking the mental capacity for it. If he couldn’t handle brain work, he’d just have to put in the physical effort.

At this hour, it seemed like only he was temporarily relieved of his duties. Everyone else was still busy. As he passed by an office, he heard the sound of pens scratching against paper. Even when people stood up to move around, their footsteps were light, careful not to disturb others.

The student council’s workload was overwhelming.

Before joining the student council, Winnie had thought being a member was all perks with little effort. Now, he knew better.

Indeed, one had to experience something to truly understand its difficulties.

Winnie suddenly thought of Mirexia. If everyone else was this busy, she must be even more so.

That workaholic princess always led by example. It was impossible for her to be sitting in her office sipping tea while everyone else was swamped.

If even the average student council member was this busy, Mirexia’s workload must be ten times heavier.

Her reputation and popularity within the student council weren’t unfounded. Who wouldn’t love a leader who didn’t just sit high and issue orders but shouldered the most work and responsibility, leading by example?

With this in mind, Winnie felt it wasn’t right to just finish his work and leave. The atmosphere often influenced people. In this environment where everyone was overwhelmed, he had taken on the least work and left without a word. Even he felt a bit guilty.

So, he headed to the third floor.

Arriving at the student council room, Winnie was about to knock as usual but noticed the door was slightly ajar, not fully closed.

Huh? Was Mirexia not inside?

Winnie looked puzzled. Every time he came to the council room, the door was closed to avoid disturbances. If Mirexia was inside, the door should be closed.

Where had Mirexia gone? To the restroom?

Winnie lowered his hand, about to knock, and pushed the door open. As soon as he did, he heard an unusual sound.

“Mmm, mmm…”

Huh? What was that?

Winnie looked inside, confused, and then saw something his brain couldn’t comprehend.

The room, which should have been empty, had a golden-haired girl squatting on the floor, panting heavily.

A leather collar was tightly fastened around her neck, and her other hand was pulling on the leash, tightening the collar.

The girl’s face was flushed with a drunken redness, her heavy breathing filled the room, and her sapphire-like eyes were filled with confusion and desire.

“…Not so tight,” the golden-haired girl mumbled intermittently. Her usually confident and composed voice, which embodied the image of an untouchable highland flower, now carried a forced firmness mixed with ambiguity, a seductive tone that could make one’s bones go soft and blood boil.

“???” Winnie was dumbfounded, wondering if he had mistaken the person. After confirming it was indeed Mirexia, he silently questioned if he had entered the wrong place.

Where had he ended up? Was this still the Terraria continent?

Had he accidentally stumbled into some unknown parallel world or subspace?

“It’s too tight, can you loosen it a bit?…” The golden-haired girl in the room seemed too engrossed or thought no one would come looking for her at this time, unaware that an audience had entered.

After the initial shock, Winnie fell into a dead silence.

What now?

Winnie, who had come to see Mirexia, was stuck. He couldn’t enter or leave, caught in a dilemma.

But the situation escalated before he could process what he’d seen. He heard an even more explosive statement.

“Vanessa, please, be gentler…” Mirexia said in a voice filled with embarrassment and shyness.

“…?!” Winnie’s face was filled with shock and disbelief.

Wait, why was Vanessa involved? Was she here too?

He was sure he had just arrived.

After hearing more of the princess’s pleas and her repeated calls for Vanessa, Winnie felt he couldn’t remain silent any longer and spoke up.

“Um, Mirexia, if you want it looser, just take the collar off. If it’s uncomfortable, don’t keep pulling on the leash and tormenting yourself. Vanessa isn’t here, and she’s not the one tightening it. Calling for her won’t help.”

“…” Mirexia’s body froze, as if turned to stone. Her neck slowly turned, like a clockwork mechanism, and she looked at Winnie with a mix of disbelief and despair.

‘Virtue +700.’

‘Current Virtue: 10004.’

“…” The student council room fell into a deathly silence. Neither of the two knew how to start the conversation or what tone to use.

Especially Mirexia. After realizing who had entered and witnessed the entire scene, her eyes showed a sense of utter hopelessness. Her usually calm eyes were now filled with panic.

“I, Winnie, listen, this is…”

“Tch! Those vile [Bronze Blood] members must be behind this! What a cruel tactic!” Seeing Mirexia stammering and unable to explain, Winnie pointed at the sky, feigning outrage.

“Mirexia, it must be the residual poison in your body. Those damned [Bronze Blood] members must have concocted some vile drug. It’s infuriating!”

“Don’t worry, Mirexia, I’ll help you cleanse the poison from your body. Once it’s gone, you won’t have these episodes. Trust me!” Winnie declared with righteous indignation, vowing to oppose [Bronze Blood] at all costs.

“…” Mirexia quickly removed the collar from her neck, lowering her head in embarrassment and giving a barely perceptible nod, reluctantly accepting the absurd excuse Winnie had provided.

What else could she do? She couldn’t just expose herself, could she?

It was over.

Mirexia sat on the sofa, her gaze vacant. She was already considering moving to another continent.

If she had known it would come to this, she wouldn’t have indulged in that fleeting curiosity. It was too embarrassing.

And to think Winnie had seen it.

Mirexia stared blankly at her hands, unsure why she had done such a thing.

All she remembered was that the relentless overtime work had piled up the pressure.

For some reason, scenes of working late with Vanessa kept flashing in her mind, and her eyes kept drifting to the pet collar Winnie had brought her earlier.

Then, a bold and unconventional idea took root in her mind.

These collars were meant for pets, but what if they were used on a person…

By the time Mirexia realized what she was doing, her hand had already reached for the leather pet collar, and her mind was filled with wild fantasies.

If there’s a leash, someone must be holding it.

At this thought, Mirexia’s mind uncontrollably imagined that person being Vanessa.

“Mirexia, I never thought you’d be like this,” the pink-haired girl said, holding the leash tightly, looking down at her with disdain. Her heart-shaped eyes, usually full of charm, were now filled with contempt and disgust.

“Always so aloof and untouchable, who would’ve thought you had such strange tastes in private? It’s disgusting. Do you really enjoy being treated roughly?”

“My childhood friend, hiding such depths, huh? What an eye-opener.”

Just imagining such a scene shattered Mirexia’s rationality. She didn’t know what had come over her.

She knew it wasn’t normal, but it felt like a powerful desire had taken control of her mind. No matter how much her rational self tried to stop it, she couldn’t.

And so, things had escalated to this point.

“Uh…” Seeing Mirexia in this state and glancing at the pet collar on the table, the one he had brought to the council room earlier, Winnie didn’t know what to say.

Such situations were awkward for both the person caught in the act and the one who caught them.

Even though he had given her an out, how should he act around Mirexia from now on?

Winnie didn’t know, leaving him momentarily lost.

Perhaps they both needed some time to calm down?

What he had witnessed today was beyond anything he could comprehend, stretching his understanding of Mirexia to its limits.

Maybe they were both too tired from the recent workload, leading to shared hallucinations. A good night’s sleep would fix everything, and they’d forget it all by morning, their relationship returning to normal.

Yes, that must be it.

Just as he was about to leave and give Mirexia some time to recover, she called out to him.

“Winnie, wait…”

“Mirexia, is there something else?” Winnie hesitated to turn back and face her.