As dusk settled, the Witch Academy was completely shrouded in night.
Sally and Huli, who had been playing all afternoon, finally dragged their tired but still excited bodies back to the dormitory area.
Sally’s originally neat bangs were now a bit messy, and her cheeks still held the blush from intense exercise.
She carried her broom over her shoulder and kept gesturing with her hand to Huli, enthusiastically describing the cool stunt moves she had just performed in the Aerial Arena.
“Sally, did you see that?! That 360-degree spin with a huge dive I just did was super cool! The feeling of flying freely in the sky is amazing!”
Sally waved her arms excitedly, her voice clear and crisp like a bell.
Huli hugged her teddy bear plush.
Though she was tired and a little out of breath, seeing Sally happy made her feel glad too.
“Yeah, Sally’s the best. Ah, I wonder when I’ll be able to fly on a broom in the sky without fear, just like you, Sally?”
Just as the two little ones were chatting and laughing as they reached the dormitory door, a tall golden figure also approached from the other side.
It was Olivia.
This heiress of the Gold Family was now carrying a large pile of stacked gift boxes.
The towering boxes almost completely covered Olivia’s upper body, and it was hard to tell how she could see where she was going.
From the gift boxes Olivia carried, a tempting sweet aroma leaked out, making the witches drool.
Without guessing, it was obvious that the boxes contained desserts Olivia had specially prepared for Tuenzo.
Of course, there were also portions for the two little ones, Sally and Huli.
“Lady Olivia!”
Seeing Olivia, Sally’s eyes lit up.
She quickly welcomed her idol, and the fatigue in her body was instantly forgotten.
Huli also politely greeted Olivia.
As she smelled the tempting fragrance wafting from the dessert boxes, her nose twitched, and she couldn’t help but swallow.
“You’re back too? What a coincidence.”
Olivia stopped walking, a gentle smile curling at the corners of her mouth.
Her gaze swept over the two little ones, then turned to the closed dormitory door, a clear hint of anticipation flashing in her eyes.
Sally looked at the pile of dessert boxes in Olivia’s arms curiously, her eyes sparkling like stars.
“Lady Olivia, why did you buy so many desserts? Are you planning some kind of celebration?”
Facing Sally’s question, Olivia mysteriously raised one finger and gently placed it to her lips, making a shushing gesture toward the two little ones.
“Shh, it’s a secret.”
Olivia winked playfully, a hint of slyness flashing in her bright golden vertical pupils.
Then she added:
“I’ll reveal it in a while.”
After learning from the two little ones that Tuenzo was a sweet tooth and had a mischievous nature, Olivia had gone out to make some “little moves.”
The high-end desserts she carried were bought on the way back.
After all, if you like a witch, you should first capture her stomach.
So Olivia decided to conquer Tuenzo’s taste buds first.
Seeing that Olivia didn’t want to say more, Sally and Huli, though their curiosity was itching like a cat’s scratch, didn’t press further and simply suppressed their questions.
Still, looking at the tempting desserts in Olivia’s arms, the two little ones could guess that Lady Olivia was probably preparing a surprise for their TuTu sister.
“For the food, charge!”
Sally cheered, eagerly pulling out her keys to open the dormitory door.
As she rushed inside, she shouted loudly toward the dorm:
“Sis TuTu! Come out and eat something good! Lady Olivia bought a lot of desserts!”
However, as Sally’s voice traveled through the dorm, it was eerily quiet inside, with no response.
Only Sally’s echo reverberated through the empty dorm.
Seeing no witch answer, Sally froze in place and awkwardly scratched her head.
“Huh? Sis TuTu isn’t in the dorm?”
Huli followed Sally into the living room.
Her sharp fox ears twitched back and forth, then she pointed toward Tuenzo’s closed door and whispered to Sally:
“Sally, Sis TuTu’s door is closed. Unless something unexpected happens, Sis TuTu is probably sleeping soundly right now. After all, Sister TuTu loves to sleep most.”
“Huh? Sleeping?”
Hearing this, Sally was a bit troubled, her small hands twisting together in hesitation.
If she didn’t call out, the desserts would have to wait until tomorrow.
But if she did call…
Thinking about Tuenzo’s terrifying morning temper, Sally couldn’t help but shiver.
Once, Sally was too excited browsing the Magic Net in the early morning, and her excited screams woke the sleeping Tuenzo.
For the entire day after that, Tuenzo looked at her like she was a corpse.
That icy stare made Sally’s skin crawl!
Sally didn’t want her sister TuTu to hate her.
Just as Sally was hesitating and pacing in place, Olivia, who had been standing behind her, let out a soft laugh and made the decision for her.
“It’s fine. Go ahead and wake Little Ghost.”
Olivia neatly arranged the dessert boxes she was carrying on the living room coffee table, a confident and doting smile on her face.
“Among the desserts I bought, there are quite a few ice cream mousse cakes. They taste best when eaten fresh.”
“But what if Sister TuTu gets mad…”
Even though Olivia said that, Sally, worried about Tuenzo’s anger, still hesitated.
Seeing Sally unable to decide, Olivia raised an eyebrow slightly, her golden hair gently swaying with the movement.
“It’s okay. If Little Ghost gets angry, just say it was my idea. After all, I also like the way she looks when she’s mad.”
After getting Olivia’s guarantee, Sally felt like she had taken a calming pill, and her previously worried face relaxed.
“Since Lady Olivia says so! Then I won’t fail the mission!”
Sally scampered over to Tuenzo’s door, clenched her little fists, and mentally cheered herself on.
Olivia and Huli followed behind Sally.
The three witches stood in front of Tuenzo’s door.
Olivia clasped her hands behind her back, a slight smile curving her lips.
She actually liked to see Tuenzo’s cute, dazed, and defenseless look when she just woke up, like a kitten that had just left its nest.
That was the main reason Olivia asked Sally to wake Tuenzo.
Sally raised her hand and gently knocked three times on Tuenzo’s door.
Then, in the sweetest voice she could muster, she called out:
“Sis TuTu, wake up! There are desserts to eat!”
As soon as she finished, Sally pressed her cat ears nervously against the door to listen.
Unexpectedly, from inside Tuenzo’s room, there was no mumbled complaining as Sally imagined.
Instead, a faint but very clear sound of a chair scraping came from inside.
Squeak—
Hearing that scraping sound, Sally was startled and felt something was odd.
‘Strange, why did Sister TuTu wake up so fast today? Usually, she dawdles for at least five or six minutes. Is this the irresistible power of desserts?’
Before Sally could figure it out, Tuenzo’s closed door clicked and opened from the inside.
The door gap widened slowly.
Sally, Huli, and Olivia all focused their gazes, ready to welcome that lazy, black-haired, green-eyed figure.
But when the door fully opened, what stood before the three witches was not a yawning, sleepy-eyed Tuenzo, but a tall skeleton gentleman dressed in a black suit, with ghostly blue flames burning in its skull!
The skeleton gentleman stood quietly at the door, slightly lowering its head.
The two points of ghost fire in its eye sockets pulsed rhythmically, clearly examining Sally, who had just knocked.
“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”
Sally let out a scream loud enough to shatter glass, leaping backward as if electrocuted, crashing straight into Huli, who stood behind her.
Huli was also badly frightened by the sudden appearance of the skeleton gentleman, and her teddy bear nearly fell.
The two little witches hugged each other, trembling as they stared at the eerie skeleton before them.
“A skeleton?! Why is there a skeleton in the dormitory?!”
Sally’s voice shook, her teeth chattering.
While Sally and Huli were panicking, Olivia reacted instantly.
The moment the door opened, the gentle smile on Olivia’s face vanished, replaced by unprecedented seriousness and coldness.
Her witch instincts made her feel an extremely strong sense of danger the moment the skeleton appeared.
Olivia’s bright golden vertical pupils contracted into needle-like points.
Although the magical energy emanating from the skeleton before her was not violent—even a bit weak—Olivia did not dare to be careless.
Her intuition told her that this being was dangerous!
This sense of danger did not come from a disparity in power, but from a kind of indescribable eeriness.
“Back off!”
Olivia barked, moving with lightning speed.
Her left arm swept out, and a surge of domineering golden magic erupted, pulling the frozen Sally and Huli behind her in an instant.
Then, a flash of gold.
A majestic, overbearing golden dragon spear with sharp edges appeared in Olivia’s hand.
This golden dragon spear was Olivia’s strongest weapon, forged from a segment of the spine of the Gold Family head, Fafnir.
Its body flowed with a dark golden luster, and faint dragon roars echoed from the spear tip, exuding an unmatched aura of tyranny and destruction.
Holding the spear with one hand, Olivia pointed the tip directly at the skeleton’s face, just a hair’s breadth from its burning ghost fire.
“Who are you? Why are you here? And where is Little Ghost?”
Olivia’s voice was icy cold.
Her originally elegant and noble demeanor was completely gone, replaced by the ferocity and sharpness of a dragon.
Facing Olivia’s oppressive questioning and the dragon spear aimed at its forehead, the skeleton gentleman showed no sign of panic.
The ghost fire in its eye sockets flickered slightly, as if it were a little surprised by the golden dragon spear in Olivia’s hand.
Then, the skeleton lowered its head, its gaze falling on the blazing golden dragon flame along the spear.
The aura within that flame gave the skeleton some understanding.
“The threads of fate…”
The skeleton let out a low, hoarse voice.
It sounded like two ancient gravestones rubbing against each other, yet carried a strange rhythmic quality.
“Both predetermined and coincidental. The convergence of yin and yang is all within the calculation.”
With that, the skeleton slowly raised its white-boned hands, palms outward, indicating no hostility.
Then, it extended a finger bone and gently pushed aside the spear tip aimed at its face.
The movement was as soft as if it were brushing aside a delicate flower, not a golden dragon spear capable of tearing space.
“Miss, please put away your weapon. I am not an enemy.”
The skeleton gentleman slightly stepped aside, clearing the way into the room.
Through the skeleton’s form, Olivia could vaguely see a blurry figure lying on the bed deep in the room.
“I am merely a familiar summoned by my young master.”
As if to prove its identity, the skeleton turned its palm over, and a ball of pitch-black mist gathered in its hand.
Rolling within the mist was a cold and deathly aura that Olivia was very familiar with—its source was Tuenzo’s unique shadow magic.
“Young master?”
Olivia frowned.
Although the shadow magic in the skeleton’s hand could prove some connection between it and Tuenzo, Olivia’s vigilance did not diminish.
Of course, Olivia knew that Tuenzo had chosen the Summoning school.
But summoning a familiar of this level?
Impossible!
A being that could make her feel such extreme threat could not be summoned by a beginner like Tuenzo.
Unless…
Recalling the skeleton’s address of Tuenzo, Olivia’s frown deepened.
For the first time, she became curious about Tuenzo’s background.
Just as Olivia and the skeleton were confronting each other, the situation deadlocked.
From the bed deep in Tuenzo’s room, a rustling sound suddenly came.
Then, a lazy, hoarse voice, thick with sleepiness and obviously just awakened, sounded vaguely in the room.
“…Who… died…”
Hearing that familiar voice, Olivia’s taut nerves relaxed a bit, but then she gripped the golden dragon spear even tighter.
The skeleton, upon hearing Tuenzo’s voice, reacted immediately.
It stopped paying attention to Olivia, turned around quickly, and strode into the room, like a loyal butler eager to serve his master.
Seeing this, Olivia solemnly retracted the golden dragon spear for the moment, but her fists were clenched, ready to deal with any sudden situation.
With steady steps, Olivia followed the skeleton into Tuenzo’s room.
Sally and Huli exchanged glances.
Both saw deep fear and confusion in each other’s eyes, but out of concern for Tuenzo, they plucked up their courage and carefully followed Olivia into Tuenzo’s room.