Chapter 3: This is an essential teaching aid.

“Second question.”

Ke Leya ignored the system’s strange reaction and continued asking.

“Time, how much time do I have to fulfill her last wish?”

[From today until your father takes you away, and then until the originally scheduled wedding eve when you take poison, there is about a month in between.]

[This is the time given to you by the original plot.]

The system added.

[Of course, you can try to speed up or change the process, but any major deviation might trigger a correction from the World Consciousness, causing big problems.]

“Three months, zero combat power, kill two Blood Dukes and one Heir to the Duke.”

Ke Leya summarized, then asked softly.

“Does this quest sound reasonable?”

[From a data perspective, it really does seem unreasonable.]

The system admitted frankly.

[But our selection criteria have never been about reasonableness, but about fun and possibility.]

[Anyway, there’s no penalty for failing the quest. At worst, we get no points in this world, and we’ll just move on to the next one.]

Ke Leya didn’t speak again.

She walked over to the only chair in the room that looked somewhat comfortable, a high-backed chair, and sat down.

The backrest was very tall, enough to envelop her entire body.

She curled up her legs, hugged her knees, and rested her chin on them.

Her silver hair cascaded like liquid mercury, spilling over the chair and her curled-up body.

The system didn’t know what she was thinking, so it also fell silent.

Ke Leya sat quietly for a long time, so long that the moonlight outside the window shifted its angle.

Then the system heard her speak softly, her tone somewhat hesitant.

“Tell me, about Duke Elizabeth, my guardian… what does she like most, hate most, fear most, and…”

Her gaze, as if absentmindedly, drifted again to the low cabinet in the corner of the room.

“…among her collections and teaching tools, is there any one that she is particularly fond of?”

[……]

The system was unusually silent for two seconds.

[Host, that question of yours is very artistic.]

[Based on analysis of Duke Elizabeth’s behavior over the past year, the thing she likes most is you.]

[More precisely, it’s Coleia Scarlet, who completely belongs to her, shaped and controlled by her own hands.]

[She enjoys this absolute domination and possession, as well as the process of watching beautiful, fragile things gradually take on colors under her education.]

[What she hates most is losing control, including unexpected changes, doubts from others, and the disobedience of her possessions.]

[As for what she fears and those teaching tools… because I don’t have the authority, I don’t know either.]

System: gazes at the sky, tapping fingers.jpg

Ke Leya listened quietly, her chin still resting on her knees, her crimson eyes staring at a point in the void.

“So I am both the thing she likes most and the possession she most wants to control.”

[From a behavioral logic analysis, yes.]

The system confirmed.

“Then, in order to survive these seven days, or to avoid triggering the loss of control she hates most, I’d better continue playing the role of the Coleia who completely belongs to her, depends on her, and was shaped by her hands?”

[Theoretically, this is indeed the safest strategy.]

The system’s voice carried no praise or criticism.

“Duke Elizabeth.”

Ke Leya changed the question, her tone still flat.

“Will she come today?”

[Yes.]

The system answered quickly.

[According to records from the past year, unless there is extremely important official business or she leaves the territory, Duke Elizabeth comes to your room at a fixed time every night to give you necessary instruction.]

[Today is no exception. According to the schedule, she should arrive soon.]

“How soon is soon?”

[In half an hour.]

Ke Leya nodded, slipped down from the high-backed chair, her white-stockinged soles touching the floor.

She straightened up and smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles on her skirt.

“Then now I should prepare to see her.”

As she spoke, she turned, her gaze hesitantly falling on the low cabinet in the corner.

The system was silent for a moment.

Then its voice rang out, a complex tone mixed with helplessness and businesslike efficiency, but ultimately it chose to state:

[Host, according to Duke Elizabeth’s routine over the past year…]

[When she comes to instruct you, she usually asks you to wear or use some of those items as part of the lesson.]

[Among them, the nine-tailed teaching tool and its matching collar and fox ears are the ones she most often chooses and prefers.]

[Generally speaking, Ke Leya would proactively put these on before meeting Duke Elizabeth…]

Ke Leya walked over, stopped in front of the pile of objects, and bent slightly, her silver hair sliding off her shoulders, hanging over the cold leather and fluffy items.

Her eyes swept over the strange shapes, finally landing on the collar.

Black leather, inlaid with a dark red gemstone, with an intricate buckle.

Next to it were a pair of snow-white fox ear hair accessories with a hint of pink at the tips, and the meticulously groomed nine fox tails.

She extended her hand in a black lace glove, her fingertips pausing just before touching the cool leather of the collar.

Then she picked up the collar, and then the pair of fox ears.

She turned and walked to the huge gilded-framed mirror.

The girl in the mirror had silver hair and crimson eyes, wearing a pitch-black gothic dress, with no expression on her pale little face.

She raised the collar in her hand and measured it against her neck in the mirror.

Her fingertips felt the cool touch of leather.

She tried to fasten it from behind, but the buckle design seemed to require some skill; after several attempts, the leather just hung loosely around her neck.

She then picked up the fox ear hair accessories, turning them over and over, finding no obvious clips or straps, only a soft elastic band at the bottom.

She tried to measure it against the top of her head, unsure whether to slip it on or what.

The girl in the mirror had slightly disheveled silver hair, holding items that clashed with her gorgeous dress and cold atmosphere, yet her face remained that same nearly vacant calm.

“…”

Lin Ke Leya Mu: ˃̣̣̥᷄⌓˂̣̣̥᷅

She seemed to not know how to use them!

“System, how is this used?”

[……]

The system watched its host’s performance and was silent for two seconds.

Then an exasperated electronic tone abruptly sounded in Ke Leya’s mind:

[Stop! Stop, stop, stop! Host, cut it out! Don’t mess with that!]

Ke Leya’s movements froze.

She tilted her head slightly, a bit confused.

[I regret this. We’re not doing this job. Let some other system do it!]

The system spoke at a rapid pace.

[What kind of damn last wishes, what three dukes? We’re out!]

[Let’s go, let’s go! I’ll apply for emergency extraction right now. Points in this world reset to zero? So be it. We’ll find another one!]

The system had thought its own little cabbage was about to be eaten by a pig, but it turned out the pig hadn’t even arrived yet, and the little cabbage was already sidling up to the pigsty.

System: Why is there such an innocent host in this world?

[Next world, we’ll pick a normal one, no pervert collectors, none of this messy stuff!]