Feeling inexplicably disliked by two girls, Lyr finally returned to his own room.
“Am I really that off-putting?”
Lying in bed, he really couldn’t figure it out.
‘Probably not?’
As he asked himself and answered, he didn’t dwell on it too much.
That was just how he was—didn’t take most things to heart, a bit thick-skinned.
He even wondered if being out on the frontier for so long had made him this way.
Closing his eyes to sleep, he still felt he needed to find time to talk to Lulong about the witch situation.
Now there was one more reason to seek out Lulong.
Without realizing it, Lyr drifted into a dream. In that dream, those malicious voices attacked him again.
They seemed unwilling to let him go, whether in the waking world or in dreams, until he completely submitted and became their puppet.
In the silent room, not even Lyr knew that he was drenched in cold sweat on the bed.
It was like being pressed down by a ghost—unable to struggle, unable to wake up.
“Worthless, worthless, worthless!”
“You’re not only annoying, you’re disgusting. How can someone like you exist?”
“You shouldn’t exist in this world at all!”
The voices of the Devouring Witch, Yilu, and Tif swirled endlessly in his mind, relentlessly tormenting Lyr.
Beneath his closed eyelids, his brows furrowed tighter, showing the expression of a drowning person struggling.
And at that moment, in a corner of the room, the Thunder Spirit Sword—left there since Lyr returned—hummed of its own accord.
Firefly-like particles swirled around it, gradually filling the entire room.
They floated toward Lyr on their own, then merged into his body.
Following that, wisps of black aura were forced out and dissipated under the moonlight.
The tense expression on Lyr’s face relaxed, returning to calm.
Deep within—somewhere even Lyr didn’t know—the barrier that had been broken by the Devouring Witch’s prying was quietly repaired, sealing the curse and magic power of the Nightmare Tongue once again.
The next morning, Yilu woke up in the room and changed back into her own clothes from yesterday.
Sleeping in the pajamas the maid had lent her made her feel very uncomfortable.
When she arrived in the living room, she found Tif already there, reading a book and eating something.
When the maids saw Yilu come down, they naturally started preparing things for her.
Following the maids’ guidance, she sat down next to Tif, feeling a bit awkward and uneasy.
“Are you planning to go to the Academy today?”
Tif glanced casually, noticing the slight dark circles under Yilu’s eyes—she hadn’t slept very peacefully.
“You can rest here if you want. Go back when you feel better. I can ask for leave for you at the Academy.”
It was just a matter of explaining to the Academy’s teacher, nothing troublesome.
“No, I don’t want to bother you too much.”
At that moment, Yilu didn’t have her usual arrogance; instead, she seemed like a shy child, sitting there at a loss.
Looking at the food on the table, she showed no intention of eating.
“Doesn’t it suit your taste?”
Tif noticed this.
“What do you usually eat? It’s still early, I can have the maids make something for you.”
Yilu shook her head.
“I usually don’t eat in the morning. I don’t have much of an appetite.”
At the Academy, she was always alone. The Academy cafeteria was too noisy, and she didn’t like that atmosphere, so she had never gone.
Naturally, she had developed the habit of skipping breakfast.
Tif glanced sideways, hesitated, then said, “Alright.”
She had wanted to say something more, but in the end, she held back.
If she started nagging too, wouldn’t she be just like her idiot brother?
Besides, she and Yilu were the same age—she had no right to preach to others.
Respecting others’ habits and not arbitrarily correcting them was the best way to treat everyone as equals.
Yilu sat in her seat, watching the entire mansion being managed orderly by the maids, while Tif sat calmly, looking completely at ease with everything. She couldn’t help but admire her even more.
Could it be that this entire estate was managed by Tif alone? That was really impressive.
Yilu never held back praise for others in her heart—of course, provided she didn’t have any hostility toward them.
“Where is he?”
Looking around, Yilu belatedly realized someone was missing.
“You mean Lyr?”
Tif paused slightly in her actions.
“He’s probably still sleeping. Don’t worry about him. You can just come with me later.”
“Is that really okay?”
If they really didn’t take care of him, would that guy be late?
“After what happened last night, he can still sleep so soundly. Let him sleep if he wants.”
Tif clapped her hands. When she had told Yilu earlier that Lyr was a disappointing brother, that wasn’t a euphemism—it was exactly what she meant.
As a teacher, if it meant he could be late, she’d like to teach Lyr a lesson that way.
Yilu gave a stiff, awkward smile.
If anyone didn’t know better, they’d think Tif was Lyr’s older sister, with no intention of spoiling him at all.
After a brief cleanup, Tif left the house with Yilu.
Considering that Yilu needed to return to the dormitory to change clothes, Tif left a bit earlier than usual.
And to really teach Lyr a lesson, she specifically instructed the others at home not to wake him up, letting him sleep as long as he wanted.
When they arrived at the Academy, others stared in surprise when they saw Tif and Yilu getting out of the same carriage.
But Tif paid no attention to those looks. When parting ways with Yilu, she didn’t forget to say,
“Thank you again for helping my useless brother last night. If there’s anything I can do for you in the future, you can come to me directly. No need to worry too much.”
Seeing Tif’s sincere expression—though it was more or less what Lyr had said last night—it gave Yilu a somewhat different feeling.
Tif wasn’t expressing gratitude or a desire to help because of some connection; it was more like a simple gesture of goodwill.
No pressure, leaving plenty of space for Yilu.
“Mm, okay.” Yilu replied.
Under Tif’s watchful gaze, she walked toward the dormitory building.
Not long after Yilu left, Teanya, who had also noticed the scene just like everyone else, finally approached.
“What’s going on? How come you two came together?”
Tif sighed. She had already noticed this guy.
It was too complicated to explain in a short while, and it wasn’t convenient to talk about it here, so Tif simply ignored her and walked straight ahead.
“Come on, tell me!” Teanya persisted.
“Don’t tell me she stayed at your place last night? With your brother? What’s going on?”
This was exactly why Tif didn’t want to talk—Teanya’s habit of jumping to conclusions had already guessed the general idea, but some details were bound to get twisted.