Chapter 151: Contrast

Contrast

The cool night wind blew gently. Nia stood on the rooftop, leaning against the chimney, looking up at the night sky above.

Dark clouds gathered in the afternoon, but unexpectedly, the rain clouds drifted away, revealing the bright moon above.

Through the faint haze, some stars in the sky could still be seen. If the smell of the street wasn’t so pungent, this would have been a cool night.

Suddenly, Nia lowered her head. Her gaze seemed attracted by a faint light. She looked towards the opposite window. Through the curtains, a candlelight could be seen lit inside.

Under the candlelight’s illumination, the reflection of one person holding another appeared on the curtains.

That’s... Oh, Miss Ciel is awake? Young Mistress fell asleep instead...

Makes sense. Young Mistress recently saw hope for advancement, staying up almost all night for the Reconstitution Ritual. Falling asleep while watching over Miss Ciel is also normal.

After seeing Miss Ciel’s figure place Young Mistress on the bed and cover her with the quilt, Nia’s gaze shifted away from the window. After scanning the surroundings and finding nothing, she continued looking up at the bright moon in the sky.

But a few minutes later, Nia seemed to hear something, lowered her head somewhat surprisedly, looking towards the curtains.

In her vision, the two figures in the curtains sat facing each other, then one figure gradually pressed forward, pushing the other figure down onto the bed.

This this this...

Nia scratched her metal chin with her fingers, coughed lightly twice in embarrassment, and glanced left and right.

Young people nowadays are really...

Nia’s right hand lifted, seeming to grasp something, and waved it towards the window.

It was a piece of red-hot iron armor, sticking to the wall when thrown below the window.

As Nia’s right palm opened, a thin metal iron curtain slowly rose, covering the entire window, blocking others’ view.

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Regarding matters between men and women, having lived for so long, she had heard a little. But between women... can they have children?

But the good thing is, she probably doesn’t need to remind Young Mistress about contraception anymore.

No wonder Young Mistress refused those noble children’s dance invitations since childhood; turns out the gender was wrong.

The moonlight is truly beautiful.

Nia crossed her arms before her chest plate, looked up at the moon, contemplating these topics—in her long life, she was accustomed to thinking about these “boring” things, keeping her mind active.

...

Meanwhile, inside Ciel’s room, the faint fragrances of the young women intertwined.

From simple probing to gradually intensifying, the young women’s breathing gradually became heavy.

Avena’s hands had already lifted, passing through Ciel’s hair, hooking around her neck.

Ciel’s hanging hair scattered beside her face. Surrounded by Ciel’s scent, this dreamlike feeling made Avena feel slightly suffocated, even forgetting how to breathe, just wanting to maintain this moment. Thanks for reading on ManaNovel!

Avena didn’t even notice, she didn’t know when she had closed her eyes. She didn’t know what to do next, just felt extremely happy like this.

At least since she could remember, this was the first time she experienced this kind of joy and relaxation that seemed capable of abandoning reason.

Gradually, Avena’s hands were no longer content just hanging around Ciel’s neck, but started sliding down Ciel’s body restlessly, feeling the different texture with her fingertips.

However, a drop of water landed on her closed left eye, pulling Avena back from her chaotic thoughts. She slowly opened her right eye, looking at Ciel, who also had her eyes tightly shut at this moment.

But at this moment, tears hung in Ciel’s eyes.

Ciel?

Avena withdrew her hands, slowly pressed Ciel’s shoulders, pushing her slightly away. After slightly calming her breath, she whispered, “Did I... hurt you?”

Avena’s voice was slightly nervous. She didn’t know what she did just now, what kind of force she used—in fact, she couldn’t exert much strength just now either.

“Hm? It’s fine...”

In Avena’s vision, Ciel slowly straightened her body, then somewhat surprisingly raised her hand to touch her own cheek.

At this moment, Ciel seemed to just notice she was crying.

“Strange...” Ciel randomly wiped the tears on her face with her hand, but the more she wiped, the more tears flowed, as if the dam completely broke without restraint, even though Ciel had absolutely no intention of crying.

Even Ciel didn’t realize that the pressure she had been accumulating, suppressed deep in her heart, was released slightly at this moment.

Tonight, just now, perhaps was the most stress-free moment for Ciel since three years ago.

At that moment, she seemed not to need to consider life and death, survival, and becoming stronger, just needed to release her pressure freely.

And after coming back to her senses, the whispers in her head and the tearing pain in her spirit reminded her again that she still lived in a dangerous world.

There was no sadness in her heart, but complexity, a complex emotion even she herself found hard to explain.

Avena, lying on the bed, looked at Ciel sitting there blankly and crying, only feeling sharp pangs in her heart.

In places she couldn’t see, when Ciel acted alone, how much suffering did she endure? How much pain did she suppress in her heart?

Although Avena had only performed spiritual healing for Ciel twice, both times Avena felt intense painful emotions, and each time the pain was different.

Avena knew Ciel still had many secrets she hadn’t unearthed yet.

But Avena wouldn’t actively ask. If Ciel’s heart could be opened, she would tell herself.

And now, what Ciel needed most was rest, letting her spirit completely relax.

Avena slowly raised her hand, grasping Ciel’s arm.

Suddenly grabbed, Ciel looked somewhat puzzledly at Avena below. Immediately after, she felt bursts of pulling force from Avena’s hand.

Although the strength was small, Ciel didn’t resist, but slowly leaned down following Avena’s force.

Soon, just as Ciel’s cheek was about to touch Avena’s face, Avena abruptly turned her body, looking like she wanted to turn over and switch positions.

-

But when Avena exerted force, Ciel subconsciously stabilized her body, causing Avena to blush furiously without being able to turn even slightly.

Slap.

Avena’s hands cupped Ciel’s cheeks, saying with shame and anger, “Don’t exert force!”

“Mm...” Ciel seemed unaware she had inadvertently made Avena lose face, just listened to what Avena said, stopped exerting force, letting her turn over and switch positions.

Avena reached out, untied Ciel’s belt, removed her slightly blood-stained dress, leaving only a thin slip.

When Avena reached for her own waist, she seemed to think of something, picked up Ciel’s left hand, blocked Ciel’s eyes with it, and whispered:

“Cover it yourself...”

“Mm...” Ciel obediently raised both hands, covering her own eyes. In the darkness, she could only hear rustling sounds of clothes being removed.

“Let go of your hands...”

“Okay.”

Ciel released her hands, looked at the blushing Avena, holding a handkerchief, beginning to wipe the tear stains on her face bit by bit.

Click—

After wiping Ciel’s face clean, Avena snapped her fingers. The candle, already almost burned down, extinguished directly.

With the iron curtain blocking the window outside, not even a sliver of moonlight could penetrate. The room instantly plunged into absolute darkness.

In the darkness, the frantic roars in Ciel’s head seemed to become even clearer. Ciel slowly clenched her fists, her spirit tensing up again.

In the pitch-black room where one couldn’t see their fingers, Ciel felt Avena had gotten off her, now fumbling for something on the bed.

Soon, Ciel felt something approaching her head, and recognized what it was by touch.

Pillow?

Ciel lifted her hand, brushed aside her somewhat messy long hair, slowly raised her head. The pillow was tucked under her head. Then, the quilt was also pulled up by Avena, covering both of them.

The room was quiet enough to only hear their breathing. After a while, Ciel felt Avena’s arm slowly embrace her head, and her own cheek pressed against a small softness separated by smooth silk.

Avena opened her mouth, a gentle singing voice slowly sounded above Ciel’s head... This was the lullaby Ciel had heard before, also hummed by Avena.

The lullaby, carrying the “Psychologist” ability, slowly calmed the frantic whispers in Ciel’s mind, allowing Ciel’s tensed muscles to gradually relax.

Ciel hesitated for a moment, then reached out, wrapped her arms around Avena’s slender waist, and slowly closed her eyes.

Thank you, Avena.

Ciel didn’t say this sentence out loud. She knew the other party probably didn’t like hearing these things. Compared to verbal thanks, perhaps Ciel doing something practical as repayment would interest Avena more, even if just sending a small, inexpensive but thoughtful gift.

Ciel’s complex emotions gradually calmed down, her tense spirit also began to slowly relax. Accompanied by Avena’s body temperature, fragrance, and soft humming, she gradually fell asleep.

If only Avena could sleep with me every night in the future...

Before falling asleep, only this thought remained in Ciel’s mind.

...

The next day.

Berren City, Clock Tower Alley, North-South Stone Street No. 144.

Avena stood beside the bed, putting on her clothes. Ciel, lying on the bed, only slowly opened her eyes after Avena finished dressing.

As soon as she opened her eyes, Ciel felt an indescribable sense of ease.

Except for the whispers still roaring in her head, her spirit seemed greatly replenished and restored, no longer feeling the constant tension from before.

Most importantly, her brain no longer felt that tearing pain, replaced instead by intermittent dull aches—this was already much better than before.

Just don’t know if it’s because she hadn’t slept so comfortably for too long. The current Ciel lay on the bed, feeling completely limp all over, not wanting to move at all.

She turned her head slightly, looked towards Avena already dressed beside the bed, found Avena currently looking down, expressionlessly watching her.

“Breakfast?” Avena put on her glasses, asked, seeming to have returned to her usual indifferent state, but the word spoken still contained concern.

Was last night really related to drinking?

“Yes.” Ciel nodded.

She ate almost nothing last night, then slept until morning. The current Ciel felt starved, her front sticking to her back.

Perhaps the feeling of being limp all over was related to not eating.

“I’ve already had someone deliver the meal. When you’re dressed, come down.” Avena walked towards the door. When she reached the door, she seemed to think of something, turned back towards Ciel, and asked, “Are you free later?”

“Yes.” Ciel nodded.

The event was resolved, the simulation also timed out and refreshed. This period should be her most free time.

“There’s a banquet this afternoon, will you accompany me?” Avena thought for a moment, then added, “There should be quite a lot of food.”

Banquet... Noble banquet? Or transcendent banquet? Whichever it was, Ciel wasn’t very interested...

“Accompany me.” Seeming to notice Ciel’s hesitation, Avena directly spoke, somewhat assertively.

This was just an ordinary noble banquet. Avena also wanted Ciel to relax more, not plunge headfirst into another incident, so she asked Ciel to accompany her.

Definitely not because she also felt bored, so wanted Ciel to go accompany her.

“Alright.” Ciel nodded.

Now, looking at Avena, who seemed indifferent as usual, occasionally acting assertive, felt somewhat novel.

Clearly, last night, she couldn’t be assertive at all... delicate and soft, also extremely easily shy.

The contrast is somewhat large.

After Avena left, Ciel also walked to the wardrobe, took out a set of her clean clothes, put them on, walked downstairs. At this time, the dining table downstairs was already laid out with a table full of delicacies.