Chapter 70: The Morning After: A Disastrous Awakening

The following morning, Gern’s beautiful eyes fluttered open from a deep slumber. The pristine white ceiling above her initially registered no particular alarm. It was only when a gentle breeze wafted in from the window, caressing her bare skin, that a sudden shiver ran through Gern’s body, jolting her upright in the bed.

Her gaze immediately fell upon the two prominent mounds on her chest, before sweeping over the utter disarray of the bedroom. It appeared as though a ferocious battle had raged within these walls the previous night. Clasping her forehead, Gern realized with a jolt that she retained not a single fragmented memory of the preceding evening.

As Gern grappled with her bewilderment, another chill gust brushed against her shoulders, intensifying the unsettling sensation that she was completely unclothed.

“Wait a moment!” Gern’s beautiful eyes snapped open wide. It was then that she truly registered the disarray of her garments, her shoulders alluringly bared, a sight of undeniable temptation.

“What… what in the world happened?” Her present state, coupled with the chaotic environment of her bedroom, painted a scene disturbingly akin to a crime.

A tremor ran through her body as she instinctively glanced down, her eyes falling upon the flat abdomen of a young woman between her legs.

Neither in her past life nor in this current one had Gern ever truly encountered ‘this thing,’ nor had she experienced the unique joys that belonged solely to girls.

Yet, the present circumstances compelled Gern to entertain unsettling thoughts. Perhaps last night… someone had invaded her bedroom, and then…

“No… that’s impossible. I’m a girl.”

“Huh?”

“What’s happening?”

Gern had initially intended to declare herself a boy, but for some inexplicable reason, the thought of being a girl had instinctively surfaced in her mind instead.

“Haha, I must not have slept well. That’s definitely it.” Gern vigorously shook her head, attempting to dislodge these peculiar thoughts from her mind.

Yet, the more she tried to dismiss them, the more pronounced an unsettling sensation became in the region below her abdomen.

She could no longer bear the uncertainty; she absolutely had to examine her body. She was still so young, and fundamentally, she was still a… boy. The thought of pregnancy was truly horrifying.

Her hand trembled as she extended it, her heart pounding a frantic rhythm against her ribs.

The moment her fingers made contact, Gern finally exhaled a slow, shuddering breath. Thank goodness, she hadn’t been… *violated* by any strange individuals.

Gern’s other hand lightly patted her already developed chest, and a jolt, like an electric current, coursed through her body. She recoiled her hand almost instinctively, a faint blush creeping across her cheeks. ‘Girls certainly have a multitude of sensitive spots,’ she thought.

Even as this thought crossed her mind, just as Gern was about to retract her finger, memories of the previous night surged forth like an unstoppable tide. Her recollection ended abruptly at the point where Lilia held a bottle of hypnotic potion; all subsequent events existed only as fragmented, disjointed flashes. There was Lilia addressing her as Luoya, and Lilia inquiring about her parents’ circumstances.

As these scattered fragments of memory flickered before Gern’s eyes, a look of profound despair etched itself onto her face. A tendril of black mist slowly stained her golden, slit pupils, as though the very essence of life had drained from her.

‘It’s over,’ she thought, ‘everything is truly lost.’ Her identity stood revealed, both as a reborn individual and as the bearer of the Kindling. Even a single one of these secrets, if disclosed to an outsider, would be enough to ensure her utter destruction. And the person who knew was Lilia. If Lilia were to discover her true identity—that she was, in fact, a boy…

She almost wished she could sever her ‘little brother’ herself, for she knew with chilling certainty that Lilia was precisely the type to do it. Recalling how she and Lilia had exchanged friendly pleasantries just last night, Gern realized that any pretense of friendship was now irrevocably shattered.

A sharp pang of heartache pierced Gern. Knowing Lilia as she did, Gern was certain that once Lilia discovered her identity was a fabrication, that she had been lied to all along, Lilia would undoubtedly subject her to torment.

She had already braced herself for an escape from the academy. ‘Why not strike first?’ one might ask. Please, Lilia, in her previous life, was an existence so formidable as to defy all conventions, akin to a protagonist plucked straight from an epic tale. Even now, with Lilia’s formidable strength, escaping from her grasp would be no simple feat; Gern might even find herself utterly defeated. Moreover, who could say what life-saving trump cards Lilia might possess? Gern certainly had none.

‘She simply doesn’t want to live anymore,’ Gern mused. Therefore, fleeing seemed the more prudent course of action.

Furthermore, if the academy were to uncover her status as a reborn individual, then from all that Gern understood, certain lunatics within its walls would undoubtedly seize her for experimentation. Selina herself was a prime example; even in Gern’s current, relatively subdued state, Selina already regarded her with a ravenous, covetous gaze.

If this additional secret were to be unearthed, Gern had no idea how she could possibly continue to live. The mere thought of a bleak, shadowed future sent her emotions spiraling, utterly out of control. Tears welled in the corners of her eyes, streaming down her face unchecked, transforming her into a complete mess.

It was at this precise moment that the bedroom door suddenly swung open. Lilia stepped in from outside, her eyes falling upon the peculiar scene before her: the Silver Dragon Girl perched on the bed in an utterly strange posture, two fresh tear tracks glistening on her face.

*Clang!* The sound of a plate hitting the floor, its delicate pastries scattering across the polished wood, echoed through the room. The two girls froze, their gazes locked, as if time itself had been abruptly paused.

“You… don’t come any closer! Master~” Utterly consumed by her emotional turmoil, Gern failed to notice the peculiar suffix that had escaped her lips. She instinctively snatched her fingers away, grabbing the pristine white quilt from the bed to hastily cover her body. With her free hand, she brandished a long sword, pointing its tip at Lilia, resembling a terrified, cornered beast.

The Silver Dragon Girl hugged her knees, shrouded by the quilt, her right hand, still gripping the sword, trembled faintly, presenting a picture of utter weakness, pathos, and helplessness.

Gazing at the pitiable little dragon girl before her, Lilia sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead in a gesture of weary exasperation. “Luoya, what’s wrong?” she asked softly.

“Who has upset you so much? You’re crying as if your heart is being torn out.”

“Don’t… don’t come closer!”

“Alright, alright, I won’t. I’ll stay right here,” Lilia reassured her.

Lilia took two steps back, carefully establishing a safe distance from Gern. Noticing this, Gern’s heightened tension gradually began to subside, and she slowly lowered the long sword she had been brandishing.

“You… you know everything?” Her voice wavered, tinged with a faint sob.

Misinterpreting Gern’s question, Lilia assumed she was referring to her draconic identity. She nodded gently. “Yes, I know everything now.”

“Wuwah!” Gern’s cries intensified, becoming the kind that no amount of persuasion could quell.

“Oh, Luoya, why are you weeping so? This is Theoviga Academy; your draconic identity being exposed here shouldn’t cause you any trouble, should it?”

“Eh?” Gern’s crying ceased abruptly. The unfolding narrative seemed to deviate significantly from what she had anticipated.

“I’ve always adored silver dragons, you know. I grew up listening to tales of them. I’ve always wanted to possess a silver dragon in this lifetime.”

As Lilia prattled on, a daring thought suddenly bloomed in Gern’s mind. ‘Could it be that Lilia still doesn’t know about my secret of being reborn?’

She earnestly searched Lilia’s eyes, yet found no discernible trace of hidden knowledge.

“Lilia… what exactly did you ask while I was under hypnosis?”

“Oh, I didn’t really ask anything. It would have been pointless anyway,” Lilia replied, waving a dismissive hand. “Aside from adding a bit of… *spice*, this stuff is truly useless for anything else.”

A faint, knowing smile played on Lilia’s lips as she recalled the events of the previous night.

Hearing this, Gern first breathed a profound sigh of relief. So, it was merely her identity as a little dragon girl that had been revealed; Lilia remained utterly oblivious to anything else. Compared to the catastrophic exposure of her rebirth, this revelation was, to some extent, tolerable for Gern.

‘Wait,’ Gern thought, ‘didn’t she just mention a particular word?’ Suddenly, a peculiar anomaly in Lilia’s recent statement caught her attention, and she fixed Lilia with a gaze filled with both surprise and profound uncertainty.

“Spice?!”

“Oh my, oh my,” Lilia chuckled, her eyes twinkling mischievously. “It seems someone is completely unaware of what transpired last night.”

****