Chapter 12: Tell Me What You’re Thinking

Eating, someone is watching.

Reading, someone is watching.

Daydreaming, someone is watching.

Even going to the bathroom…

Everyone has urgent needs sometimes—there’s no way to hold it in.

Mi Li walked out of the bathroom like a puppet on strings, numb. She closed the door behind her and stiffly sat back down at her desk. Seraphina followed behind her, returning to her own seat.

The silver-haired woman really seemed to have settled down, just as she said.

After forcibly dragging Mi Li over and personally treating the blood marks on the girl’s shoulder—claw marks made by her nails—with disinfectant and gauze (ostensibly “to prevent infection”), she then pulled up a simple, cold-metal chair and leisurely sat beside Mi Li’s desk.

No matter what Mi Li did, Seraphina frequently lifted the portable screen strapped to her arm to record everything, practically wanting to shove the camera into the girl’s clothes…

But those wounds were caused by her own claws.

First the injury, then the dressing—what kind of sick obsession was this?

Mi Li lowered her head, her mind in turmoil but unable to understand why Seraphina—someone so powerful and busy, a high-ranking figure—was acting like…

A bored, perverted stalker.

Sigh…

Why did Seraphina insist on staying so close to her, indulging such a terrifying obsession?

What crime had she committed?

Was it because of that rumor, passed along without basis?

Or simply to satisfy that appalling perversion…

She couldn’t figure it out.

When Seraphina wasn’t speaking, she resembled a flawless but lifeless ice sculpture, radiating a “stay away” aura.

But those mismatched golden and blue eyes—once so beautiful and mysterious—now stared at Mi Li with unblinking, creepy intensity, as if blinking was a luxury. This made Mi Li feel like needles were stuck in her back, and a fishbone stuck in her throat.

The woman also held a book, fingertips pinching the bottom corner, occasionally turning pages. But to Mi Li, the soft rustle was especially harsh.

Because Seraphina’s attention was not on the book—

Her gaze was fixed on Mi Li’s every move from start to finish…

Pretending to read for whom?

Mi Li grumbled silently in her heart, her face tightly furrowed, afraid to show even the slightest displeasure.

She tried to protest with silence, but Seraphina didn’t care.

She even frowned slightly at Mi Li’s prolonged quietness, then tapped her temple with her index finger, as if thinking about what was wrong with her new toy…

“How much do you remember from Chapter Three’s lighting conditions?” Seraphina suddenly spoke, her tone rising, like scolding the girl.

Mi Li shivered and refocused her scattered gaze back to the text.

Dense words danced before her eyes, but she couldn’t absorb a single character.

“I… I’m still reading…” the girl answered in a trembling whisper.

“Still reading?” Seraphina’s voice was chillingly calm.

Then she slowly stood up, the crisp sound of her boots hitting the floor like the arrival of death.

“It’s been four hours since breakfast.”

She paced behind Mi Li, leaned down close to the girl’s slender neck, casually brushing away hair strands that had fallen across her cheek.

Her warm breath grazed Mi Li’s slightly dry skin, faintly smelling of blood—cold and pungent…

“What are you daydreaming about?”

Caught off guard, Mi Li froze in her seat, afraid even to breathe, let alone answer.

The book pages rustled softly in her trembling hands.

The woman reached out to stroke her black hair, her long fingers lightly poking Mi Li’s neck—gentle as caressing fine silk, yet the words sent chills through Mi Li’s bones.

“Hm? Tell me, what are you thinking about?”

“N-nothing at all…”

“Then why are you spacing out? Tell me what you’re thinking—!!” Seraphina suddenly thrust her palm forward, grabbing the girl’s delicate neck and forcibly turning her small face around.

Her tone dropped from rage to a whisper in Mi Li’s ear, cold and sticky like a serpent’s tongue:

“I want to know what you’re thinking… Do you dare hide anything from me?”

“Is it because I’m too comfortable? Or do you think my demands are too harsh?”

“No… no…” Mi Li frantically shook her head, her chin aching where her neck was gripped.

Seraphina glared coldly at the girl’s reddening eyes, silently watching for a moment before disgustedly flicking her hand and releasing her grip, then standing and walking to the window.

“Your efficiency is too low.” The afternoon light filtered through the reinforced glass, casting mottled shadows on her silver-white hair, giving it an ethereal glow:

“At this rate, even if you had a year, you still wouldn’t finish learning.”

“…” Mi Li lowered her head, rubbing her sore neck, too afraid to reply.

“Let’s try a different approach.”

The woman turned her head, a cold, humorless smile tugging at her lips, an unreadable glint flashing in her eyes.

Mi Li couldn’t connect the image of this icy woman, seemingly bathed in holy light and wearing a radiant robe, to the fleeting sensation of transcendence she’d felt moments ago.

An illusion.

All an illusion.

—This woman was just a cruel tyrant, wrapped in a beautiful shell…

A madwoman.

Seraphina pressed the communicator on her chest and said coldly: “Evelyn, prepare some things for me. I want to test her other abilities.”

“What do you need, Your Majesty?” The speaker crackled with electronic static, a female voice responding.

“A patch of the most barren soil, polluted by gray mist, from the West District’s miner slaves—dump it somewhere.”

“And bring all the seeds we found on her as well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Listening to the conversation, Mi Li felt a bad premonition rising in her chest.

She timidly looked up at Seraphina, only to see the woman gazing down at her mockingly:

“What… what are you going to do?”

“Of course, I want you to show your so-called miracles.” The woman tapped a few times on her portable screen, data flowing rapidly before she snapped it shut.

She strode back to Mi Li, grabbed her off the chair in one hand: “Practice is the best teacher, and it’ll keep you from spacing out.”

Her wrist was squeezed painfully, bones twisting as if about to break. Mi Li cried out in pain, her small body lifted off the ground with ease, feet dangling, completely powerless.

“L-let go of me…” she struggled in vain, thrashing and hitting Seraphina.

But the woman didn’t flinch—the firm muscles harder than steel made Mi Li’s resistance seem like an ant trying to shake a tree…

“You’re stronger than I thought,” Seraphina said, amused by the girl’s flailing like a little kitten.

“You… you… this…”

“Hm? This what?” The woman raised an eyebrow, clearly expecting her to finish the sentence.

Mi Li opened her mouth but didn’t dare say the word “madwoman.”

She didn’t want to die.

Really, she didn’t want to die.

Ignoring her resistance, Seraphina dragged her out of the room.

The guards in the corridor showed no change in expression, as if seeing the queen dragging a crying girl was completely normal…

In this godforsaken place, no one would sympathize with her fate.