Chapter 38: Silky Smooth Combo

“I need to go to the restroom first!” Donia jumped out of her seat and ran to the front of the carriage.

Goo-jee goo-jee.

Goo-choo goo-choo.

“Mm-hmm mm-hmm.”

In the restroom, Donia narrowed her eyes, her fingers constantly rubbing the inscribed glass shard, washing away the bloodstains.

Being monitored by Adele throughout, she naturally had no chance to clean her spoils.

Of course, she didn’t forget to wash the blood-stained pocket as well.

Donia held the glass shard up to the sunlight.

The glass shard shimmered with an ethereal light between her slender fingertips.

Its edges were jagged, either abruptly extending outwards or winding in subtle serrations, presenting a chaotic yet powerfully beautiful aesthetic.

It lay warm in Donia’s palm, like a heated stone.

Unlike the Chalice of Malice bestowed upon her by Lilith, neither the glass shard obtained from Hutchinson nor the one from Guard Julie could be stored inside her body.

‘If using it in front of others would arouse suspicion, then can I give it some color?’

Acting on her thought, Donia immediately summoned the Chalice of Malice, carefully tilting the bottle opening.

Drip.

A drop of “wrathful” black liquid dripped from the Chalice of Malice’s opening onto the glass shard.

Like ink absorbed by a sponge, the black liquid vanished in the blink of an eye.

“It actually worked!?” Donia’s eyes widened slightly.

“This thing really is a ‘spiritual’ medium?”

A deep, mysterious blue permeated the clear glass, as if it were a microcosm of an endless ocean, or perhaps the starry sky twinkling in the night.

A faint bubble slowly drifted within the glass shard, like an ownerless star spirit trapped in a crystal cage.

Seeming to realize she had been in the restroom for a while, Donia hurriedly shoved the item into her pocket and walked out.
Adele was silently reading a black and white newspaper.

She looked up when Donia returned.

“Shall we begin?”

“Yes, let’s start.” Donia was still somewhat apprehensive.

Last time, she had gone all out and even offered pleasure to gain a temporary “spiritual immunity.”

“Come sit next to me.” Adele’s voice this time was inexplicably gentle.

“If you encounter a problem, I can interrupt you immediately.”

“Interrupt me, or interrupt me?” Donia, doing as told, still sounded suspicious.

Adele’s lips curled into a slight smile, which she then forcefully suppressed.

“If you’re going to be cheeky, I’ll choose the nasty kind of interruption.” She couldn’t help but let her lips curl up again.

“So scary!” Donia shivered.

“Just like last time, tell me if you need my help.” Adele’s gaze drifted towards the window, as if saying this made her feel a little guilty.

“This isn’t a competition. If necessary, I will use ‘Mimicry Command Seal’ to maintain your mental state.”

“I remember last time, after I asked someone for help, her attitude became especially nasty.” Donia wrinkled her nose.

‘This little thing holds grudges quite well.’

Adele felt like laughing.
“To this day, I still don’t quite agree with your methods.” She stated honestly.

“But compared to losing my executive, I can still make this sacrifice.”

As if to prove something, she hurriedly added: “We are both girls; that kind of thing is impossible.”

Goo-choo—

The liquid in the Chalice of Malice seemed to gently sway.

A small, stimulating sensation, like the bursting of sparkling water, rippled through Donia’s heart.
This hidden anticipation and the slight transgression brought by lying clearly didn’t come from her own emotions.

Donia’s eyes widened slightly, looking at Adele in disbelief.

[Adele Affection: 5%, Respect: 1%, Degeneracy: 22%.]

“By my joyful goddess above…” Donia couldn’t help but inwardly complain.

‘This is our degeneracy value. Do you have such degeneracy value? It’s truly degenerate and ever-falling!’
Reversing negative affection and respect values directly within a day, and even growing on its own occasionally.

Donia strongly suspected that the scene she saw through the Chalice of Malice was Adele’s “self-conquest” secondary degeneracy.

Although she had achieved a new psychological balance through self-reconciliation, she had also inevitably accepted that hint of affection for herself deep down.

‘Meow.’

This was the first time Donia marveled.

Her psychology specialization, walking the path of joy, this silky smooth combo was simply… terrifying.

‘Could it be that I’m really an Envoy of Joy? No, no, this must be Lilith’s conspiracy! Cannot trust!’

“What’s wrong?” Adele’s slightly confused voice brought Donia back to reality.

“Nothing, I just didn’t expect you to think about that kind of thing.” Donia said calmly, sitting next to Adele.

“I thought we were just doing routine business from the start.”
She could feel Adele’s startled, somewhat flustered, burning gaze on her back, along with subtle hints of surprise and bitterness rising from her heart.

Adele’s brows furrowed slightly, forming a faint crease.
Her slightly lowered eyelids were like a silent painting, outlining a trace of sadness.

Looking at Donia’s nonchalant expression, she probably hadn’t even thought about such things.
‘It seems I was thinking too much…’
[Degeneracy Value: 23%]

“I’m going to start, okay?” Donia asked.
“Mhm.” Adele seemed still immersed in her disappointment.

Donia secretly clenched the deep-blue stained glass shard and opened the Forbidden Book with her right hand.

Her bodily senses immediately became extremely acute, as if every pore was opening and closing.
Demonic whispers sounded in Donia’s ear, making her mind a mess.

Sure enough, reading the Forbidden Book couldn’t be done by trickery.
If it were someone with poor tolerance, they would probably directly suffer a mental shock and faint during the second reading…
Tiny beads of sweat slowly seeped out.

A few strands of silver-white hair stuck to Donia’s forehead.
Her trembling right hand gently grasped Adele’s left hand.

“Adele…”

Her slightly trembling voice sounded like a plea, making Adele’s heart tremble.

“I understand…” Adele bit her lip, as if making some kind of decision.
“I’ll help you. Do what you need to do.”

But it seemed something had quietly crawled up from behind her heart, now cheering joyfully.

Donia’s hand, gripping Adele’s, slowly moved but only stopped in front of her own knee.

“I won’t… force you like that again.”

Donia’s lips were a bit pale, but her small face showed a strange stubbornness.
A strong sense of self-reproach immediately surged into Adele’s heart.

That complex bitter taste was even slightly tasted by Donia, who was linked to her mind.
The disappointment after expectations were shattered, the deep guilt towards Donia who was thinking of her, the pain, emptiness, and anger of crossing a boundary yet realizing she gained nothing…

The purplish-pink liquid in the Chalice of Malice gently swayed.
Bubbles steamed upwards, popping with crackling sounds, like an exquisite potion being concocted.

Donia’s eyes narrowed slightly, a barely perceptible pink hue showing from the curve of her blood-red eyes.

To make her degenerate, it couldn’t just be about making her degenerate.
If she had never seen light, she naturally wouldn’t find darkness unbearable.
This was only the first step.