Eve's Guidance

Sunlight streamed through the post office window, spilling over the wooden counter.

Eve stood behind the counter, playing the role of the shop girl.

She deftly sorted the handful of letters.

Every now and then, a curious child would lean against the counter and peek over.

Eve would give them a gentle smile.

She softly reminded them not to knock over the inkwell nearby.

The children giggled and ran off, chasing each other around the post office.

Eve didn't mind, simply watching them with a smile.

She made sure they didn't crash into anything.

Once the children had played themselves out and ran outside.

Only then did she pull a thick, ancient book from a drawer.

Under the warm sunlight, she quietly flipped through its pages.

Just then,

the door to the basement creaked open.

Theia emerged, carrying the unconscious Lin Gui on her back with some effort.

Hearing the sound, Eve looked up, her eyes falling upon the tightly bound figure on the elf's back.

She also noted the incredibly intimate way the two were tied together.

She froze for a moment, her face showing clear confusion.

“Theia?”

“Why... did you bring him up?”

“And why is he strapped to you like that?”

Theia sighed, hoisting Lin Gui a bit higher on her back.

“Don't ask.”

“I almost let him slip away just now.”

“I thought he'd be hungry when he woke up.”

“I went back down out of the goodness of my heart to bring him some breakfast...”

“...only to catch him breaking free of his ropes, staff in hand, ready to make a run for it.”

A flicker of surprise crossed Eve's violet eyes.

“He broke free?”

“He could actually break those ropes?”

Then, she seemed to realize something, and her gaze turned rather peculiar.

Her eyes drifted back and forth between Lin Gui on Theia's back and the space between Theia's legs.

“So, bringing him up like this...”

“...does that mean you're already... 'finished'?”

Her tone carried a subtle, probing hint.

Theia's face instantly flushed crimson.

“N-No!”

She shook her head frantically, her silver hair swaying with the movement.

“We... we haven't even started yet. I ran into a bit of a problem.”

She bit her lip and looked at Eve.

Her eyes held a mixture of embarrassment and pleading.

“Eve...”

“...can I ask you for a favor?”

Eve closed the book in her hands, her expression softening.

She walked over to Theia and gently patted her shoulder.

“Do we really need to use words like 'favor' between us?”

“Go ahead, what do you need me to do?”

Theia and Eve hadn't actually known each other for very long.

Yet Eve could clearly feel the meticulous care Theia showed her.

Whenever they crossed dangerous areas, Theia would always instinctively shield Eve behind her.

On the bumpy flying vessels, Theia would quietly swap her own softer rations with Eve's.

Anything she found delicious, she would share with Eve first.

This care wasn't born of polite formality, but a near-instinctive, family-like concern.

It seemed to have started... from that one time.

It began after Eve, half-jokingly and half-probingly, admitted that she admired Lin Gui.

After that, the last trace of subtle wariness in Theia's eyes when looking at her had vanished.

In its place was a warmer, more open closeness.

It was as if that declaration

far from driving a wedge between them, had instead caused Theia to categorize her as one of her own.

Not a love rival, but family.

Eve was a believer in monogamy.

In her past understanding,

almost no girl would willingly share the boy she loved with someone else.

Including Eve herself.

However, her destiny had long stripped her of the right to love.

But Theia seemed... completely different.

Not only did she not reject the idea, but she even seemed slightly... enthusiastic about it?

She even hoped more girls would like Lin Gui so they could all become family.

Eve had seen plenty of cases of polygamy.

In the City-State Era, it was mostly out of helpless necessity.

Women of the lower classes relied on the strong to survive.

Noblewomen accepted political marriages to serve one husband for the sake of family interests.

There also existed unions of pure convenience, devoid of emotion, where parties simply used each other.

For instance, the cowardly princess who had conspired with Theia to drug Lin Gui—whom Theia had complained about before.

Elvia.

But someone like Theia,

who actively, eagerly, and even with a certain naive expectation...

wanted to share her one and only love.

Eve was meeting someone like that for the very first time.

Yet when Eve recalled Theia's status as a half-demon,

and the years she had spent rejected by the entire world, wandering alone...

she seemed to understand.

Someone who had never possessed a home, who had been cast out by everyone as a freak,

would probably crave connection more than anyone else.

They would long for the warmth and security of being surrounded by their own.

To Theia, love might not be about exclusive possession,

but rather having a world that would never abandon her.

In truth, compared to Theia, Lin Gui was the one Eve truly couldn't wrap her head around.

She could see how much Lin Gui cared for and liked Theia.

It was a silent guardianship, an instinctive favoritism.

Setting aside her half-demon status, an elf as breathtakingly beautiful as Theia—

Eve believed no normal man would ever refuse her.

Yet...

Lin Gui had, through his actions, rejected Theia's almost naked advances.

Not only did he force Theia to resort to physical force,

but he had actually tried to escape?

Most bizarre of all, Eve remembered Princess Elvia.

She, too, had apparently failed in her forced attempts, finding no way to throw herself at him.

And in Eve's fragmented visions of the future,

she had caught glimpses of blurry scenes.

In the future, Lin Gui's figure would be entangled with women of many different races.

A mysterious fox girl, an elegant mermaid songstress, even a proud vampire...

But without exception,

it was almost always those women who actively approached, pursued, and even plotted against him.

As for Lin Gui himself...

he seemed to forever just stand there passively.

Like a silent magnet,

drawing the moths in while never moving a single step himself.

This contradictory and unique personality

filled Eve with an unspeakable curiosity, and at the same time...

made her heart itch just a little.

Eve knew this might just be some long-suppressed vanity rearing its head.

Someone who was originally just an object of her admiration and observation turned out to be so highly sought after.

A subtle urge to make the first move and claim him quietly sprouted within her.

After all, she could then show off her superiority as the winner to those outstanding women.

Just like those boys back at the academy

who viewed winning over Saintess Eve as the ultimate honor.

And now,

winning over Lin Gui, this seemingly ordinary little mage,

also seemed to have become some secret game of conquest among exceptional women.

She recalled what Theia had whispered to her in private a week ago:

“Eve, this might be our only chance.”

“With Lin Gui's personality, he'll only become more guarded after this.”

“If we want another opportunity like this... it will probably be very difficult.”

Eve's gaze slowly drifted to the face of the unconscious Lin Gui on Theia's back.

That curiosity, mixed with a faint competitive streak,

gently scratched at the depths of her heart.

Then, she firmly suppressed this tiny itch.

No.

She wouldn't get too deeply involved with Mr. Lin Gui.

Even if he was indeed the object of her secret admiration.

This longing for the future Lin Gui,

after witnessing his calmness, resourcefulness, and contradictions firsthand along the way,

had indeed grown stronger.

So strong that...

looking at Theia, who was about to have an intimate relationship with Lin Gui,

Eve actually felt a tiny, microscopic pang of jealousy in her heart.

Along with it came a greater, deeper, helpless blessing.

As long as the Hall of Heroic Spirits existed,

marching toward death was her destined future.

She could not have a hereafter, let alone hope for companionship.

Thus, the only thing she could do

was to act as Theia's best friend,

offering her blessings and providing her aid.

Having completely smoothed over those ripples in her heart, Eve's smile became soft and resolute once more.

Looking at the slightly embarrassed and flustered Theia, she said softly:

“Theia, no matter what it is, I will help you.”

“Just tell me.”

Theia visibly relaxed, but the blush on her face deepened.

Her eyes darted around, her voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz:

“Uh, well, cough cough...”

“It's... can you teach me how to... um... make babies with Lin Gui?”

The gentle, encouraging smile on Eve's face instantly froze.

She blinked her mysterious violet eyes.

Her long eyelashes fluttered.

Her brain seemed to completely stop processing information at that moment.

“Does... does that really need to be taught?”

Actually, Eve's subsequent actions proved that a biology lesson was indeed necessary.

Eve took a deep breath, turned around, and carefully shut the post office doors and windows.

She hung the wooden "Temporarily Closed" sign.

Then she followed Theia back down into the basement.

Theia carefully placed the unconscious Lin Gui back onto the bed,

and then bound him securely with ropes once more.

Feeling somewhat insecure, she thought about it and used tape to seal Lin Gui's mouth shut.

Mages needed to chant to cast spells.

Even if Lin Gui could use chantless casting, this should still delay him for a bit.

Or so Theia insecurely thought.

Once everything was prepared,

the two girls stood by the bed, staring at the unconscious man.

The atmosphere grew somewhat stagnant.

Theia reached out, her fingertips touching the collar of Lin Gui's robe,

only to pull back as if she had been burned.

She turned to look at Eve, her crimson eyes filled with helplessness that practically screamed, “What do we do next?”

Eve also fell silent.

She searched her memory desperately.

Having been chosen as the Saintess since childhood and required to maintain purity in mind and body,

she... had never actually come into contact with concrete knowledge on this subject either.

Most of her biological knowledge, it seemed, came from listening to the gossip of rogue nobles, delinquent students, and rule-breaking black-clothed nuns.

She had overheard their... scandalous rumors purely by accident.

But seeing Theia's pure, expectant gaze...

Eve took a soft breath

and decided to bite the bullet.

“First of all...”

She tried to make her voice sound as calm and convincing as possible.

“You should change your clothes... into pajamas.”

Theia nodded subconsciously. “Okay.”

Then she suddenly snapped out of it. “...Wait, what???”

She widened her eyes and looked at Eve. “Pajamas?? Why would we need those?”

Eve struggled to maintain a calm expression, thinking seriously for a moment.

Then she nodded with absolute gravity:

“Yes.”

Her tone carried the seriousness of an academic discussion:

“Clean, comfortable clothing helps to... um... set the mood.”

“After that,” Eve continued to recall seriously, trying to piece together the fragments of rumors she had heard,

“you... need to lie in Mr. Lin Gui's arms.”

Theia tilted her head, her crimson eyes filled with confusion.

“Uh... how do I 'lie' there?”

Eve closed her eyes, her brow furrowing slightly, as if struggling to flip through a blurry memory in her mind.

“I remember... Sister Agatha once sneaked out for a date.”

“When she came back, she described to me how to... um... 'arouse a man's desire'.”

“It requires a specific posture for the embrace.”

She reached out, gesturing somewhat clumsily.

“Your bodies should be as close as possible, with your arms wrapped around his neck or back.”

“Your head can rest on his shoulder, or... bury itself in his chest.”

“Your breathing should be light, but enough for him to feel it.”

“...”

Her description had a textbook stiffness to it, and paired with her hand gestures, she looked both incredibly serious and utterly ridiculous.

The corner of Theia's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

“And... and then?”

Eve opened her eyes and nodded with absolute certainty, as if stating an undeniable truth:

“Then, Mr. Lin Gui will pounce on you like a hungry wolf.”

“And everything after that... will happen naturally.”

Theia fell silent.

She slowly raised her hand, pointing at the man on the bed whose cheek was swollen and who was breathing steadily, clearly still deep in unconsciousness.

“But...”

Her voice was filled with helplessness and a sense of absurdity.

“...he's knocked out right now.”

The problem was... he was unconscious.

Theia did know a bit about those things.

But the prerequisite was that both parties had to be awake and responsive.

But Lin Gui was currently knocked out by her punch.

What she mainly wanted to know was exactly this:

How do you do it when the other person is unconscious?

In 《The Domineering Magic Dragon's Sweet Little Wife》, the princess was also set up by someone, and she ended up doing that to the fast-asleep dragon.

But the question was, how on earth do you do that to a sleeping guy?!

Theia didn't want to do that while Lin Gui was awake.

He would definitely resist, and that would make her very sad.

A beautiful and charming girl like her, actually being rejected.

Looking at Eve, who had suddenly taken an interest, Theia knew in her heart that the Saintess was probably even more clueless than she was.

Yet, seeing Eve's incredibly serious, almost academic research kind of enthusiasm...

Theia somehow found herself getting swept up in it as well.

Helpless, she could only silently comfort herself in her mind:

While the instruction in the basement was heading in an increasingly bizarre direction,

on the other side of town,

the morning sun had just dispersed the night mist.

Morpheus walked alone through the quiet streets of Avalon.

His footsteps were heavier than usual.

Deep within his blood-red eyes lay a dense, unshakeable gravity.

The unusually frequent fluctuations of the Demon King Pillar last night rang like alarm bells in his heart.

Lord Gusion's condition was probably even worse than expected.

Time was truly running out.

He passed through the gradually awakening streets, finally stopping in front of the three-story building bearing the sign of the 7-Copper Post Office.

The wooden door was tightly shut, with a Temporarily Closed sign hanging on it.

Morpheus raised his hand, hovering it in front of the door.

He hesitated for a moment.

Ultimately, he knocked.

Knock, knock, knock.