Why Song Sia Came Late at Night (2)

"You don't love An Yumin?"

Song Sia tilted her head, as if the words simply refused to make sense.

"You're more bashful than I expected. To lie to me like that."

Her finger moved. A pure white, slender finger. That index finger pointed straight at me.

"There are other cadets in this room. Quietly follow me."

Her red eyes locked onto mine. In that instant my body froze solid as stone—and then, as if answering Song Sia's command, it began to move on its own.

Don't tell me this is…

A vampire's innate ability. I had fallen under hypnosis.

Song Sia turned on her heel and walked away.

"Hehe. Following my words so obediently. I like that you've become so well-behaved."

Having lost all control of my body, I trailed after her.

Song Sia led us into a secluded stretch of forest some distance from the dormitory. It was already the dead of night, yet a full moon hung overhead, painting every detail of the landscape in silver light.

Stay calm.

Ordinary people panic at nothing more than sleep paralysis. This was a situation where composure should have been impossible—yet I forced myself to analyze Song Sia's condition with cold precision.

Looks like the pureblood has awakened because of the full moon.

Among demi-humans, certain species—vampires, werewolves—reacted acutely to the full moon. In short, that moon granted a buff. The degree of power-up varied by species, of course.

Song Sia's case was different. Pureblood vampire blood ran through her veins.

She's only a half-vampire, yet far stronger than any ordinary one.

Meaning that right now, under the full moon, she could wield the full power of every vampire—pureblood power, no less. Power enough to bind an opponent's body with nothing more than conversation, exactly as she had just done.

If Song Sia harbored any malice toward me, this was an extremely dangerous situation.

Even so, I remained somewhat at ease. A pureblood vampire's hypnosis should already have left my mind hazy and unmoored.

But I'm fine.

So all she had managed to seize was control of my body. My mind remained exactly as it always was. No—given the sudden crisis, it was even colder than usual.

The hypnosis didn't take hold completely.

That fact startled me for a moment. Song Sia under the full moon. Hypnosis cast under those special conditions was extraordinarily powerful—a guaranteed-success debuff. My physical specs alone could never have withstood it. Body and mind both should have fallen.

Yet the reason my mind remained intact soon became clear.

Is it the effect of the Authority?

No—the Hidden Authority and the title. Combined with the Mental Strength stat, they had produced a synergistic effect.

Song Sia didn't seem to notice, but the moment our eyes met while she sat on the windowsill, the skill had activated on reflex.

A Hidden-grade Darkness Authority. It seemed to grant considerable immunity against curses of the same attribute. Had my physical stats been higher than they were now, I might have nullified the hypnosis completely.

No. Having my body dominated might actually be fortunate right now.

To learn Song Sia's true purpose, it would be better to pretend I was fully hypnotized and let her drop her guard.

The two of us continued deeper into the shadows. Then Song Sia spoke in a voice bright with excitement.

"We're going somewhere without any interruptions so we can talk. And even if it's a lie… if you really don't love An Yumin, then I… haah…"

I turned her words over carefully in my mind.

I recalled the question Song Sia had asked back at the dormitory.

— I'll ask you straight out. Do you still love An Yumin?

It had been a startling question. For someone as nearly emotionless as Song Sia to change this drastically meant something had clearly been happening since my expulsion.

I considered the meaning of the question itself. She had deliberately chosen the word love—not some milder term. That left two possibilities.

Either Song Sia was conscious of An Yumin… or she was conscious of me.

The former was pure speculation. Song Sia was almost certainly conscious of me. That was why she was prying into my relationship with An Yumin.

Has her heart changed over this time?

If it had been Ha Yeeun—always leaping to self-serving misunderstandings—I might have expected something like this. But Song Sia acting this way felt alien.

Still, if I allowed myself a reasonable hypothesis: before I was cast out of the party, I had been sincere with all three of them. Romantic feelings had belonged to An Yumin alone, yet as a fellow member of Aegis I had given everything I had to each of them. Even to the emotionless Song Sia, I had tried to teach her what "feeling" meant.

Did she finally become aware of those emotions too late?

Perhaps the results of that effort had only now borne fruit. After my expulsion, she might have realized the value of the one person who had always reached out to her first. That possibility felt high.

An emotionally starved girl had learned what emotion was—and she had learned it through me, the only person who had ever been kind to her.

In a romance novel it would have been deeply moving. But thanks to the Hidden Title that kept my absolute composure intact, the whole thing only struck me as faintly absurd.

Without that absolute calm, the fact that Song Sia felt something for me—that the feeling ran deep enough for her to speak of love—would have felt like a cruel joke.

I would have been furious.

If Song Sia had truly held such warm feelings for me, she should never have stood by while I was treated that way in Aegis, or when I was banished. Yet right now I felt no anger at all. Instead, the mere fact that she had feelings for me was interesting.

She even awakened the pureblood because of me?

It wasn't a power one could casually use just because the moon was full. A separate awakening event was required. In the original story, Song Sia's catalyst had been murderous intent, not affection. But the Song Sia before me didn't seem to want me dead so much as she wanted to monopolize me entirely.

That's why she brought up An Yumin, too.

Unlike An Yumin or Ha Yeeun, even the emotionless Song Sia had apparently noticed, back in the Aegis days, that I had loved An Yumin. Anyone who wasn't a complete fool would have seen it. An Yumin had always been my first priority in everything.

I coldly weighed how this change would affect me. It was not necessarily a bad thing.

"Haah… we're here."

The two of us stopped walking.

An old warehouse building stood before us. It had once belonged to the outdoor training grounds, but now it looked abandoned.

Crimson blood gathered in Song Sia's palm, then slipped into the crack of the door and unlocked it.

"Here… haah… I'm going to make you my thrall. Since you've already fallen under my hypnosis… if the bloodsucking succeeds… then from me… by my side, forever…"

I understood her purpose at once. She intended to use the pureblood's power to turn me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠into her thrall.

That would be a problem.

When a female vampire drinks the blood of someone she loves, she becomes desperately thirsty for affection. If she receives that affection, she can draw life force even stronger than blood itself—but if she is denied it, she wastes away and dies. Song Sia's own mother had died that way.

Even if Song Sia truly loves me…

I could never love her in return. She seemed to think she could force affection out of me through hypnosis if necessary. That would put me in an impossible position.

Song Sia can't die, either.

She was a major character in the original story—An Yumin's strongest ally. If that original story had nothing to do with me, her death would have been none of my concern. But I intended to seize the very purpose of the original story itself: the truth of Theia Academy that An Yumin was meant to uncover at the end. Both my destiny as an avenger and my destiny as Unknown could only be completed after Theia Academy's story concluded.

For my own sake, Song Sia needs to stay active through the first year.

At the same time, my thoughts crystallized.

Song Sia's sudden actions had unlocked an unexpected Hidden Quest.

Demonic Power?

The moment I read the word, excitement surged through me. Demonic Power was a stat only special contractors could possess. Unlike ordinary mana or holy power, it could generate high-rarity skills and served a host of unique purposes—a true Hidden stat.

But the acquisition conditions are extremely strict.

Demons—beings that stood on the boundary between monster and god. Only by contracting with one could you obtain Demonic Power. And even then, you always had to surrender something of your own in exchange.

This case was different. It seemed I could obtain a demon's power with no restrictions at all.

I pressed the Details button.

I understood the description instantly. In short: string Song Sia along. Keep feeding her false hope so she could never abandon the affection she held for me—and drive her into despair. That way—

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I can increase my Demonic Power.

Exactly the kind of thing a demon would do. The old me would have recoiled at the quest description alone. The me of now was delighted. No matter how vicious the act, I could perform it without a second thought against the three who had become targets of my revenge. I could use Song Sia however I liked for my own gain.

"Then I think I'll check your heart one more time."

Our eyes met again. A blood-red mist rose from Song Sia and coiled around me, binding me in place.

"From this moment on, you cannot lie to me. Tell me everything that's in your heart."

I kept up the act of hypnosis, gazing at her with vacant eyes.

"Do you still love An Yumin… no, I don't need that. More importantly…"

A faint flush colored Song Sia's pale face.

"Be honest. What do you think of me?"

I felt nothing. If Song Sia sensed that absolute void of emotion, she would realize there was no way to salvage whatever existed between us. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠And the deeper her feelings for me ran, the greater the shock and pain would be. That despair would shatter her in an instant.

Of course, right now was the time to toss some feed into the fishpond.

"Song Sia… you…? I… I…"

Pretending to be hypnotized, I spoke words that held no truth.

"I think you're pitiful."

At those words, Song Sia crushed me into her arms.

"Really? Yes… only… only you, Lee Junwoo, ever thought of me sincerely. The only person who ever truly reached out to me was you. So…"

Her lips brushed the side of my neck.

"Haah… so… I want to have you."

Her ragged breath ghosted against my skin. Even I, who felt nothing for her, nearly found myself entranced. The Song Sia of this moment no longer seemed human—she was bewitching, seductive, otherworldly.

She parted her lips and spoke.

"I'm going to drink your blood now."

Her voice was thick with heat. Her fangs pressed against my throat.

I can't let her drink my blood.

If she succeeded in bloodsucking, I would no longer be able to withstand the hypnosis debuff. Once my mind fell under it as well, stringing her along would be the least of my worries—I would ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠be the one who fell first.

But escaping a Song Sia wielding pureblood power was impossible.

No—only if I didn't have an Evolution Skill.

I activated a skill through the system.

Whoosh—

Sacred fire bloomed into existence. Flames laced with holy power forced Song Sia and me apart.

She cried out in panic.

"What just happened?"

"Good question. But shouldn't I be the one asking that?"

I fixed her with a cold stare.

"Do you have any idea what you just tried to do to me?"

To dye Song Sia's heart an even deeper black, I decided I would not stop at tonight's events. I would dig all the way back to the day of my exile and hold her to account.