Whispers Hidden in the Dark Night (5)

Seven days passed in a flash.

Starlight's student duty rotation began anew.

Aside from not sleeping well every night and frequently having dreams, nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.

Chris, as usual, liked to surprise Fatenai, but it was as ineffective as ever. Shirey mostly kept to herself. Her only friend, Christie, was the friendliest towards Fatenai, occasionally greeting her when they met.

Fatenai herself, besides helping out at Lyteta's, often visited the library. No one knew what books she read.

One morning, Fatenai went to the lounge for breakfast. As soon as she sat down, Christie approached her.

"Good morning, Fatenai," Christie said, as friendly as always. However, Shirey wasn't with her today, which was a little unusual.

"Good morning. I don't see Shirey... that's surprising," Fatenai replied.

Christie smiled helplessly. "That girl was busy with her own homework last night and stayed up late. She's still asleep."

The conversation stalled, unsure of how to continue. Fatenai straightened her back and elegantly and quickly brought the cream of mushroom soup on her plate to her mouth with her spoon.

"First-year students are generally a bit younger than you. I'm worried you might have trouble adjusting when classes start," Christie said softly, glancing at Fatenai.

The people here were either strangely indifferent to her or strangely enthusiastic. But out of politeness to Christie's good intentions, Fatenai said, "It is indeed a troublesome matter. However, there's still plenty of time. It seems too early to be studying these things right now."

"Not at all. Someone once told me, 'It's best to be prepared,'" Christie said, her eyes narrowing as if suddenly interested. "Why don't you come to our dormitory? We'll help you—just in the evenings, it won't take up too much of your time. We have an empty bed in our dorm, so sleeping somewhere else might be nice? I heard you haven't been sleeping well lately."

It was a very tempting offer. For Fatenai at that moment, changing her sleeping location might just help her escape the recurring nightmares...

Fatenai couldn't help but recall the scene that had been "before her eyes" not long ago. She then looked at Christie's expectant gaze.

"I..." Her grip on the spoon paused.

"Why would you let her come to your dorm, to raise those little bugs of yours?" Chris's voice came from next door. The short-haired girl held her tray, her smiling face betraying a tone of deep sarcasm.

"Shut up, Chris," Shirey also appeared—in a way, she was also elusive. What was noticeable was the disgust in her eyes as she looked at Chris—it was the first time her eyes conveyed such a rare emotion. "Someone filled with darkness within doesn't seem to have the right to advise others."

Shirey's defense of Christie surprised Fatenai. At the same time, for reasons she didn't understand, her hand holding the spoon suddenly faltered, and the spoon clattered onto the plate.

Clang.

"Heh, and what about you?" Chris's sarcastic smile widened. She waved her hand. "Seeing you two really makes me want to throw up whatever I ate last night."

With that, Chris took her tray and turned away, seemingly wanting no further entanglement with the two.

"Don't mind her," Christie said, her expression unchanged as she sat in her chair, her grip on the spoon tightening slightly. "Sometimes I feel it's unfortunate that her name is so similar to yours. I thought she would be a good girl—but..."

But what?

Fatenai remained impassive, but she didn't get any further explanation from Christie. Instead, Shirey spoke. She said to Christie, "I have duty today, so I'm leaving."

"Okay, you worked hard last night... Don't push yourself too hard, go back early tonight," Christie said softly. She then turned the latter half of her sentence towards Fatenai. "Fatenai, please consider it. Our dorm welcomes you."

Fatenai's expression was blank. Her eyes caught Shirey's body trembling slightly. After Christie's words, Shirey then said nonchalantly, "Okay, I'll consider it."

Christie smiled, and the two stopped talking, as if their entire mood had been ruined by Chris.

After breakfast, Fatenai returned to Lyteta's laboratory. As soon as she entered, she saw Ed discussing something with Lyteta.

The mysterious Ed had been appearing frequently in Lyteta's laboratory during this period, seemingly just to discuss spells with Lyteta. Fatenai could only understand fragments of their conversations.

Ultimately, Fatenai ignored their discussion and sat in a corner with a book.

"Today's discussion was very interesting. Would Lonai like to know?" As the day was about to end, Fatenai heard Ed's voice as she was tidying up the laboratory and preparing to leave. She ignored him, and Ed's words were more like self-talk. "Without sufficient power, how can one grasp the truth?"

"You don't need to," Fatenai knew he was implying something. She looked up at him with a sharp gaze.

They met each other's eyes. Ed's smiling face relaxed, and then he let out a deeper chuckle. The azure blue in his eyes gradually deepened into a dark blue, and he said in a low voice, "In that case, you won't be able to survive here."

It felt like a threat.

Fatenai stiffened, clenched her fists, and continued walking forward.

Will I die? Maybe... Lyteta seemed to have said something similar.

A smile touched Fatenai's lips. She walked forward, but her thoughts weren't on Ed's threat. Instead, there was nothing—it was more like she was spacing out.

She suddenly stopped. Fatenai could feel that she had "passed" it.

She only needed to go through the stone archway outside the laboratory to go upstairs, but she had walked for at least ten minutes. The corridor in her vision was exactly the same as she remembered, but it seemed too long—so long that she couldn't reach the "end." Fatenai didn't speed up; instead, she slowed down, her hand resting on the marble wall with its elegant floral pattern. The cool touch brought her back to a clearer state of mind.

It was undoubtedly some kind of spell. But this spell was affecting the teaching building. Fatenai frowned, realizing it was alchemy constructed within the teaching building.

"Heh heh..." Fatenai stopped in place because she heard laughter. In the dimly lit environment, the sound sent a chill down her spine. When she turned her head, she saw a somewhat petite woman.

"Chris Aberge?" she said softly as the person slowly walked into the light.

Chris slowly walked towards Fatenai. Her face, already possessing a mysterious aura, now wore a smile that sent shivers down one's spine. Fatenai stared into her eyes, waiting for her next move.

So, this is what Ed meant when he said I wouldn't be able to survive here.

"I thought I could get along with you," Chris's tone conveyed a sense of "pity." She extended her hand, flexing her slender fingers, seemingly nonchalant. "But why didn't you appreciate it?"

"It was you after all... you killed 'Christie'?" Fatenai asked after a moment of silence.

"How did you find out... hmm?" Chris easily "admitted" the fact, her smile deepening.