He deliberately leaned on certain words, letting the insinuation in his tone all but overflow.
When he finished, he even played a prank—exhaling a light breath against that sensitive ear.
Before Zelel could react, his figure flickered like a wayward breeze, and he was gone, leaving only the faintest trace of his scent in the air.
"!!!"
Zelel froze where she stood.
Those usually placid sapphire eyes went round, as if she'd just heard sheer impossibility.
A flush raced across her fair cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye, spreading all the way down her neck.
Her mind blanked from the answer's bluntness and impact; even the wings folded at her back trembled, almost imperceptibly.
"E-everything… you've done… all of it…?"
She echoed the words under her breath as images—explicitly forbidden in Heaven's education—of overly intimate contact between the sexes flashed, unbidden, through her head.
Coupled with her sister's slothful tendencies and Rei Ao's forceful personality—
"Boom—!"
It was as if thunder detonated inside her skull. Zelel felt her angelic core on the verge of stalling from information overload… and imagination.
She stood there, dazed, the breeze teasing her golden hair, unable to disperse the extreme shock, confusion, and worldview-shattering disarray on her face.
The model honor-student angel known for calm and rule-keeping was, in that moment, utterly undone. Even her halo, usually a steady glow, seemed to flicker with the turbulence of her emotions.
"Outrageous… utterly improper!"
She nearly ground the words out between her teeth—anger not only at the thought that her sister may have crossed a line, but also at Rei Ao's brazen, almost provocative way of stating it, which left her mortified and irate.
She shook her head hard, as if to banish those improper images and Rei Ao's infuriating smile from her mind. A series of deep breaths lifted the emblem of sanctity at her chest. Heaven's purification technique began to circulate within her, trying to soothe the surge.
It barely worked.
The faint pink at her delicate ears and the stiffness in a stance that was no longer its usual elegant standard were silent tattletales that her inner turmoil had far from settled.
She couldn't wait any longer.
Gabriel needed immediate, round-the-clock supervision.
She had to see her sister's situation with her own eyes; she had to correct and guard against everything in Gabriel's obviously veering lifestyle—especially anything involving Rei Ao that should not be happening.
…
After school.
Zelel accompanied Rei Ao and the others to Gabriel's apartment.
She tilted her chin up, fixing precisely on one window. From there she sensed her sister's familiar, faintly displeasing aura of sloth seeping out.
She smoothed the hem of her immaculate uniform skirt, drew a deep breath, and stripped her face of every unnecessary emotion—leaving only the sternness of a supervisor, and of an elder sister.
Then she strode into the building, steps ringing with resolve.
At the door with the matching number plate, Zelel didn't hesitate. She raised a hand and rapped with her knuckles—neither too hard nor too soft.
The knock was rhythmic and brooked no denial, like a fist on the heart.
Inside came a rustle of hurried chaos, mixed with a drawn-out, reluctant "Comiiiing—" and the shuffle of slippers on the floor.
A few seconds later, the door creaked open a crack, and Gabriel's face—wearied by hassle and impatience—peeked out. Having bolted home after class, the last thing she wanted was to be caught by her sister.
Two girls stood behind her.
One had sleek, short lavender hair. Her manner was gentle, her clear gaze radiating natural kindness. Zelel recognized her instantly as a demon—but strangely, there was little of the usual unpleasant malice. If anything… she felt like a rule-abiding honor student. This was Vignette, one of Gabriel's friends in the human world.
The other, Zelel knew well: red-haired, with those comically black demon-horn hair ornaments, petite—Satania. Hands on hips, chest puffed (not that there was much to puff), she did her best to look fierce, attempting to glare down the interloper interrupting her challenge against Gabriel.
"Ah, Gabriel's sister…" The moment Satania saw Zelel, her body tensed almost imperceptibly. The angel's presence was so strong that the demon felt instinctively guilty, as if merely standing there were a mistake.
Zelel's gaze paused briefly on Vignette and Satania. She dipped her head slightly in return—maintaining the bare minimum of surface courtesy, even toward demons.
"Hello. I'm Zelel, Gabriel's sister." Her voice was clear and pleasant but flowed like an icy spring—carrying little warmth.
Her eyes had already moved past Gabriel at the door, sweeping the interior with the speed and precision of a high-end scanner.
One glance was enough.
Zelel felt her blood pressure—no, the circulation rate of her angelic energy—spike to a dangerously unprecedented peak.
This… this is an angel's abode?
What met her eyes was a catastrophe.
Cables, like tangles of snakes, sprawled over the floor, tethered to multiple consoles and screens left on standby or paused. Half-eaten bags of chips, crushed soda cans, pizza-grease boxes, and a riot of snack wrappers dotted every corner like abstract art.
Clothes of uncertain cleanliness were draped over chair backs; a pink bra hung conspicuously from a lamp shade. Scattered across the floor, the sofa, even under the low table lay piles of manga, light novels, and game discs—covers in every style imaginable, many looking anything but angelic.