A snake's instinct when feeding is to first ensnare its prey with its boneless body, and then swallow it whole.
Ye Feng's resistance was feeble. The more he struggled, the tighter Mobius's coils became.
Finally, drenched in sweat, Mobius pressed down on top of Ye Feng, her small, pale hands bracing against his chest. Her cascade of light-green hair flowed down her flawless, white back.
Snakey lifted her chin slightly, her vertical pupils glistening like water as she looked down on Ye Feng with bewitching eyes.
"Snakey... let me go..."
"Hehe, did you think you could escape from my grasp?"
"Here, little white mouse, accept my love. Now... I'm going to devour you."
Trapped in Mobius's embrace, Ye Feng was unable to move.
In the end, he could only abandon the struggle. He turned his head to the side, his eyes vacant, watching the clock on the dim wall as its hands ticked around and around.
---o---
In the church.
Aponia knelt before the statue of the goddess in pious prayer.
The nun had never imagined that one day, like an ordinary woman, she would be entering not just a church, but a hall of happiness.
This time, she prayed for herself. She prayed for her and Little Feng's happiness.
Though it was only an engagement, the thought of it made her body and soul tremble.
Regardless of what[Fate]had in store, having met Little Feng was enough.
Dong~ Dong~ Dong~
The bells in the tower rang out, marking the boundary between the end of today and the dawn of tomorrow.
Aponia's eyes fluttered open. She walked slowly to the arched window, where the clear starlight cascaded down, draping the nun in a sacred luminescence.
"Seven hours left."
At seven in the morning, here, Aponia and Ye Feng would complete their engagement ceremony.
---o---
In the basement.
The sealed space that had become Mobius's laboratory was filled with a certain thick, heavy air.
Although Mobius had long intended to install a ventilation system, for various reasons, it had been delayed until now.
However, the current stuffy air in the secret room, far from creating an unpleasant experience, only served to stimulate Mobius further.
She was like a crazed little snake, determined to ascend the steps to godhood.
"...Snakey, it's almost time..."
"Time?"
Mobius glanced at the clock. It was already six-thirty.
She naturally understood what Ye Feng meant.
She couldn't help but open her mouth and bite down on his shoulder, as if injecting a venom of love, refusing to let go for a long time.
"~What's so good about that shameless nun anyway."
"...S-Snakey... you shouldn't speak of Aponia like that."
Mobius cupped Ye Feng's face in her hands.
"You are not to mention her name! Right now~ in here~ there is only you and me~ little white mouse, understand!"
"...Snakey, stop being so willful. You know what day it is today..."
Hearing this, Mobius's pupils widened.
Her pale, jade-like arms tightened around Ye Feng like a snake's coils, as if to suffocate him.
"Heehee, I know. Of course I know! I know all too well! Otherwise, why do you think I brought you down to the basement?"
"..."
"Don't you know, little white mouse? When it comes to snakes, we last for at least 12 hours. We're far from finished."
"Cough, cough~~ Cough, cough!"
Mobius released her grip, and Ye Feng began to cough violently.
"Transform for me!" Mobius suddenly commanded in a sharp voice.
"Cough... Wh-What?"
A wicked smile spread across Mobius's lips. "Didn't you and Aponia have so much fun? Now, transform for me!"
"Snakey..."
"You are not to call me that. You will address me as 'Dr. Mobius'! Being small is also very cute, you know. I will cherish you dearly until the sun sets. Hehe, hehehe, HAHAHAHA!"
Mobius's triumphant laughter echoed through the gloomy basement.
The resentment that had been building for days erupted like a volcano.
Aponia's arrival had shattered her peaceful world, and now Mobius would make Aponia taste the bitterness of having her own world shattered.
You're getting engaged today, are you?
Then I'll spend the entire day entwined with him right here!
The clock on the wall slowly ticked a full circle, its hands once again pointing to 12.
Ye Feng, covered in "battle scars," stood up, looking refreshed and invigorated.
He carried the limp Snakey, who had passed out on the experiment table, back to her bedroom and tucked her in.
Back in the living room, the minute hand, which had been frozen at 6:30, ticked forward a single space.
Ye Feng glanced back at Mobius, who was sleeping soundly in her room, and shook his head with a light chuckle.
Twelve hours? If he hadn't been secretly helping Snakey restore her stamina, she wouldn't have even lasted two.
At 6:50 AM, the sun peeked over the mountains.
Ye Feng arrived at the church.
The nun was kneeling in prayer amidst the morning rays, as holy as a portrait from heaven.
So pure, it felt like a sin to disturb her.
But one of Ye Feng's greatest pleasures was defiling the sacred, staining pure white with his own colors.
He embraced the nun from behind.
Aponia didn't react. She remained kneeling on the floor, her fingers tightly clasped.
"Are we being too cruel to Mobius by doing this?" she asked softly.
"How could we be? We're helping Snakey follow her heart and find her own unique happiness. Mother Aponia, you are helping her."
That was right.
Whether it was moving in together or their nightly trysts, it had all been a deliberate act to provoke Mobius.
"Everything has transpired as [Fate] foretold. Just as in the prophecy, I have brought it all about, made it all real. This cannot be excused as the arrangement of fate. I know my sin, and my sin is ever before me. I am a sinner... or at the very least, an accomplice..." Aponia murmured, her words like a prayer.
"Mother Aponia could have refused me."
"I... will no longer refuse any of Little Feng's requests."
Ye Feng gently nibbled on Aponia's ear. "Is it that you won't refuse, or that you're reveling in it?"
Aponia's body trembled. "...Little Feng. Do not say such things."
"It's alright. What does it matter if you fall? What's wrong with sinking into depravity? No matter what Mother Aponia becomes, you will always be the one I love most." ...one of them.
"...I know. That is why... I cannot refuse Little Feng..."
"Then, this is fine. Everyone is happy. Doesn't Mother Aponia want to see such a scene?"
"I..."
The kneeling nun turned around, looking up at Ye Feng.
She was about to speak, but Ye Feng pressed his lips against hers.
"Don't speak. Aponia has no sin. And even if there is a sin, the fault is all mine."
"Mmh, mmh~~"
The morning sun slanted in from the distant horizon, dispelling the thin mist in the forest. It passed through the church's stained-glass windows, casting intersecting patterns of light and shadow, like the twisting flames of karma.
"Although everything until now was an act we put on together, the wedding is real."
Ye Feng took out a ring.
"I don't know if you have this custom where you're from, Aponia, but where I come from, placing a ring on the middle finger signifies an engagement. Allow me to put it on for you."