Late afternoon, inside Linen's dorm.
Currently, Teresia, freed halfway from her restraints, stood leaning against the window, arms crossed tightly, a look of deep dissatisfaction on her face. Every so often, she secretly shot glances toward the young man standing at the entryway.
Being freed from handcuffs and shackles was certainly good news. But if he was going to restrict her magic, couldn't he have just used a bracelet? Why did it have to be a collar?
Meanwhile, Linen—dressed impeccably in formal white attire—carefully adjusted his collar and cuffs in front of a full-length mirror.
As tonight's guest of honor, Linen would receive praise and rewards directly from the Headmaster at the academy banquet for winning the Spring Cup. Teresia, meanwhile, was still struggling to recover from the sheer shock of what Linen had revealed earlier.
An unbelievable guy… Without even relying on Eden Academy's forces, he thwarted the Tower of Chronomancy's plans again.
Teresia's scarlet eyes fixed intently on Linen's profile.
Initially, she'd simply dismissed him as an arrogant prince with a big mouth who'd inexplicably imprisoned her in this room. Every day she'd fantasized about the sweet revenge of throwing this pompous prince into a dungeon herself someday.
Yet the more time she spent in this room, the more Teresia felt she was actually the one benefiting more.
Years of assassin training had certainly honed her body and skills, but her overreliance on the Terminal Bullet, along with deliberate misguidance from the Tower of Chronomancy, had left her own Arcana mastery painfully mediocre. At best, she could hypnotize some low-tier novices with weak mental strength—utterly unremarkable.
Forced into confinement by Linen, Teresia, out of sheer boredom, had no choice but to deeply re-examine her Arcana circuits. Only then did she start to grasp just how terrifyingly talented she actually was—enough even to make her own father jealous.
Though her magic was currently suppressed by the collar, conservatively speaking, she'd likely reached the Third Ring by now.
It had only been two weeks since Linen first confined her.
Certainly, her rapid progress was partly due to accumulated talent that she'd long neglected. But an even bigger reason was that Linen's imprisonment had forced her hand.
If it weren't for that, Teresia figured she would never have willingly spared the time to face that detestable magic flowing through her veins.
Yet, compared to her rising Arcana level—something bound to happen eventually—she felt her greatest gains were actually in her mentality.
On the one hand, there was Linen's endless teasing, forcing her to helplessly swallow her pride since she was stuck under his roof. But there was also a deeper, honest introspection on her part.
In the past, Teresia had certainly been an excellent assassin. She'd taken "cold-blooded" to the extreme, swift and ruthless in all tasks without hesitation. Yet, since her confinement, she'd learned another quality from this prince, who was actually younger than her—a calmness that bordered on frightening.
It was as if Linen always saw everything coming. Compared to him, her impulsive actions sometimes made her feel like a child deserving a spanking.
To keep pace with Linen, Teresia had been forced to think more, plan more. But the more her mind grew sharper, the more absurd Linen's act of imprisoning her seemed.
If, initially, Linen intended to form an alliance and obtain insider information on the Tower of Chronomancy, that made sense. But after the Artificer's Exam, she'd already spilled every secret she knew, rendering herself effectively worthless.
Yet even so, Linen had sternly refused her perfectly reasonable requests to leave, continuing to keep her locked here.
This was something Teresia simply couldn't understand.
No matter how she looked at it, there was no benefit in this for Linen—only trouble.
From the perspective of a student or a prince, forcibly imprisoning an unknown girl would become a career-destroying scandal if exposed. From the angle of opposing the Tower of Chronomancy, it made even less sense.
Linen had repeatedly foiled the Tower's plans, and even if they initially overlooked him, eventually they'd re-evaluate this formerly inconspicuous prince. Could Linen really hide the fact he'd secretly imprisoned her?
No—rather than imprisonment, it was more accurate to call it protection.
In the eyes of the Tower, she was already the shameful traitor who'd caused their Artificer Exam plot to fail, indirectly responsible for losing a crucial "candidate."
Had she recklessly left while her mentality was still fragile, she would've undoubtedly faced horrific consequences from the Tower's "Divine Punishment." Teresia was still very confident in the cruelty of her former masters.
Now that Linen had confined her, the Tower, lacking any other spies within Eden, had lost the ability to infiltrate again and deliver punishment directly. Instead, their wrath would naturally fall onto her guardian—Linen Norton himself.
No matter how hard she thought, Teresia couldn't see how Linen gained anything from this. Eventually, she could only draw one absurd conclusion—Linen had just one single motive that made sense:
He was protecting her.
Imprisoning me for protection—so now I should even thank him?!
Reaching this conclusion nearly drove Teresia mad. She even cast several mental Arcana spells on herself, checking repeatedly whether Linen had secretly hypnotized her with some artifact.
Yet, no matter how much her strength improved, the conclusion remained unchanged: Linen Norton had not used any form of mind control on her. This realization was purely her own.
As for why he hadn't bothered explaining himself, Teresia had a guess—her past self simply wouldn't have listened anyway.
If Linen had straightforwardly said "I'm imprisoning you for your own good," she would've thought him utterly insane and escaped at any cost.
Ironically, it was precisely his domineering attitude, the temporary lack of immediate danger, and the occasional sweet desserts used as bribes that had made her reluctantly accept this confinement as just a "short break."
Though she was still unhappy, there was a massive gap between Linen's mindset and hers. This was reality.
And, annoyingly, as a human being—even as an assassin—Teresia also had certain basic needs. Like the things between men and women.
Though she hadn't casually fooled around before, after returning to her secret hideouts she'd occasionally dealt with these things privately.
But now, trapped here, every time she thought of how that sadistic prince might be secretly watching her with some strange magic tool, she had no choice but to endure.
Perhaps due to long restraint and her recent change in mentality, the more she looked at Linen lately, the more handsome and appealing he suddenly seemed—
"How do I look?"
Linen suddenly asked, finished with his preparations.
"Hmph!"
Only then did Teresia realize he'd already noticed her stares long ago. She scoffed, turning her head away. "Nothing special."
She subtly wiped the corner of her mouth, looking elsewhere. Linen chuckled softly but didn't press further.
To cover the sudden awkwardness, Teresia asked the question she'd held back for days now:
"So… When exactly do you plan to let me go? I'm no longer of any value to you, right?"
"Let you go?"
Linen narrowed his eyes, breaking into a smile as if he'd just heard something truly amusing.
Here we go again—the classic EXP farming scene!
Elena's affection level had become increasingly hard to manage, and as for Hysteria—who even was she? He barely knew her. Novie wasn't a main heroine, and his Empress Mother's favor was nearly impossible to raise.
Only you, Miss Teresia. The entire hostile world around me may shift constantly, but you alone remain steady!
So, just as he'd done countless times before, Linen replied in a familiar, firm, and unquestionably teasing tone:
"Ah, what a pity, Miss Teresia. I'm afraid I won't be letting you go anytime soon. Actually, perhaps for quite a long time to come~"
"You…!" Teresia lowered her head, irritated. Of course it's this again—acting like some villainous pervert enjoying my captivity.
Yet, even though Linen's response was the same as always, the assassin girl's inner feelings had quietly begun to shift.
Without even realizing it herself, the cold, icy heart of Miss Assassin, once steady as frozen dew, had somehow begun beating just a tiny bit faster.
Ever since her father left, nobody had truly cared about her. But because of Linen's actions, she'd once again experienced what warmth felt like.
Meanwhile, Linen enjoyed Teresia's familiar reaction—her classic lines. Though, for some reason, it felt slightly less satisfying this time. But as long as her hostility points were increasing, it was still a success.
As expected from you—the easiest heroine to handle in the entire series!
Watching Teresia silently stew in frustration, Linen withdrew his gaze, feigning seriousness with a light cough.
—After raising hostility points, he naturally had to carefully control her emotions, ensuring she wouldn't explode into irreversible fury.
Noticing he'd caught Teresia's attention, Linen smiled gently and added:
"I'll be back early tonight."
"Hah? Why would it matter to me when you come back?" Teresia retorted sharply, though her heart had softened considerably.
Besides, Linen's words sounded ridiculous. She was merely his captive—an ally at best. Did he seriously think she'd be patiently waiting at home for him like a proper little wife?
Ignoring her harsh tone entirely, Linen continued smoothly:
"Oh? Miss Teresia, seems you've forgotten what day it is. Tonight is the Spring Cup's celebration banquet. The cafeteria will offer every dish on the menu—cream cakes, cream puffs… Anything you like."
"Cr…Cream puffs…" Teresia couldn't stop a drop of saliva from escaping her lips again.
Even a ruthless assassin had no defense against sweets!
Previously, she'd thought cream cake was the pinnacle of deliciousness. That was until Linen once casually brought her cream puffs—and Teresia's world changed forever.
That delicate, crispy outer shell, filled completely with sweet, fluffy white cream that oozed temptingly from any small pressure or bite…
Teresia even secretly wished she could become a cream puff herself!
"Hmph! Have whatever you like—I don't care!" At the last second, she pulled her wandering thoughts back under control, swiftly turning her head away in feigned indifference.
"Heh heh, of course." Linen glanced sideways at the system notification but didn't smile as he usually would. Instead, he furrowed his brows slightly.
Miss Teresia's reactions were stable as always—good news. But… why did today's reward feel a bit less than before?
Strange. Her hostility points clearly shot up. Don't tell me this lousy system's cheating my rewards now…?
Just as Linen was about to confront the system directly, the doorbell rang, accompanied by a lively voice outside:
"Hey, worthless jerk! Too slow! This princess came personally to hurry you up—so open the damn door already!"
"Hysteria, you just promised me you'd be more polite!"
"Umm… Fine, please hurry up and open the damn door!"
No question—those voices belonged to Hysteria and Elena.
Normally, girls took much longer to dress up, but because Linen's room held his trusty, self-replenishing EXP machine, he'd had to frequently move between rooms to adjust his clothes, leaving him slightly behind schedule compared to his two companions.
Ignoring them and pretending he wasn't home clearly wasn't an option. Linen turned toward Teresia, gesturing pleadingly with two fingers—signaling he'd bring her double the sweets tonight as compensation.
"Hmph, this is the last time I'm helping you, Norton."
Teresia coldly agreed, then… smoothly ducked under the table, well-practiced by now.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Linen opened the door, nearly colliding with a certain red-haired girl who was about to pound the door again.
"You're way too slow—hurry up! We've still got tons to do tonight!" Hysteria stood impatiently at the doorway, hands on her hips.
Tonight, Her Highness was back in the short crimson dress she'd worn when she first arrived at Eden, paired with a cute little hat and elegant silk gloves. Her slim legs were wrapped neatly in strappy red heels, perfectly complementing her fiery nature.
Even Elena, normally modest, had dressed carefully in a handmade, delicate white skirt. More notably, she was wearing white stockings!
Linen silently approved of her taste, even briefly considering recruiting her into his Black Stockings Maid Corps.
"Isn't tonight just the ceremony? Anyway, apologies for keeping you waiting," Linen smiled lightly, stepping ahead.
Hysteria scratched her head, puzzled. Now that she thought about it, tonight really was just supposed to be the banquet ceremony. Elena had said there were many things to do, and she'd simply believed it.
Only Elena's eyes betrayed a flash of barely concealed anxiety.
Indeed, many things needed to happen tonight—but not involving Hysteria or others.
It was only about herself.
Until now, she'd carefully hidden her feelings toward Linen, naively believing she'd protected them perfectly.
But Novie's sudden appearance had sharply heightened Elena's sense of crisis.
Novie wore stockings more enticingly, understood people's hearts better, and—most dangerously—knew Linen more intimately.
Though Elena was gentle by nature, as a rare commoner protagonist rising through sheer talent, gentleness didn't mean cowardice or indecision.
She'd seen firsthand back in her hometown: a pair of childhood sweethearts defeated utterly by the arrival of a sudden outsider.
Elena knew clearly she could never be Linen's childhood sweetheart compared to Novie.
Therefore, she had to be the sudden outsider herself!
From the Artificer's Exam to the Spring Cup, Linen had done far too much for her already. She felt compelled to give a proper response.
Tonight, she'd already decided—she would formally confess to Linen.
Hesitation meant defeat. Tonight, Elena resolved firmly—no more hesitation!
She would boldly make her move tonight.
She was about to go all in!