Thick air hung in the alley, sealing all the cracks on the brick walls when the rays of the flickering magical lantern’s light intensified.

Lyra Ashveil’s hands clenched into white-knuckle fists while her eyes flickered from the viscous fluid dripping down Senna’s thighs.

Her face burned when she shifted her gaze to the glowing crimson sigil burning on Levi’s chest. "Answer me, Levi."

The white silk of her robes rustled against the damp brick walls as she stepped closer to Levi. "You are registered as a utility assistant. Why are you bonding with an academy student?"

Levi kept his eyes locked on Lyra, then calmly pulled down his torn shirt over his chest, hiding the glowing mark. "I do not choose who the system chooses, Instructor."

He turned his gaze slightly and looked at Senna on the floor. "It responds to necessity."

Senna’s black hair was plastered to her forehead with sweat as she let out a low, shaky gasp. She dragged herself up against the wall to stand, but her legs trembled from the aftershocks of her intense climax.

Her amber eyes flashed with a mixture of defiance and territorial hunger when she glared at Lyra. "Get lost, Ashveil. He is mine. I chose him."

"Silence, trash," Lyra snapped and turned a sharp gaze back to Levi.

Heat rattled through her as the secret mark Levi had left underneath her clothes throbbed and caused her chest to heave beneath the tight robes.

Levi sighed when the panel reeled into his vision.

[Scanning Target: Lyra Ashveil.]

[Current Status: Severe Conflict.]

[Her Dominance Attraction is fighting against her hidden bond.]

[Desire Level: 65%.]

[She wants to lock you away to keep you entirely to herself.]

’She damn well can’t do that,’ Levi said in his head and took slow steps toward Lyra. He stopped in front of her, then blinked once. "You are jealous, aren’t you, Instructor?"

The moment Levi’s words vibrated through Lyra’s core, her breath hitched. She stumbled a few steps back and stopped when her shoulders hit the opposite wall. "Do not come closer, Servant. I am a Senior Battle Mage."

She stretched a clenched fist toward Levi. "I can execute you on the spot for treason against the matriarchy."

’As if she can do it,’ Levi hissed, then began closing the distance with her. "Then do it."

He stopped just inches from her face, then gripped her chin firmly, the same way he had done in the weapon shed.

He leaned in on her left and brushed his lips against her ear. "Or you can admit that you just want to feel how I made the Rebel fall."

Lyra’s long silver hair fell forward and framed her flushed face when her eyes widened. She pushed both hands to push Levi away, but instead her fingers clawed into his shoulders.

Gasps escaped her when her internal defenses began to crumble under the weight of Levi’s masculine presence. Hot air puffed on Levi’s neck when her lips parted.

Just as Levi drove his left arm down to completely give her what she really needed, a distant chime rang out from the main academy’s bell tower. The midnight patrol signal.

Lyra snapped out of her rising desire and violently pushed Levi back, while her face burned with a mixture of shame and desire. "Clean this mess up."

She brushed her palms on her robes, then shifted her gaze to the spinning bell tower’s light. "Tomorrow morning, the disciplinary committee convenes."

She looked at Levi with a corner gaze, then sighed. "Your little secret won’t stay hidden for long, Levi."

She turned fully to him, then took in a deep breath. "If the Council sees those marks, you are a dead man."

Within seconds, she turned and vanished into the shadows of the alley, together with the glowing magical lantern’s light.

Levi looked down at Senna, who was now adjusting her rugged top while standing, then shook his smiling face. ’Let them see it, Ashveil!’

Senna’s amber eyes remained on Levi’s massive shaft which still twitched beneath his trousers with a latent energy.

"She’s going to turn you in." She wiped a trail of Levi’s seed from her thighs with her finger, then licked it clean. "Let me kill her for you."

Levi crossed his palms behind her neck, then whistled once. "She won’t say a word. Her body belongs to me now."

He turned and focused on the spinning bell tower’s light. "She hasn’t accepted it yet."

The translucent panel’s chime echoed in his head once.

[Aether Level Stabilized: 250/500.]

[Warning: The disciplinary committee has initiated a background check on host’s identity.]

A loud cunning laughter followed Levi as he walked back to his quarters in the dark. Rats with crystal eyes exited from the drains and turned their ears to the whistling sound that came after the laughter.

Senna remained in the alleyway, slowly shaking her head. She picked up her black jagged dagger, then hung it at her side with a single turn.

A bright light cut through the sky of Aethermoor and reflected in her amber eyes when a faint light shot through the night sky.

Countless hidden tower cracks began appearing wherever the light flashed.

Lights flickered on and off in the tower opposite Levi’s, carrying the signature of spies, but Levi didn’t bother to close his windows.

Chilled air waved through his hair while flickering torch lights danced on his open windows.

"The Aethermoor disciplinary committee thinks they are smart. They’ve got no idea I was once a psychopath back on Earth."

The moment he closed his eyes to sleep, all the light in Aethermoor also followed. The bell tower’s light, which hadn’t gone off for decades, flashed off.

The patrolling mages stopped with pale faces when the bell tower’s light flickered back on with a strange howling sound.

"Did you hear that?" Clara Fontaine, a noble lady wearing silver armor and possessing the look of peak arrogance, asked with narrowed eyebrows.

The other six patrolling mages shook their heads and continued walking through Aethermoor’s alleys.

Clara planted her palms on her waist and shifted her gaze to the only tower’s light that didn’t go off. "I know it’s him. It has to be him."