Chapter 42: Operation (10)

Waking up in the chilly dawn, Alice looked at her bed, where the mattress, marked by straight, unwavering lines, seemed to radiate a dry, cold aura. Alice thought these plain straight lines, viewed in the pre-dawn gloom, were akin to the horizon.

A very cold horizon, the kind you see when gazing out at the sea before the sun rises.

Alice had seen the sea once before. It must have been during an academy research project when she and some teammates visited the coast. The lonely sea, devoid of even a single island in sight, greeted them with a dim, binary division as the faint dawn light faded away.

Back then, Alice felt fear from the sea’s solitude and desolation. She instinctively recoiled, feeling as though she might be sucked into the horizon, revealing her aversion. Ever since that day, Alice felt that an empty bed, viewed diagonally, resembled that lonely horizon.

The horizon of the vast, open sea, where nothing could block her view, where nothing could remain beside her forever.

Alice wished someone would lie beside her and block that horizon. Preferably, that someone would have silver hair, possess a tender personality that cared for friends, and ideally, have the name Sylvia.

‘Sylvia.’

Every night, Alice dreamed of meeting Sylvia. In her dreams, she’d smile and confess her feelings, and Sylvia would shed tears of joy and hold her tight. Stroking Sylvia’s red hair, Alice would comfort her, asking how much she had suffered.

But escaping the sweet dream to face reality always meant confronting the horizon. Once the cold, frigid dawn air reached her head, chilling her excitement, Alice would contort her face as if she’d never smiled and bolt upright, rushing to the shower room.

Today, too, Alice stood under the shower, pressing her forehead against the wall. Listening to the shushushush of the falling water allowed her mind to escape its tangled thoughts. But today, Alice’s usually troubled heart was more unsettled than ever.

[Sylvia and Orland broke up.]

The rumor, drifting in like an autumn breeze through the library window where she was preparing for her final exams, painted a bizarre expression on her face-one that couldn’t decide whether to smile or cry. Even the water droplets cascading down her head couldn’t bring coolness back to her heart.

Orland.

Alice detested Orland. He had a complicated relationship history and a foul temper. She knew for certain that Sylvia would shed tears of blood whenever she was with him. And as long as Sylvia was with him, the day Alice and Sylvia could share a bed would never come.

Therefore.

Even faced with the tragic news that a couple whispering sweet nothings had broken up, Alice couldn’t figure out what kind of expression to wear. What words should she even utter? How should she approach Sylvia?

Alice felt this was perhaps the last chance she had to become more than just a friend-the last chance to become a lover. Once Sylvia graduated and entered the Magic Tower, they wouldn’t be able to share such intimate conversations as they did now. As their emotional connection faded, it would remain merely a fond memory, a friendship, and they would gradually drift apart.

So, Alice wanted to be tied to Sylvia with the bond of lovers right now. She wanted to send letters declaring her love, and sometimes visit the Magic Tower for delightful dates. To achieve this, she needed to get the first step right.

‘Sylvia.’

The shower stopped running. Alice mentally rehearsed the words she would say to Sylvia. ‘You are such a wonderful person. Orland is a terrible man. He abandoned you, tried to use you. You must have been heartbroken. I’ll comfort you.’

She imagined holding Sylvia close, flaunting her racing heart, and then, gradually, as their bond deepened, she would slowly reveal her feelings.

It didn’t matter if she felt awkward about the word ‘love.’ She would clearly state that she had always looked only at Sylvia and confess that she wanted to continue being with her.

Sylvia had a slightly airheaded quality, so a sharp woman like herself needed to be by her side to support her. Hadn’t her own failure to confess her feelings, her foolish hesitation until now, only left Sylvia hurt time and again?

Alice decided it was better to clearly convey her feelings than for everyone to suffer without her heart being known.

Alice began changing her clothes. She decided to wear the most beautiful outfit from her collection, one she rarely wore. The blue jacket and neat white shirt, which Sylvia had particularly praised, created a combination that highlighted Alice’s intellectual charm.

She trimmed her nails and put on the neatest, most stylish shoes she owned. In the full-length mirror, Alice shone brilliantly.

‘Good.’

Lastly, Alice forced the corners of her mouth, which had been downturned with melancholy, into a smile. Nodding, she stepped out the dormitory door. Since Sylvia had broken up with Orland, she would likely be crying in her room today.

Sylvia was the type to always grab a pillow and cry her eyes out when she was hurting. As she walked down the corridor, the click-clack of her heels echoed. Alice felt as though the sound was a stopwatch, counting down to her meeting with Sylvia.

[Hello. My name is Sylvia.]

Alice recalled the first time she met Sylvia. Back then, both Sylvia and Alice were freshmen in the academy’s high school division. Thanks to their beautiful appearances, they immediately drew everyone’s attention.

Alice, who fundamentally hated being bothered by men and disliked being pushed around by arrogant people, always stepped forward to help whenever Sylvia got entangled with nasty upperclassmen, crushing their resistance with the name of the Flancia family.

The family’s influence, which seemed questionable until Alice achieved the highest entrance score, became a tangible force backing her up along with her report cards. Those who remained silent when asked to help her mother seemed to think they could be quite useful to Flancia Alice.

Everywhere Alice looked, there were only scumbags. Family members who sinisterly expected Alice to graduate from the prestigious law department and secure a high position in the legal world.

Filthy people who came running, desiring only their bodies.

The only one who cured Alice’s extreme misanthropy was Sylvia, who always treated her with an unwavering smile.

She laughed off any mistake Alice made, always worried about Alice first, and was so innocent and foolish that she needed someone to look after her. Alice loved Sylvia like that and always wanted to be by her side.

Because just as Sylvia relied on Alice, Alice relied on Sylvia.

Today.

Alice would comfort Sylvia and clearly state her feelings. She would let Sylvia, who was suffering because of men, know that someone truly loved her right here. Thinking this, Alice knocked on the door.

‘Oh? Sylvia-sunbae went out earlier. Senior.’

Her resolve, which had flushed her face red, was shattered by the grim news delivered by a junior from the year below. Alice stared at the junior with a bewildered expression. The junior, gazing blankly at the stunned senior, nodded and continued,

‘Ah, she left early this morning. She said she had some faculty business…’

Faculty business? Alice felt an unfounded anxiety, gnawing at her beautifully painted fingernails as she shook her head. The courage that had surged moments before deflated like a leaky balloon. Clenching her lips and running her hand down the door, she stepped back.

Sylvia, too, needed time to sort out her thoughts. Alice decided she would try talking to her again once she returned from handling her business. About how much she loved Sylvia, and about what their relationship should be moving forward.

Sunlight streamed through a rectangular window set high in the wall. Since early morning, Sylvia had been kneeling on the mattress, laughing with a flushed face. Her golden eyes were clouded with a hazy color, and a palpable heat radiated from the room.

Her top lay discarded haphazardly on the floor, and the hairpins Alice had given her were still in her hair. Whenever Evan stroked her head, Sylvia would giggle and strike a coquettish pose.

Like beasts instinctively taking their first steps without being taught, the desire to be appealing to men was an innate instinct within women. Sylvia instinctively displayed her cutest expressions and poses as she kissed Evan’s cock.

‘Sylvia. Did you miss me that much first thing this morning?’

‘Yes…’

Sylvia nodded, parted her lips slightly, and swallowed Evan’s cock. Moving her head slowly back and forth, she observed Evan’s reaction. Then, pulling her lips away from his cock, she smiled and said to Evan,

‘I’ve gotten much better, haven’t I?’

Evan stroked Sylvia’s head as if proud. ‘Yeah. You swallow well. Try going deeper.’

‘Like this?’

‘That’s right. Hoo…’

As lewd fluid dripped down her lower abdomen, a tattoo glowing with a faint black light appeared and disappeared.