The night before the hearing. The corridors of Celestia Magical Tower University lay in deathly silence. The mana lamps embedded in the stone walls flickered faintly, pale and blue. Vanheim Elise followed Ashford Rion's back, stepping carefully up each stair of the spiral staircase—off-limits to students. (*So this is the hidden passage to the 13th floor—*) Her heartbeat pounded unnaturally loud in the depths of her ears. That was when Rion's swollen right hand pressed a section of the wall. *Rumble...* The stone wall slid apart to the left and right, revealing a dim passageway. Rion glanced back, his golden eyes narrowing. "[whispers] From here on, we slip through the surveillance magic net. Even with my shadow magic, there's no room for three to walk side by side." "[cold] One is enough." The passage was narrow, the damp air clinging to their skin. Every time Rion traced a spell formula with his left hand, the ancient magic circles on the walls reacted, emitting an unpleasant red glow. First attempt—a ward spell triggered, making Rion's unruly black hair stand on end. "[angry] Aren't you lacking a bit in attention to detail?" At Elise's sharp voice, Rion shrugged. "[sarcastic] I'm doing this with an injured hand. How about some kinder words?" Second attempt. Rion redrew the formula. This time, a small explosion erupted. *Boom!* "Whoa!" Rion's black hair was now a sooty mess. Coughing with a smudged face, he hardly looked the part for a covert infiltration. Elise furrowed her brow and let out a deep sigh. "[cold] ...Do you intend to show that head of yours at the inquiry?" Without a word, Elise reached out and began brushing the soot from Rion's hair. Her fingers combed through the disheveled black strands. —That was when it happened. Her fingertips touched Rion's temple. For an instant, both of them froze. (*Did I—reach out to him on my own?*) Elise pulled her hand back with a start. Rion's golden eyes were watching her, quietly, just quietly. A single second of silence fell upon the narrow passage. "[gentle] ...That's enough. I'll settle it on the third try." With his left hand, Rion carefully redrew the spell formula. Third attempt—the seal unraveled without a sound. As they advanced deeper, a massive iron door loomed before them. "[serious] This is the Veil Archive." —The Veil Archive. An underground facility where the Stellar Guidance Council stored records of dangerous, seal-designated curse techniques. Knowing that the truth of the curse binding her own bloodline lay here, Elise swallowed hard. The interior was a sight beyond imagination. Countless sheets of parchment filled shelves that reached the ceiling, magical phosphorescence illuminating the spines of the books. With trembling hands, Elise searched for the records from three generations ago. "[whispers] ...Found it." There, unmistakably recorded, was the state document proving that the head of the Seraphis family had forcibly imposed the seal-key curse upon the blood of the Vanheim family. Elise took out her magical communication device and began meticulously copying each page, one by one. Beside her, Rion peered into the same ancient text. The line Elise traced with her finger overlapped with the line Rion traced with his. Their fingertips quietly touched. Neither of them moved. Several seconds passed. "[whispers] ...This is enough evidence." Rion was the first to pull his finger away. — The Stellar Guidance Council's hearing chamber. At the front, seven councilors sat in a row. In their center sat the cold-eyed chairman, Oswald Seraphis. At the edge of the gallery, Sera Seraphis pressed her lips tightly together, as if holding something back. Elise faced straight ahead. "[cold] Suspect, Vanheim Elise. Reveal the seal-designated curse engraved upon your body." Elise began to undo the clasps of her high-collared uniform with her own hands, one by one. Only the sound of metal fasteners coming undone echoed through the silent chamber. (*Until now, a secret I kept hidden for the honor of my family—*) Her collar opened, exposing her collarbones. Her platinum blonde hair spilled softly over her shoulders. Only Rion noticed the faint trembling of her fingertips. (*This time—I expose it as a weapon to lay bare the truth.*) The final clasp came undone, and the high collar fell open. From her collarbones down to her waist, intricate golden patterns pulsed upon her white skin. The atmosphere in the chamber transformed instantly. A murmur spread among the councilors. "[serious] This is the seal-key curse that has been engraved upon the Vanheim family for three generations—its official name: the Brand of Contract." Elise's voice was astonishingly calm. "And this is a copy of the state record." Rion read the copy aloud. The fact that the previous head of the Seraphis family had forcibly imposed the curse upon the Vanheim family was laid out dispassionately. Oswald's face twisted slightly. "[cold] That copy contains the same content as an ancient document stolen from my family's vault. In other words, it is stolen property. It has no evidentiary value." Oswald countered coldly. "The one who committed that theft is that failure over there—Ashford Rion." Rion's lips twisted at the corner. That was when it happened. "[angry] Stop it, Father!!" Sera had risen from the gallery. Her chestnut curls trembled with anger. Tears welled in her amber eyes. "Stop trying to pin the blame on Rion!! Don't... don't use my jealousy as a tool for our family's schemes!" Sera's voice rang throughout the hearing chamber. "Father is targeting Rion! He's using the fact that I was jealous of Elise to frame him for stealing the evidence!" Her mask of arrogance crumbled away with a deafening crash. Three years' worth of jealousy. The lingering attachment to Rion she had never been able to cast aside. And her rebellion against her father. All of it overflowed at once. Sera collapsed to the floor, her hands pressed against it, weeping. "[crying] I... I just wanted to win against Elise, that's all..." It was the figure of a thoroughly exhausted girl. Elise glanced at Sera for just a moment. Then she pressed her lips tightly together. "Silence your daughter!" Oswald shouted, but it was already too late. The murmurs among the councilors had shifted from doubt to certainty. Sera's near-confession had exposed Oswald's conspiracy to the light of day. The vote to nullify the seal designation was about to begin. At that moment— A heat unlike anything she had ever felt surged through Elise's body. "...Ngh!!" As if the curse were making its final resistance, the patterns across her entire body blazed to life all at once. From her collarbones to her waist, golden light traced complex geometric designs, pulsing. The councilors gasped. Without a word, Rion moved to stand beside Elise. With the fingers of his swollen right hand, he began to trace a shadow magic formula. Steadily, yet carefully. "[whispers] Your curse is over now." Rion's spell formula resonated with the patterns on Elise's skin. With each movement of his fingers, the golden light converged. It was a curse-breaking ritual witnessed by everyone in the hearing chamber. "By majority vote. The nullification of the seal designation is hereby declared." The moment the vote was finalized— The patterns released one final flash of light, then vanished completely. Elise closed her eyes. For several seconds, she did not move. For the first time in her life, there was no heat, no throbbing, no pain inside her body. Just silence. (*It's over—*) When Elise opened her eyes, a film of tears covered her azure gaze. But not a single drop fell. Rion murmured quietly. "[gentle] It's over." Elise nodded silently. — That night. Stargazing Hill. Elise had brought Rion to the park filled with memories of watching the stars with a servant when she was little. Countless stars twinkled in the night sky, and the wind gently swayed the grass. (*It has nothing to do with the curse—*) Elise admitted it to herself for the first time tonight. (*I want to touch this person.*) "[whispers] Rion." Of her own accord, she wrapped her arms around Rion's neck. She pressed her forehead against his chest. She could quietly hear the sound of Rion's heart. Rion stroked Elise's hair with one hand and placed his other, swollen hand against her back. "[sad] If it hurts, you don't have to push yourself." "[gentle] Pain has nothing to do with feeling you." Elise lifted her face, and their eyes met. Yielding to mutual desire, their lips overlapped. It was the first contact not for the sake of the curse, but simply born of wanting each other. Her platinum blonde hair shone silver in the starlight. Rion drew her in deeply. "[whispers] There's no one here tonight." Rion whispered, his hand moving to the collar of Elise's uniform. His hand touched her skin with a warmth entirely different from the nightly treatments of the past. Elise realized that tonight, there was no need to stifle her voice. In the shade of the trees on Stargazing Hill. Slowly, they loosened each other's clothes. Rion's long fingers traced the place where the cursed patterns had once been—from her collarbones down to her waist—this time not to erase anything, but simply to feel Elise. "...Ah." Now that the patterns were gone, that place was just sensitive skin. With every touch, sweet sounds escaped Elise's lips. Listening to those sounds, Rion gently rolled the tip of her breast with his fingers. "[gentle] Here, is it... where you feel it the most?" "[scared] Don't make me say things like that..." Rion's fingers sank into a hot, wet place. A lewd, squelching sound echoed in the quiet of the night. Elise buried her face in Rion's chest out of embarrassment, but her hips naturally swayed in time with the movements of his hand. "[whispers] I love you... Rion." Amidst her quickening breaths, Elise put it into words for the first time. "[gentle] I know." Rion loosened his own lower garments, revealing his erect penis, hard and towering. He pressed it against Elise's drenched secret place. "...Yeah. Me too." *Squelch—* A hot mass pushed inside Elise. Overwhelmed by the sensation of being filled, Elise trembled voicelessly. Rion began to move his hips, as if confirming her every reaction. "Ah, haa... nngh..." The pleasure of being stroked inside her vagina drew uncontrollable moans from Elise's lips. Again and again, Rion thrust into the deepest, most pleasurable spot inside her. "[gentle] Inside you... it's hot, and it's tightening around me..." "[crying] D-don't say it... aaah!" Her climax approached. The body that had always fought against the curse's throbbing was now, for the first time, dominated by pure pleasure, clenching tightly around Rion from within. "I'm coming... coming, I'm going to come...!" "[gentle] It's okay. Come." The moment Rion pressed his penis into her deepest point, Elise arched her back, reaching a violent, convulsive climax. Urged on by her tightening, Rion too released his hot semen into the deepest part of Elise. *Splurt... splurt...* With each pulse, the sensation of her innermost depths being filled drew wordless cries from Elise. For the first time, the two of them were truly joined. — The pale light of dawn began to envelop Stargazing Hill. Rion quietly murmured into the ear of Elise, who was drifting off to sleep. "[serious] Before the inquiry... there was a councilor who knew about the ancient document in advance." Elise slowly opened her eyes. "Someone above Seraphis wants the Vanheim family's curse. ...That father and daughter were just being manipulated." Elise drew a quiet breath within Rion's embrace. The curse was broken. But the darkness spreading beyond it was still deep. "[whispers] ...So it's not over yet." Gazing at the darkness ahead, Elise murmured softly. A single star streaked