The bonding ceremony was scheduled to take place three days later.
During those days, Mu Lin shut herself in her room, waiting uneasily for her fate like a bride in an arranged marriage. The image of the silver-haired priest kept surfacing in her mind; she wondered if she would ever see him again. Outside the window, the moon hung dim and obscured. At dawn, she would go to perform the ritual with some stranger she had never met.
She buried her face in her pillow, feeling as though she were drowning, unable to breathe. After a long while, as if steeling herself, she opened the door and stepped out.
This was the first time in days she had left her room. Following her memory, she searched for the path to the main entrance downstairs.
The dormitory building was larger than she had imagined. Long corridors lined with rooms belonging to the enforcer witches stretched on both sides. She crossed the hallway, expecting the staircase from her recollection—but instead found herself on a terrace garden.
Mu Lin turned to leave, but then she heard intermittent moans drifting from the terrace.
"Nnh… not here… the students will hear…" Sister Theresa, half-undressed, was pinned hard against the wall. Her head covering had fallen away, leaving her pale-green curls in disarray. Her nun's robes were torn open; her full, pale breasts were gripped in the hands of a tall, red-haired man.
"No can do. Demonic energy doesn't wait—we need to purify it now," the man said, his powerful frame pressing the sister against the wall as he kissed her. One hand lifted her leg high, fully exposing their joined bodies to Mu Lin's view.
His thick, menacing length plunged into her again and again. Each withdrawal drew out glistening strands of fluid, leaving their union slick and obscene. Theresa's body hung half-suspended, with no purchase for her feet; she could only spread her legs wide and helplessly accept his invasion, her wanton cries escaping despite her efforts to stifle them.
The shocking scene nearly drew a scream from Mu Lin. She clamped both hands over her mouth and stumbled back into the corridor. Even after turning several corners, her heart still pounded uncontrollably.
She didn't understand why the sight had shaken her so deeply. The lewd images kept flashing in her mind, making her flustered; Theresa's sweet, melting moans seemed to linger in her ears.
After calming herself a little, Mu Lin realized the sounds were not imagination. Farther down the corridor, a door stood slightly ajar, and heavy breathing spilled out.
A white-haired girl had her hands bound and raised high overhead, eyes blindfolded with black cloth, mouth gagged with a ball. Her naked, pale body was sandwiched between two men dressed as priests—one in front, one behind—both her openings simultaneously filled and thrust into by their thick shafts.
Tongues licked along her slender neck and earlobes, teeth nipping at her collarbone. Her soft breasts were roughly kneaded and pulled. The girl's body was rigid; her cries muffled by the gag, reduced to pained whimpers from her throat.
The glimpse through the crack froze Mu Lin's blood. She began to tremble uncontrollably. She wanted to find help but didn't know whom to turn to. Stumbling, she finally located the stairs and fled down them, bursting into the courtyard.
She had no idea where she could go—only an instinct that something terrible was awakening inside her. An inexplicable terror chased her, urging her to run as far away as possible.
A hand suddenly caught her arm, startling a sharp cry from her.
"What's wrong?" The silver-haired priest looked puzzled. He had come to check on preparations with Theresa, concerned about the impending ceremony—only to see tomorrow's protagonist sprinting out like a madwoman.
Noyes's appearance made Mu Lin feel she had found her savior. She clutched his robe desperately. "Noyes… help! In the dormitory, a girl is being…"
Noyes frowned slightly at the incoherent girl. "You mean purification?"
"Huh?" She had heard the word from the tall man earlier too.
"Didn't Sister Theresa teach you? Priests purify demonic energy by joining with their familiars and infusing them with holy power. If that's what you saw, it's nothing unusual—it's normal here."
"Normal? How is that normal? A girl tied up and toyed with by two men—this is the Holy See! Isn't it supposed to be a sacred place?" Mu Lin's voice rose almost to a shout.
The high priest's brow furrowed deeper. "Some priests have particular… preferences. Outsiders don't interfere."
"So… after bonding as a familiar, not only is my life in someone else's hands, but my body too?" Mu Lin felt all strength drain from her; even her voice shook. She still could not remember how the heart demon had possessed her or why she had ended up like this. Fear gripped her more fiercely than when she had been tied to the stake.
"It's the only way to prevent demonic erosion," Noyes said, echoing Theresa's words exactly.
"What if I don't like him?"
Noyes looked at her in silence for a long moment. "You had better learn to."
The cold words shattered Mu Lin's last hope. She stood frozen, drained of strength. Finally, head lowered, she reached out and clutched his sleeve like a final lifeline, summoning all her courage: "Noyes… could I… become your familiar?"
"You're too weak. You wouldn't suit me." Noyes closed his eyes, a trace of helplessness in his voice. "Go back. Tomorrow is an important day for you."
The girl remained rooted in place, head bowed, her expression unreadable in the darkness. The night air grew oppressively quiet. Noyes stood beside her in silence until she finally released his sleeve and ran back toward her room without looking back.