*POV Bai Ning*
The car engine purred softly before falling completely silent. My fingers slid over the leather steering wheel, feeling the familiar texture beneath my nails.
Opening the door and stepping onto the sidewalk, my eyes were drawn to a building in the distance that rose like a spear of glass and steel, its mirrored façade reflecting the blue morning sky.
Grand, but nothing special—just another Bai family hotel. Or at least, that's what people believe.
I smiled to myself, adjusting a strand of golden hair that had fallen over my forehead. My blue eyes shone with a light of their own, as clear as the spring sky.
Perfect. Immaculate.
"Good morning, Lady Bai!" The receptionist bowed nearly ninety degrees the moment I stepped through the glass doors.
"Good morning, dear." My voice came out melodious, almost sing-song. "You look radiant today. New lipstick?"
The girl blushed to the roots of her hair, stammering something about a sale at the perfume shop. I laughed softly, a crystalline sound that echoed through the marble lobby, and continued on my way.
The guards posted beside the private elevator straightened as I approached. Large men, in dark suits, neutral expressions, empty eyes.
My little soldiers. Such a shame they're flawed.
"Good morning, boys." I lightly touched one of their shoulders, an almost maternal gesture. "Keep up the good work."
"Yes, Lady Bai," they replied in unison.
The private elevator opened with a soft chime, and I stepped into the mirrored cabin. The doors closed, isolating me from the outside world, and my eyes traveled over the panel of buttons.
There were no positive numbers. Only negative ones.
-1. -2. -3. -4. -5...
Twenty-seven underground floors in total. Twenty-seven layers of secrets hidden beneath a glorious façade.
My finger hovered over the -8 button, where Subject 7 was being held.
At this point, the Discipline chamber should already be prepared, the instruments aligned, the medical team on standby.
It would be a... productive visit.
But no.
Subject 7 could wait. He wasn't going anywhere—his bones were probably shattered after that pathetic escape attempt.
But Xue...
Ah, Xue was on the seventh sublevel. So close. So conveniently close.
And I had wonderful news to share.
I pressed the -7 button.
The elevator began its smooth descent, and I closed my eyes, savoring the anticipation.
Every passing second brought me closer to the moment I would see her face fall apart in tears.
Ryuu was adapting so well to my care. His eyes no longer looked at me with just fear—there was something more now, a spark of curiosity, of acceptance.
He was beginning to understand that his place was with me, under my protection, under my love.
And Xue needed to know that.
Needed to know that every touch of mine on his skin was a caress she would never feel. That every moan I drew from his lips was a symphony she would never hear...
The elevator doors opened on the seventh sublevel.
The corridor was white, sterile, illuminated by fluorescent lights that cast no shadows. My heels echoed in the silence as I walked, my lips curving into a smile that was mine alone.
Xue's cell door was identical to all the others: a reinforced metal slab with a small observation window. But I didn't need to look through it.
Because before I even reached the door, I could already hear her voice.
"—shut up, system! I get it, I get it! I don't need fifty notifications!"
I frowned.
System?
...
*POV Bai Xue*
[Ding! +5 Love Points.]
[Ding! +3 Love Points.]
[Ding! +7 Love Points.]
[Ding! +4 Love Points.]
"That's enough!" I growled, stomping my foot like a child. "I already know he escaped! You don't need to notify me every time my heart beats faster!"
[Host, these are automatic notifications. I cannot control them.]
"Then control them! Silence them! Mute them! Disappear! Do something!"
[Ding! +6 Love Points.]
"AAAAHHH!"
I grabbed my head with both hands, my messy hair swaying as I jumped in frustration.
My body still ached—every muscle screaming in agony after that insane night of training—but I couldn't stay still.
Because he escaped.
He escaped!
My Ryuu escaped from that woman!
And not only that—he looked at the camera. He looked directly at me, with those blue eyes I knew so well, and said he wouldn't abandon me.
Said he just needed fresh air.
Said he would come back.
"He spoke to me," I whispered, hugging my own shoulders as a silly smile spread across my face. "He spoke to me, system. Not to her. To me."
[Ding! +8 Love Points.]
[Ding! +3 Love Points.]
[Host, your heart rate is—]
"Silence! I said silence! That's an order!"
The system obeyed, and the flood of notifications finally stopped.
I let out a sigh of relief, my eyes still fixed on the TV screen showing the empty room.
The bed was messy. The window was open. The improvised rope swayed in the wind.
As for the possibility that something had gone wrong?
That never crossed my mind, because the one escaping is my Ryuu, and he is… very special.
"Ah… Ryuu…"
My heart pounded so hard it hurt, but it was a good pain, a warm pain, a pain that made me want to scream with happiness.
After days of torture, of watching that woman touch him, of hearing his moans while I was trapped in this filthy cell...
Finally… finally something good happened.
"He's free," I murmured, tears welling up in my eyes. "He's free, system. He's—"
Suddenly, the cell door opened.
My heart froze when I saw who it was.
Bai Ning entered like a poisonous breeze, her blue dress swaying softly with each step. Her smile was radiant, her eyes gleamed, and her entire posture exuded a confidence that made my stomach churn.
"Xue, dear," she sang, tilting her head slightly. "So good to see you're… excited. Have you finally gone mad? Talking to yourself now?"
My jaw clenched. My fingers curled into fists at my sides.
She didn't know.
She… still didn't know.
"Mother brought news," she continued, her heels echoing against the white floor as she walked toward me. "Wonderful news about our dear Ryuu."
I clenched my teeth harder.
"Oh, you wouldn't believe the progress we've made." She placed a hand on her chest, feigning emotion. "He's so docile now. So obedient. This morning, he even looked at me differently. In a way that said 'I want you, mommy.'"
Liar.
"And when I bathe him…" She shivered, as if a thrill of pleasure ran through her body. "You can't imagine how he reacts to my touch. Every inch of his skin is so soft, so warm. And when I run the sponge over certain areas… he moans, Xue. Moans in a way that would drive any woman mad."
Liar.
Liar.
Liar.
I had seen his expression. Seen the way he flinched at her touch—not in pleasure, but in disgust. Seen his eyes fill with tears while she touched him.
But hearing those words still hurt, burned my heart like a branding iron.
"And today," she continued, her eyes gleaming with sick excitement, "today I prepared something special. Want to know what it is?"
I didn't answer. I just stared at her.
"I'm going to visit him tonight," she whispered, leaning in as if sharing a secret. "I'll wear a nurse outfit. A very short one, you know? With a deep neckline and a skirt that barely covers my thighs. And you…"
She touched my chin with her fingertips, forcing me to look into her eyes.
"You're going to watch. You're going to watch as I take care of him. As I make him climax. As I show him what a real woman can do."
Something inside me snapped.
A mix of rage and amusement.
Because I realized, in that moment, just how pathetic she was. How desperate. How blind.
She didn't know.
She really didn't know.
And that… that was an opportunity.
A laugh escaped my lips. At first low, shaky, like I was trying to hold it back. Then louder, freer, more hysterical.
Bai Ning's smile faltered.
"What's so funny?"
I kept laughing. My eyes watered, my stomach hurt, and each burst of laughter felt like it was tearing away a piece of my sanity.
"What's funny?!" Her voice rose. "What do you find so amusing, you ungrateful bitch?!"
Instead of answering, I pointed at the TV screen.
Bai Ning's eyes followed my finger slowly.
She saw the empty bed.
Saw the open window.
Saw the improvised rope swaying in the wind.
Her expression collapsed, and she staggered back a few steps.
"W-what…?" Her voice came out as a broken whisper, her face losing all color. "This is… no… that's not possible…"
I tightened my grip on the Teleportation Orb, feeling its warmth pulse against my skin. The system was already on alert, ready to take me away the instant I gave the command.
But before leaving, I wanted to savor that moment.
"So, mommy," my voice dripped with venom, "who was it you were going to visit tonight?"
Bai Ning didn't answer, but her eyes widened into two spheres of absolute darkness. The roots of her golden hair darkened, staining into a sickly black that seemed to leak from within her.
The transformation happened right before my eyes, leaving me frozen in horror.
But Bai Ning didn't wait for me to recover—her hand moved, fast, far too fast for human eyes to follow—and in the next instant, she was right in front of me.
Her hand had become a black claw, elongated and distorted, slicing through the air toward my neck with lethal precision.
[Teleporting to a safe location.]
The Teleportation Orb activated on its own.
The world spun. The white walls of the cell distorted, Bai Ning's furious face dissolved, and the last thing I saw were those eyes—those damned black eyes that seemed to swallow all the light in the universe.
And then, everything went silent.
...
*POV Bai Ning*
My claw cut through empty air.
I stood still, my arm outstretched, my black fingers open in the exact spot where Xue's neck had been a moment before. The air around me felt solid, dense and suffocating, as if the universe itself were holding its breath.
She escaped.
She escaped.
My hand, still transformed into that black, distorted thing, trembled in the air. My eyes—my damned eyes I couldn't control—were fixed on the TV screen.
The empty bed.
The open window.
The improvised rope.
"You… you…"
My legs gave out.
I fell to my knees on the cold floor of the cell, the impact reverberating through my bones. My hands—those horrible claws—dug into the concrete, scratching the surface as if I could dig a hole and disappear.
Tears welled up in my eyes.
But they weren't normal tears.
They were black tears, thick like ink, streaming down my cheeks and staining the white floor.
With every drop that fell, the darkness inside me seemed to leak out a little more, as if the dam I had held for decades was finally breaking.
"Ryuu…"
My voice came out as a broken whisper.
He escaped.
He left me.
I gave him everything. My love, my protection, my touch, my body. I stayed by his side day and night, tended to every wound, fed him with my own hands.
And he escaped.
Why?!
I only wanted to protect him. Only wanted to keep him safe.
The world outside was cruel, dangerous, full of people who would hurt him. I was the only one who truly loved him, the only one who would do anything for him.
"He's out there," I whispered, my mind spinning with horrible images. "Alone. Hurt. He's still recovering… his lung… the surgery…"
What if he got hit by a car? What if someone attacked him? What if he fell and hit his head and ended up lying in the street, bleeding, alone, with no one to help him?
"The guards," I growled, my fingers digging even deeper into the floor. "It was the guards. They failed. They let him escape."
No.
It wasn't their fault.
It was mine.
I was the one who left the room. I was the one who left him alone. I was the one who failed to foresee that he would try something like this.
But he was so fragile… so obedient…
"HOW DID HE MANAGE IT?!"
My scream echoed through the empty cell, reverberating against the steel walls like the roar of a wounded beast.
The tears wouldn't stop. With every sob, more ink spilled from my eyes, staining my perfect face, my blue dress, my clawed hands.
I looked like a monster.
I was a monster.
But I didn't care.
The only thing that mattered was Ryuu.
"I'll find him," I murmured, my voice gradually regaining its firmness. "I'll find him and bring him back. And this time…"
My claws clenched into fists, the sound of bone grinding against bone echoing in the silence.
"This time I'll make sure he can never escape again."
I dragged myself back to my feet, my legs still trembling, my tears still falling. The cell door opened before me, and I stepped into the white corridor.
A scientist happened to be passing by at that exact moment.
A thin man, wearing glasses and a lab coat, carrying a clipboard. He froze when he saw me—saw my black eyes, my claws, my ink-like tears—and his face went pale.
"L-Lady Bai…?"
My hand shot forward, grabbing his lab coat collar and pulling him close. My claws tore through the fabric like paper, sinking into the flesh of his shoulder.
Blood burst out immediately, warm and red, running down my wrist.
The scientist let out a muffled sound—pain, definitely pain—but he didn't scream. None of my staff screamed. They knew screaming only made things worse.
"A vehicle," I ordered, my voice low and dangerous. "One of the experimental ones. The fastest. Now."
"Y-yes, ma'am," he stammered, his face twisted in agony.
"I want it parked in front of the building in five minutes. No. Three minutes."
"Yes, ma'am."
I released him, and he ran down the corridor, blood dripping from his shoulder and staining the white coat with a red trail.
Not once did he look back.
I stood in the empty corridor, my breathing heavy, my claws dripping blood onto the immaculate floor.
And then, slowly, a smile began to form on my lips—gentle and utterly maternal.
Exactly everything I was.
"I'll find you, Ryuu," I whispered, my voice echoing through the corridor like a promise. "No matter where you are. No matter what you do. Mommy always finds her baby."
My footsteps echoed through the corridor as I followed the scientist's trail of blood.
Xue had escaped. For now.
But she wasn't important.
The only thing that mattered—the only thing that had ever mattered—was Ryuu.
And I would bring him back.
Even if it was the last thing I ever did.
*End of POVs.*