Once she mastered moving the hairpin, she would move a knife, then a missile, then thousands of missiles at the same time.

With enough training, she would become an absolute monster.

Or at least...

That’s what she thought it would go like, but...

Reality was often different from fantasy.

"Aaaggh! Why can’t I control it!?"

Evelyn groaned in anger as the hairpin in her hand trembled in the air before falling on the bed again. She had been trying for two hours now and had made little to no progress.

Lucian smiled weakly at that.

This was the problem with the Contract. It may allow Evelyn to access his Energy, it may even make it so easy for her to access the energy that it would come to her instinctively even if she wasn’t specifically taught.

This was the reason Evelyn moved the hairpin on her first try.

However—

Having access to that energy wasn’t the same as controlling that energy.

That took time and effort.

And that was the only thing Evelyn could do—

Try and try again.

Lucian stood with her patiently, making sure she didn’t hurt herself in the process.

"Take a deep breath, calm yourself."

He spoke in a light voice. Evelyn did as she was told. The hairpin moved up, Evelyn smiled, but the next instant, it shot in a random direction and hit the pillow.

Lucian looked at the pillow, then at Evelyn.

Evelyn looked back.

"That was intentional."

She justified herself.

"Of course."

Lucian nodded immediately.

"I attacked the pillow on purpose."

"A fearsome enemy indeed.

But to challenge you?

It had it coming."

"...r-right."

Evelyn nodded. Lucian only smiled. They continued. The next few times were a little smoother, then, one time, as the hairpin hovered in the air, Evelyn suddenly lost control and the pin moved right toward her eye.

However, just before it could hurt her, the pin stopped midair. Then, it turned and returned to Evelyn’s hand.

Evelyn blinked at that sight.

"Be careful."

Lucian smiled gently.

She looked at Lucian with a shocked and slightly terrified look on her face.

"...how did you do that?"

She asked.

"Hm? What do you mean? Just like how I taught you."

Lucian answered. This time, however, the answer did not satisfy her. After all, this time, Evelyn knew how it was done.

To control an object, she was supposed to cover it with her energy. If the object was still, it was comparatively easier to move, however, moving objects were an entirely different matter.

To control a moving object, one needed to calculate its trajectory, then move their energy to the exact position where the object would appear, at the exact time when that object would appear in that position—

It was... almost impossible.

But...

"How are you doing it...?"

Evelyn asked in shock.

"It’s easy if you get the hang of it."

Lucian answered with a smile, and those words only made Evelyn react more strongly.

"Hang of it...?

Didn’t you say you learned it yesterday?

Are you saying you got the hang of it in one day...?"

"If your life was on the line, you would too."

Lucian mumbled to himself.

"What?"

Evelyn didn’t catch what he said. Lucian, however, just laughed it off.

"What can I say? I am somewhat of a genius."

He acted smug.

In his mind, however, he could still remember standing in front of Vivienne with all four of his limbs tied, and while he was in this state, unable to move, that woman stood about 50 meters away from him with a pile of sharp knives beneath her.

Yes.

That was one of his training exercises yesterday.

Protecting himself from hundreds of knives Vivienne would throw at him with nothing but his eyes and his demonic energy.

The knives he managed to stop didn’t hurt him. Those that did pierce through his body helped him train his regeneration.

Yes, it was torture.

A training he would never put Evelyn through, no matter how effective its results were.

"Somewhat of a genius, huh?"

Evelyn smiled at those words, then, as she held Lucian’s hands, she asked another question.

"How long would it take me to reach your level?"

"...you really want me to answer that?"

"Yes, and I don’t want you to lie."

"At least a few months."

"What...?"

Evelyn couldn’t believe it.

However, before she could ask any more questions, suddenly—

Every single thing in the room, be it the hairpin, the pillows, the blankets, the pen, the mic, everything that could be found—

They all hovered in the air.

Evelyn widened her eyes in surprise, however, just as she thought this was over, all these things moved simultaneously, and they didn’t just move, Evelyn could see them coming together, forming something.

A heart...

Then, the heart was suddenly pierced by an arrow, and at that exact moment, Lucian placed his hand on his chest while his other hand pointed at her.

"...incredible."

Evelyn couldn’t believe it.

Lucian only smiled, then, with another wave of his hand, everything returned to where it was, neatly.

"You learned all that... in a day...?"

"Along with a few more abilities, yes.

It’s still not good enough to be used in battle though, there are too many weaknesses that I need to work on."

He explained and Evelyn—

She only stared at the man standing in front of her in shock.

Along with a few more abilities...?

What did that even mean...?

How did that make any sense!?

She was losing her mind.

"I’ll try again."

She spoke with a new determination, wanting to catch up to him.

"No."

Lucian, however, shook his head.

"That is enough."

"I can do more."

"No, you need to rest."

"I am not tired."

"You do realise that I can still hear your heartbeat, right?"

"...that’s only because I am excited."

Evelyn gave another excuse. Lucian looked at her with a straight gaze and she cracked under ten seconds.

"...alright."

Lucian smiled.

"Good girl."

He hugged her from behind and gently rubbed the area under her belly, the one where her tattoo was. Evelyn rubbed her body against his.

Just then, Lucian momentarily paused.

He looked at the door. A few seconds later, a knock was heard and Clara’s voice came from outside.

"Miss Starling, you have no major schedule today. If you wish to go out, I can make arrangements."

Those words made Evelyn look at the door, then, she stared at Lucian and she grinned.

"No, thank you, Clara."

"Are you certain?"

Clara asked again.

"Yes."

Evelyn nodded, her eyes remaining on Lucian as she began rubbing her body against his once again.

"I am very fine in my room~"