What Ye Feng proposed was a contest of endurance.
A competition of willpower and stamina between the two of them.
It was a battle of both technique and will.
"Why not? Does Aponia think she will definitely lose? It's alright, I can go easy on you."
Aponia placed her hands on Ye Feng's shoulders, intending to push him away, but her strength was soft and weak. Instead, it gave the impression of playing hard to get.
"Little Feng, we are... we can't do this..."
"What are we? I am unmarried, you are unwed. A match made in heaven."
"...Little Feng!"
Aponia exhausted the last of her strength and finally managed to push Ye Feng's body away.
Her tone, for a rare moment, became firm. "If you keep fooling around, I'm going to get angry."
"An angry Aponia is very beautiful."
Aponia turned her face away. "We can't keep making one mistake after another... The time for prayer has come. I must return to the Realm."
Ye Feng stepped forward again.
Lick~
"That's the taste of a lie. You want to be with me too, don't you? In any case, the game has already begun. Even if Aponia doesn't attack, I won't be holding back."
Feeling Ye Feng's outrageous act, the holy and sexy nun knelt down. She was at a complete loss, her ten fingers clasped ever tighter in a prayer-like gesture. She was pressing so hard that her knuckles bulged, turning white from the strain.
In her panic, her pure white veil fell off, fluttering up on the wind and covering the eyes of the goddess statue.
Through the abstinent habit, Ye Feng could clearly feel Aponia's body temperature rising. A faint pink blush spread across her fair, smooth skin.
If one had to describe it, Aponia's current state was like that of a malfunctioning robot. "Visual circuits experiencing an anomaly." "Comprehension circuit disconnected."
Aponia was reaching her limit...
Aponia was about to lose her ability to move...
....
....
Like a shattered statue of a goddess, the nun trembled as she prostrated on the ground. Streams of tears slid down her face, dripping and pooling on the floor.
It was, without a doubt, a declaration of the nun's defeat.
Ye Feng raised his sweat-covered palm. The crystalline beads of sweat shimmered under the slanted rays of the sun.
Ye Feng chuckled softly. "Aponia, you lost to me on purpose, didn't you? So you could keep staying here."
Aponia's eyes were vacant. She tilted her head back, staring unfocusedly at the dome of the open-air church, her chest heaving.
Her breath was as faint as a silken thread, and her voice was weak as she said:
"...Little Feng, why would you do something like this... Does my wretched state bring you so much joy...?"
"It does. Because I love... all... of you. Your smiles, your anger, your pride, your humiliation—I'll accept it all."
The nun's body went limp, and she collapsed into Ye Feng's embrace.
Ye Feng gently stroked her hair and whispered:
"Fate gave you a heart of compassion, but your gentleness and comfort have never been able to truly heal... or save anyone. You rely on those puppet strings hanging above the masses, watching every fleeting moment of destiny. You bind yourself in a prison called the 'Deep End,' shouldering all the sins of this world on behalf of everyone else."
"But who will bear your burdens for you?"
"If it's possible, I hope that person can be me."
"Because, in this world, you truly have used these ○○ to soothe the weariness from my body."
The hand Aponia had raised behind Ye Feng's back quietly lowered.
She simply nestled into the arms of the boy she had raised, an unprecedented peace filling her heart.
"Looks like Aponia is staying here again. There's one minute left before we return to the 'trajectory.' While you're still lucid, is there anything you want to say to me?"
"..."
Silence.
At this moment, Aponia had no strength left.
Physically and mentally, she didn't want to move.
She just quietly leaned against "Little Feng," waiting for the world to resume its course.
She counted down silently in her heart.
In the end, Aponia wrapped her arms around Ye Feng and imposed a discipline upon herself.
[Discipline VI, Thou Shalt Not Succumb]
...
....
「Character Status: Sober (Mild) → Cognitive Alteration (Mild), Hypnosis (Mild)」
In a state between sleep and wakefulness, Aponia opened her eyes.
She felt like she'd just had a dream.
In the dream, she had been very conflicted and seemed to have encountered something shameful, but it was all a blur, and she could no longer remember the details.
"...Little Feng?"
The first thing that came into view was Little Feng's anxious face.
"Mother Aponia, you're finally awake!"
"Where am I..."
Aponia propped herself up, holding her still-dizzy forehead, and heard Little Feng say angrily:
"Don't you remember? That detestable principal called you to her office and secretly put a sleeping drug in your tea. If I hadn't arrived in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable!"
The principal...?
Ah, she remembered now.
Because "the Convent of the Holy Maiden cannot accept male students," she had been summoned to the principal's office.
Her memory of the principal's appearance was hazy; she only vaguely recalled a pot-bellied person.
She should be an utterly detestable person.
But, how strange...
Why do I feel a sense of guilt towards the principal?
"Mother Aponia, were you being threatened by the principal?! The way she looked at you, I just knew she was up to no good!"
Aponia tried her best to recall.
But she could only remember the phrase, "Ma'am, you wouldn't want your son to be expelled, would you?" She couldn't remember anything after that.
Aponia wanted to let the matter rest.
The Convent of the Holy Maiden was the most sacred academy on this continent, a holy land that all young girls dreamed of entering.
A convent of utmost purity and sanctity, reserved for the training of chaste young maidens, it was the faith of the entire continent.
Yet, Aponia felt not the slightest sense of incongruity about Ye Feng, a male, entering the pure Convent of the Holy Maiden.
"Alright, Little Feng, let's go back."
Aponia tried to stand up, but her legs felt a little weak.
And they felt sticky. Extremely uncomfortable.
Aponia's eyes flickered, and her face flushed slightly.
"Is Mother Aponia still thinking about the principal?"
"Huh?"
"It's okay, I'll protect Mother Aponia! If she ever dares to have improper thoughts about you again, I'll teach her a lesson!"
Little Feng waved his fists forcefully.
A genuine smile appeared on Aponia's face. "My Little Feng has grown up."
The nun led the little boy back through the maple forest. The warm evening sun stretched their two shadows long, so very long. The two shadows would sometimes separate, and sometimes merge into one...