This is the consequence of confronting the Old Gods.
Even if the Old Gods do not have subjective intentions of harm, their whispers and their essence can instantly pierce through human sanity.
She is obviously different.
Just like the pure love stories in literary works, even if Ethan really is a succubus, he should belong to a succubus subspecies. As a scholar specializing in succubus research, her studies are the most authoritative, beyond doubt!
"Teacher, are you alright?"
Ethan interrupted Lindong’s thoughts.
Lindong momentarily couldn’t regain her composure and voiced the conclusion in her mind, "Yes, we are pure love."
The response to her was silence.
Ethan pointed to the book she held upside down. Lindong blushed to the roots of her neck, realizing that all of her previous thoughts had nothing to do with the content of this book.
But she had to emphasize that even for a succubus subspecies like Ethan, his strategy difficulty was five stars, far surpassing other Old Gods.
Lindong coughed lightly, fortunately she wasn’t in her feline form now, otherwise Ethan would easily notice that all the fur on her body stood up, her tail straightened, she set her face and pretended to be authoritative, "What do you know about succubi? Why do they often succeed?"
This is a quiz, an impromptu test.
She was about to test Ethan’s understanding of dark creatures.
"This involves the Empire’s social issues."
This was not the answer Lindong had anticipated.
Ethan felt that this question mirrored people’s perceptions of yandere.
Do people really like the yandere personality?
What truly captivates them is someone who loves them wholeheartedly, to the point of being twisted.
And succubi can satisfy all people’s fantasies of being loved.
"This reflects the Empire’s citizens’ yearning for love and their beautiful imaginations."
Of course, this is a more emotionally intelligent way to put it.
The reality is, according to cabinet investigations, in the long past, the kind of love that fits people’s beautiful imaginations was often an exclusive luxury for the nobility, too far away from ordinary people.
If you were a common Empire resident, with a childhood sweetheart who grew up with you, she fits all your beautiful imaginations, then one day you find out she’s been sent to a noble’s manor to be a maid by her family, and gradually, you lose contact.
Another statistic highlighted the extent of private life chaos.
The depiction of pure love succubi in literary stories is fictional, but nine out of ten tales of love and hatred between nobility and maids are realistic.
Lindong heard many insightful views again, but she always felt the topic was somewhat off.
She pondered for a moment and asked again, "I wanted to ask, how do you view succubi?"
"A clever succubus can often see through people’s true inner desires."
If limited to love affairs, their powers are ultimately limited.
"A truly powerful succubus becomes your best friend, worst enemy, teacher, intimate confidant, trusted ally, and soulmate when needed."
Ethan called this the multifaceted ability of a succubus, and only those who have mastered every aspect on the six-dimensional chart are the elite among succubi.
Lindong’s eyes widened almost instantly, she stared at Ethan.
Those words were no different from admitting he was the Succubus King.
But Ethan suddenly changed his tone, "I think the ancestor who summoned the Old Gods might have possessed these attributes."
Old Ba said his life was too short, now only faint traces remain in this world, but he left a profound impression in the Old Gods’ minds, even for Old Ba, who is obsessed with art and pays no attention to matters outside of it.
"For example, for Old Ba, what truly attracts him is not romance, but someone with aligned pursuit in the artistic field."
Lindong’s gaze suddenly turned sharp.
Ethan’s words awoke her, if taken without the premise of love, Ethan’s behavior fully aligns with the succubus’ tendency to "sneak around"!
"It’s the ancestor who provided a platform for promoting art, remember the contract Old Ba mentioned?"
As agreed, he would bring the concepts of "death" and "evolution" to this world.
This is the cornerstone of biological iteration.
Humans were not the earliest creatures to appear in this world; some books mention even older intelligent races than humans, dragons truly existed, they wrote their civilization before humans were even born.
And the Evolution Theory he proposed to Cynthia during the Courage Trial was also based on the rules written by Old Ba.
Thus, according to the contract, this world naturally became the platform for Bazatous to practice art.
Since the Courage Trial, Ethan had been thinking about this question.
Until Old Ba mentioned that part of the ancestor’s imprint seemed to remain on him, many mysteries suddenly became clear.
For example, Ethan had always been puzzled by his relationship with the Old Gods.
So far, every Old God he encountered seemed to have a natural liking for him. This was the basis for them to sit down and talk calmly.
He understood Lindong’s meaning, but he believed the teacher’s understanding of this question was skewed.
"Teacher, this has nothing to do with succubi; strictly speaking, it’s a form of substitute literature."
"Substitute literature? What’s that?"
Lindong tilted her head, indicating that too many unfamiliar terms made her thoughtful; this must be a habit left over from her cat form.
Ethan always brought up unfamiliar terms she had never heard of.
It always felt like Ethan was making them up, but each time they seemed to have some sense.
"Perhaps they see some familiar shadows in me, so many of my actions may be beautified in their eyes, which is still very common psychological knowledge."
Ethan said, "Teacher, this is just like if you inherently suspect someone of stealing your things, then whatever they do next would seem suspicious to you, and the reverse is also true."
Ethan always had a way with words that made them easily understandable.
Lindong’s face lit with a smile, a genuine smile from the heart. She agreed with Ethan’s judgment on the ancestor and substitute literature, but this also implicitly illustrated another thing.
She didn’t know or care about the so-called ancestor at all.
This meant substitute literature was ineffective on her.
What she had been drawn to from the start was Ethan, and it was Ethan she liked.
All the unhappiness inside her vanished.
Lindong felt that her advantage was significant, infinite even — there was really nothing to worry about!
Seeing Lindong’s eyes suddenly curved like crescents, Ethan was puzzled.
He was just discussing psychological knowledge earlier, which shouldn’t include any humor elements.
Moreover, Lindong’s smile didn’t seem amused by a joke; it seemed to originate from some other emotion.
"I just remembered something happy."
Lindong said, while listing her various advantages in her mind.
First, her strategy difficulty is five stars.
Next, she’s spent the most time with Ethan, incomparable to anyone else!
She licked her lips; she had heard of the substitute theory, but it wasn’t related to literature and purely referred to food itself. For some rare and unattainable ingredients, nobles often had to settle for substitutes.
This phenomenon is especially common in the capital city.
However, can substitute food really compare to a proper meal?
This shows she was always enjoying the best from the start, and regarding those Old Gods whose intentions were impure from the start, she had only one thing to say.
Serves you right for eating substitutes!
There is no choice since she’s the true gourmet. Chapters fırst released on 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅✦𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾✦𝗇𝖾𝗍