Chapter 114: Eight years

Laviana did not immediately continue talking about the last Festival of Happiness.

She was still sitting close beside Erik, one hand resting on his arm as she looked through the window at the sky, which had returned to normal. The crack from earlier could no longer be seen, but after learning that the thing covering the safe zone could break, Erik could no longer look at the sky above them the same way as before.

After a while, Laviana slowly said, "At first, the Council’s rules sounded fairly normal. Men who wanted to join the festival needed a clean record, their families had to be verified, and their Contracts needed to have existed long enough to prevent couples from temporarily pairing up just to compete for a place."

Erik nodded slightly.

If it had only gone that far, he truly would not have seen a problem. It was reasonable to screen participants for an event tied to something that could reinforce the protective dome.

Laviana looked at his expression and gave a cold smile. "The problem was that it didn’t stop there."

She lifted her hand from Erik’s arm and lightly tapped a finger against her knee.

"To stand near the [Heart], you had to pay a fee. To be placed among the main candidates, you had to prove your wealth or status, or have someone recommend you. Then special positions began appearing for families that had made major contributions to the Council."

Laviana paused before speaking in an increasingly cold voice.

"In the end, what determined who could stand near the [Heart] was no longer whether they were happy."

"But how much money they had?" Erik asked.

"Money, connections, family background." Laviana tilted her head to look at him. "And most importantly, whether that man was ’noble’ enough by the Council’s standards."

Erik said nothing more.

Laviana continued her story, this time more slowly, as though recounting something she herself found absurd. The great families of men began competing for the best places at the Festival of Happiness. The clothes worn on the night of the festival also gradually became a way for them to compare their status, rising from several hundred thousand Credits to millions, even tens of millions.

But the ones paying for most of those things were not the men.

They were the Succubi accompanying them.

Laviana sighed softly. "Some Succubi had to sell their property just to buy their Partner an outfit expensive enough, because if he appeared too ordinary, the other men would mock him."

Erik frowned when he heard that. "They really accepted it?"

"You’re looking at this through your own way of thinking," Laviana reminded him. "Don’t forget that a woman who has been taught since childhood that the higher her Partner’s status, the greater her own value will see things differently. If her Partner is mocked by others, many Succubi will feel that they themselves are the ones who embarrassed him."

Meira, who had been silent since the conversation began, added coldly, "Later, even the candidate list was almost entirely decided by the Council."

Erik looked at her. "But the [Heart] needs genuine emotions."

Meira’s lips curved slightly, though it was clearly not a happy smile. "Yes. That was exactly the problem."

Erik understood immediately.

Even if the Council could decide who stood where, they could not order an ancient artifact to recognize a couple as happy.

Laviana seemed to remember something amusing. A trace of mockery appeared in her previously cold eyes.

"One year, the Council placed almost all the descendants of the biggest families in the central positions."

She raised one finger.

"The cheapest outfit among them cost over ten million Credits. Every man brought the most beautiful Succubus he could find, and there were countless recording devices around them because they wanted to broadcast the moment the Beacon was lit."

Erik had already guessed the result.

Laviana looked at him. "Then the Beacon didn’t light up."

Erik: "..."

Elowen, seated beside him, lowered her head slightly, but the corners of her lips clearly wanted to curve upward.

Laviana continued, "They thought perhaps the first couple was not compatible enough, so they replaced them with three other couples."

She raised three more fingers.

"It still didn’t light up."

"And then?" Erik asked.

"They replaced them again."

"It still didn’t light up?"

"No." Laviana answered very quickly.

Meira, across from them, also gave a quiet snort. She had clearly heard this story a long time ago.

Erik leaned back in his seat. "Embarrassing?"

Laviana turned to look at him, her red eyes curving slightly. "Very embarrassing."

A festival created to find truly happy couples had been turned into a place to flaunt wealth and status. In the end, the [Heart] itself had publicly rejected everyone the Council put forward.

For men who had always seen themselves as the center of the world, it was no different from being slapped in front of the entire city.

Laviana gently tucked a strand of red hair behind her ear and continued. "After that, reports began appearing that claimed the Festival of Happiness consumed too many resources. Some people even argued that the [Heart] had become less effective and that holding it every year was a waste."

Erik immediately asked, "Was there any proof?"

"No." Laviana answered directly. "But back then, proof wasn’t needed."

She leaned back in her seat. "The festival went from once a year to once every three years, then once every five years. At the final festival, the Council used security as an excuse to close off the entire area around the [Heart]."

Erik looked out the window. "And now it’s been eight years."

"Mm." Laviana nodded lightly. "Eight years and three months."

No one spoke for several seconds.

The protective dome had completely vanished from sight, but the more Erik looked at the sky, the more it felt as though he were looking at a sheet of glass with a crack in it. Just because it could not normally be seen did not mean it was not there.

"Did no one oppose it?" Erik asked.

Meira gave a cold laugh. "Of course they did."

She sat up straighter, her gaze shifting toward Silver Moon, whose first lights were beginning to appear on the horizon.

"But what could opposition do? Most men with enough influence stood with the Council. And Succubi who had signed Contracts depended too heavily on their Partners, from cultivation and hunger to countless social privileges."

Meira lifted a finger and lightly touched her neck.

"If they opposed too strongly, their Partners could cut off their resources, sever the connection, stop providing vital essence, or use the Control Device."

At the last three words, Erik’s eyes immediately turned cold.

He had seen Zeka’s black pen, and he knew what it could do.

Laviana noticed the change in his expression but did not ask. She only continued, "Gradually, fewer people opposed them. Not because they agreed, but because most of them understood that saying more would accomplish nothing."

Elowen had remained silent from the beginning, but she finally spoke softly.

"I still remember the last Festival of Happiness."

Erik turned to her.

Elowen looked down at her hands resting in her lap, her blue eyes distant. "I was still young then. Mother took me there."

Meira looked at her daughter and nodded lightly.

Elowen remembered that night very clearly.

The main roads near the central area had all been hung with lights. Both sides of the streets were covered in flowers, not only real flowers but countless blossoms created from magic power, continuously floating through the sky before falling like snow.

Everyone wore beautiful clothes. Even ordinary Succubi who were not qualified to enter the [Heart] area gathered outside, bringing food, wine, and musical instruments.

"I even saw two older Succubi dancing in the street," Elowen said softly, the corners of her lips curving slightly at the memory. "Neither of them was young anymore, and their Partner had no status at all, but the three of them kept dancing and laughing."

Erik was slightly surprised.

Elowen explained, "Not every family only has one Succubus."

Erik nodded. In this world, that was perfectly normal.

Elowen continued, "Everyone was truly happy that night. Even those who could not get close to the [Heart] did not care, because once the Beacon lit up, the entire city could see it."

She lifted her head slightly.

"I remember that light was beautiful."

A small smile appeared, but only a few seconds later, it faded.

"After that, it never happened again."