CHAPTER 38: SARAH IS SAD

"Hmm?" Blanche Nord opened her eyes, "Are you going to continue punishing me? Please let me rest first, I really have no strength left."

Blanche Nord’s submissive attitude surprised Lucas.

He knew that although Blanche Nord appeared delicate and weak, she was not a natural pushover, nor did she have a masochistic personality.

The reason Blanche Nord behaved this way was because she felt responsible for her lover Jameson’s death. Overwhelming regret and guilt made her believe she deserved punishment.

And Lucas and Sarah were Jameson’s younger brother and sister. In Blanche Nord’s view, they were the best candidates to carry out her punishment.

So no matter what the Everleigh siblings planned to do to her, she was willing to accept it.

Lucas had mostly figured out Blanche Nord’s mindset.

He felt this mentality was problematic, but it could just right be exploited by him, so he had no intention of persuading her otherwise.

"Let’s stop for today, we’ll continue next time," Lucas said. "But from now on, you must recognize me as your master, understand?"

Blanche Nord glanced at Sarah, and seeing no reaction from her, understood that this was also Sarah’s intention. She nodded almost imperceptibly, "Understood."

"Really? Then why not call me ’master’ now?"

The sickly beauty lying on her back was covered with the lewd traces and scent of her deflowering. Her expression had returned to its usual gloominess as she murmured in an extremely soft, steady voice, "...Master..."

Having achieved a great victory, Lucas decided to leave with Sarah.

Of course, before leaving, Lucas didn’t forget to add Blanche Nord as a friend and send her the sex slave manual.

Returning to Sarah’s dorm room, Lucas originally planned to go for lunch but noticed that Sarah seemed somewhat off. He then realized that she hadn’t said a single word on the way back.

After thinking for a moment, he carried Sarah to her bedroom, laid her on the bed, removed her outer clothes, covered her with a thin air conditioned blanket, and said softly, "Sister, you should rest. Have a good sleep." Lucas turned to leave, but Sarah grabbed his hand.

Lucas went along with it and sat down on the edge of the bed, asking in a low voice, "Sister, are you unhappy?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me why?"

"From the moment I was born, my mother didn’t want me." Sarah’s expression was calm, so calm it felt eerie.

"I know it was because Father betrayed her, but what did I do wrong? Why did she abandon me too? Father remarried. I was very unpleasant to that Beaumont family sow, so Father doesn’t like me either.

Growing up, only Big Brother gave me the warmth of family. I thought he and I were kin relying on each other for survival.

But it wasn’t until he died that I found out he actually had a girlfriend, and he even gave the matching jade pendant that was meant to be a pair with mine to someone else.

Why didn’t he tell me? I’m his biological younger sister! Even though I had a crush on him, I never expected him to see me as a lover. But today I discovered that he might not even have seen me as a sister."

"How could that be? Don’t overthink it," Lucas said softly.

"Didn’t you hear what Blanche said? They had only been together for less than four months, and hadn’t even slept together. It’s very likely he wanted to wait until their relationship was stable before telling you."

"Maybe," Sarah silently shed tears. "But I’m still very unhappy."

"Then cry," Lucas said. "Cry out loud. Don’t suppress your feelings. After you cry, you’ll feel better."

"...Wuuu... Sob..." Sarah could finally hold back no longer. She turned over, wrapped her arms around Lucas’s waist, buried her face in his lap, and began to wail heartbreakingly. Her cries were so grief stricken that even Lucas’s mood sank considerably.

He gently stroked Sarah’s head and back, silently comforting her.

This crying session lasted nearly an hour. Finally, Sarah’s sobs grew quieter until they ceased entirely. Lucas realized she had fallen asleep on his lap.

He gently laid Sarah back onto her pillow, then lay down beside her. Feeling quite drowsy himself, Lucas drifted off to sleep as well.

When he woke up, it was already sunset.

Lucas woke up first and stretched. Sarah beside him also opened her eyes.

"Master, you stayed here with me the whole time?" There was a tenderness in Sarah’s eyes that even she hadn’t noticed.

"Yeah, I was a little worried about you," Lucas replied casually, but his stomach chose that moment to growl embarrassingly.

"Master, you didn’t eat lunch?"

"No," Lucas was a first stage Wizard and hadn’t begun fasting yet, so he still needed three regular meals a day. "Since you’re awake too, let’s go out to eat."

"No," Sarah unusually objected. "I’ll cook."

The Imperial Academy student dorms were essentially double apartments with their own kitchens, though these young masters and misses rarely used them.

"You know how to cook?" Lucas asked curiously.

"I can learn, if you’re willing to taste it, Master," Sarah said softly.

Looking at Sarah’s almost shy expression, Lucas belatedly realized that his act of staying with her seemed to have moved her.

Lucas knew this was a common psychological phenomenon.

If someone is always good to you but then suddenly hurts you, you will ignore their previous goodness and begin to hate them.

Conversely, if someone has always hurt you but then is suddenly kind once, you tend to overlook their previous wrongs and develop affection for them.

Coupled with the fact that Sarah had grown up in a harsh environment, where her only reliable figure—her brother—had his image shattered, and her only friend was a younger sister-type who needed her care, she was extremely starved for love.

Therefore, a little warmth at the right moment could easily change her attitude.

Although she wasn’t completely won over yet, Sarah’s resistance had ultimately softened.

"Alright," Lucas agreed naturally.

Neither Sarah nor Celes knew their way around a kitchen, so the dorm fridge didn’t even have a single clove of garlic.

Lucas waited for fifteen minutes before Sarah finally emerged from the kitchen carrying two bowls of instant noodles, with poached eggs and irregularly sliced ham added.

"When Celes and I stayed up late and got hungry but didn’t want to go out, we’d make midnight snacks like this," Sarah said, her gaze anxious. "The taste is actually pretty good. Try it, Master."

Lucas was very familiar with this way of eating, so he teased, "You don’t have food delivery here?"

Sarah was stunned. "There isn’t any within the Imperial Academy."

Lucas nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.

To be honest, it did taste pretty good.

Seeing Lucas eat with relish, Sarah sat down opposite him and began to eat as well. The scene was actually somewhat heartwarming.