To ensure she found exactly what she was looking for, I spent the entirety of the next day seated at the center of my ruined chamber.
I focused solely on dragging my meager cursed energy up my spine, forcing it to gather and snarl violently at the base of my neck.
It was excruciating work.
Forcing a natural flow of energy into an artificial bottleneck felt like hammering rusted nails directly into my nervous system.
By the time the sun began to sink beneath the horizon, a highly volatile knot of cursed energy had formed exactly where Elizabeth had touched me.
I washed away the dried sweat, changed into a clean set of deep black robes, and stepped into the quiet corridors of the estate.
My mother's private pavilion was situated at the highest peak of the clan's territory.
It stood in complete isolation, surrounded by dense bamboo forests that whispered softly beneath the evening wind.
I reached the summit and halted before the massive, elegant structure of dark wood and translucent paper screens.
Soft golden light spilled from within.
"You are quite early," a voice drifted from behind the screens.
It was cold, melodious, and carried a strange resonance that made the hairs on my arms rise at once.
Before I could reply, the paper screen slid open with a soft whisper.
I hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside. The floor was covered in premium woven mats that swallowed every trace of sound.
The air was thick with the intoxicating scent of expensive incense and winter lotus. Yet my eyes locked almost instantly onto the center of the room.
Elizabeth was seated upon a raised wooden dais.
She was not wearing her usual robes, the ones that concealed her figure beneath layers of distant elegance.
Instead, she wore a set of light garments akin to a nightgown, fashioned from impossibly thin white silk that flowed like liquid over her skin.
The fabric clung to her body, tracing the devastating, mature curves she normally kept hidden beneath formality.
Her silver hair was unbound, cascading down her back and spilling across the mats like moonlight made real.
She looked utterly untouchable, like some celestial existence born to command reverence, yet the sheer allure of her exposed form sent a dense pulse of heat straight into my lower body.
"Sit," she commanded, gesturing toward the cushion positioned directly across from her.
I walked over and lowered myself onto it, my footsteps completely silent.
The distance between us was less than an arm's length.
I could feel the terrifying hum of her latent power brushing faintly against my skin.
Elizabeth did not waste time on pleasantries.
She leaned forward slightly, her silver eyes locking onto mine with clinical precision.
"Remove the upper half of your robe."
I complied without hesitation. I loosened the sash at my waist and let the dark fabric slide from my shoulders before pooling around my hips.
The cold air bit into my bare chest. My neck and torso were laid completely open beneath her scrutiny.
My mother paused for the briefest fraction of a second, then her gaze drifted downward.
She assessed the lean musculature of my chest and abdomen with the detached, calculating eyes of a predator measuring its prey before her attention snapped back to the base of my neck.
"Begin circulating your cursed energy. Do not hold back."
Complying with her command, I closed my eyes and triggered my cursed nebula physique.
Instantly, every trace of cursed energy in the room began rushing toward me at an alarming rate, enough to make Elizabeth's pupils constrict sharply.
Before the incoming flood could strike me, Elizabeth's eyes turned blood red, and all the cursed energy in the room froze in place.
In shock, I glanced up at her and met those chilling crimson eyes.
Raising a delicate finger, she gave the slightest tug.
At once, a strand of cursed energy peeled away and flowed gently toward her before slipping into the base of my neck.
The instant it struck the artificial blockage I had spent all day creating, a genuine bolt of excruciating pain shot straight through my skull.
My body jerked involuntarily, and a sharp hiss escaped through my gritted teeth.
Elizabeth leaned closer, letting the scent of winter lotus envelop my senses completely.
"There is a severe constriction in your meridian pathways," she murmured. Her tone remained wholly analytical, stripped of even a trace of empathy. "It is tangled. Highly chaotic."
She reached out. Her cold, delicate fingers pressed directly against my bare skin, exactly over the volatile knot.
The moment she touched the blockage, a violent spark of conflicting energies erupted between us. My chaotic cursed energy reacted instinctively to her pure, refined power, which carried the merciless chill of ice. A fierce shiver wrecked my entire frame.
Elizabeth did not pull away. Instead, her grip tightened around the side of my neck. Her silver eyes narrowed as she observed the erratic pulse beneath my skin.
"Your energy is weak, yet it fights mine with the desperation of a starving beast," she noted coldly. Her thumb traced the tense line of my jaw, a gesture that felt less like comfort and more like a warning. "I must force a synchronization to untangle this node. If you resist, your pathways will shatter. Understand?"
"Do it," I said, giving a slight nod.
Instantly, she shifted her weight, moving off her cushion and sliding closer until her knees brushed directly against mine.
The thin silk of her garments offered almost no barrier at all.
I could feel the intoxicating warmth of her thighs pressing into me, in direct contradiction to the lethal cold of her cursed energy.
"Brace yourself," she whispered.
Then she pressed her palm flat against the base of my neck. A surge of refined, frigid cursed energy pierced through my skin and drove straight into my core.
My back arched at once. A strangled groan tore from my throat. It was not pain alone.
The moment her dominant ice flooded my burning meridians, a devastating shockwave of agonizing pleasure exploded through my nervous system. It felt like liquid lightning pouring through my veins.
Groaning, I gritted my teeth and gripped my own knees hard enough for my knuckles to tense.
Every brush of her silk against my bare legs as my muscles spasmed sent violent currents of sensation straight to my groin.