My Succubus Health Bar Runs on Girl-Crushes

Before Tessa could even finish speaking, Chloe had already transformed into a snack-guarding squirrel. Without a word, she snatched the box of cookies right out of Tessa’s arms.

She tore open the packaging. A rich, almost tangible wave of milk and butter fragrance burst out like a scent bomb, instantly conquering every inch of air in Room 407.

“Whoa! Teddy bear cookies! They’re so cute!” Chloe pinched up one chubby little bear and stuffed it into her mouth before she could even take a proper look.

The next second, her eyes turned into two shining stars. Her cheeks puffed up in bliss as she let out a muffled, trembling cry of amazement. “Mmm! So good! This is so good! It’s a hundred times better than the stuff from those fancy five-star dessert shops!”

Vanessa, who had been sitting in her chair and flipping elegantly through a fashion magazine, was also drawn in by that aggressive aroma. She lifted her eyes. When she saw Chloe’s exaggerated expression, as if the girl was about to ascend straight to dessert heaven, curiosity flickered through her peach-blossom eyes.

She set down the magazine, rose to her feet, and walked over with a lazy sway in her hips. With her long fingers, she picked up one teddy bear cookie, brought it to her lips, and took a delicate bite.

Instantly, the playful expression she always wore froze in place. Then it shifted into something complicated, a mix of surprise and careful appraisal.

“This flavor…” Vanessa savored it slowly, her alluring eyes narrowing. “Rich milk fragrance, sweet but not cloying, crisp at first bite with a soft melt-in-your-mouth finish. The ingredients are very particular. I can even taste fresh milk from a top-tier dairy farm and hand-cultured butter. Tessa, this doesn’t taste like something from the mortal world.”

Tessa’s heart skipped hard.

Her first instinct was to reach out and snatch the cookies back from these two demons. Molly had given those to her. They were her healing rations. They were the tiny secret between her and that angelic girl.

She absolutely could not let her last safe house be exposed to these dangerous women.

“I… I just bought them from a new counter at the dining hall. They looked pretty decent, so…” Tessa nervously twisted the hem of her clothes, her eyes drifting everywhere as she gave an explanation even she found completely unconvincing.

“Oh?” Vanessa clearly did not believe her. If anything, her smile became even more dangerous, like a cat playing with a mouse. She placed the cookie she had only bitten once back into the box, stepped forward on her long legs, and slowly circled Tessa.

Her gaze examined Tessa from head to toe before finally stopping on her face, which looked rosy and full after eating her fill.

“The dining hall feeds people that well? It took our poor little flower, who got put through demon training this morning, and revived her on the spot? Look at those cheeks. They’re so pink, I could almost squeeze water out of them.”

Vanessa leaned close to Tessa’s ear. Her warm breath carried a faint sweetness from the cookie as it brushed over Tessa’s sensitive ear, and her voice dropped low and sultry, full of temptation and pressure. “This chef of yours… couldn’t be some hidden master, could she? Did she feed you some kind of miracle elixir? Or did our little Tessa finally hide a sweet little wife outside without telling us?”

The words “sweet little wife” hit Tessa so hard she nearly blacked out. Her face flushed scarlet in an instant.

Just as Vanessa’s dangerous teasing was about to completely destroy her, Iris, who had been silent the whole time, also tasted a cookie and calmly gave her evaluation.

“The calories and sugar are balanced. The ratio of carbs to fat is scientific. It’s suitable for replenishing energy and restoring muscle glycogen after exercise. Also, it tastes good.”

Although Iris clearly also thought the flavor was unusual, her focus was completely different from Vanessa’s, and she did not dig any deeper.

Chloe, meanwhile, had fully become a devouring machine. She kept stuffing cookies into her mouth while mumbling in agreement. “Right, right! Tessa, you should eat these from now on! You need more good stuff like this to recover!”

Under the overwhelming temptation of food, her roommates’ attention was finally diverted.

Tessa let out a huge breath of relief. She felt like a prisoner granted a last-second pardon at the execution ground. Hugging the box that now only had half the cookies left, she felt a tiny, almost invisible flicker of joy over this sweet little secret that belonged only to her and Molly.

⸻

At the same time, beneath the night sky, inside Halewick University’s basketball gym.

The enormous gym was empty. Only a few lights remained on, illuminating the central court in a bright white glow.

“Hah…”

Riley sat alone on a bench in the deserted rest area. Sweat dripped from the tips of her neat short hair and slid along the firm, clean line of her jaw. She had just finished an extreme physical conditioning session, trying to use exhaustion to suppress the irritation in her chest.

Clearly, it had not worked.

Her gaze was locked on the phone screen in her hand.

On the screen, the video that had sent all of Halewick University into a frenzy played on loop.

In the video, the girl in the white dress seemed to glow from head to toe as she sang that sorrowful, breathtaking song. The tear that slid down at the end burned Riley’s heart again and again like molten fire.

Riley stared at the sacred, untouchable girl in the video, then lowered her head to look at the freshly rewritten training plan in her hand. It was harsh enough to be called demonic. Her brows tightened into a deep frown.

[Such a precious voice… such a heavenly sound that can move people this deeply…]

Unbidden, the image of Tessa from that morning appeared in her mind. Tessa had been forced through squats, her small face pale as paper and covered in cold sweat, her watery amber eyes trembling.

[…but paired with a body this fragile.]

Riley’s heart clenched. Regret and lingering fear crashed over her all at once.

[Her face was already white when she went back after training today. I didn’t even remember to tell her to eat breakfast. What if… what if I really broke her? What if I damaged that voice, and she could never sing like that again?]

[Then I’d be a criminal.]

She sank into deep conflict and self-doubt.

“Snap!”

Riley suddenly crumpled up the training plan that had condensed so much of her professional knowledge, then tore it apart as if severing ties with the reckless, overbearing version of herself.

From her sports bag, she took out a fresh sheet of paper and a pen. This time, her expression became more focused and solemn than ever before.

Stroke by stroke, she wrote a brand-new title across the page.

[Exclusive Core Strength and Physical Recovery Plan for the Voice of Heaven]

Then she removed every heavy-load, high-intensity training item and replaced them with gentler exercises that would still build core strength and body control from the ground up.

[Core Activation: Pilates Breathing, Transverse Abdominis Activation Training]

[Stability Training: Yoga Tree Pose, Bird Dog Balance]

[Flexibility and Recovery: Static Stretching, Foam Roller Myofascial Release]

After every single item, she marked several notes in thick red ink.

[Strictly control exercise duration. Rest intervals between sets must be longer than two minutes.]

[Hydration and quality carbohydrates must be replenished immediately after training.]

[Ensure adequate nutrition and more than eight hours of sleep.]

After finishing this nanny-level new plan, Riley felt as if she had just completed a major research project tied to the survival of humanity. She let out a long breath, and her tense shoulders finally relaxed.

She took out her phone. Her long fingers tapped somewhat clumsily against the screen as she drafted a message. She considered it for a long time, deleting and rewriting, before finally sending only the most essential lines.

[Tomorrow’s training plan has been adjusted.]

[Content: Core activation and recovery training.]

[Time: 6:30 a.m.]

After tapping send, Riley stared at the words [Message Sent] on the screen and felt her cheeks heat beyond her control. She tossed the phone aside, pressed the back of her hand to her burning face, and thought in a faintly disordered daze.

[This… probably won’t train her until she turns pale again, right? This plan should… protect her voice better.]

⸻

Inside Room 407.

Tessa’s phone chimed softly.

She picked it up. The moment she saw the sender was [Demon Coach], her heart tightened. But after she read the contents of the message, she froze.

Core activation? Recovery training? And the time had been pushed back to 6:30?

Was the sun rising in the west?

The huge surprise made her feel as if a weight had lifted from her chest, and the corners of her mouth rose uncontrollably.

Vanessa, who had been quietly observing her, naturally did not miss the vivid shift in Tessa’s expression. She silently leaned closer and breathed a wicked laugh by Tessa’s ear.

“What’s this? Our little Tessa is smiling so sweetly. Did some upperclassman ask you out?” Vanessa glanced at the phone screen. “Oh, so our demon coach finally found her conscience?”

The curve of her lips became even more teasing. “Or maybe she’s afraid of wringing this fragrant, soft little piece of tofu completely dry, and then… having nothing left to play with later?”

Tessa flushed bright red from the blunt teasing. She had just opened her mouth to argue when Chloe, who was eating cookies while scrolling on her phone, suddenly let out a scream powerful enough to pierce the ceiling.

“Holy crap! Tessa, look at the forum! You’re trending again!”