If Chapter 3 was humiliation as initiation, Chapter 4 is temptation as rebirth.
Lawrence’s next lesson from Ambassador Whiskers is risk—and Whiskers, ever the sadist in silk, enforces it with a masquerade invitation and a bedsheet toga. What follows is part comedy of errors, part erotic rite. The man who once hid behind screens and irony is dragged, blinking, into a ballroom of Gods and Monsters, where everyone glitters, no one apologizes, and shame becomes a form of dance.
Enter Claudia: half goddess, half chaos, and fully the undoing he didn’t know he needed. She doesn’t rescue Lawrence so much as rename him. In her hands, embarrassment turns into arousal; exposure becomes revelation. By the end of the night, Lawrence has been stripped—of clothes, certainty, and finally his own name. What’s left is Ren: raw, ridiculous, radiant, and awake in a way he’s never been before.
It’s a turning point not just of plot but of voice. Curriculum of Desire has always been about transformation through absurdity, and this is the moment the comedy begins to sound suspiciously like grace.
You can read it here: Chapter 4: Claudia and the Art of Being Seen
Tell me what you think. Did you laugh, squirm in sympathy with Lawrence (a.k.a Ren), or want to join the party?
— Eric
P.S. Ambassador Whiskers reminds you that comments are a form of confession—or foreplay, depending on tone.