On the following morn, Ravenna failed to rouse herself at the customary hour.
Her awakening in Ansel's bedroom the previous day was due to the puppet control she had over her physical form, but this ti… was different.
Ansel's nocturnal "antics" had only escalated, and Ravenna, whose stamina could not compare to that of Seraphina, awoke a full five hours later than usual.
The woman awoke, propping her forehead up with one hand, and with great effort, opened her eyes to a scene that was not the chaos she had anticipated.
Those sses he had forced her to create were nowhere to be seen, and the clothes that Ansel had made were all neatly arranged, though Ravenna had no idea where they had been placed.
She noticed a stack of clean clothes beside her, from undergarnts to her ever-present white lab coat, all neatly folded and stacked.
Ravenna's eye twitched as she looked at the black garter stockings and lace lingerie on top of the pile.
After a mont's hesitation, she slowly changed into the clothes.
The previous night's debauchery had cleared Ravenna's mind considerably. Although she was reluctant to admit it, she had to concede that Ansel was right.
— She did indeed need to vent her frustrations and needed soone who could resonate with her on a spiritual level.
In this world, the only one with such talent, foresight, and understanding was Ansel.
The term "friend" was rely a description of their relationship at the ti. Looking back… Ravenna realized that if Ansel had not severed ties with her, their relationship would have naturally evolved into what it was now.
… At the ti, Ansel seed too young, and Ravenna had no such intentions.
"... Three years," she murmured.
The garter snapped against her thigh, the lace at the top of the stockings was a bit too tight, digging slightly into her flesh, but Ravenna was lost in thought:
"In three years, he has completely changed."
Both inside and out.
Her feelings for Ansel had shifted from anticipation of their reunion to disappointnt and hostility after he handed over the blueprints for the chanical armor to the Etheric Academy. She had erected a wall of rationality to resist his influence, but just as their relationship was about to hit rock bottom, Ansel played his trump card… forcing Ravenna to awaken her own emotions.
Upon reflection, it seed that her emotional changes were all within Ansel's control. If Ansel had not provoked her hostility from the start and had approached her with a softer attitude, even if she still had expectations of him, the old grudges would have kept her on guard, and their relationship would not have progressed so quickly.
But as Ansel relentlessly pressured her, catalyzing her already dangerous rationality, and then unabashedly revealed his intentions to lead her into the abyss of idealism, she found herself unable to remain as cold and ruthless.
Because her "rationality" made it clear that it was not yet ti to destroy everything.
Thus, a longing for Ansel of Hydral was once again kindled in the heart of Ravenna Ziegler — not a "hope" for the return of the forr traitor, but a direct "desire" for her only one.
The difference between the two was clear, crystal clear.
"Seraphina... that little girl," Ravenna murmured as she put on her white lab coat.
"She had no say in being tad by Ansel into what she is now."
Even she, who could clearly analyze Ansel's thoughts and intentions, was completely unable to resist him. That naive and foolish dog had been played from the start.
… Although she was in a similar situation, she seed to be even worse off than Seraphina.
Seraphina, despite being completely under Ansel's control, was blissfully ignorant, while she, despite being fully aware, had no choice but to passively accept everything.
However, this was still within Ravenna's tolerance.
Her thoughts were not much different from Ansel's — if she, who had been so close to Ansel, could make a final decision, then it was unlikely that Ansel could ta her with his current tactics.
"I am not the young girl you've ensnared with a collar, blushing at your lap," declared Ravenna with a defiant air.
"I might as well consider this a stress relief, a simple and efficient thod."
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Such a reversal of roles restored a modicum of dignity from the mories of the previous night's tornt.
Barefoot, she moved to the storage locker, ready to retrieve a bottle of energy potion to replenish her strength. Ravenna planned to upgrade her current detector, enhancing its basic functions as much as possible. After all, the Tower of Babel was now on the right track, and the various designs she and Ansel had jointly developed...
Creating individual units was not difficult, but if mass production was to be achieved, considering cost, technology, and various other factors, the ti spent would be asured in years. There was no need to rush.
At present, the most important thing for Ravenna was to investigate the cause of her grandfather's death. Yesterday's clues led to the Ziegler Manor, but Ravenna didn't get any useful leads. Her conversation with her parents could no longer continue.
The only certainty was that Leiden was indeed unrelated to Eileen's death — after all, Leiden's answer to Ravenna's final question didn't seem to be a lie, whether it was about Eileen's complex feelings or calling Ravenna... a monster.
But Leiden wouldn't have gone to Eileen's old house for no reason. Ravenna didn't believe he would go there specifically to rember her grandfather, just as she hadn't seen them in over a decade.
If it was unintentional, there must be sothing luring him to her grandfather's old house; if it was intentional, it must be related to the incident fifteen years ago, but he... was just unaware of the behind-the-scenes affairs.
In that case... she would start investigating the people he had been in contact with five days ago and even earlier, as well as his activities.
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