"Hmm. Mmm..."
The warm, pleasant sunlight shining down on my face.
Is it already morning?
I slept so well for the first ti in a while.
No nightmares, just peaceful rest.
Wait a minute.
"Ah!?"
The mont that thought crossed my mind,
Irene's eyes widened, and she quickly sprang up from the bed.
A room with plenty of sunlight.
A fluffy bed.
A cozy room temperature.
Where exactly am I!?
Irene, startled, rushed to the window.
When she looked outside, her expression changed to one of confusion.
This is... the Vermont mansion...?
‘Was there such a cozy room in the Vermont mansion?’
It was strange.
The Vermont mansion I rembered was dark and gloomy, a place I didn’t want to stay in for even a mont.
Had there really been such a comfortable room here?
[...!!]
"Laura."
Only then did Irene notice Laura’s familiar floating avatar, happily hopping around on the table.
Irene gently placed Laura on her palm.
Apparently, while she was unconscious, she had been dragged all the way to the Vermont mansion.
"Damn it..."
Irene felt a sharp headache coming on and rubbed her temples.
The plan had gone awry and backfired terribly.
From start to finish, it seed like she had been completely manipulated by Aslan, and she didn’t even feel regret.
How did it co to this?
It seems there’s no explanation except that the plan leaked out sohow...
[...!]
"Emilia managed to escape? It was her, wasn’t it? She’s in cahoots with Aslan!"
[...!!!]
"We don’t need to defend Emilia. She was obviously infatuated with Aslan, what else?"
Teeth gritted.
Sothing had felt off from the beginning.
She couldn’t use weapons because of the magic barrier, yet strangely, Aslan had prepared a bizarre magical sword she could absorb into her body.
She barely managed to get Sylvia off with a Stone Golem, only for an incredibly powerful girl to erge from the shadows.
When that girl grabbed Irene’s wrist, she was absolutely terrified.
Despite resisting with all her might, she couldn’t move an inch, and the cuffs were locked on...
Moreover, the cuffs weren’t just any ordinary cuffs—they were magical tools connecting her to Aslan.
Because of that, she was dragged through the shadow world and forced to relive a year’s worth of nightmares in just ten minutes.
Because of this, she ended up showing the most disgraceful scene imaginable...
"Ugh... I want to die."
[...!!]
Now, there was no reason to live, right?
Irene felt a wave of humiliation and despair wash over her as she squatted on the bed.
If it were just sha, it would have been bearable.
But it wasn’t just that.
She had used kidnapping and threats, combined with a golem and a cursed spirit, to attack Aslan.
Even just one of these would have been considered a major cri, but she had thrown everything into the mix, and the result was total defeat.
Now Aslan wasn’t in a position to fear the discovery of his dark magic research plans.
All of that could be dismissed as re bait to catch her.
"Ugh..."
If they handed her over to the imperial family, the worst-case scenario would be execution.
Even if she was spared, she would likely rot in prison for the rest of her life.
But Aslan wouldn’t do that, would he?
Rather than sending her to prison, he would surely use this weakness to control her until the day she died.
That might be even more painful than rotting in a prison cell.
"Laura. No more enlarging now..."
[...!]
"Yeah, it’s not possible anymore..."
Her last hope shattered into pieces and disappeared.
Now, Laura’s avatar couldn’t grow any larger.
In other words, the only strength she had left was her own body.
As for soone like Aslan, she could easily knock him down and toy with him.
But when it ca to Sylvia, the knight guarding him, she was outmatched.
Moreover, when that strange sword that had co from Aslan’s neck was in Sylvia’s hand, she beca much faster...
Ugh. There’s no way out.
If she were to escape now, she would have to wait for a gap in the surveillance.
Irene, calm and collected, began planning her escape when—
"Who is it!?"
"...Eek!"
The door creaked slightly.
Irene clenched her fist and reacted sharply.
The door opened just enough to reveal a silver-haired girl standing there.
Who was it again?
Yulia, right?
She seed much softer than most necromancers.
"What’s going on?"
Irene relaxed her fist and asked in a calm voice.
She was imprisoned and dragged here, but the child was innocent.
It was Aslan, who had corrupted the innocent and turned her into a necromancer, who was at fault.
"It’s almost ti for lunch... I just wanted to let you know that if you want to eat, you should co to the dining hall..."
"...What?"
"I’ll guide you to the dining hall..."
"No, it’s fine. I know the way. You can go now."
The door slamd shut again.
Irene was left speechless in astonishnt.
Just telling her to co eat? Really?
What on earth is Aslan thinking...?
When she woke up, there were no restraints, and the barrier didn’t detect anything.
This only made her anxiety grow stronger.
Irene, feeling extrely tense, placed Laura’s avatar on her shoulder and left the room.
‘There’s no defense at all.’
She could break the window and escape right now.
But it seed Aslan hadn’t put any asures in place.
After all, now that he had her cornered, did it even matter if she ran away...?
Swallowing her humiliation, Irene slowly made her way to the dining hall.
The familiar path.
Her body rembered the way, but the scene in front of her was completely different from what she rembered.
It wasn’t the kind of lively place she had seen before.
"...Aslan."
"Big sis, you’re here? Hey guys, greet my sister!"
"Hello!!!"
"Ah, hello..."
As soon as Irene entered the dining hall, the children, who had been eating, stood up and bowed politely at Aslan’s command.
Irene frowned imdiately.
A dog’s food bowl!?
They served people’s food in a dog’s bowl!?
This degenerate had even dragged the children into his ss...!
Irene felt ready to explode, but seeing Sylvia, the knight standing next to Aslan, she suppressed her rage.
"After fainting, you slept the whole day. How many nights have you stayed up?"
"...About three days."
"You’ve slept long enough, so you must be hungry. Eat."
Aslan casually said this and went back to focusing on his al.
Irene felt quite awkward and sat down.
She couldn’t go against Aslan now.
Her fate was in his hands...
Irene gritted her teeth, quietly eating her al.
She wondered if he had poisoned the food.
Worrying about so prank in the food, she kept glancing at Aslan, but she couldn’t taste anything.
"Thank you for the al! Mister, I’m going to go train!"
"I need to check on so of the old skeletons... see if the bones of the ones who fell from the mountain are healing... I’ll be back."
"Both of you can go."
The children finished their al quickly and left, chatting loudly.
Before long, Irene and Aslan were left alone at the table.
Irene’s expression hardened.
Now, there was nothing left to watch out for.
Aslan would finally show his true intentions.
"So, what are you going to do with ?"
"I’m going to give you dessert."
"Stop joking around. What do you want to do to satisfy you?"
"Once you finish eating, if you don’t make a scene and leave quietly, I’ll be at peace."
"Don’t make laugh. Bringing all the way here ans you want sothing from , right?"
"Bringing you here? I couldn’t just leave a fainted person in the ruins, so I brought you with ."
"It’s not a ruin, it’s my ho. What are you talking about?"
[...?]
[...?]
Both Aslan and Irene tilted their heads at the sa ti.
It felt like their conversation wasn’t quite lining up.
"Do you live in a place like that? Why not co live here instead?"
"No. I’d never want to live in a dark, gloomy, damp place... Well, it’s not damp, but still. I wouldn’t want to live here even if I died."
"Then it can’t be helped. At least the ceiling is intact here. You might catch a cold in a place like that."
"Are you trying to get to change my residence? Is that what you want? Fine. Where should I live? Should I live under your constant surveillance for the rest of my life?"
"I don’t want anything from you, so why are you being so clingy? Are you afraid I’ll spill family secrets? Even if I did, it would just spit on my own face. I don’t want to bla you for minor family issues, so please stop making a fuss."
[...].
Minor issues?
Was that trivial to you?
I spent my entire life preparing a strike, waiting for the day I could get my revenge on you.
Irene felt helpless, her strength draining away.
I was burning with hatred, using any ans necessary to bring you down.
And to you, it was just a trivial "family issue."
‘Am I not even worth dealing with?’
I clearly sent you to the shadow world.
You could have been crippled for life, or even killed.
And now you’re acting as if nothing happened?
Irene felt her insides boiling with fury.
"Oh, by the way, I caught that Emrcia. Turns out she was one of your people. She was the one who made the marriage proposal, as you instructed."
"So you finally figured it out?"
"I knew that much. Do you know what my n found when they went after Emrcia?"
[...].
"I found Emrcia’s father. John Tales. The forr head of the Tales family supposedly died of a stroke under stress when the company was on the brink of collapse. How is he still alive?"
"Wait, you found out...?"
Ah? She figured it out?
That idiot Emilia...!
Irene’s face turned crimson with rage.
"The collapse of the Tales family wasn’t because of your tricks. It was a series of bad events, and then the managent failure. But here’s my theory: It was probably you who suggested faking the death of the head of the family. Just before the entire Tales family was about to be sold off as slaves, their leader died, and the family seed to implode, which caused stock prices to plumt. Then, at that mont, you probably bought the Tales family with all your money, and resurrected it sohow."
"That’s nonsense!"
"I get why Emrcia listens so well. She doesn’t seem like soone being blackmailed. But there’s one thing I don’t get: why did she spread rumors that made it look like she destroyed the Tales family?"
"F**k, you’re making up a story! If you’re done talking, get out!"
Aslan’s sly smile made Irene feel chills running down her spine.
She thought no one would find out!
And yet Emilia, that idiot, went and caused trouble?
Irene covered her burning face and quickly stord out of the dining hall.
Why did the rumors make look like the villain?
It’s simple.
Because that’s how people would fear .
That’s how no one would dare look down on .
And that’s why I couldn’t let anyone find out.
I didn’t want to look like so stupid fool who saved the Tales family with her own money.
Especially not Aslan.
That’s exactly why...
‘Why... Why are you so happy about this...’
Why do I feel so relieved?
Irene wiped away the tears falling freely from her eyes,
Caught in an overwhelming, confusing rush of emotions.
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