(Orlax POV)
The scene before looked as if a massacre had taken place here.
The bodies of monsters were scattered everywhere, numbering in the dozens—or perhaps even the hundreds.
And in the midst of all those corpses stood Riana, holding her sword and breathing heavily.
Her body was covered in blood from head to toe, and she looked like a madwoman who had lost her mind, moving forward in search of another monster to kill.
’What happened to her? Why is she acting like this?’
I quickly descended from the sky and approached her, but she suddenly raised her sword and attacked .
I simply raised my hand and caught the sword that was aid at my neck, then looked into her eyes—they appeared vacant.
Riana quickly backed away several steps when she saw her sword had been stopped, and she looked at cautiously.
’She’s not fully conscious. This must’ve happened because of her prolonged fight with the monsters... She thinks everything around her is an enemy now.’
"Riana, it’s . Try to focus on my voice."
I spoke in my usual tone toward Riana, who had taken a defensive stance.
But it seed she didn’t hear . Her eyes still looked unfocused.
"Alright, you forced to do this."
[Mind Control Magic Activated]
I began using mind control magic on Riana to restrain her and approached her.
"Riana, look at . It’s . Wake up now."
I held her face and made her look directly into my eyes while she was bound.
"Ughhhh..."
Her scream and the aggressive look in her eyes worried a little.
Suddenly, her fingers twitched, and she tightened her grip on her sword. Despite my magic, she started to move.
"You reached half-Master level?! Just recently, you’d only broken through to Graduate level, and now you’ve already reached halfi-Master?!"
I was shocked as I watched Riana struggle to move, lifting her sword to attack .
"Ughhhh."
"But still..."
I watched Riana—now looking like a beast that only cared for bloodshed—and couldn’t help but look at her with pity.
"You look pathetic, Riana. I never knew you like this."
Riana stopped moving when she heard those words, and her eyes began to regain their awareness bit by bit.
"What do you want to do other than this?"
Riana began to speak after regaining her senses, lowering her head and tightening her grip on her sword.
"Anything but this, Riana..."
Before I could continue, she raised her head, and to my surprise, tears welled up in her eyes, making her look even more pitiful.
"Do you know? After my father died, I had no reason to live. I thought about giving up on life so many tis. But there was one reason that kept going."
Tears stread down her blood-stained cheeks, and her voice was filled with pain as she spoke.
"And that reason was my hatred for you. But after what I saw yesterday..."
Riana wiped the tears from her eyes with her bloodied hands.
"How can I keep hating you now? And if I can’t hate you anymore, what reason do I have left to stay alive?"
I was stunned by Riana’s words. I had no idea she’d been thinking like this all along.
"Riana... didn’t you want to beco great? To reach the level of a Grandmaster and make your na known throughout the world? Wasn’t that your goal?"
I tried to remind Riana of her old dream—the one I knew from the ga.
"Beco great? I only wanted to achieve that so I could make my family proud. But now... I have no family left. Why would I still want that?"
After hearing those words, I was speechless.
’Why didn’t I think of this before? This Riana is different from the one in the ga. In the ga, her father was alive, so she pursued her goal to honor her family. But now...’
"But Riana, you still have a family."
I snapped out of my thoughts and stared at the red-haired girl in front of , choosing my words carefully.
"Huh? What are you saying? My father is already dead. What family do I have left?"
Riana spoke between her tears, staring at in confusion, but I continued.
"Aren’t I part of your family? And there’s also Alice, Sera, and the entire empire. Aren’t they your family too?"
I noticed Riana calming down a little after hearing those words, which told I was on the right path.
"If you give up on life, it would really sadden . And Alice and Sera would cry a lot because of your absence."
What I said ca purely from the feelings I had at that mont.
At first, I didn’t like Riana. Our relationship was nothing but a formality on paper.
But as they say, ti changes everything. After spending ti together, I started genuinely caring about this red-haired girl.
Riana looked at in disbelief, surprised by the words that ca out of my mouth.
"You? Sad if sothing happened to ? But I tried to kill you before, and I used you to beco empress. Don’t you hate for that?"
"And I disfigured your face. But you forgot your hatred toward . Can’t I do the sa?"
"But you didn’t do it on purpose..."
"No matter the reason, I’m the one who did it."
It’s true. Even if I was cursed at the ti, I was still the one who hurt innocent people—and Riana.
"I admit my fault, and I won’t run away from reality or fear it."
Riana finally cald down after hearing my words and lowered her head, lost in thought.
"Will you be there when I need you?"
"Anyti."
"I might cause a lot of trouble. Are you ready for that?"
"Trouble is part of my life. Adding more won’t make a difference."
Riana finally raised her head, a serious expression on her face as she studied .
"Why are you doing all this for ?"
I didn’t answer right away. I began thinking of a response.
’Why am I doing all this for Riana? She’s not that strong and doesn’t offer any benefit to ... but I know the real reason.’
A smile ford on my face, and I looked directly into Riana’s serious eyes.
"Didn’t I already say it? We’re already family. And family supports each other through everything. Isn’t that reason enough?"
Riana pondered my words for a mont before suddenly bursting into loud laughter.
"Hahaha, I didn’t expect such words to co out of your mouth!"
She held her stomach as she laughed, making feel slightly embarrassed as I recalled my earlier words.
"Riana, stop laughing now."
"Hahaha, sorry! But I can’t! Hahahaha, what you said was so embarrassing!"
Riana suddenly stopped laughing and took on a serious expression that mirrored mine.
"Didn’t I already say it? We’re already family. And family supports each other through everything. Isn’t that reason enough? Hahahaha!"
I felt a vein pop on my forehead in anger as I saw her mocking .
[Cleaning Magic Activated]
I cast a spell on Riana to clean off the blood and filth covering her.
"You’re mocking , aren’t you? Co here."
I rushed toward Riana, who was still laughing mockingly, and reached out to grab her—but she dodged.
"Boo~! Catch if you can!"
Riana stuck her tongue out at and ran into the forest, forcing to chase after her again.
"You won’t escape , Riana. Today, you’ll be punished for sure."
"Do your worst! Hahaha!"
Her laughter brought a smile to my face as I chased after her.
Given my higher level, I caught up to her quickly and grabbed her.
I held her by the waist from behind and lifted her high, causing her to scream in surprise.
"Waaah! Put down! I’m gonna fall!"
"In your dreams."
Riana tried to resist, but it was no use.
"Now, it’s ti for your punishnt."
A wide grin spread across my face, making Riana shiver in anticipation.
"Please, have rcy!"
I didn’t reply—only smiled in a way that shattered all of her hope.
I turned her around in my arms until we were face-to-face.
Now, I was holding Riana under her thighs to keep her from falling, while looking into her face.
"Alright, alright... What’s a fitting punishnt for you?"
Riana stared into my eyes, a faint smile on her lips—she clearly wasn’t scared at all.
"Hmm... How about a simple kiss?"
She wrapped her arms around my neck and closed the distance between us.
"You know what? I think that’s a good punishnt."
I leaned in until I could feel her breath, gazing into her eyes.
A kiss!
Our lips t, and I felt their soft warmth, making crave more.
Using my mouth, I parted her lips and pushed my tongue inside—we shared a deep kiss.
Riana was shocked at first by the sudden change but didn’t resist. She closed her eyes and enjoyed it.
Once she recovered from her initial shyness, she started to respond, using her tongue to fight back instead of just receiving.
"Ahh..."
But she was ultimately overwheld, soft moans escaping her lips, her cheeks flushing pink from the embarrassnt of the sounds she made.
We stayed like that until I was satisfied and finally pulled away so she could breathe.
A bridge of saliva connected us as our lips parted, and Riana gasped for air.
"Haah... haah... That was... really good. I didn’t know just kissing could feel like that."
I stayed silently watching Riana’s face, especially the scar on her right side of her face.
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