{ A/n: Happy New Year, dear readers! May this year overflow with even more joy than the last! }
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In the Orange rays of Gaia signaling the arrival of Moon, a woman with same hued eyes as those light rays moved through a long hallway.
Tap Tap
Alisia’s footsteps echoed in the empty corridor as she followed closely behind a man clad in a respectful butler outfit, making way for her.
“You better not waste my time”
Hearing Alisia’s firm tone, Johan slowed down before bowing and apologising,” Forgive me your Majesty, It’s just His highness—”
“Stop it, I understand, Lead the way”, She for formality told him to lead the path though already aware of everything since the moment Ryuk went out of the palace.
Being a mother, sometime overly protective behaviour caused her to check his wellbeing from time to time and the last thing she saw while observing, was him breaking the centre statue of Goddess Fela— adding another piece of work for her to deal with.
Now, with him bringing a trouble home and being already aware of the newly brought girl’s lineage and bloodline, Alisia had another issue to contend with.
“We arrived Your majesty”, Johan bowed before opening the door to the room where he had placed Bella with some maids and guards.
Kriiieeek~
BANG
“You Bastards!….let me go”, Suddenly a loud noise of something launching towards the door accompanied by a cursing scream reached Johan’s ears.
Swiftly, he disregarded his safety and stood between Alisia and a spirit beast that had appeared before his eyes.
WHOOSH
The black beast’s sharp nails were inches away from Johan’s eyes, yet he gazed at it without blinking, puzzled as to why he remained unharmed.
“That’s why I detest these barbarians.”
A soft yet cold tone reached both Johan and the little girl inside the beast, causing their eyes to turn towards the figure slowly moving past them.
Alisia moved towards the bed where several maids and guards lay on the floor, bloodied and evidence of struggle evident in the room.
“Heal”
Gradually, everyone lying down began to be shrouded in an unknown energy, their bodies starting to heal on their own.
Alisia sat on the edge of the bed, elegantly crossing one leg over the other before resting her hands on them, exuding an aura of strength and majesty—The Alisia Devereaux.
CRACKLE
Slowly, the Spirit Beast, which had been halted in mid-air by an unknown force, turned towards Alisia, slowly leaving Bella’s body.
Bella was shocked, feeling her core energy being sucked out. “W-what is happening!?”
Thud
Bella fell to the floor, her wide eyes fixed on her only pillar of support in this world—her spirit Beast, now moving towards Alisia in its intact form, leaving the already shocked little girl staring with widened eyes.
Normally, a Spirit Beast of a Demi-Human was like part of their soul, born with them and meant to perish with them but now, Without any pain, her part of the soul left her body.
“Meeeooowwww~” The black panther-like beast with its amethyst eyes sat on the floor, rubbing its head against Alisia’s feet.
‘!?’
“I-It’s impossible!” Bella shouted, her eyes teary but slowly turning red with rage.
Demi-Humans, with their extraordinary strength, would never bow their heads to anyone.
Being captured by humans was humiliating enough, but now, seeing her own spirit Beast in such a state…
“What did you do to it?!”
SWISH
Bella’s voice resonated loudly with anger as she sprinted towards Alisia, determined to attack her.
Alisia, however, regarded her with a look that seemed to diminish her significance— nothing more than an Ant.
“Kneel” a soft voice emanated from Alisia’s mouth, her amber eyes glimmering with orange rays.
THUD
“Kugghh….” Bella collapsed onto the ground, her front body pressed against the ground by an immense force.
It didn’t injure her internally, but the pressure felt akin to being crushed under mountains.
“You’re quite weak for a cat,” Alisia remarked, narrowing her gaze at the pitiful girl lying on the ground while referring to usual strength possessed by Cat-kin.
She lifted her hand, gesturing for Johan and the others who had been healed to leave the room.
Johan and the rest bowed; their bodies were unscathed, and not only were their wounds healed, but their torn clothes and armor had also been restored to their original form.
HUSH
Ignoring the others, Alisia extended her hands towards Bella, causing the little girl’s body to gently levitate, closing the distance between them.
Exhaustion filled Bella’s eyes.
She longed to return to her mother’s embrace, wishing for eternal sleep.
She had relinquished hope for her life; death seemed more serene than the struggle to survive.
‘I want to die.’
Thump
Suddenly, her trance-like state shattered.
A familiar warmth enveloped her the moment she felt a touch that felt incredibly close.
“It’s okay, my child. I am here.” A soothing, motherly voice reached her ears, prompting tears to stream down her face after holding them back for so long. “Sniff….hic….waaaahhhh…. It w-was hard, M-mother…hic”
Alisia wrapped her arms around the now-crying little girl, understanding the mental state of a lone girl left to survive in this world.
She gently rubbed Bella’s back, allowing her to release her emotions through tears.
Already aware of the race to which this girl belonged—stubborn and known to fight till death—Alisia aimed to break through the girl’s stubbornness by making her experience genuine helplessness.
Even if she had to Appear Cruel to Others.
‘Son, I can’t always be here to babysit your girlfriends.’ Alisia sighed, feeling helpless at the thought of the future awaiting the girl.
Her gaze turned towards the direction where the sharp sound of a whip had just resonated.
Disregarding whatever had occurred there, Alisia ensured no bloodstains would mar Ryuk’s body.
After observing for a while, their eyes unexpectedly met, prompting a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth as she caught wind of what he had uttered.
.
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“I told you not to hit maids like that, Lady Venessa. It is cruel.”
Venessa’s eyes remained fixated on her hand, now turned crimson due to the whip soaked in blood.
She was still trying to process everything.
Drip
The faint sound of liquid touching the ground beneath her snapped her out of her trance, causing her breath to quicken.
“Haa….haa….” Gasping for breath, her hands began to tremble, their movements growing more rapid, causing the whip to fall.
As her crimson eyes started to dim amidst the redness they had witnessed, a chilling sensation ran down her spine, followed by a guttural sound, “Blerrggg!”
Thud
Falling to the ground, she clasped her hands tightly, attempting to still their trembling.
Tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of the gruesome scene, while the metallic scent assaulting her nose only compounded her misery.
“Hic…sniff…no, I-I don’t want to die,” one of the maids, fallen on the ground and witnessing the bloody mess, crawled desperately, trying to escape.
She was one of the spies, just like those two maids who had been turned into a blood mist by a single whip.
“What’s wrong with all of you?” Ryuk glanced at everyone’s horrified faces, trembling and shivering as if they had seen a devil.
He couldn’t comprehend how a child’s whip could terrify them so profoundly. “Whatever.”
Displaying his benevolence, Ryuk leaned in slightly to meet the tear-filled eyes of the blonde-haired woman, her body stained with blood.
He handed her a handkerchief and said, “Lady Venessa, I demand the Silvester family offer the North’s Ruins as compensation for their maid’s mistake.”
His amber eyes flickered towards the ring adorning her finger, well aware of its true identity.
With a subtle gesture, he discreetly included a small addition—a gift meant to remind that figure to stay within her bounds.
Venessa was in a trance, her mind barely registering the situation.
She only managed to nod at Ryuk’s words, which brought a satisfied smile to his face as he turned towards the maids.
Observing their trembling and fear-stricken faces, Ryuk, feeling pity, offered, “Your salaries will be increased tenfold. Before Adanyl sees this, clean up this place.”
Realizing the maids were too terrified to respond, clinging to each other like frightened chickens, Ryuk left, ignoring their plight.
As he moved away, Ryuk felt content that everything had transpired as he anticipated.
Understanding Venessa’s typical bargaining tendencies, he hadn’t anticipated her quick agreement.
Making him disrupt her customary decision-making process by exposing her to that scene.
‘!?’
Sensing an intense gaze from the Royal Palace, he turned in that direction, unable to see through the walls due to lack of power.
However, aware that someone was always watching over him, he nonchalantly shrugged and remarked, “You need to get used to babysitting, Mother ”
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Inside the Princess Palace, connected to the main palace,
‘Should I go there myself?’ Olivia kept walking restlessly in her room as she bit her nails, feeling anxious about her mother’s assurance to handle Ryuk and resolve his anger toward her.
“Ughh… It’s irritating.” She tried to think about the reason for Ryuk to avoid her in this life, but every possibility only confused her more.
She couldn’t think of him possessing past memories due to the strongest evidence she had—herself.
Olivia knew that if Ryuk had his previous life memories, then it was impossible for her to be alive right now.
This made her feel frustrated, thinking about the reason for him to act like this.
Due to many years passing by, she didn’t know if at this age she had done something to spoil Ryuk’s mood.
‘Just leave it.’ Not wanting to think much, she made her way out of the room but got interrupted by two maids who stood while bowing.
“What is the meaning of this?” Already feeling frustrated, Olivia looked towards both of the maids who tried to stop her from going outside.
“Forgive us, Your Highness, but Her Majesty had specially ordered us to not let you leave this room.” The bowed maids informed her about the order they received from Venessa, who ensured no interruptions while dealing with the situation between Ryuk and Olivia.
“Let me go this instant!” Olivia burst out, feeling overwhelmed by everything going wrong, from Ryuk’s aloofness to now her causing another big trouble by throwing Adanyl in the pond.
Of course, it was the maids who did this, but she also felt partly responsible for not properly educating them.
“You can’t, Your Highness—” a maid persisted but was interrupted by another maid rushing in, panting and trying to relay urgent news.
“Let her go, there is a huge incident that occurred in Elysium!” Arriving after running directly here, the maid tried to inform everything as soon as possible, feeling Olivia being a support to Venessa, who was in completely turmoil.
“W-what!” Olivia swiftly moved closer, demanding more details, “Did something happen to that girl?!”
Her anxiety rose from the fact that if something happened to Adanyl, who was just declared as Crown Princess today, everything would be over for her.
“N-no, it’s just… His Highness killed both maids.” The maid, feeling her words stuck in her throat.
“I mean, His Highness—”, tried to rectify after telling, regretting it, as even if Olivia was a princess, telling something gruesome to a child was not good.
“So?” Olivia looked at her in confusion, not understanding why this could be the reason for her arrival here on death of some mere maids and calling it a big event happening in Elysium.
‘This.’ All three maids present there looked towards each other, understanding that the little girl in front of them wouldn’t flinch if someone was killed.
“Whatever, leave my way.” Olivia, seeing the maid’s blank gaze, directly sprinted towards the exit from where the maid arrived.
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Swiftly arriving at the main palace, Venessa was brought to her bed by the maids after they cleared away the bloodstains.
Lying there, her vacant eyes remained fixed on the window, consumed by her thoughts,’ What could I have accepted’
Her face formed a smile—one that reflected her own stupidity for not understanding that it was impossible for Ryuk to be in any way different from his mother, ‘Both are monsters. ‘
Overwhelmed by everything, despite being a noblewoman accustomed to witnessing lesser bloodshed, Venessa teetered on the edge of losing her sanity.
‘He’s just a child!’ the realization hit her hard.
Despite his young age, his unflinching eyes and the strength he possessed while taking a life made her reconsider her decisions.
“Haaa…..Haa…Mother?!” The door flung open, Olivia gasped for breath, having heard everything upon her arrival.
Concern for her mother’s state, witnessing such violence, intensified her anxiety.
“My child,” Venessa’s eyes filled with tears upon seeing her daughter.
Everything she did was not only for revenge but also to ensure a safer future for Olivia, away from the fear of being targeted by far stronger forces like those who took her brother’s life.
Venessa’s pursuit of revenge was significant, yet her primary motivation remained the safety and well-being of her daughter, who had become intertwined with Ryuk, whose own mother was a killer.
In Venessa’s eyes, anyone with amber eyes became synonymous with monsters—creatures responsible for the deaths of her own family.
Trusting someone with such eyes was inconceivable to her now.
“Are you alright, Mother?” Olivia approached Venessa, witnessing her mother’s state far removed from that of a queen.
With a heavy heart, Olivia slowly neared her.
“Yes, I’m fine. You needn’t worry. I’ll handle Ry—” Venessa tried to muster a smile, defeatedly attempting to divert the conversation, understanding her daughter’s concern for Ryuk.
“Forget him, Mother!” Olivia’s eyes welled up with tears, seeing her mother’s exhaustion.
Seated on the bed, Olivia’s weary eyes reflected her self-reproach.
She despised herself for pushing Ryuk away in her previous life and now causing harm to her mother in her quest to gain his attention.
‘What’s the difference between who I was in the past and who I am now?’ Olivia pondered silently, determined to make Ryuk communicate with her directly on his own initiative.
“O-Olivia?” Venessa looked perplexed at her daughter’s sudden determination to intervene in her helping in issues with Ryuk, someone her daughter so desperately wanted to meet.
“Mother, do you have the ring I gave you?” Olivia inquired about the artifact she had given her mother, equipped with an image capturing feature.
Unable to directly communicate with Ryuk, Olivia had equipped the ring with a live image capturing function, longing to see him even from a distance.
She used her mother, who could meet him closely, to obtain a live image.
“Here,” Venessa passed the ring to her determined daughter, sensing her resolve.
Slipping the ring onto her finger as a reminder of her ultimate goal, Olivia reaffirmed her determination.
Having experienced the consequences of distancing herself from this individual in her past, she vowed not to make choices she’d later regret.
Leaving the room and heading down the hallway towards her own palace, Olivia glanced at the ring on her finger before turning her gaze infront.
“I must craft additional artifacts to enhance my strength.”
…
“Indeed, you must.”
Ryuk acknowledged, strolling towards the main palace with a smile adorning his face, pleased with the success of the changes he made to that ring.
Having already strategized for the future, he recognized the need to improve his current physical capabilities, prompting him to take some time to rest.
‘Now, perhaps I should pay a bit more attention to myself’
‘System….. ‘
To be continued
