At some point, it had turned into a staring contest, with the icy wind acting as referee.
Time seemed to have lost all meaning in the midst of our epic clash of sparks, which threatened to incinerate the place.
Morgana made the best decision by conceding defeat in the face of my unbeatable presence, which seemed to consume the very oxygen around us, leaving her redder than a perfectly ripe tomato.
“Ahem. How did you come back to life? I clearly saw that you had no vital pulse and that your mana had dissipated into the atmosphere, so what did you do?”
Act One...
My body began to shiver from the cold that gave me goosebumps, as if my cells were struggling to keep my body functioning.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized as she dispelled the Blizzard spell from the room.
The atmosphere had been ruined, but that’s just how things go.
“Ashu,” I sneezed to elicit more sympathy before my explanation. “It’s because the other day…”
“Wait a minute!” she interrupted my brilliant argument.
“What’s wrong?”
“…First, put some clothes on,’” she muttered as she tossed me the travel backpack I’d left in the carriage earlier.
That’s unnecessary; I was going to give the most generic explanation I could come up with. Clothes aren’t needed in this situation.
But Morgana didn’t seem willing to listen, and she turned her back on me to prevent me from playing my role as an irrelevant extra.
Haaa… Whatever.
The anti-magic chains seem to be in place, and given the absence of fingerprints on the padlock and the position of my belongings, it doesn’t look like anyone has opened it… or, at least, not by conventional means.
“I’m ready now; you can turn around.”
The redhead took a few seconds longer than necessary to turn toward me, her eyes slightly red and puffy from the time it had taken me to get dressed.
You could even see a few teardrops trickling down her cheeks due to the high body heat she was giving off.
9/10: Your heart rate is irregular. Also, the teardrops could be more pronounced to make it more believable, but if I have to give you any credit, it would be for your ragged breathing, which intensifies your presence.
“How are you still alive? I thought you’d already…” She trailed off, her hands trembling uncontrollably.
“You see, I practice the ‘Extreme Abdominal Void’ technique. As soon as I saw your hand getting too close, I sucked my organs up toward my throat and my heart up toward my head. That’s why I had no pulse down there; as for the blood and mana, my stomach thought it was dirty energy, so it decided to release it for a few hours before sealing itself off,” I explained.
Morgana narrowed her eyes at my excuse, letting silence take over the room once more.
“It makes sense, I suppose,” she remarked with genuine doubt in her voice, casting one last glance at me before nodding to herself. “Anyway, I’m glad you’re okay; otherwise, I would’ve become a murderer for taking the life of a weakling.”
“That hurts, you know?” I said, placing my hand over my heart, as if a dagger had been plunged deep into my soul.
“Hmm. That’s what you get for forcing me to bring you here from the dining hall,” she said with a faint smile on her face.
“I appreciate the gesture, but now, please, excuse me,” I said, starting to walk toward the door with my head down.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Wait!”
I felt someone pull on my arm, just a few meters away from completing the NPC’s act of humiliation.
As I fixed my gaze on the girl, her eyes seemed to wander slightly for a moment before meeting mine.
Her breathing had quickened even more than before; perhaps the excitement had sent her adrenaline levels soaring to unusual heights.
“What’s going on? What we had ended at that banquet… let me leave with what little honor I have left.”
“‘What we had…” she murmured, crumpling the sleeves of my jacket with her firm grip. “I don’t mean that! I mean my family thinks you’re dead, so if you show up in front of them, they’ll probably kill you again… this time for good.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“Stay here tonight; I’ll return to the academy tomorrow. I’ll sneak you out with me,” she suggested as she loosened her grip.
I could escape in a fraction of a second if I set my mind to it. Besides, the barrier can’t detect me unless I let it, so my exit would be no different from a draft in the eyes of the sensors.
But if Morgana insists and I still manage to escape the Kryon Empire, then my cover as a mob will be blown in front of the crimson protagonist.
“I see. And what do we do about the only bed in the room?” I asked calmly, pointing to the enormous bed.
“Don’t get any weird ideas, okay!” she clarified right away. “Besides, I don’t need to sleep to recharge anymore.”
I don’t need to sleep either, because of my level of spirituality, but I can’t say that.
I sat down on the bed, which had an unusually feminine design. To be honest, I’m a little disappointed that it isn’t a coffin; after all, vampire culture is important. No, not even that: this place didn’t smell like blood; instead, it was perfumed with a fruity scent.
I just sat down on the bed; at least it was more comfortable than standing all night.
“Aren’t you going to sleep?” she asked as she sat down on the other side of the bed, though the distance was a little…
“I’m not sleepy; besides, why are you so close? The bed is big enough for a dozen people,” I remarked, moving a little further away, just in case she stabbed me again.
I didn’t mind before, but now I’m just an extra; there’s no way I’m going to keep showing up on the main stage over and over again.
Morgana snorted, crossing her arms as she shot me a dazzling crimson glance.
Although this time, the lighting seemed to highlight her radiance even more against the backdrop of the night and a few dimly lit chandeliers, giving the room a gothic air.
“I’m just making sure you don’t die until I get you out of here,” she replied.
“Well, thanks, I guess.”
“That’s right, thank me,” she said in a voice brimming with confidence, forgetting that I had created this situation from the very beginning. “I’ll tell you a story.”
“Can I refuse to listen?” What awaited me was an intense, murderous glare from the young crimson protagonist.
It seems that wasn’t an option for my character from the start.
“Do you remember Empress Lilith?” she asked calmly, her bright eyes fixed on the full moon through the window.
“You mean the tyrant who wiped out an entire kingdom in a single night? That’s basic knowledge for a noble,” I replied casually, encouraging her to continue her story.
A hint of melancholy crept into Morgana’s eyes as she turned her attention back to me.
I don’t like this; this information is meant for the protagonist, but on the other hand, it fits perfectly with my identity as the mastermind behind all of this. Listening for a bit won’t hurt me; yes, that’s the only reason to pay attention.
“She is the ancestor of our clan and, at the same time, the reason our lineage was cursed,” she revealed as her gaze turned icy. “According to my father, this is why our clan has fallen from its former heights.”
I picked up a picture that was on the nightstand next to the bed; it showed the final boss of the dining hall seated on a golden throne, with a faint smile—an unusual expression for a cold, calculating villain.
Those two hands clasped together must have been those of the twins from the third-act scene, accompanied by a beautiful woman holding a baby in her arms.
“That’s my mother,” Morgana replied as she looked at the photo in her hand.
“Did something happen to her?” I turned the photo face down on the table again as I turned toward her.
Morgana seemed somewhat reluctant to discuss the subject and clutched the bedspread a little tighter.
“If you don’t want to talk about it…”
“My father sacrificed her six years ago!” she shouted, clenching her fists even tighter.
So that was it, huh? I should dig deeper into this.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“You don’t have to apologize; that’s just who we are: a race that kills each other for power,” she remarked with a small smile on her lips, in contrast to the sadness radiating from her shining eyes. “Perhaps the Empress wasn’t so different from what we are now.”
“Different from what you are?” I asked, resting my chin in my hands.
“That’s what I said. From what I’ve read in the kingdom’s books and heard from the elders, Empress Lilith was once a benevolent leader who cared for her people,” she explained, her right eye twitching. “But good things don’t last forever; a few centuries after seizing power, she became obsessed not only with human blood, but also with that of her own kind.”
The story is starting to make sense for a future plot arc; I just need to fit a few more pieces into place to see this actress’s potential.
“Do you know what happened to her afterward?”
“Of course I do; not only did she devour some of our clan’s finest warriors, but she also annihilated the neighboring kingdom shortly afterward”—rage began to seep into her voice as she recounted what had happened—“Not only did she vanish without a trace, but we also had to answer to her God, who condemned our clan to kill our partners if we wanted to evolve.”