Chapter 47: Being kind was not an option

“Oh, oh, Master…?”

She stuttered, her eyes darting around as she avoided my gaze. I greeted Viviana in a way that wasn’t overly enthusiastic, but not too timid either.

Viviana stared down at me for a while. Her strange gaze made me feel somewhat puzzled inside, but fortunately, she soon gave a faint smile and patted my head.

“Did you write the letter well?”

“Uh… yes. Haven’t you read it?”

“Why would I read it? It’s someone else’s letter.”

Did she really not read it? Viviana has a very meticulous personality. She never lets even the smallest thing slip by and will go to any lengths to achieve what she wants.

Given that she’s decided to keep me as her personal pet, I couldn’t help but wonder whether she really didn’t have any interest in the other lady I was involved with.

But then again, I thought there wasn’t really a reason for her to lie to me about something like that. After all, I wrote the letter with the assumption she might read it, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Viviana stroked my head and sat on the edge of the bed. She picked up the book lying next to the pillow, read a bit, and then furrowed her brow.

“This book is… quite different from your usual taste, isn’t it?”

“That’s why I enjoy it.”

Honestly, I quite like reading about others being tortured. The more cruel and inhumane the torture methods, the more I find comfort in knowing that there are trashy people in the world besides myself who come up with such things.

I know it’s twisted, but that’s just who I am.

“Tina, come here.”

Soon, Viviana lost interest in the book and, crossing her legs seductively, beckoned me over from the bed. Slowly, with hesitant steps, I knelt at the edge of the bed and gently rested my head on her thigh.

Viviana gazed down at me in silence. With trembling eyes, I cautiously looked up at her and softly spoke.

“A-are you uncomfortable? I just wanted to act a little more spoiled… I’m sorry…”

I spoke timidly, as if restless.

In a voice that lacked any semblance of confidence.

Gently, I spoke to Viviana.

All for her sake.

I think this is quite the special treatment.

“No, I’m not uncomfortable.”

See? Even Viviana said she doesn’t mind. It’s her own way of expressing approval in that cold manner of hers. With renewed confidence, I nuzzled my face against her thigh even more eagerly.

At first, when they said it would be confinement, I had a lot of worries. Even though I knew Viviana wasn’t a bad person, my traumatic experience of being assaulted by Mardian had left me uneasy.

If I had known it would be this easy, I wouldn’t have worried so much. Honestly, if things continue like this, I could easily stay here for more than a month — even a year.

All I had to do was keep pretending to be shy and accommodate Viviana’s mood for a month. That’s it.

The reward would be the clearing of all my family’s debts and the solid backing of the powerful Merdellia Duchy.

I couldn’t help but wonder what Viviana was thinking when she put her family’s name on the line for this.

Honestly, I don’t mean to be rude, but Viviana doesn’t seem as brilliant as she’s portrayed in the game.

The game described her as someone meticulous and talented in every aspect, but seeing her not even calculating gains and losses like this… it’s a bit disappointing.

Well, it works out for me.

[Tina, there’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.]

While I was cozily nestled on Viviana’s lap, a memory of what my mother once said crossed my mind.

‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch, but there sure are suckers, Mom.’

I chuckled inwardly at the thought, missing my mother. It had been so long since I had been in her warm embrace that I felt a bit of emptiness, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t endure for a month or so.

“Tina, are you hiding something from me?”

At Viviana’s voice, I slowly lifted my head. Though my face showed little change in expression, I sensed something unidentifiable in her violet eyes.

“Hiding something?”

“Yes.”

Viviana fell silent after that one word, waiting for my response. I looked up at her, a smile neither too bright nor too sad playing on my lips.

“Why would I hide anything from you? I wouldn’t want to hide anything from you, Viviana…”

“…If that’s the case, then good.”

Viviana gazed at me for a moment before gently stroking my head with a faint smile.

A strange sense of déjà vu hit me. After that, she didn’t say much, but the odd unease lingered, gnawing at me.

I started wondering if I might have missed something.

Come to think of it, isn’t Viviana being oddly kind?

She’s not usually this gentle.

Viviana’s personality can be summed up in one word: sociopath.

A narcissist who loves herself the most in this world, a woman who wouldn’t hesitate for a second to cut down anyone standing in her way.

She wasn’t exactly a villain, but she was utterly indifferent to anyone who wasn’t useful to her, caring solely about her own success and fame.

In the game, Viviana never smiled kindly at anyone. Rumor had it that although she was from the same game as Lillian, Viviana’s game genre switched to overpowered action while Lillian’s remained a romance simulation.

Of course, there was a romance route for Viviana too, but it never quite suited her personality.

A cold-blooded person—yet recently, Viviana had been smiling at me with a strange gentleness… In the game, Viviana smiled so rarely that you could count the instances on one hand.

‘It’s probably just my imagination.’

I decided to think that my flattery was simply working well. After all, this wasn’t a game but reality. Such small deviations could always happen.

Maybe someday, Viviana would be head over heels for me, showering me with gifts.

“Tina, you’re really not hiding anything, right?”

Her gaze was unnecessarily serious.

Viviana gently placed a hand on my shoulder and asked once more. Viviana wasn’t the type to repeat herself, so I had no idea what she wanted to confirm so badly.

“Of course…!”

I decided not to lose confidence.

Your childhood friend said it, right?

That being pretty is the truth.

Now, a week has passed since then, and Viviana, sitting in her office after a long time, lit a cigarette.

[Why would I hide anything from you?]

As she recalled Tina’s awkward voice, Viviana took a drag from her cigarette. Through the dense smoke, her eyes faintly gleamed with a somewhat eerie light.

“…Sigh.”

She didn’t just feel bad—she felt disgusted.

When did it start?

When did that pesky little pet begin hiding her true self and deceiving her?

Perhaps she had planned to deceive her from the very beginning.

Even though Viviana had told her many times how much she hated lies, that little pet still chose the path of deception.

If she hadn’t caught on, Tina would have likely continued feeding her sweet lies, burying them deep within.

Still, Viviana didn’t lose hope. She kept asking, hoping Tina would eventually confess on her own. But the answers that came back were nothing short of disappointing.

Perhaps, to that little pet, she was nothing more than another wealthy benefactor, just like the other noble ladies.

If she hadn’t seen Tina’s true nature, she would have completely believed that Tina’s timid demeanor was her real self.

However, anyone who had seen Tina’s hidden side, even once, would notice the difference.

There’s only one way to tell if Tina is hiding her true self.

When she’s putting on a facade, there’s nothing that makes your heart race.

Of course, she’s pretty and charming. She exudes a harmless loveliness that makes you want to lock her up and keep her as your own. That’s probably why she attracted the love and admiration of so many ladies.

But that’s where it ends.

It’s a completely different aura from her true self.

Equally lovely, yet different in essence. Tina’s true nature, fragile and seemingly ready to crumble at any moment, stirs the primal violence and raw desires hidden within the human soul.

When she was held in bed after being assaulted by Mardian, her heart, which she thought to be cold and indifferent, began to race wildly, and her face flushed red with a feeling she had never experienced before.

And perhaps, it was undoubtedly sexual desire.

Something dangerous enough to break down the high wall of homosexuality.

I hate to use such a vulgar word, but…

The only way to describe it is ‘arousal.’

In short, Tina’s true nature is insanely arousing.

And quite dangerously so.

Perhaps she doesn’t even realize it.

It makes one want to lay her down on the bed and make her cry out one’s name. Perhaps even Mardian’s daughter was captivated by that true nature, leading her to commit such a bold crime.

No doubt, the pain that wicked woman inflicted on Tina made her show her true self to Mardian from time to time.

It irritates me.

The fact that Tina’s true self emerged during the kidnapping incident was because Mardian had pushed her to the limit. In the end, both then and before, it was always Mardian who drew out Tina’s true nature.

The thought of being overshadowed by that aristocratic brat, with ambitions far beyond her abilities, enrages me.

‘She showed her true self to that woman… but kept it thoroughly hidden from me.’

You brought this on yourself, Tina.

I tried to be as kind as possible.

I made a promise to your mother, and for some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to be harsh with you, so I tried to treat you as lovingly as a cute pet.

But all I got in return was a blatant lie.

‘I’m sorry, Mother.’

It seems I will have to do something that you wouldn’t approve of.

Perhaps it’s fortunate that I’ve realized it now.

Tina has a habit of taking others lightly the better they treat her. Maybe that’s why she’s trying to be kept like this.

In the end, being kind was not an option.

To see the true self Tina so desperately wants to hide…

I will have to break her thoroughly once.

‘This way might be closer to the Merdelian method.’”

Viviana’s red lips blossomed into a seductive smile.