Chapter 92: This is a place specially prepared for Tina.

Lillian looked at me with a radiant, eye-smiling expression.

“Here, Tina. Please try it.”

On the spoon she held out in front of me was a steaming, warm soup.

It seemed like Lillian was waiting for me to open my mouth, but I only stared at her with a cold gaze.

“…Move it.”

“Are you not hungry? I went through the effort to cook this for you.”

I was hungry.

My throat was dry from thirst, and my empty stomach was crying out for food.

Click

But I harshly swatted the spoon she offered away. It fell to the floor, and the hot soup scattered uselessly on the cold ground.

“I told you to move it, Saintess.”

I sneered at her with a bitter smile.

Just a moment ago, I had been scared by her violence, stretching out my hand like a dog, but now, with the pain subsiding, defiance stirred up deep within me.

She had clearly said it herself—she wouldn’t use the same low and merciless violence on me as before.

With that in mind, there was no reason for me to obey Lillian’s words.

“Hm… this is difficult.”

Lillian gazed at me with a momentary, subdued look before slowly reaching one hand toward my face.

“Eek.”

As her pale hand approached, my body instinctively shrank back, but all she did was gently move my hair behind my ear and quietly withdrew.

“Don’t worry, Tina, I promised I wouldn’t hit you again.”

“I see. Well, if Tina doesn’t like it, I can’t help it.”

Lillian placed the spoon, which had fallen to the floor, back on the tray and stood up.

“Alright, then. Let’s start the first lesson with dining etiquette.”

“…What?”

“Tina, you’re my pet, aren’t you? So, I need to train you in the basics.”

“Who’s your pet, Saintess? You really are a perverted bastard, aren’t you?”

Lillian’s pink eyes deepened as they locked onto my lower abdomen.

In the stillness and coldness of her gaze, I instinctively shuddered and took a step back.

“I said I wouldn’t hit you, didn’t I?”

“…Of course.”

Lillian smiled faintly and stood up.

“Nothing is more important between a master and pet than trust.”

Leaving behind those somewhat absurd words, Lillian turned back toward the direction she had entered from and opened the only door in the room. Just before stepping out, she seemed to recall something and turned to look at me.

“Oh, and Tina. You won’t be able to talk to that friend of yours here.”

“…What?”

“This is my mansion. And this space was specially prepared for you after we returned to the Empire.”

Friend? Could it be that Lillian knows about her presence inside me?

Now that I think about it, the voice of hers that had always echoed in my head was gone. My mind, which had once been filled with that eerie laugh, was now completely silent.

“So Tina, just wait quietly. If you listen well next time, I’ll praise you a lot.”

“…Huh? Who the hell would want praise from someone like you, pervert?”

“Hehe, well then, I’ll be going.”

Lillian lightly ignored my mocking words filled with bitterness and stepped outside.

With a loud noise, the door closed, and deep silence enveloped me.

How much time passed as I sat there, dazed in the silence?

“Fu-hut.”

The laughter I’d been holding back finally broke out.

Clutching my stomach, I laughed uncontrollably. As though in sympathy with my mood, the chains around my ankles rattled, making a loud clattering sound.

“How sorry you must be, Saintess.”

It somehow seemed like Lillian was genuinely trying to tame me.

I wondered if it was really okay for someone who called themselves a saint to harbor such dark desires, but the sticky gaze she had fixed on me was no less obsessive than Mardian’s.

Of course, I had no intention of yielding to Lillian’s will.

“You’re missing something.”

By leaving me with only my legs bound, Lillian clearly hadn’t noticed that I had no attachment to life anymore.

Corrupting the pure hearts of young ladies with greed, harboring a malicious intent to poison the saintess, and tearing apart the love of my mother, I had already stained my soul black.

A soul so blackened could never cross the threshold of heaven. It would fall into the abyss of hell, never to escape again.

But it didn’t matter.

In hell, my true mother would be waiting for me. Without hesitation, I could cross that threshold.

Even if the days there were full of pain, if it meant enduring it with my mother, that would be enough for me.

For me, the most fatal thing was not any pain, but loneliness.

‘… It must hurt a lot, huh?’

I wasn’t one to handle pain well, but considering the peace that would come after the brief suffering, it didn’t seem like such a bad choice.

I stuck out my tongue.

And without a moment’s hesitation, with all my strength, I clenched my teeth and bit my tongue.

Crack—

With a sound that seemed to indicate something breaking, a sharp pain pierced my mouth.

“Ugh, ex…!”

The bitter pain was so unbearable that tears welled up in my eyes.

But the pain slowly faded, leaving only the warm feeling of blood spreading.

I slowly closed my eyes and laid my body on the ground.

Blood began to flow from my mouth like a river.

“Heh, heh… I’ll die tormented by guilt for the rest of my life.”

An extreme choice made in response to the confinement.

To Lillian, that was probably all she saw it as.

You killed me, Lillian.

I hope I remain in your mind as an unshakable guilt.

“Heh, heresy… die, Lillian….”

While silently mocking and cursing, I hoped that I would leave Lillian with eternal suffering.

And then, the moment came.

The blood I had spilled began to faintly glow, and from that spot, a pure white stem shot up fiercely.

“…Huh?”

While I blinked, stunned, a pure white stem, as thick as my wrist, rushed toward me.

The end was heading for my mouth.

“Ugh, ugh?!”

The pure white stem forced its way into my mouth, and without stopping, it began to penetrate deep into my body.

“Ugh?! Crack… ex, huff, huff…”

It burrowed into my throat, my esophagus, and deep inside. The unknown stem relentlessly dug into me.

A searing heat that felt like it would burst out made my whole body tremble.

The stem, now filling my mouth, glowed brightly for a moment, then scattered like particles of light, sinking into the earth.

“Heh… heh…!”

I collapsed onto the ground on all fours, panting heavily.

Though my body still burned from the heat left by that streak within me, strangely, it didn’t hurt anymore.

In fact, it felt as though my body had become lighter.

Something’s off.

“Uh… huh?”

In a panic, I stuck out my tongue and examined it. The pain that had been so sharp earlier had completely vanished, and there was not even a trace of discomfort left.

It wasn’t just the pain. The red veins that had constantly trickled down my skin had also disappeared, as if they had never been there.

“C-Could it be…?”

Did the light from earlier heal me?

Doubt filled my mind, and a chill ran down my spine.

Without hesitation, I stuck out my tongue again and bit down hard.

“Ugh…!”

A sharp pain stung the tip of my tongue, and the bitter taste of blood spread in my mouth.

This time, I quickly covered my mouth with both hands to prevent the red liquid from dripping onto the floor.

But despite my efforts, the floor began to glow faintly once again.

At that moment, the damned beam of light shot up from the floor and rushed toward me with ferocity.

“No, no… don’t come!”

I struggled to escape the light, but there was nowhere to run in the confined space.

Eventually, the flow of light reached my face.

I tried my best to press my lips tightly together, but the light seeped through the tiniest gap between my lips and filled my entire mouth.

“Ugh…! Ah…! Ugh…!”

The rough and relentless light filled my mouth, healing the wound on my tongue in an instant before disappearing without leaving a trace.

“That… that’s impossible…”

My mind went blank.

After that, I tried every possible way to harm myself. But each time, the beam of light relentlessly covered my body, healing every injury in an instant.

The more I attempted to hurt myself, the more my body seemed to grow healthier, and the only thing that changed was the unbearable pain.

“If, if this continues…”

The last shred of calm I had left disappeared without a trace, replaced by anxiety and unease that began to fill the void.

[This place has been specially prepared just for Tina.]

“I can’t die…?”

Sinking into despair, my voice broke into a weak whisper.

Lillian had known I would try to harm myself immediately.

How deeply had she seen through me? And how did she know so much about me?

Not being able to understand Lillian’s true feelings, I was filled with an overwhelming fear of her presence.

And when I realized deeply that I couldn’t die, the fear I had been suppressing started to break free.

“I’m… hungry…”

I was hungry.

I was thirsty.

I was cold.

And I was lonely.

“I… I’m lonely… Where are you? Please come…”

I called out to my old friend with desperation, but, just as Lillian had said, no answer came.

“Please… appear. I don’t want to be alone. I’ll give you anything you want. Please…”

Her presence, always by my side, now felt so distant that a deep sense of helplessness and loneliness slowly began to engulf me.

Creak-

In my anxiety, I bit down on my thumb.

“When, when Lillian comes back, I’ll talk to her again…”

She had promised to return.

No matter how much Lillian had changed, her true nature was surely still good.

If I played my cards right, I was sure I could find a way.

If there was no other way, I would just beg, apologize, and ask for forgiveness.

If I begged Lillian with all my heart, promising not to do bad things again, she would surely let me go.

Of course, it wasn’t sincere, but it was easy for me to make it feel like it was.

“Let’s… let’s wait… She’ll be back soon…”

But no matter how much I waited.

Lillian did not come.