The villainess shall be mine

[Master, are you going to accept Miss Liu's offer?]

The atmosphere turned serious as soon as Cristal spoke these words.

If viewed from an outsider's point of view, this matter related to Liu's invitation was nothing more than trivial.

After all, it was just a trip, and Liu was the one who generously invited me. She was even a little bit awkward about it.

If that was just an act, then it was an Oscar-worthy one.

However, if this was a trap, and her intentions were malicious, then I had to deal with her sooner or later.

I want to believe that Miss Liu was not my enemy, and that was why I needed to know her true motives.

"Yes, I will accept and I will ask her directly. And If she is someone sent by the Holy Church to deal with me, then I don't have any other choice…"

Cristal floated beside me and her voice was as emotionless as ever.

[Are you going to kill her?]

"I hope not."

Cristal's words were straight to the point.

If Liu was someone from the Holy Church sent to eliminate me, then I wouldn't have the choice but to eliminate her and erase the evidence.

This was certainly not a topic that would come up in casual talk usually. However, due to my particular situation, getting familiar with all of the dark themes the sooner was for the better because I would certainly need to deal with them often in a near future.

To be honest, I was not calm or comfortable at all when thinking about that. However, this world was not merciful enough to spare someone who wasn't ready to do everything to protect their own life.

I realized that in this world, even if you didn't do anything at all, you could still die anytime.

[You have changed a little bit, Master. But it's still a change.]

"Yeah… The old me would have never tried to take such a risk. After all, who knows how many people I will have to kill if this is a trap. I don't even want to think about it. This is a new reality that I need to accept, but it is hard for someone like me…"

[You can easily win against fifty or hundreds of low-level gift holders if you can control your power, master. And I doubt that there are high-level gift holders apart from Liu, and maybe her direct entourage. The chance for you to win is not that low.]

"That's not my point…" I mumbled.

It looked like Cristal completely missed my point.

Well, I didn't expect her to completely understand my feelings. She was already more than just a great help to me.

Nevertheless, the thought of killing people was something that I will never get used to. I didn't want to kill needlessly.

But if I was asked between killing my enemy or dying killed by them, then the answer was clear.

Sometimes I was worried about my mental state. I didn't know if was forcing myself too much to follow the pace of the changes happening around me.

Too much happened in just a few days, and I felt like I changed too. Still, I wanted to go change for the better and not be devoured by this pressure. And I didn't want to die until I got an ending that I was satisfied with.

"Don't worry. I was given a third chance, so I won't die that easily."

After that time when I was poisoned, I became extremely careful, and Cristal was a big help.

Every time I ate something, I asked Cristal to analyze the ingredients mixed in, or I would cook myself.

Also, I always check my room because there might be a bomb or someone somewhere inside it. I always made sure to talk quietly even when I was alone with Cristal.

For all I know, there was someone who was watching me from somewhere. I needed to be on my guard even if everything felt normal.

According to Cristal, she intercepted a very concerning transmission that related to that maid's death.

I needed to be on my guard all of the time, but Cristal suggested that I shouldn't change my behavior.

So every time I go outside, I always put on a fake face. I must look like the naïve young Lord, who tried to be mature for his age.

After all, this was the most effective way to fool people. They would never think that I was just being myself, a 45-year-old guy inside.

*****

:::[Third person POV]:::

"Really?"

Marie and Julius almost had the same reaction after listening to Adam.

It was still early in the morning but their eyes were already wide open, not because they are something weird, but because of the person sitting beside Adam.

"Yes, I was the one who asked him," Liu said with her expressionless face.

Adam told his parents he was going on this trip aboard Liu's ship. He also explained where he needed to go and what he will do there. However, He didn't tell them about the legendary technique and kept that information to himself.

This was an unexpected situation even for his parents.

'How did he manage to convince Miss Liu?'

Both of them asked the same question inside their head almost at the same time.

They weren't completely convinced that Liu offered to travel with Adam for no reason. Instead, they thought that Adam used some kind of method to convince her.

"With this, everything else should proceed smoothly. I still have to train so I will excuse myself for now." Adam said as he stood up from where he sat, "I will talk with you again later, Miss Liu." He added.

"All right," Julius replied, half impressed. He didn't anticipate this turn of events which he found a bit interesting.

After Adam left, Julius also left because it was no mystery that he was still overloaded with work just by looking at his face. He was just there to spend time with his family and listen to what Adam had to say.

The men left the room and only Marie, Liu, and verte stayed behind.

Verte was still eating something so Liu wanted her to finish slowly.

Still, Adam was a little bit inconsiderate when it came to these things.

Liu and Marie never talked to each other before, and Liu was a little bit uncomfortable.

Marie was looking at Liu as she took a sip from her cup.

"Miss Liu, this infant seems to be extremely attached to you. Is she yours?" Marie asked with an unwavering smile on her face.

"No, she isn't."

Liu answered briefly, but Marie was more experienced than her when it came to holding a conversation so she didn't mind.

"So, what do you think about my son?" Marie asked.

It seemed like the first question was just a hook and this was the main topic. Unlike before, Marie talked in a more friendly way.

This was a question that Liu didn't expect. What did she think about Adam? For her, Adam was interesting and a little bit unpredictable.

But was there something other than that? Only God knew the real answer to this question because she wasn't the kind of person who completely understood her feelings… There was also the possibility that it was just the above-mentioned impressions, and she thought nothing else of him.

"He is interesting," Liu answered.

Marie reacted to Liu's answer. It looked like she found this kind of answer a little bit intriguing.

"He is also a man," Marie said almost whispering. No one knows what she meant by that, but she

She didn't elaborate any further and instead invited Liu to walk around the Royal garden.

Liu was a bit curious about this garden and accepted.

After that, the two of them spent time together, talking about the girl's topic and enjoying the scenery.

Liu enjoyed Marie's company. She didn't remember her mother, but at that moment, she thought that if her mother was still alive then they would have talked like this.

*****

"You've found no clues?" Julius asked.

"Yes, there was nothing and no one saw anyone suspicious," the soldier replied.

Julius was listening to one of the soldiers who was tasked to find some clues about Josephina's murder but there was nothing.

Josephina talked about something extremely concerning, and Julius ordered a few experts to investigate this matter thoroughly but there were no clues anywhere.

According to the report, however, Josephina had a particular gift that gave her the ability to conceal herself, but she was was supposed to be only a level 2 gift holder.

Also, she had a daughter who was training to become a sister.

There were the only important pieces of information that Julius could find about Josephina. Everything else was perfectly normal and she was admired and respected by the people working inside the castle.

So the question was, when? When did these people manage to get in contact with her? And what did they do to her?

These were the questions that were on Julius's mind.

Still, there was also work related to rebuilding and compensation so he was extremely busy.