Chapter 92

Lillian smiled brightly and looked at me.

“Now, Tina. Open your mouth.”

In front of me, a spoon with steaming hot soup was held out.

Lillian seemed to be waiting for me to open my mouth, but I just stared at her with a cold gaze.

“…Take it away.”

“Aren’t you hungry? I cooked this with care.”

I was hungry.

My throat was dry, and my empty stomach was screaming for food.

*Clang—*

But I coldly knocked the spoon out of her hand. The spoon fell to the floor, and the hot soup scattered uselessly on the cold ground.

“I told you to take it away, Saintess?”

I sneered at her with a bitter smile.

Just moments ago, I had been trembling in fear of her violence, but now that the pain had subsided, a rebellious spirit rose from deep within me.

She had clearly promised not to use the same low and merciless violence on me as before.

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

“Hmm… This is troublesome.”

Lillian looked at me with calm eyes for a moment, then slowly reached her hand toward my face.

“Eek!”

As her pale palm approached, my body instinctively flinched, but her hand simply brushed my hair behind my ear and quietly withdrew.

“Don’t worry, Tina. I promised not to hit you like before.”

“…”

“Alright, if Tina doesn’t want it, there’s nothing I can do.”

Lillian placed the fallen spoon back on the tray and stood up.

“Okay, then let’s start the first training with table manners.”

“…What?”

“Tina, you’re my pet, right? So, I need to train you in the basics.”

“Who said I’m your pet, Saintess? You’re really a pervert, huh?”

“…”

Lillian’s pink eyes darkened as they stared at my lower abdomen.

Under her cold, quiet gaze, I instinctively trembled and took a step back.

“Ah, you said you wouldn’t hit me, right…?”

“…Of course.”

Lillian stood up with a faint smile.

“Trust is as important between a master and a pet as anything else.”

After leaving that absurd remark, Lillian turned and walked toward the only door in the room. Just before leaving, she turned her head as if remembering something and looked at me.

“Ah, 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 just for you after we returned to the Empire.”

Friend? Could Lillian know about the presence inside me?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard her voice since earlier. My mind, which had always been filled with her eerie laughter, was now eerily silent.

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

“…Huh? Who said I want praise from a pervert like you?”

“Hehe, then I’ll be going.”

Lillian lightly ignored my bitter sarcasm and left.

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

How long had I been sitting there, dazed in the silence?

“Pfft.”

The laughter I had been holding back finally burst out.

I clutched my stomach and laughed uncontrollably. As if in sync with my mood, the chains around my ankles clattered noisily.

“I’m so sorry, Saintess.”

It seemed like Lillian was genuinely trying to tame me.

It was strange that a saintess could harbor such dark desires, but the sticky look in her eyes was no less intense than Mardian’s obsession.

Of course, I had no intention of letting her have her way.

“You’re missing one thing.”

From the way she only chained my legs and left me alone, it seemed Lillian hadn’t realized that I had no attachment to life.

With a heart tainted by greed, I had poisoned the Saintess and shattered my mother’s love.

My soul was already blackened.

A soul burned black would never cross the threshold of heaven and would fall into the depths of hell, never to escape.

But that didn’t matter.

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

Even if the days there were filled with pain, as long as I was with my mother, that pain would be enough for me.

For me, the most fatal thing wasn’t any kind of pain, but loneliness.

‘…It’ll hurt a lot, won’t it?’

Though I wasn’t usually good at enduring pain, the thought of the peace that would come after a short period of pain didn’t seem like a bad choice.

I stuck out my tongue.

And without a moment’s hesitation, I bit down as hard as I could and tore it off.

*Crunch—*

With a sound like something snapping, a sharp pain shot through my mouth.

“Ugh, gah…!”

Tears welled up in my eyes from the unbearable, bitter pain.

But the pain slowly faded, and all I felt was the warmth of blood spreading.

I slowly closed my eyes and lay down on the floor.

Blood began to flow out of my mouth like a river.

“Heh, heh… Suffer with guilt for the rest of your life and die.”

An extreme choice made to escape captivity.

To Lillian, it would probably just look like that.

You killed me, Lillian.

I hope I remain as an unending guilt in your heart.

“Ugh, hah… Die, Lillian…”

As I poured out curses and mockery in my heart, wishing eternal pain on Lillian, something strange happened.

The floor where my blood had touched began to glow faintly, and a pure white stem shot up intensely from that spot.

“…Huh?”

As I blinked in confusion, the white stem, as thick as my wrist, charged straight toward me.

Its end was aimed at my mouth.

“Ugh, ugh?!”

The white stem forced its way into my mouth and began penetrating deep into my body without stopping.

“Ugh?! Gah, ugh, hah…”

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

My body began to tremble from the explosive heat.

The stem, filling my mouth, glowed brightly once, then scattered like particles of light and seeped into the ground.

“Hah… Hah, hah…”

I collapsed on all fours, gasping for breath.

My body was still hot from the heat left by the stem, but strangely, it didn’t hurt.

In fact, I felt lighter.

Something was wrong.

“Uh… Uh?”

I frantically stuck out my tongue to check. The pain that had been so clear earlier was now completely gone.

Not just the pain. The constant flow of red blood had also disappeared without a trace.

“Could it be…?”

Did that light just heal me?

Doubt rose, and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

Without hesitation, I bit down on my tongue again with all my might.

“Ugh…!”

A sharp pain shot through the tip of my tongue, and the bitter taste of blood filled my mouth.

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

But despite that, the floor began to glow faintly once more.

At that moment, the damn light stem shot up from the floor again and fiercely charged at me.

“No, no… Stay away!”

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

Eventually, the flow of light reached my face.

I clenched my teeth tightly, but the light seeped through the tiny gaps in my lips and filled my entire mouth.

“Ugh…! Gah…! Ugh…!”

The rough, merciless light instantly healed the wound on my tongue and disappeared without leaving a trace.

“No way…”

My mind went blank.

After that, I tried every means to harm myself. But each time, the light stem relentlessly covered my body, healing any wound in an instant.

In the end, the only things that changed with each repeated attempt were my increasingly healthy body and the excruciating pain.

“This, this can’t be…”

The last bit of composure in my heart disappeared, and anxiety and unease began to fill the void.

*[This place was specially prepared just for you.]*

“I can’t die…?”

Overwhelmed by frustration, my voice trailed off weakly.

Lillian had anticipated that I would immediately resort to self-harm.

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

Unable to fathom Lillian’s intentions, her existence now felt infinitely terrifying.

And as I deeply realized that I couldn’t die, the fear I had suppressed began to burst forth.

“I’m hungry…”

I’m hungry.

I’m thirsty.

I’m cold.

And I’m lonely.

“I’m lonely… Where are you? Come out…”

I desperately called out to my old friend, but as Lillian had said, no response came.

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

The fact that the presence that had always been by my side was now out of reach filled me with a deep sense of helplessness and loneliness.

*Crunch—*

I bit my thumb in frustration.

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

She had said she would return.

No matter how much Lillian had changed, her true nature must still be good.

If I could use that to my advantage, there must be a way.

If all else fails, I’ll just apologize profusely.

I’ll beg Lillian with all my heart, promising never to do bad things again, and she’ll surely let me go.

Of course, it wouldn’t be sincere, but making it seem sincere was easy for me.

“Wa, wait… If I wait, she’ll come soon…”

But no matter how long I waited.

Lillian never came back.