229. Problems at Bay, Part V

This is a "Thank You" Mass Release. Thank you for making it possible for me to finally sign a contract with WEBNOVEL. So, here you go! November 1st, of 2022. Part 10/10!

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{"SHE'S VERY ROTTEN INDEED. AND I CAN FEEL HER HATRED towards you. I can't help but imagine how blunt you used to be not to catch up on such bad energy when you are sensitive to it."}

Yeah, I am aware. And it was all because I was blind by my feelings.

{"Very human of you."} That doesn't sound like a compliment. {"Because it isn't."}

"Of course," I said convicted and feeling like a deja vu. "Why? Is there someone who bothered you? Someone who made you upset?" Tell me! I need to know who's your target at the moment.

"Will you end the person for me, sis? I don't want to ask something that could break you... Like killing someone you know," oh, no.

This looks exactly like the words she told me before she made me kill our parents, Valerian, Asher, and the Knights who were there too. But why so soon? Why? Did I make the events happen quicker than they should? Isn't this a terrible sign?

Shit! I can't let her see that she got under my skin. "Of course, I would. And your safety and sanity are what matters to me, sis. I don't mind ending anyone who caused you a headache. Tell me the name and it'll be done," and she felt for it like a duck.

"It's reassuring to have an amazing older sister like you by my side, now that Tav is in the Royal Academy, sis," she sounded lovely, but she was far from that.

I sensed the jewel getting even warmer in my chest and my finger. Warm enough to be slightly uncomfortable. {"In all honesty, the guy who crafted those jewels is goddess-damn talented,"} Chaos seemed amused.

He is. That's why I invested in him before anyone could.

"Tell me, sis," I pretended to be worried by her. "Who's hurting you?"

As expected, her expression got conveniently darker, while she pretended to be offended just by remembering the person. "Katherine," wait-

Is she talking about Katherine Yang? Does she think she likes men and so she could be a treat to her so-wanted engagement with the 3rd Prince? Is that why she got weirdly closer to her? But it's awkward since she never orders me to kill her back in my past life.

Nonetheless, I'm genuinely relieved that it's not Val. "Katherine?" I bounced my head to the side. "Do you mean Lady Katherine Yang, sister? Duchess Serena Remington's daughter?"

"Oh, no! No. It's not her, Natasha. She's a friend, don't worry about her for now." Oh no. If it isn't her... "I'm talking about Katherine Quinlan," shit. I felt suddenly sick. "Your maid, sis," she pretended to be sad and searched for any sign of disagreement in my face.

She found none.

For Mikla's sake... Her request matches with the time Kate was found dead in the inner garden. She didn't make me do it and took my memory of it away, did she? I didn't end her life back there as well, did I?

I felt a bitter pain in my heart just thinking about it.

{"Calm down. Remember that you can't control your magic yet, Natasha. Let's not act recklessly, alright? We still have the upper hand."} Chaos spoke carefully.

But... What if I was the one who killed her? What if Dalilah found a way to make me forget about it? What if-

{"Don't do this to yourself, Natasha. She's getting under your skin again. Remember that you already caused changes in this timeline. Who guarantees this request isn't one of them?"} I... {"Don't overthink it. Let's find a way to get through this."}

No, I don't want to calm down! I'm going to kill one of her fucking maids. How dare she threatens Kate's life? She's got to feel the taste of losing someone from her side. And I'll make sure she knows it was me. This will be my first strike.

{"Are you sure?"}

I've never been so sure in this life. Besides, her maids hate me. To the point that even without being manipulated by her, they would gladly kill me if someone asked.

{"How are you going to do that, though? You will just go and straight-up kill the girl? Isn't your dad going to be suspicious of you if you do something like that? It might be dangerous."}

Of course, not, Chaos. Do you think I'm an amateur in killing people? Come on, I spent more than a decade of my entire existence as a professional killer for her. I know what I'm doing, alright? I have a thing in mind.

{"Why do I feel worried about that?"} I would have laughed at that if Dalilah wasn't right in front of me.

That was funny, I'll give you that. But tell me, do you know why all the Royals and Nobles come to Theolia, the Imperial Capital, and spend all the summer seasons here?

{"Never thought about that. Never cared about it either. Why?"} That's fair. But it's simple. It's because of the Empire's birthday. {"Well, that makes sense. When is it?"}

September 2nd. {"Isn't that in three days?"} Yes. Do you get it now?

{"Mm-hm. You are planning to use this as a distraction to kill the girl, right?!"}

Exactly! "Don't worry, sister," I said with a kind smile, "I'll kill the maid. But to do that in a way that no one would suspect anyone of our House, I'll wait until the 2nd of September," she understood what I meant by that.

"That's an amazing idea, sis. We can't taint our House with a rumor that one of us killed one of our maids. So yeah, good idea. Everybody will be distracted by the festival," yeah yeah. "Thank you for always putting me in the first place."

Yeah. She sure has the top spot. The 1st place in my enemies-to-kill list!

"Remember that this is our secret and you can't tell anyone, okay? You have to keep it a secret from everybody. Even Valerian!" I nodded, pretending to be obedient and she sighed in relief. "Now," her magic dissipated and her eyes got back to normal, "are you feeling okay, sister?"

I felt the jewels in my skin cool down and get back to normal. "Yes, I am," I declared, smiling fondly at her, imagining how would it feel to snap her neck broken, or to cut her throat and watch as she drowns in her own blood.

"Good. Now let's eat," she said more like ordering me than suggesting it.

With a nod, I began eating in a way that would make anyone who watched me believe I love this. Yet, again, I'll remind you that it's not true.

She finished first and got up, "You can keep eating. I'll go now because I have an appointment with my Prince and my future mother-in-law," probably to say that her manipulation worked. "Don't follow me!"

As if I would waste my precious time on that.

Yet, I nodded, still pretending to be her obedient pet and she smirked arrogantly.

{"You will have to act like this until they find the maid's body after you kill her,"} Chaos pointed out. {"It's going to be exhausting."}

Don't even remind me, the thought of it makes me nauseous. But it's necessary. If she knows that her manipulation didn't work on me, right now, it might complicate things. Besides, I have to prepare myself, because from the moment I kill her maid, there's no going back and I'll become one of her targets.

{"But you already knew this,"} true.

Indeed. Nevertheless, I wasn't expecting it to be so damn soon.

{"Neither did I. This will probably solidify the fact that your 14th birthday party will be a trap,"} Chaos pointed out.

That was expected, regardless of our meeting just now. However, thanks to Adelyn and Leonard's discovery while eavesdropping on my mom and the Empress, I have an upper hand. And telling this at the party will make them lose face a little bit. Especially with my father present with all his glory.

{"Which will be fortunate for you."}

Mm-hm. It sure will. Mostly thanks to the fact that my relationship with my dad got light-years better. Not to mention that Octavian will probably attend as well, so I'll be able to humiliate him in front of everybody. It's going to be amazing.

{"And I haven't directly met him yet."}

It's not like you are losing anything good, though. You will probably loathe him at first glance. Especially because he is also allergic to cats, and he hates them way more than Dalilah does. I would even dare to say he's quite scared of it like I am of snakes.

A mischievous grin appeared on his lips, {"I'm looking forward to that then."}

After I finished my breakfast with Chaos as my company, Asher came closer, curious about what she wanted with me. We headed towards the labyrinth in the garden, where there wasn't anyone but us. "So," he began. "What did she want?"

"Try to guess."

Asher sighed, "Considering how she hadn't approached you all this time, and suddenly asked to have breakfast with you, she's probably scheming something evil. So..." He bit his bottom lip, "Maybe she tried to manipulate you?"

"Got it at first try. Wow, you are getting better at this," his face turned two shades paler when he heard me confirming that.

He gasped, "What? Did she try that? For real?"

"Mm-hm. Nonetheless, thanks to the protection jewels, her effort was all in vain, because it didn't work on me."

Then Ash let out a loud sigh of relief, "But is she aware of it?"

"Of what? Aware that it didn't work?" A nod. "No. I pretended that it did."

That made him chuckle, "Then what did she ask you to do for her?"

"She asked me to kill Kate," I said coldly, bouncing my head slightly to the right.

To that, Asher gasped in pure horror. "You mean... Kate? Our Kate? Katherine Quinlan?" Pressing my lips together, I nodded. "Goddess above," he stared at nothing for a long instant, until he turned to me, still in shock. "What are you going to do?"

"If she wants me to kill my maid, I'll kill hers."

Well, he wasn't surprised as I first thought he would be. He seemed almost amused. "Which one?"

"Her favorite one, of course!" We both smirked viciously at that, knowing very well who it was. "Sue Huber. The most vicious between all of them."

"I agree with you on killing that one. Especially because she hates you and would kill you if she could. So, you will be doing yourself a favor."

See, Chaos? Just like I told you.

{"Then killing her is a win-win situation."}