Chapter 52: It’s Your Choice

Nelson looked at the young man in front of him in surprise.

“You… how do you know?”

No sooner had he spoken than he was slapped across the face.

Eze’s expression grew even colder.

“Don’t answer a question with another question. Yes or no?”

“Yes, yes… there’s a red-haired woman. Our guild leader seems really afraid of her, but… but I don’t know who she is. The boss never told me!!”

Eze fell into thought, clearly displeased.

The silence that followed immediately drove Nelson’s fear to its peak, and he began begging repeatedly.

“Please, I beg you, sir!! I… I have elders above and young below. I’m just trying to make a living. I didn’t mean to harm you or your lady. Please, have mercy… uh uh uh—”

Eze found him annoying and shoved the clump of earth back into his mouth, then nodded to Verlianne.

With a snap of her fingers, the adventurer who had almost suffocated just moments ago finally revealed his features again, greedily gasping for air.

Immediately afterward, he and the others were swallowed by the floor once more, disappearing without a trace.

Having finished this, she asked:

“What should we do with these people?”

“Lock them up for a while first. They might still be useful later. Just make sure they don’t die.”

The witch lady nodded, looking at Eze’s face, which was a mixture of helplessness and anger.

She asked cautiously:

“The red-haired woman the adventurer mentioned—is that the princess named Heidi?”

“…Who else could it be?”

“Maybe that adventurer was just trying to stay alive by playing along with what you said?”

Eze gave a bitter smile and shook his head.

“What he says isn’t really important. I had already guessed it was Heidi before he spoke.”

Eze had long anticipated the adventurers’ guild would turn on him.

The room full of traps he had painstakingly set up was all preparation for this.

It was meant to catch the guild in the act, making it easier to control them or demand favors later.

And yet?

Several days had passed since the banquet ended.

The other party hadn’t made a move against him, but instead seized the moment when he left to attack Verlianne.

What did that mean?

It meant they knew his identity and understood his strength was beyond that of ordinary adventurers.

In Tafia right now, besides Verlianne, who else knew who he really was?

Only Heidi.

It was obvious, even the current interrogation was mostly for precaution’s sake.

“That woman must have thought that as long as you stayed here, I’d never go back with her. She wanted to isolate me, so she did this.”

Eze was both angry and helpless.

“No wonder she’s been going crazy these past couple of days, showing up and trying all sorts of tricks to drag me out. Tch—”

He knew she had an agenda, but didn’t realize it was this extreme.

Seeing Eze fuming as if steam was coming out of his ears, Verlianne thought for a moment, then smiled and reached out to tousle his hair.

“Alright, don’t be so angry. I’m fine, aren’t I?”

“Is this a matter of being fine!? If something happens, won’t it be too late then!?”

“Hmm… what do you plan to do about her?”

That question stumped Eze.

The camaraderie with his former teammate had long since been destroyed by Heidi herself.

But putting feelings aside, from a rational standpoint, Heidi was currently the fulcrum of the kingdom’s power balance, an extremely important figure who couldn’t be allowed to fall.

What to do then?

Eze sighed and sat down on a chair in the entrance hall, looking at Verlianne.

“What do you want to do?”

The sudden question caught the witch lady off guard.

“Me?”

“She’s the one who wants to harm you, not me. So you decide what to do. Whatever choice you make, I’ll respect and fully support it.”

Even if Verlianne wanted to eliminate Heidi, or torture her to death, Eze wouldn’t oppose it—even if it triggered chaos in the kingdom’s political landscape.

This matter was huge.

Verlianne’s decision could even affect the entire Nations of Humanity’s future.

Yet, without much thought, Verlianne smiled and shook her head immediately:

“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t seek revenge.”

Eze was stunned.

From the intelligence gathered before the Battle of Anlin Plain, to their interactions these past days, he didn’t think Verlianne was a patient person.

If anything, she was quite ruthless.

Those adventurers who had surrounded him before—killed without hesitation, no emotional ripple afterward, never mentioned again, as if they were just bugs squashed.

For someone like her, to say no revenge after being provoked so blatantly?

Eze couldn’t understand.

“Why?”

“If I kill her, it’ll set off a chain reaction that throws the whole realm into chaos, right?”

“That might happen, but I’ll clean up the mess afterward, don’t worry.”

For nobles, one family rising after another is normal.

Even if the Art family vanished completely, another would simply take their place.

There was always a way to solve it.

But Verlianne shook her head, smiling as she squeezed onto the chair with Eze, sitting very close.

“That’s why I said, forget it.”

“…Huh?”

“I believe you can clean up the mess, but how much effort would that take? How much time, trouble, and danger? It’s not worth forcing yourself just to satisfy me~”

Saying this, Verlianne tilted her head and smiled, leaning on Eze’s shoulder.

“Besides, she came after me because I’m with you. Being targeted for that reason makes me happy, not angry.”

Verlianne closed her eyes, her lips curling in a faint smile as she rubbed against him.

Eze watched her and shook his head.

“…I still find it hard to accept.”

“Then what do you want to do, Eze? If you want revenge, or even to kill her, I’ll help you right away.”

Verlianne’s gaze was serious.

Her attitude eased Eze’s irritation considerably.

After a long sigh, he finally calmed down.

He’d made up his mind.

Not taking revenge was impossible.

A brat who invited trouble deserves a spanking—let alone a princess.

Isn’t Heidi smart? Doesn’t she like to play?

Good.

Then let’s play with her.

With that decided, there was still one other matter.

Eze looked over at Anna, who had been placed on the sofa and was already sound asleep.

Her attack wasn’t so simple either.

But that could wait until tomorrow, after she had a good rest.

After instructing the magical doll maid to carry Anna to an empty room to rest, Eze stood and carefully stretched to avoid reopening the wounds he’d sustained.

“I’m dead tired today. So sleepy. Going to bed.”

“Mm, good night.”

Eze went to the bathroom, wiping the blood from himself and his enemies with a hot towel, applied medicine, wrapped his wounds, changed into pajamas, and returned to his room.

Then, he saw Verlianne lying on his bed.

“…”

He must have opened the door the wrong way.

He closed it and opened it again.

Still there.

Eze narrowed his eyes.

“…Why are you here?”

“When the knights invaded today, they destroyed all the beds in the house except yours and mine. I let Anna have mine, so I can only sleep here~”

“…You definitely did this on purpose, deliberately leading people to tear up the beds!?”

Besides, with Verlianne’s ability, she could have fixed any broken bed in no time.

Otherwise, Anna probably wouldn’t have had a bed to sleep in right now.

“Hehe☆~”

Verlianne stuck out her tongue and made a cute smile, tacitly admitting it.

But Eze just felt like hitting her.

Whenever the atmosphere got a little better, she would just cockily vent all her pent-up emotions.

In a sense, it was genius.

Physically and mentally exhausted to the brink, Eze didn’t want to argue.

He turned and left.

“I’m sleeping on the sofa. Good night.”

“Wait—why!? Who does that at a time like this!?”

“Tired, just want to sleep.”

“So come back! I won’t do anything besides sleep… Are you serious? Come back quickly!”

“Good night.”

“Wait, I’m joking! I’ll fix the bed right now. Sleeping on the sofa will catch a cold! Come back!”

The usual noisy chatter echoed throughout the mansion, undisturbed by the failed assassination attempt.