Tick-tock！
Tick-tock！Tick-tock!
The sound of water dripping onto the floor echoed with eerie clarity in the damp, dark Little Black Room.
It had been exactly two days since Nicole angered Sidella and was locked in the Little Black Room.
The air was filled with the ever-present stench of mold, mixed with the pungent odor of a Fish Can in the corner—whose method of preservation was unknown—making it nearly impossible to suppress the urge to vomit.
Nicole curled her small body as far from the source of the smell as possible, eyes tightly shut, brows furrowed, burying her nose in her arm to barely resist the stench wafting from the Fish Can.
It was truly unbearable!
It was like the sour stench of a girl’s sock that hadn’t been washed for a whole year, stuffed into a fish’s belly and left to ferment for forty-nine days!
Although simply having the courage to eat the Fish Can would grant her immediate release from the Little Black Room, even after two full days, Nicole still couldn’t overcome that psychological barrier.
Grrrr~
A hollow pain twisted in her stomach, but Nicole had no choice but to press her empty belly with one hand.
She hadn’t eaten anything for two whole days.
With difficulty, she wetted her dry lips and weakly comforted herself.
“Good girl… Just sleep… If you sleep, you won’t feel hungry…”
Maybe she was just too hungry, or perhaps she had simply been knocked out by the stench of the Fish Can, but Nicole’s breathing gradually calmed.
The punishment of the Little Black Room was far too similar to the Cellar she’d once been held in—just as dark, just as damp—bringing memories of before Lilith pulled her out of the Cellar back into her dreams.
Two familiar figures seemed to waver before her eyes.
“Damn Sidella actually killed father. Even if I die, I will avenge him!”
A young, slender figure spoke, eyes clouded with hatred, burning with crimson rage.
“Young Master, please calm down. The plan is still underway. As long as we can smoothly send this girl to the Blood Queen’s side, Master’s vengeance will surely be fulfilled!”
The reply to ‘Young Master’ came from a hunched, elderly figure.
“Will she betray us?”
“Absolutely not. After all, the Mark is etched onto her soul with Forbidden Magic!”
That’s right.
Locked in the Little Black Room and starved for two days, even Nicole nearly forgot her true identity.
She was neither a pure-blooded Blood, nor Sidella’s daughter.
She was merely a tool created by the Sardin Marquis’s kin, using Sidella’s blood as the base and Forbidden Magic, meant for revenge against Sidella.
From the moment of her birth, her only mission was to get close to Sidella—and ultimately, kill the Blood Queen.
The voices of those two figures echoed once again.
Young Master’s tone was doubtful:
“Ber, you’ve done well, but I still have one question. Even father and the other two together couldn’t seriously wound the Blood Queen—how did you even get her blood?”
“Reporting, Young Master! I had someone keep an eye on the trash taken out of the Palace and found daily items used by the Blood Queen inside.”
Hearing this, the young master’s body trembled, eyes wide.
“Wh-What the hell?! That’s so perverted?!”
***
“Whew—!”
Just then, a gust of wind swept in through the crack under the Little Black Room’s door, carrying the stench of the Fish Can straight into Nicole’s face.
Nicole shuddered violently, jolted awake, and hunched over to vomit on the floor.
“Ugh… cough cough… ugh…”
Tears squeezed out of her eyes from the stench.
“Now you know it’s nasty! Why didn’t you think of that earlier? You pissed off Her Majesty the Queen, and now even I have to suffer with you in here.”
Outside the Little Black Room’s door, the Guard’s voice rang out, pinching his nose.
Nicole could feel a hateful gaze peering in through the iron door’s observation window.
Humiliated, she clenched her small fists.
Damn!
This place isn’t fit for anyone!
Constantly tormented in both body and spirit.
Nicole couldn’t take it anymore.
“Uuu… let me out! It’s just a Fish Can, right? I’ll eat it! I’ll eat it, okay?! Uuu…”
Under the Guard’s watchful gaze, Nicole’s trembling hands lifted the revolting Fish Can, determination burning in her eyes.
To get close to and kill the Blood Queen Sidella as planned, she had no more time to waste here.
She had to get out now!
Seeing Nicole about to down the slimy Fish Can, even the Guard on duty outside the door wavered.
“Maybe we should just forget it. That stuff is so nasty, it’s not worth…”
“Shut up!”
Nicole’s eyes blazed with resolve.
“My mind’s made up. Don’t try to stop me!”
“No, actually, what I meant was…”
“Let me ask you, if I eat the Fish Can right now, will you let me go immediately?”
Nicole’s fierce tone cut the Guard’s words short.
She lifted the Fish Can and gulped it down in one shot!
“Gulp~ gulp~ cough cough…”
Nicole’s face turned green, but she remained stubborn.
“Can I leave now?”
“O-Of course!”
Anyone who could stomach a Fish Can deserved freedom—even if Her Majesty herself tried to stop it!
Snapping out of it, the Guard quickly unlocked the Little Black Room, awe in his eyes.
It was as if Nicole hadn’t eaten a Fish Can, but had slain a fearsome sea monster.
He pulled a party popper from his pocket, yanked the string—‘pop’—and a shower of tiny, colorful confetti rained down, paving the road from darkness to light and freedom for the brave warrior named Nicole.
Nicole wiped her tears.
Even she didn’t know why her eyes always seemed to be filled with tears.
Maybe it was the stench.
It definitely wasn’t the feeling of freedom regained.
As she stepped through the door, Nicole remembered the Guard’s unfinished sentence and asked quietly out of courtesy:
“By the way, what were you trying to say earlier?”
“Oh~”
The Guard scratched his head.
“I was just about to tell you it’s fine to wait. The maximum stay in the Little Black Room is three days, so even if you didn’t eat the Fish Can, you’d be released this afternoon anyway.”
Nicole’s expression froze.
“But it’s fine. Coming out a few hours early is still an early release~”
Nicole’s heart turned black.
She swore to make the Blood Queen who locked her in the Little Black Room, and the treacherous Hualí, pay the most painful price!!!
***
At the same time, elsewhere, inside the Teaching and Training Room.
“Guu…”
Hualí let out a small whimper.
Several rows of blood with varying freshness were laid out on the table, each cup glowing with tempting crimson under the harsh overhead light.
“What’s wrong? Can you tell which cup of blood is the freshest?”
Jeilinfa leaned in curiously, waiting for Hualí’s selection.
“Choose carefully. A qualified personal attendant maid must be able to sense the freshness of blood at all times, ensuring Her Majesty never tastes anything stale.”
Hualí nodded her little head in understanding, sniffed with her small nose, and pointed to one of the cups.
“I choose this one.”