She examined her right hand. [Satina] "If you came all this way in the middle of the night, it must be urgent. You said you didn't want gold or jewels, so could it be..." Interrupting her, a rare occurrence, he spoke. [Katan] "I want you, My Lady." He added quietly. [Katan] "Since I can't lay a hand on you without your permission. Give me ten minutes. Grant me your hand for just ten minutes." [Satina] "My hand?" She had felt a trace of tension, wondering what he could possibl

[Satina] "You call me by my name now." [Serpens] "Because I know now that you are Miss Stella and Satina Bersabet." His demeanor had changed markedly from when they last met. She offered a soft smile. [Satina] "...Shall we move somewhere else?" The two headed toward a quiet, secluded clearing behind the fortress. Gazing awkwardly at an unkempt flowerbed, she spoke first. [Satina] "I didn't expect to see you here, Lord Serpens. I hadn't heard of anyone coming from the Temple.

She hadn't even poked him that hard. Yet, he tumbled to the ground with a startled yelp. Laughter burst from her at the sight of him sprawled on the dirt, utterly dazed. [Satina] "What are you doing? What were you talking about that you didn't even notice me approaching?" Flushing bright red, he pushed himself up and dusted off his clothes. [Tyron] "...Shut up." Damn it. This wasn't the plan. He had been discussing how to withdraw his troops without Satina catching on. When h

[Satina] "Good, I know how to handle this." She closed the beast encyclopedia window displayed by the system. Sreans were spider-like magical beasts that typically hunted in packs. Furthermore, they were known to drain bodily fluids from captured prey, feeding over three days to a week. Considering their behavioral traits, habitat location, and the beast mechanics learned from the game, formulating a strategy took little time. Her plan was straightforward. Sreans lacked intel

Her brow twitched at his provocation. [Tyron] "If you had just asked me from the start, this wouldn't have happened. Why complicate things for no reason?" [Satina] "They're not dead yet. Sreans store their prey instead of eating them immediately, so they must be alive." He sneered, watching the corners of her eyes redden as if she were holding back frustration. [Tyron] "Ask me for help." [Satina] "..." [Tyron] "Admit you were wrong and beg for my help. Then I'll assist you."

Water dripped somewhere in the darkness. Pitch black surrounded everything, devoid of even a single speck of light. Through the dense gloom, a sound like a slithering snake whispered beyond the dark fog. Though the voice sounded far from human, a familiar name tumbled from Satina's lips the moment she heard it. Katan? I can't hear you clearly. It's alright, come closer. I won't be frightened. So... Satina stepped into the darkness until her gaze locked onto something in the s

Satina will give up soon. Tyron had been slightly surprised when she identified the cause of the disease and discovered the ingredients for the cure. He had assumed her claims were merely a bluff to mock him. He had only agreed to her proposal assuming she possessed some hidden trick, but that trick had reached its limit. But this is the end. The only forces at Satina’s disposal were a single squad of knights brought from House Bersabet. Searching that vast forest while battl

[Tyron] "Are you out of your mind?" He scoffed at Her. [Tyron] "You found the cause of the plague? How? How could a useless thing like you figure out something even my investigators couldn't?" [Satina] "Maybe I'm just more competent than your investigators." [Tyron] "Cut the crap. Do I look like a complete idiot to you? Did you expect me to bow down and say, 'Ah, is that so? Forgive me for failing to recognize your brilliance, genius Lady Satina'?" He sneered with exaggerated

Hesitating, the three exchanged cautious glances. Tyron had clearly muzzled them with strict orders. Steels was the first to speak. [Steels] "Haah... fine. Meeting here means we all had the same idea, so why tiptoe around each other now? Everyone's situation is obvious, and isn't time running out for all of us?" Green and Riman turned their heads awkwardly. [Steels] "Allow me to introduce myself, Lady Satina. I am Steels, currently serving as a guard in the North Gate." The w

Gaining Fame was hardly a bad thing regardless. [Knight] "Still, we can't leave everything to My Lady alone." [Knight] "Indeed. We are knights of House Bersabet as well." I'm fine, though. She rejected their offers several times, but the knights refused to back down. If others learned they dumped all the work onto her, shame would keep them from showing their faces in public. After a brief back-and-forth, she reached a conclusion. It's easier to just give them some random tas

How should she define her relationship with Tyron? Duke Bersabet loathed the half-beastkin Tyron, but Satina used to like him quite a bit. Perhaps because they shared the burden of unreasonable expectations from their fathers, he at least never tormented or ignored her. Whenever they crossed paths at banquets back then, Tyron bore fresh wounds as if he had just been fighting, and Satina would heal those injuries for him. Yet one day, he began distancing himself without explan

He twisted his lips into a smirk. [Tyron] "Hearing words like that come out of your mouth... I guess the rumors about you changing recently are true." Maintaining her distance, Satina stared at him with a cold expression. I wondered who held an Affection level of minus sixty, but if it's you, that makes complete sense. An Affection score of minus sixty usually belonged to the child of a sworn enemy. Except this bastard wasn't the child of an enemy—they were sworn enemies them