"You have no idea how much I admire you, Mister! The drug mafia is a plague eating away my homeland for decades! No one was able to solve it! But you did! And you're not even from here!"
Seated right next to Varian on an exotic sofa, Princess Catherine's eyes were shining like gemstones under sunlight as she held Varian's hands tight and chattered like a fangirl meeting her idol.
Varian maintained a polite smile and tried to speak as little as possible. "I have a grudge with the Havocs is all."
"Still! I'm personally indebted to you for saving my life." Catherine said with a serious expression as if she wanted him to not take his own achievements lightly.
"She could've saved you even if I didn't appear." Varian pointed to Akira who was seated in front of them with an indifferent expression.
Till now, that woman hadn't spoken a word but her gaze remained on Varian to the point even he felt goosebumps.
"I was on my way. So, if you haven't stepped up, Princess would've been dead. You did save her life, Mr. Constantine." Akira said calmly.
"See, I told you!" Catherine exclaimed.
"Princess, it'd be best to maintain some distance from him. Princess Saron wouldn't like you having close contact with other men." Akira said in a slightly authoritative tone.
"Saron? Theoron's younger brother?"
"Yes. Since Prince Theoron went missing, Saron would be the one you're going to marry."
BOOM!
Catherine slammed the sofa and got onto her feet. She was trembling in anger, her eyes red and teary. Even her shaking voice couldn't hide her deep sadness. "Did the Duke himself say this?"
"Of course. Your marriage will happen in a week or two at most. You'll not be punished since this is the last time you'll be allowed to sneak out." Akira placed her palms on her lap and said with a generous expression.
Catherine clenched her fists and glared at Akira for a full minute before running into a room and closing the door shut.
"Now it's only the two of us." Akira's lips curled up just a bit. Her aura filled the room and a heavy pressure fell on Varian.
She appeared in front of him before he could even react and shoved a blood-red pill into his mouth.
Varian's eyes widened as a tyrannical life aura exploded inside his body and wrecked his organs.
The foreign power of life spread inside him like a spider web and entangled him completely. Just a single tug and he'd die on the spot.
"Do you understand your position now?" Akira looked at him with a cold smile.
"…What do you want me to do?" Varian asked her with a calm expression while he explored the peculiar power inside him with care.
It was familiar. He had something like this not very long ago. What was it? What…
"Follow the identity I give you. Do as I say. That's the only way you're getting out of this alive." Akira snapped her fingers.
Varian clutched his chest and bent down. A searing pain surged from every corner of his body and his body twitched involuntarily from the pain. His bright eyes grew dull and blood began to leak out of his mouth.
The hell lasted for perhaps a second or perhaps for an hour.
Varian only knew that it ended when the pain receded and Akira addressed him again with a confident smile. "Sorry, habits from work. The ones I speak with are mostly spies and their torture usually starts with aura pressure."
It seemed like an apology but was in fact an intimidation tactic. The subtext was 'If you don't behave, it's gonna be worse.'
Varian remained silent at her words. On the outside, he seemed scared. But on the inside, he was relieved as he finally recognized where the familiarity of this life power was coming from.
'Lifeforce strand.'
The power inside him was very similar to the death strand that nearly killed him. This one was similar but much stronger.
Compared to the ignorant self back then, Varian now knew that only a rank 7 could produce these strands.
Of course, there's no way actually had a rank 7 behind her. But her having something related to a rank 7, for instance, a bundle of lifeforce strands? That's very possible. She must be in possession of multiple such pills that contain the life-force strands.
If it was in the past, Varian would've been helpless against this method. He was able to deal with the death strand only after reaching the peak of level 9 and using his 'rebirth'.
If he tried the straightforward method now, he should reach at least rank 5 to neutralize the lifeforce strand.
But he had a better option.
The power of order and chaos slowly spread inside Varian's body and enveloped the life strand.
Since he was weak, the power of slivers he could control was naturally weak. So, he couldn't erase them just like that and actually needed to build up enough force against them.
'It'll take a few days.' Varian frowned before sighing deeply.
"So, are you mentally prepared?" Akira crossed her arms in the large sleeves and asked.
Varian nodded. "What should I know and do?"
"I like dealing with smart people but don't be too smart." Akira's cold face broke into a sadistic grin and she clenched her fist.
The horrifying pain drowned him again and by the time Varian came to his senses, the sofa was already wet with his sweat and blood.
"Who are you? Who's the powerhouse who acted for you? What's your background?" Akira leaned forward and narrowed her eyes like a viper.
What she didn't say was that the life force strand was connected to his brain. If he lied, she could detect it.
But what Varian didn't tell her was that thanks to his Spirit power, his control over his brain was far beyond normal. For the moment he lied, he could convince his brain that it's the truth. A way of self-hypnosis.
While pretending to be unaware of the lie detection mechanism, Varian racked his brains to cook up a proper story that'd keep him alive.
If he fucked up here, Akira might not kill him immediately because of Catherine's presence. Once the Princess gets called into the Palace, he'd disappear 'mysteriously'.
With his life at stake after a long time, Varian realized his mind was working a bit too well.
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