'Ugh! I can't believe that I have to deal with this headache!' Lirien groaned in frustration as she went onto her carriage. Another meeting where a shit tone of work was dumped onto her. They were matters concerning the formation of dark clouds out in the sea.
She saw the luxurious streets pass by her as she took a gaze out the window before she arrived at her pristine manor. With Victoria and Maurus out of the picture, she was entitled as the sole survivor of the Scarlet bloods.
Playing the victim card was easy and with a bit of strings to pull here and there, she managed to become one of the main nobles of Aurorise.
She was warmly welcomed by her servants as she made her way to her study room. Where Victoria and Maurus met their demise. Opening the door, she felt that something was amiss. Her chair was swiveled facing away from the door not to mention there was tea.
'Didn't I tell these worthless servants to never come in my study room?' She groaned in frustration as she made her way to her chair. 'So you're finally here.' She heard a soft voice coming from her chair. Apprehensive, her guard was up.
'Take a seat.' The voice cooed as the chair turned around to face her. She remained rooted standing as she saw the figure in the chair. Shimmering black hair, sharp red eyes and a familiar aura around her. She had without a doubt felt it before.
"Lirien. Do you know that Reya passed away? By means of suicide might I add." Lirien had lost interest in that family after Orsen had left. So such news was definitely new to her. "Who are you?!" She shouted as she brandished a silk thread.
"So unlady like. Why don't you seat down and we can calmly discuss this. But if you want to go up in arms, then I don't mind." She said softly as she took a sip of her tea. 'That's it! This familiar presence belongs to Orsen!'
She realized as she continued to look at the miss in front of her. "So you have finally figured it out. Great, now we can move onto more important matters." Lirien's mind was in a whirlwind of thoughts.
'Doesn't she resemble the rumored girl who killed off the Hydra? What is her relation to Orsen? Why would she make her appearance her in Aurorise?' Despite her mind being in a mess, Ashley continued to watch her.
To Lirien's surprise, her own body betrayed her as she took a seat opposite to Ashley. She then proceeded to pour tea for both herself and Ashley before the control was relinquished back to her. 'The rumors about her are plenty to go around.'
Some speculated that she was a goddess, others a demon and many more. "Look, I'm searching for one person in particular. Orsen. He left this kingdom a while back. I was wondering whether you knew where he was?"
Lirien was baffled but fearing on upsetting this demoness before her, she gave her response. "Yes, he went towards Rien kingdom with a helper. However the caravan that he was on was brutally attacked by both stray beasts and demons. Only a few survivors were there."
"And unfortunately he wasn't recorded to have made it." She added on however even she found it rather odd that such a figure met his fate in such a manner. He was able to take down a tier five expert on his own after dealing with multiple assailants before.
'But then again, fate is a mysterious thing.' She had concluded when she heard this at the time. "Thank you Lirien. And here I thought that you would be difficult to deal with." Lirien was pleased. "Anything for one of his familiars."
"Familiars? I'm his wife you bitch!" Ashley pointed out as she put down her cup. The message was clear to Lirien. "How could I fail to see such an obvious thing? I apologize." She quickly spoke up. "But then again, the fact of you daring to work him just doesn't seat well with me."
Lirien's face froze as she heard this. "Don't worry, I'll give you a choice to preserve your worthless life. I want you to sabotage this kingdom into the ground. I don't care what means you'll use, just get it done." She mused as she placed an artifact on the table.
"This should help you. I'll give you…mm… two weeks. If you're not done by then, well I'm sure you know what happens. Now run along and prepare a carriage for me to head to Rien." She said with a playful smile.
'What?! Is she insane?' Lirien mused however she instantly dispelled these thoughts. "Call me insane one more time, and you'll wish that you never met me." Ashley commented coldly, Lirien could feel an ominous aura suffocating her.
She clutched onto her throat as she could feel her own spirit waver and her own existence fading. Like an ant being crushed by a mountain, it was too overbearing for her. And just like air, it was gone in a matter of seconds.
"Now off you go." A simple smile formed on Ashley's face as she showed Lirien the exit. Understanding her precarious situation, she could only bow her head down and get on with it. As soon as she was close to the exit, she heard a voice come from behind her.
"You forgot something." Looking back at the table, the strange crescent like artifact was present. She forcefully walked back to grab to which it sunk into her palm. 'What?' Baffled by this however Ashley was too engrossed by the view as she had already turned the chair to face away from her.
Regardless, Lirien made her way out of the room leaving Ashley to her thoughts. 'It would seem that he portrayed to fake his own death to get the attention off him. He has probably altered his appearance once more.'
'Why do you taunt me like this Andy?' She mused as she contemplated. 'Also it would seem that we have some exceptional characters this time.' She had started to feel the sudden increase of luck in this world.
She could sense a few otherworldly figures present however none of them were near her. One was in the Elven kingdom, the other was way deep in the ocean near she had killed the Hydra, and a pair to which she could tell that one of them was Andrew.
The other was something she couldn't decipher yet. 'As for the demon queen. It seems that she is not a simple character as well.' She could feel something was off with her.
If she wanted to head over there personally, then it would be no problem and uncover the secrets that she held however she was already engrossed in a situation at hand. Not to mention she couldn't feel anything threatening about her.
'It seems that this will definitely interesting.' She mused as the sight of the beautiful view of Aurorise was presented before her. Without turning her head, she could feel that Lirien was back in the room once more.
"I've already arranged a caravan for you. It leaves tomorrow…" She said however her face was anything but pleased to hear that this devil of a lady would be leaving. Ever since she picked up that artifact, a slow numb pang of pain had been present in her mind.
"I know you want to ask about the pain. What I gifted you was an artifact that allows you to devour souls. It should help you in ranking up and completing the task that I gave you. But do know that it works indefinitely so if you have no souls to devour, then it will start devouring yours. And since it seems you want to house me till tomorrow, I'll gladly accept."
"What?!" Her shock was understandable. The door present opened once more and it was one of the maidservants that were present. She was on the second tier. "An example." Ashley mused as she controlled Lirien's body. A faint red crescent glowed as to Lirien's horror, her servant's face turned pale.
Her lively blue hair turned white, her plump and healthy body started to wane away till only measly bones and skin were left. Lirien could feel the strength invade her body, her tier four mana disc was bathed in a red light as she could feel a breakthrough.
From the second array to the third array whilst on the fourth tier. It was both a revelation of both horror and intrigue. "See, it's that easy." Ashley pointed out as she stood up and hovered over the body. "Just clean the body after you're done though."
She ordered as her figure disappeared through the hallways. Lirien looked at the body before summoning a servant to get rid of the body. 'With this, I'll definitely be able to rank up with relative ease.'
But of course she knew that the disappearance of bodies will arouse suspicion. And it wasn't like she wasn't keep on relying on her own servants for advancements. But given her intellect, it wouldn't be that problematic.
'In a week?' She murmured beneath her breathe. For that, she would have to keep on targeting high leveled individuals. She had already mused of a couple of people before she made her way to the king. She knew that as of now, her life was currently not hers to control.
It disgusted her however she couldn't do anything. 'I can only endure this for now.' She mused.
…
'She thinks that devouring souls is strengthening her?' Ashley mused as she collapsed onto the bed beneath her. Soft as expected. 'Little does she know that I'm the one granting it to her while the souls that she devours are actually devoured by me.'
As for the carriage, given that it was reserved for the upper echelon of society. It would take her a week to get her to Rien. With the path already cleared, it could take less which was a massive disparity compared to the one Orsen took.
It took them a month and a couple of days to arrive at Rien and yet she would spend about a week to do the same. The day was still young thus she took this time to walk about the kingdom, unafraid of drawing any form of attention to herself.
And why would she, there was no form of threat that could actively harm her. Multiple eyes would land on her figure, people making assumptions of who she was. Her unparalleled beauty was one of the things that drew people's interest.
And just like that, the day came to an end. 'She seriously couldn't keep a low profile.' Lirien thought as she was in her own office. Ashley had already made it clear that she had relations with Lirien thus she was assaulted with numerous letters.
'And the king himself wants a meeting with me! Ugh, this bitch!' Like a headache, she felt that dealing with all of this was chipping away of her own mental sanity. Not to mention she had a ticking time bomb inside her.
If she failed to deal with it then she would cease to exist in the most painful way possible. The pressure from before was already unbearable and now this! It was too much for her.
She kicked back into her own chair as she clutched onto the bridge of her own nose. The king wanted a meeting with not only her but also with Ashley as well. She gave out an exasperated sigh as she made her way towards the main room.
"And here I thought that you weren't going to have your dinner." She heard a voice that irked her. Sure she was able to rank up much easier but at what cost. Her face portrayed her spent mood as she sat down to eat.
"So the king wants a meeting with me tomorrow, huh?" Ashely started off. The room was completely empty on her orders. "But what bothers me is that you think that I'm a bitch! But don't worry, I'll be out of your life for good."
"As for the king, I'm sure you can come up with a good excuse, right? Maybe you could use this as your chance to devour him. Hahaha!" Ashley joked as she dug into her meal. Lirien was at a loss for words. Her mind was blank with the words that came out of Ashley's mouth.
'An excuse for the king? A tier six expert! What would I say? Ugh! Is she realistic with these absurd demands?!' Lirien could feel the frustration and pressure building up inside her.