The Predator's Contract Partner

‘How the hell did you find out where Carola’s dressing room was? Did you find out her dress in advance too? It’s so absurd that someone like you comes in wearing prettier clothes than Carola’s. Spineless sneak!’

She realized that Carola was deliberately taking her time to make her suffer. Elisha was stabbed and bleeding.

She curtly cut her off with a brief word:

‘I do not know. If I were you, I would crack down on the female staff in the dressing room I attend.’

It would be easy for Carola to find the employee Lulu that Elisha had bribed.

“Carola must have caused quite the commotion,” she remarked.

“Yes. One of the young employees allegedly leaked information on her dress, so she had her maids drag her into the middle of the street, rip out her hair and slap her across the face. I imagine it was quite the riotous spectacle.”

Elisha imagined the cheeky employee, Lulu, being beaten by her maids. She could clearly see it.

“If you look at it that way, it seems like it was bought.”

“Carola has quite the personality and good image to uphold. Until the very end, she was pretending that the maids weren’t following her orders, saying, ‘Carola’s so scared,’ and ‘I know you care about Carola, but don’t hit her too hard.’ If there is a scandal she can just lay the blame on her maids who ‘voluntarily’ beat the employee.”

“It’s not surprising. I heard she acts like that all the time.”

Carola’s maids were brutal and strong. She knew it intimately because Elisha had been beaten by them several times in her previous life.

“How cowardly, I would never hide behind maids,”

Illione proclaimed firmly. Elisha agreed with her sentiment.

“So what happened?”

“Right, the dressing room dismissed the low-level employee. She’ll never be employed by a dressing room again. I pity her.”

“Indeed,”

Elisha answered impassively, but she thought to herself,

Humans commit the same blatant sins in the face of desire. Perhaps life is a sadistic repetition of crude clichés.

Elisha and Illione chatted.

“But, Princess. I’m really glad you came, but is there any other reason you’re here today?”

“No—just… … .”

When Elisha asked her so straight-forwardly, she donned a slightly bashful expression.

“I want to get to know you a little more.”

“Are you… … Are you talking about me?”

“Frankly, I was worried that the High General might go astray after meeting you. For example, engaging in a futile competition and making a fool of himself like Marco or Jacob.”

“… … You have expressed that concern.”

“But when I saw that the lady won the auction even while being stabbed, I realized I was being too narrow-minded. There is no senseless competition in the world. You took the rivalry seriously and risked your life. It was very admirable,”

Illione continued to explain. As a talented woman, she usually looked down on ordinary ladies and the affairs of young girls. She confessed that she reflected on herself through this incident because of Elisha’s actions.

‘How remarkable.’

Elisha’s heart was astonished. Really… … . If it were her, she wouldn’t have been able to divulge her dark feelings so easily.

Illione sparkled. Elisha wouldn’t have been able to talk or stand next to—never mind make friends with— such a shiny person in the past. It was moments like these where she felt the remarkable change acutely; she was amazed at how radically different her life was now.

“So… … . Will you accept my apology?”

“Why are you apologizing when you didn’t do anything wrong? I’m not good at socializing, so I’d be happy if you could come over.”

Elisha announced calmly. Illione’s face was beaming with overflowing joy; she left with the promise and anticipation to return and visit her soon.

*** 

‘It’s time to proceed with the next move.’

Elisha looked at her calendar. The capital, which had been quiet for a while, was now in motion. She tapped on the calendar.

It was time for the election of the next Pope.

‘This election for the Pope is going to be rather tumultuous.’

How can it not be amusing when a dead adult comes back alive? Elisha checked some information.

During this brief period, she felt like quite the villain. She found it immensely rewarding to coordinate this and the other plans in her head. A small arc curled on Elisha’s lips before it disappeared.