After Sylvia left, Scarlet found herself staring silently at the closed door, lost in thought.

She had said she’d never considered Sylvia a friend in order to sever their relationship.

She feared that if she deceived her and continued being friends, Sylvia would be deeply saddened when she died, and Scarlet wouldn’t be able to bear that guilt.

Suddenly feeling unwell, her true feelings emerged involuntarily, but it didn’t change the fact that Sylvia realized she had approached her with other intentions.

Sylvia despised more than anything those who approached her with the goal of using her.

Therefore, Scarlet hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.

She never imagined that Sylvia would suggest starting fresh, asking to be friends again…

It might be selfish, but she felt both guilty and happy at the same time.

It felt as if she had been pardoned for everything she had done to Sylvia.

And so far, it didn’t seem like the time they spent together was entirely fake.

Sylvia Astra.

A girl filled with purity but burdened with caution due to her childhood experiences.

A sweet child who bought medicine in the rain without an umbrella because she was worried about Scarlet.

If she had nodded in response to Sylvia’s words, they could have truly become friends this time.

But she couldn’t nod.

It wasn’t because she didn’t want to be friends with Sylvia.

It was precisely because she wanted to be friends with someone as good as Sylvia that she couldn’t.

Perhaps due to the rain and the chaos of emotions, during their earlier conversation, Scarlet suddenly felt her condition deteriorating.

The witch’s voice echoed in her ears, constantly urging her to burn everything, while visions of flames bursting from her body came with the unbearable pain of being burnt alive.

Yet, the most agonizing part was not the pain, but rather witnessing the flames from her body spread and engulf Sylvia in her vision.

Fortunately, while she was tormented by this, Sylvia seemed to take some action that brought her back to reality, but it was exhausting.

Although she hadn’t remembered until now, it turned out she was the one who had to endure such voices and visions all along.

The witch within her was like a bomb.

A bomb that could potentially harm not just herself but also those around her.

As she recalled the smile on Sylvia’s face when she shook her head, Scarlet thought.

Sylvia had smiled like everything was fine, but those faint tears at her eyes were undoubtedly not from the rain.

She could clearly sense what Sylvia thought of her.

However, she couldn’t guarantee that what she saw in the vision wouldn’t manifest in reality.

Thinking of Sylvia, she determined that she shouldn’t get any closer to her.

That was why she had declined the idea of becoming friends with Sylvia.

With a bitter smile, when she looked out the window, the rain still poured heavily.

She truly hated the rain.

—

Back at the mansion, Sylvia pondered what she could do for Scarlet.

Honestly speaking, she wanted to overhaul her entire living environment.

Scarlet wasn’t fully enjoying the three essential elements of life: clothing, food, and shelter.

Sylvia felt dissatisfied with that.

She wanted Scarlet to lead a more comfortable life.

Yet, she remembered that Scarlet didn’t really like asking for help from others.

She was hesitant to let others even carry her lunch tray, so if she offered direct help, she would probably refuse.

Thus, Sylvia contemplated.

How could she help Scarlet in a way that she couldn’t decline?

As she replayed the scene of delivering medicine to Scarlet yesterday, an idea suddenly struck her, making her tremble.

Scarlet had mentioned that there might come a time when she would need to ask for help when she couldn’t solve a problem herself.

Yesterday, Scarlet had been in no position but to accept her help when receiving the medicine.

A situation where she couldn’t refuse, where she had to accept her help.

Then, what if she artificially created a situation where Scarlet couldn’t solve it on her own and had to accept her help?

At that moment, countless ideas filled Sylvia’s mind.

She was startled by her dangerous thoughts.

What was even more surprising was that most of those ideas felt feasible as long as they didn’t severely harm her family.

Money, power.

Being the heir of Astra gave her the means to utilize those to her advantage.

Sylvia recalled a storybook she had read as a child, which said that within everyone, both kind and wicked spirits lived in their hearts.

The lesson from the story was to listen to both sides and think carefully about which was right.

And Sylvia realized that the voice shouting within her at that moment was that of the wicked spirit.

[Hehe, why should you care about someone else’s will! Just do as you please! Help your precious friend as much as you can, and make her feel grateful! Then you can be friends! Imagine! That girl smiling at you!]

It was an incredibly, incredibly enticing idea.

Sylvia imagined Scarlet smiling sweetly at her and found herself grinning, but quickly snapped back to reality, shaking her head.

She had almost been led astray by the wicked spirit’s words, but she knew she couldn’t solely heed that voice.

Sylvia also listened to the voice of the kind spirit, which cried against the wicked spirit’s words.

[Get a grip! Acting on your own without asking for others’ opinions is practically a crime! Sylvia, you’re a good person, right? So you shouldn’t commit crimes, right?]

The kind spirit’s words made her snap back to her senses.

That’s right; what she was about to do was a crime.

After thanking the kind spirit for preventing her from becoming a criminal, she decided it was time to hear its advice on what to do next.

[Of course, you should ask for permission!]

The mention of “permission” brought a massive realization to Sylvia.

…Right, if she only obtained permission, it might not even be a crime.

The method that would allow her to achieve her goal in the gentlest way began to materialize in her mind.

Sylvia picked up the phone to ask for permission.

[…Yes, Miss. What can I do for you?]

The person she called was Luke Aegis, whose number she had secured earlier.

To ease her worries, she decided to confirm with him again.

“You mentioned earlier that no one else in the family knows Scarlet is a test subject, right?”

[Sator had tried to conduct experiments without informing the family. Since Sator had barely recognized her for a while, it’s almost certain the family does not have detailed information. So, is that why you called?]

“No. I called today regarding Scarlet’s living situation.”

That was sufficient.

Sylvia began to ponder words she could use to convince him.

“I visited Scarlet’s place yesterday, and she was alone, suffering with a high fever. She got better after taking the medicine, but if she suddenly gets sick living alone… anything could happen.”

[…That happened? She shouldn’t be ill… Well, her body is rather weak, so who knows. This is tricky. What should we do?]

“If it’s concerning that she’s living alone, then wouldn’t it make sense to find someone to live with her? I just happen to know someone who understands her situation, is the same gender, and is in the same class. There’s a spare room available… What do you think?”

A flawless plan where she would help Scarlet, Luke would alleviate his concerns, and Scarlet could stay in a good place.

Getting permission was incredibly quick.

“Ah, one important matter: please don’t mention that I suggested this to Scarlet. She might stubbornly refuse if she finds out; we did have a little fight yesterday. I know it’s deceptive, but… we can’t leave Scarlet alone, can we?”

And regrettably, with the landlord and guardian as co-conspirators now, Sylvia’s plan could not fail.

—

The next day, the rain stopped.

Feeling better now that the rain had ceased, she enjoyed a refreshing morning without hearing her alarm.

Since it was the weekend and she didn’t have to go to school, she indulged in a leisurely breakfast when someone knocked at the door.

“Hmm… Good morning, Scarlet. Are you feeling a bit better?”

Upon opening the door, she found her guardian standing there with an awkward smile.

“…What brings you here this morning?”

As she tilted her head in inquiry, he scratched his head and responded.

“Uh… I’m sorry to bring this up first thing in the morning, but it seems you have to vacate the room you’re living in. The landlord wants you to move out…”

Startled by this sudden thunderbolt of news, Scarlet stammered.

“Out of the blue? What on earth for…?”

“Well… it seems the building is too old, and it’s been marked for demolition. Anyway, let’s start packing your things first. You shouldn’t have much, so it shouldn’t take long, right?”

Still, to inform her of something so important on the very day was unjust.

Scarlet felt fury toward the landlord, who showed no consideration for the tenants’ rights.

“Then where am I supposed to stay…?”

“I contacted a few places here and there. Don’t worry about it, just start packing. And the landlord said he was sorry and sent a little money—did you check your account?”

Her fury grew at the morning’s shocking news, and as she checked the zeros in her account, she obediently packed her things.

Isn’t it said that the best treatment for anger management is financial therapy…?

After stuffing a few pieces of clothing and some essentials into the bag her guardian had brought, she climbed into the car parked in front of her house.

“So, where am I supposed to stay?”

“…You’ll find out when you get there.”

When she asked her guardian, who sat beside her instead of driving, he answered with a subtle expression, muttering quietly, “Do we really have to go this far…?”

Wondering where exactly she was headed, Scarlet sat patiently until the car came to a stop, indicating they had arrived.

As she stepped out of the vehicle, what greeted her was an enormous mansion.

“Welcome to the Astra Mansion, Miss Scarlet.”

And there stood Sylvia, smiling brightly.

Stunned by this unexpected situation, she found herself alone with her bags as the car drove away.

She was backed into a corner.