"Laura Niim...!" [...!]

Swoosh, Laura's clone slipped out from Irene's palm and rushed out of the laboratory. I hurried to follow, and I found Laura frowning, clenching both her hands tightly, as if putting in a lot of effort.

Suddenly, her body began to expand significantly.

Tears welled up in Irene's eyes once again.

"Didn't you say that growing larger wasn't allowed anymore...?" [...!!] "Ah! The mana stored in the clone has completely disappeared, so it fully recovered!? " [...!]

Nodding her head with a big smile, Laura’s clone spun around the garden happily, before returning to Irene's palm and shrinking back to her tiny size.

‘Does the clone of the evil god get more harmful the more mana it stores?’

Normally, mana is the source of life. So, generally, the more mana one accumulates, the better, and losing mana is harmful. However, in the case of the clone of the evil god, it seems completely the opposite.

When mana builds up, its activity and functionality decrease. And if it surpasses a certain level, it seems to fall into a state of hibernation until the mana is fully broken down, something akin to a catatonic state. It appears that it operates in a completely different biological way compared to normal creatures or spirits.

‘No, excessive mana intake harms other creatures the same way, right?’

At that moment, I remembered the cause of monster transformation being excessive mana and realized it immediately. Excessive mana is harmful to anyone. Looking at it this way, Laura's clone doesn't seem all that different from other creatures after all.

"Ah." [...!]

The tiny clone of Laura flew from Irene's hand and toward me. As I extended my hand, Laura’s clone perched on my palm, flashing a happy smile and rubbing her cheek against my hand.

[The evil god, 'Kali', appears to be displeased and bares its teeth.] [...!?]

At that moment, Laura’s clone jumped back, startled, and fled into Irene's arms, trembling.

Is she so terrified because of Kali? Does Kali’s power exceed my expectations?

‘Nah, there’s no way.’

That can't be it. Laura is just a lower-ranked evil god compared to Kali. But how much lower could she be...?

When I first saw Laura, she appeared quite fearsome. But now, she’s starting to look rather weak. Not weak per se, but... cute?

"Ah, anyway! It’s a relief nothing serious happened! Th-thank you! I’ll be going now!" "Where are you running off to? Didn’t we still have to settle the bill?" "...What?" "...."

Irene, trying to sneak away, was caught by me, flinching and shuddering. I looked at her with a steady gaze, forming a circle with my index finger and thumb.

"There has to be something coming if something is going, right?"

"You need to pay the treatment fee before you leave." "T-treatment fee? But you said it was mana sleep! You said that if I just leave it, it would wake up by itself after a while!" "Well, I didn’t know that earlier. What if I had sent you off without solving anything? Do you think you could have waited comfortably until Laura woke up? Even if it took weeks or months?" "Ugh..." "Now you understand. I didn’t just fix Laura’s clone, you know. I relieved you of several months' worth of mental anguish all at once."

"That... that’s not totally unreasonable, I suppose..." Even if I hadn’t fixed Laura’s clone and sent it back, there probably wouldn’t have been any real issue. After a while, the mana would have been broken down naturally, and she would have returned to her normal state. But could Irene have endured the fear of losing Laura's clone forever, the anxiety of not knowing if she'd ever wake up?

Impossible.

Just looking at Irene, crying and rushing back to me, anyone could easily guess the truth. Irene couldn't even deny it herself. She ground her teeth and couldn’t say anything.

"If you received help, you should pay the price, right?" "Ughh..." "Wow! Mister, you seem really evil!" "That sounds like something a villain would say..." "...."

Charlotte, with a look of admiration, stared at me. Yuria slightly gasped, her mouth hanging open. I had only said what seemed like a natural, ordinary statement, yet it turned into something much more.

Please, sister, stop trembling so much. It's starting to feel like I’m the villain forcing the good woman into submission.

"Ugh... what should I do..." "I want to experiment on you. So, cooperate with me. I'll let the treatment fee slide in exchange." "What, what did you say?!"

Her face turned bright red, mixing confusion, disgust, and shame, as she glared at me. I wondered what was going on with her.

"Heh...! I never imagined my younger sister would have such filthy thoughts about me...! I really hate it... But if this is how you want to get your price...!" "...Ah."

[The evil god, 'Kali', sighs and shakes its head.]

Irene, trembling with her body shaking, slowly approached me. Her expression looked like she was about to say "Kill me now" while seemingly giving up on everything. That was when I realized what misunderstanding Irene had.

"No, I’ve been researching black magic, and there’s only one sample of someone who absorbed neodymium—me. I want to add one more sample to make the data more stable, so I was hoping you could cooperate..." "Ah." "..." "Hmm? That’s it, right? I knew it. I knew everything. I was just pretending not to know to see how you would react. I wanted to test if you were actually looking at your sister with lecherous eyes. That’s all." "..."

Irene fanned herself with her hands, her face burning red, babbling incoherently. I was left speechless.

Why, sister, why are you constantly creating your own embarrassing situations...

'I'd rather die. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die...'

Sitting on the experimental table, Irene buried her face in her hands, sobbing in distress.

This is driving me crazy. Why is it that I always end up looking like a fool in front of Aslan? Last time, I was dragged into the inner world and forced to face an unwanted past. Now, I’m crying over such a trivial thing.

It’s all my fault, really, but Aslan isn’t entirely blameless either. After I leaned on him to escape from the inner world, something changed. Now, every time I see Aslan, I feel at ease, my tension slipping away.

‘I really hate it... Because of you, my poker face is completely ruined...’

But if you ask if that's a good thing, no, it definitely isn't. I've been maintaining my poker face for over ten years. I’ve hidden my true self so thoroughly, pretending to be the 'Bermont' I’m supposed to be, but with just one glance from Aslan, it all crumbles.

This is so frustrating. How could I let this happen to my carefully crafted image?

I can't believe my cool, beautiful, and aloof image is ruined like this.

Well, maybe in front of Aslan, it's fine. But even in front of Aslan's bodyguard or the little ones he’s raising to eat...

Ugh! I’m so embarrassed! I want to die!

Irene’s sobs turned into wails.

"Still doing this? Don’t you ever get tired?" "Would you stop if it were you? My carefully maintained image is getting destroyed." "You should be worried about it getting destroyed even more." "Are you planning to spread rumors about this all over the place?" Crash!

Irene, her face twisted in anger, grabbed Aslan by the collar. But Aslan, with a calm expression, just stood there, letting her hold onto him.

"Can I spread it?" "If you spread it, you’re dead. I’ll kill you... Really, I’ll kill you... I’ll make sure you die..." "..."

While sobbing, Irene pushed Aslan down into a chair, pressing the heel of her high-heeled shoe into his inner thigh. But Aslan didn't budge.

Well, maybe he flinched slightly.

"Do you think I’m joking?!" "I don't know about jokes, but you seem to be putting on quite a show." "What...!? " "Why did I ever fear you before? There’s no reason for a younger sibling to fear someone as kind-hearted, timid, and protective of those around her as you." "W-what...?" "Now, why don’t you drop the act? You’re no longer tied down by a father anymore, are you?" "..." "Is it not that, and you still want revenge on me?" "...!"

Irene shuddered and trembled at the exact words Aslan said. It was clear that Aslan was right. Maintaining the cool, beautiful, aloof image and pretending to be a villain didn't really have any reason anymore. But if there was a reason I hadn’t stopped... it was to get back at Aslan.

Aslan, the one who created this villainous persona. I wanted to make him regret it. That's all I had been living for, even after my father died. But if my hatred for Aslan started to fade, and my desire for revenge faded...

Then what am I supposed to live for...?

"I don’t know..." "..."

Tell me. Tell me. Because you made me like this. Please take responsibility and teach me how to take off this villainess' mask. As if pleading, Irene tightly grabbed the hand that was holding Aslan's collar.