Freya’s voice echoed through the hall.
Every word was laced with shards of ice.
“Your Majesty, this pet of yours lacks discipline.”
Her words were cold and sharp, devoid of the charm she had displayed just moments ago.
The pure killing intent of a Fifth-Rank Monarch made Lilia’s calves tremble.
Her teeth were chattering, yet she glared at Freya, refusing to take a single step back.
Discipline?
That word disgusted her even more than “pet”!
A surge of wicked anger rushed from the soles of her feet to the top of her head, overriding all her fear.
Lilia straightened her spine, which had been slightly bent under the immense pressure.
She took a sharp breath and screamed with every ounce of strength in her body.
“Who are you to lecture me? Meow!”
Her voice was shrill and cracked from the sheer intensity.
It carried a hint of a sob, yet every word was roared with absolute clarity.
Freya’s expression turned utterly cold.
Lilia didn’t care; she was going all out!
She pointed a trembling finger at her bare neck.
At the spot where the collar had just been removed, a faint red mark still lingered on her skin.
“Look closely! I am Lucia’s pet! Meow!”
She shouted even louder, putting heavy emphasis on Lucia’s name.
“Aside from her, no one has the right to touch me! No one has the right to manage me! What the hell do you think you are? Meow!”
After her outburst, her chest heaved violently as she gasped for air.
Her mind was a complete blank.
She didn’t know why she had dared to say such things, but she had.
Now that it was over, a wave of palpitations hit her.
She caught a glimpse of the silent figure on the throne out of the corner of her eye.
‘It’s over.’
‘I’m just a fox pretending to have the tiger’s power. Will that perverted woman feel offended? Will she slap me to death?’
Silence.
The entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
Beside them, Lilith had already placed her hand on the weapon at her waist.
Her body was slightly crouched, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.
For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared on Freya’s face.
She seemingly had not expected this little thing to dare to speak such words.
In the midst of this frozen atmosphere, the sound of fabric rustling came from atop the throne.
Lucia moved.
She shifted into a more languid posture, resting her chin on one hand.
With the fingers of her other hand, she lightly tapped the armrest of the throne.
“Not bad.”
Her voice wasn’t loud; it was quite flat.
But those two words made Lilia’s heart leap.
‘Is she… is she praising me?’
A surge of ecstasy welled up from the depths of her heart, dispersing all her fear and lingering dread.
‘I bet right!’
‘This perversion of a woman just loves to see me acting all high and mighty on her behalf!’
However, Lilia’s triumph didn’t last even a second.
Freya’s face had already darkened.
‘Not bad?’
‘Her Majesty actually said this little animal is “not bad”?!’
As a Fifth-Rank Monarch and a high-ranking official of the Empire, she had been pointed at and cursed at by a Fourth Tier pet in public.
Not only had the Empress not punished the pet, but she had actually praised her?!
The intense sense of humiliation caused Freya’s reason to snap.
“In this world, weakness itself is a sin.”
She spoke each word slowly.
Her voice no longer held any emotion, only pure, unadulterated killing intent.
Before her voice had even faded, her figure vanished!
In Lilia’s vision, she saw only a purple afterimage flash before her eyes.
In the next moment, her neck tightened!
A massive force hit her, and her feet instantly left the ground.
She was hoisted into mid-air by her throat!
It was Freya!
She had appeared in front of Lilia at some unknown moment.
One hand gripped Lilia’s throat in a death grip, lifting her high.
It was too fast!
So fast that Lilia didn’t even have time to react!
She tried to mobilize the Magic Power she had gained after advancing to the Fourth Tier—the power that allowed her to touch the Laws of Space—to launch a counterattack.
However, she discovered that her connection with the world had been forcibly severed by a much more powerful and tyrannical force!
The surrounding space was locked, and the air felt heavy.
Her proud spatial perception was completely suppressed by a pure, overwhelming will!
This was the “Domain” of a Monarch!
Within her domain, she was the law!
Lilia’s face turned a deep, reddish-purple from the lack of oxygen.
Her limbs flailed weakly in the air.
“As long as I wish…”
Freya leaned in close to her ear.
Her warm breath brushed against Lilia’s ear, but her voice was bone-chillingly cold.
“…I can crush this adorable little neck of yours at any moment.”
Her fingers tightened further.
Lilia could clearly hear the *clack-clack* of her own throat bones.
“Do you really think Her Majesty cares about a… dead toy?”
Freya’s voice was full of malicious pleasure.
“She will only think it’s a pity—a pity that the toy broke so quickly. Then, she will simply find the next one. As for me? At most, I’ll be given a lecture.”
Those words were like daggers to the heart.
‘She’s… she’s right.’
‘In the end, I’m just a toy. If I break, I can be thrown away.’
Anger, resentment, and despair churned in her chest, yet she couldn’t summon even a shred of strength.
‘Am I really going to die like this? Die at the hands of this harlot?’
‘No!’
‘I haven’t even conquered that perverted Demon King yet! I haven’t made her kneel on the ground and sing of her defeat! How can I die here?!’
Lilia stopped her futile struggling.
She used the last of her strength to squeeze a few words out of her deformed throat.
“Bull… shit… meow!”
Her voice was raspy and weak, but Freya heard it.
She smiled contemptuously, the strength in her hand increasing once more.
She was prepared to completely snap the neck of this reckless little thing.
At that exact moment!
The gold and blue light in Lilia’s heterochromatic eyes surged!
She poured all the remaining Magic Power in her body—every bit of her newly acquired comprehension of the Laws of Space—into her teeth!
She wasn’t a mage; she had no spells!
But she had the most primitive of weapons!
The laws of spatial tearing were enchanted onto her two small fangs in the most primal and crude manner possible!
Then, she snapped her mouth shut.
She bit down hard on the wrist that was clutching her throat!
*Tear—!!*
The sharp sound of flesh ripping rang out!
The smile on Freya’s face instantly froze.
An intense pain shot from her wrist straight to her brain!
She looked down.
The little thing’s teeth had actually bitten through her skin, which was reinforced by a Monarch Rank Energy Shield!
They had pierced through her tough muscle!
Bright red blood flowed down those two tiny fangs, dripping onto Lilia’s pure black dress.
“Ah—!”
The agony forced a scream from Freya’s lips, and she instinctively let go!
Lilia crashed heavily to the ground.
“Cough! Cough, cough…”
She lay on the floor, clutching her neck and coughing violently, greedily inhaling the cold air.
Her throat burned with pain, her vision was swimming, and her lungs ached.
But she didn’t stay down for long.
Using her trembling arms to push off the ground, she unsteadily rose to her feet once more.
She raised her hand and casually wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth—Freya’s blood.
She looked up at the Succubus Queen, who was clutching her own wrist with a face full of shock and agony.
Lilia grinned.
She revealed her two sharp, dripping fangs, her smile dripping with malice.
“You want to squeeze me to death?”
Her voice was hoarse, but it was brimming with provocation.
“Then you’ll have to ask my teeth if they agree first! Meow!”