“Sob…”
Princess Luwei was being mean again…
The more Floxi thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt.
She covered her mouth, her green eyes shimmering with a thin layer of mist.
It was always like this…
When facing others, Princess Luwei was always gentle and easy to talk to.
But as soon as it was her… no matter how good the Princess’s mood was, she might suddenly get angry and give her a harsh scolding.
But…
‘I’ve clearly tried so hard to please Her Highness…’
‘Clearly, based on Her Highness’s behavior, she was already willing to reconcile with me…’
‘But why…?’
Floxi felt an indescribable feeling of congestion in her heart.
The more she tried to ignore it, the more her emotions sought an outlet to vent.
Finally, her nose tickled with a sharp sting…
“Waaaah!”
“…?”
Luwei, who had been watching from the side, saw Floxi’s expression shift from indifference to panic.
The bitterness in Floxi’s heart grew a few shades deeper.
She hated this weak version of herself, that she would actually shed tears in front of Her Highness over such a small matter.
But for some reason, she couldn’t stop sobbing…
“Why are you crying again!?”
Princess Luwei’s slightly panicked voice reached her ears, but Floxi was already too overwhelmed to care.
Self-reproach, disgust, sadness, confusion… intense and complex emotions were engulfing her soul.
“Sob… I… I’m not crying… sob…”
Floxi wiped her tears, feebly defending herself.
She knew she was a pathetic crybaby…
But Floxi also yearned for the day when she could become someone capable of standing on her own.
For now, she could only pretend to be strong…
After arriving at House Carys, she had worn this mask every single day.
With that feigned strength, she endured the grueling training, the cold stares of others, and the… bullying from Princess Luwei.
Floxi had even fantasized—if there were another version of herself in the world with the opposite personality, someone strong and cold who could teach anyone who bullied her a lesson… wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Floxi wanted to make a pact with her—give the noisy, bustling day to that other self, while she enjoyed the quiet, beautiful night.
But fantasies were just fantasies after all.
Every day after waking up, she still had to face the daytime that filled her with dread.
At night, she could only lick her wounds alone…
Facing this bleak life, Floxi kept comforting herself—perhaps the world was just this cruel?
Everyone was the same, right?
Everyone faked being strong and lived cautiously.
Because the moment you accidentally exposed your fragile side, you would be subjected to endless attacks from others.
But now…
She couldn’t help but feel a different thought rising in her heart.
‘Is it just because I am Floxi…?’
Everyone had the right to be treated gently, but she didn’t…
Floxi couldn’t find her mask anymore… she seemed to have reverted back to that little crybaby.
“Sob… Your Highness… sob… I’m sorry… I shouldn’t…”
She apologized miserably, her heart filled only with self-blame.
‘Why did I mess up again…?’
She had finally managed to ease her relationship with the Princess, only for her clumsy self to ruin it immediately.
Floxi didn’t even dare look up at Luwei’s expression.
‘It must be angry and terrifying…’
She thought so, until…
A pair of slender arms wrapped around her sides.
Following that, she fell into an embrace that couldn’t exactly be described as warm…
“Your… Your Highness…?”
Floxi’s voice trembled slightly.
But when she looked up and her eyes met Luwei’s…
“Eek…!”
That gloomy and frightening smile seemed to be saying: ‘Cry again and I’ll kill you.’
‘Does this count as successfully comforting her?’
Luwei looked at Floxi, who was sitting upright in the chair as stiffly as a statue…
She couldn’t help but feel secretly troubled.
‘Why are these capture targets each more difficult to serve than the last??’
‘If I’m nice to them, they’ll push their luck. If I’m mean to them… they start crying right in front of me.’
‘Being a villain is really quite hard…’
Luwei rubbed her temples, lamenting her own bleak future.
If she wanted to avoid a Death Ending, she had to use the Game Panel to conquer these beautiful girls and develop her own Influence.
But doing that would inevitably bring her into contact with more dangerous characters, leading to a crisis of retaliation!
…It was a total dead end!
After some internal struggle, Luwei decided to get down to business first.
“Floxi? Feeling better?”
She peered gloomily at the little maid sitting primly beside her.
“…Go change into some more decent clothes.”
“In a few days, I will take you to the Border to meet my father.”
Upon hearing this, a hint of confusion flashed across Floxi’s face.
“Meet the Lord Duke? Why… are you taking me?”
Her voice still carried a slight nasal tone from crying.
“It’s about the Potion Workshop…”
Luwei twirled a strand of her hair around her finger.
“You know about it, right?”
“Currently, no Potion Workshop can replicate the process for the New Potion Formula.”
“If I were the one proposing to build a workshop with such a brand-new process, my father would likely not agree.”
“After all, he wouldn’t believe that his good-for-nothing daughter actually has unique insights into potions…”
“However, it’s different if it’s you.”
Luwei’s tone seemed somewhat intriguing, and Floxi’s limbs were already feeling a bit weak.
“Your Highness… the Lord Duke… he probably doesn’t mean that…”
She waved her hands frantically.
“I-I’m not that outstanding… No, my level is very poor, I can’t compare to Your Highness!!”
Seeing her panicked expression, Luwei finally nodded with a faint smile.
‘That’s more like it. As an employee, you should have basic respect for your boss!’
As for the decision to meet the Duke… it was actually something she had considered carefully.
Luwei calculated in her heart. The time left for her to accumulate Influence was truly running out.
Although she had the Game Panel and could obtain various capture rewards… for now, her progress was still too slow.
In fifteen days, Luwei would need to face Floxi’s revenge, be thrown out of the Kingdom of Avalon, and struggle to survive with a crippled body.
But now?
Luwei only had four employees.
By the time Floxi, the Angel, came knocking, she wouldn’t even have a decent helper!
Once she was thrown out of the Kingdom of Avalon, her status as the daughter of Duke Caris would also become invalid…
Relying solely on Shuangna’s daily output of 20 gold coins, Luwei would need to train Shuangna while simultaneously providing Monet with a new laboratory and research funds.
After that, she could only hope that Monet’s research would make progress.
At the same time, she would have to face a new crisis in the plot—the Vampire Princess who wanted to turn Luwei into a Blood Slave!
By then, Luwei would undoubtedly be in an extremely passive position.
Thinking of this, Luwei’s fingers turned white from the pressure.
“It’s one thing after another; they really don’t give a person a chance to turn things around…”
Therefore… Luwei planned to once again seek help from her “angel investor,” Duke Caris.
She hoped to use her identity as the Duke’s daughter to gain the maximum benefit possible within this one-month time limit!