Only my breathing and the occasional fire crackle in the fireplace could be heard in the room I was in.

I was seated cross-legged over my knee, a glass of wine in hand, facing the hearth's gentle and soothing warmth.

Contemplating the fire reminded me of a time when I was looked down upon by those who were once considered my enemies, especially the screams they emitted when I lit up the fire, engulfing their entire bodies; the screams, the smell, everything was vividly etched in my memories.

Everything from that night was etched in my memory, especially the cries they uttered, the shouts, and the scent.

The memories of those pleasant times filled my body with satisfaction and comfort.

As I lifted the glass of vine I was holding to my mouth, I said., "Aaah, there is no greater satisfaction than knowing that all of your enemies have been eliminated."

Those who dared to oppose me are destined to meet the same fate; who do they think they are, looking down on me?

Me, the most perfect being in the universe.

This world, everything, the entire universe was made for me. Those who oppose me deserve nothing more than death.

Footsteps I'd grown accustomed to could be heard approaching; they belonged to my most devoted subordinate, the one who has accompanied me through the dazzling ascension that has been my entire life.

He approached me and murmured something in my ears.

"It has been done my liege."

"Were there any complications?"

"None, my liege, It all went according to your magnificent plan. There is nothing left but the rumbles of the petty family that dared to oppose you. My liege is no more."

"You did a good job; I knew you wouldn't deceive me."

"It is an honor for this humble one to be held in such high regard by a perfect existence like you."

"Umu, since everything went according to plan, we can now move on to the second part of the plan."

"Indeed, my Liege."

***

"I think I finally understand where you were coming from, though I felt like there was too much emphasis on the "Evil Lord" rather than the minion. However, I still believe Rufus would be a good fit even as the "Evil Lord.",

"Rufus? What do you think?"

"I am nothing but a humble butler. I wouldn’t dare to claim that title, but I still appreciate the thoughts nonetheless." Syrus said as he put his mask back.

"See, I told you that he was more fitting as a minion or as the butler of an Evil Lord."

"I think,... I suppose you're right. "

Everything before that was just a set-up. As I mentioned earlier, it all started about an hour ago, perhaps 15 minutes after we left Ramia and her mother's side for our rooms.

He showed me my room and went into his own, but it didn't take long for me to join him in his room because a familiar feeling and a strange sense began to creep in: boredom. I was bored. I mean, there wasn't anything to do in the room at all.

And for some reason, I couldn't remain still in this castle, I don't know why, but there was something slightly unsettling here, I couldn't put a finger on what exactly it was, but the moment I put my feet inside this castle, I felt it.

As a result,I went to his room expecting to find something amusing or at the very least not boring to do in order to brush off that uneasy feeling, but when I got there, I realized I wasn't the only one who was bored because he was lying face down on the sofa cushion as I walked in.

We decided to play rock-paper-scissors because there were no books or anything else to do. To keep a stake in the game, the loser was asked to reveal (a truth) something about himself.

After losing a game, he asked me to reveal something about Syrus rather than myself; he wanted to know what Syrus looked like, which made sense because it had been 3 months and he had never seen what was beneath his mask.

So, to answer his question, I tried to describe his appearance as best I could in words.

Even Syrus didn't seem to agree with how I described him, so it appears that my explanation didn't completely convey what he looked like.

I then decided to take a different approach to describing his appearance, focusing on the feeling or impression he exudes rather than any physical characteristics.

Sirus's face, to me, is how I imagine the face of that one minion would look. Very loyal and always sticking to the villain, he tends to appear nice and all, especially in front of his Lord, but in the background he reveals a very twisted personality, at times even more twisted than the villain himself.

Even after that, he and Syrus didn't seem convinced by my description, so I asked Syrus to show his face to prove my point.

The first purpose of Syrus' mask was to keep people who knew him before he became my butler from recognizing him.

Mael had never met him, so it should be fine to show him, and I even got permission from Syrus himself, so we exposed his face to Mael.

When he saw what Syrus looked like, he openly antagonized my belief that a villain minion would look like him, so I went up with all of this mise en scene to prove my point, I admit I didn't have to push it this far, but he eventually understood my point, so it was worth it.

"That being said, I'm actually very curious to hear how the Young Lord would describe Maa," Syrus commented.

"Yes, me too."

That’s a very difficult question.

How could I describe her… that maybe.

"Huhm… Maa...A mother hen maybe."

"I'm not sure which part of that could help me imagine someone's physical features."

"I guess you’re right," I said as we three broke into laughter, just to be interrupted by a loud noise.

Without warning, the door was flung open, revealing a very familiar figure.

"Ah~ So here you two were," Ramia said as she immediately closed the doors behind her.

"What are you doing here? What about your lessons? "

"Don’t tell me you ran away again."

She began rummaging here and there as if looking for something.

"What are you doing?"

"Leonore! She’s after me. "

"Don’t get us involved in your crimes."

"Yeah- yeah, Just keep it close, I was never here." She said, threatening us.

Ramia, who was looking for a hiding spot, came to a halt and drew her Reality Figer from a pouch on her shorts, which she quickly climbed into and began to levitate just above the entrance.

Two knocks came from the doors she was levitating under almost immediately after.

"Lord Mael, it is Leonore." one of Mael’s attendants announced.

"Let her in."

"I apologize for interrupting you two, but it's the Young Lady, she ran away from her dance lessons yet once again, and I was wondering if she had fled here."

"You can check by yourself. If you find her, feel free to bring her back."

"No, that won't be necessary; but if you see her, please tell her that; I'll be waiting for her in the dance room. Just a final training session is all I need from her; I know how excited she was to have you two here, and I feel terrible for making her do all of this, but she needs to be ready for tomorrow."

"Yes, we will tell you when we have the opportunity."

"With that said, have a pleasant afternoon, Lord Mael, Lord Ronandt."

"Good luck with Ramia."

"Thanks."

With that said, she left the room.

"You heard that?"

"Yeah." she said as she descended from her hiding spot.

Trying to convince her, Mael said, "Only one last one time she said."

"Just a small effort and it will be done," I added.

"Nah, I’m done with this dance thing. Let what happens tomorrow happen, I’m not going back to that room."

Poor Leonore,

I'm not sure why, maybe because she's dressed like Maa, but I feel terrible about how Ramia is treating her.

I guess I’ll lend her a hand, this time.

I crept up behind Ramia and began pushing her toward the door.

"Hey! What are you doing!"

"Mael, are you coming with us?"

"Where to?"

"The dance room, obviously."

"I said, I’m not going back there."

"Are you sure? I was planning to go there to get the last training for tomorrow's dance party. "

"You’re serious?"

"Yes, Mael, what about you ?"

"I’m going too."

"Hey, wait, You won, I’m going too."

On our way to our destination, we noticed attendants and guards stationed at each guest room door, including ours, along the corridor leading to the dance room, and it was only then that I realized Leonore must've known Ramia was in our room, and this must've been her plan from the start, baiting us with Ramia, then dragging us into her training.

Wait.

When I looked over at Ramia, I noticed that she was wearing a cunning smile that she was trying vainly to hide; when she noticed that I was looking at her, she immediately averted her gaze.

I see, that's how it was.

Sorry, Mael, I threw you into the wolf's jaws without realizing it.