Lai Yi had just reached his doorstep when he saw his cute maid Nanako wagging her tail to welcome him home.
She threw herself into his arms—like a frisky little dog greeting its master—and nuzzled his face with her dainty upturned nose, sniffing left and right.
Her big eyes dimmed with sorrow. "Master, your face has a hint of another woman's smell."
"Nanako, why are you out of bed? Where's Ophelia? Didn't I tell her to take care of you?"
A sinking feeling settled in Lai Yi's chest.
Ophelia would never dare break the contract—not when it meant risking exposure, as was clear from how she'd stood outside his door all night listening to the intimate sounds between him and Nanako.
"I don't know. I just wanted to wait here for Master to come back."
Looking at Nanako, who clung to him like a loyal puppy, Lai Yi felt a fleeting warmth—but it vanished in an instant.
His heart had long grown numb from being a pawn in the power games of his father, Satila, and other big shots. Otherwise, he would have died a long time ago.
"Master, I'm hungry," Nanako said, drooling like a fool.
Lai Yi knew she was referring to wanting to have sex with him. He nodded and said, "All right, go back to the room first. I still have important things to do."
After winding through countless corridors, he finally reached a hall with distinct Japanese-style decor. Lai Yi took a deep breath and knocked on the vermilion door in front of him.
"Come in."
A man's hoarse voice sounded beside his ear, carrying a hint of hidden exhaustion.
In front of him was a square table with steaming tea.
In the middle of the table stood a folding screen embroidered with cherry blossoms.
The shadow of a samurai sitting upright was cast on it—it was his father. Beside the samurai was the shadow of a maid, whose upper body seemed to overlap with his father's. Strange sounds came from behind the screen.
Lai Yi quickly averted his eyes. No see No hear It seemed he'd picked the worst possible time to report. He'd interrupted Duke Zoe's "pleasure."
At that moment, Duke Zoe's fingers tapped the table unconsciously. But each tap felt like it was hitting Lai Yi's heart, and his eardrums buzzed.
"Father…" Lai Yi hesitated, then corrected himself. "Lord Duke Zoe." Damn it, he thought. It's like jumping from a viper's mouth into a tiger's den.
Lai Yi, who walked a tightrope between big shots, was a double agent for both the family and the kingdom.
To be honest, he was just a pawn for both sides. On one hand, neither side trusted him: his father would never safely hand over the family's wealth to a "lackey of the kingdom"; as for Satila, she treated him like a dog.
"What did Satila say?"
Lai Yi couldn't see his father's face behind the screen—only the way his hair fluttered in the breeze, making the curtains rustle. The strange sounds continued.
Lai Yi had no intention of telling the truth. These high-and-mighty big shots saw him as a disposable pawn.
If they discarded him so casually, he didn't mind adding fuel to the fire of the conflict between the family and the kingdom.
"The kingdom suspects the family of planning to rebel. They've decided to move against us."
"Is that so? How?"
Lai Yi didn't hold back—he told his father about Satila's plan to make him poison Duke Zoe and Ray to control them.
"Is that all? Did she say anything else?"
"I questioned her, so she gave me a magical knife. She said the slave contract carved with this knife can't be resisted—even by you."
"Show me the knife."
Lai Yi picked up the knife Satila had given him and prepared to step forward to hand it to his father.
A roar came from behind the screen: "No! Don't come behind the screen. Just throw the knife over."
Lai Yi was confused.
Duke Zoe, who had always prided himself on being gentle and elegant, was acting so flustered today.
Perhaps his father—who had always focused on cultivation—had no interest in women, but even so, he wouldn't want anyone to see him "indulging" like this.
Lai Yi obeyed. He tossed the knife through the gap between the table and the screen.
His father examined the knife carefully, his tone softening at first, then turning stern. "You've done well—you're loyal. But why are you hiding things from me?"
"Hiding things?" Lai Yi feigned confusion. In truth, he had no idea which secret his father was referring to.
"You bought two slaves. One of them is Princess Ophelia, isn't she?"
A cold snort came from behind the screen. At the same time, a sharp pain struck Lai Yi's chest like a hammer blow, and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
"I need an explanation for this."
"An explanation?"
"Haha… Hahaha!"
To zoe surprise, Lai Yi burst into uncontrollable laughter when he heard the word "explanation."
Duke Zoe frowned at the sound of Lai Yi's laughter.
"Father, Ray is your heir, Shinobu is your beloved daughter—then what am I? A discarded child of the family? Did you ever give me an explanation for that?"
"Satila is a madwoman! She forced me to drink poison every day, beat and humiliated me! Did you see that? You knew it all, and yet you still sent me to her! Did you ever give me an explanation for that?"
Lai Yi couldn't stop laughing—tears streamed down his face as he continued:
"Now I just want to protect a girl I like. Father, are you going to take her away from me too? Do you want an explanation for that, too?"
A deadly silence fell over the room. Lai Yi's heart raced. He didn't know if his crazy outburst would be enough to fool his father.
A knife came flying over. His father's calm, gentle voice followed—though it couldn't hide its hoarseness: "The moment she dispelled her disguise spell, I sensed her magic. I locked her in the basement, but she's tight-lipped. I couldn't get anything out of her.
You and your brother are the only ones obsessed with her. Beauty means nothing to someone like me, who chases power."
"I originally planned to hand her over to the kingdom as a sign of loyalty after interrogation. But now that they're planning to move against us…"
Malice laced his father's tone—after all, even a cornered rabbit would bite.
"Slaves should be obedient. She can't break the contract carved with this knife. You've worked hard all these years—take this knife as your reward. Think of it as compensation for your efforts."
A reward? Lai Yi sneered. You're just giving back something you almost took from me. Do you really expect me to be grateful and kiss your big shot ass?
When Lai Yi looked at the knife, his pupils contracted. There was fresh blood on it—faint, but unmistakable. His father was a master with knives; he would never accidentally cut himself while handling one. Which meant the blood must be from the maid.
He wiped the blood off the knife without a word.
His father continued:
"Thanks to your intelligence these years, the Greystone family has grown strong quickly. I never wanted to rebel. But when the birds are gone, the good bows are put away; when the hares die, the hunting dogs are cooked. That knife… Satila that madwoman really plans to move against us. We can't just sit and wait for death."
"This is all I should do, Father," Lai Yi thought. Let you big shots fight among yourselves like dogs.
"You truly are my son. Arranging for Shinobu to help you build up your drug resistance was the right choice."
Lai Yi bowed humbly, a hint of confusion in his eyes.
"Father, did Shinobu help me develop drug resistance because of your order?"
Duke Zoe's hoarse voice came from behind the screen. For some reason, Lai Yi felt his father was "off" today.
"Yes. Didn't she tell you? That girl Shinobu is so greedy—she likes to win everyone's affection around her. Though she already knows she's easy to like, doesn't she?"
"Father, I have one more question. Why are you talking to me from behind the screen today?"
Lai Yi kept his composure as he wiped the remaining blood from the knife. He had already prepared for the worst.
The atmosphere froze. His father tapped the table again—each tap felt like an awl piercing Lai Yi's heart. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The tapping grew louder; Lai Yi even feared the next tap would make his heart burst. Then, suddenly, it stopped.
"You don't have many years left to live, do you, poor Lai Yi? You've always resented why I never let you become a 'special class,' haven't you?"
"But do you know? No matter how far we who gain great power go, we will all be swallowed by the abyss in the end. Without exception. Even so… do you still want to become a special class?"
"You have another choice. Take this magical knife, strengthen your slave contract, and live happily ever after with the beautiful Ophelia. It's not like you have many years left anyway."
Lai Yi watched in silence as the maid's shadow behind the screen was completely devoured by his father's. At the same time, a pool of scarlet blood seeped out from under the screen.
"Those who covet transcendence will be coveted by transcendence. When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you."
His father's voice was far hoarser than usual. But the sound of him chewing on some kind of meat was hair-raising.
Behind the screen, his father's four eyes—once tightly closed—finally opened. At the same time, four extra arms grew from his body.
He had become a monster.
Duke Zoe had been eating people.
Lai Yi pulled up his father's status panel:
Name Zoe
Class Six-Eyed Sword Fiend
Level 80
Sanity 9/100 (Note: Sanity below 50 = state of madness; below 30 = visions of indescribable horrors; below 10 = degeneration into a monster)
Vitality 100/100
Status A swordsman who chased the world's strongest power, only to be corrupted by the abyss. He grew six eyes to see that man's sword swings clearly; he grew six arms to keep up with that man's movements.
"Father, I'll take my leave."
He bowed to his father. At the very least, his goal had been achieved. The kingdom and the family had always been at odds—the old fools in the kingdom never wanted to see his father hold military power. He had just added a little fuel to the fire, giving things a gentle push.
"When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you?"
Lai Yi's firm gray eyes were as cold as steel, fixed steadily on the path ahead of him.
Anyway, he didn't have many years left to live. Before his time was up, he would make those high-and-mighty big shots see the anger of a nobody like him.
And for that—even if he became a hideous monster—so be it.