A month passed since I'd given Isabella the money. I saw her sometimes at court functions. She always looked away quickly, a frightened bird avoiding a cat. Her debt was gone, but a new, heavier one had taken its place. She was waiting. I was waiting, too, for the right moment to call in my favor.
That moment came sooner than I expected.
Lord Preston, a minor baron with more pride than sense, had been a thorn in my family's side for years. In the original game's plot, he was about to form an alliance with another house that would slightly strengthen his position against mine. It was a small thing, but in the game of nobles, small advantages mattered.
I could have challenged him directly. But that would be noisy. That was the old Klaus. I needed a quieter solution. A surgical strike.
I found Isabella after a tedious poetry recital. She was trying to slip away into the garden. I fell into step beside her.
She flinched. "Viscount Herrmann." Her voice was a tight whisper.
"Walk with me, Isabella," I said, my tone pleasant. It wasn't a request.
We walked in silence for a minute, the crunch of gravel under our feet the only sound. Her whole body was tense.
"I trust you and your father are well?" I asked.
"We are. Thank you." The words were robotic.
"Good. It's time for the favor."
She stopped walking, her face pale in the moonlight. "What… what do you need?"
"Lord Preston," I said. "He considers your father a friend, does he not? He confides in him."
Her eyes widened in understanding, then horror. "You want me to spy on Lord Preston? For you? I can't! He's been kind to us!"
"I don't need you to spy," I said calmly. "I need you to deliver a message. A single sentence from you to your father, who will then repeat it to Preston."
I explained it to her. It was a simple, poisonous little sentence. A rumor that Preston's potential new ally was secretly bankrupt and looking to leech off his wealth. It was a lie, of course. A clever one, designed to prey on Preston's greed and paranoia. Hearing it from a trusted friend like her father would make it seem like truth.
"You're asking me to make my father a part of this… this deception," she breathed, her hands trembling.
"I'm asking you to honor our agreement," I corrected her, my voice losing its false warmth. "This is the small thing I asked for. It hurts no one. It merely… redirects Lord Preston's business interests."
That was a lie, too. It would humiliate and isolate Preston, costing him a valuable alliance. But she didn't need to know the full picture. She just needed to obey.
Tears welled in her eyes. "Please. Don't make me do this. Ask for anything else. Money! I'll find a way to pay you back, I swear!"
I looked at her, at the genuine anguish on her face, and felt nothing. No, that wasn't true. I felt a cold satisfaction. This was how you built loyalty. Not through gratitude, but through shared sin. Once she did this, she was mine. She could never expose me without exposing herself and her father.
"The debt was not for money, Isabella," I said, my voice soft as a knife sliding from its sheath. "It was for a favor. You gave me your word. Or would you prefer I have a conversation with the Gold Feather Guild? I'm sure they'd be very interested to learn how you came into such a sudden windfall."
It was an empty threat—the debt was gone—but she didn't know that. The fear in her eyes was absolute. I had trapped her completely.
She looked down at the ground, a single tear tracing a path down her cheek. When she looked up, the light in her eyes was gone. It had been replaced by a dull, hollow acceptance. The spirited girl from the garden bench was broken.
"What is the sentence?" she asked, her voice flat and dead.
I told her. A short, simple lie. She repeated it back to me, a perfect, emotionless parrot.
"Good," I said. "See that it's done by tomorrow."
I turned to leave. I didn't look back. I didn't need to. I could feel the change. My interface flickered in the corner of my vision.
[Agent Secured: Lady Isabella - Loyalty: Forced]
[Influence: +5]
[Corruption: 89 -> 91]
Two points. A steep price. I had broken her spirit to cement my control. I had taken a good person and made her my accomplice.
Three days later, the news spread through the court. Lord Preston had publicly and loudly insulted his potential ally, accusing him of financial ruin. The alliance was shattered. Preston was left looking like a fool and a miser. A minor victory for my family, who hadn't lifted a finger.
I saw Isabella one more time that week. Our eyes met across a crowded hall. There was no anger there anymore. No fear. Just a deep, empty void. She gave me a single, almost imperceptible nod.
She was my creature now. A part of my web.
I had won. I had protected my family's interests and gained a loyal, if broken, agent.
So why did the victory feel so hollow? Why did the ghost of Null in my mind seem so much louder, his cold laughter echoing in the silence of my room? I had stopped being just a knife in the shadows. I had become the hand that held the knife, willing to cut anyone, even a frightened girl, to get what I wanted.
I was building a fortress to protect myself, but with every stone I laid, the walls around my own humanity grew higher and colder.