NOVEL NEXT chapter 22
22. Oh no, the prey is starting to become the hunter.
After delivering a harsh blow to her foolish brother, who had instructed her to approach him in a withdrawn manner, Valentina felt an unexpected wave of relief wash over her.
She shouldn’t have a sadistic streak, but for some reason, seeing her brother, who had tried to mold her into a star slave, looking so pitiful and downcast made it hard for her to suppress the twisted smile creeping onto her lips.
“Beautiful counterattack, Tina.”
Now that things seemed to be winding down, Allen approached, pretending to be the good guy as he carried the fainted maid.
“Mr. Allen? You were here too? I’m so sorry you had to witness such an unpleasant scene.”
Realizing there were familiar faces around, Valentina felt a bit embarrassed, as she knew she had acted a little out of line just now, letting herself go a bit too much.
—
Seeing the familiar face of Allen, Valentina quickly tucked away her twisted smile and returned to her usual composed self, apologizing to Allen.
After all, this situation could be considered a royal scandal.
“Haha, it’s fine. I suppose His Highness the Prince will reflect on this failure to some extent. In any case, leave the rest to me, Tina. You can go now.”
“Eh? Is that alright?”
Valentina hadn’t expected Allen to take care of the aftermath for her, so she appeared somewhat surprised.
“It’s nothing, nothing at all. The Prince and I are old acquaintances; just leave it to me.”
In truth, Allen couldn’t be bothered to care for a loser, as he saw it. To him, the golden-haired Prince Mori had only one redeeming quality: a good eye. He was nothing more than a failed golden-haired figure, a disgrace to the Minotaurs. Not taking advantage of the situation was already a sign of Allen’s great kindness.
However, thinking he had received praise from Valentina, Allen felt quite pleased. Coupled with the need to maintain his gentlemanly demeanor, he cheerfully accepted the task of tidying up.
He even held the maid in his arms, who he had already healed, when he could have easily handed her over to another servant. He did this specifically to show Valentina his gentleness.
“…Then I’ll trouble you, Mr. Allen. I do have other matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave. I’ll leave my foolish brother in your care.”
Seeing her private tutor being so considerate, Valentina no longer held back. She placed her hand on her chest and gave Allen a formal bow before heading toward the front door on the first floor.
—Ha, her fondness for me must have increased again, all thanks to this waste.
After watching Valentina leave, Allen couldn’t help but mock the still disheveled Prince Mori, sitting on the ground without regaining his composure, feeling quite satisfied with the opportunity he had stumbled upon to enhance his own likability.
Allen had no idea what urgent matters Valentina referred to, but he assumed they were just trivialities, like dealing with the remnants of the Fury Group.
However, that was not the case. After leaving the Mori Prince’s residence, Valentina found a discreet inn nearby and booked a room.
After reminding the innkeeper not to disclose her identity as a princess, Valentina entered the inn’s most luxurious room.
Yet, the first thing Valentina did upon entering was not to rest, but to lean against the only exit—the door—and unexpectedly addressed the empty room, which held no one but herself:
“…You’re nearby, aren’t you? The one who tripped me and tried to escape just now was you, wasn’t it? I’ve seen through you.”
In truth, Valentina was merely testing the waters; if nothing came of it, she planned to rest a bit before checking out.
To her surprise, a familiar voice echoed from the empty room.
“Heh, good eye. So, what is it? Do you want to thank the great deity who prevented you from becoming your foolish brother’s star slave?”
In the blink of an eye, Noah appeared before the princess as a mysterious figure, his face obscured.
Though he could have remained hidden, seeing the protagonist take a step forward was enough for Noah to reward her with his presence.
“Hmph, you really dare to say that. You’re the one who incited my foolish brother to attack me, aren’t you?”
However, upon seeing the person she sought, Valentina did not feel joy. She did not step away from the door but instead crossed her arms, glaring at Noah with a hostile gaze, as if she might draw her sword at any moment.
“Yes, that’s right. What are you going to do about it?”
Faced with such hostility, Noah remained unfazed, responding with a provocative tone, unbothered by being disliked.
Of course, the animosity from Prince Mori and Marlow was not Noah’s doing; it was simply how the original story was set up, which could also be described as the will of the world.
However, since Noah’s goal was to lead Valentina down the path of darkness and corruption, he couldn’t be bothered to explain, conveniently deflecting a responsibility that wasn’t his.
“…Not much. Right now, I can’t eliminate you, but one day I will turn the tables. Remember this well, Evil God.”
—
Valentina knew that Noah would have this attitude. She really hated the way she had gradually become accustomed to it, so she just stared at the visible lower half of Noah’s face and made a harsh remark.
“Heh, although I don’t hold much hope, I look forward to your counterattack. But with your weakness, you probably can’t do much, right?”
Seeing that Valentina was in good spirits and not gloating over having taken down a villainous brother, Noah seized the opportunity to stoke the hatred.
“…So what exactly is your goal, Evil God? If you just want to toy with me, you could easily deny me power and let me fail, couldn’t you?”
However, this time Valentina had learned to be smart; she didn’t fall for Noah’s provocation but instead remained calm and seized the blind spot, directly throwing out this crucial question.
Moreover, she even went so far as to use the power of the evil dragon to enhance her vision, keenly observing the reaction of Noah’s lower face when he heard her words, through the sharp pupils of a dragon.
It was a pity not to see his full face, but she felt that she could still glean something from the muscle expressions of just half his face.
To be honest, she was surprisingly calm at this point, which took Noah aback; he had thought Valentina wouldn’t notice this detail.
But he had also anticipated being asked this, so he tossed out the answer he had prepared long ago.
“Hmph, it’s just a side show. This is what you call a deity’s whim. You can consider me your companion, as long as you don’t get shot in the back of the head by me.”
Noah’s response was filled with danger, like a chess player manipulating his pieces at will.
“Oh really? Now I see why you don’t have a single follower. What a detestable deity you are.”
As expected, the princess looked at Noah with disdain and disgust, then, seemingly helpless, pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head.
Her negative emotions only made Noah feel as if he were basking in a spring breeze.
That’s right, hate him even more; otherwise, having power but not daring to use it would only lead to a miserable defeat, becoming a toy for the yellow-haired and the monsters.
However, despite saying this, Valentina felt something was off.
At first glance, it seemed she was being treated as a toy by the Evil God, but in reality, everything that had happened so far had been beneficial to her.
Could it be that the so-called Evil God was just tsundere?
Because he wanted her to become his follower, he had orchestrated this series of events.
No, she needed to think of a way to test his true intentions.
He better be as he claims, merely treating her as a toy for amusement, so she could simply oppose him.
Otherwise… heh heh.
Behind the arm that Noah couldn’t see, the princess’s lips involuntarily curled into a teasing smile filled with malice.
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PS. I didn’t expect to really get 10 monthly tickets, so let’s add a chapter!