Manipulative (II)

"What? Wait- no! This is what matters! I'm literally about to start my new life, I should know everything about this second chance at life," Roman stated.

"Okay, but you need time. With the current capacity that you have in your brain, you won't be able to understand everything right now. Don't get rushed, you'll learn and find the answers to your questions as time goes by, and each will appear with perfect timing so that you'll understand them as perfectly as possible, trust me because I'm here to help you too. You have a dream to free humanity from slavery, that is what matters the most. I'm gonna help you to achieve that," the Devil replied patiently.

"Ah! That is what confuses me too!" Roman exclaimed as if he had just found something valuable that was lost long ago.

"Huh?" Mia frowned in confusion.

"The fact that you are a Devil but have been so kind so far just doesn't make any sense to me. Aren't you supposed to be evil? Why would you be willing to save me? And you just said you're gonna help me to achieve my biggest dream? What?" The boy asked Mia seriously as he started to distance himself from her.

Mia smirked and chuckled a little right after she heard what Roman had just said, "Although you shouldn't have said it all, I'm still impressed that your mind could still be aware of such things," the Devil said. Roman didn't say anything else afterwards.

"I won't hide it from you; saving you and helping you is just a little price to achieve my actual goal. You're just my valuable puppet, and I've been looking for someone like you for thousands of years, so to celebrate it, I wouldn't mind giving you some help," Mia continued.

Roman was silent for a moment after hearing Mia's words. He looked at her eyes intensely while she gave him a calm look.

"Lie, that's not all the truth. Just tell me everything, I know you are supposed to be manipulative as well," Roman said a few seconds later.

"Huh? That's all the truth. What makes you think I didn't tell you the truth?" The Devil replied casually.

"Because earlier you made me believe by giving me a warning about your powers, you actually quite care about me despite allowing me to make the final decision and saying my death won't affect you; but then you told me you've been waiting for thousands of years to find someone like me. Maybe you won't die if I die, maybe you can't even die or whatever, and therefore my death won't affect you from that perspective, but surely you won't let me die since it'll be almost impossible to find another 'someone chosen', right?

Maybe it even is impossible to find another 'someone chosen', but whatever it is, you've previously made me believe that you were telling me the truth about that so-called warning. In fact, you gave me that warning for the sake of your own advantage, not for my good. This time, I'll make sure you can't fool me again," Roman explained his analysis so perfectly that Mia was surprised; she clearly didn't expect it, but what surprised her the most was how well Roman said each word and how confident he was.

However, this also made the Devil happy. She chuckled as she decided to stop floating in the air, and her feet touched the surface.

"Finally, something interesting from you other than your look," she complimented Roman.

"Yeah, I admit it; everything I've done and said is manipulative and just for my advantage only. But if you try to think about it all again, it is mutualism symbiosis after all; I have my benefit, and you have yours too," Mia added.

"Do you get it? I'll help you to achieve your dream first; then, I'll use you as my puppet to achieve my goal. And I'm going to be honest with you; even if this sounds fair, I still get more advantages than you because helping you first and accompanying you in your journey is the same as me preparing you as my puppet in every aspect so that I can lock my chance in achieving my goal later," the Devil continued.

"And what if I refuse?" Roman asked while raising his right eyebrows.

"Honey, you don't have a choice but to accept it," Mia said with a smirk.

"You said that because you think my sanity depends on my dream to free humanity from slavery," Roman replied in an even more serious voice tone.

"Huh?" Mia frowned.

"I don't know what your goal is. My only choice is to end my own life if this goal that you're talking about is somehow threatening humanity's safety," the boy continued.

"That's ridiculous-"

"It's not," Roman immediately interrupted Mia.

"You may think I wouldn't dare at all to waste my second chance at life because of the dream I have, but I can always throw away that dream if I have to. Some people also have the same dream as me; I'm not necessarily humanity's only hope; I'm not delusional to think that way.

You must note that by ending my own life here, I would also save humanity if your goal is indeed threatening them. And as you said earlier; my death won't affect you; but as long as you don't have a puppet, that's enough for me because it seems you can't make a mess in my world or achieve your goal without a puppet; therefore, I would kill myself if you refuse to tell me your goal without a single lie," Roman added. He ended his words by folding his hands across his chest.

On the other hand, Mia was completely silent after hearing what Roman had just said; she couldn't say anything, and her smirk had also gone. The boy unexpectedly cornered her.

'This kid… he may seem like a stupid kid with all his questions and struggle to understand everything, but at the same time he pays attention to the smallest details and literally remembers each of them. I have to be careful with him, and I better put him under my total control immediately after I am able to do it,' Mia thought in that silence.