Great Damage (Arc 2 Starts)

"Something must have happened," Esdeath said calmly, her voice carrying a slight edge of exasperation. Her sharp gaze bore into Selene, leaving no room for excuses. "Now, tell me what happened. Don't make me drag it out of you."

Selene gulped nervously, her small frame trembling slightly under Esdeath's intense stare. Realizing she had no choice, she finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. She hesitated at first, but then the words tumbled out. She confessed to sneaking out of the room and, in her excitement, accidentally causing some chaos in the academy halls.

However, Selene carefully avoided mentioning one particular detail—her brief venture into Lortell's room and the unsettling discovery that, in some twisted theoretical sense, Lortell might be her "father." She kept that part buried deep, her wide eyes darting away from Esdeath's piercing gaze.

Esdeath sighed heavily and ran a hand through her hair. The weight of Selene's actions pressed on her, but at least the timing worked in their favor. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she exhaled deeply. "It's a good thing Corin turned into a wolf-man and caused havoc. The academy will likely blame this incident on him instead of investigating further. If not for that, we'd both be in trouble right now," she said, relief softening her features for a moment.

Selene watched Esdeath, her big, innocent eyes filled with guilt. She flinched as Esdeath leaned over and lightly tapped her on the head.

"Ouch!" Selene squeaked, rubbing the spot with both hands as her lips curled into a cute pout.

"Don't ever do that again," Esdeath warned, her tone firm but not harsh.

Selene puffed up her cheeks, her expression shifting from guilt to frustration. She suddenly flopped backward onto the bed, her arms and legs spread wide as she began to whine like a child denied a treat. "Why can't I go outside? I'm so bored in here! I want to explore, see the world, and play! I wanna go! I wanna go!" Her voice rose in pitch, her small fists lightly thumping the mattress in protest.

Esdeath closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. Thankfully, she had already set up a sound barrier in the room to ensure no noise escaped. Otherwise, Selene's dramatic outburst would have drawn attention by now.

As much as Selene's complaints grated on her, Esdeath couldn't entirely blame her. Selene was barely a few days old, her curiosity about the world beyond these four walls was natural. But keeping her locked up in this tiny space felt cruel, even if it was for her own safety.

After a moment of silence, Esdeath sighed and opened her eyes. "Alright," she said finally, her voice softening. "Just wait for a month. By then, I'll figure out something that will let you go outside safely."

Selene's entire demeanor changed in an instant. She shot up from the bed, her face lighting up with pure joy. "Yay!" she cheered, her arms flailing excitedly.

Selene tilted her head, a curious thought crossing her mind. "How much is a month again?" she wondered aloud. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed a nearby book and flipped through its pages. Her expression quickly turned pale as she found the answer.

"Thirty days? No way!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with disbelief.

Esdeath raised an eyebrow and tried to console her. "It's just thirty days. It'll flow by like a river," she said, her tone light and encouraging.

Selene, however, was not convinced. Her cheeks puffed up in frustration, her face turning red with annoyance. She stomped over to the bed with tight, exaggerated steps and plopped down, crossing her arms like a sulking child. After a moment of silence, she muttered, "I might be able to compromise if Mother lets me drink her breast milk—"

Before she could finish the sentence, Esdeath flicked her forehead lightly, cutting her off. "Enough with your nonsense," Esdeath said, trying not to smile at Selene's outrageous request. "Let's sleep."

Selene grumbled but eventually nodded. Without further complaints, she snuggled into Esdeath's arms and closed her eyes.

It didn't take long for Selene to forgive Esdeath. After all, her mood was too good to hold a grudge. As she nestled closer, a mischievous smile spread across her face. "Hehehe… Mother didn't find out I learned about Dad. It's just a matter of time before I meet dad!" she thought gleefully before drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Esdeath, however, didn't find sleep so easily. She lay there in the darkness, her mind restless. Time ticked by, and even as Selene's steady breathing signaled she was in deep sleep, Esdeath's thoughts refused to quiet.

With a frustrated sigh, she opened her eyes. "Lortell is in the next room, and just thinking about her is making me restless," she thought, her cheeks heating up slightly. "I want to see her sleeping face… just once."

The idea lingered in her mind, tempting her. After a moment of hesitation, she carefully pried Selene's tiny arm off her and sat up slowly, ensuring the child wouldn't wake. With quiet, deliberate steps, she made her way to the door, her heart pounding with a mix of excitement and guilt.

Esdeath opened the door just a crack and peeked outside, glancing left and right down the dimly lit corridor. Seeing no one, she gently pushed the door open and stepped out into the hallway.

But before she could take another step, the door to the neighboring room opened.

Esdeath froze. Her breath hitched in panic as Lortell stepped out, her silver-white hair catching the faint light in the hall.

Their eyes met. Esdeath's mind raced, and her first instinct was to retreat back into her room. But before she could move, Lortell spoke, her soft voice breaking the tense silence. "Esdeath? What are you doing outside your room at this hour?"

Esdeath panicked, her face flushing as she scrambled for an excuse. "I… uh… I should be asking you the same thing! What are you doing out here? Don't you have a lot of work? Why aren't you asleep?"

At this, Lortell's composed expression faltered for a brief moment. Her breath hitched slightly as if caught off guard. She hesitated, her own cheeks taking on a faint pink hue.

The truth was, she had come out for the same reason as Esdeath—to sneak a glimpse of her sleeping face.

Lortell's crimson eyes narrowed slightly as she came up with an excuse. "I... well, I smelled something strange, like trash, outside my door. So I just came to check if there was anything out here." Her tone was calm, almost too calm, and her words felt oddly rehearsed.

Esdeath quickly latched onto the excuse, nodding with exaggerated agreement. "Yes! Same here. I smelled it too, so I came to check as well. But, uh, there's nothing here, so I guess I'll just go back to sleep now! Hahaha..." Her awkward laugh echoed faintly in the quiet hallway.

"Right," Lortell replied smoothly, turning back toward her door. "There's nothing here. Let's both get some rest." She disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her without another word.

Esdeath quickly slipped back into her room and shut the door as well, leaning heavily against it. She let out a deep breath she didn't realize she was holding. "Phew... That was close. I was almost exposed," she muttered under her breath, feeling her heartbeat slowly settle.

With no other choice, Esdeath crawled back into bed, pulling the blanket over herself. "I guess I'll have to sleep now," she sighed.

In the room next door, Lortell leaned against her door as well, her hand resting lightly on the handle. She let out a soft exhale. "Who knew she'd be awake at this hour? I'll just have to try again tomorrow," she whispered to herself before slipping into bed.

---

The full moon drifted from the night sky, replaced by the golden light of dawn. Warm sunlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating Esdeath's room.

Her eyelids twitched, and with a quiet yawn, she sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Morning already?" she mumbled, her voice groggy. Stretching her arms above her head, she glanced around the room.

Just as she started to get up, a faint rustling sound caught her attention. She turned to see an envelope slipping through the crack under her door. Curious, she walked over and picked it up. Breaking the seal, she unfolded the letter and began to read.

The letter's contents made her brows furrow in confusion:

"We have discovered a large amount of blood, believed to belong to Corin, along with traces of a monster. Although his body has not been recovered, he is presumed dead. Due to the events of last night, which resulted in the deaths of several students, a special funeral will be held this morning. Classes will resume in the afternoon."

Of course there were many things written but that was more or less summary of the whole letter.

Esdeath reread the letter, her mind racing. A puzzled look flashed across her face. "Corin's body wasn't found? But... ratbear monsters don't devour everything. They always leave behind bones or at least half a corpse," she thought aloud.

She sat down on her bed, gripping the letter tightly. "And what about me?" she wondered, her thoughts growing more chaotic. "I was there. How could someone kill so cleanly without leaving any traces? Only someone ranked A or higher could do something like that,Thus I was mentally prepared for it."

Her confusion deepened as she continued to think. "Or is this just because it's reality and not a game? Did the academy actually make a mistake in their investigation?"

She leaned back, staring at the ceiling as her thoughts swirled. Despite the chaos of last night, the academy remained open. The deaths of so many students hadn't led to its closure,Since fortunately all of them were commoners including emma and the only main figure to die was Corin, the Duke's son.

"But Corin wasn't really Corin anymore," she muttered, "He was a wolfman when he died. If they gave him a grand tribute or closed the academy, it would cause political uproar. But if he had died as a human, the academy might've been shut down for a month or more."

Esdeath sighed, folding the letter neatly and setting it aside on the table. She stood up, glancing down at her attire—a loose, oversized T-shirt that hung off her shoulders, giving a teasing glimpse of her bra straps and a hint of her cleavage.

"I should change into something proper," she thought, brushing her hair back. But then, a sly smirk appeared on her face. "But before that..." she muttered, her voice filled with excitement.

"Status!" she willed, her eyes gleaming with anticipation.

She couldn't hide her happiness. Over the past few weeks, her reputation at the academy had skyrocketed. Everyone was whispering about her and Lortell's rumored secret relationship, and her performance in the competition, where she exposed the Rank C essence stone, had only added fuel to the fire.

And now? She'd done something monumental—killed Corin, the supposed boss of the first arc—all without breaking the main plotline.

In Free Life Fantasy, Corin's fate always revolved around a critical turning point: his meeting with a mysterious man who gave him drugs that triggered his transformation into a wolfman. Esdeath had only manipulated the timeline, pushing the event to happen earlier.

The outcome? Corin was dead, and she had her revenge.

She replayed Corin's possible outcomes in her mind, as they played out in the original story:

1. Corin surrenders to Emma: If he believed in Emma and surrendered, his status as a Duke's son spared him. However, after that, he disappeared from the story and never appears again.

2. Corin fights and dies: If he chose to fight, he would eventually be killed by Ethan.

3. Corin kills Emma and flees: In this scenario, Corin, in a fit of rage, kills Emma and flees to the forest, where he encounters a Ratbear and is devoured, meeting a gruesome end.

Esdeath had guided him toward the third option, ensuring he died by the Ratbear's claws while fulfilling her own revenge. It felt like a perfect plan—no major changes to the plot, just a nudge in the right direction.

Or so she thought.

But as soon as the status screen appeared, her smirk vanished. Her face paled as red flashing text filled her vision.