Volume 3, Chapter 7-1 – Just Borrowing It for a Bit

Stella opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a ceiling carved with intricate patterns.

Stella blinked, confirming that she was no longer inside that church flooded with dazzling sunlight.

Around her were the deep-purple wall coverings of the Night King Suite, while light from the obsidian chandelier spilled softly across the room.

Stella instinctively covered her right eye. Her palm felt faintly hot.

‘The dream… I had broken free?’

Without a doubt, it was thanks to the Eye of the Black Mass.

But the Pale Lord’s eye actually had the ability to counter illusions?

If it hadn’t exerted its power at that critical moment, her greatest secret would have been completely exposed tonight.

Stella let out a lingering breath of relief.

Fortunately, the Eye of the Black Mass had successfully caught the Belphegor Young Miss, who specialized in dreams, completely off guard.

However…

‘Since the Eye of the Black Mass could break Belphegor’s dreams, does that mean I could also study illusions myself?’

Stella closed her eyes, then slowly opened them again.

The Eye of the Black Mass had already receded, and her pupil had returned to the crimson that symbolized Valentine.

She looked around.

Then froze.

Stella realized she was lying on the bed.

No.

More precisely, she was lying on the left side of the bed, while another person lay on the right.

Franleya Belphegor.

Her pale pink hair was scattered across the pillow, the ends covering most of her face and leaving only a small section of her fair chin exposed. She really was asleep, her head resting against Stella’s shoulder, with a few strands of hair hanging beside her cheeks.

Her sleeping face was peaceful now, though she was quietly sobbing in her dreams. Somehow, she even looked faintly adorable.

Now she really had become Sleeping Beauty.

Stella stared blankly for several seconds before instinctively pushing Franleya away.

Although the Eye of the Black Mass had currently trapped the other girl inside a dream, to Stella, Franleya was no Sleeping Beauty. She was a genuine troublemaker.

Her mischievous personality was no less troublesome than Cheryl’s.

Just now, she had even nearly discovered Stella’s deepest desire.

Her current predicament was entirely something she had brought upon herself.

Rеαԁ оn ΚatRеαⅾіոɡСаfе

Stella thought for a moment.

The other girl was the heir to Belphegor, which symbolized sloth and eternal sleep. She probably wouldn’t remain trapped in an illusion for very long. She might even break free at any moment.

Stella glanced at the window.

The window of the Night King Suite faced the bustling district of Nightmare Street, and its height…

Was a little terrifying.

Jumping out the window was clearly unrealistic.

Even with the Pale Sacred Remains protecting her, if she jumped straight down, the commotion would attract the attention of everyone on Nightmare Street. Besides, Stella had only just realized that she was apparently a little afraid of heights.

The window was out.

She would use the front door.

Stella suddenly remembered that before Franleya had entered, she had ordered several Nightmare Maintainers outside to stand guard in the corridor.

Logically speaking, as long as Stella pretended nothing had happened, she shouldn’t attract their attention.

Stella glanced at Franleya, who was still sleeping on the bed.

Speaking of which…

Stella narrowed her eyes.

Even worse, Franleya had seen her eye.

A pale base, with black-red embers.

Stella certainly wasn’t counting on Franleya being some naive little fool who forgot everything after waking up.

What if she told people about what had happened tonight after waking up… What if she told Vivian, told Gehenna, told the other Electors…

Stella shuddered.

‘No.’

‘I have to do something.

She quietly walked back to the bedside and bent down to look at Franleya’s sleeping face.

The Eye of the Black Mass was still taking effect. Franleya’s eyelids trembled faintly, clearly trapped somewhere deep within a dream.

Stella didn’t know how long this state would last, but at the very least, this Young Miss’s consciousness was completely open right now.

Stella closed her eyes and once again drew upon the power of her right eye.

The Eye of the Black Mass slowly rotated. Pale color covered the crimson, while embers burned deep within the pupil.

‘The Pale Lord’s power could not only break illusions. It should also be able to… implant something, right?’

Stella had no idea exactly how to do it.

Reаd on ΚatReаⅾіոɡСafе

But she could try.

She extended her index finger and gently touched Franleya between the brows.

Black-red embers flowed from her fingertip like wisps of smoke, seeping into the girl’s forehead.

“Today’s game between you and me must never be revealed to anyone.”

Her fingertip left Franleya’s forehead.

The Eye of the Black Mass slowly faded, and her pupil returned to crimson.

Stella stared at Franleya’s face for three seconds.

Her sleeping expression remained peaceful, without the slightest change.

‘…It probably worked, right?’

Stella wasn’t sure.

But time waited for no one. She couldn’t stay here until Franleya woke up just to verify whether it had worked.

‘Time to bolt!’

Before anyone discovered that she was currently alone in a room with the Belphegor Young Miss, she had to run.

Otherwise, if someone saw them, who knew what version of the story would spread.

《Shocking, Valentine Heir and Belphegor Young Miss Spend the Entire Night Talking in Night King Suite!》

《Deep Sisterly Affection? A Private Meeting Between the Daughters of Two Electors!》

《From Beneath the Bed to Atop the Bed, The Valentine Heir’s Social Techniques!》

Stella shuddered.

‘No. Absolutely not.’

She quietly jumped off the bed and tiptoed all the way to the door. She opened it a crack and listened carefully.

After confirming that there was no movement outside, she pulled the door open, slipped out, then closed it as softly as possible.

And then…

Time to bolt!

Several Belphegor Nightmare Maintainers were indeed standing at the end of the corridor, but Stella walked past them as though nothing had happened, without the slightest distraction. Her gaze was open and straightforward, without a trace of guilt, making her appear cold and confident.

“…”

Stella said nothing. As though nothing had happened, she slipped between two Belphegor Nightmare Maintainers. When she brushed past them, she even deliberately raised her chin.

“…”

The Nightmare Maintainers said nothing either.

Stella’s figure quickly vanished around the corner of the long corridor, and the hallway fell into a brief, deathly silence.

Rеaⅾ οո KαtRеαⅾіոɡCafe

The four Nightmare Maintainers remained where they stood, looking at one another.

“That person who just… walked past us. Do any of you remember her?” The guard on the left asked.

“A girl with silver-and-crimson hair. Her features were very distinctive, and her attitude was even arrogant, but I don’t think anyone like that was on today’s reservation list.”

Another one continued.

“Since when did someone like that come to Cloudtop Manor?”

They had been guarding the door the entire time.

The leading Nightmare Maintainer fell silent for a moment and pressed a hand against the sword at her waist.

The direction that girl had come from… was the end of the corridor, where the Young Miss’s room was located.

The girl had acted as though nothing had happened, completely composed. She wasn’t on today’s reservation list and had even raised her chin at them, looking as though she had just accomplished something earth-shattering.

Could she be…

The leading Nightmare Maintainer’s expression instantly changed.

An assassin!

“Oh no, Young Miss!”

She charged directly into the Night King Suite and immediately discovered their Young Miss lying amid the disordered bedding. Her pale pink hair seemed to have lost its usual luster, limply clinging to her cheeks. Her brows were tightly furrowed, her clothes disheveled, one fragrant shoulder half-bared, as though she were trapped in some kind of nightmare.

“Young Miss!”

The guards hurried forward and immediately began checking her condition.

There were no external injuries, nor any signs of poisoning.

But the flow of her magical power had completely stagnated.

It was an illusion.

Inside a Belphegor establishment, someone had used an illusion to trap the Belphegor heir.

The Nightmare Maintainer reached out and touched Franleya between the brows, magical power spilling from her fingertip.

“Seal every exit of Cloudtop Manor,” she ordered. “Go after the girl from just now and bring her…”

“There’s no need to chase her…”

A voice came from the bed.

Franleya rubbed her drowsy eyes and slowly sat up.

The guards stopped moving.

“But Young Miss, the person just now…”

“I said, there’s no need to chase her.”

Rеаⅾ οո КаtReaԁiոgСаfе

Franleya yawned.

Those eyes flashed through her mind.

A pale base, with black-red embers.

Gorgeous, violent, cold, sharp, proud, decisive.

The words she had heard while her consciousness was hazy still lingered beside her ears.

——”Today’s game between you and me must never be revealed to anyone.”

‘Forced obedience? Such succubus-like taste.’

“I was careless.” Franleya chuckled softly. “She really got me good.”

She stretched out her hand, her fingertips brushing across the deep-purple bedsheet.

A strand of intertwined silver-and-crimson hair lay there quietly.

The Pale Daughter?

‘No wonder she is so afraid of herself.’

Vivian Valentine seemed to be plotting something.

What was slowly emerging? What was gradually fading away? Who was truly deciding what to take and what to discard? What sort of powerful desire had finally begun to take shape?

Where would the future of the Abyss go?

‘How interesting.’

Franleya picked up the strand of hair and gently sniffed it.

A faint, uncanny, cool floral fragrance.

Its name unknown, its origin unknown. So faint, so subtle, seeming to exist and yet not.

“We’ll meet again.”

Franleya lowered her eyes and spoke softly.

“…Stella Valentine.”

Translator Note

The sloth character in this novel is quite… unique. Usually characters associated with sloth are very lazy, right?

But Franleya seems still has interest in outside world.