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Emilia quickly wiped her tears and sniffled, somehow still appearing haughty and proud. "That's your score."
From her partner's attitude, Cynthia could easily tell that not only was the girl unrepentant, perhaps she even intended to make herself repent instead! The emerald-eyed girl gulped nervously. "M-My score for what?"
Emilia smiled. "For pissing me off!"
"W-What… w-what are you gonna do with it?" Cynthia couldn't help but whimper. She really should have kept her mouth shut! Anyway, what had happened had happened, there was no need to rage, was there? She'd been stupid! Why couldn't she turn back the timeline when it was most needed?!
Emilia didn't answer, and only opened her panel to check the remaining summoning time.
Ding!
—Cynthia's projection can be sustained for: 7 hours 11 minutes 24 seconds.
Of course, Cynthia quickly changed the prompt.
Ding!
—Error, for some reason, follower summoning is disabled.
Of course, Emilia was no longer as naïve about the void formula as she had been back when they first met. She knew that even if Cynthia changed the interface to say something else… she could still summon her out.
Knowing that her strategy had failed, Cynthia—who had always hated Dixie—couldn't help but be grateful for the girl's presence at the moment. Because she knew, with how pissed off Emilia was, she would have already summoned her out if not for her.
Hopefully, by the time they were alone, any one of those coquettish bitches would manage to calm her partner down using their honeyed words.
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What Cynthia forgot, was that she had been nurturing Emilia as a villainess, and they tend to be both vengeful and unreasonable.
Of course, even if someone told her, she wouldn't be happy at all. If her teachings bore fruit in the form of getting her ass beat, what use was that?!
Emilia may have changed back from her original form once the cooldown was over, but that wasn't to hide anything from her partner. It was just to make sure the skill became available to use again earlier just in case she needed it.
In fact, from the beginning, she had fully intended to let her know that she had revealed herself to Dixie.
Not to mention, she also had to ask her about the effects on mortals after consuming her blood, as what Dixie had told her did cause her some concern.
But all that would have to wait until she was done teaching Cynthia who she was dealing with first. Emilia could bear many things from those she cared about, but being looked down upon was not one of them.
She only left her loyal knight a note saying that she had something to do today and would be busy till the evening, and that she would be responsible for explaining the matter to Crystal while picking her up.
And then, after annoying Noelle with a call so early in the morning just to get a driver to pick her up, Emilia arrived directly at her home.
Of course, no matter what mood she was in, Emilia didn't lose her rationality. Only when she was fully rational would she be able to administer just punishment, after all.
Emilia understood that while giving out extra rewards in joy was still okay, punishments must always be meted out with a clear mind, to not cause later regret.
The housekeeper bowed when he saw her coming. As the driver had to be dispatched from the mansion, he had of course been informed of her arrival, and came out to receive her. "Young miss, your friend arrived yesterday night, and lady Samantha had her settle in the fifteenth guest room."
Emilia blinked. She may not have been here too frequently recently, but she never thought Samantha would allow so many people to stay in the White Deer mansion as to fill up all their guest rooms. Even if it was only one person per room, that was still fourteen strangers living under their roof!
Wouldn't it be too crowded and weird?
Thinking so, Emilia couldn't help but frown. "How many other guests are we housing, currently?"
"None, young miss." The housekeeper coughed, trying his best to keep his face straight. Due to professional ethics, he couldn't just tell Emilia that lady Samantha was being a jealous baby and trying to keep her new friend away, could he?
Emilia paused, then blinked. "Then why the heck… you know what, never mind. Where's my sister?"
The white-haired man felt his lips twitch. "In your room, young miss."
Emilia rolled her eyes. She should have known. Anyway, she would need to kick Sam out before beating Cynthia up anyway, so might as well set her straight at the same time.
Before that, though, she might as well see how Michelle is doing first. After all, the longer Cynthia's teeth clattered in fear, the better she felt.
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Emilia had already expected that Michelle's attitude would change drastically after getting her revenge. However, there was no way for her to be sure what kind of change it will bring.
She could give in to self-blame and despair. Maybe she would think that now that she had no goal to work towards, her life was meaningless.
It was even possible that she would blame Emilia for misleading her and committing such crimes.
Looking at her now, though, Emilia thought this must be one of the better possibilities.
The boyish girl had knelt on the ground right after letting her in, and kissed the back of her palm piously. Her eyes glittered in both adoration and reverence, and Emilia couldn't help but blush under her feverish gaze.
"Princess…"
"How are you feeling?" Emilia didn't ask her what she did with the Porters. She had already instructed Noelle to take care of whatever was left, and that there was no need to make a report to her. They were her 'return gift' for Michelle's lifetime of servitude, after all, and what the girl did with them was her business.
"I…" The girl paused for a moment before taking a deep breath, and then looked straight into Emilia's eyes. "Princess, first of all, let me just say this… You look absolutely ravishing today! And also, I, Michelle, have never felt better in my life!"
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~ To be continued ~
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Finally done for today! Just editing this much took me so long, hopefully there aren't many errors left.
Also, there will be more bonus chapters coming this month! My bonus debt can't survive!
However, I, your poor author-chan, have almost broken my fingers these past few days, and will now need to slow down slightly. >_<
Thank you for all your support :>