Every Ducal and Royal descendant in this world is assigned a Shadow by their clan.
A Shadow is an individual devoted to serving a high-noble scion from a very young age.
Most Shadows are battle maids or butlers, rigorously trained from childhood to assist, protect, and attend to their masters’ every need.
They are essentially like personal attendants but much more competent.
Their loyalty is guaranteed by implanting a special type of Spirit Beast known as the BloodWorm into their bodies.
If a Shadow ever attempts to rebel or cause any form of distress to their master, that BloodWorm could be activated by their lord’s will, causing it to burst the Shadow’s heart, resulting in instant death.
It could also be used to inflict crushing pain if the lord isn’t willing to kill their Shadow and only needs to exert their authority.
What? Does it sound like slavery?
Well, maybe because it fucking is!
Juliana was Samael’s Shadow in the game.
She was the first-born child of a renowned Count and exalted Hunter, Elijah Vox Blade.
But why was she forced into servitude despite her noble lineage? This was because her family had lost its noble status years ago.
When Juliana was little, her clan, the famous Blade family, tried to revolt against the Western Monarch for reasons that were not revealed in the story.
Duke Arthur, the patriarch of the Theosbane house, easily suppressed their rebellion.
More than half of the Blade family members, along with all those vassal clans and council members who supported the traitors, were mercilessly murdered.
Juliana’s father, Count Elijah Blade, was captured and executed shortly after the Civil War. Thus, their uprising ended before it could even begin.
In the aftermath, Juliana was taken hostage by Duke Arthur as a precaution to prevent any future plots by the remaining Blade family members.
She was trained as a servant in the Theosbane mansion and was later given to Samael as his Shadow since they were of the same age.
Anyone could see where her story was heading, right? In the game, Juliana got her revenge against the Theosbanes and everyone who wronged her family.
During the Total War, in the later stages of the game, she joined forces with the protagonist to end the dire conflict by eliminating most of the corrupt noble houses.
As everyone might’ve guessed by now, Juliana slaughtered the Theosbane clan when she got her chance.
She killed Duke Arthur with her own two hands—a feat both unbelievable and previously deemed impossible.
After all, Arthur Kaizer Theosbane was one of the greatest Hunters to ever live. He was the strongest of all Dukes, with powers second only to the Five Monarchs.
Yet, he was killed by her!
That’s how it unfolded in most of the storylines. In others, he was brought down by Michael or another main character named Alexia.
But the rest of the Theosbanes were always massacred by Juliana Vox Blade, earning her the fearsome title – Dreaded Butcheress of the Theosbane clan.
So, yes, she was strong. But her true strength lay in her ability to think far ahead of her enemies.
She was a monster—a cold, calculating, cunning demoness. She orchestrated countless events from behind the scenes, manipulating allies and enemies alike to pit them against each other and achieve her goals.
There were many schemers and tacticians in Spirit Realm Chronicles, but she outshone most of them.
More importantly, she had the strength to back up her intelligence.
Unlike the other main characters, who saw the world as sunshine and roses, she was a dark realist who did what needed to be done.
In truth, she often lacked any heroic qualities. She had no empathy whatsoever. She was, for lack of a better word, insane!
Completely unhinged!
“Younger master?”
I blinked and looked up at her, snapping back to reality.
Juliana stood there near the door, her face calm and her uncaring gaze scrutinizing me closely.
“Y-Yes, Juliana?” I asked, my voice cracking more than I had liked.
She frowned, looking confused. “…Juliana? Since when did you start calling me by my full name?”
Ah, right! I never call her that.
“I… uh, I meant Juli. Yes?”
“Young Master, are you alright? You seem a bit out of it,” she inquired, her tone going back to neutral.
How could I be alright?! I was in the same room as a deranged killer! It was hard to believe that someone like her could have such a twisted side.
But then again, she had always irked me. I found her unsettling from the moment we both first met as kids. Now, I finally understood why.
Nevertheless, I couldn’t let any of that show on my face.
Juliana was unnervingly perceptive. If I displayed even a hint of fear or hesitation, she would seize the opportunity to exploit my vulnerabilities without a second thought.
Worse still, if she ever discovered that I knew about her future plans, she wouldn’t hesitate to come after my life.
In fact, she was the main reason why Samael was almost always killed in the game. In the story routes where he avoided his every other death flag, she was always there to end his life.
She was one person I needed to watch out for as much as the protagonist and the Seventh Demon Prince, Asmodeus.
“…I’m obviously not alright,” I replied, trying to sound normal. Rolling my eyes, I walked to the bed and sat down. “I feel like I was run over by a truck.”
Unironically, I knew how exactly it felt to be hit by a truck.
At my response, Juliana’s lips curled into a smile that never reached her icy blue eyes. She crossed her arms and nodded.
“Yeah, that last blow you took from Michael looked brutally painful.”
T-This bitch! Was she enjoying my misery?!
But, well, of course she would. I had treated her like a slave, worse even. No wonder she took pleasure in my suffering.
Gods! If I had known how strong and cunning she would turn out to be in the future, I would’ve treated her much better!
Mentally shaking my head, I sighed a deep sigh. “It indeed was.”
Juliana paused, staring at me for a moment with a strange expression plastered on her face.
She lingered, then remarked in a subdued tone, “No outbursts? Did you hit your head somewhere? Well, I suppose you did.”
I resisted the urge to palm my face. This was why I tormented her. She just couldn’t take a hint on when to shut up!
Smart my foot! Frustrating would be a more fitting description for her!
“Anyway, Young Master, now that you’re awake, I’ve got both bad news and good news.”
The tapping of her boots against the marbled floor echoed in the room as she came to stand before me.
After a second of silence, she asked:
“Which would you like to hear first?”
I furrowed my brows, puzzled.
What could it be?
I had only played the game from Samael’s perspective twice, so I didn’t remember many details of his plot before the academy arc.
Well, it was natural, since the main storyline began only after the commencement of the academy arc.
Why would I bother remembering something unimportant? Actually, it was more like I couldn’t. I had the memory of a goldfish.
Sometimes I would even forget what I had for lunch while having lunch.
“Okay, give me the good news first,” I answered curtly.
Juliana cocked her head slightly. “But it won’t quite make sense.”
“What?” I scowled. “Stop wasting my time and just tell me.”
The white-headed girl shrugged nonchalantly. “Fine, if you insist. The good news is that he won’t be here until tomorrow.”
“Huh? What does that mean?” I asked, now even more bewildered than before.
“See,” Juliana shrugged again. “I told you it wouldn’t make sense.”
Oh, heavens!
Never before had I ever felt such a strong desire to smack someone as I was feeling right now!
“…Fine, just tell me the bad news.”
“The bad news is that your father is coming here to meet you.”
“…..”
Ah, fuck.
•••
I remember now.
This was a serious problem.
What happened was that after Michael—a once-pathetic, powerless Mundane—beat Samael, the rumors of their battle spread like wildfire.
As a result, Samael’s father visited him in the hospital he was in and banished him from the clan until he did something worthy of their family name.
This banishment was the catalyst for Samael’s descent into darkness and insanity later in the story.
It also fueled his unnaturally intense hatred for Michael, pushing him to challenge the protagonist to a rematch as soon as they crossed paths at the academy, this time in front of everyone.
Predictably, Samael lost again, and his resentment only grew after that public humiliation.
But I didn’t care about any of that.
Sure, I was the same Samael. But this version of me wasn’t foolish enough to make those mistakes.
Maybe I would’ve done it had I not regained my past life’s memories, but now that I knew what the future held, I definitely would not go around digging my own grave.
The actual problem here that I was worried about was that my father would revoke all the privileges I enjoyed as his youngest son after casting me out of the family!
That meant losing all the money, influence, and most importantly, the Acquire Cards I currently had in my Soul Arsenal!
Unfair! This was just so unfair!
“Young master?” Juliana’s voice pierced through my thoughts.
“What?!” I snapped, my irritation evident.
“Did you hear me? I said your father is coming here to meet you,” she calmly repeated.
“Yes, I heard you,” I responded tersely.
“Oh,” Juliana arched an eyebrow. “It’s just that you didn’t react as I thought you would.”
“…And how did you think I would react?” I asked, my patience wearing thin.
“I don’t know. Cry, scream, throw a tantrum.”
…This infuriating girl!
I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself.
Calm down. Don’t give her any reaction.
But her voice once again called out to me. “Young Master? Did you hear what I just said?”
“I did!” I shot back, my control slipping.
“Oh. You didn’t react as I thought you–”
“Juli, just get me a coffee!” I yelled, cutting her off.
“Hmm? Since when did you start drinking coffee?”
“Since now!”
Juliana continued to stand there like a mannequin, her arms crossed and eyes focused on me. After a moment or two, she nodded.
“As you wish, Young Master.”
With that, she turned on her heel and sauntered out of the room.
“This insufferable wench!”
‘Should I kill her? At this point in the story, she shouldn’t be too strong. I can easily overpower her if I try.’
Actually, I didn’t even need to get my hands dirty.
She definitely underestimated me, seeing me as nothing more than a naive, privileged brat – which, to be fair, I was until yesterday.
But I could exploit that perception of hers to plan a perfect assassination.
An unsuspecting prey is always the easiest to hunt, after all.
“…Or I could just use her.”
Indeed, I could.
By gaining her trust, I could turn her into a valuable asset. She would undoubtedly be useful in stopping some of the upcoming calamities.
After all, she had one of the strongest Origin Cards among all the other main characters. She was smart and resourceful, too.
The only thing I found displeasing about her was her intelligence—she was far too clever for her own good. But aside from that, she was the perfect pawn.
“So, how do you manipulate a manipulator?”
Well, I had a few ideas.
But for now, my priority was figuring out how to avoid being kicked out of my very rich and powerful family.