F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!! Chapter 146: Why are you so stupid

"Hmmm... it’s kind of hard to do this just by looking at books..." I murmur while using the tools I have to create an extrely detailed gold bracelet with so of the monster materials left over from Faye’s creation.

"I guess I should have paid more attention during lessons with Kjori to ask about new things..." I murmur, looking at the bracelet. It was supposed to be able to generate large quantities of potable water, but it failed.

’Did I use too much magic? Or was it a lack of adequate materials?’ I wonder, staring intently at the bracelet. I’m genuinely striving to learn relic creation since it’s the best thing I can do to help my puppets in combat.

But trying so hard hasn’t yielded the results I expected. I can even create generally basic and weak relics, but any strong relic automatically fails.

’Maybe it’s my fault... Esther said that my magic, while precise, is too brute...’ I draw lines using magic to see; I can’t perceive whether it’s brute or not.

It is indeed very precise. Because of the type of power I possess, all my spells require incredible, surgical precision. But precision isn’t the sa as being perfect or efficient.

"Well, it can’t be my fault! I’m sure the bla lies with the low-quality materials! If they were better materials, I know I could do it!" I say to myself, shifting the bla onto sothing else.

I grab the bracelet and toss it into a box along with other bracelets, necklaces, rings, and other little things I’ve been trying to create. So worked, others failed, but nothing is very useful.

Normally I would never toss things around like this; everything is made of gold and monster materials with so jewels. But since it’s all material that Esther is providing , I simply don’t care about spending as much as possible for quality.

Besides, by throwing everything into this box, later so servant can collect it, destroy it all, and send it back to as raw material for to try using again. After all, materials like gold can still be reused by .

"Hmmm, I think it’s ti to go to sleep..." I rub my eyes, feeling a bit tired. I’ve been spending hours using magic on this. It’s actually quite fun, and since I’ve already had dinner, brushed my teeth, and taken a bath, I’m ready to go to bed.

"...Hmm, hmmm, uhmmm" I hum calmly while closing the window curtains. My life in this mansion has been quite peaceful so far, and it’s given ti to learn new things.

"Ti for bed! Tomorrow I have to..."

"..." I hear a sound at the door that makes stop. I look at the door and see it opening, and I know the only person who opens the door like that is Esther, since Eve always asks for permission. Syl’Vyr, even though he opens without asking, starts talking imdiately.

Esther’s servants also knock on the door, and Faye knocks too, calling Lyn.

"Esther, I already...!!!"

"W-What happened to you!!" I say, alard, running to her. She’s covered in blood, and it’s not so enemy’s blood, because I see wounds on her body, nurous cuts.

Seeing her wounds like this gives a bad feeling. The tallic sll of blood invades my nose, and the sound of blood droplets hitting the floor floods my senses.

"I had a fight today. I got a little hurt, but it’s nothing too serious..." She speaks as if the torn clothes, her entirely wounded body, and blood streaming everywhere were normal.

"N-No!! You’re hurt badly! A-And I know how to do bandages! Co here." I pull her hand, my hand almost slipping because of the blood. I place her on our bed without thinking about how we’ll sleep later.

Quickly, I start taking bandages out of the storage ring, along with various cloths and also alcohol to clean the wounds. My mind isn’t thinking of the more rational solution of just calling for help from the servants.

"..." I soak the cloths in alcohol and start applying them to the wounds on her arms. It feels so strange to care for soone I know doesn’t need it. My mind can’t think logically seeing soone injured like this.

Even though Esther knows healing magic, even though Esther has personal physicians, even though she can pay soone to heal her, I still try to care for her nervously.

While cleaning her arms, the cloth quickly becos soaked with blood. I’m surprised she seems so calm with so much blood flowing.

"D-Does this hurt?" I ask, bandaging her arms and looking for more wounds. Her face looks fine, aside from a few blood spatters.

"No, it doesn’t hurt... You seem... very worried. I thought you hated our marriage. Wouldn’t it be good if I died? If I die, everything I have goes to you. My territories, my wealth, even my servants." She speaks as if power were all that mattered.

"I-I don’t want that! Why would I want to profit from soone’s death?!... A-And I know I seem to dislike the marriage... b-but I still worry... w-why..."

"...Why?" she asks coldly.

"...B-Because... b-because..."

"Say it, Evelyn. Why would you care? I’m not ’nice’ to you. Our marriage is rely a business transaction, and our agreents are purely practical. So why would you care if I’m dead or alive?" she asks with seriousness.

I see in her gaze that she doesn’t even consider feelings, and that seems quite sad to .

"It’s... b-b-because... I l-like you..." I say, looking down in embarrassnt. I can’t say I love Esther. I don’t love her like soone I would love romantically, but I’ve always liked her since I first started playing the ga.

And now that she’s real here in front of , even though she’s cold, even though she hurts with her words, I still like her. The sa liking as before.

"..." Everything falls into a strange silence. I look up, eting her gaze, which is indecipherable.

"..."

"I-I’ll finish the b-bandages." I grab another cloth to continue cleaning the blood and search for more wounds.

"Aaah!?" She grabs my hand. It’s so strong it hurts a little, making let out a low sound of pain. I look at her confused, eting her gaze, which seems dangerous.

"...Evelyn, why are you so... stupid?"

"H-Huh?"

"How can you like soone who treats you poorly? How can you be so naive? This isn’t new to . First, with the castle servants, even after all the harm they did to you, you simply ignore it and don’t even try to get revenge."

"If you asked, I would kill all those who mistreated you in the past. As your wife, I would torture them, make them suffer a slow and agonizing death... Rember Verena? She broke your arm in childhood."

"Why don’t you ask to kill her? A re head maid has no value. If I kill her, our father would completely ignore it... but you just let it go... and now again."

"I treat you poorly. I treat you like an object I possess... and even knowing that, you still say you like ?" She has a scornful smile on her face, as if such a thing were a complete absurdity.

As if she couldn’t comprehend what I feel, as if my actions were sothing so irrational she doesn’t believe it exists and is happening.

"..." I say nothing. I don’t know what to say. It’s true I feel anger towards the people who look down on , but I don’t feel the desire to see them die or anything like that, even if they hard .

"...Evelyn, if I killed everything you love... would you kill ? If I tortured them in front of you, would you hate and seek revenge?" She asks a question with such seriousness, as if she were about to leave the room right now to kill Eve, Syl’Vyr, and Faye.

"I-I..." I don’t answer. I don’t know how to answer, so my mind just freezes without a concrete response. I can’t so blatantly say I would kill another person in a situation that’s hypothetical but feels real.

"..." A few tears stream down my face. The situation makes very uncomfortable because I’m not accustod to this world—a world where killing is as normal as having power.

Is it too much to ask soone like , a recluse with no social life who lived only for playing gas, to kill soone? I don’t have that courage. I barely had the courage to kill monsters, which are irrational beasts born largely from magic, let alone kill people.

"...Hahahaha" Esther lets out a laugh, a sweet laugh that hides a poisonous sentint, a fake laugh from soone who finds no amusent but laughs to hide sothing.

"Then Evelyn, how about you show how much you like ?" She speaks with a dangerous look on her face, a look I don’t recognize and have never seen her make before.

"...?"

"Let bite you deeply. Let drink your blood. You must already know that my mother is a pure Ghoul, and naturally, I, as a Ghoul, possess the characteristics of that race."

"Ghouls have regeneration, but it depends on food. If I’m hurt and you’re worried, then why not yield a part of yourself to help ? Give your blood so I can heal my current wounds. Since you like , the answer should be obvious." She asks, staring at my clavicle.

"..." She seems to be waiting. She doesn’t seem to care about the exact answer; she just wants to see what my reaction and my answer will be. With trembling lips and my hands sweating coldly, I move my dress aside at the shoulder, exposing the area. The beautiful white fabric is stained by the blood on my hands.

My action is a silent response because I can’t speak. I can’t give a refusal, so I just silently permit her to bite .

"..."

"My foolish little doll..." she murmurs, pulling down with her as we lie on the bed. She approaches, and I feel her teeth touching my clavicle.

"Ghhm" I let out a pained sound with tears as I feel her teeth sinking into my flesh. Not an affectionate bite, but a deep bite that causes pain even with 95% pain reduction.

She hugs , her arms wrapping around my back, while I feel that I gave the wrong answer. I should have refused. I shouldn’t have accepted. I feel like I’ve just condemned my future with this response.

"..." I hear the sound of her sucking my blood, the sensation of her teeth moving in my flesh, as if they want to clamp down and tear out an entire chunk, but she restrains herself to take only blood.

I feel her tongue licking my skin, as if savoring my taste, causing involuntary shivers that are ignored.

"..." And after a mont that feels like an eternity, she releases the bite. I look to the side, seeing the marks of her teeth. They are very sharp, a bite mark humanly impossible.

They are like the teeth of a wild animal, sharp and made to tear flesh from bone, even though she only took my blood.

I look at her, seeing her wounds actually closing up with the blood, while she licks her lips, not letting a single drop of blood go to waste.

"Thank you for your answer, Evelyn. Thank you for showing how needy you are for affection. Thank you for showing how stupidly naive you are to like a being like ." Her thanks sound hollow, more like mockery than gratitude.

"Go to sleep. It’s late for a little doll like you to be awake... I need to go now. Have pleasant dreams." She speaks, getting up with , and quickly releases , leaving on the bed as I curl up.

My body feels fear. Even though I am a puppet, even though my body reconstructs itself regardless of physical damage, I feel I did sothing I shouldn’t have. I let Esther know sothing she should never have known.

That my stupid concern for her made her realize how much she truly controls , how stupidly naive and indecisive I am about my own choices.

’Dammit... why can’t I just ignore it...’ If I had ignored her, if I hadn’t done anything, it would all be better. She didn’t even need help, but I stupidly helped her.

All because I worried about soone who doesn’t even worry about . I feel so dumb for acting this way, but I can’t be any different, and that fact makes sad with myself.