Why Did You Mess With Him? He’s the Evil God’s Lackey! Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Why Don't You Let My Brother Sort It Out for You?

Heni was completely frozen.

She stared blankly at the direction Xiangyilan had fled, then hurriedly pulled that black robe—the one that concealed her charms—back on.

Before this, even she herself hadn't understood why Professor Viktor had asked her to keep wearing this garnt at all tis.

But now, thanks to Xiangyilan's accidental experint, the question that had been puzzling her for so long seed to have found sothing of an answer.

The problem, perhaps, was with her?

So kind of thought flashed through her mind, feeling almost within reach.

But Heni still wanted to try it out for herself.

After all—practice is the true path to knowledge.

The thing was, Professor Viktor had said she couldn't just take off the robe whenever she felt like it.

And besides, trying it on an ordinary person at random was sothing Heni was absolutely incapable of doing.

Whether out of her own shyness, or the fear of being mistaken for a pervert.

So...

She paced back and forth inside the room. Then, all at once, a spark of inspiration lit up in her mind.

2 candidates ca to mind.

The first was Professor Viktor.

But the Professor would never let her take off the robe in the first place—and besides...

If she did sothing like that in front of the Professor, she'd be a bit embarrassed herself.

As for the other candidate.

She already had the answer in her heart.

"I need to go find Cocotte right away."

Heni used magic to push her door open and rushed downstairs toward the garden.

***

At that mont, out in the garden of the Clavena Manor, Cocotte and Resi stood amid a sea of flowers, facing each other.

Cocotte sat atop her fluffy cloud, looking as though she had been pushed to the absolute limit of exhaustion.

Resi stood across from her, watching her, visibly anxious.

"Your Majesty, you..."

"Ugh, so annoying—I told you to stop calling Your Majesty!"

"Yes, Your Majesty. When exactly are you coming back with ?"

Cocotte flopped facedown onto her cloud, wearing an expression of supre resignation.

"I won't! I absolutely refuse to go back!"

"I refuse to spend my life as nothing more than a breeding machine!"

Those words drifted to the ears of several Maidservants who happened to be passing through the garden.

They turned toward the garden in utter shock.

Then, just as quickly, the Maidservants covered their faces and trotted away, flustered, fleeing the garden.

Before long, rumors about a certain 4th-Tier forr Council mber would likely make their way through the entire Clavena household.

For now, though, Cocotte remained stubbornly unyielding.

Resi's eyes went wide, and she, too, was on the verge of breaking down.

"But... if things carry on like this."

"The Elven race will eventually go extinct!"

"Then just pick a new Elven Queen."

Cocotte lay sprawled on her cloud and waved a dismissive hand.

Resi pressed on:

"But no Elf in existence is as exceptional as you—none of them could ever earn the recognition of the Divine Tree Yadh."

"Oh, just let soone else earn it then!"

"But!"

Cocotte hastily covered both ears, shaking her head with an expression of utter unwillingness.

Resi looked at her reaction, a flicker of sadness quietly passing through her eyes.

Cocotte grew more impatient than ever, waving a hand and raising her voice to explain:

"Do you have any idea why I ran off to Endymion and hid there for decades? It was precisely because you people wouldn't stop droning on in my ear!"

"What does extinction have to do with ? I never wanted to be Queen in the first place!"

"Just because the Divine Tree Yadh chose , I'm supposed to stay locked inside that rotten tree forever? Give a break!"

Resi stared at Cocotte, completely at a loss.

She had spent a number of days now living in the Clavena household.

She had never once seen Cocotte show this side of herself—this kind of genuine fury.

Resi found herself unable to understand.

Being chosen by the Divine Tree Yadh. Becoming the Queen.

Wasn't that supposed to be an incomparable honor?

Then why?

"Because it's a form of coercion—done entirely against her will."

Leah had appeared at so point nearby, arms folded across her chest, watching the argunt between the 2 Elves.

Both Elves looked up in surprise, turning toward Leah.

"I just heard from the Maidservants that you were discussing sothing particularly exciting over here."

"I was curious, so I ca to have a listen."

Leah blinked, spreading her hands:

"At any rate, I think I understand the situation now."

Why had Cocotte chosen to flee to Endymion and beco a Council mber, rather than inherit her position as Elven Queen?

It was sothing Leah had been a little puzzled about before.

A Council mber's status, however prestigious, surely couldn't compare to being the queen of an entire race.

Cocotte lay sprawled on her cloud, half her face buried in the soft white surface, only her eyes peeking out, her mood visibly sour.

"It's like this."

The Divine Tree Yadh had chosen her by force.

As far as Cocotte was concerned, she didn't care what title she held.

All she needed was a stable, peaceful place where she could sleep.

But inside the Divine Tree, even when she wanted to sleep, she could hear the constant prayers of the Elves at all hours—never stopping.

Like a mosquito buzzing endlessly in her ear.

It was impossible for Cocotte to get any sleep.

There was a deeply ironic dinsion to all of this.

Due to the special nature of Elves, no one was supposed to be able to force an Elf to do sothing against her will.

And yet the Elves' mother—the 'Divine Tree Yadh'—had violated that very principle.

The Divine Tree had forcibly bestowed nas upon the Elves, assigning each of them a different identity.

Every Elf granted a different surna was required to fulfill the duties that ca with it.

And the Elf who received the surna 'Yadh' was bound strictly to her role.

To beco the one who would lead the Elves and continue their lineage.

The young Cocotte had refused to be bound by the Divine Tree, and refused even more firmly to be coerced by her own kinspeople.

And so she had seized upon a mont when her kin's guard was down in the night, and slipped away—fleeing the Divine Tree, fleeing the Elven Forest.

Though she had ultimately ended up as an employee of the Clavena household—compared to her previous existence as Queen...

This place was far, far freer.

The Elves were called the most free-spirited of all races, and yet their Queen could not possess a single shred of freedom.

How deeply ironic that sounded.

Cocotte kept her gaze downcast, as though unwilling to revisit the past, burying her head entirely into the cloud—and her body went still.

But Resi still found it difficult to accept. She could only watch Cocotte quietly and say:

"If... you refuse to return..."

"Then at the very least, I must bring word of you back to the forest."

With that, she turned to leave.

But at that mont, Leah's voice rang out, stopping her in her tracks.

"Hey there, little one... hmm, actually your age is probably far greater than mine? Never mind."

She shrugged. As Resi turned toward her with a puzzled look, Leah produced that black-and-white Contract and gave it a little wave in front of Resi's face.

Resi blinked, looking sowhat at a loss.

"Don't forget—there's a Contract between us."

"As an employee of the Clavena household, if you were to leave, that would constitute a breach of contract."

Leah tucked the Contract away and looked at Resi with a smile:

"I don't think I need to spell out the consequences of breaching a contract for you, do I?"

Resi's body gave a faint tremor. She said, with a touch of stubborn defiance:

"You—you're forcing !"

"Wrong~. I'm exercising my rights over my employee. How could that possibly be called forcing?"

Leah's smile never wavered.

But those calculating words of hers grated on Resi's ears.

"It's written clearly in the Contract—this isn't coercion."

"This is the condition you agreed to."

Resi's mind reeled. A cascade of mories from that day flashed through her thoughts.

Find the Elven Queen.

First condition: sign the Contract.

Beco an employee of the Clavena household.

Her eyes went wide. She staggered back a few steps, unable to believe it.

Only in this mont did she truly understand.

How incredibly foolish she had been, stepping into human society for the first ti.

Had she really beco just another helpless soul under soone else's control?

"So this is... how humans sche."

A feeling of helplessness flooded through her heart. Resi felt her legs go weak beneath her, as though she might crumple where she stood.

In this mont, she felt as though she had experienced firsthand the predicant Cocotte had lived through.

That sensation of being coerced—and being powerless to resist it.

It was truly awful.

Leah paid no attention to Resi, who was struggling to co to terms with reality. She swayed her hips as she walked over to Cocotte's side.

She looked at Cocotte lying flat in her cloud, the very picture of a lost and saddened soul.

Leah gave a quiet sigh, her gaze softening a few degrees.

She reached out a hand and gently patted Cocotte on the back.

"Alright. We promised you—we won't let any other Elf force you back."

"You're an employee of this household. Why would I let you go back and inherit the title of Queen?"

Cocotte still gave no response.

Seeing this, Leah felt a twinge of genuine concern and continued:

"Co on, sit up. Nobody's going to force you into anything."

"In the Clavena household, you're free."

Still no sound ca from within the cloud.

Leah grew a little worried.

She slowly leaned her head closer, tentatively.

Only to hear a few quiet, even breaths—perfectly steady:

"Zzzzzz..."

"...?"

Leah froze, staring in disbelief at Cocotte—who had apparently subrged herself completely into the cloud—and even gave her a little prod.

Absolutely no response.

"She's... she's asleep!?"

You absolute wretch—give back all the worry I just wasted on you!

She withdrew her hand in defeat and pressed it to her forehead.

"I must be an idiot. Why on earth would I worry about soone as carefree as you."

But at that very mont—just as she looked down—a dark figure stepped out from sowhere deep within the lush garden.

She moved past the tall flower walls, blocking out the bright sun.

And appeared before everyone present.

"Cocotte! Could you help take a look at—"

The instant that voice rang out, Leah looked up, following it toward its source.

She saw Heni.

That little Teaching Assistant who was so clearly beautiful—and yet insisted on wearing a frumpy, oversized black robe.

Right now, she had placed her hand on the buttons at her chest, as though on the verge of undoing her clothes.

But she had also seen Leah. Her hand stopped mid-motion.

Heni looked at Leah. Leah looked at Heni.

Their eyes t.

Without quite aning to, the words slipped out of Leah's mouth.

"Heni, you..."

"If you really can't help yourself, you could always go find Viktor."