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Chapter – 11
“……”
In the silence, the demonic energy inside her body slowly settled and began flowing along her blood vessels.
To have cold death flowing beside the heat of life was not something one experienced easily, yet Eleanor—who was already experiencing it for the second time—showed no disturbance on her face.
No — there was even a faint but clear sneer.
“Thanks to that, I confirmed the Black Blade is usable.”
Eleanor muttered.
When she had no demonic energy at all, the Black Blade struggled even to cut a book cover, but in the battle just now it had easily severed the intruder’s neck.
“But it’s still lacking.”
Eleanor nudged the corpse.
Once, the Black Blade possessed power enough to shatter mountains. Now, it could barely cut the front of a neck.
It was also why she needed to remain unnoticed until she gathered enough strength for revenge.
She wished she had a little more power, but Eleanor decided to be satisfied.
“So now this is the problem.”
Eleanor murmured.
“How do I dispose of this body?”
The moment she realized the intruder wasn’t a goblin and saw the empty vial, Eleanor had already calculated everything.
Someone had hired this man to threaten her, and at daybreak the client would surely check whether the job was done.
And if the client learned Eleanor had killed him, the situation would become far more complicated.
The Hildet family excelled in healing arts, not combat. Eleanor had been the same before she fell into the Demon Realm.
‘It’s a skill I learned just to survive.’
If people learned Eleanor Hildet could kill an intruder, unwanted attention would gather.
And such attention would only hinder her while she needed to grow stronger in secrecy.
She intended to appear as someone whose healing abilities had only recently awakened — just enough to avoid being offered as a sacrifice.
“Well… can’t be helped.”
Eleanor clicked her tongue lightly. Her demonic energy had been unstable — it wasn’t really her fault.
Rather than regret, she needed the next move.
“For now, I can’t leave this room.”
Even after consuming the Dark Grass, her demonic energy was only enough to form a blade usable in battle.
Unlike when she killed the Demon King in the past, she didn’t possess overwhelming power; she couldn’t hide herself and fly out through the attic or use tricks like that.
“The only possible method is hiding it somewhere in this room… but they’ll definitely search.”
Her best option was to hide the corpse and make it look like the intruder had fled — as if no attack had happened at all.
But if the intruder suddenly disappeared, the client would surely inspect her room at least once.
At least the demonic energy had absorbed the intruder’s blood.
“This room is too small to bet on not being discovered.”
Just as Eleanor clicked her tongue anxiously—
Knock knock.
A knocking sound.
Eleanor instantly took a combat stance.
No — it wasn’t a knock on the door.
“Can I come in?”
The one knocking the window opened it without waiting for her answer.
Under the moonlight stood a familiar face, blond hair shimmering.
“Lezet Rotger.”
Eleanor spoke his name. Her stabilized demonic energy stirred in response.
“First, I’ll apologize for peeking into a lady’s room.”
His tone was endlessly light. Eleanor kept her guard up, watching him carefully.
What is this man planning?
He had been unreadable even back in the Three-Eyed Golem cave. Eleanor bit her lip.
“What do you want?”
She decided to see whether negotiation was possible.
Unfortunately, the current Eleanor could not defeat Lezet Rotger in a one-on-one fight.
After surviving the hellish days of the Demon Realm, she could roughly gauge an opponent’s level just by facing them.
Lezet Rotger was strong — a true successor of the Rotger family, incomparable to a fraud like Zekiel.
By contrast, Eleanor Hildet was only half-formed, unable even to properly gather the demonic energy that should be her source of power.
If Lezet sensed trouble and attacked her, she would have to abandon all plans and fight desperately to survive.
“My intention?”
But Lezet’s reaction was so carefree it almost looked foolish.
“Nothing like that. I just wanted to talk.”
“The Rotger family teaches you to peek into rooms at night when you want a conversation?”
“Ah, sorry. I thought you wouldn’t talk to me normally, so I tried to make an impact… didn’t expect to see this.”
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
Eleanor still couldn’t read him.
He was right — she had no intention of speaking with him. Her new life existed only to pave the road to the world’s destruction.
But what conversation could possibly happen in this situation?
“How much did you see?”
“By accident… from the beginning?”
“……”
“To explain — I tried to reveal myself immediately. But I sensed a power even I couldn’t easily handle, so I watched. I didn’t expect you to kill that.”
Eleanor looked up at him in shock.
A powerful force? The only thing here was the uncontrolled demonic energy.
He truly was worthy of being the Rotger heir. He realized the clashing energy could have killed him.
“I can’t feel it now, so I thought maybe we could talk. Guess I was wrong.”
“What topic did you want?”
Eleanor asked, trying not to show her anxiety.
Lezet knew far too many unnecessary secrets about her now.
But what he held out was something she never expected.
“I thought you might need this, so I brought some.”
In his hand — Dark Grass.
“…Why give that to me?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“You treasured it in the cave, so I thought you might need more. Judging by your reaction, I guess I was wrong.”
He scratched his head again. This time Eleanor couldn’t hide her confusion.
Of course she wanted more Dark Grass — it strengthened her. But she never imagined Lezet Rotger would bring it to her.
“I asked why you brought it.”
“Well… repayment for saving my life?”
“You said I didn’t.”
“Come on. You scared those things away by pretending to be a golem.”
“You don’t expect me to believe that.”
Eleanor laughed dryly. Lezet could’ve survived the cave without her.
He realized she wouldn’t believe him. His expression stiffened before he forced a smile — clearly fake to both of them.
“What should I say…”
“Just the point.”
“I’m just curious about you.”
He smiled brightly. Eleanor’s expression crumpled.
“What about me?”
“What you showed me.”
She remembered threatening him in the cave and fell silent.
“I thought I’d slowly get closer by giving you a gift… bad timing, I guess.”
“I’d say so.”
She glanced around the room. No one could call this a friendly atmosphere.
Lezet sighed deeply.
“Alright. Looks like I failed, so I’ll leave. Let’s pretend this never happened.”
“Can I trust you?”
“You’re not going to stop me anyway.”
She glared at him. Annoyingly, he was right. Any attempt would cause noise — with a corpse present, she wanted no trouble.
“Don’t worry. I keep my word.”
“……”
“By the way, what are you going to do about that?”
He nodded toward the corpse. Eleanor shrugged.
“Why? Going to help if I tell you?”
“Yeah.”
“Help?”
“I peeked into a lady’s room and my gift failed — I should repay somehow.”
“Haha, unbelievable.”
She laughed hollowly. Lezet stared at her, then muttered:
“I really want to know more.”
Before she could reply, he moved.
He bit his pinky, drew blood, placed it over his heart, and traced a small sigil.
“I swear an oath. Will you believe me then?”
“What?”
Eleanor stared in shock.
An oath — a sacred contract sworn in the name of the Earth God, crushing the heart of whoever breaks it.
Even among the Four Great Houses, only a few elites used it for grave matters.
And he used it like this?
“I, Lezet Rotger, will dispose of that corpse as commanded by Eleanor Hildet. If Eleanor Hildet later judges the disposal flawed, it shall be considered my failure to fulfill the contract. I swear it.”
“…I swear.”
She answered slowly.
A formless force briefly gripped her heart — then vanished. She had no obligation.
The burden fell entirely on Lezet. No loophole.
Seeing her confused expression, he grinned.
“Ready to talk now?”
“…Take the body and make sure no one ever finds it.”
“That’s difficult, but I’ll try.”
“No one can even suspect it.”
“Of course.”
He slung the corpse over his shoulder as if weightless.
“Are you sure? No further investigation needed?”
She nodded.
“Not needed. I already caught the tail.”
“Then I’ll be off.”
As he opened the window to jump out, she quickly asked:
“What are you thinking?”
He smiled as clearly as his eyes.
“I told you — I’m earning points.”
