Chapter 105: You Belong to Me
“Urgh... blugh...”
The pale-faced alchemist vomited up tomato ketchup and collapsed on the floor beside the bed. Because she had struggled earlier, she was now completely covered in the red sauce. Tomato ketchup smeared on her wrists from earlier was now spreading out like “blood.”
She moved her fingers, as if trying to write the name of her killer. With a trembling hand, she tapped the floor a few times, and because the room had a slight downward slope, the ketchup at her fingertip even flowed out slowly in the direction she was pointing.
‘...Stop! My weak body can't take this! I need to escape this tomato hell!’
Her thoughts were blurry, but the alchemist tried to wiggle away and crawl out. But she had barely moved a few steps when Evelia grabbed her ankle and dragged her back without mercy.
“You’re not allowed to leave yet.”
As soon as she heard this, the alchemist felt like a lamb thrown into a tiger’s mouth, this was the end of her.
The alchemist felt like a helpless little lamb about to be toyed with and slowly killed by a demon.
Yes, she must be a demon!
She desperately wanted to grab onto anything to save herself, to stop Evelia from dragging her back. But all she could reach was the floor covered in ketchup. She kept slapping the ground in panic, leaving red handprints everywhere. At a glance, it truly looked like a bloody murder scene caused by some terrifying killer.
She couldn’t hold onto anything and could only watch in despair as Evelia pulled her back. The escape she had fought so hard for was gone in an instant.
Evelia pulled her back to her side. As she was dragged, a red trail was left on the floor. Evelia frowned, not because the girl was hurt, but because her beloved ketchup had been wasted, and her clean floor had been made a complete mess.
Even Armand would feel nervous seeing Evelia’s cold, unhappy face when she frowned like this. As for the poor alchemist, she felt a freezing chill rush through her from head to toe. Being held upside down by one leg, she couldn’t help but shiver, goosebumps rising all over her skin.
“You made a mess… here.”
Evelia’s cold voice hit the alchemist’s head like icy knives. Each word was sharp and scary.
Just a moment ago, the alchemist had thought about revealing Evelia’s secret, since she knew Evelia’s true identity, she could threaten her by saying something like.
‘You don’t want others to know you’re the Red Crow, a man turned into a woman with an alchemist’s body, right? And if your mission fails because of this, your master will definitely punish you heavily!’
But halfway through this plan in her mind, she suddenly remembered something. Not Evelia panicking, but the memory of Evelia twisting off her head without a second thought.
‘If I say that, she’ll probably just kill me again, won’t she?’
The alchemist now fully understood how big the gap in strength between her and Evelia was.
This child’s body she was using was just a regular little girl’s body. She had no special powers. In fact, she was so small and weak that she couldn’t even properly reach Evelia’s face with her little fists. Struggling against Evelia? Or threatening her into compromise? No chance.
Back when she had her adult body, Evelia had taken her head off so easily. With this small child’s body, Evelia could probably smash her skull with one slap, easier than cracking a melon.
“Uwah—”
Though hanging upside down was already uncomfortable, being suddenly flipped head-over-heels again made her stomach even more nauseous, almost causing her to throw up a second time. But to avoid making this “King of Hell” even more angry, she forced herself to hold it in.
Evelia shook off the tomato ketchup that was stuck on the girl’s body, turned her upside down and then back upright, and placed her on the desk instead of the bed. Probably because she didn’t want the still-wet ketchup to get on the sheets.
“What’s your name?”
“......”
The sudden question left the alchemist unsure how to answer.
What’s my name? Was she asking for my real name?
Is this a trick? Does she really not know who I am?
While the alchemist was silently watching Evelia and thinking about what to do, Evelia pulled out some tissues and began wiping the ketchup off her face. Her hand wasn’t exactly gentle, but compared to earlier, she was being a lot nicer.
“Don’t you have a name?” Evelia asked as she crumpled the ketchup-stained tissue and tossed it perfectly into the trash can.
“...I do,” the alchemist replied, swallowing nervously.
Of course, she couldn’t say her real name. Especially since, thanks to many alchemy experiments, she had changed bodies and identities so many times that she honestly didn’t even remember her original name anymore.
To her, names didn’t really matter much anymore.
“—Rachel. My name is Rachel.”
So, just like before, she randomly made up a name. It had no last name and just came out of her mouth without much thought. Maybe it was the name of a side character from some novel she once read, or just something she heard someone yell in the streets long ago.
“Rachel...”
Evelia repeated the name quietly, as if to remember it.
“Alright.”
She nodded and looked at the girl in front of her, who had just introduced herself as Rachel.
Being stared at with such a blank face made the alchemist feel extremely nervous. She couldn’t tell if Evelia was in a good or bad mood. It was like trying to cross a river in the dark, you could only find out what happens next once she actually speaks.
Anyway, she was pretty sure Evelia didn’t recognize her as the alchemist. As long as she wasn’t found out, there was still hope.
“From today on, you belong to me.”
“B-Belong to... you?”
Hearing those words made the alchemist’s heart drop.
She had done plenty of shady jobs for the ‘House of Nightingales’ before, and that phrase, “you belong to me”, reminded her of when the Second Queen used to run the place and would “claim” a new toy. The fate of those "toys" was easy to guess. The useful ones got kept, the useless ones, or the ones she got bored of, were thrown away.
“From now on, you’ll be my practice tool.”
Practice tool?!
Evelia’s words made the alchemist even more terrified.
What does she mean by practice tool?! What is she going to practice?!
This body is just a little girl’s body, what could she possibly want to do with it?!
Could it be some kind of weird... perverted thing...? That’s illegal!!
Meanwhile, Evelia didn’t seem to notice how the alchemist’s expression was getting more and more horrified. She was just mumbling to herself.
“Should this kid take my last name or Mr. Armand’s...?”