“W-Who are you?” Bella asked nervously, her voice shaking.

Before she could react, the man suddenly grabbed her. He pushed a cloth over her nose and mouth. A strange sweet smell filled her head.

Everything around her started spinning.

Within seconds, Bella collapsed onto the cold ground.

“Hah! Catching this little rat was too easy,” the man said with a sneer.

He lifted Bella’s unconscious body onto his shoulder and disappeared into the darkness.

Someone… please help me. Leo…

Inside her fading mind, Bella desperately cried for help. But her body would not move, and darkness swallowed her completely.

*****

In a lonely corner of the city, Leon was kneeling on the ground while clutching his head tightly.

—Kill them. Follow my orders. Kill the Emperor!—

“Stop… stop… STOP!” Leon screamed loudly. “Please stop! I’ll do whatever you want!”

Finally, the terrible voice disappeared.

Leon collapsed forward, breathing heavily in relief.

That voice always torments me, he thought while wiping sweat from his forehead. But today it was much worse. Why?

Then Bella’s smiling face suddenly appeared in his mind.

Leon quickly stood up.

“That girl… where is she?”

A strange feeling of panic filled his chest.

He ran back as fast as possible to the place where he left Bella.

But when he arrived, the street was empty.

“Where are you?!” Leon shouted while looking around wildly. “Hey! Stop hiding! I’m not playing games!”

Only silence answered him.

Then Bella’s final words echoed in his head.

‘It’s time for us to go our separate ways.'

“So… she really left,” Leon muttered bitterly. A hollow laugh escaped his lips. “Ha… I’m so stupid. She’s just like everyone else.”

‘Friends stay together no matter what.'

“Liar,” Leon whispered coldly. “She’s a liar. I really thought… I finally had a friend.”

Dark black mana slowly started leaking from his body like smoke.

The bright light disappeared from his blue eyes, leaving only a cold and empty gaze.

—Destroy the Ambar Empire. Those people hate you. Nobody wants you there. Take whatever you want, even if you destroy everything.—

This time, Leon did not resist the voice.

He slowly nodded.

“Yes… I will.”

*****

The Dawson Estates Dungeon

The air smelled damp and rotten.

Bella slowly opened her eyes. Her body still felt weak from the smell.

As she looked around, fear filled her heart.

“How… how did I end up back here?”

She was inside the Dawson mansion.

More specifically, she was inside the dark punishment cell where servants were locked up and abused.

Memories of the terrible things that happened there made Bella panic. Tears rolled down her pale cheeks.

Click.

The heavy iron door opened.

“You little brat. Did you really think you could escape?”

The Head of the Dawson family stepped inside.

His eyes were full of cruelty.

He walked straight toward Bella and suddenly slapped her hard across the face.

“Ah!” Bella cried as she fell onto the floor. Blood appeared on her cheek immediately.

The man grabbed her messy hair and painfully pulled her head back.

“Starting today, you won’t get any food or water for a whole week,” he hissed angrily. “You need to learn what happens when dogs run away from their master. I gave you food and a place to live, yet you betrayed me?”

He threw her back onto the floor like garbage.

“Where else in this empire would you find a kind master like me?”

“Yes, exactly! Master is far too kind hearted,” another voice said quickly.

It was the head maid.

She stepped forward with a nasty smile, trying to please her master.

“You don’t need to worry, Master,” she said happily. “Leave her to me. I’ll make sure she learns her lesson properly this time.”

Bella held her bleeding cheek while staring at the maid through teary eyes.

This woman…

Bella’s hands shook with fear and anger.

Out of everyone in this horrible house, she was the one who made my life the worst.