CHAPTER 152: MANUPALTION [6]

The words slid into her mind like a cold blade.

Most important person... to Alice.

Amelia’s breath caught. For the briefest second, she imagined it — Alice looking at her the way she sometimes looked at Julies, that quiet softness in her eyes. Alice seeking her out first. Alice choosing her over anyone else.

But the image shattered almost as quickly as it formed, replaced by a surge of hot shame.

How dare he.

Her fists clenched so tight her nails dug into her palms. This wasn’t a gift he could offer. Alice’s trust, Alice’s warmth — those weren’t things to be bought or stolen through deals with demons.

"You... think I would accept something like that?" Amelia’s voice trembled, but not with fear. "That I’d let you decide my worth to her?"

Julies tilted his head, and though Amelia couldn’t see his true face, she could feel the smirk in his voice.

"Think about it," he murmured. "You’ve already felt her slipping away from you, haven’t you? Every day I’m near her... she drifts a little further from you."

Her heart gave a painful thud. Not because his words were venom, but because some of them were true — and that truth stung worse than any insult.

Then... sweet, honey-like words slipped into her ears.

"Are you content with just being an ordinary childhood friend? What about becoming her confidant — the one she trusts with her deepest thoughts, beyond all the polite masks of nobility? A bond so close it’s like sisters, whispering secrets at midnight during social gatherings, trading words in a language only the two of you understand?"

"..."

"Why hide behind armor? Imagine a closeness where she shares her worries with you in private, both of you in matching nightgowns, falling asleep after talking until dawn. Doesn’t that sound... appealing?"

Amelia’s throat went dry.

The first thing she felt wasn’t disgust. Not even caution.

It was longing.

"Oh... tempted, are we?" the demon purred.

A faint voice in the background — another demon — muttered something about "dining in the middle of all this," but Amelia barely heard it. Her mind was too busy chasing the picture Julies had painted.

Ami... can you listen to my worries?

Alice’s stern expression softening, her lips parting hesitantly, her voice quiet and vulnerable...

It was such a simple scene. Yet for a noble like Alice, bound by pride and decorum, it was almost an impossible dream.

Amelia’s chest tightened. She could see it so vividly.

"...What am I thinking?!" She shook her head, heat rising in her cheeks.

"It’s a natural reaction," Julies said smoothly. "Status? Honor? Money? Those are only tools to satisfy one’s desires. But for your goal... they’re useless. I can give you something they can’t."

The faceless imposter — the demon — extended his hand toward her.

"Join me. I will fulfill your wish."

Her eyes hardened. "I will never collaborate with the kind who brought ruin to the North."

Julies’s head tilted just a fraction, his faceless mask unreadable.

"...Strange," he murmured, almost to himself. "Most people I speak to — even the proud ones — at least hesitate before refusing."

"I am not ’most people,’" Amelia shot back, her voice steady even as her pulse raced.

A low chuckle slid from him, quiet and mocking. "No... you’re not. That’s exactly why I came to you."

He lowered his hand, but not in defeat — more like a man sheathing a blade he planned to use later.

"I wonder..." His voice softened, curling around her like smoke. "When the moment comes, and you’re standing in the cold, watching someone else take the place you wanted in Alice’s heart... will you still say you’d never join me?"

Amelia’s nails dug into her palms until she felt the sting.

"That will never happen."

"Of course." The smirk in his tone was unbearable. "After all... you’ve been so successful so far, haven’t you?"

Her breath caught in her throat, but before she could fire back, he cut in, his voice dropping lower.

"Don’t be stubborn, Amelia. Join us... unless you’d rather die — or become very close to Alice."

"I won’t join—!"

"—You have strong prejudices against demons," he interrupted again, his voice almost playful. "I swear, I have no interest in conquering the North. Perhaps Lady Velra feels the same?"

The vampire lounging against the wall barely moved, glancing at Amelia only briefly before turning away. There was a flicker of mild annoyance on her face, but nothing more — no hunger, no scheming glint in her eyes.

To Amelia, that look struck harder than any threat. If Velra truly had no ambitions for the North, if this wasn’t about conquest... then was joining them truly treason?

Her mind whispered that it was wrong, screaming it even — yet her hands, her body, her mouth betrayed her.

"You’re sure about this?" Her voice was tight. "Tell me your plan."

Her hand trembled as she reached forward. Julies’s grip closed around hers — warm. Not cold, not clammy, not the inhuman chill she had imagined a demon’s touch would have.

"You’ve made a wise choice," he murmured, his smirk audible.

Their clasped hands shifted slightly, sealing the unspoken pact.

And in that moment, Amelia felt the weight settle on her chest — the knowledge that she had crossed a line she could never uncross.

As their hands parted, Amelia forced her expression into something neutral, unwilling to give him the satisfaction of seeing her unease.

This was temporary.

It had to be.

She told herself that again and again, like a mantra.

She wasn’t trusting him. She wasn’t siding with demons. This was strategy — nothing more.

If joining him kept him away from Alice... if it meant keeping Alice’s trust and closeness for herself, then it was worth the risk.

Besides, if Julies thought for a second that she’d stay bound to this alliance longer than necessary, he was a fool.

Her jaw tightened.

She’d play along, smile if she had to, and when the time came, she’d crush him and tear this pact apart.

But for now... she needed him.

And that truth tasted bitter on her tongue.

And at the same time... Julies who is pretending to be demon couldn’t help but smrik.

’Yeah, I successfully manipulated her. The game of Manipulation is won by me....haha!’