Almost killed by his own “daughter”!

Due to some inexplicable protagonist luck, Jiaye had accidentally discovered a secret passage aboard the Hodir.
She wandered through it blindly—until she reached the very end.
And there she was—inside the empress’s private chamber!

Any normal person would’ve turned around and run for their life.
Breaking into the empress’s quarters? That was an instant death sentence—no trial, no appeal.

But who was Jiaye?
The main character!
The bold survive. The cautious starve.

In a daze, she rummaged through the room—eventually finding a treasure chest in the empress’s cabinet.
She opened it.

Holy—legendary gold-tier loot!

So of course, Black knew exactly how to get that dragonbone.

But if he took it, Jiaye would lose her chance to forge her first six-star weapon—the highest tier of gear in the game.

Ah, well.
She’s the protagonist. I believe she can still kill Jörmungandr without it.

With that, Black made his decision—firm and final.

“Miss Jiaye… Miss Jiaye!”

The two Dragoncleaver Guards escorting Black suddenly spoke, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Black looked up—and nearly cursed aloud.
Speak of the devil, and she appears!

Jiaye was stumbling toward them, swaying like she was drunk.

Dazed and unfocused, she ignored the guards’ warning and stepped straight toward Black.

One guard moved to support her—when suddenly, Jiaye collapsed onto Black!

“Thud!”

Black didn’t have time to react.
He was pinned to the ground, their bodies pressed together in an awkwardly intimate tangle.

A delicate fragrance—white orchid—drifted into his nose.

Before he could speak, Jiaye leaned close to his ear, whispering:

“Who are you?”

Black froze.
He hadn’t expected Jiaye to move this fast.

But of course. She was cunning, decisive—exactly the kind of person who could rise to slay the dragon king.

“You don’t need to know who I am. You just need to know I’m on your side… little orchid.”

Black whispered back, calm despite the situation.

But this answer only made Jiaye more uneasy—more threatened.

A control freak like her hated losing control.

So she struck.

In a flash, Black saw the killing intent in her eyes—then twisted his body sharply to the right!

Clang!

A tiny metallic sound—a knife hitting the floor.

The guards didn’t notice.

Jiaye missed.
She knew another attack would expose her—so she quickly stood up.

With a soft, innocent smile—pure as a blooming orchid—she said, “Sorry… I had too much to drink.”

She bowed slightly to the guards and hurried away.

From start to finish, she played the role of a drunken, clueless beauty—completely fooling the Dragoncleaver Guards.

“Man, Miss Jiaye is amazing—so gentle, so beautiful. If I could marry her, I’d trade twenty years of my life!”

“Pfft. Dream on. She’s a count’s daughter, top-tier talent. You really think she’d look at you?”

The guards chuckled, oblivious to Black—now pale, drenched in cold sweat.

Facing Jiaye directly? Terrifying!

If he hadn’t played the game, known she always aimed for the heart, and dodged just in time—he’d be dead.

His emotions were a mess.

Back when he played, he’d treated Jiaye like a daughter—even bought her fancy skins with real money.

And now?
She almost killed him.

Thinking of that sweet, kitten-like girl curled in his arms—then striking with such ruthless precision—sent chills down his spine.

Next time I see her, I’d better be extra careful.

After that, the guards escorted Black to the Wilton.

“This is your room. Get in.”

They opened a cell door at the end of the hall and gestured inside.

Sigh.
Black groaned. Now he’d officially done time.

But the moment he stepped in—his face froze.

This was a double cell.
And already occupying one of the beds—was Loyre!

Oh no.

Black felt a wave of dread.

Loyre already hated him.
And now he’d surrendered to the empress?
She was probably already planning a hundred ways to make him suffer.

“Guard, I need a room change! Men and women shouldn’t share space!”

“Only one double cell left. Take it or leave it. Otherwise, go sleep in the dog kennel.”

“…”

Black had no choice. He entered, utterly humiliated.

As expected, the moment he stepped in, Loyre’s eyes locked onto him—cold, sharp, unblinking.

Forcing a nervous grin, Black greeted her:
“Ahaha… the moonlight’s so beautiful tonight!”

“It’s noon.”

Loyre’s voice was icy.

“Ahaha… my bad! I meant—the sunlight is so beautiful!”

But Loyre had no patience for his nonsense. She cut straight to the chase:

“Who are you?”

Huh…
This again?

“Whaaat? Sister-in-arms, you don’t remember me? I’m the boy from the fishing village—destined to become the Pirate King!”

He grinned, playing the fool.

Loyre didn’t respond.
Instead, her expression grew colder—so cold the room seemed to freeze.

“Fine. Truth is… I’m just an ordinary guy.”

Black shrugged, giving up.

“Someone who knows where Jörmungandr is? Impossible to be ordinary.”

Her gaze never wavered, pressing harder.

“And how do you know my real name? Why did you say my father wasn’t killed by the royal family? What do you know?”

F**.*
Black knew this was coming.

But he didn’t actually know—he’d only seen it through the Omniscient Glasses.

He couldn’t exactly say: Ask the glasses, they told me.

“Ahem. Don’t ask. The truth will come when the time is right.”

Black chose to be mysterious—spouting nothing but vague, useless words.

“Anyway, I’m going to sleep. And I’m warning you—if you want answers, don’t attack me while I’m sleeping!”

Then he flopped onto the bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and started snoring loudly.

Seeing this, Loyre could only grit her teeth in frustration—completely powerless.

But what Black didn’t know was this:
Once he was truly asleep, Loyre pulled out several mysterious spell scrolls—one by one, she tore them open.

The instant each scroll was torn, it transformed into a spell array—and fused into her body.

“No matter the truth… the imperial family will pay for their sins. I won’t let this chance slip away.”

No one knew what she was planning.
Only that her eyes burned with rising murderous intent.