Chapter 367: Panicked Rabbit?
Hearing this, Lillian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. The girl's curiosity was even more piqued now that she said that. What was something she could possibly refer to as a cat?
Watching as the Heroine showed her screen, Lillian leaned in, reading what she assumed to be a chatlog. However, she did try not to look at the upper half of the woman's screen for privacy reasons.
Lillian found the selfie that Millis had taken of both of them. And she was rather surprised at how cute they looked together in miners' gear.
The Rabbit then thought about how well it would look on a certain Assassin. Her cheeks warmed up a little as a silly smirk spread across her lips, 'I'm sure she'll look good in anything...'
Lillian read the message attached to the photo.
[You: Check this out, Red-eyes! Aren't we cute in this photo?!]
The sound of an imaginary window shattering resounded inside Lillian's mind as her eyes almost popped out from reading the message. The girl then shook slightly in subtle fear as she slowly drifted her eyes to the newly received reply.
[Bestie's Red-eyed girl: ... Where is this?]
Lillian creakingly twisted her head towards Millis, finding her smiling at her innocently with a cute expression. The Heroine then felt two hands land on both of her shoulders.
"H-hey—!?"
"WHY!?"
Lillian shook the Heroine vigorously back and forth, causing Millis to go extremely dizzy.
Once the Rabbit finally reached the Heroine, she clutched both sides of her head with a panicked expression—her current expression rivalling that of the one she had when she made contact with the Alpha.
What was she going to do!?
She had intended to tell Marionette about her little excursion once she got back to the hotel. That way, she could clear up the misunderstanding they had during the morning.
But now...
Ding!
Lillian stiffened.
Was that the sound of a message being sent?
The Rabbit slowly twisted her torso back, finding Millis to be texting back to the Assassin with a grin that could only belong to a devilish gremlin.
Mills then raised her eyes back to Lillian and gestured for her to get going, "Ya better get going~... I may not be able to see her, but I'm sure she's hella pissed, girl~."
Lillian shuddered as she spun on her heel. After bidding the Heroine farewell with a strained voice, she dashed towards the direction of her hotel.
Millis snickered as she watched Lillian dash off. She chucked her phone into the air, catching it before throwing it up again and repeating it.
The Heroine then muttered:
"That'll teach her for draggin' meh so harshly everywhere."
Millis took a glance at her screen, waiting for the Assassin to respond.
***
Inside a dimly-lit training hall constructed from high-quality, grey stone bricks and supported by several stone pillars, Marionette stood at the centre and under an opening in the ceiling that allowed "moonlight" to bleed through.
She wore a sleek and dark attire with long sleeves. It was accented with a bold red along the seams and fastening of the outfits. And wrapped around her waist was a vibrant red sash that hung loosely to the side. Lastly, she had a striking red rose attached to the right side of her chest.
At the spot she stood was surrounded by an encirclement of shattered remains of wooden puppets—used and ripped apart in the name of training.
Each wooden puppet was etched with detailed features. If it wasn't for their texture and colour, they would most definitely pass off as humans.
However, Marionette's attention wasn't spared for these impressive designs; instead, she was staring at the screen of her phone with a dead expression.
Stepping out from the darkness beside her, a familiar person revealed themselves.
He had slicked-back black hair and purple eyes that shone a hint of both playfulness and amusement for the woman he was approaching, and sleek black attire similar to Marionette's, except less feminine.
If Lillian were here, she would recognise him as Nicholas Montana, a professor from Louis Mana Academy, but also secretly a member of the Roselle Family.
He was also a key player in bringing back up the device that connected with the portals to allow guests of the tournament to exit, and the Crimson Crusaders' entry.
"My~, my~! Splendid work as always, my lady." He stepped over the puppet's remains with his arms folded behind his back, "Your father had been worried that your ability to defend yourself had diminished with your time at the academy. I'm glad to say his worries were for nothing."
Each puppet had the strength capable of taking down a Feral Maw, which would be comparable to a Savage Gnarl. And if Nicholas had counted right, Marionette had taken down at least a hundred.
Once Nicholas reached the Roselle Heiress, he watched as the lady transported her phone back to her spatial storage before turning to him with a dark expression.
"Apologies in advance, Nicholas."
Nicholas tilted his head, confusion flashing through his purple eyes as he muttered:
"... Pardon—?"
Marionette's right arm blurred forward, grappling onto Nicholas's left arm and shattering the bone within. She then swung him around in a half circle and slammed him into the ground several times before throwing him across the room.
Nicholas's bloodied and limp body shot across the room, eventually crashing into the centre of a stone pillar—
THUD—CRACK!
—And breaking apart in half, causing a splatter of blood and gore to paint the pillar.
The sight of his remains falling to the ground reflected in Marionette's glowing blood-red eyes as she breathed deeply. The Heiress then straightened her back and hair.
Marionette then swept her gaze across the room, settling her eyes on a "very-much-alive" Nicholas, who was without any damage or visible blood stains from her brutality.
However, there was an odd, wry smile plastered across Nicholas's lips.
"Has something upset you, my lady? The personality seemed to have shifted slightly after you took out your phone."
"..." Marionette stared silently at Nicholas, processing his concerned question before responding with a blank expression:
"... I'm fine."
With a spin on her heel, Marionette walked towards the exit while taking off her black latex gloves. The Heiress then summoned something from her spatial ring and hugged it tightly with her right arm.
It was an adorably large white-stuffed rabbit that wore a white hoodie.
Marionette then pushed open a singular door of a double door to exit under the scrutiny of Nicholas, who couldn't help but narrow his eyes on the stuffed rabbit.
"When did she have that?"