Lackey's Seducing Survival Odyssey

A few minutes ago,

"Mom, you need to do something… he isn't someone to steal. Please, do something, Mom. Don't just stand there and ignore it!"

Lia begged her mother as they walked down the long corridor, her voice trembling with desperation.

After Aether got arrested, Lia had somehow caught wind of the news, and ever since, she had been clinging to the thought of him, begging before her mother, who didn't even glance at her… as if Lia didn't exist in her eyes anymore.

Mary had been ignoring her daughter's pleas. After all, this situation was not some petty trouble—it was a grave one… stealing Grenthollow and then burning down the entire sacred place?

That wasn't just foolish—it was unforgivable.

Even if there were no written laws in their Empire, going against The Grace was like raising a blade against the will of the gods themselves.

It was something that every single soul, every man, woman, and child would brand as a traitor… and their wrath was never merciful.

Not only that, but the act of stealing something that belonged to the Empire's very core... The thread that tied its Natural Order together was beyond reckless.

Honestly, Mary didn't have any other choices left to her, other than facing Aether with her own hands.

Yes, he had saved this Empire before, but that didn't give him the right to trample upon the very foundation he had once protected. Saving them didn't grant him ownership.

"MOM!!"

Lia's voice cracked like glass as she shouted, forcing Mary to snap out of her storm of thoughts. She turned sharply to her daughter, her crimson gaze hardening as she saw those teary eyes staring at her with desperation.

Mary sighed slowly before she bent ever so slightly toward her daughter.

"You are making it hard for me, dear… harder than you realise."

That damned bastard… he had wormed his way into her daughter's heart, poisoning it with affection, and now Lia suffered because of the very actions that bastard had chosen.

"B-But Mom… I thought you didn't hate him anymore?"

"…Of course, I don't hate him. But this isn't so simple…" Mary's voice trailed into a tired sigh.

"You wouldn't understand this, dear. The Soulwardens are moving now. Their hands are deep in this matter.

This isn't just mine to decide anymore. It's no longer about breaking a law…" Her voice hardened, "…he just broke what we are made of. He tore apart the very oath of our existence."

"Please, Mom… please," Lia begged again, her voice breaking as her hands clenched tightly into fists.

Mary shook her head, "I… sigh… I tried to do what I could…"

"Will you?"

"Yes."

Mary finally nodded.

Her daughter rushed into her arms, hugging her tightly with trembling shoulders, burying her fragile heart against Mary.

Lia wanted more than anything to give Aether a piece of her mind, to confront him with her own fury, but she wasn't even allowed near the place he was kept.

Mary smiled faintly before shaking her head. "Why don't you rest in your room, dear?"

"B-But—"

"Shush… you had better take some rest. Look at your face. Do you want your beloved to see you like this? So weak, so messy?" Her hand slipped through her daughter's hair, ruffling it gently, while her piercing eyes studied Lia's tear-streaked cheeks.

Lia's face flushed softly, her lips trembling, before she nodded weakly. She turned and walked away, but her steps were reluctant, her head twisting back again and again to catch glimpses of her mother's fading figure.

Mary's expression shifted the moment her daughter's image blurred into the distance. Alone, she stepped deeper into the corridor, her footsteps echoing with a chilling weight.

And there, at the end of the dim corridor, she saw them.

A headless man and a headless woman...

The Soulwardens!

"Open the prison… I'd like to have a talk with that little thief~" Mary's voice slithered out, laced with a cruel amusement.

It wasn't as if she needed their permission anyway. These two were nothing more than enforcers working under Grace's shadow.

As everyone knew, Grace and Mary were far from friends. Because this incident touched Grenthollow, Grace's dogs were circling.

The headless man's flames flickered before he finally turned. Without a word, the prison door creaked and split open.

Thud!

Mary stepped into the chamber that held Aether inside.

It was a cold, suffocating cavern of stone, jagged and uneven, as if the walls themselves were carved out of a tomb. Broken fragments of rock lay scattered, crunching beneath her heels with every step.

A place dug into the ground to swallow those foolish enough to cross both the Empire and Grace.

"Fu~Fu~ Aether~"

As soon as her shadow appeared, Aether flinched. He straightened from the ground and turned, his lips curling into a smile.

"Hello, Mary~"

Hearing that, Mary chuckled,

"Here I thought you would be crying and begging… pathetic and pitiful. But no… You greet me with that smug tone? So sad, man… so sad." She shook her head slowly, her crimson eyes glinting in the dim light.

Disappointment danced across her face... she had expected a scene, some pathetic grovelling, some desperate act... And yet here he was, calm.

Aether raised his eyebrows. "What makes you think that? If anything… I would prefer to hear you cry." His steps carried him forward until he stood at the bars separating them, his gaze burning straight into her.

Mary mirrored him... They stared without a word, locked in silence, for what felt like an eternity.

Finally, Mary broke the contact. She circled him like a predator, her voice slipping out low, steady, dangerous.

"I don't know why you did it. Not that I care… but stealing Grenthollow? You've drawn the wrath of the entire Void Empire upon yourself. Do you even understand what that means?" Her figure blurred with the faint glow surrounding her.

Aether frowned, "Of course I know… You can use this against me. Twist it and... You can get rid of me forever?"

Mary raised her eyebrows, a slow, wicked smirk tugging at her lips. "Not bad… not bad at all." She nodded several times, as though applauding his answer.

"That's exactly what I would have done, Aether… if not for my daughter." Her hands clenched into fists, as her crimson eyes flared with a dangerous glow beneath the haze.

Aether tilted his head. Her killing intent says otherwise....

He smiled faintly, "You know… I always wondered why you hate me so much, Mary. Was it really just because of your daughter?"

"Of course. What else would it be? I hate you to my very core, bastard! Just touching my daughter, staining her, tainting her innocence with your filth… you of all people! It disgusts me to even think of it!" Her lips twisted as she spat the words.

Aether raised his eyebrows slowly, "Me of all people, you say?… Then is it fine for Kai?"

Mary flinched as if stabbed, "Fuck that son of a bitch, no! I am not giving my daughter to any other bitch!" She clicked her tongue in disgust.

Then her voice lowered, "Anyway… tell me. Where is Grenthollow? Hand it over, and I'll let you off the hook. Just this once." She leaned into the bars, her face inches away.

Aether blinked, surprised!

She wouldn't kill him?

That's not what you expect from a woman who just threw him into the Samsara and almost destroyed her own empire!

"Oh? Really? You won't kill me? Not even now, when the chance is laid bare before you?

You could end my life here and now, save your wonderful daughter from these evil clutches of mine~"

Mary clenched her fist. She wanted to punch his fucking ass face, but... She shook her head reluctantly,

"As much as I would love to end your miserable existence… there's something more important than your pathetic life! Now hand it over to me, otherwise…" Her crimson eyes glowed,

"…I won't hesitate to hunt down your beloved wife!"

Aether raised his eyebrows, then stepped back. For a second, his face was unreadable, but then his lips split into madness.

"Hahaha… Hahahahahahah!!"

His laughter echoed off the stone walls, wild, manic.

Mary's expression darkened.

"What's so funny? Do you think I wouldn't dare? Do you think I wouldn't take Nyx's head, cut her throat, and watch her lifeless body fall at your feet? Just because I groomed that child?"

But Aether only laughed harder, as if her fury was fuel to his fire. His laughter spiralled louder before collapsing into silence. Slowly, he steadied his breath, his smile thinning into a predator's smirk as his eyes began to glow with dangerous light.

"Oh, please~" His voice dripped with sly

"We all know the truth, Mary.

You wouldn't hesitate to kill me if it truly suited you. If the moment gave you even the smallest chance to rid yourself of me, you would slit my throat without a thought.

You don't care about your empire's rules, or its people, or any of that self-righteous filth you pretend to stand for…" His tone slowed,

"Isn't that right?"

His grin widened, sly and cruel, as he leaned into the bars, staring deep into her blurred outline.

"…Morgana?"