When the plot-skips players into the game world

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Watching Aiwass turn solemn all of a sudden, Emma simply brought her hands together apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"...No, it is my own deficiency."

Aiwass stayed silent for a while, lightly shaking his head, and it took him a good while to force out a sentence.

This crow... is somewhat unusual. Experience more content on My Virtual Library Empire

Scarlett Emma thought to herself.

Just as it seemed Aiwass was going to agree to stay here with her tonight following her words... the plan was ruined by a crow. This surprised her greatly.

Even without using her extraordinary abilities... her natural charm should have worked on wildlife as well.

Yet, she could clearly sense that the crow bore some kind of hostility towards her—Emma tried to smile at the crow with a gentle and harmless smile, but the subtle hostility only seemed to grow stronger.

...This feeling was akin to the intense jealousy of a child.

Emma found this situation somewhat familiar.

She rarely used her extraordinary skill to control minds, as her natural beauty and charm were enough to easily twist others' minds.

Emma especially enjoyed stealing others' lovers—regardless of whether they were men or women. She saw it as a kind of beastly hunt, an aggressive form of transcendence.

Without deliberately using her charm abilities, as long as the hatred and anger towards her were strong enough, one could break free with their own will.

Those little boys and little girls often had such intense reactions when their lovers, parents, idols, or secret crushes were taken by her—they didn't know how to react or how to take back the ones they cherished, so they could only glare fiercely with their eyes.

Such reactions were just too adorable.

Like how a touch of saltiness or bitterness can bring out the presence of sweetness even more. It is only when one is hated or disliked that the sweetness of love from others seems even more precious.

Only... this shouldn't be happening.

She examined the crow intently, and aside from finding it quite beautiful, she couldn't find anything unusual after a long while.

Being able to resist her Charm of Radiance, it must be some kind of transcendent creature.

This could also explain why it looked so much more beautiful than a normal crow...

Emma could only be certain that the crow was definitely not a transcendent being of the Path of Love or the Path of Transcendence.

—For she didn't sense the power of these two paths in it.

And for it to have the same or higher energy level as hers, even more unlikely. Such a powerful transcendent being couldn't possibly behave as tamely as a pet following Aiwass.

For this reason, Emma grew more curious about the crow's owner, Aiwass.

"If I were you, I would immediately cease coveting Aiwass," came an unexpected, chilly warning from the crow.

Emma had quite the experience in judging people—she could tell at once that it was a cultivated voice.

Thus, she immediately ruled out the possibility of the crow being a transcendent creature, and asked with interest, "Are you someone's eyes? Could it be... Her Majesty the Queen?"

If the crow didn't have a consciousness of its own and was merely a medium for someone else to monitor Aiwass, then its resistance to her charm could be explained.

The core element of Emma's charm abilities was linked to her scent.

If one had not been in close contact with her, and had only seen her through newspapers, photographs, or other visual means, at most, they would only find her to be very beautiful.

And the person who met this condition...

At this thought, Emma immediately thought of the new Queen Isabel with her "tough attitude."

She was a transcendent of the Path of Beauty. And she happened to be away from Glass Island.

So, could there be a possibility... that this crow was a work of her crafting?

That would explain why it looked so beautiful. Because its form was false, a fabrication.

Thinking this, Emma was keenly interested in touching the crow. The crow, with ruby-like clear pupils, just stared at her, still and silent, with indifference.

But at that moment, Aiwass suddenly extended his hand instinctively, and firmly pressed down on Emma's hand.

This clear indication of rejection surprised Emma for a moment.

Within her sphere of influence, others should be as compliant with her requests as possible, caring for her safety and needs.

Had Aiwass broken free already?

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"...It's still better not to compare like this."

Aiwass had an obvious struggle on his face, but he still ultimately warned, "For the sake of your safety."

"Well... thank you then."

Emma let out a light laugh and reached back to grasp the hand Aiwass had on her arm.

Like holding a hot water bottle, she covered his palm with both her hands, whispering softly, "Your hands are very warm..."

She completely ignored the crow's warning.

It's more accurate to say that it was precisely the crow's warning that sparked Emma's true interest.

She enjoyed the feeling of snatching something from others. Not to mention, it was something the noble Queen favored.

"...It's fine."

Usually very talkative, Aiwass had now become reticent.

He simply replied curtly and closed his mouth.

Emma could see at a glance that his rationality had perceived something amiss and was trying hard to focus his spirit to resist her interference.

—But how could such things possibly stop her?

She hadn't even really made a move to cast a spell to control Aiwass, so this couldn't be considered an attack. This was completely a part of Aiwass's own heart leaning towards her... it was his own body fighting against itself. This intense psychological conflict caused Aiwass's body temperature to rise, his cheeks to turn abnormally red, and his breathing to gradually become rapid.

"Do you know, Aiwass?"

Emma smoothly replaced the title "Minister Moriarty" with Aiwass, "I came to Avalon for the long-standing peace between our two nations."

"...Yes, I know."

"Star Antimony and Avalon are not enemies... they never have been."

She murmured softly, pulling Aiwass's hand and stepping towards the inside of the house.

Aiwass's footsteps at the door were somewhat unsteady, almost as if she gently supported him there.

The crow glared at her, several times wanting to launch an attack. But each time it was stopped by a wave of Aiwass's hand.

Feeling the intense surge of astonishing murderous intent, disgust, and hatred beside her, Emma's smile grew even more radiant.

—You might really hate me. But as the queen of Avalon, can you really lay a hand on me before I truly infringe on Avalon's interests?

That might drag the whole of Avalon into the mire.

If it were Aiwass, perhaps he might be able to make such a decisive decision—he indeed is a very outstanding young man. Outstanding enough to move Emma's heart.

But Isabel is not like that.

Although she also received relevant intelligence that Isabel's previous behavior was nothing but a disguise, Emma believed that even if it was a disguise, it sufficed to confirm that Isabel tended towards decisions of "doing nothing rash" and "bearing a heavy burden in silence."

—What can you do even if you hate me? Don't you still have to bear with it?

If she really did move against Aiwass, it might even firm up Isabel's resolve.

But she really hadn't done anything, had she?

And this feeling made Emma even more pleased.

She held Aiwass's hand, naturally bringing it to her chest, cushioning it under her breasts. The Countess Emma smiled charmingly, saying gently, "You know as well, Aiwass... Star Antimony harbors no hostility towards Avalon. A long, long time ago, we were one family.

"The founders of Avalon were knights who had come from the Helasal Empire. You were Pioneer Knights who conquered new lands and punished the Giants that slaughtered humans.... The Empire is proud of you.

"And we Star Antimony are merely one faction of the Empire. Now the Empire is only missing one final piece to be completely restored. Once the Empire rises anew, Avalon will become our strong ally—we will surely conquer the broader and richer lands to the east and south.

"In the past, Star Antimony's desire to move against Avalon was solely because Avalon was situated on an important trade route—due to Avalon's exclusion of foreign races, the ships of the Goblin Commerce Association had to take detours. This raised costs. Plus, Avalon imposed high tariffs on many of Star Antimony's advanced products... We had no choice but to defensively increase the tariffs on Avalon's raw products."

Emma whispered softly, while Aiwass said nothing.

Feeling her body so close, continuously breathing in her fragrance, perhaps Aiwass's mind had already turned into mush. Emma thought.

But that's alright, she wasn't really talking to Aiwass.

She was speaking to the bird perched on Aiwass's shoulder—

In this room that seemingly held only a man and a woman together, there were actually three people!

She thought, feeling smug.