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"That fucking piece of shit! How dare he do this to me?!"

No matter how his secretaries tried to calm him down, Alexander's father only continued to get more and more furious as he smashed things around his office.

He had still been a little uncertain about Amos Black being the one behind his son's murder before, but with the boy's blatant disregard in place, there was no denying that he was more than likely to really be the culprit.

Now, not only was his son dead, but even his precious wife was in a coma!

Kicking down another antique cabinet and scattering its precious contents across the marbled floor, Alexander's father couldn't help but curse. "Even if it ends up costing me everything in the end, I won't let you go!"

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Even if it succeeded in convincing some, the attitude of the Black Tiger Corporation obviously pissed off more than a few people. But there was one person in particular who couldn't be any more delighted if she tried.

Having decided to stay back in the country of Phoenix until the matter of Alexander's death was dealt with, Emilia was naturally free from many of her duties as she lounged on the luxurious sofa of the prime minister's residence leisurely.

As for why she was here, well… Bellatrix invited her for lunch with all her friends, and made the 'mistake' of offering to let them all stay over when the crimson-haired beauty complimented the interior and decor.

Whether she was exasperated or delighted by Emilia's shamelessness to really stick around, however, wasn't very clear.

Seeing the bright smile on her partner's face, Cynthia couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Amos is really quite reliable when it comes to assisting you, isn't he? Doesn't it make you feel like we're always punching cotton?"

The crimson-haired girl smiled. 'Isn't it all good for us? With there already being so many uncertain factors, his predictability makes things so much easier.'

Cynthia groaned in exasperation. "With your posture and attitude, are you really going to claim that you've been working hard the past few days?"

Emilia giggled playfully. 'Oh, darling, don't be like that! Justine and Noelle have been working overtime for me, haven't they? Plus, isn't it more suitable for a villainess to plot behind the scenes than to work hard herself?'

Although she didn't want to admit it, Cynthia couldn't help but take a pause as she contemplated her partner's words. 'Well… right now she really does look like an evil Queen, doesn't she?'

Unfortunately, her musings were interrupted by Crystal leaning in to whisper something to Emilia, who just smiled mysteriously.  "I suppose it's time, then."

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With the investigation of Alexander's death going full force and everyone's eyes on Phoenix, Bellatrix naturally couldn't make much time to talk to Emilia even if she tried.

After all, even if he had left the Golden Crown safely, the fact that someone died within a day of leaving the event made more than a few 'honored guests' squeamish and uncomfortable.

What made things much worse was the fact that the investigation team also required her permission and assistance to talk to many of the 'suspects' with higher status.

Naturally, the suspicion on these people was much lower than that on Amos, but he was far from the only one who refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Fortunately, most of them were still willing to reluctantly cooperate after being convinced by the prime minister, though some still couldn't help but grumble and groan throughout the process.

By the time Bellatrix returned to her residence, she would naturally be far too exhausted to entertain the 'freeloaders' she had ended up 'taking in' inadvertently.

Today as well, Bella was so tired that she didn't even bother to check if her guests were awake, and directly headed to bed after changing into her night clothes and brushing her teeth.

Anyway, at two in the 'morning', which young girl who cared about her beauty sleep would possibly be found awake?

Bellatrix couldn't help but sigh. "With how pretty and gorgeous she looks, Emilia probably goes to bed at ten at most, right?"

Although she was supposed to be alone in her room, Bellatrix alarmingly heard a soft giggle followed by a remarkably familiar, sweet playful voice. "I'm happy that you think like that about me, but really, that's not true!"

Had it not been for being so exhausted by her day, maybe Bellatrix would have jumped so hard that her head would have smashed directly into the roof. "E-Emilia?!"

It was only a few moments later that she realized that the girl indeed wasn't in her room, but on the other side of the closed door.

There was another giggle, though this one was more apologetic than playful. "Sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop, I was just about to knock… Can I come in?"

Still stuck in a somewhat shocked state, Bellatrix could only nod unconsciously. "S-Sure, it's not locked."

The crimson-haired beauty turned the handle and sneaked past the half-opened door before shutting it close in one smooth motion, and then faced her with a smile that was both shy and mischievous. "Hi~"

Feeling a little nervous at allowing someone other than her childhood friend into her bedroom after so many years, Bellatrix coughed into her fist in a futile attempt to hide some of her embarrassment. "H-How come y-you're awake at this time? I-Is there something wrong?"

Although she'd already told the staff to take care of all the needs of her guests, Bellatrix couldn't help but be a little worried when she thought about it.

Could it be that Emilia and her friends were uncomfortable with something here, or was the staff being neglectful?

'O-Or could it be that she wants to leave because she's bored?'

Thinking about it again, Bellatrix discovered that no matter how she subconsciously wanted to deny that possibility, it was more than likely to be true.

After all, Emilia was probably impressed by her in the first meeting, which made her decide to give her this chance despite being forced to get a tattoo. But that didn't mean that her goodwill would last through being 'ignored' like this, right?

Fortunately, Emilia ended up scattering all of the older woman's strange thoughts with a giggle as she reached forward to grasp her hand. "Not at all. We're all very comfortable here!"

Bellatrix didn't really hear the gorgeous girl's response, but vaguely felt that it must be positive. After all, Emilia was a good, kind girl, and Bella's mind was already preoccupied with other thoughts. 'H-Her hands are so damn soft, and how is her skin so smooth and silky?!'

Now that Emilia took the initiative to hold her hand, it was probably fine to stare at her a little, right?

Gulping and gathering all her courage, Bellatrix did her best to pretend that she was only looking the hand that Emilia was grasping to mask her actions.

It was only at this moment that she noticed that the crimson-haired beauty was only wearing a skimpy, shockingly comfortable looking nightdress which barely covered half of her perky breasts and came down to just her upper thighs, leaving far more milky skin exposed to Bella's eyes than she could handle.

Emilia grinned. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, but before that, would you mind checking my tattoo to see if there is any inflammation or something like your friend said?"

Bellatrix was vaguely aware of the fact that Emilia's beautiful lips were moving and she was speaking to her, but all she really knew was that the girl eventually just tilted her head with a smile and climbed onto her bed.

Naturally, it was impossible for there to be any 'adverse' reaction in Emilia's body due to the simple tattoo. In fact, if not for her using her own ability to create an identical tattoo on her back, all Bellatrix would see at this time would be smooth, flawless skin.

It was unlikely to be perfect given how intricate it had been, but luckily, Emilia had managed to memorize the design of the tattoo quite well, and there shouldn't be too many mistakes.

Of course, with how distracted Bella was at the moment, she wouldn't have realized something was wrong even if the phoenix on Emilia's back turned into a chicken.

Climbing behind the young girl hurriedly like a puppet with no control over her own body, Bellatrix belatedly came back to her senses as she was tugging down the thin straps of Emilia's nightgown. 'Wait… what the fuck am I doing?!'

It took her nearly a minute to process that since Emilia had climbed onto the bed on her own initiative, this couldn't be considered a crime. 'Plus, I'm the prime minister, so—! Wait, what am I thinking?!'

"Are you alright?"

Inwardly screaming at how adorable the crimson-haired beauty looked when she looked back at her like that, Bellatrix barely managed to keep her outward expression calm. "P-Perfectly fine, dear…" She coughed. "W-What were we doing, by the way?"

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