CHAPTER 151: MANUPALTION [5]

Amelia felt something twist in her chest at the way the two spoke — not like strangers, not even like enemies, but like... co-conspirators. As if she were the outsider here, not them.

This was bad. Very bad.

Her instincts screamed danger. If she made the wrong move now, she could lose her life in the next few moments — and there would be nothing she could do about it.

Heat surged in her chest, mingled with fear, and before she could stop herself, Amelia glared at Julies.

"Colluding with demons... Aren’t you ashamed to call yourself Alice’s servant?!" she spat, voice trembling despite her effort to sound firm.

’Damn it, what do I do now?’

The bravado in her tone didn’t match her body — her fingertips were trembling, her legs tense, ready to bolt.

In front of her stood Julies Evans — a man even Alice couldn’t fully handle. He had lost to her in a sparring match a few days ago, yes... but in the tournament, he had won.

And Amelia knew the truth: during that spar, Julies hadn’t even been serious.

That slight difference in strength between him and Alice — the fact he was stronger at all — was something Amelia could never stomach.

And behind her... the demon. The one whose presence had nearly crushed her moments ago, leaving her unable to even think of resisting.

Julies took a slow, unhurried step toward her.

"Colluding with demons? What are you talking about?"

"...What?"

"If I were a duke’s memeber, maybe it would be different," he said casually. "Demons taking care of other demons. But people don’t usually call that collusion."

Something glinted in his hand — a golden mask.

And then... the change began.

Amelia’s breath caught in her throat as his face started to melt away.

The shape of his eyes, the curve of his lips, the bridge of his nose — all of it faded into nothing, until there was nothing left but a smooth, blank surface.

No eyes. No mouth. No face.

Her blood ran cold.

"A... demon?" she whispered.

"You might have heard of me," came the voice — though there was no mouth to speak from.

The sound was wrong, crawling under her skin, as if it were being whispered directly into her skull.

"Though considering I’m still walking freely in the North, I’d say not everyone knows my name."

A low, unsettling giggle echoed in the hallway.

"They call me... the Faceless Imposter."

Amelia’s pulse spiked. She had heard that name before — in hushed, urgent voices.

The demon who robbed the Valstein Count’s vault. Who slaughtered their guardian spirit. Who had a Demon Hunt Order issued against him personally by Duke Draken himself.

A Class-A Threat.

And now... he was standing right in front of her.

Not just standing there — wearing the face of someone from the Duke’s own household.

Her stomach twisted violently.

The Draken family was hunting him with everything they had. But who would have guessed... that the Faceless Imposter had been serving them tea and bowing in their halls all this time?

"What... what are you going to do with me?"

Her voice cracked, shamefully fragile. Amelia squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, as if shutting them could stop the reality pressing in around her.

She already had a sickening guess.

A countess from one of the most prominent families in the North — so what?

Demons didn’t care about titles carved into human history. No one even knew she had followed Julies here. She was alone, cornered, and very, very disposable.

She couldn’t think of a single reason they’d bother to let her live.

"...No need to ask, then. Kill her."

The words slid through the air like ice water down her spine. She could almost hear Alice saying the same thing if their positions were reversed — cold, decisive, without a flicker of hesitation.

Her heart twisted.

"As a proud Northern noble, I won’t beg for my life from a demon," she said, her voice sharp despite the pounding in her chest.

She forced her gaze upward, locking eyes with the two monsters surrounding her. If she was going to die here, she’d at least do it without looking like a coward.

But deep inside, a quiet ache pulsed.

Her only regret — the only thing that made her chest hurt worse than the fear — was that she would never see Alice again.

A brave and proud friend. That’s what she wanted Alice to remember her as.

Someone unshaken, even in the face of death. Not a trembling, desperate fool.

Her hands curled into fists. If this was the end, so be it.

Julies tilted his head at her, that smooth, faceless giving nothing away — yet somehow, she could still feel his gaze crawling over her.

"You’re not begging," he said, almost sounding... impressed. "Most humans piss themselves by now."

Amelia’s lip curled. "I’m not most humans."

The demon woman behind him let out a sharp, derisive laugh. "Oh, she’s got spirit. That’ll make it fun when we tear it out of her."

Amelia didn’t flinch, though her heart was pounding hard enough to hurt. "Go ahead. I won’t give you the satisfaction of seeing me beg."

Julies — or whatever he really was — let out a quiet hum, as though weighing something in his mind.

"You know..." he said slowly, "if you really wanted to survive, you’d be trying to bargain. Offer me something. Your life’s worth isn’t in your pretty titles. You nobles are... replaceable."

"I’d rather die than make a deal with a demon," Amelia snapped.

The demon woman’s voice turned mocking. "And yet you follow him around like a lost pup. Do you know how many times he’s probably thought about snapping your neck just for breathing too loud?"

"That’s enough."

Julies didn’t raise his voice, but the air shifted — heavy, oppressive. The demon woman’s smirk faltered for just a moment, though she didn’t back down entirely.

Amelia’s eyes darted between them. Something about that exchange told her this wasn’t simple loyalty between two monsters. There was... tension.

Julies stepped closer, the golden mask catching a sliver of moonlight from the window.

"You think I want to kill you, Amelia Frost?" he asked softly.

She held his blank gaze, refusing to answer.

"I don’t," he continued. "But I also don’t like loose ends. And you? You’re nothing but loose ends. You saw something you shouldn’t have. You heard something you shouldn’t have. That makes you a problem."

A sharp pang ran through her chest — fear and fury tangled together. "The only problem here is you," she bit out. "Parading around as Alice’s servant when you’re nothing but filth."

The faceless head tilted again, as though studying her with some morbid curiosity.

"...Jealous," he murmured.

Her breath caught. "What?"

"That’s what this is," Julies said. "Not fear. Not righteous fury. Just jealousy. You can’t stand that I’m closer to her than you are. That she trusts me more. That I can protect her in ways you can’t."

The words hit like knives — because they weren’t entirely wrong.

Amelia’s nails dug into her palms, the sting keeping her anchored. "If you hurt her—"

"If I hurt her?" His voice darkened, twisting into something colder. "Little noble girl... you don’t even understand who you’re threatening."

The demon woman’s laughter rippled through the air again — softer this time, but carrying a razor’s edge.

"Just kill her already," she said, voice dripping with contempt. "She’s wasting breath."

Julies didn’t move right away. He simply stood there, as if savoring the weight of the decision. The silence stretched, and Amelia’s pulse roared in her ears.

Finally, he stepped back.

"...Not today," he said.

Amelia blinked. "What?"

"You’ll live. For now," Julies said, his tone maddeningly calm. "If you join hands with me. That’s the condition."

Her blood boiled. "Join hands? Hmph."

Her glare sharpened into steel. This was nonsense. She wouldn’t grovel. She wouldn’t betray her honor just to keep breathing a little longer — not for him, not for any demon.

"Stop talking nonsense and leave," she snapped. "I have no intention of cooperating with your kind."

"Come now, don’t be so harsh," the faceless man said smoothly. "At least hear my proposal."

His voice shifted then — no louder, no faster, but there was something in it, a subtle thread of danger that coiled around her like smoke.

Her breath hitched, and before she realized it, she’d turned her head slightly away from him, as if to escape the weight of his words.

But he didn’t stop.

"What if," he said softly, "I made you the most important person to Alice? Then you wouldn’t have to feel jealous of me, would you? You could be the one she values most... the one she trusts above all else."

The words slid into her mind like a cold blade.

Her fists clenched.

How dare he speak of Alice.

...But this offer of the demon was tempting, more than she likes to admit.

For her Alice was above everything. Even from her life....and even from her honour.