Inside the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Sakuya was diligently cleaning the windows, her movements precise and efficient. As she wiped the gss, she habitually gnced outside to check on the gatekeeper, ensuring she wasn't scking off as usual.

  At first, she thought she saw something strange at the gate—a familiar figure doing pnks while Hong Meiling casually sat sideways on his back, arms crossed like she was enjoying herself.

  Sakuya blinked.

  "...What?"

  She rubbed the window with a fresh cloth and looked again. Nothing had changed. Carl was still struggling under Meiling's weight, gritting his teeth as he held his position.

  Sakuya's eye twitched.

  "What in the world are they doing?" she muttered. "Training? At the gate?"

  She sighed, already thinking about how to 'clean up' this mess before Remilia saw them. If her mistress found her gatekeeper fooling around again—whatever this was—she would not be pleased.

  Just as Sakuya reached for her pocket watch, preparing to stop time and get down there instantly, she was interrupted by a calm, knowing voice.

  "You don't need to stop them, Sakuya."

  Sakuya froze mid-motion and turned to see Remilia standing nearby, gazing out the window with an amused expression.

  "Midy?" Sakuya straightened. "May I ask... what exactly they are doing?"

  Remilia gave a small, mysterious smile. "Oh, I simply guided fate a little. He ended up here by my design."

  Sakuya frowned slightly. "You interfered with his fate?"

  "Just a tiny push," Remilia admitted, raising two fingers. "He wandered here looking for Marisa, and I arranged for him to train under Meiling. A coincidence, yet... not really."

  Sakuya's unease deepened. It wasn't like her mistress to meddle unless something important was at stake.

  "Miss..." she hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "You are doing this because is he... going to be in danger?"

  For a moment, Remilia was silent. Then, she turned her gaze downward, watching Carl and Meiling at the gate.

  "Yes," she finally answered.

  Sakuya stiffened.

  "But not just him," Remilia continued. "Fndre, too."

  The head maid's breath caught in her throat.

  "Because of me, his fate is now tangled with ours. He, too, must face a dreadful destiny alongside us." Remilia murmured.

  "And I don't want to see him die."

  Sakuya looked at her mistress carefully. Her usual smugness was absent. Instead, there was a certain weight in her voice, a rare seriousness that made Sakuya's heart tighten.

  Remilia's crimson eyes narrowed in thought.

  "His ability... it might have limits. If it were truly all-powerful, he wouldn't have had such a hard time fighting me before."

  Sakuya understood. Carl's unique power—the ability to turn lies into truth—was unpredictable. If his ability truly had no bounds, he could have easily won every encounter without trouble. But that hadn't been the case.

  "He needs to be strong enough to survive on his own," Remilia continued. "That's why I'm ensuring he gets stronger now. So I won't have to worry about him in the future."

  She turned away from the window and gave her final order.

  "Once they finish, tell Meiling to continue training him from now on. And give her a bonus—she deserves it for doing a good job."

  With that, Remilia walked away, her elegant steps carrying her down the hall.

  Sakuya stood in pce, watching her mistress leave. A faint sadness crept into her expression as she whispered to herself:

  "Miss... did I fail to protect you in the future?"

  She tightened her grip on her pocket watch.

  If fate was moving against her mistress, she wouldn't stand idly by.

  ...........................

  At the gate, I y sprawled out on the ground, too exhausted to care about the dirt clinging to my clothes. My arms felt like lead, my legs ached, and every muscle in my body screamed in protest. Hong, on the other hand, stood over me, looking completely unbothered as she grinned.

  "Not bad," she said, nodding approvingly. "You sted longer than I expected."

  I barely heard her through the haze of exhaustion clouding my mind. Instead, my thoughts drifted to a more pressing matter—why was I even here in the first pce?

  Then, like a sudden spark, it hit me.

  Marisa!

  I shot up—or at least, I tried to. My body protested, and I barely managed to push myself onto my knees. With a tired groan, I rubbed my face and turned to Hong.

  "Hey... can we do this another time?" I mumbled, forcing myself to stand. "I just remembered—I actually came here to find Marisa."

  Hong blinked, then cpped her hands together. "Oh! Right! You were looking for her." She nodded, then gestured toward the mansion's entrance. "Go ahead and head in. And make sure to come back tomorrow for more training, alright? It's been a long time since I've had someone to train!" she added brightly.

  I forced a weak smile, but in my head, I was already making a silent vow:

  Nope. Not coming back. Ever.

  With that, I dragged myself into the mansion, shaking off the soreness as best as I could. My mission was clear—find Marisa, ask about the fairies, get out of here, take revenge on those fairies and then go back home to sleep.

  As I walked through the grand halls, I made my way toward the library, where I knew Patchouli would be. When I arrived, sure enough, the room was filled with towering bookshelves, the scent of old paper filling the air. At the center of it all, Patchouli sat at a desk, deeply engrossed in a book.

  Koakuma, her ever-diligent assistant, fluttered around carrying stacks of books to various parts of the library, seemingly too busy to notice me.

  Patchouli didn't seem to notice me at first, even as I walked up behind her. For a moment, I wondered if I should say something to get her attention, but before I could, she spoke without even looking up from her book.

  "Can you not block the light?" she muttered, flipping a page. "I already know you're behind me, Carl. So just sit down."

  "Ah, my bad."

  I apologized for blocking the light, pulled out a chair, and sat across from her. "So, uh... I need to ask you something."

  "Mm," she hummed, still not looking at me.

  I asked, "Did Marisa come here?"

  Patchouli barely looked up from her book. "Yes, but she already left—with my books, as usual. Why are you looking for her?"

  I sighed and expined everything—how I got pranked, how Reimu told me that Marisa knew where the three fairies were, how I ran into a crazy blonde who attacked me, how I somehow ended up getting trained by Hong, and now, here I was.

  Patchouli turned a page, gncing at me briefly. "Seems like you're having a streak of bad luck today."

  I groaned. "Yeah, tell me about it."

  She rested her chin on her hand. "So, what do you pn to do now that Marisa isn't here?"

  I leaned back and crossed my arms. "I'll just wait here. I'm done running around looking for her. Instead, I'll use my ability."

  I smirked and lied, "She's going to come back here to steal more books from you."

  Patchouli's lips curled into a small smile. "Oh, I don't doubt it. She will come back eventually."

  I slumped forward in defeat. "Damn, you already know my weakness. I can't use it on you."

  She turned another page, barely paying me any attention. "Now that your ability won't work on me, who are you going to lie to next?"

  I gnced over at Koakuma, who was busy stacking books. Before I could say anything, Patchouli gave me a sharp look. "Don't you dare use it on her. She's already stressed from Marisa knocking over the bookshelves."

  I sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll just read to pass the time."

  Patchouli shrugged. "Suit yourself."

  I grabbed the closest book and started flipping through it. Within seconds, I frowned. I had no idea what I was reading.