All the members of purple solanum were gathered around the long rectangular table, along with Isabelle and Richard the leader of 121 sparrows.

"Sir Richard, hope you had your rest" courteously asked Lilith

"Yes, Mam. Thanks for your h-hospitality" his group was under the reign of Lilith, he had to return the courtesy, even if it was not from the bottom of hin heart.

Emhel: "Sister, are you done with those intruders?"

"Yes, hence we shall now discuss our future plans"

Richard: "Umm...what intruders?"

"hah, right, Sir Richard was sleeping, don't worry, I'm going to explain everything to everyone"

Lilith stood and crossed her arms, looked over everyone and started speaking, others listening very carefully

"A group a five invaded our forest, all of them around 16 and 18, so quite young. The group is under the teaching of the current hero and his party. Made as a backup of sorts. They felt like they were just a burden and decided to prove themselves by supposedly discovering the truth behind the disappearances that happen around here."

Vivian: "does the hero know about their actions?"

"No, they sneaked off. The hero, if smart, wouldn't have allowed such a dumb action"

Aastha: "Then, shouldn't we finish them off? If word of it gets to the hero...then trouble's sure to come"

Vivian: "She makes sense, especially for someone like her"

Aastha glared at Vivian sudden remark, who just returned the glare with a happy smile

"Yes, makes sense, but we won't do that. We will let them go back"

Richard: "Wha-!!...ah! sorry" a little dread creeping upon his face

"Don't be. Sir Richard's  not some slave, speak your mind"

Richard: "I-I-see...I was saying that is it alright to these students go?"

"Yes, very much so. A useful human shouldn't be disposed of before they run dry. We can use them to get information on what's going with the hero and his party"

Vivian: "Aannnddd....why would they do that?"

"Because we have a leash on their weaknesses"

Vivian: "Do we?"

"Nope, the bartender at the village already told me about them. Emhel has already managed to get information on their families, won't be long before we know everything to keep them in check"

Aastha: "Huh? when did you do that sis Emhel?"

Emhel: "The bartender told Sister about their arrival when they caught and brought inside the basement. I went out and gathered information about their leader, his name was quite well known outside the village"

Vivian: "So, we only know about the family information of the leader?"

"Yes, and that's all that was needed to trap them. Now, as I was saying, we just have to gather every bit of info on them, till then we trick them into thinking we know all the stuff"

Isabelle's mouth was open agape, what's this about a village? bartender? and Lilith's fake threat was so real, that even she got played like a fool. Trickery is an interesting thing... a thought crosses Isballe's mind.

Amanda: "But, they can also reveal everything to the hero using methods we are not aware of"

"True, they can. But not if we make them paranoid, children like them can't make a decision once they become completely paranoid with the danger looming above them"

Richard: "How does the Mam, plan to get info out from them? it would surely hit their morality, act strange and that the hero can notice."

Vivian: "Yeah, won't the hero also notice when they start acting paranoid?"

"We will use hypnosis. Tomorrow morning, they will wake up far away from this forest and not remember anything that happened. They go back to their homes as usual, and once every week, again use hypnosis to gather information out from them. We will also need people to keep their eyes out on them, in case something goes wrong"

Vivian: "W-wait, wait....WHAT!?? If we are just going to use hypnosis...then why talk about all that paranoid, threatening them bullshit!!???"

"Oh, just a test, to see if my precious pearls can figure out the faults in my plans, have the courage to point out mistakes in my plans and not blindly go follow them like a bunch of fanatic idiots"

Vivian: "What the fuck!! Lilith!! you are making this way too confusing!!"

"Alright, calm down now. Intruders came, we caught them, the bartender told me what they told him, that is their names and group name. I sent Emhel to get info on their leader, which proved to be quite easy as he was well known. I used that as a threat to trick them all into thinking that I know everything about them, then gather all the other information out from them, like who was involved in the coup and stuff. Now we let them go using hypnosis and from now on keep tabs on them while again using hypnosis to gather more future info from them. At the same time, I decided to test you, people, by telling plans with obvious holes Simple!! right?"

Vivian: "I see, I understand"

How????   What the...did she just say? and what the hell??? someone here knows hypnosis???!!! how did Miss Lilith even gather all these different types of people?? and all good at some sort of very shady thing!! thought Isabelle and decided to not think too much about it.

"So! Sir Richard, give my Aastha four of your men who are good at tailing people."

Richard: "WAait....what?"

"We need to keep tabs on all four of them from now on. I need four of your men to help Aastha in keeping tabs, she will supervise the whole thing and also perform hypnosis on them. Aastha, you ok with that?"

Aastha: "Yes, if that's what Big Sister wishes"

Richard: "Well...alright. I will send them here"

"No, don't. Aastha will take them from Sir Richard's place, herself"

Richard just nodded in agreement, not that he could deny though

"Good! Now that's settled, Sir Richard, you can take your leave. Also, welcome, may we have a great business"

Richard: "Huh?...ah, ye-yes...I shall leave.."

Well, that came suddenly....hung his head and quickly took his leave, glancing at Vivian with complicated eyes before closing the door.

"Now, moving on. What do you all think about raising the prices of dr—"

Isabelle: "W-wait!! what about timothy?? why does Miss Lilith want to know about that jerk?!! "

"What do you mean, why? Don't you want revenge on him?"

"huh?...it's for me?..."

"Duh! From all the people I know, only the princess what's to kill the hero"

"what? isn't Miss Lilith plotting something big against him?"

"the hell?? why would I? He never did anything to us, so should I do anything harmful to him?"

"huh?..."

"All this information gathering is so that I can expand my business while staying away from the Hero. He and his party would come for our asses if they learned about our doings, so I need to know his locations"

"..." Isabelle's head tilted in confusion

"I won't be making a move against him, it's up to you to use this tiny source of information to help you in making an effective plan for your revenge. This is just one of the many tools you can use for your revenge"

"Am ....I do ....this alone?"

"Of course, it is YOUR revenge after all. My job is to only make you a competent person and turn this useless you into something that can defend herself"

"What?? You aren't going to make me join your group?"

"Well, that was the plan...but unfortunately, things change."

"wha.....????"

"Haahhhhhh, you are still not resolute enough, princess. Everyone, the meeting is delayed. Isabelle, follow me"

.

.

.

Isabelle confusedly followed Lilith towards the dead backyard of the Mansion. Lilith stopped by the shed and sat on the chair, Isabelle standing in front of her

"Yes, I wanted to make you join my group because let's just say...you are somewhat special."

"huh?....special? me? what are you talking about?"

"Hmmm, has the princess noticed something wrong with her body?"

"Something wrong?....now that I think about it.....I haven't been hungry since waking up"

"Have you thought about why?"

"Well, I have been eating, food prepared by Miss Amanda is really delicious, so it must be that"

"Yeah...no. Your body just doesn't feel hunger anymore. One or two small meals a day doesn't satisfy hunger and today you haven't eaten at all"

"......y-you must be joking...No?" Isabelle saw that Lilith's face was completely serious, her blood-red eyes were deadly serious about this, she wasn't joking

"Get it now?"

"b-but why?....I don't understand"

"That's because you came back from the dead. When I saw you for the first time, you were near death, so I finished you off. You were not breathing, heart not racing, completely dead...but then you came back"

"....Miss Lilith...there's a limit to jokes...ho-how can...what?..you must be pulling my legs" panic and confusion taking control of her body and mind

"Does it look like I'm in the mood of fucking playing around?"

She wasn't

"N-nO...but..how am I supposed to just accept something bizarre like that?!!"

"Well, that's up to you. If I have to guess, it's probably something to do with your bloodline. Didn't the hero want to kill the innocent you because of something like a cursed or evil bloodline."

"Bloodline....."

"Well, you can figure out the details later. Just now we know that you can return from dead with some side effects, hell, maybe I'm wrong and you can only return from death once...but let's leave that and talk about more urgent matters"

Isn't this like really urgent??? Complained Isabelle, but she decided to use her policy of just not thinking too much about it and slowly figure it out, there's no need to lose myself and make Miss Lilith pissed off, just control...control yourself.

"So, that's why I was interested in making you join the clan...but well things changed"

"....I see...didn't you say I reminded Miss Lilith of something"

"Yeah. You reminded me of my little sister....she was also just like you. Loud, annoying, easily angered, always complaining. I couldn't stand someone so annoying, I let my emotions loose and killed her"

"!!! J-just for that????"

"Yes, you see Isabelle, stress and emotions can be a pretty cruel thing, that's why one needs to keep them under check all the times. I didn't and did something I regret to this day...but that isn't going to erase me of the guilty conscious, that's going to remain with me till I leave this mortal realm"

"D-does Miss Lilith also feel the same about her ...parents.."

"No, they deserved it"

"huh?.... I-I see"

"So, maybe that's why I decided to not let you join me. Thinking you would also face ruin by my hands or maybe just because this time I want to help and support someone similar to her"

"..." Isabelle's face turning a bit sad

"Isabelle, you will follow your own path, I'm there to make sure that you are able enough to follow it. We both will go our separate ways in the future"

"..." frames of her eyes a bit red

"What is it that you want Isabelle"

With a curled up fist, Isabelle replied, "I want revenge"

"Revenge for what?" asking, Lilith in a stern manner

"Against Timothy for killing my parents"

Lilith suddenly slapped the table, she shouted fiercely "Wrong!"

Isabelle tightened her fists, the framer of her eyes red. She did not speak.

Lilith stood up violently, came before Isabelle to stare down at her, then she spoke word by word

"You want revenge against everyone who wronged you! You want revenge against everyone who made the princess of the Nora Empire be killed by some monsters! You want revenge against everyone who took your throne away from you! You want revenge against everyone who lied to you! Timothy, your brother, brook, the entire Nora Empire that supported them, the entire Nova Empire that supported them, your parents who lied to you since birth, EVERYONE! Your revenge is to pay them back ten folds of what they did to YOU!!!! Do you want this kind of Revenge!!??"

Isabelle's body shaking all over with rage and anger, her tears dropping without any halt, her nails digging into her skin

"I do!"

"Then don't you dare hesitate!"

"I won't!"

"Wipe your tears dry"

Isabelle quickly rubbed her eyes and after a few seconds, the tears stopped. Her eyes now filled with fire, with a bright shine, just like a wanderer in the desert finding an oasis.

"Right now you are 16, after three years, on this same day, I will again do your evaluation and decide whether you are ready or not. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Teacher!"