Sometime later...

Cleo looked at the now-empty table, feeling depressed.

"I... I ate all of those disgusting-looking dishes... And I LOVED it... Gods help me..." Cleo inwardly sulked.

"Hehehe... Seems like you were satisfied with my cooking." Roberta cackled, pleased. "Now come over and sit."

"... Yes..."

Her shoulders slumped, and she reluctantly sat opposite Roberta.

"Good, good... Now, what brings you to my haven, troubled young lady?" Roberta kindly asked.

"... I came here to seek shelter, but I didn't know it was already occupied. I apologize for trespassing." Cleo apologized.

"Oh, come now... you would have never found this place if I didn't want you here." Roberta gently said. "This haven of mine attracts young and troubled girls with promising potential... And you fit the bill."

"What is your goal?" Cleo warily asked.

"Perhaps it is my goodwill. Or maybe my hobby, who knows? But I am not the troubled one here... You are. Let me ask again... What troubles you?" Roberta asked.

"... I don't know," Cleo answered.

"You don't know? Or is it that you were made not to know?" Roberta tilted her head.

"Made not to know?" Cleo frowned. "What riddles are you speaking of?"

"Hmhmh... How about you start being honest with me... Why did you come here?" Roberta asked.

"... I can't say it..." Cleo said.

"Girly, I am a neutral hag living inside bumblefuck nowhere in the middle of a forest. Do you think I care about your petty politics? Do you believe that, if I wanted to, I couldn't extract the information right out of your skull or even your soul? Speak, I won't judge." Roberta said, unconcerned.

"... I am a double spy and assassin... I assassinated Duke Nicolas using poison and was commissioned by the Dyweath kingdom." Cleo answered truthfully.

"Assassinated a duke? Was he weak?" Roberta tilted her head.

"No... He was strong. At least B-rank." Cleo replied.

"And how did you manage to do that?" Roberta asked.

"... I switched his heart medication with a special slow-acting poison," Cleo answered.

"He allowed you to give him his heart medication? He must have trusted you with his life. What were you to him?" Roberta asked.

"... He called me his daughter, and I considered him my father," Cleo replied, but she frowned slightly.

"You killed the one you considered your father? Why?" Roberta continued to question.

"Because the Dyweath kingdom ordered me to," Cleo replied.

"For what benefit? What would you gain from that?" Roberta asked.

"I would gain... Gain... Gain... Ugh!" Cleo suddenly grabbed her head, feeling excruciating pain.

"Oh, I hit a logic loop. Let's see... Did you hate your father?" Roberta asked.

"NO! I-I loved him... I... I... Why did I kill him? UGHHHHH!!!!" Cleo's head ached even more, collapsing on the floor.

"Hm... I see. Someone planted a backdoor in your mind since childhood and used it to plant his suggestions." Roberta rubbed her chin. "And those suggestions seem recent... Luckily, you came here in time. Otherwise, your brain would start tricking itself into believing this nonsense and even change your memories to fit the narrative. Quite nasty, if I do say so myself."

"W-What are you— Ugh... Talking about..." Cleo shook, her head throbbing. Tears, snot, and drool flowed freely.

"Well, girly. Someone brainwashed you... I can undo it, but you might regret that I did that, and it might make you miserable." Roberta had a pitying look as if looking at a crippled kitten. "Now, the choice is yours... Either break your brainwashing now and return to reality... Or let it complete itself and live in an illusion of your own making. I warn you now... You might be happier as someone brainwashed. And when you try to kill yourself later... I won't stop you."

"... Undo it." Cleo gritted her teeth.

"This... Will hurt." Roberta said, her marble eye shining.

The next moment, Cleo felt as if something was broken in her mind. The next moment, information flooded her mind... Painful information.

She slowly remembered all those times Iguisor visited her and planted suggestions. The four mental orders were: Always listen to Iguisor. Never harm Iguisor. Never doubt Iguisor. Forget these meetings.

When she wanted to attack Iguisor after her father died, her emotions were strong enough to suppress those suggestions, which was how she managed to attack him in the heat of the moment and even question him. However, they were too deeply rooted. When she stopped attacking Iguisor, he didn't use any force... She stopped by herself. It was the ultimate form of slavery, one that needed no shackles or magic contracts.

And then she remembered how she didn't doubt Iguisor when he gave her the heart medication potion. Not once did she think about testing it for poison, something she should have logically done. She never doubted his suspicious actions, such as when he leaned close to the duke and whispered things, such as convincing him to see her more as a daughter and trust her instead of a talented guard. She never questioned him or tried to resist when he ordered her to strip and examine her like livestock, touch her, kiss her, or lick her body, and even ordered her to masturbate in front of him and sexually service him, of how he whispered how he wished to fuck her then and there but didn't want it to backlash at his suggestions. If a few more days had passed, he would have deflowered her. ¹The uncensored version of what a villain would do with mind control.

"Urp... Blugh* Cough* Cough*" She vomited on the floor, shaking uncontrollably, tears and snot flowing freely.

It hurt. Not only her head but also her heart and stomach. They ached so badly. All of it. Everything. It was all... lies. She was just a disposable chesspiece, a slave, a toy, a piece of fuckmeat to be used and thrown to the dogs like garbage. Her father never truly loved her. He was made to love her. She believed him to be her father figure by herself... living under a beautiful illusion.

Her entire life... was all a big fat lie.

Even worse, she already understood what would happen next. She has become the scapegoat of Iguisor... And if she returned, she would likely be charged with high treason and executed no matter what she did or said.

Roberta didn't lie. Somewhere in her mind, she deeply regretted knowing the truth. She would be happier if she lived under an illusion. But now... Now she knew everything. She was just a husk, a puppet in a puppet show. Her entire character and life... were all orchestrated by someone else. It wasn't as simple as losing your house or family... She lost her very identity and had nothing to live for.

As she looked around her and even her hands... Everything lost its color, all of it. She only saw murky shades of grey. Her lungs burned with every breath she took. Her existence hurt. She wanted it to end... All of it.

Shing*

Cleo drew her dagger with a shaking hand.

"Are you planning on ending yourself, girl?" Roberta asked in a pitying voice. "Like I said, I won't stop you. But know that even if you fall down the gutters to the pits of despair, you cannot fall any lower. You can climb back up again, one step at a time."

"... What... Am I... supposed to do now? I have nothing to live for... living... is painful..." She muttered.

"Three paths stand before you," Roberta said, raising her fingers.

"One, I wipe your memories... and you will be a blank person with only your combat experience, general knowledge, and instincts intact. Not even the gods would be able to restore what you lost. A blank slate."

"Two, you commit suicide here... In whatever way... and I reincarnate you into a new body after I wipe your identity. You will gain a new life, a new start, and a new purpose."

"Three... You overcome your inner turmoil, one step at a time, and regain the colors you have lost. It would be hard, but you will be stronger for it."

"The choice is yours," Roberta said, smoking her pipe and looking at the ceiling.

"..." Cleo remained silent, staring at her dagger.

The next moment, she charged at Roberta without saying a word, murder in her eyes.

"Second choice it is," Roberta muttered in disappointment.

The next moment, Cleo's body silently disintegrated, leaving her clothes and items behind.

Clatter* Flop*

Her dagger and clothes fell to the ground, the only proof the person known as Cleo existed.

"Fshh*... Pity." Roberta mumbled, blowing a cloud of smoke from her nose, her eyes carrying a hint of pity. "I hoped you would try to overcome it and become a self-made legend instead of throwing a misguided tantrum. I overestimated you."

Cleo was not the first and likely not last of her visitors to attack her in a moment of blind rage... And their fate was all the same. Since Roberta drew in 'troubled girls', many of them were suicidal... Like this one. But Roberta never carried a grudge against them, giving them a merciful death and a new chance in life, one way or another.

"Come here." Roberta lightly motioned with her finger.

The next moment, Cleo's soul floated to her, unconscious.

"Now... Before I wipe your memories and reincarnate you, I will see your past and do you a final service." Roberta muttered, her marble eye shining, scanning Cleo's memories. The more she scanned them, the more her expression darkened.

"Iguisor... Hah? I wonder if it's your real name... Let's divine it..." Roberta muttered, taking out her marble eye from her eye socket. The next moment, the marble became a crystal ball the size of a football.

"Find me the man calling himself Iguisor," Roberta muttered.

The next moment, the crystal showed a black-robed man kneeling before another cloaked figure.

"Hoh... Interesting. So the piece of shit is a pawn... Typical." Roberta muttered. "As fun as it would be to start a massacre... I only have beef with this son of a bitch. It will suffice as a warning to the one behind him."

The next moment, she uttered a word filled with power and venom. 

"Suffer."

.

.

.

"Master, I have done your bidding." Iguisor knelt to another cloaked figure, the veil covering him not there, revealing his identity as a middle-aged bald man with crooked looks, and presented a bottle filled with Duke Nicolas's soul.

"Good." The cloaked figure, covered in darkness, said and took the bottle. "Have you properly shifted the blame to the girl and disposed of her?"

"Yes, master. I sent her to the magic forest after making her believe she works for the Dyweath kingdom. The sluts will now be in a wild goose chase." Iguisor smirked.

"... Where did you say you sent her again?" The cloaked figure asked again.

"To the magic forest?" Iguisor repeated.

"FOOL! You have damned yourself!" The cloaked figure exclaimed.

"M-Master?" Iguisor was shocked, raising his head in askance.

"I warned you before, do not touch the magic woods. And you sent that girl into those woods... I hope you didn't mistreat that poor girl like you usually do, or even the gods can't save you now." The cloaked man coldly said.

"M-Master?! W- What are you talking about?!" Iguisor started becoming scared.

"Hmph... It is too late to be scared." The cloaked man ruthlessly uttered. "I just hope you won't drag me down with you."

Just then...

"Suffer." Iguisor heard a demonic voice in his head.

"A-...AHH!!!!!!!" Iguisor suddenly collapsed on the ground and started screaming, rolling around in inhuman pain. He felt tiny ants crawling on him, tearing his body, mind, and soul into shreds.

The cloaked man immediately knelt, giving a prayer. "I have not ordered him to commit any cruelty to that girl. Please spare me..."

Exactly a minute later, what felt like an eternity, Iguisor heard another word.

"Rot."

The next moment, Iguisor's body started rotting. Hair fell off, skin and flesh turned green and rotten and fell off, and bones began to crack and break.

"AHH!!!!" Iguisor yelled with his rotting lungs and mouth, his lower jaw falling off, his tongue hanging loose.

However, even with this, he didn't die. It was as if some force kept him alive in perpetual pain.

"Please have mercy on me... Please have mercy on me..." The cloaked man knelt and prayed.

"Shred." The third demonic word sounded.

The next moment, ethereal hooks emerged from nowhere, hooking onto Iguisor... Onto his soul.

"Glug* Glug*..." Iguisor shuddered in pain, his rotten tongue lolling, unable to fall unconscious as his soul was dragged out of his body.

The hooks then started to shred his soul, tearing it into pieces, denying the afterlife or any chance of reincarnation.

Half a minute later, the room returned to silence, with only a rotten corpse remaining.

"i-Is it over...?" The cloaked man asked himself, looking at the corpse in fear and horror.

Just as he thought he was safe, he heard a voice in his head that almost made him piss himself.

{Pull a stunt like this again... And that would be you.} An old voice said in his head.

"Y-Yes... Thank you for sparing me..." The cloaked man shook.

Just then, he saw the bottle containing the duke's soul emerge from his robe before getting swallowed into a shadow. That made him even more terrified.

After a few minutes, the man finally had the strength to stand up again and looked at the rotten corpse with hate before starting to kick it.

"FUCK YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH! FUCK YOU!!! YOU ARE SO TIRED OF LIVING THAT YOU ALMOST DRAGGED ME DOWN WITH YOU! PIECE OF SHIT!!!" The robed man kicked and stomped in rage and hysteria, venting off his emotions of almost getting deleted in the most gruesome way imaginable.

A few minutes later, the man looked at the mincemeat in front in disgust.

"Serves you right, garbage..." He muttered. "I need to inform the grandmaster about this... Roberta the Black started to make a move again... Another player is about to enter the grand game..."

With that, he incinerated the corpse, took all the unburnable things, and left without looking back.