Chapter 51: Hidden Feelings! (1)

—Late at night, the Sassen Flores family mansion—
Lilith, dressed only in a thin red undergarment, stood alone on the balcony, gazing at the stars in the night sky. In the room behind her, faint candlelight shone, and faint sounds of passionate breathing from a man and a woman could be heard.

After about twenty minutes, the breathing sounds in the room gradually faded. Noticing this, Lilith turned and entered the room, casting a cold and mocking glance at the man lying on the bed.

It was her husband—Vincent Flores, the proud eldest son of the influential Sassen Flores family. The woman lying beside him, breathing heavily, was one of Lilith’s personal maids.

Strangely, although Vincent Flores was holding the maid, he was calling Lilith’s name, as if he regarded the woman in his arms as his wife. Even more bizarrely, though Lilith was standing right by the bed, he seemed unable to see her.

“Ssssh…”

Seemingly aware of Lilith’s presence, the maid carefully got up from the man’s arms, put on an undergarment, and quietly approached Lilith, bowing her head and saying, “Miss…”

“Hmm,” as if seeing through the maid’s thoughts, Lilith nodded and said indifferently, “You may go back now… If you still care about your parents, better not talk nonsense in front of others!”

“Yes, I understand, Miss…” The maid lowered her head, wrapped herself tightly in her undergarment, and hurriedly left the room.

Glancing at her retreating figure, Lilith turned to look at her husband lying on the bed again, her eyes filled with mockery and disdain.

“Lilith, where are you?” Vincent, already drowsy, opened his eyes, seemingly noticing the maid’s departure.

Lilith’s eyes flashed with a faint red, eerie light. Then, as if only now seeing her standing by the bed, Vincent said with a hint of expectation, “Can I sleep here today?”

“No,” Lilith firmly interrupted him, saying calmly, “I’m used to sleeping alone!”

“What about me?” Vincent asked in surprise.

“You?” With a light laugh, Lilith walked over to the wine cabinet, poured herself a glass of red wine, took a sip, and said lightly, “After we’re done, go and sleep in the guest room. Haven’t we always agreed on that?”

“But…” Vincent looked troubled and said oddly, “I’m your husband…”
“And so what?” Lilith turned to glance at him with a cold smile. “Or have your desires not been satisfied yet?”
“Uh…” Vincent hesitated before deciding to put on a coat and go to the next room to sleep. He was puzzled as to why the once gentle ‘Lilith’ had such an attitude after they finished.
He had no idea that the ‘Lilith’ he saw was merely an illusion created by Asmontis’s divine power, [Illusion Manipulation].
Apart from apostles and those with spiritual strength too great for Lilith to control, [Illusion Manipulation] could control any being with ‘intelligence’ and ‘emotions,’ especially when they had strong lust, making them even more vulnerable to her control.
Like the godly power of [Greed], [Desire Exposure], and the power of laziness, [Erasure of Existence], as an apostle, Lilith possessed this power to deceive the world and control hearts—especially when the target was just a human, making this power particularly terrifying.
“Bang!”
Watching her husband leave the room with a disappointed expression, Lilith smirked coldly. She glanced disdainfully at the traces on the bed, then walked to the balcony holding her glass of red wine.
Lilith, full name Lilith Telvitz, was born in the border region between Altak and Brownhill. Though her family was well-known locally, it wasn’t considered high-ranking nobility. From her grandfather to her father, the family’s title had always been baron. In this regard, her background was very similar to Dia’s.
The difference was that Lilith came from a typical minor noble family, where every member strived to climb higher. To achieve this, her family relied on other powerful families, using bribery and marriages—anything dirty if it could help the family reach a new height.
Rather than being the eldest daughter of the Telvitz family, Lilith was more like a commodity, a tool to win over a powerful family.
She remembered that during her time in the academy, although she was casual about relationships, she never admitted anyone as her lover—because from the moment she was born, she was already engaged.

Lilith was engaged three times in total. The reason was that the partners of her first two engagements—no, rather, her family—could no longer satisfy the demands of the Telvitz family, leading to repeated changes in fiancés. Eventually, she became one of the actual rulers of Sassen, Vincent Flores, the eldest son of the Flores family. If Lilith had been an ordinary woman, she might have found solace in such political marriages, but unfortunately, she was an apostle—a disciple of Asmontis, the god of lust, and one who wielded the power of desire. Her status as an apostle undoubtedly made her life as a woman even more bitter. In the eyes of the Telvitz family, Lilith was merely a commodity to help them reach the pinnacle of noble power, while the Flores family agreed to this marriage solely because of the great power she possessed. As the novel says, when a woman has beauty and is also granted power beyond others, she can never truly be happy. Take Lilith for example: if she hadn’t become an apostle, she would have been just another victim of the countless political marriages in the world. Yet fate bestowed upon her great power, which gave rise to different thoughts in this woman who despised her family background and the political marriages among nobles. Just as she manipulated her husband with illusions, as the center of attention at balls, countless noble men were deceived by her in this way. Of course, it wasn’t mere entertainment; it was purely a way to vent her dissatisfaction and the anger of a “commodity” who had existed since childhood as a link between the upper nobility. Watching those nobles drop their false masks and become frenzied for lust filled Lilith with pleasure. At the same time, she grew to despise those so-called men even more, let alone fall in love with one. After all, for her, controlling someone into loving her was far too easy. As the saying goes, the higher a woman climbs, the less likely she is to find love—such as Ravia, the female lord of Altak, and Lilith, an apostle with great power.

In this regard, Lavia is lucky, as the man she loves was once an Apostle, possessing great power worthy of the title of Lord Altak. But Lilith is different—her husband is just an ordinary man. Though he is now very influential in Sasan, in the eyes of powerful figures like Apostles, he is nothing but a weakling who can be dealt with at any time.

Lilith is somewhat envious of her good friend Dia, as she has met the man she loves. She remembers that even in the academy, Lilith and Dia had a very close relationship, as they came from similar backgrounds; the only difference was that Dia did not become a victim of a political marriage.

Previously, she was powerless to change the situation, but after gaining great power, the first person she thought of was her best friend. She didn’t want Dia to end up like her. By then, however, Dia had already moved to Vando with Thos. Upon hearing this news, Lilith felt relieved but also couldn’t help but smile bitterly at herself.

Originally, Lilith had a blessing-filled attitude toward Dia and Thos, but after learning about Lavia’s relationship with Thos, she gradually changed her mind. Now that she possessed great power, she believed she could help her friend—even if that friend was Wolmon Kleist, who was also an Apostle and one of the empire’s most powerful dark magicians at the time!

Perhaps Lilith had placed all her hopes for happiness on her good friend Dia, hoping she could obtain what she herself could not—such as a warm and sweet love. But two women sharing the same man certainly couldn’t be considered a warm and sweet love! One of them had to disappear… either that woman from Altak or Wolmon Kleist!

Lilith, who longed deeply for true love, could not tolerate Thos having an ambiguous relationship with another woman while dating her good friend Dia. This made her, who already disdained men, view Thos extremely poorly, categorizing him among those scoundrels who act recklessly after gaining great power.

Actually, she had heard from Dia quite early on that the man who could threaten the Ancient Will—Belial—was none other than Thos seven years later. But she wasn’t interested in such things. To put it bluntly, she had no interest in what would become of this world or what threats the Ancient Wills might face. It wasn’t until Dia said, “He needs me”… that things changed.
Yes, it was simply because he needed her. Lilith couldn’t bear the thought of Dia, who had placed her happiness in her hands, staying by some man just for such a trivial reason. Moreover, that man hadn’t even considered Dia’s feelings at all.
Vormon Klaest…
Glancing at the stars in the night sky, Lilith raised the glass in her hand before gently releasing it, watching helplessly as it crashed to the ground and shattered.
Yet Lilith was well aware that before killing that man, she had to do something first—namely, shatter her good friend Dia’s lingering hopes for Thos, a woman’s pitiful desires.
—The next afternoon, Vando—
Since the magical city of Vando was founded, Ravia had lived in this city. Altak’s affairs were temporarily handled by his grandfather, the previous lord, Naialek Vayer Wilty Vomisli. To be honest, it was a very irresponsible approach, but what else could she do? The man she liked was in this city.
Regarding Thos, Ravia had once thought about letting go, but every time she tried to make a decision, she hesitated. Whether out of her dignity as Altak’s female lord or out of her own desires as a woman, she couldn’t bear to see the man she liked always by another woman’s side.
Due to this mindset, Ravia’s journey back to Altak kept getting delayed.
Even though she knew it was impossible, she still hoped Thos would give her an answer…
Just as Ravia was troubled by this, she suddenly received an invitation letter, inviting her to a high-end tavern in Vando.
Which boring person again?
Ravia sneered and was about to throw the letter out the window when she noticed the signature at the bottom.
“Lilith Telvitz?”

A hint of confusion appeared in Lavia’s eyes. As the leader of Altak, she certainly knew this name—she knew the person in question was the wife of Vincent Flores, a rising noble from Sassen, and also a former classmate from the academy, a good friend of Dia. But the key point was that Lavia believed she had no connection with this person at all—so why would she invite her?

After thinking hard, Lavia still couldn’t figure it out. However, she didn’t want to show weakness. It was just a tavern in Vando, right? She wanted to see what the other person wanted to say.

So, as instructed in the letter, Lavia went alone to the tavern mentioned, not even bringing her puppet, Queen Quinn. After all, this was Vando, a city under their own faction’s control. Lavia didn’t believe the other person could pull any tricks.

Upon arriving at the tavern, Lavia walked straight through the hall upstairs to the room agreed upon and knocked on the door.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

“The door’s open. Come in!” came a woman’s playful laugh from inside.

Frowning, Lavia pushed the door open and entered, watching warily the woman drinking alone in the room—the one who had invited her here, Lilith Telvitz.

“Tsk tsk!” Holding a glass of red wine, Lilith sized up Lavia’s knightly attire and let out a few mocking laughs, which made Lavia’s expression even darker.

Indeed, the two’s outfits were vastly different—not in terms of craftsmanship or materials, but in the clothes themselves. Lilith was dressed in her familiar black lace gown, while Lavia wore proper knightly armor. It was hard to imagine a woman wearing knightly gear all day long; perhaps that’s why Lilith found it amusing.

“What do you want from me?” Lavia asked in a low voice, enduring the other person’s rude gaze.

“Sit down!” Amid Lavia’s angry glare, Lilith chuckled lightly and shook her head slightly, seemingly dismissing Lavia’s attire in her mind.

“…” Glancing at her, Lavia walked over to the table across from Lilith and sat down without saying a word, just staring at her.

“What sharp eyes you have!” Lilith laughed lightly, poured herself a glass of red wine, then raised the bottle toward Lavia and asked softly, “Would you like some?”

“No need!” Ravia replied indifferently, refusing. After all, she wasn’t the kind of woman who wore fancy dresses at balls and waved glasses to attract attention—unless it was Thors. Otherwise, she would reject any glass offered to her.
As the leader of Altak, she had to stay sober at all times.
“Ah!” Lilith showed a disappointed expression, taking a sip from her glass on her own.
Watching her relaxed demeanor, Ravia grew impatient and said irritably, “What exactly do you want? If there’s nothing else, I think I’ll leave!”
“What do I want? I just happened to remember an old junior student and wanted to chat with you for a bit!” Lilith giggled, resting her chin in her hand as she tilted her head to look at Ravia, then said lightly, “Or do I not even deserve the chance to talk to you? The female leader of Altak!”
“…” Hearing those mocking words, Ravia, who had already planned to leave, frowned and had to sit back down patiently. After all, sometimes she represented not just herself but also the attitude ofthe whole of AltakAltak. She didn’t want to cause trouble over trivial matters.
“That’s better!” Seeming to see through Ravia’s thoughts, Lilith giggled again, then gradually lost her smile as she said casually, “I heard you married Volmon Kleist… that is, Thors’ junior brother?”
“Yes, and so what?”
“I just find it a bit strange…” As she spoke, Lilith touched the wedding ring she had deliberately left on her finger that morning, her gaze flicking subtly toward Ravia’s hands, where there was no sign of any ring.
It wasn’t that Altak was that poor—just that neither Thors nor Ravia felt like wearing that ring all the time. Especially Ravia, since it had been custom-made by her grandfather. To this day, Ravia hadn’t dared to tell her grandfather the truth, as he greatly admired her husband. If the lie were exposed, one could imagine how angry the old man who had guarded the northwest for decades would become.
“Bang!” Ravia couldn’t hold back anymore. She stood up abruptly, slammed the table, and said angrily, “So what?!”
Facing Ravia’s anger, Lilith seemed unbothered. She giggled and said, “Didn’t I say? I was just curious and asked casually…”

“Just asking casually?” Lavia sneered with a light hum, “I don’t think so!”
“Oh?” Lilith’s eyebrows twitched as she smiled cheerfully, “Then what do you think?”
Lavia opened her mouth as if to say something, but out of some concern, she chose silence instead. Sitting back down, she said tiredly, “I’m not interested in chatting nonsense with you. If you have nothing else to do, I’m leaving!”
“Ah, truly worthy of being the lady ruler of Altak!” Lilith giggled, swirling the wine glass in her hand before suddenly saying calmly, “Leave him!”
“…” Lavia was stunned for a moment, then her brows furrowed tightly as she sneered mockingly, “For your good friend Dia?”
“You can think of it that way,” Lilith smiled faintly, glancing at Lavia before whispering in a somewhat threatening tone, “I hope she gets a good fate, so I don’t want anyone to ruin that…”
“What if I refuse?” Lavia’s gaze grew sharper.
Yet, to Lavia’s surprise, Lilith suddenly burst into laughter and teased, “Giggle, then I can’t do anything about it…” Then, she suddenly changed tone, looking up at Lavia with a smile and asking, “Do you still have my invitation?”
Feeling confused, Lavia took out the letter from her bosom, hesitated for a moment, and threw it on the table.
Lilith stood up, picked up the letter, examined it carefully, and, under Lavia’s astonished and puzzled gaze, slipped it into her sleeve. Then she walked over to Lavia, leaning against the table, letting out sighs.
“With such a stunning face, yet… Sigh, what a pity!”
Seeing her opponent commenting on her appearance once again, Lavia’s dissatisfaction grew even more. She raised her head angrily and said, “I don’t need you to worry about my affairs…” Her voice stopped abruptly because she clearly saw strange red lights flickering in Lilith’s pale red pupils.
What… what’s going on?
Lavia suddenly felt extremely tired, and emotions deep within her began to stir.
Vaguely, she heard a voice in her ear.
“Is this okay? To watch the man you love deeply always by another woman’s side?”
“You don’t have to do this, Lavia Vayer Verti Vomisli…”

“Reclaim him. Go and take the man you love so much away from that woman…”
These whisper-like murmurs were like the most deadly poison, causing Ravia immense suffering as if burned by fire. The emotions long hidden deep in her heart seemed to be fully stirred by these words. Though her subconscious told her not to believe them, she could no longer control herself.
“Hmph!” Looking at Ravia, who was holding her forehead as if in great pain, Lilith curled her lips in a cold smile. Holding Ravia’s face, she murmured in a voice that sounded like demonic temptation, “Go, Ravia Vayer Verti Vomisley. That man belongs to you. Go and take him back, so he can be by your side… Isn’t this what you’ve always desired?”
“I…” Ravia couldn’t help but shake her head, her face showing pain.
“Do you really want to see him stay with another woman?” The red light in Lilith’s pupils grew stronger.
“I… This voice… Who are you?”
“I? Giggles… I don’t exist… You just need to think about what you desire most. Go, Ravia. Say what you truly want to say, do what you truly want to do, without caring about anyone… Then, you’ll get… what you want…” With that, Lilith picked up the letter and lit it with the candlelight. Glancing at the burning paper on the table, she cast a disdainful look at Ravia, who still seemed unconscious, then pushed open the door and left.
It was several minutes after Lilith left before Ravia gradually regained her senses. She instinctively glanced at the empty room, her face showing confusion.
“I… How did I end up here?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, as if under some control, she suddenly felt a tightening in her chest, along with a dull pain.
“Sos…”