F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!-Chapter 169: Help from the Spiritual Plane

"...Hmmm..." I look at Evelyn, curled up on the water, crying. I wonder what I should say to her. I can’t just walk up and say, "Hi, it’s Arial again! Let’s talk!" That would be weird. Besides, she already knows me, so reintroducing myself doesn’t even make sense. And honestly, I didn’t want to be controlling Evelyn’s body; I would have preferred to stay hidden inside here for a good while longer.

’Well, this is still interesting.’ As long as Evelyn is here inside the spiritual plane of her mind, I’ll be able to do many fun things outside with her maids and even with Evelyn in here.

’Let’s see... what can I do with this poor, scared little fruit...’ I approach Evelyn, who is curled up, hugging herself. The water here is solidified, so she won’t sink; it’s like normal ground with the texture of water.

’Perhaps I can shift her focus...’ I smile, a huge, amused smile, as I get closer to her. Outside, Eve is pulling me toward the mansion, so I decide to ignore the outside for now.

"..." I approach Evelyn and then grab her, lifting her off the ground. She shudders and shivers, but I notice her mind is too deep in guilt for her to even realize she’s here.

"I don’t understand. Why are you so deep in guilt? It’s just a living being that died. Deaths happen all the time." I don’t understand all this sensitivity. I don’t understand why there’s all this fear of killing other beings.

"Ah, you’re such a pathetic little doll." I hug her as she cries with her eyes closed. She’s too deep within her own mind for me to find her "conscious" version.

In the end, I just live in her spiritual plane. I’d say the spiritual plane is in the intermediate level of the mind. There’s the surface, the middle, and the depths. I am in the middle, and Evelyn is now down in the depths.

"How can I pull you to this place?" I stroke Evelyn’s hair, then wipe her tears, listening to her choked sobs. This is kind of... frustrating. I’m frustrated because I don’t understand.

I do understand that living beings tend to cry if someone important to them dies. But why be sad about killing a being you didn’t even know, who tried to kill you?

It seems so... irrational. That angel tried to kill Evelyn, and then Evelyn instinctively reacted by killing him first. It’s nature. Evelyn’s own body knows it’s natural to defend itself, which is why it defended itself. It makes no sense to collapse in suffering for defending your own life.

"Hmmm..." I hug Evelyn tightly and then start nibbling her ear. I wish I could go deep inside her, invade her subconscious, and see what’s there, but I can’t. So I try to pull her back.

"No... I shouldn’t pull the complete Evelyn, and I probably can’t anyway. It makes no sense to pull her completely because she’ll just cry and collapse in tears..." I decide to try pulling the rational Evelyn.

The brain is a complex thing. I myself have studied the minds of many living beings. I understand that rationally and emotionally, the brain works in conjunction with separate activities.

I don’t have a brain. My body is just water without any organs or anything similar, so I don’t know what it’s like to have a brain. But I know the brain has a lot of water, and water I understand.

"Let’s pull our little fruit into her riper version." I try to pull only the rational part of Evelyn, completely ignoring her feelings. It’s like pulling only the part of her mind responsible for decisions.

Soon, the Evelyn in my arms stops crying and "wakes up," showing I succeeded. She pushes my arms away and steps out of them.

"W-What do you think you’re doing?!" she yells at me, her gaze cold as I smile at her.

"Bringing you back. Or rather, pulling a part of you from the depths. So, Evelyn, why are you so sad about killing someone?" I ask this Evelyn, who looks at me calculatively.

"...Hmph. Expected from a monster. Of course you wouldn’t understand my magnificent and grand personality. You should know that..." She starts talking, building herself up to the maximum.

I listen and ignore 99% of everything she says while rolling my eyes. Seems I’ve discovered where all her narcissism comes from.

"..." I spend a few minutes listening, but all she does is go in circles that always return to her praising herself. It’s quite irritating.

"Evelyn, summarize. Why are you suffering?" I ask, annoyed. She stops talking and looks at me.

"...Because..." She pauses for a moment, looking directly at me.

"Hmmm... I’m not sure..." When she says that, I’m just confused. She herself doesn’t know why she’s sad?

"...How to put this into words... I feel monstrous. Weak. I feel like I’m not myself when committing murder."

"I feel that taking a life makes ’me’ slowly die and be replaced by a demon that isn’t me, but looks like me."

"It’s as if I’m taking my whole life and destroying it with my own hands while reshaping it into something new. And I’m afraid of the novelty."

"Afraid of the novelty?" I ask curiously, finally getting to something interesting.

"Yes, Arial. I’m afraid of the novelty. I’m afraid of what isn’t predictable. The future is unpredictable, so it scares me. A future I can’t predict is a future where my chance of failure is gigantic."

"At least in a predictable future, I have concrete numbers to use. Isn’t that the natural basis for all creatures? We fear the unknown. I just have a greater fear than average."

"Fear that doing something as drastic as taking a life will change me irreversibly for the worse..." When she finishes speaking, her body collapses to the ground as I stop forcibly keeping her rational part above the subconscious, so she sinks back into the depths.

"Hmmm... I have doubts, but I think that’s the limit." The body resumes crying, reflecting Evelyn’s complete mentality instead of her rational fragment.

"Fear of the future..." I think about my own future. I never thought much about the future. I’m a monster. Monsters only need to think about the "here and now," since we might not have a future the next day.

"What an intriguing little fruit. Don’t worry, sweetie, I’ll help you recover." I pick her up and start stroking her body while deciding to whisper in her ear. I’ll manipulate this stupid, fragile, immature little fruit.

After all, it’s in my nature to manipulate other beings. So I’ll use that to help this immature little fruit see the world from a new perspective. But not just any perspective. I want to pass on MY worldview to her.

"See, little fruit... no, Evelyn. Yes, you are Evelyn, not a little fruit... So see, Evelyn, why not see the fun side of being a monster?" I begin stroking her firmly, deceiving her brain.

I am a being of temptation, of poisonous words and sweet gestures to deceive the brains of those who hear my voice.

And my reason for manipulating Evelyn and helping her deal with her fear isn’t for benefit, kindness, or real help. It’s because I’ve just realized the most fun thing of all.

Evelyn isn’t afraid of killing. Evelyn isn’t crying and afraid because she killed someone. Evelyn is afraid of no longer being herself when she kills. And that changes everything.

Because it means if Evelyn realizes the change doesn’t happen or that she changes for the better, then killing would no longer be something to fear. And that is fun.

"Evelyn, have you ever stopped to think about the good points of killing?" I move my hands under her clothes, touching her smooth skin.

"The glorifying, pleasurable sensation of having power. You want power, don’t you? The power to decide if your enemy lives or dies. The sensation of their submission while it’s your choice whether or not to kill them." I begin deceiving her by touching her weakest point.

From what I’ve observed of Evelyn since I ’latched onto’ her, Evelyn is someone who wants power, who doesn’t want to be a failure. She’s someone who has never experienced how addictive and intoxicating power is. And I’ll use that to make her destroy her remorse over killing.

"Think about it, Evelyn. You have the blade, the life, and the choice. It’s not a bad thing. It’s proof you’ve grown. That you’ve become your best version. The powerful version that no longer needs to crawl on the ground for scraps of power." My hands reach her breasts and squeeze them.

I’m not playing with Evelyn in a sexual sense. No, that would be too simple. I am shaping her.

The brain and mind are like clay. They can easily be shaped by someone’s touch. And I am the artisan who will shape Evelyn’s immature mind with my words.

The body before me isn’t an object of desire. It is the representation of Evelyn’s mind and will. It is her "brain" represented as something conscious.

"Doesn’t it feel good? The sensation of controlling others’ fates, deciding who lives and who dies." I pull at her breasts, making her tremble, and I notice she’s stopped crying. That puts a sickly large smile on my face.

"Yes, Evelyn. It’s as sweet as having an orgasm. Think about it, Evelyn. Don’t you want to be the one in control? Don’t you want... to make Esther proud?" When Evelyn hears that name, her ears perk up, more alert.

’Oh? A trigger?... Hahahahaha.’ I squeeze her breasts, having found a trigger. In the brain, a trigger is an action, memory, smell, or reaction the brain performs automatically.

’Seems Evelyn really wants to impress Esther... I see... I see... This is perfect.’ From what I know of Esther, she is a tyrannical, powerful military commander who rules her soldiers with respect and fear and who isn’t afraid to kill.

"Evelyn, don’t you want to be like Esther and make her proud? Make your wife proud and make peace with her?" When Evelyn hears this and I pinch her nipples, she moans.

Her brain is being shaped by the stimuli and words I use. This makes me want to go further, as far as I can, to take advantage of her fragile mental state. In the end, Evelyn is right. I am a monster. And the biggest mistake a living being can make is to show vulnerability in front of a monster.

"Don’t worry, Evelyn. Soon you won’t be afraid of killing anymore. I, your dear Arial, will help you." The brain can change easily, but not too far from its original state. I doubt I can make Evelyn kill people and enjoy it, BUT I will be able to make her kill without collapsing in tears every time.

I will help Evelyn lock away this feeling and show it to no one. She will lock away all the pain, fear, disgust, and revulsion while she leads. And when she’s alone, that’s when she can collapse without worry, just to release that burden for the next day.