It’s poison...

“「Create Gun Lance」!”

Liana had already loaded the antidote.

“Sister Liana...” But upon hearing Erinna’s voice, she was momentarily distracted. That heartbreaking voice sounded so pitiful.

Because of this, Liana missed the opportunity to use the antidote, and Erinna pinned down her arm.

“Good night, Sister Liana.”

When Liana opened her eyes and regained consciousness, she found herself in a dark room, feeling uneasy.

She wasn’t gagged, but her hands and feet were bound.

Although Liana was clothed, she could feel many ropes binding her body under her clothes. And most unbearably...

Why was that place also being constricted?

With the slightest struggle, Liana could feel the painful friction.

“「Gem...」”

Liana wanted to create a small knife to cut the ropes, but found she couldn’t. This feeling of powerlessness was identical to when she couldn’t use magic before.

Had she lost her mana again? Was the potion Erinna had given her earlier a forbidden drug that made her lose her magic? That didn’t seem right.

Of course, all her confusion began to clear up with Erinna’s appearance.

“Give up, Sister Liana. In this room, you cannot use magic. This place blocks everything from the outside world; it’s specially designed for interrogating criminals,” Erinna now appeared before Liana.

“Interrogating criminals?” Liana wasn’t too surprised that Venus Manor had such a place. After all, Venus Manor was a territory of assassins, and interrogating criminals was commonplace. Information about the Luska Kingdom had been obtained through this method. But the problem was, “Am I a criminal?”

Liana didn’t know what wrong she had committed to be treated this way.

“Yes, Sister Liana, you are a criminal.” Erinna came before Liana, reached out her hand, and gently touched Liana’s cheek, as if caressing a treasure.

“What did I do?” Liana didn’t understand.

“Don’t be afraid, Sister Liana. I won’t hurt you.” Erinna’s hand fell on Liana’s collar, and with a gentle tug, exposed the love bites on Liana’s neck.

Erinna saw that not just her neck, but also her stomach and even the inside of her thighs bore these marks.

Without having to think, Erinna knew what Liana had experienced yesterday.

“Then why treat me like this?” Being tied up this way, even with Erinna’s reassurance, Liana felt no sense of security.

Moreover, Liana truly dared not move at all. The slightest movement caused the ropes to create painful friction and strange sensations.

“I just... I just fear that Sister Liana will leave me again...” Erinna’s voice carried a hint of tears.

Liana could see that Erinna’s eyes had become somewhat red.

But something was off. If she feared she might run away, thus restrained her, Liana could understand that. But why bind her underneath her clothes too? And in such a strange manner? Liana couldn’t comprehend it.

Yet Erinna’s current state made Liana’s heart ache. “I’m sorry. Due to some special circumstances, I couldn’t tell everyone about this.”

“Not even me...” In Sister Liana’s eyes, was she someone who couldn’t be trusted?

Erinna was clever. She naturally understood why Sister Liana had done this, and she understood Sister Liana’s actions. But why not tell her? Was it because she couldn’t trust her?

“If I truly didn’t want to tell you, you wouldn’t know even now. I just... missed the opportunity for certain reasons. So now I asked Mephilia to help me contact you, which led to today’s situation,” Liana said.

Indeed, if Sister Liana didn’t want to tell her, she wouldn’t have known at all.

“Then, Sister Liana, do you need my help?”

“I really just wanted to tell you about this. I don’t need you to do anything.” Liana also knew what Erinna was worried about.

Was she only remembered when Liana wanted to use her?

After all, the timing was too strange.

“I was worried about you, so I came here. Your mental state is poor, very unstable. You’ve indeed done many things during this time, but some actions have been too extreme, causing some people to be dissatisfied with you,” Liana said with great concern.

“As a ruler, this is how it should be.”

“You want to find the killer who murdered me and avenge me, right?” Liana directly pierced through Erinna’s thoughts.

“...”

“This way, you cannot become a qualified duchess, Erinna.”

“A qualified duchess?” Erinna looked at Liana. “I know everything. Even during the time ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ Sister Liana was ‘dead,’ you never stopped observing and helping me.”

Many times, troubles in Venus Territory would mysteriously disappear. Sometimes, Princess Mephilia would appear at the scene, making her mistakenly believe Princess Mephilia had resolved the issues.

But now it seemed, all of this was arranged by Sister Liana.

“I am indeed not a qualified ruler.”

“Being a ruler means handling countless letters, reading endless materials, dealing with unending troubles. I’ve never found joy in being a one.” Erinna looked at Liana. “I became a ruler entirely because of you, Sister Liana.”

“I’m sorry...” This was originally Liana’s responsibility, yet it was completely pushed onto Erinna, and now she was lecturing Erinna.

“Sorry?” Erinna took out a contract. “Very well, Sister Liana. Now, you just need to sign your name on this contract, and Venus Territory will belong to you. You will become the Duchess of Venus.”

“Erinna...” Liana bit her lip.

Erinna seemed to be in deep pain. Liana also knew that for someone with no blood relation to the Venus Dukedom, becoming the Duchess of Venus was a highly controversial matter.

All the accusations, insults, and strange looks... Erinna must have suffered greatly.

“I understand...” Since Erinna was in such pain, Liana would do her best to help her.

“Even if Sister Liana will ruin everything she has prepared for this?”

“I cannot watch you suffer so and do nothing, especially since this was caused by me. You don’t need to bear responsibilities that should be mine. I am... a very unworthy sister. I’m sorry.” Liana lowered her head.

Even if the carefully prepared plans were disrupted, she would still agree?

Sister Liana was truly very kind.

Erinna handed over the contract. Concerned that Liana was bound and couldn’t sign with her hand, Erinna thoughtfully said, “You don’t need to sign. Just let Sister Liana’s blood drip on it, and it will take effect.”

How considerate indeed. Liana bit her tongue, and blood dripped from it.

It fell onto the contract.

“Sister Liana... really trusts me.” Erinna looked at the bloodstain on the contract, revealing a satisfied smile. “Not carefully reading the content of the contract can lead to serious consequences, Sister Liana.”

“...So, you hate me that much?” Liana indeed hadn’t considered this possibility.

“No, Sister Liana. I have never hated you. I only hate my own incompetence.” Erinna unfolded the contract, letting Liana see it clearly.

This wasn’t a contract to become the head of Venus Family. There was nothing on it, only Liana’s bloodstain.

“Sister Liana, even if I’m unhappy, I know that I must become the Head of Venus Manor. Life isn’t always going to be all shiny and merry. Now, I need to be the Duchess of Venus, I need power.” Erinna’s golden eyes stared intently at Liana.

Without power, she could only watch helplessly as Sister Liana was bullied, could only watch as Sister Liana was taken away from her by others.

“Then what are you trying to do?” Liana still couldn’t understand why Erinna had tied her up. These things could have been discussed face to face.

“In Sister Liana’s heart, I’m also very important, right?” Erinna placed one hand on her face, tilting her head and smiling.

“You are my very important family...”

“But we don’t have any blood relation. I’m just an outsider who was adopted.”

“I don’t care about that.”

“I care very much. Everyone knows I’m just an outsider who doesn’t belong to the family,” Erinna said.

“...” Liana didn’t know what to say to comfort Erinna.

“But, I have a solution.”

“What solution?”

“Why don’t we just become family?” Erinna sat opposite Liana, took off her shoes, stretched out her legs to stand up, and stood over Liana.

“Erinna?” Liana seemed to realize what Erinna wanted to do.

“This isn’t right...”

“Why can’t I? Is it because Sister Liana already has Princess Mephilia?” Erinna bit her lip, very angry. She directly kicked over the chair.

“Don’t do this, Erinna...”

Erinna’s black stocking-covered sole pressed against Liana’s face. She reached out and undid the collar of Liana’s clothes. “These marks were left yesterday, right?”

“...”

“I’m so envious. Princess Mephilia not only knows about Sister Liana’s situation but can also be so close to Sister Liana. I really... envy her so much.” Erinna just sat on the chair, one foot on Liana, occasionally hooking the ropes inside Liana’s clothes.

Making the ropes rub against Liana’s body, touching Liana’s sensitive areas.

“What have I not done well enough? Sister Liana, why, when we were little, as soon as Princess Mephilia came, you would leave my side? Why... didn’t you look at me more? Is she that important?” Erinna’s voice carried a hint of tears.

Erinna had worked hard since childhood, just to receive Liana’s praise. She would be good and not disturb Liana and Mephilia’s time together.

Of course, after Mephilia left, Liana would return to Erinna’s side and play with her.

It could be said that after Erinna came to Venus Manor, the time Liana spent by her side was much more than with Mephilia. But precisely because of this, Erinna felt that someone had taken Liana away from her.

Of course, looking back as an adult, these things seemed very silly. But when she was young, Liana was the first to give her the warmth of family, yet Mephilia came and took away some of that time. This made Erinna very jealous.

But because of Liana, she couldn’t do anything. She was just an adopted outsider. Being able to receive care from Liana and her parents was already very fortunate.

So, these feelings had been hidden all this time, from childhood until now.

After experiencing so much, Erinna could no longer suppress it. She felt like she was going crazy.

And at this moment, Liana appeared before her again. She had completely given up on thinking now. She just wanted to possess Liana completely, even if just for now.

“Erinna...” Hearing Erinna’s trembling words, Liana realized that Erinna had been suppressing her feelings since childhood.

“Sister Liana, let me be selfish once, okay? From childhood to adulthood, I’ve always listened to you, never opposed what you said. I’ve always been a good child, but... the good child never gets any reward...”

“Erinna.” At this moment, Liana had also untied the ropes on her arms. Taking advantage of Erinna’s inattention, she pinned Erinna beneath her, stopping Erinna’s next actions.

Liana saw that Erinna... was crying.

“I’m sorry... I’m a bad child. I’m sorry, Sister Liana, I’m sorry...”