The empress had left, and now I was lying alone on the bed.

"Sigh, that was so tiring but I am glad that everything worked out".

Before she left, she told me to move back into her mansion and said she'd tell me more about herself when I felt better.

I couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement at the thought of learning more about her, especially since she had not been mentioned that much in the novel.

"Now that I think about it, what is her name?" I asked myself, a hint of surprise tingeing my voice as the realization struck me.

Although I had the novel completely memorized, I still opened the [Plot Book] to double-check.

"I can't believe it; her name truly isn't mentioned anywhere. The author never gave her one."

I could not believe this author, In the whole novel she is referred to as either the empress or the shadow empress. Sure she was not that involved in the main story but that does not mean to not give her a name.

"I better ask her name the next time we meet and try not to make things awkward", I say aloud, though deep down, I had a feeling that no matter what, things would be awkward.

Anyway, now I decided to move on to the next step. I can discuss the traitors with my mother after I get better so for now I wanted to see how things were going with the fox.

"System, how long was I unconscious for?"

[Three days]

"Yeah, three days should have been enough to get the job done," I mused aloud.

Sensing two people standing outside the door, I called out to them.

"Both of you, come in."

Qin and Lifen entered the room, standing side by side, and bowed respectfully.

"Hope you're doing well, my lord," they both said in unison.

The first thing that caught my attention was Qin's red eyes.

"What happened to your eyes?" I asked her.

"Oh, it's nothing, my lord," Qin replied with a nervous smile.

"She was crying the whole time, worrying if you would wake up or not," Lifen chimed in.

"Aaaaaa, you said you wouldn't tell him. My lord, I was not crying!" Qin protested.

Seeing her panicking, I decided to tease her a little.

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"You weren't crying, even though I almost died? That makes me a little sad, you know," I said, feigning a sad expression.

And with that, Qin started to spill everything.

"No, my lord, I was crying a lot, you know. I cried myself to sleep, thinking about what would happen if you were to died and all."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better, but it's fine, Qin."

"No, but I really was crying. Please believe me! Lifen, tell my lord how I was crying the whole night."

Lifen sighed and said, "Qin, he's just teasing you."

When Qin turned toward me and saw my smile, she blushed and pouted, saying, "You're mean, my lord."

I chuckled and shifted my attention to Lifen.

"What about you, did you cry?"

"Not at all, my lord," Lifen replied calmly with an emotionless face.

"Wow, that's really heartless of you. We've been together since childhood, and you didn't even shed a tear. So what would you have done if I had actually died?"

"If that had happened, I would have taken my life right beside you," Lifen said with a serious expression, which took me by surprise.

'That's some serious sense of loyalty,' I thought inwardly.

"Ahem, anyway, what happened with the fox?" I asked, changing the subject.

"She did not even last a day. When she saw the result of that medicine on the others, she started crying and said she would do anything to avoid eating the medicine."

"I thought that it would take more to break her will but I guess the result was better than what I expected."

Now that the fox was ready to talk, I sent Lifen to get her.

...

"It's nice to see you again, Nine-Tails," I greeted her with a bright smile.

"I-it's n-nice to see you too, m-my lord," stuttered the fox-girl nervously.

This time, unlike before, I had her kneel on the floor with her hands tied behind her back.

"So, did you enjoy the show?"

The fox trembled, tears threatening to fall. Seeing her in such a state stirred an unusual feeling within me. Witnessing a beautiful woman, scared and trembling before me, brought a strange sense of satisfaction that I had never experienced before.

A character from the novel, one even the protagonist couldn't touch, now knelt before me.

'How would I feel if it were the heroines?' I wondered briefly, picturing all the heroines bound and kneeling with covered eyes and gagged mouths.

"I-I am truly ashamed of my past behavior, my lord," the fox-girl said, bringing my attention back to her.

"I will do everything you ask. I'll teach you all my techniques and make the contract."

"Hmm, now, was that so hard to do? If you'd done that from the beginning, we could have had a much more pleasant relationship."

"I sincerely apologize for my earlier rudeness and arrogance," she said and bowed until her head touched the ground.

"Sigh, I get it so get up, and let's proceed with the contract."

Lifen approached me, handing over a scroll I had prepared while they were bringing the fox. I instructed Qin to cut the fox's ropes and handed her the contract.

"Feel free to review the conditions."

After a few minutes, the fox looked at me with shock on her face and trembling hands.

"My lord, there seems to be a mistake here," she stammered.

"Oh, I suppose that could happen since I wrote it in a hurry. What is the issue?" I asked.

"It's not mentioned when I will be free, and some of the conditions you mentioned before are also not included here," she said, attempting a nervous smile.

"Oh no, those are not mistakes," I responded with a knowing smile.

"Eh?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

"I excluded those elements intentionally," I clarified.

"But isn't this a-" she began.

"A Slave Contract?" I finished her sentence, still smiling. "Indeed it is."

The fox fell to the floor, dropping the scroll in shock.

"You see, the previous conditions were meant for someone with whom I wanted to establish a friendly relationship. However, that person rejected my kindness, and so the terms have changed."

I rose from the bed, suppressing the pain in my shoulder, and picked up the contract.

"Now, it's your choice," I said as I crouched near her, a blue crystal materializing in my other hand. "Would you prefer to do this the easy way or the hard way?" I asked with a maniacal smile.