Free Web NovelChapter 4: Fighting the Yandere with Taxes
Cain had actually noticed it earlier...a crest stamped with a person’s name on the Unicorn’s back. It had vanished in a flash, right as Damian was on the verge of reading it in full.
But Cain wasn’t just anyone. His sharp eyes had already caught the name before it dissolved.
Lucy... Hmm, that’s incredibly unsettling... he muttered to himself.
Upon reflection, the original novel had never mentioned the villainess owning a Unicorn. Then again, the main plot of the novel had already concluded, rendering his prior knowledge practically useless. Still, the terrifying realization that this beast belonged to Lucy, the yandere villainess, sent a chill down his spine. If she was using this creature to spy on him... it meant she suspected him. At the very least..
Cain locked his gaze directly onto the Unicorn’s eyes. He stared intently, as if trying to pierce right through its soul.
—"Mistress, this man is staring straight at me in a highly suspicious manner. Did he notice something...?"
—"If we hadn’t forgotten to remove that crest, we wouldn’t be in this mess... But it’s impossible. My techniques are far too advanced for him to trace."
Lucy felt a sudden wave of panic under Cain’s piercing gaze, feeling as though he were staring directly into her own eyes.
"Indeed, a Unicorn’s eyes, resembling a star-studded night sky, are the definitive hallmark of a pure lineage," Damian chimed in with a smile, breaking the tension. "It seems My Lord has already noticed the staggering density of the stars in his eyes. This proves that this majestic beast is an ancient, long-lived creature."
"Yes... it is certainly an ancient one," Cain agreed, nodding smoothly.
He shifted his gaze to scan the rest of the Unicorn’s body, masterfully playing it off as though he had merely been conducting a thorough examination from the very start.
Through the telepathic link, Lucy let out a sharp sigh of relief. She relaxed the moment Cain averted his gaze. I must be overthinking things, she reassured herself. Her techniques wouldn’t be bypassed so easily, even if the man standing before her was supposedly the strongest powerhouse on the continent.
"Let’s get him into the stables," Cain ordered. "In any case, we shouldn’t let him wander too far. We can’t have rumors spreading about a legendary beast residing here."
Damian nodded understandingly. The two men began walking back, with the Unicorn following them in quiet obedience..
Meanwhile, Cain’s deadpan expression returned, but beneath his mask of supreme composure, he was practically losing his mind. Lucy is definitely watching me... or at least, close to it.
I deliberately didn’t use an appraisal technique so she wouldn’t realize I’m on to her. But what if she really is monitoring my every move right now? If that’s the case... his thoughts raced.
It was glaringly obvious that she deeply suspected him. An internal tremor ran through him. This was spiraling completely out of his control. The last thing he needed right now was to provoke a direct conflict with Lucy, a woman who wielded genuine celestial-level might.
She was an absolute monster. If she ever found out that he knew her secret, it would be game over. She would break out of hiding in a heartbeat and take his head..
In reality, Cain was restricted. Under normal circumstances, he appeared relatively weak. His true strength...the power that made him the undisputed apex predator...lay within a state known as "The Transcendent"
However, because this power was far too cataclysmic for the current world, unleashing it would immediately alert the world’s Guardian Deities, who would descend to seal and restrict him completely. He had to constantly suppress himself to evade the very laws of the world.
Therefore, instead of using a divine inspection spell to pry into the Unicorn’s consciousness, he chose to act completely natural. He had to play the part perfectly and avoid raising any red flags. Who cares if I’m the father? I’ll play dumb and stall for as long as humanly possible. He knew for a fact that the second she confirmed his paternity, she would launch an all-out assault on him.
While Cain was deeply submerged in his tactical overthinking, Lucy continued to gaze at his retreating back through the Unicorn’s eyes.
—"Hah... Did you honestly think you could escape me, you so-called Master of the Transmigrators? If you were truly as omnipotent as the rumors claim, you would have detected me by now. Don’t worry. First, I am going to make you pay dearly for your parental neglect. And then... I’ll make you beg on your knees to be with me. Fufu..."
To be perfectly honest, the Unicorn...whose name was Jade—had absolutely no desire to listen to any of this. However, since his mistress was deploying a Sensory Link technique, her internal monologue echoed clearly in his mind.
—"You will definitely try to run away. I know your type; you’re a runner. But you won’t escape me. I will catch you... lock you away in a sealed room, chain you down, and make sure you never see the light of day. Then, I will gently stroke your hair and tell you: ’The problem isn’t me, I am not evil. You’re just being disobedient.’ You will love me then, and you will learn to be perfectly compliant."
In reality, Lucy was letting her imagination run wildly out of control. She wouldn’t actually go that far, but just last night, right before coming here, she had read a book titled: How to Tame Your Husband and Make Him Love You Like a Mature, Open-Minded Woman.
These were actually her least dark thoughts. She had just realized that she shouldn’t corrupt the mind of her loyal beast companion with her more... "highly cultured" fantasies.
Jade, the Unicorn, interjected via their mental link.
—"Mistress, I believe that sounds far too exhausting. How about you simply confess your love to him? I have observed that this method is highly effective among humans... Or are you just insecure about whether he loves you back?"
Lucy’s thoughts ground to a sudden, freezing halt.
She absolutely refused to admit it.
She refused to acknowledge the nagging feeling that she was nothing more than an intruder in his life—someone trying to claim him all for herself without putting in any of the actual emotional work.
—"It’s not like that at all! He will definitely understand... I mean, I love him, what more could he possibly need?! Oh, damn it, why am I even explaining this to you? Just keep walking and shut up!"
Jade the Unicorn felt a deep, silent resignation. His mistress was never going to change.
An hour later.
Can a Unicorn camouflage itself as a regular horse?
This abrupt realization struck Cain right as the Unicorn’s majestic form shifted before his very eyes. Amelia stood right beside him, completely silent and lost in her own thoughts.
Cain finally saw through the play. Lucy was absolutely determined to tag along no matter what. Now that the divine beast’s beautiful, eye-catching appearance had faded, it looked just like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill steed.
It was obvious she had realized his true motive: he was trying to lock her little spy away in the stables under the pretext of "not drawing unwanted attention."
"Hahaha! This is simply incredible," Damian laughed merrily. "It seems this horse is truly destined to accompany My Lord on his journey."
Without even waiting for his master’s input, Damian enthusiastically began prepping Jade, hitching him straight to the carriage. After all, it was the perfect choice, and now there was no issue with letting him out of the estate. And just as his master had requested, they were looking for the handsomest option.
Damian... are you secretly conspiring with that woman against me? Cain grumbled inwardly.
If Lucy watched him take Amelia to the bakery through the horse’s eyes, wouldn’t that loudly broadcast to her that he was taking the girl out on a father-daughter date?
Furthermore, there was the System reward explicitly tailored for Amelia. Giving her a highly valuable, protective item like that jade pendant was practically equivalent to shouting: "You aren’t just a friend’s daughter, you are my flesh and blood!"
Therefore... instead of taking her to the bakery and giving the whole game away, he would take her on the single most mind-numbing, boring trip in human history.
Within half an hour, the carriage grunted to a halt right in front of a massive, imposing structure.
The building sat dead center in the city’s bustling commercial district, where the traffic was heavily congested and a massive crowd of people had already gathered, swarming around the entrance.
They had officially arrived at the Tax Administration Bureau.
Heh... Enjoy the show, Lucy, Cain sneered triumphantly in his mind. As a modern man from Earth, I am the only person in this entire world who possesses the mental fortitude to endure the absolute, soul-crushing boredom of a tax government building.
Through the Unicorn’s eyes, Lucy stared blankly at the grand emblem of the Royal Tax Administration Bureau.
Seriously?! You are a freaking Duke! Why on earth do you need to visit the tax office in person?!
Amelia was equally bewildered as she stepped down from the carriage. Though she had been lost in her own thoughts, she finally processed their surroundings.
"Wait... Why am I here?" she asked, turning to Cain, who was still casually rocking his shark-illustrated shirt.
"To be frank, all the servants at the manor are incredibly busy today," Cain replied nonchalantly. "Since you were just idling around, I brought you along to hold the paperwork while I finalize the tax payments."
Amelia’s face contorted with pure irritation. Was this man seriously using her as a glorified paperweight?
"Don’t worry," Cain added smoothly. "After we finish this errand, I’ll take you to the bakery as a reward. And if you behave like a good girl, I might even give you a present. Besides, it’s just a small stack of papers." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Amelia stared at him in dead silence.
"Just wait here, the papers will be out in a second."
Right on cue, Matthew materialized from the shadows, carrying two massive, towering reams of documents. He handed them directly to Cain and vanished back into thin air before Amelia could even point a finger at him.
"Isn’t that a servant right there?! Why don’t you make him carry—wait, where did he go?!"
Cain put on a flawless display of utter bewilderment.
"Servant? What servant? There’s no servant here."
Watching this unfold through the Unicorn’s vision, Lucy was absolutely boiling with rage.
You absolute scoundrel... You are literally abusing your own daughter!
