The morning sun shining through the mansion's windows cast soft shadows on the polished marble floor.

  Exactly one week had passed since I descended upon this world.

  Sinking deeply into a leather chaise longue, I flipped through the middle of a thick history book I had Marie procure. The dry sound of paper echoed in the silent room.

  Behind me, Lily was silently preparing a flower vase.

  Her slender fingertips smoothly manipulated a pair of pure silver shears.

  Snip. Snip.

  From the stem of a crimson rose, sharp thorns were cut off one by one with artistic precision. Only the cold, metallic sound of the silver blades crossing reached my ears with a pleasant regularity.

  This is the best...

  I took my eyes off the book and looked up at the chandelier on the ceiling.

  No muddy camping outdoors again, huh. Money flowed in on its own, and my subordinate perfectly handled all my personal needs. This was the ideal Slow Life I had been seeking. I absolutely will not take a single step outside today. I'm going to become completely one with this chaise longue.

  'Haa...'

  Feeling completely satisfied, I let out a deep, long sigh..

  Immediately after.

  Snap.

  Behind me came the gruesome sound of a fresh plant stem being broken.

  Before I could turn around, Lily's freezing voice rained down from above my head.

  "...To trouble the Young Master's heart is a crime worthy of ten thousand deaths. The rats who have become our pawns are already three minutes past the scheduled time for their regular report. With this level of negligence, perhaps re-education is necessary."

  In her hand, the crimson rose that should have been beautifully arranged was ruthlessly crushed. Red petals fell to the floor from her pure white lace gloves like dripping blood.

  No, I just relaxed and took a deep breath...

  I started to open my mouth, but seeing the air around her beginning to distort and crackle, I hurriedly swallowed my words. If I denied it here, she might be so ashamed of her lack of perception that she'd immediately sever her own head.

  "...Do not panic, Lily. It's merely three minutes. Stop dirtying the carpet."

  I returned my gaze to the history book in my hands and muttered as if I couldn't care less.

  However, I sensed Lily sharply catching her breath behind me.

  "I see...!"

  Her voice was mixed with a dark, feverish joy.

  "You purposely overlook them passing the deadline in silence, enjoying the view from your throne as the stomachs of those who are late shrink in terror. The Young Master's sadism, like strangling a neck with silken floss... it sends shivers down my spine."

  Lily placed the crushed rose on a silver tray and carefully began to wipe her fingertips with a handkerchief.

  I kept my eyes on the book and simply turned the page in silence. If I opened my mouth any further, an even more troublesome conspiracy theory might be constructed.

  Five minutes later.

  There was a reserved, rhythmic knock on the heavy living room doors.

  "...Enter."

  When I called out, the doors slowly opened, and a single man practically crawled in.

  It was the petty villain who used to control the underworld of the town of Karuka, Viscount Morris.

  There was no trace of his arrogant attitude from a week ago. Pitch-black bags were carved under his eyes, his cheeks were sunken, and his fine silk clothes now looked terribly disproportionate to his body.

  The moment he caught sight of me, his shoulders jumped with a start, and he placed both hands on the floor, prostrating himself.

  "I-I apologize for my tardiness, Master...! The town inspections were strict, and it took time to arrange a carriage...!"

  While making excuses, Morris glanced up at Lily standing behind me. Lily didn't even spare him a glance, simply continuing to polish the silver teapot in her hands with a cloth in silence. Every time the sharp squeak of friction rang out, Morris's body twitched violently.

  "I am not asking for excuses. Report."

  When I closed my book, Morris hurriedly pulled a heavy leather pouch from his coat and placed it on the table. A heavy clink of gold rubbing together echoed.

  "Y-Yes! This is the profit from the black-market deals for this month, and copies of the ledgers from the town's various guilds as you instructed. Also..."

  Morris trailed off and offered a single envelope with a trembling hand.

  The thick parchment was sealed with wax bearing the crest of the House of Count Bardia.

  "...What is this."

  "There is an urgent 'problem' that I must bring to the Master's attention... Truth be told, five days from now, a large-scale masquerade ball hosted by Count Bardia will be held. The pretext is a celebration for the Hero's subjugation of the Demon Lord, but..."

  Greasy sweat oozed from Morris's forehead.

  "I have received information that the faction of the legitimate wife is using this soirée to completely exile my sister - the Count's mistress - from high society."

  I frowned.

  I couldn't care less about the love-hate dramas of nobles. But the problem was what came after.

  "If my sister loses her standing, the company I run with her backing, and all the concessions for our underground business, will be confiscated by the legitimate wife's faction. If that happens, my tributes to the Master, and the maintenance of the information network..."

  Having said that much, Morris choked on his words out of sheer terror.

  In other words, my comfortable shut-in funding source was in danger of being blown away in less than a week.

  I rested my elbow on the armrest of the sofa and massaged my temple with my fingers.

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  "...How troublesome."

  Pure annoyance leaked from my mouth.

  I hate standing out. The thought of going out of my way to dress up in stifling formal wear and attend a soirée where troublesome nobles probe each other's intentions seems completely insane. Dangerous thoughts crossed my mind, like maybe I should just send a random assassin to eliminate the ringleader of the legitimate wife's faction.

  However, Lily, who had been quietly polishing the teapot next to me, stopped her hands dead.

  "...I see. You will purposely abandon the sister on the spot, letting the legitimate wife's faction be certain of their victory for a moment. And then, from right beneath their feet while they are at their most unguarded and raising their cups in celebration, you will devour the very organization known as the Count's House from the inside out... Such a high-level trap."

  Lily placed the teapot down, stepped close to my chest, and slightly adjusted the knot of my necktie.

  "The Young Master's cold-blooded, tearless manipulation of the board... I cannot stop trembling."

  Morris let out a short shriek of "Hii!" and rubbed his head against the floor.

  "P-Please help us! Just don't abandon my sister...! Please, please have mercy!"

  Abandon her? I literally just said 'it's troublesome to go'!

  My internal screams reached no one. Lily's eyes had already switched to "preparing to toast with the enemy's blood and flesh," and Morris had been completely cast into the depths of despair. If I were to say "No, I just find changing clothes to be a hassle" right now, these two extreme emotions would have nowhere to go.

  I took a deep breath and pasted the face of a cold-hearted Demon Lord onto my visage.

  "...Morris. Arrange for an invitation, and the highest-grade formal wear for Lily and myself to wear. You can give the measurements to Marie."

  When I declared this coldly, Morris's face crumpled with tears and snot as he struck his forehead against the floor over and over.

  "Thank you! Thank you, Master!!"

  One week since my teleportation. My peaceful shut-in life had already met its end. I was inevitably being dragged out onto a battlefield called high society - a place far more troublesome than the stench of blood, swirling with perfume and conspiracies.

  "Excuse me...! I will arrange for the finest immediately...!"

  With his face wet with tears and snot, Morris backed out of the room, rubbing his head against the floor repeatedly.

  The heavy door clicked shut.

  I sank deeply into the leather sofa and covered my face with both hands.

  "...This is the worst."

  A voice of utter exhaustion leaked through the gaps in my fingers.

  A soirée. A masquerade ball. Factional disputes. Every single one of these was the exact "quagmire of human relationships" I wanted to avoid most.

  "Wearing a mask and squeezing into stifling formal wear. Plastering on fake smiles for nobles I don't even know, and blooming conversations over harmless, pointless small talk. ...There's a limit to this absurdity. Why must I willingly step onto such a bothersome stage?"

  I rested my head against the back of the sofa and glared at the chandelier on the ceiling.

  Then, the quiet sound of rustling clothes came from beside me.

  Lily took out a small velvet cloth from her pocket. She began to wipe the handle of the silver teacup placed on the table, one by one, with obsessively meticulous care.

  "How distressing. ...However, I can painfully understand the Young Master's anger, which is deeper than the ocean."

  The squeak of the cloth rubbing against the silver echoed in the quiet living room.

  "The humiliation of falsifying your own identity and slipping into a herd of lowly pigs. Pretending to dance to the tune of their shallow masquerade ball, while in reality, you are wrapping an 'invisible thread' around the necks of every noble in the venue. And then, at the very moment they are most certain of their victory..."

  Lily's hands stopped. Her red eyes reflected eerily on the curved silver surface of the teacup.

  "You will pull the thread tight in a single breath, making the factions tear each other's throats out. ...Ahh, what cold-blooded, elegant manipulation of the board! The fathomless abyss of the Young Master's malice fills me with a hair-raising ecstasy!"

  I massaged my temples firmly with my fingers.

  If I correct her here and say "I just want to slack off," I'll betray her fanatical expectations. But if I affirm it, this maid might actually make the nobles physically slaughter each other at the venue.

  I let out a deep sigh and deliberately brought the black tea to my mouth without answering.

  "I shall take that silence as affirmation. ...I will have Marie summon a tailor immediately. We must prepare the ultimate 'garments of death' to cast those pigs into the depths of despair, after all."

  Lily bowed reverently and left the room without making a single footstep.

  Left alone, I stared at my cooling Darjeeling and let out another heavy sigh, thinking about the stifling political drama that was about to begin.

  That afternoon, the living room was enveloped in a bizarre tension.

  Guided through the back door by Marie, the three most skilled tailors in the town of Karuka were brought in. Right now, they were dripping with greasy sweat, their hands holding the measuring tapes trembling violently as they took my measurements.

  "Hii...! P-Please raise your arm just a little bit...!"

  The elderly tailor pleaded in a strained voice.

  It was no wonder. Behind them stood Lily, wearing pure white lace gloves, completely silent, monitoring the tailors' every move with the eyes of a hawk eyeing its prey.

  "The tip of your needle passed a mere millimeter away from the Young Master's hair. Make the same mistake again, and I will sever that arm from the shoulder and feed it to the pigs."

  "Hiiiieek! I-I am so profoundly sorry!"

  Every time Lily quietly pronounced a sentence, the tailors' lifespans shortened, and they hurried their work with suppressed shrieks.

  While raising my arm and letting them do as they pleased, I quietly cursed the start of what was sure to be a troubling week.

  Five days later.

  The vast main estate of Count Bardia, located in the center of Karuka town.

  Even though the curtain of night had fallen, the area around the mansion was as bright as day. Countless magic lamps illuminated the gardens, and nobles clad in brightly colored dresses and formal wear stepped down from the luxurious carriages arriving one after another.

  From out of nowhere, the elegant melody of string instruments drifted on the wind.

  The black-lacquered carriage carrying us quietly came to a stop at the main entrance of the mansion.

  The coachman opened the door.

  The soles of my leather shoes stepped onto the cobblestones of the Count's estate.

  "...Not a bad night breeze."

  I muttered shortly and checked my attire.

  The pitch-black evening wear the tailors had risked their lives to finish. The high-quality fabric was so dark it seemed to absorb light, with dully gleaming silver thread embroidery applied only to the collar and cuffs. The upper half of my face was covered by an elaborate black mask adorned with crow feathers.

  Next, Lily stepped down from the carriage.

  I instinctively narrowed my eyes slightly.

  Her appearance was breathtakingly bewitching. Her usual maid outfit was sealed away, and a deep crimson evening dress accentuated her pale skin. Her back was boldly exposed, and every time she walked, the silk hem swayed like a wave of blood. Her face, too, was hidden by a Venetian mask studded with red jewels.

  "Young Master. Is there some flaw in my attire?"

  Lily lined up beside me and pulled her wrist-length black lace gloves up tightly.

  "No. It's perfect. ...Though it might stand out just a bit too much."

  "I am honored by your praise. I shall act as a perfect 'wall' so that the rabble and insects cannot approach you, Young Master."

  I gave a short snort of amusement and proceeded toward the mansion's entrance.

  The two royal guards standing in front of the entrance openly tensed up upon seeing our figures.

  It couldn't be helped. We weren't releasing any magical intimidation whatsoever. However, just having a [Level 150 Archdemon] and a [True Vampire] standing there distorted the surrounding air due to the absolute difference in our 'status' as living beings.

  I took the invitation Morris had prepared from my coat, pinched it between two fingers, and offered it.

  "The invitation. Please confirm."

  "Y-Yes...! C-Certainly, proxy for Viscount Morris...! P-Please, right this way!"

  The guard accepted the invitation with trembling hands and hurriedly cleared the way.

  The heavy double doors slowly swung open.

  The dazzling light of the chandeliers.

  The suffocating scent of perfume.

  The clinking of glasses and the murmur of nobles.

  The moment I stepped foot into the grand hall.

  Like magic, the clamor of the venue stopped dead.

  The gazes of hundreds of nobles turned toward us all at once, and even the orchestra's performance went off-key for a split second.

  An overwhelming sense of foreignness.

  Starting from a muddy Adventurer's Guild, passing through an abandoned house in the slums, in just one week.

  Without shedding a single drop of blood, we had successfully infiltrated the very center of the glamorous main stage where the highest authorities of this town gathered.

  "Now then."

  Behind my black mask, I coldly narrowed my eyes.

  "Shall we begin sweeping the board?"