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“E-Elope…?” Lilith felt her jaw hit the floor again.

But after everything she’d been through tonight, her tolerance for absurdity had evolved to god-tier levels. This time, she managed to process the sudden, plane-crash-level twist within seconds.

“When… did I ever say I’d elope with you?” Lilith looked like she might cry. “You can eat whatever you want, but you shouldn’t just say whatever pops into your head.”

“You really must be running a fever.” Ciel raised an eyebrow, her tone serious as she said, “Didn’t you already tell us you agreed to it yesterday?”

*Executing whatever that was agreed yesterday today… Your speed of action is indeed terrifying. Wait, hold on…*

Lilith frowned in confusion as she looked at Ciel.

“Who do you mean by *us*?”

“Us means us, duh. Look.” Ciel pointed toward the massive steamship, and Lilith followed her gaze.

Several figures poked their heads through the ship’s brightly lit portholes, waving enthusiastically in her direction.

“Lilith! You’re finally here! We’ve been waiting forever!”

As her eyes adjusted to the glare, she finally saw them clearly, and even with her max-level adaptability, her brain short-circuited on the spot.

Because every single one of them… was Ciel Hesse, who was standing beside her!
There were countless Ciel Hesses!
An entire ship full of Ciel Hesses!

“Wh-what is happening?!” Lilith touched her own forehead. “Am I really running a fever and hallucinating?”

“No, what you are seeing is real. Those are all me,” Ciel explained.

“All… you? Are you playing some kind of shadow clone game? Because if you’re messing with me, there should at least be limits!” Lilith said, feeling she was being played.

“Why would I be messing with you?”

Ciel looked genuinely puzzled, then pointed toward the ship, introducing everyone to Lilith.

“The one in red is my thirty-fifth reincarnation.”
“The one in green is my nineteenth reincarnation.”
“The one in purple is my eightieth reincarnation.”
“And that one in the ragged clothes… That’s me from the very first time I met you.”
“And this one…” Ciel pointed to herself. “Standing before you in white, this is my latest reincarnation.”

Lilith stared at her blankly, then stomped her foot in frustration.

“You think you’re the Calabash Brothers or something? And you even dressed yourselves in different colors! I’m the one who’s been reincarnating! Why are there multiple versions of you?!”

“Because you owe us, don’t you?” Ciel’s tone suddenly dropped as she stared at Lilith silently.

Under that gaze, Lilith felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her in midwinter. Every trace of anger vanished in an instant.

“Over all those lifetimes, you owed me a total of 1,652 times. So, naturally, you’ll repay that debt… 1,652 times.”

“1,600…?” Lilith’s face went pale. Her lips trembled. “Isn’t that… a bit excessive? I-I can’t possibly pay…”

“It’s fine.” Ciel patted her shoulder with a reassuring smile. “We’ve already expected this. That’s precisely why things turned out this way.”

Lilith blinked. “This way?”

“Yeah, this way!” Ciel gestured to the ship and smiled. “Lilith, all you have to do is elope with 1,652 versions of me, and our debt will be wiped clean!”

“Wiped clean my a̲s̲s̲!” Lilith nearly spat blood.

*I have to deal with 1,652 of them alone? I don’t want this kind of harem!*

“N-No way. Absolutely not.” Her face went pale as she shook her head weakly. “I-I’ll be drained dry…”

“Oh? So you’re going to let me down again?”

Ciel’s face darkened. She lowered her gaze and sighed as if she were reluctantly accepting an inevitability. “In that case, I’ll have to take a more… drastic measure.”

“Drastic measure…? What do you mean…”

Lilith began to panic, but Ciel’s iron grip held her fast. There was no escape.

“What else could it be? By force.” Ciel produced a thick, heavy rope from somewhere. She smiled and assured, “Don’t worry. It looks frightening, but it’ll feel absolutely wonderful later.”

“I don’t believe you! Let me go! I don’t want this! Help! Noooo!”

“Scream all you like. It’s just you and me here. Even if you scream yourself hoarse, it won’t change a thing.” Ciel sneered coldly.

“Damn it! I, Lilith, have lived wildly! Am I really going to end like this?”

Tears of anger and sadness welled up in her eyes. She fought with everything she had, but the rope only tightened around her.

“Alas… All is lost…”

She closed her eyes.

The image of her being dragged toward 1,652 ravenous wolves like a poor little lamb filled her with endless despair. She would be devoured clean.

And yet, if she thought about it more carefully… That might actually feel…

“Lilith, I’ve finally found you!”

A happy voice yanked her back from endless despair.

She opened her eyes to find Lesiah standing nearby, lantern in hand.

Joy flickered across Lesiah’s features in the lantern light, but her expression instantly turned frosty when she saw Ciel at Lilith’s side.

“Lilith, who is she?”

Both Lesiah and Ciel demanded at the same moment.

“She’s… she’s… You’re… You’re…”

Cold sweat poured down Lilith’s back. Her instincts told her that one wrong answer now, and her beautiful life would be over.

“I get it now.”

Before Lilith could form an answer that could placate both women, Lesiah tightened her grip on the cleaver.

“Is that woman the reason you refuse to take responsibility, Lilith?”

“No, no…! I…”

Ciel shifted her gaze to Lilith and asked, “So, she’s the reason why you refuse to leave with us, Lilith?”

“Well…”

“I see.” Lesiah’s eyes were tinged with a touch of madness. “So if this woman dies, you’ll take responsibility?”

“No, no, no! I never said that!”

Ciel nodded solemnly. “I see. Once this woman is gone, Lilith will elope with us.”

“No, no, no. I never said that either.”

“Then the rest is simple.” Lesiah’s lips curled.

“So I’ll just have to kill her, right?” Ciel asked.

*Listen to me, you b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲!*

Lilith was screaming internally.

“No, no, no. I’m really…”

She shook her head, pale as a sheet, but the looks on both women’s faces made it clear that neither had heard a single word she said.