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The searing pain never ceased but intensified instead.

With her battle qi running almost on empty, Lesiah could feel strength leaving her body.

Yet she hadn’t given up. She gritted her teeth as she tried her best to free her wrists from the damn metal restraints.

However, her efforts were in vain. It did nothing aside from draining her remaining energy even quicker and causing her wrists to bleed.

“Ohoho, how amusing. To think that your desire to live comes from the thing that you wanted to escape from the most.”
“Shut… up…”

The dehydration made her hoarse. Her voice which used to sound like a melodious nightingale sounded more like a dying duck right now.

“Ohoho, how pitiful.”
“Quit… acting… when… you’re… the… one… who cruelly… put me… in… here…”
“Ohoho, acting? I truly pity you, princess, for having to suffer like this before your death.”
“Shut up…”

Her voice grew weaker and weaker. It wasn’t just her impending death that was difficult for her to accept, but also this ordeal she had to suffer.

The high temperature was eroding her battle qi, she felt her skin being seared. At this point, she wasn’t even sure if the smell of something burnt was real or just her misconception.

“Ohoho, even my little heart aches to see how much pain you are in.”

Shiloah clutched his chest and pretended that he was in pain, like a stupid clown in some circus.

“How about I give you a little suggestion?”
“I… don’t want to hear it…”
“Ohoho, too bad princess. You’re not even capable of doing so in your current situation.”
“…..”

Lesiah remained silent. That was right. With her hands shackled, she didn’t even have the ability to cover her ears.

For someone who usually squandered battle qi, even spending some to seal her hearing right now was costly in this situation.

“Well then, allow me to make that suggestion.”

Bending down, Shiloah leaned toward the steamer. His whispering voice, however, seemed to have some magical power that went right into the deepest part of Lesiah’s mind.

“Ohoho, Princess Lesiah. You have run away countless times. Why not do it again this time…?”

Of course, what Shiloah referred to wasn’t ‘escaping’, but to ‘give up’.

To give up on resisting. To give up on everything. And choose to surrender once again.

“You think… I’m stupid? I… have no desire to die inside here… and become… your… food…”
“Your royal highness, you should know that you’re now in a situation where death is inevitable. With that being the case, why not choose an easier death? This is a special steamer. The more you resist with battle qi, the more you’ll suffer. On the contrary, if you give up resisting, it’s going to be like a nice sauna.”

It was then realization dawned upon Lesiah.

No wonder why she felt comfortable when she first entered the steamer. The temperature didn’t even feel like the right temperature of a steamer.

However, feeling comfortable didn’t mean she wouldn’t die.

Now that she thought about it, her respiratory tract hurt so much because it was scalded by the high temperature.

But was she going to choose death just to avoid suffering?

“Ohoho, how about it? Are you still going to keep up with this meaningless persistence that does nothing but put you through more pain? Staying alive only means choosing to become a machine that could feel pain. Those people that you care about, they merely care about you as the princess and not you as a person. What is the point of trying so hard?”

“T-That’s… not… true… Stop…”

“Ohoho, not true? I’m afraid you know very well that what I said are nothing but truths. If they really cared about you as a person, would you be forced to find relief in running away?”

“…..”

Lesiah was rendered speechless. Yes, she had known about it all along. Her father’s trust… Her mother’s reliance… Her little sister’s dependence… Miss Sheila’s loyalty… Coleman’s respect… Her people’s admiration… She got them because she was the eldest princess of Macedonian Empire.

Without this status, she was a nobody.

And it was also this status that brought her extreme pain.

“Ohoho, to put it bluntly, you’re too weak to shoulder the responsibility of your empire as the eldest princess, yet you don’t want to disappoint those whom you hold dear. You have heavy responsibilities on one hand, and your weakness on the other. Under the double pressure, you could only choose to surrender and escape. This is why you yearned for adventures and the life of an ordinary person. Ironically, these desires of yours are born from escapism.”

Shiloah mercilessly tore down her last wall of defense, and left her fragile heart exposed.

“In that case, why don’t you just throw away that identity of yours? You’re about to die anyway. Why not throw away that pride of yours as a princess, and run away like a normal person? I’m sure your parents won’t blame you. After all, no one would blame a dead person.”
“No one… would… blame… a dead person…?”
“Ohoho. Yes, no one will blame you again if you die here right now.”

Lesiah’s eyes slowly glazed over as thoughts of death began filling her mind.

That was right. If she died, no one could blame her again.

She would forever be the intelligent, diligent, beautiful Princess Artes Lesiah of the Macedonian Empire, who was loved and well respected by her people.

She would never let her parents, Miss Sheila, Coleman and the others down again.

“Oh yes, I have prepared another gift for you to celebrate our fateful encounter.”

“What… gift?” Lesiah spoke slowly, but her voice was filled with great interest.

“Ohoho, I promise that you’ll be reincarnated as an ordinary person. One without any pressure or the need to respond to any expectations… That way, you can live the life you always wanted. How about that?”

“An ordinary person…?”

The princess’ eyes gradually widened, but remained glassy. Her intention to die became even more apparent.

If dying meant she could become an ordinary person… Then that wouldn’t be too bad.

“Ohoho…”

Standing next to the steamer, Shiloah could feel the princess’ protective battle qi barrier slowly fading. He reached out and extinguished a burning incense stick hidden amidst the white smoke.

He covered his face with one hand and chuckled excitedly in a strange posture.

“Despair, what a delicious one! Although those that come with full flavors are good, nothing beats this kind that’s completely deprived of vitality. This Incense of Temptation that I begged from Lady Cornelia really lives up to its expectation…!”

With a snap of his fingers, a dining table that was completely set instantly appeared.

“Ohoho, without that pesky little girl, who can possibly interrupt my meal?”

Taking a seat at the dining table with fork and knife in his hands, he happily hummed a little tune. The ultimate delicacy that he always dreamed of was well within his reach now.

However…

“Who’s gone, stick man?”