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“Yes, yes, yes! I already understand the power of Lady Erica,” the man replied eagerly.

His gaze toward Erica was no longer submissive; instead, it also held a hint of… reverence? After all, he had been unconscious when Lilith had ordered Erica around. It was definitely amazing that Lilith could fool him!

To think that Lady Erica’s lackey could beat me up so bad… If she were the one who did it herself…

The man could not even bear to imagine it. He even began to believe what Lilith told him—that it was Lady Erica who had defeated Princess Estelle.

“What’s your name?” Lilith asked.
“Ash, my lady.”
“Ash, Lady Erica has a task for you.”
“I won’t let her down!” Ash said, standing straight.
“Very good.”

Lilith nodded in satisfaction.

“Actually, Lady Erica has a problem. Everyone knows Princess Estelle and Princess Luna, but not her,” she said.

“Because they’re too blind to see how amazing Lady Erica is,” Ash replied indignantly.

“Exactly. It’s up to us to make sure Lady Erica’s name is known, right?” Lilith said, putting her arm around Ash’s shoulders.

“Of course!” Ash puffed out his chest but it deflated the next moment as he asked, “But how do we spread the word?”

He knew he wasn’t the strongest, ranking in the middle at best, and had only his speed to rely on. He couldn’t build Erica’s reputation by running away and might even tarnish it.

“You won’t have to do anything. Just help Lady Erica deliver a message,” Lilith said softly.
“What message?”
“Everyone here is trash.”

Ash stared at her with wide eyes, stunned by the audacity of those words. “Isn’t that too arrogant?” he ventured.

“Oh? So you think Lady Erica isn’t worthy of saying that?” Lilith waved her fist in front of his face.

“N-No, of course not! Lady Erica is the only person worthy of such bold words!” Ash hurriedly corrected himself, not daring to go against Lilith after being reminded of the taste of her iron fist.

“Good. Just pass that message to the Anti-Princess Alliance and leave the rest to Lady Erica. You can do it. Lady Erica believes in you,” Lilith encouraged, patting Ash’s shoulder like a senior.
“Yes! I’ll get it done!” Ash declared, feeling a surge of determination.
“Off you go then.”
“Yes.”

As Ash turned to leave, Lilith suddenly stopped him. “Wait.”
“Is there anything else?” Ash asked cautiously.
“Give me your Holy Dragon’s Hearts. Keep one for yourself and give the rest to Lady Erica,” Lilith demanded, extending her hand.

Ash hesitated. Acquiring those Holy Dragon’s Hearts had been difficult. Handing them over now felt like a sacrifice.

“Are you going against Lady Erica’s wishes?” Lilith asked, her smile gentle.
“No… I wouldn’t dare. It’s an honor to serve Lady Erica.”

Ash forced a smile, struggling to retrieve the Holy Dragon’s Hearts from his pants pocket since storage rings could not be used during this period. Eventually, he managed to produce four and reluctantly handed over three.

“Here, take them.”

Lilith took a step back with disgust on her face and instructed, “Just place them on the ground.”

“Fine.” Ash placed the Holy Dragon’s Hearts on the ground with a pained look on his face, then left quickly as if fearing he might change his mind.

Lilith expected no less of a man who was confident in his speed. Ash vanished into the sky almost in an instant.

“Alright, the bait’s been set. Now we wait to see who takes it,” Lilith remarked, pulling out her pocket watch to check the time.

She turned to Erica with a kind smile, one that had appeared countless times that day. “Now, Lady Erica, it’s time for us to talk.”

“I-I’m… no lady… Please don’t call me that,” Erica shrunk a little, struggling to suppress the urge to flee as she offered a feeble smile to Lilith.

“I don’t know what plans you have next, but can you please leave me out of it? I’m just a harmless healer; I can’t assist you in anything,” Erica pleaded.

Lilith tilted her head and said, “What’s that, Lady… Erica? I believe you heard everything just now. What makes you think you can stay out of this now?”

“I… I can always surrender,” Erica nearly burst into tears.

She had wanted to speak up when Lilith was instructing Ash. After all, she had never said such a thing! How could someone as powerless as a defenseless rabbit like her say such arrogant words?

Yet, she dared not speak out. Doing so might lead to a fate worse than Ash’s. Her healing powers wouldn’t be of much use then since her corpse might not even be intact by the end of it.

Yet, if she remained silent and Ash went ahead with spreading the word around, she risked truly becoming the arrogant and tyrannical Lady Erica.

Sometimes, a person’s character is shaped not only by themselves but also by how others perceive them.

Could Erica, the healer who couldn’t even defeat a rabbit, transform into Erica, the tyrant who scorned the world’s heroes? Would such a story have a favorable outcome?

Erica doubted that the novelist in her neighboring village, who penned sweet romance stories every day, could salvage a tale with such a catastrophic beginning.

“Don’t be so uptight. I’m just borrowing your name; you won’t lose anything. And you could gain fame that even the most envious couldn’t match. Isn’t that a good thing?” Lilith coaxed her gently.

“I don’t want that kind of fame,” Erica protested tearfully. “Don’t you understand? If the healer stands out too much in the team, it’s a sure path to an early demise.”

“Don’t worry, nothing like that will happen when I’m around. Something good will happen once this is over,” Lilith assured, patting Erica’s shoulder and motioning for her to pick up the Holy Dragon’s Hearts from the ground.

“I really don’t want to be a bounty target. Grandma will think poorly of me if she sees me being wanted everywhere,” Erica muttered, reluctantly complying with Lilith’s request to retrieve the Holy Dragon’s Hearts.

“The time is almost up. Soon, we’ll confirm my suspicions,” Lilith announced suddenly.

“Suspicions?”

Erica was momentarily puzzled, then remembered that Lilith had brought her here solely to verify a hypothesis.