Darkness, who heard Lillian’s explanation without interruption, was troubled. He posed with one hand on the forehead, crossing his legs and closing his eyes gently. It came off too contrived, as if he was in a photoshoot. After massaging his head for a while, he clapped his hands and concluded.

“Okay, let’s put the auction on hold. If I can plant an informant in the palace with a small run-down mansion, it’s not a loss.”

I’m sorry it’s a small run-down mansion. Lillian laughed with a downpouring of emotion inside. Still, she avoided the auction. That alone accomplished the mission of coming here.

“But I can’t write off your debt. That’s one thing and another! I’ll leave you a mansion, but you’ll have to pay your debts back faithfully. Hoot. Otherwise, the Darkness of this abyss will free the Black Dragon…….”

“No! I’ll pay you back. I’ll pay you back, so don’t worry.”

Lillian cut off Darkness’s words firmly. Whatever his reply would be she thought it would hurt her mind once she heard it.

As if Darkness was disappointed, he shrugged his shoulders. It seemed to be a pity that he couldn’t finish his warning that he had rehearsed. He kept his mouth shut, looked at Lillian for a while, and said something unexpected:

“You’ve given me some valuable information, so I’ll do you a little favor in return.”

“What? Can you lower the interest rate?”

“No way.”

Darkness flatly denied it. As expected, he was an annoying man. Lillian looked at him with discontent. Then Darkness, who had his fingers crossed, opened his mouth with a solemn expression.

“I’d like to suggest a quick way to write off your debts.”

“Hmm. What’s that?”

Lillian’s face became serious. It was too good to be true.

In order for her to repay her debts to the Billions loan company, it would take up 70% of her monthly salary. And with her remaining 30%, she would have to pay her employees’ wages, pay for the maintenance of their homes, pay for food, and even pay for their living expenses.

Honestly, it was crazy. Thinking about living at least a year like that made her suffocated, so if there’s any other way! She wanted to consider it as long as it’s not weird.

‘You’re not asking me to sell my body, are you?’

Lillian’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. This body had a fairly innocent appearance. She also had a solid figure through her knighthood training. Like the lyrics of a song, she had “a cute face and a bad body.” As soon as she raised her ears on alert, Darkness opened his mouth and spoke in a strange tone.

“You could participate in the arena.”

“…What? Arena?”

“Yes. As you know, the arena run by Billions is quite popular. You can gamble on a match. If you’re a royal knight, you should have some skill so you could play as a participant. We will ensure your anonymity.”

Lillian blinked at his unexpected offer. He did want her to sell her body, abet in a different way than she initially imagined.. Instead of the red light district, Darkness was urging to enter the arena with her strength.

“Lillian, you have a great appearance with star qualities, and the audience will love you. If you’re lucky, you can write off all your debts at once. Now, what do you think of my proposal?”

Darkness reached out his hand and twisted one corner of his mouth. Lillian looked puzzled when she saw this.

‘An arena!’

The Roman Colosseum came to mind. Suddenly curious, Lillian asked several more questions.

“If—and I am saying ‘if’ I compete in the arena, who will my opponents be during these matches? Are the same players fighting?”

“No. If Ms. Lillian were to compete, the opponent would be a monster. The trend of the arena is ‘Beauty and the Beast’ themed. A match between a beautiful woman and a hideous monster.”

“Mo-monsters? Like what?”

“There are usually a lot of orcs and trolls. There are times when basilisks and gargoyles come out too.”

Let’s decline. Lillian thought with a smile. I’m going to pay my debt sooner or later. Better to have my neck still attached to my head.

Lillian had no intention of competing in these matches; she didn’t have any knightly abilities anyway and didn’t know the scope of Saleos’ power. It was too much for now. It was that moment that Lillian, who made her decision, tried to reject him moderately.

Nod.

“……?!?”

Suddenly, her head moved up and down against her will. Lillian’s eyes widened at the unexpected situation. It felt as if someone grabbed her head and forced her to move it.

Lillian desperately tried to regain control of her body, but to no avail. Even her mouth didn’t open. She was nodding her head infinitely like a broken doll. Darkness, who saw Lillian’s fierce head, clapped his hands happily and laughed. His eyes, covered by his hair, shone with excitement.

“Oh, you’re a true knight! You’re hot to compete, aren’t you? So, you agree to compete in the arena?”

Nod, nod, nod.

***