Villain: 10x Rewards Begins With The Protagonist's Mother

In another one of the rooms, Emma lay on her bed staring at the ceiling.

’He really has changed.’ She thought, replaying the scenes from the morning.

Like her master said, Dante didn’t seem to have any suicidal thoughts. She confirmed that much with her own eyes today.

’Is that really the Dante I know?’ She had asked herself the same question more times than she could count today.

His whole vibe was different. He was talking more, smiling more, even teasing her back when she tried to get under his skin. This was the same guy who used to reply with "okay," "hm," "yes" and leave her on read for hours. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

’Even compared to his childhood self, he feels different.’ Dante’s face appeared in her mind and there was an unusual level of confidence that came off him naturally.

The kid Dante was brave but also a coward.

The current one felt almost unnatural.

’Is this his real self that he’s been hiding all this time?’ She remembered what Natasha told her about him seeking revenge against the Devereux family.

When she first heard it, her heart almost stopped. But after seeing his actions for herself, she was at a complete loss for words.

That was why she kept repeating the same question the entire day.

While she was worried, a part of her was undeniably happy and excited.

’H-he finally stopped avoiding me!’ She hugged her big pillow and rolled around on the bed. ’Does that mean he’s going to confess soon?’

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Her heart started racing as she imagined Dante confessing to her.

But then she remembered all the times she had been let down. She had lost count of how many times he disappointed her over the years.

"Yeah, I shouldn’t get my hopes up." She buried her face into the pillow. ’That way I won’t get too much hurt again.’

Because of her past in the slums, she had been obsessed with becoming the richest person in the world.

She still remembered what it felt like to go to bed hungry, dig through trash for something to eat, wear the same torn clothes for months because there was nothing else.

She swore to herself back then that she would never feel that helpless again.

In five years, she would finally reach the top.

The richest person in the entire world.

But when she imagined standing at that peak, she didn’t feel what she thought she would feel.

Instead of excitement or relief, she already felt a sense of emptiness. She knew how absurd that would sound to anyone else, but she couldn’t help it.

’When I made that vow to become the richest, he made one too. We promised to stand at the top of the world together.’ She didn’t know where it all went wrong.

When Dante started pushing her away, she did everything she could to hold on. She called, texted, and even confronted him directly. But nothing worked.

He had completely forgotten the promise they made together.

After that, she stopped trying. She kept chasing her goal on her own because she knew she had the ability to reach it without him.

But as the years passed and the closer she got to the top, she realized something.

It was never about reaching the top.

It was about reaching it with him.

What was the point of standing at the peak of the world if the one person she wanted beside her wasn’t there?

"Idiot." She muttered under her breath and buried her face into the pillow like she was trying to hide something. ’Idiot, idiot, idiot...’

A few minutes later, Emma wiped her eyes and then her mind drifted back to Natasha walking out of Dante’s room that morning.

There was something off about the way her master reacted after seeing her. She could tell the two of them had gotten a lot closer while she was away.

’What could have possibly happened between them?’ Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. She was sure Natasha had left out a lot of things during their talk.

’No.’ She shook her head, catching herself. ’I must be going crazy. There’s no way a master would do something like that with her own student.’

Inside her head, two mini Emmas popped up.

’Emma, he gave you a tiny bit of attention and you’re already spiraling like this? Get a grip!’

’So what if she’s doubting her master? It’s better to be cautious than to find out later that you got cucked.’

’Are you insane? This is all your fault!’

’No, this is all that idiot’s fault!’

’Stop, both of you!’ She shook off those thoughts and covered her face with her hands.

But she didn’t deny the words said by her devil side.

If only Dante was like her. She never cared what others thought and only ever had her eyes on him. But he was doing the exact opposite. His inferiority complex made him push away the one person who didn’t care about any of that.

He saw himself as a burden and decided the best thing he could do for her was disappear from her life.

As if she ever asked him to do that.

’What if I’m the breadwinner? What’s so bad about being spoiled by me? Do I lack anything?’ She gritted her teeth. ’I would give him everything. But that idiot’s pride is more important to him than my feelings!’

Just thinking about it made her blood boil. She wanted to grab him by the collar and beating some sense into that thick skull of his.

She huffed and was about to force herself to sleep when a mechanical voice rang inside her head.

[System initializing...]

Emma’s eyes snapped open.

A blue screen flickered to life in front of her, glowing softly in the dark room.

[Congratulations!]

[You have awakened the Bullying System!]

[Do you wish to bind?]

She stared at the screen for a long time before speaking.

"...The what?"