After eliminating the underground mine she had lived in with her own hands,Beatricestood blankly in the same spot for several days.

With bothEvangelineand the underground mine now gone,Beatricefound herself at a loss for what to do next.

Having lost both motivation and purpose, all that remained was an overwhelming sense of emptiness filled by relentless boredom.

As she stood still, the emotions that flowed around her gradually coalesced into a massive form.

One day, when she opened her eyes in a daze,Beatricesaw a gigantic monster quietly gazing down at her.

However, strangely, she felt no fear at all.

Rather, she felt an oddly familiar sensation towards the giant creature, promptingBeatriceto timidly ask,

“…What should I do now?”

The monster replied that it did not know either.

But if she desired, it could take her anywhere.

In response to the creature’s words,Beatriceglanced back quickly.

The space behind her was empty, as if erased by an eraser.

There was certainly no longer any reason forBeatriceto remain in this place where nothing existed.

Thus, she climbed atop the monster and began a life of aimlessly wandering around.

However, no matter where she went or what she saw, nothing piqued her interest.

Everywhere she traveled seemed fundamentally no different from the underground mine whereBeatricehad lived.

No matter where one went, the powerless lived resigned lives, as if it were natural to accept the absurdities that oppressed them.

Those who opposed such absurdities were a mere handful, and none existed who could overcome them.

Everywhere, the world felt simply dull.

This was the thought that crossedBeatrice’smind as she wandered one day.

“…Wait a second, stop.”

In the middle of a forest,Beatricespotted a girl sitting dazedly.

Had she been an ordinary person,Beatricewould have ignored her, but the strange aura emanating from the girl indicated she was anything but ordinary.

Faintly, she sensed something similar to the energy she had scattered around her not too long ago.

Slightly intrigued,Beatriceapproached the girl and asked,

“You feel like you have a similar aura to me. Who are you?”

Upon hearing the question, the girl merely stared atBeatriceblankly without answering.

It wasn’t so much ignorance as a response that seemed to convey she did not even know who she was, promptingBeatriceto quirk her head and ask once more,

“…You seem to be alive. You do understand my words, right?”

The girl nodded, as if she did understand.

Her reaction to the question made her appear as if she had just been born into this world, not knowing anything yet.

Watching the girl,Beatriceinstinctively realized that she was a being similar to herself.

Just like theBeatricewho had suddenly appeared in the underground mine one day, this girl seemed to have an ambiguous origin, and the aura she gave off was proof of that.

The only difference was that while she had awakened in a bustling underground mine filled with people, this girl had awakened in a place devoid of humans.

AsBeatricepondered whether her self-identification as human might have stemmed from the fact that the beings she first encountered were humans, she murmured to herself.

“…Hmm, perhaps I felt this way too at first. By the way, it looks so empty; it might be amusing to observe.”

Beatricesaid with a strange smile as she addressed the girl.

“Here, I’ll give you a gift. Now, repeat after me: Evangeline.”

“…Evangeline?”

“Yes. I’m giving you this name to be a being that alleviates my boredom, meaning ‘good news.’ From now on, that shall be your name.”

Just asEvangelinehad given her a name,Beatricebestowed the nameEvangelineupon the girl.

WhyBeatriceacted in such a manner was something she couldn’t explain herself.

Was it because the girl’s appearance reminded her of a blank sheet with nothing drawn on it?

Or perhaps it was due to memories, lingering attachments, or expectations about something?

She didn’t know.

With a heart she couldn’t accurately express,Beatricedecided to observe the girl who had becomeEvangeline.

Thus, for several years,Beatricecircled aroundEvangeline, continuously observing her life.

She watched asEvangelinemet elves and became a member of their village, leading a happy life.

However, the scene ofEvangelinesmiling joyfully and having fun leftBeatriceshockingly unaffected.

This was undoubtedly a disappointing matter forBeatrice.

Why was it that she hadn’t truly wanted to see this side ofEvangeline?

As she struggled to understand what she desired, a minor incident occurred.

The gigantic monster born fromBeatrice’saura, known in the world as a Lesser Demonic Beast, accidentally stomped on a few elves while yawning, killing them.

These were the young elves whomEvangelinehad called friends.

Naturally,Evangelinewas deeply saddened by this incident.

And seeing the sorrow onEvangeline’sface,Beatricemuttered with indifference.

“We’ve already killed a few, so maybe I should just kill all the elves aroundEvangelineand observe her reaction.”

At that offhand remark fromBeatrice, the Lesser Demonic Beast immediately rushed to mass-murder the elves in the village.

And asBeatricerode atop the monster heading toward the village, she witnessed:

“Don’t touch the people! Go back now!”

The sight ofEvangeline, fearlessly standing in front of the monster and shouting that.

Beatricewatched her briefly and then muttered to the monster,

“…Let’s not bother. I doubt there’s anything to see even if we kill her anyway.”

It seemed that what she wanted to see was notEvangelinelooking sorrowful.

Thinking that,Beatricedecided to pull back from the monster.

But then, an unexpected scene unfolded before her eyes.

“Evangelinecommanded the Lesser Demonic Beast…”

“It’s a witch… a witch!”

The elves began to denounceEvangeline, holding her in contempt as they called her a witch.

Naturally,Evangelinefelt wronged.

However, the elves, blinded by the desire for revenge for the children they lost, ultimately burned the innocentEvangelineat the stake.

Watching that scene,Beatriceburst into laughter.

Despite knowing the true villain was the monster that killed the children, they all sought another target for revenge, realizing they couldn’t bring down the monster even when united.

It was reminiscent of the slaves who had brutally beatEvangelinewithout a word when she was in the underground mine underDavis.

The sight before her was too similar to everythingBeatricehad seen while traveling the world.

It felt overwhelmingly dull and trivial, to the point where a sardonic smile crept onto her face.

Well, if there was one difference, it was thatEvangeline, who was burned by the elves, was not as weak as they believed.

In her plight,Evangelineincinerated all the elves who had burned her, driven by the sense of injustice.

Beatrice,watching that scene, laughed emptily.

“Oh dear, poorEvangeline. You’ve been through something terrible. It’s all my fault, and those bad people have no idea.”

This too was merely a natural outcome of the weak being swept away by the strong.

WhatBeatricehad wished to see was not this.

“Hmm, that’s quite the fire. Playing with fire could be fun. You want to burn me, huh? Then let’s play hide and seek. To that big tree over there, alright?”

In that case, at least let’s play a game like they did then withEvangeline.

Playing with fire, hiding and seeking.

That was the only entertainment left in this mundane world.

Unfortunately, tragically, even that futile game ended whenEvangelinewas killed at the hands of the elves.

Thus,Beatricefound herself aimlessly wandering once again.

In the wandering, she encountered a peculiar race known as dwarves.

An odd race that lived burrowed underground by their own will.

For some reason,Beatricedidn’t like it at all.

And in a bit of a tantrum overEvangeline’sdeath,

Beatriceattacked the dwarves, and

“Oh…”

As a result of their self-destruction, she became buried beneath the earth along with the underground city.

Of course, she could have escaped whenever she wanted,

But given thatEvangelinewas no longer above,Beatriceremained buried beneath the earth for several hundred years.

“Shall I let you out? If you contract to fulfill three requests of mine, I can let you out, what do you say?”

Until a peculiar witch came to find her and offer an escape.

Unfortunately, that meant she would receive unwanted interference, but still,Beatricedidn’t completely regret rising from the earth back then.

Because at that time, she met a being that sparked her interest, albeit just a little.

And now, that being was approaching this place.

Beatricelooked up at the sky and murmured,

“…You’ve come,Eva.”

Maybe you’ll bring me, just a little bit, some joy.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com