Reincarnated in the Astral World

Chapter 136: Paradoxical

Arthur feels exposed in front of Lis. The mysterious woman seems to know a lot about him, even seeing his dark side, seeing through his soul.

He, on the other hand, knows nothing about her besides her clear interest in him, which also makes him apprehensive. Yet, such things only make him more interested and attracted to her.

"Why are you telling me such things?" He asks with a curious tone. "Let me guess, this is your strategy to make me trust you?"

"Kukuku…" She giggles while gazing at him with bright eyes. "Considering who I am and how I do my business, giving away the information I have about someone is undoubtedly my greatest act of good faith."

"..." Arthur just keeps looking at her charming face with a cold expression.

"Alright, I got it," Lis raises her hands and laughs. "That means nothing to you, right?"

"..." He just keeps looking at her in silence, trying to see through her act.

Her smile slowly fades, and she lets out a long sigh. "You are no fun… Look, I know that nothing I say will make you trust me now. In fact, it's the opposite: the more I talk, the more you doubt me and my intentions."

Arthur's lips almost curve into a slight smile, as he cannot deny that he agrees with Lis about that. "Then what's the point of this?"

Lis's eyes light up again, and her expression becomes animated. "Good question! To be honest, I still want to try to be your friend, or at least have you not consider me a threat."

"Why?" He quickly asks in a cold and dominant tone.

'Huh?' Lis feels a chill run through her body, something she cannot say is either good or bad.

She sees Arthur's impatient and cold expression and quickly thinks of her response. "Because it's interesting."

"What is interesting?" He asks again.

"Everything," She gestures with her hands while smiling at him. "Especially, your reactions intrigue me like seeing something fascinating."

'She's hiding something!' Nyx exclaims in Arthur's mind.

'I know, but how can we discover it if not by playing her game?' He asks.

'Seduce her!' Nyx quickly suggests. 'Once she's head over heels for you, she won't play games anymore.'

Arthur cannot deny that it makes sense. 'I doubt it would be that simple…'

'Yeah, she seems quite experienced,' Nyx comments. 'But her overconfidence might give you a breach to her heart.'

Arthur tries to ignore Nyx's romantic advice and focuses on the mysterious Lis. "How can I believe anything you say if you also say it is to gain my trust, which you don't believe you can get for real?"

"A paradox, fufufu~" She giggles charmingly. "I like this kind of thing."

Arthur enjoys her confident and mysterious smile, so he doesn't mind letting her continue her game. But he is also curious about something else and wonders if Lis will reveal her cards about that too.

"I see, you are having fun…" He looks around as if searching for someone. "But Eliza didn't seem happy playing with you… I wonder why."

"Oooh?" A different kind of gleam appears in Lis's eyes. "You're interested in Viscountess Whittlee, I can see… Eliza? Do you call her by her name out of intimacy or arrogance?"

"Why is that important to you?" He counters with a direct question.

Lis smiles in contrast to his cold expression. "Nothing special, I was just curious if your interest in her is that of a man in a beautiful woman or that of a wolf in its next prey…"

'How???' Arthur is shocked by Lis's comment due to what it implies. 'She knows about Emilio???'

'It seems so,' Nyx comments in his mind, equally surprised. 'Why else would she suggest Eliza would be your next victim?'

While Arthur tries to remain cool, Lis's expression changes from slight surprise to more excitement, leaving him confused.

"Oh, dear, I wasn't sure about it, just a hunch," She comments casually. "But your expression confirmed it."

He can't help but feel a bit disappointed in himself. "Am I that easy to read?"

"Definitely not," She smiles. "In fact, you seem like a box of surprises, kukuku~"

"..." Arthur doesn't know how to feel about Lis. She shows she knows a lot about him but praises him for being mysterious, leaving him with conflicting feelings.

Her expression becomes even more confident. "Well, it's not like it was a difficult conclusion to reach… I mean, in a small town where everyone follows the nobility's rules, someone who despises them like you is the most likely to do something like this…"

Arthur sighs as the face of a woman comes to his mind, someone he didn't think he'd be caring about now. He imagines her reaction to knowing that and it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

Lis's blue eyes shine even more, their light reflecting in his eyes. "Don't worry, I didn't tell Lady Whittlee about my suspicions."

"Why?" He remains confused about her motives.

"Because she's not as interesting as you, little lion," Lis comments in a melodious tone while slowly extending her hand to touch Arthur's face.

But he reacts quickly and grabs her wrist firmly while looking into her eyes.

He says nothing, so she withdraws her hand. "It's not like she didn't have the same suspicion… you and your mother are the only difference in this town, or at least, that was until a few minutes ago…"

"What do you mean?" He grows curious.

But this time, Lis doesn't respond immediately and instead continues looking at him in silence with that mysterious expression.

"Does this have to do with what you told her just ago?" He can't help but feel even more curious and a bit apprehensive.

Lis remains silent for a moment with a thoughtful expression, then she speaks again. "If you want to know what I told her, just ask."

Arthur wonders about that and how he might be doing exactly what Lis wants to manipulate him in some way. Yet, he wants to understand what's happening, and she might provide such answers.

"What did you tell her?"

"That her enemies are knocking at her door right now."

"Which enemies?"

"Ah, you already know some of them…" Lis smiles maliciously.

"What???" Arthur grows increasingly impatient.

"The Drummonds, they're the ones who came after Eliza."

"No shit!" Arthur quickly looks toward the hall. "Josephine and the others-"

"Not those Drummonds," Lis interrupts. "You know, the real Drummonds, the ones who work in the shadows and whom Josephine's husband abandoned."

Arthur doesn't know much about the main branch of the Drummond family, and he thought they had no interest in Lakeview and Josephine's family. But as soon as he hears from Lis that they are there for Eliza, that makes some sense since the main Drummond family and the main Whittlee family are enemies.

Lis seems desperate to bite her nails in anticipation just to see how Arthur will react to that information. Her eyes shine with curiosity. "So, what will you do with such-"

She stops speaking when she sees Arthur turn and start walking towards the garden, ignoring her. "Really?"

Arthur deliberately doesn't respond to Lis, trying to provoke her, but she just giggles. "Alright, that's interesting too!"