“So, future Holy Maiden, if… I mean, if you met someone who was forced to do evil, how would you treat him?”
Lauren didn’t think his transition was abrupt; he was just starting to probe Li An’s reaction.
Hearing this topic, Li An became alert.
As the female protagonist on her second playthrough, having been reborn once, she naturally knew Lauren’s villain identity.
‘How strange, why suddenly bring this up? Is he testing me?’
‘Or does he want to confess to me like in the previous life? But now everything is different from before. Brother Lauren didn’t kidnap me, so naturally there’s no opportunity for him to confess and repent.’
She wasn’t surprised, but rather taken aback.
‘A person forced to do evil… so what would be the best way to answer?’
‘Who can really say? Everyone has a different answer. One wrong answer could turn into a quarrel. Li An didn’t intend to discuss such an open-ended moral question.’
‘She was thinking about Lauren’s intention, what words she should use to respond to him in order to get the best outcome for herself.’
So she didn’t answer immediately, but lowered her eyes and was silent for a while.
‘A person forced to do evil… of course she knew who Lauren was talking about. Wasn’t it himself? A youth pushed along by fate.’
In his previous life, Lauren had confessed all this to her after kidnapping her, in the gloomy Skomet Mansion.
He said he wasn’t acting of his own will, but was forced.
He hoped she would rescue him from that evil swamp.
She listened, believed, and then used her newly awakened Holy Light to keep him by her side, bring him into the church, and share weal and woe.
‘But now? Things had changed. The other party might not follow the same path as the previous life.’
“What would you do?”
Li An kicked the ball back, wanting to see what Lauren was hoping for.
‘She definitely doesn’t know who I’m talking about!’
‘Lauren thought, great, just use your empathy as the Holy Maiden like this, guide her step by step, and make her serve my purposes.’
But Li An’s counter-question disrupted Lauren’s rhythm.
“Ah… me… me?”
‘Hmph, it’s just kicking the ball back. Don’t think I have no way out. The situation is still under my control.’
‘Lauren thought for a moment. Taking the initiative is fine too. Let me tell you what to do.’
He spoke slowly with a relaxed expression.
“If it were me, it depends.”
“What do you mean ‘it depends’?”
“If it were me, I would first find out whether he was really forced or just using being forced as an excuse.”
Li An raised an eyebrow slightly.
“There are many people in this world who say they have no choice, but actually they just don’t want to choose the harder options.”
“True force is when there is no way back. As long as there is still a path to choose, no matter how hard that path is, it cannot be considered forced.”
Of course, everyone has different ideas on how to judge this issue.
“So, can you agree with my view, Li An?”
‘This is the same as in the previous life,’ Li An thought quietly.
‘Then I’ll give you the same answer as in the previous life, Brother Lauren.’
“Yes.”
Li An replied with a single word, giving him a ladder to continue.
‘Then next, your next sentence will be—’
“Actually, I am that kind of person. A person who is forced.”
Sure enough, just as Li An had expected.
‘Lauren thought, I have a clear conscience.’
‘I only transmigrated a few days ago. How is joining a villain organization my fault? But once on a pirate ship, it’s hard to get off.’
“What does that mean, Big Brother?”
Li An put on a great act for Lauren, blinking her big eyes and pretending to be very confused.
The atmosphere was set, the words were already spoken.
To beat around the bush any further wouldn’t be subtle, just tedious.
Lauren directly began to confess.
“Actually, Li An.”
He said, his voice steadier.
“I am that kind of person. A person who is forced.”
“Actually, I am a member of the [Old Days Society]!”
“What’s that?”
‘Of course I know what that is!’
‘But such an underground secret organization is not information that a country girl like me should know right now!’
Li An thought, she must stay in character.
‘You tell me, Brother Lauren!’
“A transnational villain organization that aims to usurp the country!”
“Oh! I never would have guessed! So Brother is a member of such a dangerous organization! Then what should I do?”
Li An pretended to be very surprised, cheering Lauren on, which instead made Lauren feel a different kind of awkwardness.
‘Damn, I thought you’d be scared, but instead you’re like a five-year-old neighbor girl at a circus, cheering for the performers, going “Brother is so amazing, brother is so amazing.”‘
He thought this way, and the words that seemed hard to say now seemed not so difficult to utter.
It felt like the atmosphere had been completely ruined by Li An’s enthusiastic cheering, turning into a cheerful scene.
To be honest, it made him even want to laugh uncontrollably.
“Anyway, Li An, that’s how it is.”
“Actually, I came to kidnap you, but I had a change of heart.”
Hearing this, Li An pretended to be shocked and frightened, and said in a seductive tone.
“What! So brother, deep down, you had such intentions toward me?”
“I never would have thought that?”
As she spoke, she swayed her maid dress uneasily, occasionally revealing a bit of her white-stockinged little feet from under the skirt.
“Oh, Brother Lauren, are you going to carry out your evil thoughts now? Right here?”
Seeing Li An’s reaction, Lauren couldn’t help but sigh.
‘Well, she’s too high-level. Anne, you can’t beat her at all.’
‘I racked my brains over how to deceive the Holy Maiden before me, but she broke through my defenses with just a few words.’
‘Well, is this the reality of a 12+ game? Our [Floral Fantasy Poem] doesn’t need so many schemes and plots; we just need sincerity.’
Lauren corrected the topic and continued.
“I don’t want to kidnap you. I have no interest in you!”
“Brother~ what kind of words are those?”
Li An immediately became unhappy when she heard his words.
He really doesn’t know how to please a girl.
‘Who do you think you are? Lauren could only express a sweatdrop emoji. Who wants to please you? Quickly join my team and work for me.’
“Back to the topic, don’t gossip.”
Lauren warned Li An.
“Even if you don’t know this organization, it’s fine. You just need to know it’s a very, very bad organization, and they want to harm you now!”
“Ehehe, got it! Brother~”
‘Damn, there’s even bubble voice? This girl is getting less and less serious.’
Lauren couldn’t help but wipe his sweat, unable to hold it together.