"I got so worked up over who might have broken in here, but it turns out it really was just the Prides' brat... I was sure that the course puppet was trying to fool me."

Lord Envy furrowed his brows and scoffed, looking over Mason's shoulder and glaring at Cranberry.

The red-haired girl's eyes became ice cold and she clenched her hand on the baseball bat so hard that her knuckles turned white, readying herself to strike...

"You got yourself a strong puppet, but I still don't approve of you being friends with my son."

Lord Envy made a sour expression.

"Must I remind you that even though Prides are still one of the main families, the difference between us is incomparable."

Now it was Cranberry's turn to furrow her brows.

Something about Envy's words didn't match the situation.

Cranberry was about to bust his head open with the glowing baseball bat, and he was treating her like some pesky child caught during mischief...

"Tsk...! You have your father's eyes... it's been three years since you got almost wiped out, but you haven't learned any humility, huh?"

Lord Envy shook his head with disgust.

"Father, how could you say that...! Cranberry's mother d..."

Mason gasped and moved to the side doing his best to completely block the red-haired girl.

He stuttered when he himself referenced the night of the hungry wolves event and fearfully glanced at Cranberry.

"...died that night! Why are you so insensitive?!"

Mason gulped down his saliva and finished the sentence with a determined expression.

...then Cranberry realized what was going on, and she almost laughed out loud.

It was the same situation as with the Brave Swords.

After the system reset, the whole world was considering Cranberry to be some useless spoiled girl with no prospects whatsoever.

And although she wasn't hiding her "new" behavior, still not that many people actually believed the witness testimonies.

Lord Envy wasn't acting weird, he was simply acting exactly as the system made him think - as of a brat, not threatening in the slightest!

With that revelation, she could almost forgive his inexcusable act.

Almost...

But for the time being, she decided it was more profitable to let him live.

After all, the exploration of the mansion still wasn't completed for some reason...

And who would know this locale better than the head of the family himself...?

So instead of attacking, Cranberry loosened her grip and looked to the side making a grumpy expression.

"Mason, I know that you like this girl, but she isn't worthy of you."

Lord Envy seemed satisfied with Cranberry's reaction and looked his son in the eyes.

"...?!"

There was not even a speck of the usual coldness in his voice either, which caused Mason to flinch in confusion.

"After hearing your little talk, I can already tell you that she's a liar, and a poor one at that. But..."

Lord Envy smirked but then his face turned gentle and he looked at the door at the end of the branching hallway.

"...this may be an excellent opportunity..."

The man muttered to himself and walked towards the door.

Then he waved at Mason to follow him.

"You. Prides' girl. I'll give you a chance. Go join your corpse puppet upstairs. If the two of you will somehow manage to live long enough for the two of us to return, I will forget this trespassing."

Lord Envy scoffed at Cranberry without sparing her a glance.

"...Mace, you heard your father, go."

"...!"

Cranberry lightly pushed forward the hesitant Mason, and almost send him flying.

Not bothering to say anything else, the red-haired girl simply stood up and walked towards the exit, as if she really intended to do what Lord Envy told her.

"Big sister..."

"Son, come here."

Mason was moving back and forth, unable to chose who he should follow, but it was his father, and not Cranberry, who turned around and beckoned him once again.

As for Cranberry, she simply stopped in front of the empty doorframe, away from the field of view of two Envys, and waited.

The father and son got in front of the normal-looking door behind the bars.

Lord Envy raised his hand and knocked.

"Coming~!"

A voice, that sounded way too happy considering the place, called from the inside and a sound of rustling and quick footsteps followed.

Soon after the door opened and a woman showed up.

With a petite frame and long, dark-blond hair she was incredibly beautiful, like a fairy from a painting.

Even her simple clothes couldn't hide that beauty and ended up only making her shine even more.

She simply couldn't be a normal human...

...and she wasn't.

The long pointy ears sticking through her flowy hair made it abundantly clear that she was an elf.

"Rambutan!"

The elven woman gasped.

Her ears twitched and her face brightened while looking the tall black-haired man in the eyes.

"I-I mean, lord Envy! Hello, what brings you here?"

But as soon as she realized that he wasn't alone, the elven woman hurriedly changed the way she addressed him and switched to the polite speech.

"Hello, Salak. Thanks to some unforeseen but in the end lucky circumstances, I was finally able to bring him here without causing an outcry of the rest of my family."

Lord Envy explained and put his hand on Mason's shoulder.

As for Mason himself, he was standing still, speechless and wide-eyed, staring at the happy elf behind the bars.

It was the elven maid from his memories

"Him...?"

The elven woman, Salak, tilted her head in slight confusion and looked at the young man.

Her owns ears twitched when she noticed his peculiar pointy ears, and when she looked into his eyes she flinched and covered her mouth in shock.

"M-Mason...?!"

She gasped and the tips of her ears dropped.

She looked at lord Envy with big, teary eyes.

"Rambutan... is... is he really...?"

Salak started trembling.

"Yes. That's our Mason."

Lord Envy confirmed, nodding his head with a gentle smile.

"Mason...! My baby!"

Salak started crying and outstretched her hands.

*clang*

"U-kyaah!"

Without paying attention to the bars she tried to embrace the brown-haired young man, but obviously, the metal stopped her and she ended up letting out a cute pitiful noise.

"Salak!"

"...!"

Both lord Envy and Mason quickly reacted and approached the bars.

"Salak, you have to be more careful..."

Lord Envy smiled gently, putting his hands between the bars and delicately brushing aside Salak's hair, checking for any injury.

"Are... are you my... mother...?"

Mason fidgeted and asked shyly.

Salak and Rambutan looked at each other in surprise and then back at Mason.

"Mason...! You recognized me...?!"

"Clever boy."

They both showed great joy in their reactions...

But there was someone who saw the touching scene and didn't seem moved at all.

"Fucking... treacherous whore...! "

Lairs, who had a perfect view of what was happening, sucked in the air and muttered furiously under her breath, biting her lips until they started bleeding.

"...?"

And although the little happy family of three didn't hear her, Cranberry, with her ears glowing with the detection skill, certainly did.