Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

—PRESENT TIME—

"Who said you can leave just like that," I spoke.

Taken completely by surprise, Ellyn turned around to look at me; though by now I released her hand from my grip.

"What do you mean?" she asked, a confused expression forming on her face.

"I said…you are not going anywhere."

She didn't reply, just stared endlessly into my eyes. It was as if she was not able to process what nonsense I was saying. But, it was not nonsense; I meant each and every single word I said.

"You see, I still have some work left for you," I asserted.

,m "Well, what work? Since you saved me from them, which I'm very grateful for, I'd be willing to help you with anything if it's within my reach," she replied.

Within your reach, huh? It's so within your reach that you spent almost all day with it.

"What I want you to do…is to spy on Leon. I want you to keep an eye on him all day long and then report to me. You will be providing me with information such as, what he does daily, who are his friends, how many people he talks to, which people he talks to, how much time he spends in training, what is going through his mind, and things like that. Basically, I want you to stalk him in my stead. I guess it will be easy for you to do so since you know, you are with him all time."

Her eyes grew wider and wider as she heard me. It was clear; that she was not excepting anything like this.

"What's your answer?" I asked, snapping her back to reality.

"Ah, umm…I can't do that, sorry. Wait, why are you even asking me to do something like this? Stalking...is not a good thing, I'm sure you are aware of that. I'm sorry but, I won't be able to do this for you. I don't know why you want this information and without knowing it, no, even if I know it I can't provide you with that information. I'll be just like, stabbing Leon in his back. He is my friend and I can't do that with him."

'So you would've done it if he was not your friend?' this was an interesting thought. But for the moment, I decided to keep it to myself.

Also, I wasn't excepting her to agree with me in the first go. Actually, I wasn't excepting her to agree with me at all.

"I see. That's really sad but there is this one thing…"

I said and closed my eyes, after taking a breath I opened them again. What happened next was so fast that maybe Ellyn wasn't able to keep track of it.

I grabbed her arm and forced her up. I pinned her up against the wall and forced her to look directly at me.

"I'm not asking for a favor here, you understand? I'm giving you an order, and you have to follow that order," I stated.

Yeah, I wasn't expecting her to agree with me at all; there was no need for it. She had to follow my orders whether she like them or not. At this point, she had no choice left.

"H-Hey, what are you doing? Wh-What are you talking about?" she started shaking.

The fear from when Seiren and the others beat her was still in her, plus I was grabbing and squeezing her hand tightly.

"Haven't I made myself clear already? I said you have to stalk Leon every day from today onwards and give reports to me. That is the order I am giving you, isn't that quite a simple thing to comprehend?"

Maybe she was not able to grasp anything I was saying, but…she has to do it even if she doesn't want to. Though, I think she didn't see me as much of a threat because of what she said next…

"Don't screw with me! Who do you think you are?! I thought you were a good person, I never imagined you'd turn out like this! And listen to this carefully; I won't do anything of sorts."

…sounded like a threat. Was she really trying to threaten me here? Well, can't really help it. Honestly, I would've preferred it if she just accepted my orders here. But now there was no other option, I have to go all out and play all the cards in my deck.

"Those girls tormented you just now, yes? They pulled your hair, slapped you, kicked you in your chest, in your stomach, even stripped you naked, didn't they? Why was that?"

"Well..." of course, she didn't have an answer, no, she did had. It's just that she wasn't willing to tell me.

"It's because they knew your secret, ain't I right?"

She gulped in nervousness, but her eyes and body language said it all. I mean, I know that's what happened—I'm the one who set the stage for it, after all—but I have to make her realize that. Make her aware of the fact that the reason behind all this was her secret getting leaked.

Until she is completely broken down to the core, when all her secrets will be laid down in open, only then I'll be able to rebuild her the way I want.

"I'll take the silence as a yes then," I said. "They knew your secret and using it as a weapon, they made you endure those horrible things, and you followed without a word…So, if I were to tell you that I know those secrets as well, and I know them more than they did. Will you obey me then?"

"Huh? W-Wait a second! How do you know about that? First those girls and now you...what the hell is going on with my life!" she cried, her frustration levels reaching their peaks.

"I know, Ellyn, I know. I know about the lonely girl who was shaped into an heiress right after she was born. She was loaded with all those responsibilities, she was told to always put up an act to please the people around her. What she wanted to do didn't matter; she had to do what was best for the image of the Great Rosenberg family. That's why, when she had enough and wasn't able to bear with it anymore…the girl ran away," I described.

Ellyn's expression was of surprise and insecurity as she listened to me, revealing her own childhood to her.

"That girl, I am talking about you, you know?"

"How...how do you?" at this point, it was more like she was asking this question to herself. Reflecting on the past events and trying to figure out, what she did that leaked her secret?

I don't think there was any other student in this academy with as many secrets as her. But, sadly for her, this wasn't all I knew.  There was still more to come, I was only getting started now.