Chapter 54
Chapter 54
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 54
Chapter Title: Auntie
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Inside the correctional office, a calm air hung in the stillness. Mahogany wood paneling adorned the walls, interspersed with nameplates and commendation letters. On the left shelf, three or four medals stood rigidly in a row.
"Have a seat there."
Orca treated Lily with a measure of politeness. The only ones who drew her ire were Crow, who tormented her relentlessly, and Creep, who sowed chaos throughout the prison.
"We're not strangers, but let's start with introductions anyway. I'm the correctional officer. I handle every unusual incident that arises inside this facility. Knowing my face doesn't mean special treatment. Being young won't get you any leniency either."
Reciting the formal lines with practiced ease, Orca slowly flipped through the binder on the desk before her. It contained sixteen pages of Lily's personal records and data supplied by the Hero Association.
"Ability use is prohibited here. The injection from yesterday will help suppress your powers. So you'd better drop any delusions that you're still special or anything like that. Got it?"
Orca paused to gauge her reaction, lifting her eyes from the binder to meet Lily's. But those red, lovely eyes simply stared back at her without a flicker.
"...No answer."
It was unpleasant. Not because of any lack of manners, but due to the uncanny sensation emanating from Lily's gaze.
"I don't know what's going through your head, but staying quiet would be wise. Consider this my final piece of advice. You and Crow—you two stimulate the inmates just by existing."
But this was Orca's domain. Her prison. The space where her justice reigned supreme.
"Now go. There's nothing more to say."
Orca maintained her cold, impassive expression, ready to end the interview.
"..."
Yet Lily didn't leave. Instead, she spoke up.
"Are you the one messing with Oppa?"
"...What?"
An unexpected remark. Was the ability suppression driving her mad?
It happened sometimes. There were villains who still fancied themselves invincible, lording over their old glory days.
"There's a bite mark on Oppa's upper left chest. It looks about the size of your mouth."
"Ha-"
Orca let out a frigid sigh. Memories of her pact with Crow flickered in her mind, urging her to avoid provoking Lily at all costs.
"Cut the nonsense and get out. While I'm still asking nicely."
"Oppa told you not to touch me, right? In exchange, he'd do whatever you say. You must've thought it was your lucky day—biting and sucking away, doing every filthy thing you wanted."
It was true, in a way. But each word from Lily stoked a rising fury in Orca that she could barely contain.
"...I told you to be quiet, villain."
She'd exercised restraint, trying her utmost not to strike back. But Lily kept pushing, oblivious to her place.
Seated on the sofa, Lily tilted her head to face Orca squarely.
She paid no mind to the wooden floorboards beginning to frost over beneath her.
If anything, she seemed to secretly hope Orca would unleash her ability, unleashing a torrent of bitter barbs.
"Normally, a clueless, overbearing old auntie like you couldn't even hold Oppa's hand. But thanks to him getting framed and sent here, you got to indulge under the guise of 'correction.' Felt good pretending you were so righteous, didn't it? Why deny it now?"
At this line-crossing taunt, Orca shot up from her seat and strode toward Lily. The closer she got, the thicker the frost clung to the air.
"Say that again."
The floorboards creaked in agony. Orca's chill wasn't mere theatrics for intimidation. That made it all the more dangerous.
"You act like you're somebody special, but here, you're just another prisoner. Doesn't matter if you flew high outside—this place turns you into a powerless nobody. Want me to etch that truth into you with pain?"
Palm.
Orca's palm hovered open before Lily's face. A ripple of frigid energy danced at its forefront.
"..."
From it protruded a sharp, awl-like spike of ice. The tip inched perilously close, grazing Lily's cheek.
Soft and yielding flesh—no blood flowed yet. But a bit more pressure, and a wound would weep red.
"Watch yourself. This is your last warning. Seems like you're blaming me because of Crow, but you two don't even deserve that resentment..."
Of course, she had no real intention of stabbing. Touching Lily would only rile Crow, which she wanted to avoid.
Sparing Lily was key to Crow's compliance. She needed to demonstrate the rewards of obedience.
But then.
Puk-
"...Wait!? What the hell are you doing!"
Lily's eyes widened as she thrust her head forward.
Orca recoiled in horror, melting the ice and scattering it across the floor. But the fresh crimson gash on Lily's cheek wouldn't close.
"You're insane!?"
Orca had every reason to panic. Had she not pulled back in that instant, the spike would've pierced straight through Lily's cheek and into her mouth.
That had never been her plan. A prick or a scare, maybe—but not driving it clean through her skull.
"Why? Scared if it's too obvious, Oppa might snap?"
Lily wiped the blood trickling from the hole in her cheek without a care. Was the puncture deep? Her speech came out slurred in spots.
"A correctional officer's supposed to properly discipline defiant prisoners, right? Oh? Can't touch me because Oppa would hate you? Guess that means I can do whatever I want from now on?"
Her words dripped with mockery all the same. Lily spoke expressionless—no smile, no tears, no wince of pain.
"Right, Orca auntie?"
Tension flooded back into Orca's hands. She'd retreated all the way to the rug, yet this insolent little girl made her feel an odd sense of defeat right here in her own domain.
"You... you crazy bitch. You're provoking me on purpose, aren't you?"
But she stated it plainly.
Here, power rested firmly with Orca.
"So Crow will despise me and turn away completely."
And choices always fell to the one in control. No matter Lily's schemes, Orca would dictate the outcome.
"What do you gain from that? I don't give a damn what Crow thinks of me. He's been trouble since day one—wasted no end of my time on corrections. Why would I care about his feelings?"
A little.
Just a tiny bit regrettable, perhaps.
Crow, once baring his claws in defiance, now offered sexual service of his own volition. The thrill wasn't half bad. If that shattered?
It'd irritate her at first. Back to square one, personally breaking him like a wild horse until he shed his villain ways and reclaimed a hero's mindset.
"You two are villains. Here, villains obey my word and serve their time reflecting on their crimes. That's the law. That's justice. Personal whims have no place."
"Doesn't seem that way."
Lily blabbered on fearlessly. Orca gripped her baton, issuing one final warning.
"What doesn't?"
"Auntie, you like Oppa, don't you? Creepily pining from afar, then the moment chance struck, shaking your pussy and tits like a bitch in heat. Disgusting. You probably used me as an excuse to blackmail him into eating you out. Obvious without seeing it. Isn't that the usual sexual fantasy for old women like you?"
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Forty minutes later,
the door to C Wing swung open. Crow, who'd been pacing anxiously with a cigarette, brightened at once and moved to greet Lily.
"Lily, Lily! You okay? Nothing hap—"
But what met his eyes, even as he tossed his half-smoked cigarette aside to rush forward,
was
"Oppa..."
a fragile girl, eyes brimming with tears, limply throwing herself into his arms.
Her powers stripped away, rendered utterly helpless.
Now truly just an ordinary girl.
"..."
Crow said nothing more. Silently, he supported Lily and led her back to his room.
In their wake,
streaks of Lily's blood trailed behind—untreated even by emergency measures.
Bright red bloodstains.
Sticky, metallic droplets.