Reborn as the Psycho Villainess Who Ate Her Slave Beasts' Contracts

Chapter 398: Chapter-398

The system looked at her. "That word sounds dangerous when you say it."

"It should."

She lowered her hand.

Somewhere beyond the wall, beyond the layers of concealment and carelessness and administrative neglect, something waited to be found.

Elara did not yet know whether it was a weapon, a prisoner, a message, or a mistake.

But she knew one thing clearly.

Someone had expected her not to notice.

That was enough reason for her to stay.

And this time, she was not leaving until the truth was dragged into the light.

The system looked at her with a sigh. "Why do you think about everything so seriously? It could just be a normal thing. She is a goddess, after all."

Hearing that, Elara looked at it flatly. "It is not that I don’t believe in gods, or that I am against them. I am simply saying I do not believe that someone who brought me into this world would throw me here without even knowing me and still call themselves a god."

The system blinked. "And why not?"

Elara’s expression did not change. "Because your goddess wants me to act like a beautiful princess, then become an excellent empress, and then live a life of excellence. I do not think that is what a god would want."

She continued without raising her voice.

"There was a saying in the world I came from: no matter the reason, you can do whatever you want. You may have thousands of paths, but not one is fixed forever. It is not a god who decides the path you take. It is you."

The system said nothing.

Elara went on. "And no god ever told us that because someone is born a girl, she must simply follow her husband and act like a beautiful ornament. If they had, they would not have given me this condition."

The system knew exactly what she meant. Her emotionlessness. Her inability to feel in the way others did.

Elara looked at it and said, "The gods told us this is our life, and we can live it however we want. Some women become CEOs, dominants, leaders, and everything else. Sometimes the man is the beautiful cook, the gentle father, the supportive husband, or the one who stays at home while the wife works. Some become househusbands. Some become their wife’s secretary or helper. I do not believe any role is decided for a person before they choose it."

She paused briefly.

"Destiny, status, and everything else depend on choice. There may be a path the gods made for you, but they also gave you the path you want to choose. If you walk a straight road, your future may be one thing. If you choose a troubled road, your future changes. Or perhaps the destination remains the same, but the journey becomes different."

Her tone remained calm, almost clinical.

"For example, a mother may want her daughter to become a doctor and force that dream onto her. But if the daughter does not want it too, no amount of force will make her a good doctor. She may even become a terrible one. But if someone truly wants to be a doctor in their heart, then even if they are forced into it, they may still become excellent at it. That is subjective."

Then Elara looked at the system more directly.

"In my eyes, if you call God the mother and father of the world, then they should understand this too. No one can control a mind completely. Gods should be the same. They give their children many choices, and what happens next depends on the path chosen."

Her voice cooled further.

"But your goddess is angry at me because I chose a different path. She is angry because I did not follow the one she believed I should take. She killed me without reason in a war. She blackmailed me, showed me hell, and told me that this is what would happen if I refused. Do you really think that is what a parent would do? Or what a god would do?"

The system looked at her and said, "It is because the goddess is slightly different from others, you know. Not everyone should be the same."

Elara looked at him for a moment before answering. "True. That is agreeable. But there is still a difference between a god and a guide. Or should I call your goddess something else?"

The system frowned. It did not like that tone. "What do you mean by that?"

Elara’s expression remained flat. "I mean exactly what I said. A guide shows a path. A god is supposed to be above the path. But your goddess does not sound like either of those things. She sounds like someone who wanted me to obey a role she had already decided for me."

The system crossed its arms. "She wanted you to do good."

Elara gave a small, humorless laugh. "She wanted me to control the world and make everything good, yes. But she never cared how many wars I had to wage to achieve that. She never cared what I had to sacrifice. She never cared whether I wanted it or not. She only cared that I followed the shape she imagined for me."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I can only say one thing clearly. I am a spiteful person, and I really do not like being thrown into a world without my knowledge."

The system’s face changed instantly. Its tone sharpened. "I have never seen a spiteful, ungrateful person like you."

Elara raised one eyebrow.

The system continued, now sounding more heated than before. "My goddess saved your life. If not for her, you would have died. And now that you have been given a second life, you are blaming her? How can you be so malicious?"

For a moment, Elara said nothing. She simply looked at him with the same calm, unreadable expression she used whenever she was faced with something she found irrational.

Then she said, "First things first, I do not feel any emotion. So your outburst does not hurt me, and it does not weaken my argument. Do not mistake your frustration for victory."

The system stiffened.

"Second," Elara continued, "your goddess did not bring me into this world because of kindness, mercy, or warm-hearted concern. She brought me here because she wants me. That is all."

The silence that followed was sharp and uncomfortable.

The system opened its mouth, then closed it again.

Elara did not stop.

"If she truly cared as a you would, then she would have explained things. She would have asked what I wanted. She would have respected the fact that I was a human being, not a scripted character meant to move exactly where she wished."

She turned her head slightly, glancing toward the sealed mark on the wall again, though her words were still directed at the system.

"You speak as though I owe her gratitude for not letting me die. But tell me, is survival alone enough to justify control? Is saving someone’s life permission to dictate every step they take afterward?"

The system’s jaw tightened.

Elara continued, her voice steady and even. "If a stranger pulled me from a fire and then chained me to their house for the rest of my life, would that be kindness? Would you call that mercy simply because I lived?"