"So, Elaina and I came to help clean up," Yulia repeated, watching me stand there dumbfounded.

She placed her hands on her hips, scanned the filthy detention chamber, and sighed. "Just as awful as last time. No—actually worse."

Her gaze landed on the leftover trash from my meals in the neighboring cell.

"So... you two are here to clean for me?" I finally grasped the situation and confirmed with Yulia.

"Hmph! Alice had to undergo Ghoul Transformation to protect me in the forest—that’s why she ended up locked here. It’s my responsibility. Do you think I’d be ungrateful?" Yulia declared proudly.

"Oh, Yulia... I thought you’d all abandoned me..."

After days of isolation, seeing someone I could actually talk to overwhelmed me. Forgetting my Ghoul Transformation state, I lunged at Yulia, tackling her to the ground and nuzzling against her like a child.

The Elaine Maid stayed on high alert against my ghoul form. When I tackled Yulia, she nearly cast a spell to attack me—but Yulia instantly silenced her with a sharp gesture.

Gently stroking my stiff, silver ghoul hair, Yulia murmured, "Stuck alone in this dark, filthy place for so many days... you must’ve been so lonely. It’s okay, Alice. Good girl..."

Her words calmed me. I pulled back, blushing crimson at my childish outburst.

*Wait—I’m twenty years older than her! How did I end up being comforted like a little kid?*

Yulia’s sudden appearance had startled me, and days of solitude had frayed my nerves. But this... This was worse than I’d realized. Before meeting Lem and his hunters, I could’ve gone half a year without human contact and stayed sane.

*Snap out of it. I need to act like an adult in front of Yulia.*

I released her immediately. "I’m so sorry for tackling you. And my claws—did they hurt you?"

"Not at all! I’m perfectly fine," Yulia said, brushing dust off her clothes as she stood.

"*Ahem.* Right then. Official cleaning duty commences now," the Elaine Maid announced, clearing her throat.

Miss Aileen pulled out brooms and rags, then began scrubbing with startling efficiency. I’d always thought her maid outfit was just cosplay—but no, she was a true professional. Under her expert hands, the Third Detention Chamber transformed before our eyes: neither large nor small, yet spotless in minutes.

Midway, she even unleashed legendary cleaning magic—a flick of her wrist made the grimy toilet sparkle like new. I gaped in awe, silently saluting the grand mage who’d invented such a spell to avoid scrubbing toilets.

Yulia did nothing but supervise. I at least helped tidy up, while she stood there, all talk and no action.

She argued that after ten days of pestering Dante, she’d secured their entry permit—*that* was her real contribution. "As nobility, my duty is to command. I *am* working!"

"But Lem said Miss Aileen is nobility too," I pointed out.

"*No.* Right now, she’s *my* maid!" Yulia shot back, indignant.

After four grueling hours, the chamber gleamed. Under Yulia’s floating light orb, the floor shone like glass, and even the iron bars looked newly forged.

"Hmm. Much better," Yulia declared with odd authority. "Being imprisoned in comfort versus filth? Heaven and earth for a prisoner." She signaled for Miss Aileen to stop.

"But... I’ve been wondering," Miss Aileen said hesitantly. "Why is there such a massive mana crystal in Cell One?"

*Cell One?* I’d been too depressed these ten days to inspect properly. My documents assigned me to Cell Two—was someone else imprisoned here?

I hurriedly unlocked the only barred door in the chamber with Dante’s key. Inside stood a life-sized purple mana crystal.

"Aileen, wipe the dust off it."

"Yes, Miss Yulia."

As the crystal cleared, it revealed a preserved corpse—a grown woman frozen like amber. Through the hazy purple surface, I saw long violet hair, delicate features, and hunter’s attire far bolder than any I’d seen in the Hunter Settlement. Her lower half wore scandalously short hot pants and purple stockings, exposing plump, pale thighs. Her upper body was clad only in chest armor barely covering her ample bosom—utterly impractical for frigid Posein.

Her body was mutilated: a deep weapon wound marred her abdomen, her right arm—still gripping a Corpse Eater-slaying spear—was severed from her torso. And on her forehead, tangled in violet hair, grew a small, broken horn just like mine.

"What... is this?" I whispered, staring at the alluring yet eerie figure.

"Judging by the dust, it’s been here decades," Yulia mused, tracing the crystal. "With injuries this severe, she’s long dead."

"Could she be..." Miss Aileen trailed off, studying the half-Ghostkind woman’s remains. After a pause, she announced she needed to verify something urgent—and asked Yulia to teleport her out of the Third Detention Chamber immediately.