Kurapika was provided with a matching box for the Scarlet Eyes, a gift box from the underground auction where the item was sold. The previous owner, who had just warmed the gift box, was intercepted by Melody, who, instead of robbing him, stole his heart.
Melody killed all his bodyguards and then stepped on his chest. Just as he thought he was about to die, Melody stopped. Blood dripped from the dagger onto his face like tears, staining his collar red.
"I want to talk about a small cooperation with you. Don't try any tricks on me," Melody said, gesturing towards his eye socket with the tip of her knife. "Otherwise, I'll dig out your eyeballs. Completely intact."
"..."
"Do you understand?"
"I... I understand!"
Melody asked him to hand over anyone who would later seek the Scarlet Eyes to her, and that the Scarlet Eyes would belong to her. To his surprise, Melody did not take the Scarlet Eyes for free but transferred the full amount of money to him according to the price he had bid.
"I'm not a robber, I just have some personal matters to attend to," Melody said.
Mainly considering the Zoldyck family's reputation, she was, after all, an employee of the Zoldycks. When taking assassination requests under the Zoldyck banner, she had to adhere to some of their professional qualities. Randomly snatching valuable items from others was wrong, and her conduct couldn't be too much like the Phantom Troupe's. This way, if the Zoldycks found out about today's events, they wouldn't punish her, probably.
The cooperation was, of course, immediately agreed upon. The former owner of the Scarlet Eyes lied about "going on a business trip" and handed Kurapika, who had come to visit, over to Melody.
The Nostra family... was it? The former owner of the Scarlet Eyes had heard a little about it. He heard that the Nostra family was originally just a small organization in a remote area. Later, because the eldest daughter of the Nostra family's leader was very accurate in her fortune-telling, and she had supporters among the Ten Dons, the family rapidly developed and grew stronger.
However, there were also recent rumors that the girl who was good at fortune-telling had already died.
Like the nouveau riche Nostra family, their foundation was too shallow. Without their fortune-telling ability, they would likely fall into decline and fade away.
What was the silver-haired woman's motive? Was it related to the Nostra family?
The Nostra family actually sent a young man who looked effeminate and claimed to be the current second-in-command. He was a nobody who had appeared from God knows where. The Nostra family really looked like they were about to collapse. But were there any noteworthy aspects of the Nostra family?
Recalling the silver-haired woman's warning, "Don't try any tricks on me," the former owner of the Scarlet Eyes temporarily swallowed his stray thoughts. In any case, the silver-haired woman had left, and he could start recruiting bodyguards again.
Damn it, that woman was terrifyingly strong. She wasn't someone to be trifled with.
On the other side, Melody said she wanted to tailor a suit for Kurapika.
"After all, you are now the second-in-command of the Nostra family, you can't dress like a bodyguard anymore," Melody said, with one arm crossed and the other resting on her chin, seriously planning Kurapika's career. "First impressions at work are very important. Do you have any preferred suit fabrics?"
"..." Kurapika remained silent. In front of his enemy, this was the highest level of composure he could maintain.
"And leather shoes and ties!" Melody seemed to be obsessed with mafia-related cultural works and attached great importance to clothing.
Beyond clothing, she did not comment on Kurapika's actual work, which was one of the reasons Kurapika was willing to cooperate with her on clothing. Dressing was indeed important. To revive the Nostra family, he had to quickly establish a strong personal image and not let others look down on him easily, losing his position to negotiate with people. As the second-in-command and the actual person in power, he represented the image of the entire Nostra family.
This was also part of his deal with Melody. As a "lover," he was obligated to accept the gifts Melody prepared for him.
Taking off his suit jacket and unbuttoning the top two buttons of his shirt, the tailor took a tape measure and measured his neck, shoulder width, chest, arm length, jacket length, and so on.
When Melody entered the store and, without hesitation, blurted out "All the most expensive ones" in response to the tailor's questions, Kurapika immediately lost faith in her fashion theory and said he would choose for himself.
So Melody idly watched him choose styles, fabrics, and colors, watching him take off his suit jacket and measure his measurements.
Kurapika was a responsible, diligent, and capable person, so Melody never needed to, nor intended to, worry about Kurapika's career from the beginning. Melody was only thinking about how to play the game, and because "clothing" was an important part of RPGs, she paid attention to clothing.
Her remarks about "image management" were just casual talk from Melody. Kurapika would later realize this truth.
Melody didn't care how Kurapika chose his clothes, acting as a hands-off manager throughout, only responsible for swiping the card to pay.
There was nothing she could do, Melody really had no suggestions. Although clothes make the man, Kurapika was already a beautiful young man, and it was more like the clothes were benefiting from his looks. In short, he looked good in anything – except for the kind of nail-like outfits, clown costumes, and fur-collared leather coats that were part of the "Three Beauties of Hunter."
Alright, there were quite a few bizarre outfits in this world. Let's put it more precisely. As long as it was normal, mainstream clothing, Kurapika would look good in it.
Since they were playing a mafia dungeon, Melody couldn't help but consider whether she should buy a black trench coat and experience the feeling of a high-ranking mafia executive. Yes, like in "Bungo Stray Dogs."
In stark contrast to the economic situation in the real world, Melody could buy whatever she wanted in this world, so she actually bought a black trench coat and a fedora similar to Chuuya Nakahara's.
Kurapika, who inexplicably became a spectator to Melody choosing clothes: ...
After finishing the clothing-related matters, the two stopped taking detours and took an airship back to the Nostra family territory.
Kurapika walked in front, Melody behind, and Melody came out to greet them.
"This is..." Kurapika disliked lying, but he was extremely reluctant to publicly announce his post-transaction relationship with Melody, as it was a humiliation for him.
He knew very well that Melody would stay with him for a long time as his "lover," and it was necessary for him to provide others with Melody's positioning within the Nostra family, not to gloss over it.
So he chose to introduce himself and then gave Melody the right to explain – this way, he could at least avoid having to say the answer himself.
Kurapika turned around, looked at Melody, and gestured for her to answer the following questions herself.
"Hello, I am the new bodyguard and assistant, Melody," Melody introduced herself to Melody.
Since she wanted to pursue excitement, she would go all the way. A public "lover" was not as interesting as an "underground lover," was it? It had to be clandestine and secretive! Melody thought.
"..." Both Kurapika and Melody had grim expressions.
Melody quickly left after greeting them.
Kurapika believed that the deliberately lying Melody might have other plans, and he couldn't figure it out. Melody's unusual attitude made him very concerned. Melody could hear many things that ordinary people couldn't by listening to heartbeats, so she must have heard something.
As the "new bodyguard and assistant," Melody naturally demanded to stay in the guest room closest to Kurapika. Kurapika interpreted this as "surveillance," just like in Yorknew City, Melody's "surveillance" of him.
A "new bodyguard and assistant" could follow him during working hours, and a "lover" could follow him at other times. Was Melody's real purpose to monitor him more conveniently? Were there things happening around him that needed to be controlled at all times? Was "lover" just a distraction gimmick? The key was to figure out her hidden motive! Kurapika thought.
With Melody around, finding an opportunity for a private conversation with Melody would become difficult.
Unexpectedly, the opportunity came quickly. Melody did not cling to Kurapika and went directly to her guest room to rest. "Kurapika, as we agreed, I'll start working tomorrow."
Her nonchalant attitude was either a deliberate tactic or extreme confidence.
But Kurapika couldn't let this opportunity pass. He needed to get information from Melody as soon as possible to avoid prolonged complications.
They met privately and cautiously. The scene was more like an "underground lover" than Melody had imagined.
"Did you hear anything unusual?" Kurapika asked Melody.
"It's hard to say," Melody felt that the situation was probably more complicated than she could imagine. "Who is she?"
"A former member of the Phantom Troupe."
"..." Melody had heard the heartbeat of the Phantom Troupe leader, Chrollo Lucilfer, and the sound of him "enjoying a life accompanied by death" had left a deep psychological shadow on her.
"Kurapika," Melody's voice trembled slightly. "Her heartbeat's melody is like... sharp fingernails scratching on a metal plate. I can hardly bear it. In that situation, how could she remain normal? No, I think she might... might be crazy."
"...Mm," Kurapika confirmed. "She has a set of destiny theories that she firmly believes in, and my chains cannot detect lies in that regard. I don't know how she obtained some special information. This is likely related to her Nen ability, similar to Neon Nostra's precognitive ability – after all, personal perception influences the formation of Nen abilities."
"How long will she stay here?" Melody asked nervously.
"I'm afraid it won't be over in a short period," Kurapika understood Melody's difficulty with her overly sensitive hearing and also worried about Melody's safety, as Melody likely didn't want anyone around her to hear her inner thoughts. "Melody, I'm very grateful for your care during this time. I will handle the rest myself, and I should handle it myself."
"...Be careful, Kurapika!" Melody could hear Kurapika's determination and could only warn him, "If you need me, I'm always available for your contact."
Kurapika personally escorted her out of the Nostra family territory.
"One more thing!" After being refused help by Kurapika, Melody had been trying to recall Melody's heartbeat, hoping to provide more useful information. "Her heartbeat has subtle discordant sounds, possibly a pathological change, or perhaps a foreign object – I'm not sure."
"She said something similar," Kurapika sighed slowly. "She said she would reach the end of her life within about a year. Since you also made this judgment, it means it's not her subjective imagination."
Reaching the end of her life within about a year.
Melody indeed hadn't lied.
She had long planned that she would play around with Kurapika for at most three months, or possibly a shorter period, and then head to a new dungeon to find the giant Chimera Ant Queen who could "give birth to the ceiling of manga combat power, Meruem."
In the best-case scenario, she would be eaten by the Queen and reborn as a Chimera Ant with attributes far exceeding those of human characters. Going too early would be inappropriate. Chimera Ant Queens, before eating enough humans, produced offspring with more animalistic appearances. From the mid-stage onwards, the offspring became more human-like. Melody valued character appearance a lot!
In a slightly worse-case scenario, she wouldn't be eaten and reborn by the Queen, but would undergo body modification. That would also be acceptable, as long as her appearance didn't change much while her combat power was appropriately enhanced.
In the worst-case scenario, she wouldn't be reborn, but simply become nourishment, or lose her human memories after rebirth. Both outcomes would be similar to direct death. It wouldn't be a loss, it wouldn't matter.
As for what her "pre-nuptial contract" would become...
Melody had previously sought out the Hunter Association's only Nen Exorcist to see if she could remove it.
The Nen Exorcist looked troubled and asked Melody how she got entangled with someone else's "Nen."
"I signed a contract for a benefit exchange with someone," Melody said.
"That's not easy to handle," the Nen Exorcist said. "Breaking a 'Nen' contract is inherently difficult. Moreover, you have already received the benefits of the contract, haven't you?"
"..." Melody nodded.
"Adding 'debt' to 'contract' multiplies the difficulty by more than double," the Nen Exorcist explained. "Unless you can repay the benefits you've already received and eliminate the debt first, I might be able to help you remove it."
Repayment was impossible. Did Melody have to fulfill Illumi's hundreds of wishes in return? That would be too ridiculous.
"What does the 'Nen' you see look like? Can you describe it to me?" Melody was quite interested in this aspect.
"Like hair," the Nen Exorcist frowned. "Or many black threads. Too many. I estimate there are hundreds of them."
...Hair? Illumi, are you really the ghost Sadako? You should be renamed "Sadako Zoldyck," or "Kayako Zoldyck."
So, for every wish fulfilled, another thread was attached?
Just this? It didn't matter.
Melody hadn't expected to easily remove the Nen, nor did she expect Illumi to voluntarily release the contract.
If she told the Zoldyck family about the "pre-nuptial contract" and expected them to order Illumi to voluntarily release it, that would be too naive. Illumi could easily explain that the contract posed no harm to Melody or the family. As long as Melody didn't use up all 999 wishes and didn't attempt suicide, Melody would be free. At worst, if Melody chose to commit suicide, the "pre-nuptial contract" would allow her to continue serving the Zoldycks and remain a family member.
In any case, it would be a happy ending for everyone.
Hmph.
Melody recalled that before signing the "pre-nuptial contract," she and Illumi had thoroughly discussed the definition of "suicide." The conclusion was that besides unexpected accidents that she couldn't foresee, and natural disasters that were objectively unavoidable, any death caused by her own deliberate seeking of death would be considered "suicide."
The key was her own intention... wasn't it?
Rule-based Nen abilities are divided into objective rules and subjective rules. Objective rules are self-explanatory, but subjective rules vary from person to person. Since the judgment basis of the "pre-nuptial contract" was Melody's intention, there was a loophole.
What if Melody's act of being eaten by the Chimera Ant Queen was not "seeking death," but rather an attempt to obtain rebirth by abandoning her human body?
If Melody wanted to become "something non-human," then she could completely sever ties with the Zoldycks who raised her and escape all restraints of the human world to become a completely new person.
That's right, this wasn't "suicide," it was "rebirth," it was the "pursuit of a better life"!
When signing the "pre-nuptial contract," Illumi certainly couldn't have imagined that there was a way to achieve "rebirth" through "death" in this world – this was the advantage of an "player" knowing the original plot's information difference!
Would Melody succeed?
What if she failed?
By then, she would have already died, and the dead have nothing to do with the world; they wouldn't know or care.
Pulling the covers over her head, Melody closed her eyes.
Reaching the end of her life within a year. Yes, her life had indeed reached its end. Next was the Chimera Ant life, or "ant-life" for short.
"..."
How to define "suicide"?
When signing the "pre-nuptial contract," Illumi and Melody had discussed this in detail.
However, the sister focused on the method of death and overlooked the essence of "suicide": suicide is a unique self-destructive behavior of humans when they have no lingering attachments to the world.
The method and outcome were not the most crucial points. The key was the intention of the person involved.
That is, whether there was any attachment.
Although there were instances of clinging to life due to the instinct of self-preservation at the brink of death, Illumi was convinced that Melody would not be like that.
Melody had an unusual fascination with "death." "Death" was like her only lover, whom she had been ardently pursuing and yearning to embrace.
Nen Exorcists were extremely rare, and Illumi knew of the more easily found ones, so he also knew about Melody's attempts and that Melody didn't have high expectations for "Nen removal."
Even without removing the Nen, Melody would surely find ways to commit suicide, bypassing the "pre-nuptial contract."
Melody would surely welcome death without any lingering attachment.
Illumi would surely welcome her without any suspense.
Let the Grim Reaper be the officiant, let death bear witness.
They would eventually cross life and death together and become an inseparable part of each other.
Happy marriage.