When Kent first laid eyes on Princess Pandora, he sensed something unusual about her. It was the kind of feeling one gets when standing before someone in disguise.

He said nothing at first because that would just be rude. Now, however, he can tell his feelings are being validated.

In fact, her hair colour was the main sign that should have told him she was different.

He, however, didn’t expect her first words after they settled down to regard his past self as the Ruthless Bandit. In fact, he didn’t even expect her to ask something like that.

From what he had observed so far, he could tell the Velkharians truly believed in the Evil King, and as such, they wouldn’t joke about things like this.

They wouldn’t casually mess around knowing that would be the worst kind of offence.

As Kent looked at the smile on Princess Pandora’s face, he could tell she wasn’t joking.

"Your Evil King," Kent muttered, his expression turning a bit lost. "You make it sound like you and I are close. Sorry to say, but I don’t know you, Princess."

Her expression didn’t falter. Rather, she stood up and walked toward Kent. When she was right in front of him, she climbed onto his lap and placed her hands on his shoulders, bringing her bountiful chest to his face.

Kent had to lift his head just to look at her.

"Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to do this to the hero chosen by the Evil King?" Kent tried to pull away, but he found himself unable to move.

"Rude, Lex." Princess Pandora pouted. "Just because you don’t have your memories doesn’t mean you should deny my existence. I am a bit hurt."

Kent had already come to the conclusion that he was bound to meet people who would recognise his past selves without him having the faintest idea of who they were.

So Princess Pandora didn’t come as a surprise to him.

What puzzled him, however, was the fact that someone like the Ruthless Bandit had a beloved.

’It is impossible. I may not have his memories, but I know it is impossible for that bastard to have someone he loved or someone who loves him. It is just impossible.’

He had met the Ruthless Bandit, and from what he had experienced, he could tell he wasn’t someone to even consider normal. Such an evil existence shouldn’t have someone who loves them.

But from what he could tell, Princess Pandora seemed to like him. This then made him wonder just what kind of person she really is at heart.

"It will be best if we take a step back and analyze things from a much wider perspective," Kent suggested, and for a moment, Princess Pandora held a pout. However, she nodded and walked back to her chair.

After she sat down, she gave Kent a curious scan before asking:

"Are you at least going to tell me if you are indeed the Ruthless Bandit or an imitator of him? I have spent millions of years with him, but I can’t tell which of him is the real deal."

Kent furrowed his brow, a bit taken aback by what Princess Pandora had said.

"Don’t get me wrong. I know you are the Ruthless Bandit because I can call you by that name. That is only possible because, from the moment I set my sights on you, the hold you have on the others was lifted off me.

You told me that would happen when we meet again. So don’t even try to lie to me."

Kent sighed, his expression softening.

"I am indeed the Ruthless Bandit. However, I have no memories of his life when you entered it. Though I have to ask, what was your relationship with me back when I was the Ruthless Bandit?"

"Master and disciple," Princess Pandora replied.

Kent nodded and smiled. Then he asked with a smug expression, "I suppose I was the master, right?"

To his dismay, Princess Pandora let out a resounding laugh, one that caused Kent to wonder if he had said anything funny.

It was perfectly logical for him to assume he was the master since he was the Evil King. However, from her laughter, it was clear that he wasn’t the master.

This, however, made him wonder just what Princess Pandora was like in her past life. He waited for her to give him an answer.

Thirty minutes later, she managed to calm down.

"You crack me up like always, Lex. When we met, you were but a demigod fleeing from twelve Chaos Gods. The sight of you hurling profanities at them while also at risk of dying piqued my interest. I couldn’t hold back my laughter back then."

She smiled, a beautiful expression on her face. "My little Evil King, you really need to recover your memories before you make your sweet master angry."

Kent kept his expression calm, but deep down, his heart was beating like a drum.

If others saw the smile on Princess Pandora’s face, they would become charmed, for it was very beautiful. She is extremely beautiful.

However, to someone like Kent, her beautiful smile was merely a mask hiding the darkest evil. Perhaps because his evil heart was slowly awakening, he could see past her mask, and what he saw was truly horrible.

The beauty before him is the worst kind of evil he had set his sights on, and he had seen his fair share of evil in his life as Jest (Lord Genesis).

"Just who are you, and why am I afraid of you even though you mean me no harm?"

Princess Pandora smiled and answered:

"It would be hard to explain it to you unless you recover your memories. Thankfully, I can sense evil in your heart, meaning you have already taken a step but stopped.

My advice is to continue, because if you want to survive the trip to the Tormented Chaos Abyss, you’ll need those memories.

In fact, your mission to kill the four demigods and the portal guardian is secondary. Your reason for coming here is to come see me, for I am the only person who can ensure you don’t become the worst version of yourself after recovering your memories."

She paused and gazed at Kent with a narrowed gaze. "If I am not mistaken, when you recovered your first set of memories, you lost control."

Kent didn’t know how she knew, but he nodded.

"That was because what is buried in you is so much darker that the current you is not strong enough to contain it. That said, I can help keep it at bay until you reach the stage where you can handle it."

"Then why don’t I keep it buried for now until I reach the stage where I can handle it?" Kent asked, but Princess Pandora shook her head. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"Keeping it buried is the most dangerous thing you can do. If—and this is a big if—but if one day you lose control and it awakens, how confident are you that you can contain it?"

Kent couldn’t answer her question.

Indeed, he was a bit short-sighted to assume that. If the unknown erupts one day, how then can he contain it if he has no prior experience?

"You know, I have lived for many billion years before I met you, Lex. I have seen all kinds of evil, but when I saw you, I saw the worst kind of evil that even I, the Evil Queen, was impressed by.

You have in you a True Evil, the kind that had never appeared after me, and so I would be damned if I let you waste it away."