Riches and Bitches: I have a gate to an isekai and leveling-up system!

'This conversation is really taking the wildest turns,' I thought, not sure how exactly I was supposed to respond to Irene's question.

'Should I lie? Or should I tell the truth?'

For some reason, Irene wanted to know this detail that I've never considered to be something more than a curiosity. And knowing not of her motivations, how could I decide whether it was better to be honest or not?

'Well, when it comes to lying, the question is…' I sighed internally. 'Am I even able to lie to her?'

"It's purple," I revealed and followed with a sigh of resignation.

"Wait, purple?" Irene's eyes opened up wide. She nearly jumped from her seat, only holding herself back right at the very last moment. "So that's how it is…" she muttered, slowly seating herself back as she dug her eyes into the table and refused to elaborate at all.

'And now what…?'

Hearing no word come from her mouth nor any further change appear on her face, I took a deep breath.

"What about it?" I finally gathered enough courage to ask.

'Is it bad? Or is it good?' I wanted to ask… But judging by the flow of the conversation thus far, it would be pointless to voice this concern.

After all, given her reaction, Irene likely would see no benefit in sharing the news, right?

"Nothing much," Irene finally responded, raising her eyes and giving my face a curious glance. "At most, it explains a few things I couldn't understand before."

Irene raised her head properly before grabbing the cup and taking a sip of the coffee before putting the cup down and leaning back in her chair.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Now, for the answers that you seek and with the assumptions that what I will tell shall be merely a shadow, an illusion of the truth," she announced before putting a small smile on her face.

"The darkness core that I've bestowed upon you actually has little to do with you. In reality, it only continued to feed the people around you the darkness… Or, to put it in terms you can actually understand, with the burning desire to follow their own wishes."

Irene made a short pause, raising her eyes to the ceiling as she took a moment to consider the right words to use next.

"You see darkness…" she hesitated for a second, "what you see as darkness is just one of the few primeval forces that permeate every world in existence. Seeing how you could perceive me within the realm of darkness, you must consider me to be a darkness avatar of sorts or something, but that too, is merely a shadow of a hint of what I really am."

'What is she even on about?' I thought, to myself, struggling to connect the dots Irene was raising.

Why did she start talking about the core of darkness only to then switch over to what darkness is in reality without even properly explaining the core part?

"Induced by the darkness born from the core I bestowed upon you, those around you…" Irene squinted her eyes… Only to then shake her head. "No, that's not the best way to explain it," she corrected herself before looking up to my face again.

"When surrounded by people who follow nothing but their own wishes, most men would learn from them to be the same. And once you grew to be true to your own desires, the darkness core would mature and be ripe for me to cash in on my investment."

Somewhere in the distant corner of my consciousness, a red light lit up.

What Irene just said struck a cord in my soul, ringing the bells… but in a way that somehow prevented me from figuring the connection out.

"But for some reason, for five damn years, you refused to bend your will to the call of your surrounding, starving the core and forcing it to become dormant. That, in turn, led to those who already relied on the darkness to gain a sort of a withdrawal syndrome."

Irene suddenly averted her eyes.

"While the core was still active, people around you simply grew more likely to follow their desires and wishes, ignoring all the concerns that normally would stop them. And to a degree, by itself, it should be bearable. But once they could no longer feed off the darkness produced by the core within you…"

Irene didn't even finish her words, opting to turn her face away, avoiding my own eyes.

"So, once they could no longer find this darkness around me…" I spoke out as if to lead Irene back to the topic she clearly wasn't all that happy to discuss.

"Did you never catch the people around you suddenly start to act all cranky?" Irene asked, still avoiding my eyes.

I took a moment to think… And as vaguely as it was, I could indeed recall some instances of my aunt suddenly growing restless and easy to annoy.

But still, that didn't make any sense. Not when considering the timeline of things… Or rather…

"If that's all true, then how will you explain Cassie's behavior?" I asked, eager to get to the bottom of it. "By the time I've met her, I've already starved the core dormant, didn't I? Isn't that what you said?"

Finally, Irene looked back at my face.

"And do you still remember how are you supposed to feed the core?" She asked, yet seeing the blank look on my face, she only rolled her eyes. "The core feeds of you acting upon your desires. And while I'm aware you never bedded Cass…"

This time, Irene's face took on a slightly amused tone.

"As innocent as you might be, kissing and cuddling… or even just leering at her was something you really wanted to do, wasn't it?"

Hearing those news, I suddenly forgot what I was about to say. Because, no matter how much I wanted to do so, I couldn't refute Irene's words.

"So, it was my fault that she suddenly started to feed on the darkness and then it's also my fault she grew to be annoyed with me once I learned how to rein my desires in again?"

This time, Irene simply refused to reply, be it with words or by nodding her head. Instead, her averting her eyes was enough of an answer for me.

"Okay, let's forget all about Cassie for now," I suggested upon realizing that my ex wasn't part of the equation nor an important piece of it. "What was it about the color I see before my portal fully forms?"

Irene's face suddenly turned all serious.

"It revealed your true origins. And at the same time, to what primeval tribe you belong," she revealed with a small, slightly tense smile.

"And that is…?" I continued to dig further and further, feeling as if I was about to touch some sort of a massive secret… Or just find out more about myself and my origins.

"In this world, purple is associated with creativity and royalty," Irene revealed, only to react with a small smirk upon seeing how my face suddenly lit up. "But that's just the interpretation of your species. In reality…"

Irene took a deep breath before looking me deep in the eyes.

"In truth, the purple tone of your own aura means you belong to the tribe of will," she revealed something that clearly made all the sense to her while meant pretty much nothing to me. "In other words, your power stems from conciousness," she then revealed in a bit simpler terms, only to avert her eyes again and add, "which explains why you did such a good job refusing the call of the core."