Kidnapped
In the end, the banquet fizzled out into nothing.
All because of the Emperor's final words.
"Wh-what..!"
"What say you? With ability like yours, I could more than acknowledge you as my son-in-law—"
"Don't you dare say such ridiculous things!!"
I never expected the Princess to bolt from the hall mid-banquet. I hadn't thought her capable of raising her voice like that, either — she had always carried herself with such quiet grace and dignity.
"..Did something happen between you and my daughter, perhaps?"
"Nothing of the sort, Your Majesty."
"..Heh heh, my apologies. Would you permit me to be the first to rise?"
In the end, the Emperor, unable to watch any longer, rose from his seat before anyone else — and who could possibly sit through a fine meal in comfort after that? Especially with the only person left across the table being a duke's daughter.
Unable to so much as finish my meal, I had risen early, and now, walking the corridor, a reddish-brown door still gleaming beneath the bright lights caught my eye. And beneath it, my own black shadow, rippling.
"Come out."
There was no one around. Only candles burning with bright, trembling flames, and beautiful paintings hung along the walls. Not a human figure in sight — not even a trace of any living thing — and yet I was certain someone was here.
"A candle's flame doesn't sway indoors when there isn't a breath of wind — does it?"
"...."
"Come out. Before I drag you out myself."
"My, my, how perceptive~?"
From the tip of the shadow that had stretched out unnaturally long behind me, something oozed up.
"...."
How should I put this... that thing. A black slime? Or a spherical blob brimming with black mucus?
Black liquid dripped from the thing that had popped out without warning, and the drops that hit the floor squirmed about of their own accord before slipping back into my shadow, until soon only that single black sphere was left sitting alone in the corridor.
"How did you know?"
The sphere split open with a long, wet rip, and someone emerged from within — like a butterfly pushing free of its chrysalis.
"How did I know? Is there any reason I wouldn't? These are things anyone could work out with just a little observation."
"Hmm~ And yet not a single one of those other fellows ever managed that 'little' bit, you knooow.."
Pink hair made its presence known, and then, unlike the black sphere, a pale nude figure followed after it.
Or was it my imagination? I was certain her blade — wreathed in something black — had just flashed.
"..So. What brings you here, Lady Charlotte?"
"Ehh~? Changing the subject?"
I did my best to ignore her, but before I knew it she had appeared at my back and rested her head on my shoulder. Lips pushed out, eyes closed — the very picture of a cat wheedling for affection.
"Whoa.. look at that face."
"..My apologies if I was rude."
"Believe it or not, people call me quite the beauty, you know? Shouldn't you normally be delighted when I do this?"
"...."
"..Could you maybe work on that poker face?"
"..What is your business with me."
I heaved a sigh at her teasing tone and antics and turned my back — and there she stood before me once more. Without the slightest sound. Without the slightest movement.
"Obviously I came because I have something to say?"
"..To me?"
"Yup! It's about you!"
She said it brightly and snapped her fingers. Black liquid surged up around her, weaving itself into a single black panel.
"You know as well as I do that the Empire is drowning in rumors about you right now?"
"..Yes, I'm aware."
"And do you know which rumor is drawing the most attention of all?"
When had she made it? A black quill, seemingly wrought from shadow, was clasped in her hand, and for some reason she looked utterly delighted. The face of someone so terribly entertained they could barely hold in their laughter.
"..If I had to guess.. it would be the one about House Reinhardt—"
"Correct!!"
Two more black spheres began to form around her, each gradually assuming a shape of its own. One stretched long into the form of a greatsword; the other molded itself into a breastplate and pauldrons.
"House Reinhardt! One of the Four Great Families, renowned far and wide as a house of honorable knights!"
"...."
"And the sole piece of trash in that house — our delinquent, Jenison!"
"...."
"But it turns out every last bit of it was on the orders of that honorable Duke?!"
"...."
"That's the rumor spreading right now — through the Imperial Palace and the back alleys alike — and at a staggering speed!"
"..I'm aware."
It had been the very first rumor to reach my ears the moment I set foot in the Empire, after all. That alone meant it had spread far and wide.
"Really? You knew? And here I was thinking you had no clue?!"
"...."
"Aren't you being awfully calm about it? You're the one the rumor's about!"
"..If that's all you have to say, would you excuse me?"
"Nope? I never said that was all."
She plunged her hand into the floor. Or rather, into the floor already stained black. It sucked at her hand like a vacuum cleaner, and still she didn't so much as flinch, moving her arm this way and that.
"Hmm.. it was around here somewhere.."
"What.. are you looking for?"
"Ah.. hold on a.. sec — oh! Found it!!"
Her hand popped free with a plop. Clutched in it was a single sheet of paper, its color faded to a sickly yellow. A single sheet, crammed edge to edge with dense writing.
"Aria Reinhardt. Your little sister, right?"
My eyes went round. Because of a name I had never expected to hear. The name of my little sister of House Reinhardt — someone I'd been meaning to seek out anyway. And now her name had popped out of the mouth of Charlotte, the woman who ran the Empire's underworld? Of all people — from her lips?
"..Why is that name coming up now?"
"Oh? Reacting the instant I mention your sister, are we?"
"...."
"I'd appreciate it if you'd ease up on that murderous glare. Keep that up and you might just drop dead?"
"...."
"Um.. are you even listening to me?"
"..What happened to her?"
Despite having clearly heard my question, she only smirked slyly and offered no answer.
"What to do, what to do.. we don't hand out information for free to anyone but the imperial family, you see..?"
"...."
"I'll tell you — so how about lending us your strength sometime? When we need your help down the road. No questions, no arguments."
"...."
"Fair warning.. you'd best give up on any thought of attacking me here and making off with the information~"
"...."
"Even if I did lose to you, I'm quite confident I'd never give up that information!"
"Ha.."
"And besides, the longer this drags on, the more desperate one of us gets — and it isn't me!"
The urge to smash that grinning face surged up in me, ready to burst out at any moment, but I turned the word 'endure' over and over in my mind until I barely managed to swallow it down. Because just as she'd said, time was pressing — only the one racing the clock right now wasn't me. It was her.
"..Very well. I'll do as you ask."
"Whoa, really?"
"..Yes."
"What a relief.. honestly, I'd braced myself to take a few punches or have my nails pulled out!"
"...."
"Um, could you stop looking at me like I'm some crazy bitch..? That kind of hurts, you know.."
"..Spare me the theatrics and talk. Has something happened to my sister?"
"Ah, right, that.."
She let the paper she'd been cradling in her palm drop to the floor. It fluttered down and settled onto the black-stained ground.
"Looks like someone's kidnapped her."
"..What—"
The paper was sucked away. Down into the bottomless abyss of that black space.
"Ugh.. ugh.. my head.."
A woman's voice drifted up — one that, for some reason, sounded drained of its strength. A woman clutching at her flickering consciousness, forcing her eyes open.
"Huh..? Wh-what.. where.. is this.. Eek!!"
"..Hey, that wasn't me."
"How should I know? We just get her delivered. That's all."
She strained her eyes open, but no light greeted them — only the voices of two men she couldn't see.
Bewildered as the sudden situation left her, her body had already begun to jolt this way and that; she tried desperately to steady herself, but her hands and feet were bound fast with something. Forget straightening her back — the moment she so much as lifted her head, it knocked against the ceiling.
..What is this place.. where am I trapped..? Kidnapped?
Her surroundings felt like the inside of some cramped little box. And the state of her bound body pointed to a single possibility, and one alone — the possibility that she had been kidnapped.
"So how much farther do we have to go, anyway?"
"Almost there. Guess that's what happens when your client's such a heavyweight — they live somewhere real fancy, and a long way out.."
..Yeah. Kidnapping confirmed.
"Hey, that little brat.. didn't you say she's an Academy student? Won't she start flinging spells around the second she wakes up?"
"Relax, we've already slapped a Mana Restraint on her. The client even supplied it? Someone must be absolutely livid, heh heh."
From the two men's conversation alone, she could piece together what kind of situation she was in —
..There's.. no way out.
With that magical device locked around her arm — the Mana Restraint — escape was all but impossible. For her, a mage first and foremost, above all.
It rocked, and rocked again — the space that held her. Rattling and jolting as though she were riding in a carriage, the shaking showed no intention of ever stopping. And when at last it finally did, light returned to her eyes.
Someone had opened it from outside. So that the unidentified client who had ordered her abduction could lay eyes on her.
"..Dad?"
"..So it was you, Aria."
Her eyes took in the figure before her. The client's face. It wore the shape of her father.