The Promise
I’m sick of being dragged around now.
Ian had survived this long thanks in part to his comrades from the first round, but ultimately it was the result of his own desperate, teeth-gritting struggles.
He had lived through encounters with Lumiela and Sera using nothing but cheap tricks, quick thinking, and swordsmanship.
Perhaps because he had spent so long suppressing himself lately, Ian was gradually growing accustomed to overcoming everything alone, without relying on anyone else.
In fact, he might even say he preferred it that way.
The pattern of faithfully retracing the first round’s steps.
Olivia’s lips twitched faintly.
She could feel the burning will rising from deep within Ian.
No one can stop Ian when he’s like this. I could force him down, but I hate the idea of earning his hatred…
At his current level, Olivia could overpower him with pure physical strength even without using her Magic Eye.
She couldn’t bear to watch him get hurt, so she wanted to stop him immediately, but…
“…Hng. Really? If you want to do it, then go ahead.”
“……?”
She had given permission far more easily than expected.
She’s allowing it just like that…?
Olivia’s attitude had done a complete reversal from the overprotective demeanor she’d shown only moments ago. Ian found it slightly surprising.
Well, I did get permission.
He was striding toward Sera with confidence when Olivia spoke again.
“There is one condition, though.”
“Yes…?”
A condition?
Ian felt an ominous premonition stir.
“The sparring must take place ‘in front of’ Noona.”
Ian flinched.
At Olivia’s words, Sera’s collapsed body began to shake violently.
It was as if learned terror had been carved into her very bones, automatically stripping away her will to fight.
Ian shook his head at the sight.
“…That won’t work.”
The efficiency of sparring came from the opponent’s attitude and determination. With a predator—no, something far more dangerous than a predator—watching from right behind her, there was no way Sera could focus properly.
When Ian refused, Olivia stepped close at once and blew gently into his ear.
“Ugh…”
The light puff of air against his ear brought a ticklish sensation. Ian felt a strange mix of embarrassment and shame.
Watching him flinch, Olivia’s cheeks flushed.
Ah, this is truly dangerous.
Perhaps it was the privilege of a regressor. Having spent countless hours with Ian across endless loops, Olivia knew every single one of his sensitive spots.
If merely touching his weakest point drew such a sensitive reaction, then the rest of him…
Haaah, you really lived your life hiding such an adorable side?
His response was the complete opposite of the dull, blunt demeanor he used to show. In cruder terms, it was unbearably arousing.
Though excitement flared at the sight of her far-too-lewd little brother, she maintained her composure as best she could and whispered to him.
“You know, Ian… I think Noona has already yielded quite a lot…”
Srrrk—
Like a snake, she wrapped her arm around his neck.
Tightening her hold little by little, she whispered as though she might devour him.
“…What do you think, Ian? Don’t you think you’re being a little too greedy?”
“Uh, um…”
Ian stammered as if his tongue had stopped working.
Their current posture was incredibly indecent, and more than that…
Sera, it’s not what you’re thinking.
The collapsed Sera was staring at him with eyes full of betrayal.
It’s not.
***
Right now, Sera’s mind was pure chaos.
She had been happily sparring with Ian—what kind of sudden disaster was this?
Her entire body bound, slammed this way and that, and finally sent crashing down. Sera had already nearly died twice.
She felt less like an imperial knight and more like a pathetic mayfly.
Before she could even collect herself, Olivia had unhesitatingly pulled Ian into her arms.
She hugged him without hesitation, wrapped her arms around him, and bound him completely with her body.
It was an open display of affection unbelievable for an imperial princess.
Watching the scene, Sera was stunned.
If anything, the princess herself seemed far more aggressive than Ian.
What shocked her even more was the lewd smile Olivia secretly wore in the places Ian’s gaze couldn’t reach.
Her expression was that of someone clearly enjoying the harassment.
Seeing all of it in real time, Sera briefly wondered if she was hallucinating or if this was all a dream.
But her violently trembling body and the maid uniform drenched in sweat told her this was undeniable reality.
J-just how many princesses has Master seduced…!
From the first princess Lumiela, said to be impregnable, to her younger sister the second princess Olivia…
Ian’s audacity in charming the empire’s most exalted women was astonishing.
Don’t tell me the reason he broke into Lady Evangeline’s palace that time was also…?
For a moment, Sera imagined Ian smiling brightly while surrounded by the princesses.
Just as her imagination reached its peak, Ian—who had been held in Olivia’s arms for some time—seemed to fall into deep thought. Then he lifted his head and said something.
H-huh? What did those two just talk about…?
Sera, watching from nearby, hadn’t caught the words and felt puzzled.
Her powerful body should never have missed sounds at such close range.
That could only mean… it wasn’t a simple issue of distance.
A chill ran down her spine.
Ah, it’s still active?
It meant Olivia’s Magic Eye had not yet been withdrawn.
The thoroughness was enough to raise goosebumps. It was the cold calculation befitting a regressor, but of course Sera had no way of knowing that.
While Sera remained frozen in terror, unable to move even a single finger—
“Ian. Is that really true…?”
Olivia looked at him in surprise after hearing his words.
She scanned his entire body as if she couldn’t believe it, moved her lips several times, then obediently released him.
Olivia watched Ian’s retreating back carefully, then turned and headed out of the Moon God Palace.
Did it work out…?
Sera looked at Ian with a thread of hope.
At that exact moment—
Whip—
Olivia, who had been walking far away, snapped her head around and glared at Sera.
It wasn’t just a glare; an unknown pressure settled onto her shoulders as well.
“Hiiiiiik…!”
Fortunately it wasn’t the crushing force from before, but the heavy pressure still clung to both of Sera’s shoulders.
A clear warning.
Olivia carefully brought a finger to her lips.
Shh.
Nod nod nod—
Sera nodded her head frantically.
Why is she acting like that…?
Ian tilted his head in confusion at Sera’s sudden frantic nodding, then approached and reached out to her.
“Sera, are you okay…?”
“M-Master…”
Sera was genuinely terrified.
Why were there so many terrifying women around Ian?
She wanted to throw herself into his arms out of sheer anxiety, but since Olivia hadn’t completely left yet, she read the room and stood up on her own.
Ian immediately bowed his head to her.
Just as he had with Lumiela before, he apologized from the bottom of his heart.
In the end, Sera had suffered because of his unreasonable demand. This was his fault.
“…It must have hurt a lot. I’m sorry.”
“N-no, it’s fine… More importantly, Master…”
Just who are you, really?
Sera was desperately curious about Ian’s true identity, but she was terrified that asking might bring retaliation from Lumiela or Olivia.
At this point, all she wanted was to rest.
But what Sera had gravely misunderstood was—
“Then shall we continue the sparring!”
—that Ian had no intention of letting her rest.
Sera’s mental anguish or trauma didn’t matter to him. Right now, the most important thing to Ian was the ‘sparring.’
Under normal circumstances he would have shown consideration and let her rest or offered comfort, but now was not the time for such luxuries.
…I ended up making an absolutely ridiculous promise with Olivia.
Just moments ago, Ian had struck a single ‘promise’ as the condition for making Olivia leave.
A promise so outrageous it had convinced the woman obsessed with him to obediently depart.
Ian picked up Sera’s fallen sword and handed it to her.
Sera let out a hollow laugh and spoke in a disbelieving voice.
“Ahaha, Master… you’re joking, right?”
“…I’m not joking.”
“Y-yes…?”
“Take up your sword. This time, Sera, I’m going to go a little ‘harder.’”
Trembling as she gripped the sword, Sera looked utterly pitiful.
***
Beneath the darkened night sky.
Stars twinkled, and occasionally ‘distorted’ shapes drifted across it, but otherwise the place was utterly silent.
There, a woman spoke in a chilling voice, as if telling a ghost story.
“In the far distant past, they say that to become stronger, each person would place a ‘Geas’ upon their own body.”
Any being may form only one Geas in their lifetime.
The harsher the condition, the greater the potential granted.
It is not mere promise—it is a burden bound to the soul itself.
In ancient times, humans used these Geases to protect their lands between gods and devils.
“…Um, but isn’t that not exactly the ‘past’ for you, sister?”
When Serena tilted her head, Envy gave a bitter smile.
“I suppose not…? Well, by human standards it would be right around the time one leaves early childhood. Anyway, in the ancient era, intelligent beings grew stronger through rather simple and brutish methods.”
A Geas—also called a binding oath—was not a simple promise. It was an obligation shackled to one’s own body, a ‘burden.’
“Any existence can form only one Geas in their entire life. The harsher the Geas, the greater the potential it bestows upon the user.”
That was why most ancient humans had formed Geases and protected their territories between gods and devils.
Bianca, who had been listening quietly, asked carefully.
“Th-then… isn’t that simply a type of sorcery combining localized human sacrifice based on one’s own body with cognitive alteration…? How could they possibly face gods and devils with such a primitive method…?”
“Who knows…? In terms of pure efficiency, it does produce absurd results. But what if the subject of the Geas is someone else?”
“…Pardon? So what you’re saying, sister, is—”
There exists a being that would grant the power to confront gods and devils with nothing more than a single promise?