It's a Command!
Even in an age when the world itself was being remade, there were fixed constants that could never be changed.
Human memory was one of them.
It was said that memories lodged deep within the soul could be called forth once more.
Sophia activated the device and opened the door to the secret archive.
The archive was a perfect sealed chamber without a single window. Darkness settled thickly over rows of bookshelves packed tight against every surface.
Subspace magic. This archive was the repository of knowledge Chancellor Erguis had created according to the words of the World Tree.
The floor was bookshelves. The walls were bookshelves. Every element that composed the room was a bookshelf.
"D-damn it... that human bastard. He just dumps the dirty work on me and leaves."
Sophia let out a sigh.
She managed the old university structure that housed Professor Lou's laboratory, along with the Central Magic Tower. She had taught Professor Lou the entry method and entrusted him with the role of caretaker, yet he had only extracted the knowledge and left the actual management completely neglected.
Sophia pinched her nose. It hurt, but it was better than inhaling the stench.
"Ugh. The smell... I told that old man over and over to ventilate regularly."
How long had it gone without cleaning for the dust itself to reek of mildew? It almost smelled like rotting books. W-wait—termites?!
Sophia's expression hardened at the worst possible imagination. She had never seen a living creature survive trapped inside a subspace.
Bracing one hand against the outer wall, she leaned her upper body out. She narrowed her eyes and scanned the shelves, but there was no colony of ants.
"I-is that an a-ant?! L-lantern! Light up!"
Hiss—
Sophia raised the mana lantern in her other hand.
She still couldn't see clearly. Sophia's eyesight was, to put it kindly, nowhere near good.
She scowled like an untamed wild animal and carefully stepped from bookshelf to bookshelf. Beneath her feet stretched an infinite black void.
Her master had said so. Fall in a subspace, and you fall forever.
If I dropped that bitch Arlea in here...
No. Then Mikhail would grieve. Even if she injected him with drugs and normalized his brain, the emotion of loss could not be suppressed. The plan to kill her right away was on hold!
Sophia began groping along the shelves. If memory served, it was around here.
Her master, the legendary Grand Witch Olivia, famous for her capriciousness. The records she had left behind were hidden in places few ever visited. Sophia climbed the shelves and searched them meticulously. That book—hmm. It had been around here.
"Where is it... Ah, here it is!"
Sophia's face brightened.
It had been carelessly tossed atop the highest shelf, bound with a muffler so she had nearly missed it.
Sophia smiled.
Of course!
At last she had found her master's research treatise!
It was encyclopedia-thick—the kind of book that perfectly illustrated why you should never get into close combat with a graduate student. Sophia herself had proven its efficacy more than once in fights.
"Heh heh heh. With this, Mikhail will..."
Grinning wickedly, Sophia held the book and blew a puff of air across it.
It was Methods for Recovering Forgotten Memories—a masterpiece Olivia had created through tremendous effort.
If she just "lightly" touched his memories and made him unable to control his lust...!
Clutching the book, Sophia giggled darkly.
"Professor?"
"Wh-what?!"
Speak of the tiger and he appears!
Caught off guard, Sophia's legs trembled and she tumbled from the bookshelf.
Ah. I'm done for. Her life flashed before her eyes. Sophia savored the fleeting moment.
Her first meeting with Mikhail. The confession and the flight. "Normalization" through magic. Wearing a beautiful wedding dress and living happily ever after for a hundred years!
Ahhh—my Mikhail!
Sophia closed her eyes.
If only she could hold him once more!
"I-I'm going to dieeeee...!"
Thud—
But her expectation that she would be torn to shreds or drift endlessly through the infinite void was splendidly overturned.
Quietly opening one tightly shut eye, Sophia found herself held in Mikhail's arms in a princess carry.
The moment Sophia opened her eyes, Mikhail pressed her urgently.
"A-are you all right?"
"Yes—I'm fine."
"A-any injuries?!"
"N-no, none."
"...I don't know why you climbed up there, but please remember that Professor Sophia is someone who helps many people—long before she is a professor."
I wasn't trying to kill myself, you know. Well, after he disappeared I did consider extreme measures several times.
But then Oppa would be sad, wouldn't he?
"I understand."
Sophia nodded. A vacant face filled with a foolish smile.
He's so handsome.
That slender jawline was so adorable she wanted to torment him. She felt the sensation of his large arms against her waist and thighs, the brush of his fingers glancing against her breasts.
The first time he had saved her, he had appeared just like this—a magnificent prince. Such a beautiful sensation, the kind that only existed in fairy tales. It felt like a dream to Sophia. Should she just go for it right now?!
If I use Master's magic...
What pulled Sophia from her reverie was Mikhail's sigh. He set her down on the floor. I-is he angry?
"Professor. Hah. I was unable to find the book you mentioned."
"It's right here. The one in my hands right now is exactly that book."
Sophia held up the book and shook it. A typical grimoire.
She had lied in advance, but she didn't particularly care. He would understand. On that day when she had fiddled with his brain a few times and conditioned him into her own personal prince.
That was for when Sophia revealed this fact. Mikhail pointed at the book she was holding and asked.
"Is that Professor Lou's research journal?"
"Who knows."
Sophia playfully shrugged her shoulders.
After the regression, his memories had fragmented. Mikhail occasionally took an interest in forbidden things, you see.
Honestly, Oppa. It's like you've never heard that curiosity killed the cat. I can't let him find out. The princess already gave me that much of a warning.
"Something similar. I'll tell you on the way out."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Let's just say it surpasses any knowledge Mikhail would know. Actually this is a secret, but something really good is going to happen to you, Mikhail!"
"Something good?"
"Mm. Let's talk as we go."
Deceiving Mikhail was easy. Her master Olivia had existed in countless forms, after all. She had gone back and forth through Olivia, Genius of Rhetoric tens of thousands of times until she mastered the skill.
Except for that bothersome princess, no one who came to the debate floor could ever defeat her. Even if he figured everything out, Mikhail would already be so thoroughly smitten with her that he would demand they join their bodies.
"Watch your step. You never know when the floor might collapse."
She smiled and walked ahead first. Remaining in the archive for long periods was taxing both mentally and physically.
But Mikhail could not leave the archive.
"Was there something you wanted?"
Sophia grasped it at once. That woman, the Third Princess, must have used some scheme—to goad her innocent Oppa, no less. Should she throw out a probe first?
"Mikhail. If you're looking for functional tools in this archive, the Chancellor will already have recovered them."
Even if Professor Lou's personality was foul, his skill as a magical engineering craftsman was outstanding.
Hearing her answer, Mikhail rubbed his chin with a troubled look.
"Why is that?"
"It's nothing, Professor."
"Did Princess Arlea put you up to it or something?"
"I thought there might be equipment that could be of help. For security and such."
A born escort knight, aren't you.
Sophia felt that Arlea had stuck close and somehow conditioned him.
"Equipment that could help... Mikhail. I can make some for you. How about it?"
Color returned to Mikhail's face.
"Thank you. That will make security much easier. If possible, I'd like it in a form that increases mobility. I'll repay you fully, of course."
"Repay... heh."
Repayment with his body. Sophia could not stop her cheeks from flushing.
If it was a physical repayment, what position should they try! There was more than one or two things she hadn't gotten to enjoy yet.
Well, that was the thought for now. First she still had to fill in the contents of the book and verify the research-related materials.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
Sophia smiled softly, then suddenly stopped.
He was the Mikhail she remembered, and yet something about him felt off. No matter how much this place was... even if he was a drifter from a world that was not her own, could a personality change this much?
Not that it's a bad thing.
Sophia turned and studied Mikhail. Even just letting a faint stream of magic flow would be enough to "save" him. The more she imagined it, the more her heart clenched tight.
Even if it was the princess's time, it didn't matter. In the end he would choose her. Once the conditioning was finished.
The reason my influence didn't work last time was the princess's fault, no doubt.
That wanton woman born of imperial blood, Arlea—her ability alone was formidable. There was a possibility she had mastered mental protection magic.
Right now, it's possible.
Watching Mikhail tilt his head awkwardly, Sophia swallowed hot saliva.
Having sex amid a dust field and floating bookshelves would be a first. Well, she didn't expect to be satisfied on the first try. She was just anticipating a little... cognitive alteration, more or less.
Right, last time Arlea had blocked her. The black aura she felt from that woman was something even she couldn't quite get a handle on. But now it was different! Now!!
Whoosh—
A current of magic pierced through Mikhail. Sophia smacked her lips. How would he react?
"Mikhail."
"Yes?"
"Bark for me."
"..."
"That's an order."
Sophia never thought the hypnosis wouldn't work. It was a technique that could even bring ancient dragons to her side—a skill she had used to toy with the imperial family however she pleased, Arlea excluded.
The grade was a bit low, but... heh heh.
Mikhail's eyes glazed over as he opened his mouth.
"Woof woof."
It worked.
Sophia cheered inwardly and began drafting a bucket list of things to make him do deep within her soul.