Seria Siegfried
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And so, the two lived happily ever after.
I thought that was the end, with the wedding of the novel's protagonists—the man and woman—marking the finale of it all. Choi Yoo-jun, or rather, Morris. After slaving away for three years as the Vice Minister of the Magic Department, I'm finally heading back to my original world.
"Vice Minister Morris Dmitry."
Ryuclid von Vermut, the male lead and emperor of this empire, called out to me.
"Yes, Your Majesty."
"You have worked tirelessly to protect this empire alongside me, so I shall appoint you as the Minister of the Magic Department."
"Pardon?"
Stunned by the sudden declaration, I looked up at the emperor. The golden-haired ruler with striking blue eyes smiled faintly at me.
What's this now, when I'm about to leave anyway?
"I humbly accept with gratitude."
I bowed my head.
"I'll be counting on you going forward, Minister."
He'll be thrilled once I'm gone and Morris takes over. The guy had been scrambling desperately to become minister.
Morris was originally supposed to die midway through the story. He'd clung to the villainess to become minister, helping her schemes from the closest vantage point.
'Couldn't let myself die.'
So he'd abandoned that path. Thanks to that, I got to leave with a parting gift before returning to my real life.
'Kinda feel bad about going now.'
Being a mage was pretty damn convenient.
Anyway...
When exactly do I head back?
Even after the wedding ended, and days passed, I still couldn't return to my original world.
"What the hell?"
Am I really stuck here? This is gonna be a huge problem.
That's when it happened.
"Minister."
Someone knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
"The Imperial Knights."
"It's open."
A knight in ornate armor entered with a salute.
"What brings you here?"
"It's about the prisoner executed today."
The prisoner executed today... There was one.
Seria Siegfried.
The villainess of Bad Happy End, the daughter of the Siegfried Duke's family who tormented the hero and heroine to the bitter end. Her death signaled the novel's conclusion.
Ah, that's why I couldn't leave.
"What does the execution of Lady Siegfried have to do with me?"
I'd desperately distanced myself from her to avoid getting caught up. What could an imperial knight possibly want to discuss?
"It's faster to show you than explain."
That's when I noticed the iron chains gripped in the knight's hand. He gave them a yank.
Clank.
The chains rattled, pulling someone from beyond the door inside.
Step by step.
A naked woman walked in, her neck and arms bound by the chains.
"Hm?"
My eyes narrowed at the sight.
Why is she here?
"This is Seria, executed today."
"Why is that woman here?"
"She underwent status execution. She's no longer part of the Siegfried family, nor nobility. Not even a person anymore."
The empire had two forms of execution: taking a life outright, or social death.
The former was standard. The latter? Special.
Strip away everything from their human days and turn them into the property of someone designated by the emperor.
That was status execution.
"Don't tell me... me?"
"Indeed. His Majesty designated you, Minister Dmitry."
My head throbbed.
In the original story, Seria met her end with her head rolling from the execution platform. Everything should have wrapped up after her death.
Where did it all go wrong?
The ending had twisted. I'd done my utmost to stick to the original without deviations—except avoiding the villainess.
Was it because of that?
If I killed her here?
I gazed at Seria, bound and standing there. Her platinum blonde hair, reaching her waist, had lost its former luster. But her beauty remained.
I scanned her naked form thoroughly. Smooth skin without a single hair, soft shoulder lines, breasts flowing in gentle curves...
Damn, they're huge.
My gaze drifted from her pink nipples down to the small slit at her groin. Pristine, like from her birth.
Gulp.
I swallowed unwittingly. Her figure was that alluring.
Traces of torture post-capture marred her fair skin with red welts here and there.
What a waste.
Too valuable to kill off like this. I shelved the thought of ending her.
Killing her here won't guarantee it ends anyway.
The ending had already diverged once. Chopping her head off didn't assure my return.
Damn it.
"From now on, use this bitch however you please."
Envy filled the knight's eyes as he looked at me. Seria had once been the empire's most beautiful flower. An icy pinnacle no one could claim.
Ryuclid sending her to me was likely a reward for my service.
Appreciate the thought...
But cash would've been better.
"You're dismissed."
"Understood."
After shooing the knight out, I beckoned with a finger.
But Seria stood frozen, glaring at me.
"I'll kill you."
"Me?"
"You, the emperor, and that bitch who took everything from me."
Grind.
Seria gnashed her teeth and spat.
Whoops.
Good thing I hadn't cast silence magic yet, or it'd have been a mess.
"That slut and the mage bastard glued to her!"
Seria lunged at me.
If I'd just entered this novel days ago, I might've panicked.
But three years here. Countless battles as Magic Department head during the civil war. Leading the vanguard, slaughtering enemies.
Yet still no return to my world.
Why mention this? I'm poisoned with venom now.
What I'd do to her from here was pure stress relief.
Snap.
"Eh?"
Mana swirled, enveloping Seria. Her charging body floated up lightly.
"Kyaa!"
"You must've seen me fight, right?"
I stood, matching her eye level.
"Or did you never even step onto the battlefield?"
"Let me down, you trash who enjoys tormenting others!"
She trembled in rage.
"Still think you're the untouchable flower of the empire, the lofty Siegfried?"
"Of course!"
Pfft.
Damn, I laughed without meaning to.
"That was a hilarious joke."
"What?"
"Your status execution means your father abandoned you. To save the Siegfried house."
She fell silent. She probably knew. She was sharp on imperial law.
Just denying reality to the end.
"Right now, you're nothing more or less than the object His Majesty granted me. Whether I experiment on you, toss you to vagrants..."
I paused, stepping closer.
"Or toy with you like this."
I grabbed her ample breast.
"Ngh."
"Means you can't resist."
She writhed to escape my fingers, but it was futile.
"So no more pointless resistance."
I released the binding chains with magic, then wrapped a choker embedded with a blue mana stone around her neck.
"This choker will prove your status now."
"......"
Relief from the chains? Or because I turned away?
She reached for me again, mind unfocused.
Crack!
"Hiiik!"
Just a finger snap made her shudder.
"Wh-what did you do?!"
"It's a restraint enchanted with magic that delivers electric shocks on my signal."
"You bastard!"
Snap.
"Kyaaak!"
Seemed she still hadn't learned, so I snapped again. She twitched from the mild current, her breasts jiggling wildly.
"Be grateful I won't turn you into a golem, and quit the reckless antics."
What to do with this woman?