The Beast That Abandoned Chivalry
The beast that had forsaken knighthood repeated two commands endlessly in its mind. Embrace her.Kill her. The conflicting orders overloaded her brain more with every passing second, her body reacting as if poisoned.
"Haa... haa!!"
Her breathing grew ragged. Her vision flickered, a chill settling over her entire body like the onset of a fever. Unlike her overburdened mind, her cold flesh kept trembling, responding against her will.
"Minel, are you okay?"
Don't touch me. Don't touch me with those hands!
She wanted to scream it, but her lips wouldn't part. Pat pat...
"Does it hurt? I'll pat you better."
"Stop... stop..."
She couldn't shout for her to quit. Deep down, she desperately wanted to yell at the Ceres before her. Don't touch me. Don't interfere with me... But why wouldn't her body obey? Why did it accept Ceres's touch so naturally... and feel at ease because of it?
"You... no?"
She wanted to believe it wasn't true, but what if... just what if.
"......"
Her palm flew toward the small Ceres's cheek with vicious force.
"Kyaa...?"
"Aa... aaaa!!"
Her body froze. Just before her hand could strike Ceres's face, it halted as if programmed that way. Like some enchanted artifact designed for the sole purpose.
Right... Lian had removed the engraving. But after years of it overriding her thoughts, her mind and body had grown so accustomed to obeying it over her own will. Even now that it was gone, the habits wouldn't fade anytime soon.
Eight years... a long time if it was long, short if it was short. But that period had been crucial—for forming her sense of self, her growth, her values. The magic engraved during that time had branded her indelibly as a slave, no different from any other.
Protect Ceres. Stay by Ceres's side. Ceres is more important than anyone.
Her mind screamed it. She rebelled, but the slave Minel Iris she'd been for so long cried out in her head, unperturbed by her resistance. Ceres Reinhardt is your lord and lady, the one you must protect.
"No. No!!"
She spat the words, driving out the slave in her mind. As if she'd ever be Ceres Reinhardt's slave again. Eight years of that life was more than enough.
Grind...
She gnashed her teeth and glared at the Ceres before her once more. The same golden hair and eyes as her own. Cheeks still plump with baby fat, gazing at her with drooping worry.
Staring at Ceres Reinhardt, the voice in her head spoke—the her from when the engraving took hold. If you hate the you that got engraved, I'll let you keep the pre-engraving Ceres as a friend.
For a fleeting moment, she thought it might not be so bad. No, impossible.
"Snap out of it...!"
She slapped her own face hard. Get a grip. Why did Lian remove this engraving? Remember that.
Clinging to her sanity, she finally swatted away Ceres's hand.
"...Huh? What's wrong, Minel???"
"Get... out..."
The Ceres in front of her probably wasn't the one she knew. For starters, she was far too young. This was a trial. A trial to kill the slave lingering in her heart and reclaim a free life.
"Get out...? Did I do something wrong? Sorry, don't talk to me so harshly!"
Ceres pleaded with teary eyes. She reached out to shove her away, but once again, her hand stopped dead right in front of Ceres's face, repelled like matching poles of magnets.
"Tell me. Do you hate me now!? I'll fix it!! So don't hate me!!"
"Shut... up."
Don't open that vile mouth again. She steeled her resolve bit by bit. The slave's voice still echoed in her head, and her body refused to obey as if it were the most natural thing. But... her mind remained her own.
"You're the one who made me a slave... so take the karma sweetly."
The words forced their way out. Pathetic. The old her would have minded her knightly dignity, her grace as a ducal servant—never squeezed out words through gritted teeth like this.
"I'm not your dog, your slave, or your knight."
As her vision steadied and she rose, Ceres grabbed her pant leg desperately, tears streaming down.
"No! I won't let go... I absolutely won't!!!"
"...Hoo."
She moved as she willed. Gripping Ceres's head firmly, she lifted her to eye level.
"Kyaa!"
"Ceres Reinhardt."
Arian Primal had said it earlier. If she chose revenge, trusting others might become difficult. That was fair. Revenge was mostly about making the target feel your pain, karmic retribution. Once it was done, she'd never look kindly on others again. No good relationship could form from mutual distrust.
"I'm no longer your slave. To prove it, I need to take revenge on you... But if I touch you, it'll harm the Iris family too, and others won't see me favorably."
That couldn't happen. She didn't mind bearing infamy alone. But she wouldn't let others suffer because of her. So she chose one good way.
"I can't take revenge on the real you... but it doesn't matter here, right?"
Grab!!
"Ke... hngh!!"
Forcing down her trembling, rebelling hands, she crushed Ceres's windpipe.
"Ggh... grrrgh!!!!!"
"Pay for it with death here, at least."
The young Ceres died so easily in her grasp. Unable to breathe, body shuddering, pale yellow piss dripped from her twitching legs. Soon, her golden eyes rolled back...
And she died.
She was dead. The child Ceres met her end so simply.
"Eek!!"
How dare you, how dare you kill the lady!?
The slave in her head raged at Ceres's death, commanding her to sever her own hand—the hand that dared kill the lady—and follow her into death to atone.
"You think... I'll do that?"
Her right hand, poised to slash her own wrist, swung through empty air instead. The slave in her mind was mere embers now. With the engraving gone, it would fade completely.
"Then stay quiet..."
"Minel...!"
As she quelled the slave's rebellion, a slightly more mature voice called from behind.
"Ceres?"
A version a year or two older than the one she'd just killed.
"What the hell are you doing... why to me!!"
She almost thought she'd misheard, but seeing the corpse sprawled on the ground made it clear.
"Why...? You really asking that?"
"Of course! What's your reason for killing me...!!"
She clamped Ceres's mouth shut and severed one arm.
"Gguuuugh!!!!!"
"Karma clearance."
Less revenge, more venting rage. This wasn't the real Ceres. But the slave in her head rebelled against killing her, and from the situation, this seemed like a severance-type dungeon, like the one she'd learned about before. That explained ending up here after separating from Nero in battle.
"Which means you're not the real Ceres—just monsters."
Monsters mimicking Ceres perfectly. Perfect punching bags for venting.
"It hurts!! It huuuurts!!!"
She swung her sword at the screaming Ceres clutching her stump.
What was this? Her sword felt unnaturally light. She'd never felt it this effortless before.
Slice!!
Ceres's head came off like butter. Why was this happening? She'd always believed battle euphoria was mere illusion.
"Heehee..."
"Minel!! What are...!!!"
Slice!!
In the past, she'd thought revenge irrational for a knight—emotional, unfit for rational humans. Like surrendering to beastly instincts.
"Hahaha!!!"
But look at her now. Not even proper revenge, just mindless venting, yet she swung her blade in ecstasy and thrill.
No more need for hollow, pathetic knighthood. No need to uphold it purely, or hear tedious lectures about wielding the sword to save, not harm.
Here was only Minel Iris, the foolish beast.
"Dieeee!!!!!!"
And so she severed another Ceres's neck.