I've Come to Punish You, Lily
I only called about fifty people to the church today for Lily’s judgment—the student council, a handful of nobles, and commoners with the highest grades. That wasn’t all. I had also installed listening magic devices so every student at Attelina could hear the proceedings. If I was going to condemn someone, I might as well make it a spectacle.
“Olivia, why did you summon us?” Aslan asked, sounding like a fool. He should have already received word from Claire. Or was he still suspecting me?
“Didn’t you get the message?” I replied.
“You’re seriously claiming this is about a monster?” Aslan sighed, eyes narrowed with doubt. I wondered if he would still be sighing once this was over. This wasn’t just Lily’s reckoning. The so-called nobles of Attelina had all fallen for a succubus’s charm. Even the professors had neglected their duties. Some of them must have suspected Lily at some point, but they had probably told themselves it couldn’t be Aslan’s fiancée and looked the other way. With my ill-tempered older sister in the mix, the situation had been perfectly packaged for disaster.
“Enough with the nonsense. Get on with it.”
“I will watch in silence to see what the illustrious Saint has to say,” I answered with a thin smile. They still thought I was the same old Olivia.
“As I already explained, this concerns a monster.”
“You’re saying a monster slipped past the continent’s strongest anti-monster barrier and reached the imperial capital?” Lailer scoffed. If even a knight from his prestigious house was acting like this, the rest of the nobles were probably worse. Their blind faith in the barrier had contributed to this mess.
“Yes.”
My answer drew hollow laughter from the student council and the other students alike. Their faces all said the same thing: Is that supposed to be a serious answer?
“Hah. You really have the nerve to say that. I’m almost impressed by how ridiculous this is.”
Aslan was overconfident in the great barrier as well. That was exactly why I was doing this. It had been foolish of me to expect proper knowledge from people who had been toyed with by a succubus. I clapped my hands once.
“Now that everyone is here, let’s skip the preface and get straight to the point. I’ve never been one for long introductions anyway.”
I wanted this over quickly. The lingering thoughts of the original Olivia inside me were screaming for Lily’s end.
“Hurry up already.”
His tone suggested he was humoring a child’s tantrum. I sneered inwardly. How amusing their faces would look later.
“First, there is someone at Attelina who has formed a contract with a monster.”
I swept my gaze across the student council members. The nobles who understood what contracting with a monster meant began to stir.
“Are you just harassing someone you don’t like again?” Aslan still seemed to see me as the old Olivia. That might be Lily’s influence too. He was the type who only showed real emotion when it came to Lily and Olivia.
“Do I look like I’m doing this for fun?”
“Honestly… yes.”
How disappointing. The poor fool had no idea he had been mocked this entire time by a woman drowning in inferiority.
“My, how rude. In any case, the monster in question is a succubus.”
“A succubus?”
“Yes.”
“Who in this academy would be insane enough to contract with a succubus?”
That was the normal reaction. Contracting with a succubus was essentially abandoning one’s humanity.
“It’s Lily.”
“Sister, what kind of baseless accusation is this?”
Lily shot up from her seat. It was almost comical how she sat beside Aslan as his fiancée. The students who blindly defended such a childish girl were equally ridiculous. That was exactly why I had to expose her here. Being naïve was no excuse. The previous Olivia had killed herself because of it.
Lily wasn’t the only one who reacted. Aslan and the rest of the student council frowned. They still believed I was bullying Lily, just like the old Olivia had.
“Haa… I had a feeling it would come to this. So you’re using your position as Saint to harass Lily after all?”
Poor guy. Of all things, he had to fall for a succubus. The crown prince’s dignity was about to hit rock bottom.
“Goodness, Your Highness. If there’s a brain inside that skull of yours, try using it. I am still an Ashtar. Would I really tarnish my family name?”
When a noble invoked their family name, it meant they would accept whatever consequences followed. The student council members—mostly nobles—hadn’t expected me to bring up the Ashtar name again.
“Where’s your proof?”
“Lily? If you’re truly innocent, step forward.”
I beckoned her with a finger. If she had nothing to hide, she should come forward. Right?
“Why should I, when I’m innocent?”
“Exactly. Isn’t this slander? Don’t you think it’s time to stop?”
This was the problem with those enthralled by Lily.
“Her brainwashing is impressive.”
It seemed she hadn’t managed to enthrall all the commoners, but the nobles were clearly under her control.
“What?”
“I’ll bet my life on it. If Lily hasn’t contracted with a monster, I’ll offer my neck right here.”
There. I had staked my life. What would Lily wager?
A quick glance at her face told me she hadn’t expected this. Her expression twisted horribly. She was already unattractive; now she looked even worse.
“That’s far too extreme—”
It was the first time I had seen Yuria genuinely shocked. Yes, that was the normal reaction. I had bet my life! Did they understand how serious that was?
“That’s how certain I am.”
My words split the room—those who doubted Lily and those who defended her. The doubters were mostly noble ladies who had been secretly insulted by Lily using Aslan’s name.
“Fine. How do you intend to prove it?”
Proving it wasn’t difficult.
“The mark of a succubus contract appears on the back of the hand or lower abdomen. A mage can detect it.”
“You’re not suggesting you’ll cast the spell yourself, are you?”
Such a lack of trust. Fortunately, I had prepared for this.
“I knew you’d say that, so I made arrangements in advance. Professor, if you would!”
The mage I had invited to oversee this judgment was none other than Adran.
“Did you really have to drag me into this?” Adran grumbled as he stepped forward. He was a former court mage and a respected figure in magical engineering. No one could accuse him of bias toward me.
“Yes.”
“You really know how to make someone’s life difficult.”
For a professor, he was awfully negligent. If his student was consorting with a monster, shouldn’t he be guiding her back to the right path?
“Professor, please examine Lily.”
“Even so, isn’t this a bit much? Accusing your own sister of conspiring with a monster… If you’re wrong, even being a Saint won’t save you.”
If I were wrong, I would be criticized relentlessly, Saint or not. But Lily was guilty without question. Nora was already waiting in the wings. If she denied it to the end, I would simply bring Nora out and dissolve the contract in front of everyone. Even the nobles who adored Lily wouldn’t be able to deny it then.
“Just do it. Quickly.”
I was practically giddy. The original Olivia inside me was overjoyed; I could feel it clearly.
“Fine, fine. Still, I can’t imagine Lily actually contracted with a succubus. Lily, come here.”
When Adran gestured, Lily shook her head. From that moment, Adran’s expression grew serious. He had sensed something.
“I-I don’t want to.”
The way she shrank back while retreating practically screamed I have something to hide! Hadn’t she prepared any countermeasures after deceiving everyone for so long?
“Why don’t you want to?”
“Got a guilty conscience?”
“Who’s guilty? Sister, stop framing innocent people!”
Then at least act like it. No one would tremble that much even if you stripped them naked and threw them out in the middle of winter. Unfortunately, Lily, your time here is over. You’ve been far too much of a headache.
That was when Lily’s eyes flashed red for an instant. That was a succubus’s power.
“That’s right. Why are you doing this to Lily?”
“What crime could my sister possibly have committed to deserve this?”
The noble students all rushed to Lily’s defense. This was troublesome, but not for me. The real problem was them. How embarrassed they would be later. I might have to comfort them afterward. Still, Lily was the priority right now.
Because she had used the succubus’s power for so long, she could wield it freely without even needing to awaken. It was as if she had become a succubus herself. The succubus’s name was Nora, wasn’t it? She really had been dealt a bad hand. It annoyed me that our names were similar, but the human who made the contract had stolen the power instead of becoming a proper succubus. Her mana must have been insufficient, which was why she failed to brainwash the commoners. As a result, the noble students were humiliating themselves.
What about the professor? When I glanced at Adran, his previously bored face had turned deadly serious.
“Professor, you saw that, didn’t you?”
As a professor, he couldn’t ignore this. This was Lily’s true nature.
“Everyone, stay quiet.”
“Professor, what are you doing? That’s clearly sexual harassment!”
Adran ignored the students’ protests and walked straight toward Lily. As expected, she kept backing away.
“D-don’t come near me! Eek!”
Her eyes turned red again as she stared at Adran.
“Did you really think that would work on me?”
Of course it wouldn’t work on a former court mage. In short, Lily was finished.
“Wait, why isn’t it working? Th-this is cheating.”
Cheating? Brainwashing the entire student body with your level of power was already impressive. Attelina’s standards were lower than I thought. Even if the curriculum had changed, they should have received private tutoring. The fact that they were this unprepared for monsters was shocking.
“As expected. The succubus mark is on the lower abdomen.”
Adran had detected it immediately. Now that a mage of his caliber had confirmed it, Lily had nowhere to run. I knew this was extreme, but it was my own way of repaying the first Olivia, who had essentially given me this body.
“Indeed.”
“Wait, what are you two trying to do?”
A tremor had crept into Lily’s voice. If she asked what we were doing, it was only polite to answer. In short, it was over.
“Lily. Simply put, your little game ends here.”
Let’s stop now. You chose the wrong opponent, Lily.