196. Baritra (2)
196. Baritra (2)
- 1 -
Mornings in the demon realm were unfamiliar.
The sky outside the window was redder than a sunset, but that didn't mean the light beating down on the surface was red.
The sunlight itself wasn't all that different from the surface world's.
The light of the mana lamps, too, held a faint blue-silver hue unlike the red of evening, signaling that time had passed.
Tok-tok-tok.
- Master. It's Maria.
"Come in."
Dew had settled on Maria's armor when she opened the door and entered. There were also traces of sweat on her forehead, and her hair was somewhat disheveled.
Signs that she had trained at dawn and then returned after patrolling the mansion.
A smile crossed my face at her diligence.
"Good morning, Maria. You're so diligent."
"Ah... to repay Master's grace, I must become even a little stronger."
Perhaps realizing I had noticed her schedule, she blushed slightly in embarrassment and gave a knightly silent salute, tapping her breastplate.
"Right. Was there anything out of the ordinary?"
"Yes. Inside the mansion. However..."
While Maria paused to choose her words, another presence could be felt through the slightly open door.
I could tell right away why she was holding back.
"It's Serica."
"Rita! I've been caught. Hehe."
Serica came running in with a bright voice.
Unlike last evening, she was wearing a red dress again, and the sight of her running while clutching the hem of her luxurious dress looked rather charming.
I could tell she often moved around like that. Though it was probably to avoid the eyes of others.
"Did you sleep well?"
"Of course. I slept as comfortably as if it were my own home."
"Heehee. Ah, I brought tea."
Along with her words, I saw a maid I knew well pushing in a silver cart.
Louise.
The maid who had always attended to Serica whenever she came to my dungeon after she had returned to her family. She was also the one who had hinted to me that Serica was 'alone' in the mansion.
I overheard her whispering cautiously toward Serica, mindful of my presence.
"Young lady. If you keep running like that, people will gossip about you."
"Hmph. Let them talk if they want. I'm not going to care about the opinions of people who would judge me even if I did well. Not anymore."
"... Sigh."
Their relationship seemed unchanged.
Thinking that Serica hadn't let go of her person even while being ostracized in her own mansion made me feel proud of her.
"It's tea that Father sent. He said he grows it personally in his private greenhouse and normally doesn't even offer it to guests. He's only giving it specially because it's you, Rita!"
Saying that it was clear I was in her father's favor, Serica sat down on a chair and let out a sigh.
"Yesterday was really tough. Staying in the ballroom that long, it's truly bothersome."
"I see. Maria? Please give us a moment. Louise, you as well."
"Yes. Lady."
As Maria and Louise quietly withdrew, Serica relaxed her posture even further.
Sitting beside me, she looked almost as if she were being held by me.
"It really feels suffocating. I've lived like this every day since I came here, but I still can't get used to it."
A smile came to my face at her honest words.
A free-spirited and lively temperament definitely seemed to suit her.
For someone like her, the life of a demon realm young lady wouldn't agree with her constitution.
"Rita. You're going sightseeing in the city later, right? Can I come with you? I only have lessons this morning."
Serica asked, resting her chin on my knee.
Kneeling beside the chair and looking up at me, her expression held a charm that strangely mixed childlike innocence and mature adulthood.
"Didn't you say you had lessons with a tutor before breakfast?"
"You already checked on that?"
"Naturally. It's about you."
"Heh... Ah, that's fine anyway. It's an etiquette lesson that just reinforces things similar to what I've already learned. More than that..."
Serica suddenly closed her mouth. Then, after briefly scanning the doorway, she whispered quietly.
"Let's meet again in the garden later. I have something I must tell you then. I have something to give you, too."
Her eyes sparkled with anticipation.
But at the same time, I sensed a slight gloom hidden behind it.
Then, hearing footsteps from outside, she quickly jumped up from her spot and sat on the chair, lifting her teacup.
As if she had never been sitting on the floor.
Tok-tok.
- Excuse me.
"Come in."
The person who opened the door and entered was a woman in a suit wearing a monocle. A person whose status could be recognized at a glance.
"Young Lady Serica. It is time for your lesson."
"Yes, tutor! Rita. See you later!"
In an instant, Serica returned to being a daughter of a noble house and left the room with an elegant gait.
But just before the door closed, I saw her playfully wink at me.
I smiled as I saw her off, then held a sip of the tea she had left behind in my mouth.
The fragrant aroma of the flower tea lingered inside my mouth.
"Artemis. Are you outside?"
- Yes, Master.
"Prepare in advance to go out."
- Understood.
Now I intended to have breakfast and then go out into the city. After all, there was still plenty to see in the demon realm capital, Pandemonium.
But what I was more curious about was the story Serica said she would tell me in the garden.
- 2 -
After breakfast, I headed to the garden as Serica had requested.
Red roses were in full bloom in the garden of the Marquis's palace, bathed in the morning sunlight. Flowers that boasted a vivid crimson even under the scarlet sky of the demon realm.
"Rita! Over here!"
Serica could be seen waving her hand from a pavilion in the middle of the rose garden.
Beside her were Louise and one other maid, and some distance away, other maids and servants were visible.
For a young lady of a Marquis household so prestigious as to have built a palace in the capital of the demon realm, walking around alone was not permitted.
Serica, who always only brought a small number of maids, was the unusual one.
'No, maybe it was because I was by her side.'
Dispersing my idle thoughts as I approached, Serica grabbed my hand immediately.
Her eyes were sparkling with anticipation.
"Did you wait long?"
"No. I just got here. Come on! This is it. This."
She received a small box the maid was holding and held it out to me.
It was a box that looked like a jewelry case.
"Open it!"
"Alright. Don't rush me."
When I opened the box, what I saw was a gem with a reddish hue.
The dark red mana rippling beneath the surface, which had been delicately cut into countless facets, made it clear at a glance that it was a magic stone containing extraordinary power.
I could also tell the box itself was quite a valuable item. The mana from this magic stone had been completely undetectable until I opened the lid.
"This is..."
"It's from Father! He said that if it's you, Rita, you could certainly make good use of it."
A gift given by her father, the head of the Marquis household, Velled Baritra.
I unconsciously smoothed the eyebrow that was about to twitch. The preciousness of the ability contained in this magic stone aside, the implication of the gift itself wouldn't be simple either.
"Father must have really taken a liking to you, Rita."
Serica gave a clear smile.
"He said it's a gem imbued with our family's authority. He mentioned that if you use it, Rita, you'd be able to exert even greater power."
"I see."
What that power was, I could tell just by placing my hand over the magic stone.
This was a magic stone containing the essence of Blood Magic.
If I succeeded in digesting this, I would be able to lay the foundation for the necromancy and Blood Magic used by vampires.
Meaning that from now on, I would be able to handle not just Skeletons but zombies as well.
Though it couldn't be seen as a dramatic increase in military strength, the diversification of units would broaden tactical options, so it wasn't bad.
"To give something like this..."
"Right? I was surprised too. I've hardly ever seen Father give a gift like this to anyone else."
Joy seeped from Serica's words. To her, this gift must have felt like another sign acknowledging the relationship between her and me.
"It's something to be grateful for."
I smiled gently and accepted the gem.
I understood perfectly what this gift signified. Not only that the Marquis acknowledged me, but that he intended to welcome me as his own family.
I couldn't refuse a gift given with that meaning on the spot. At the very least, speaking about it face-to-face would be proper.
"And... Rita."
Serica hesitated for a moment, then gestured for Louise and the maids to move further away. Her expression was serious.
She seemed to want to discuss something difficult to talk about in front of others, so I also had my close attendants move away for the time being.
It was out of respect for her.
"That marriage talk of ours..."
Only after everyone was far away did she carefully open her mouth.
"... You really are going to refuse it, right?"
"I intend to conclude it with just a pledge. An engagement would be settling our relationship definitively. I cannot completely bind you to me solely by the will of your family, can I?"
"You said so..."
This was the justification I had presented to her for refusing the marriage.
Telling Serica that she had freedom too, that she shouldn't let her life be decided by the will of her family.
Of course, this wasn't the whole reason.
"But I think... I really wouldn't mind marrying you, Rita. No, I would truly like it..."
Serica bit her lip as she spoke. Her eyes, looking at me, were wavering.
Realizing her misunderstanding, I sighed inwardly.
Even after continuously talking to her, misunderstandings sometimes strengthened on their own.
It was time to tell her everything.
"I am not averse to you either. No, you are wonderful."
"Then why...?"
"The fact that you belong to me as a maid and a Dungeon Lord, and the fact that we would be joined through marriage, would be perceived entirely differently by other families."
It might sound funny, but the former and the latter differ in the status of their alliance.
The former would be an alliance beyond simple cooperation, but the latter would be a blood tie that cannot be severed.
"It means that if we were to marry, there could be situations where the Baritra Marquis Household, due to its position, might take a different stance from the Wrath Duke. And depending on the case, that could be considered an act of rebellion against an Archduke."
Our marriage involved much more than simple affection.
This was a perspective difficult for Serica to build, as a normal young lady of a noble family—moreover, a young lady without freedom.
So her anxiety stemmed from my own lack of explanation.
"Ah..."
"Serica. You've never once said that His Excellency is despicable, have you?"
"No."
Having come here and seen it directly, the relationship between Serica and the Marquis didn't seem so bad.
Her composure, which she had refined in a short period, was remarkably outstanding for that amount of time, but it was unlikely to be enough to perfectly feign a reaction to a negativity she had never experienced.
If there were even the slightest gap, there was no way I would fail to notice it.
So it must be true that Velled Baritra, as a father, was doing his best for Serica.
Even if that wasn't enough to completely change the family's attitude.
"But if your father ends up in a difficult position because of you and me, you wouldn't like that either."
"No..."
Serica's clouding expression was new evidence for my speculation.
I placed my hand on the corner of her lips as she bit them again and slowly rubbed them. Until she released the tension from her lips.
Serica, who had been forcing a smile while looking at me, gradually clouded her expression again.
"But Father... I think he has some kind of plan. This gift, for instance."
As expected, she too had noticed that this gift was not a simple favor.
Even so, the fact that she still conveyed it must have been a choice imbued with her sincere desire to continue her relationship with me.
"Understood. I'll be careful."
Her desire wasn't likely to cause me direct harm anyway.
It was merely a change in position; when that time came, finding another method would suffice.
"Okay! But..."
Serica rose to her feet.
"We're going to go sightseeing in the city now, right?"
Her voice was still bright, but it was a little lower than usual.
She probably wanted to avoid any more heavy conversation.
I decided to match her pace.
"Yes. Let's go."
After carefully placing the magic stone into a case, I stored it via a shadow figure and stood up.
Whatever our future relationship might become, for now, enjoying time with Serica was...
something I also liked.
"Louise! Prepare for us to go out!"
"Yes, young lady!"
As we exited the garden, I smiled back at her as she intertwined her fingers with mine.
But in one corner of my mind, I did not lose my sharpness.
Whatever the Marquis's intentions were, they were unlikely to be simple.