355. Prisoner
355. Prisoner
- 1 -
Dawn.
Hosorang awoke to excruciating pain.
"... ngh..."
She slowly opened her eyes and looked around.
The room lay in pitch darkness. The only thing that met her eye was a faint magic lamp glowing in the black.
'Where is this...?'
She was lying on a soft bed.
Instinctively, she tried to rise.
That moment—
"Kkut...!"
A sharp, stabbing pain shot through her entire body. The pain, most intense in her lower back...
'My tail...!'
But when she looked back, there was nothing wrong with her tail.
'Why...?'
She could not understand why she was in pain.
She could not remember.
In the midst of that confusion and fear, a gentle female voice reached her ears.
"You're awake."
A jolt of terror shot through her body the instant she heard the voice. Hosorang shuddered involuntarily.
But the moment she turned her head toward the voice, the fear dissolved as if washed away.
Two women stood there.
One was a woman in a captivating black dress.
And the other...
"Heut...!"
In that instant, she gasped.
Golden eyes, nine tails....
"L-Lady of the House...!"
Though her face was unfamiliar, her instincts told her exactly who this woman was.
The family head, Hocheon.
A great demon who bore the alias Zepar.
The great leader of the Fox Clan.
Hosorang scrambled off the bed, dropped to her knees, and bowed deeply.
"I am truly sorry for failing to recognize you and committing such disrespect!"
The reason she had lost her tail was because she had committed a grave disrespect against the family head before her.
Realizing this, she was deeply moved that the family head had spared her life despite it.
"It's all right. As long as you do well from now on, won't that be enough?"
At the family head's words, Hosorang trembled with profound emotion.
In that instant, Hosorang's eyes went wide.
Because the fog veiling her mind slowly lifted, and the 'truth' came to her.
The Hocheon of the main house was a fake, and the real family head had been hiding in the Eastern Continent to escape Andras's clutches.
She herself had disguised herself and infiltrated the Eastern Continent under the orders of Andras and the 'fake Hocheon' to find that family head.
"Have you thought of a way to withdraw the spies Andras has sent out?"
At the family head's question, Hosorang answered, groping through her remaining memories.
"Yes... Lady of the House. Two of my direct subordinates are hidden in the Eastern Continent. If I send the signal, they will immediately prepare the ground-shrinking technique."
At the sight of the family head smiling warmly, a surge of emotion rose within Hosorang.
"Excellent. Once we return to the main house, you will be credited as a meritorious contributor to my recapture of the main household."
"It is an honor...!!"
Above Hosorang's bowed head, the two women spoke.
"The spell worked well."
"It is thanks to the sorcery of *!(&."
'Is she an ally of the family head...? Or... could she be a new betrothed?'
Listening to the two women converse, she could tell that the woman in the black dress was an existence far beyond her expectations.
Even by her own perception, that woman's presence was overwhelming.
"Hosorang."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
At the call from the woman in the black dress, she bowed deeper without realizing it.
"Now I will tell you about the work you are to carry out from here on."
They gave Hosorang instructions.
She was to move back and forth between Andras and the fake Hocheon, gathering information, but always report to the real Hocheon first.
She was to grasp the internal movements of the two Grand Dukes of the Demon Realm in the Western Continent.
She was to discreetly leak information that would make the two Grand Dukes suspect each other.
Hosorang engraved each word the two women spoke upon her heart.
'I have been given the chance to serve the family head.'
Her fate, and what she was meant to do.
To burn her whole self for the glory of the family head.
She believed this with all her heart, and she smiled.
Never once suspecting that all these perceptions had been planted just a few hours ago.
- 2 -
A royal villa near the east gate of Atrium.
Lady Iselda studied her own reflection in the mirror.
The pallor of the past two days had faded, and color was returning to her complexion.
'Though it was convenient for drawing sympathy.'
A pale, drawn face had been very useful for appearing pitiful.
Every noble who saw her would half-dull the sharpness of their hearts when dealing with her, which was, so to speak, quite useful for gaining advantages in many ways.
On the third day since becoming a prisoner, she was already seeking ways to survive in this country.
It was thanks to being permitted social activities in Orbis.
'Queen Amelia and the ambitious ones...'
The targets she had chosen to win over were the traditional nobles of Orbis.
Because she knew the real power in Orbis was Philia Elskopf, she instead sought to use the nobles who envied her.
"Lady Iselda, your complexion looks better today."
"I must gradually adapt. I cannot stay in despair forever."
As expected, Iselda was able to easily befriend the nobles who were ill-disposed toward Philia.
'It's a shame I can't find a crack in the queen, but...'
Still, she believed that if she joined hands with the nobles, a path would surely open.
'I wonder how my brother is doing.'
She briefly thought of Heinrich, but soon pushed the thought aside.
She had originally been second in line for the ducal succession.
But since she had come as a hostage to the 'suzerain state' together with Heinrich, she could also improve her position.
Though she would have to compete for succession with the younger siblings who remained in the homeland, the situation held both advantages and disadvantages for her.
She had no intention of letting this opportunity slip.
'That must be what she is thinking.'
Meanwhile, Heinrich in the west villa also guessed what was going through her mind.
Being in the same situation, it was only natural.
But he had chosen a different path.
'Both Iselda and the Empire are mistaken.'
Heinrich closed his eyes.
In the war against Orbis, he had seen with his own eyes and heard with his own ears their unearthly might.
The blood-soaked field. The scattering screams of soldiers. And the overwhelming force advancing from afar.
From commander to soldier, their power and resolve were so intense they conjured the word 'fate.'
His father Grimbart and the Empire seemed prepared for another war, but Heinrich had already realized the truth.
'It is a foolish notion.'
That these people stood at the center of a new era.
'I must prevent the destruction of Arilit.'
No— at the very least, he had to prevent the extinction of the 'House of Arilit' itself.
And the only way...
"Come in, Heinrich."
"... It is a pleasure, Countess."
Was only Philia Elskopf.
- 3 -
Watching Heinrich withdraw backwards with his back bowed low, I spoke to Evangeline, who stood beside me.
"He's not as slow-witted as I thought."
"Perhaps he is simply greedy to belong to a powerful figure."
"I'm not so sure. In my eyes, it doesn't look that way."
The interests of nobles are, for the most part, alike.
First, power.
Then youth, beauty, wealth. Sometimes an all-consuming hobby.
They will stop at nothing and use any means to achieve those things.
But, occasionally, a few rebels surface.
If those rebels gather together and raise their voices, they become troublesome.
'It was unexpected that Iselda joined them, but...'
Therefore, it is also easy to dispose of them as traitors.
But Heinrich, for the first two days, did nothing but observe the atmosphere, and then requested an audience at a well-timed moment.
He made his move only after properly realizing that he could die.
"What will you do?"
"I'll have to watch and decide from here on."
I felt a smile creep onto my lips.
A 'high-quality human' always left me in a good mood.
"I'm here, Rita."
As Heinrich departed, Serica entered at the same time.
She had been carefully observing Heinrich's retreating figure, and once he was completely gone, she approached me with a smile.
"Welcome, Serica."
But I didn't miss the faint anxiety lingering at the corners of her eyes.
Even while drinking tea and chatting, she kept fidgeting with her teacup or crumpling the handkerchief in her pocket.
It was a somewhat stiff demeanor, different than usual.
I had an inkling of what the cause might be.
After a while, I discreetly signaled Evangeline with my eyes.
"Have a pleasant time."
Evangeline exited with a smile in her eyes.
The sound of the private room's door lock clicking echoed, and Serica's eyes widened.
I guided her to sit beside me.
"Why are you so anxious?"
At my voice, made as gentle as I could manage, a large tear welled up in Serica's eyes.
It was an unusual sight for her, who always tried so hard to appear mature or noble.
I realized her worries were serious and tried to compose myself.
"... You haven't developed a taste for human men recently, have you?"
If only those words hadn't burst out of her so unexpectedly.
I was dumbfounded.
My previous life had been male, but that wasn't the whole of it. Though I had come to this world in a female body, I hadn't developed an interest in men in that way.
Of course, I know that love isn't determined solely by gender.
I almost laughed, but seeing Serica's earnest expression, I couldn't laugh carelessly.
"... Why would you think that?"
Serica timidly shook her head.
"... No. Even I thought it was foolish. There's no way you and I would grow apart because of something like that..."
I felt a faint, wry chuckle slip from my lips.
"In the first place, your premise was wrong."
I placed my finger on Serica's lips and gently stroked them.
"We've never grown apart to begin with."
"But..."
Yet, the moisture gathered thicker at the corners of Serica's eyes.
I cupped her cheek with my hand and whispered softly.
"... Would this put your mind at ease?"
And I brought my lips to hers.
Not just a brush, but a deep, deep kiss where we shared breath and exchanged every kind of feeling.
From her mouth, the scents of various flowers still mingled in harmony.
"Haa..."
Serica, drawing her lips away, looked at me, panting.
Her flushed face and flustered expression took on an intensely alluring and suggestive hue.
After a moment, she cupped her own cheeks with bewildered eyes.
"What is... this? It's different from what we usually do..."
"You know, don't you?"
"So this... is a kiss..."
Before I knew it, she was leaning close against me.
I placed my hand on Serica's waist and whispered.
"I'm sorry for making you anxious."
"No, no... Actually..."
Serica shook her head and cautiously confessed what lay deepest in her heart.
"It's not that I didn't trust you, Rita. It's that I didn't trust myself. I felt like... I wasn't worthy of being by your side..."
I took hold of her hand, which was clenched tight with tension.
"You fool, Serica."
"Rita..."
"If I must give a reason why you need to be by my side...
Naturally, our fingers intertwined.
As I gently brushed her ear, I spoke my final words.
"It's because I love you."
Her body flinched violently.
In those eyes, joy, relief, and a burning desire mingled and surged in a fierce tide.
Chararak!
At my gesture, the curtains veiled the room of their own accord.
In the darkened room, the only things left sparkling were her eyes and mine, and the faint glow of the magic lamp.