Promise
"How do you have that?"
I asked in a low voice as Serena hurriedly covered my mouth with her hand, stunned by her bombshell declaration that was utterly unbelievable.
"...Who knows?"
She replied with her usual teasing lilt, the one she'd had since forever.
"Try guessing... Eek!"
I jabbed her side, and Serena, who had been smirking triumphantly, let out another groan.
"...You said you had to stay quiet."
"Sounds like this don't count as loud."
I tilted my head quizzically at her cryptic answer, and she gave an enigmatic response.
"Hint: It's from the person you respect most."
Thanks to that, with my face slightly pouty, Serena finally got serious and began her tale.
"...From Father?"
I answered without hesitation after her hint, and Serena nodded quietly.
"Yes. Though he didn't hand it over personally."
"Then?"
"To understand that, we need to rewind a bit."
With that, Serena cleared her throat and launched into the story.
"It was right after I first regained my memories."
"When you got your memories back..."
"Yes, just before I left for my trip abroad."
Her words brought back the penalty that hit on the first day of my regression, sending a chill down my spine. That experience was one of the most horrific memories even in my life full of trials and tribulations.
"The moment my memories returned, I thought there must be something about you I hadn't figured out yet."
Serena's face darkened slightly as she spoke.
"So, before leaving abroad, I contacted the informant I had planted in your mansion."
"Wait, you had an informant?"
I asked in surprise, and Serena smiled faintly.
"She makes excellent tea, and she guarded the Starlight Mansion until the very end in the previous loop... You didn't know?"
"...Ah."
Her words reminded me of the maid I'd picked a fight with a few months ago at the mansion—the day I heard my brother's hallucinated voice.
"No wonder she seemed so capable."
"Don't feel too bad. In the previous loop, you committed so many misdeeds that I planted her there ahead of time to clean up after you."
I looked sheepish at that, and she continued with a serious expression.
"Anyway, I contacted her via communication crystal and asked if anything had happened at the Starlight household."
"And?"
"Sure enough, word came that the family head, Lord Abraham, had suddenly collapsed during work."
Serena's eyes sharpened as she said this.
"And... there were heaps of paper wads tossed into the fireplace."
Only then did I piece it together.
The moment I regressed, Father's memories had been altered by the system. During the few minutes of grace time the system granted him, he'd written that letter that pissed me off. He probably fainted from the memory alteration aftershock, and what he'd burned in the fireplace were the codes revealing the anonymous bank account he'd mentioned destroying in that letter.
"She smuggled out the papers burning in the fireplace at that time and sent them to me."
"So... she decoded the codes for my anonymous bank account?"
"That's not the important part. I cracked that in five minutes out of boredom during my trip."
Serena's expression hardened as she continued.
"Among the half-burned paper wads your father tried to incinerate was the Prophecy Book."
"...What?"
"Parts were charred, and it was written in the script of the hero from a thousand years ago, making it incredibly hard to decipher. But I sensed something there, so I traveled the ruins of the Western Continent, slowly piecing together the prophecy word by word."
"That's... possible?"
"Why not?"
I stared blankly at Serena, who shrugged nonchalantly, and she grew serious again, wrapping up her story.
"Anyway, seeing words like 'hero,' 'system,' 'penalty,' 'villainy,' 'fate'... I was on the verge of confirming your true identity. After that, it's as you know."
Hearing that, I muttered in confusion.
"Then what's this Prophecy Book I have? Mine has magic on it too. And why did Father have it? Why toss it in the fireplace..."
"Well, we'll know once the restoration's done."
"Restoration?"
"Yes. The fire damaged parts of the content, and the sealing spells got tangled up. So every night, I'm slowly restoring it."
Serena squeezed my hand as she spoke, adding softly.
"Of course, you can guess why it has to be at night, right?"
".....Yeah."
"You're so smart."
She stroked my head, then flashed a crinkly-eyed smile.
"Then... I'll hand the Prophecy Book over to you once it's restored."
With that, Serena stared intently at my face for a long while.
"Eek!"
Feeling mischievous, I poked her side again, and she collapsed with a dazed groan.
"Ugh."
She'd been propping herself up on the bed with her arms, gazing down at me, but now she fell into my embrace, making me let out a deflated sound. Suddenly, Serena smirked mischievously.
"Stay just like that for a sec."
"What are you— Mmph!"
Serena clamped her hand over my puzzled mouth and began writhing her body.
"Haaah..."
"Meooow..."
Soon she started moaning, and I looked at her with mild exasperation when a plaintive wail echoed from somewhere.
"Mmph?"
"Just cooperate for a bit..."
Her face lit up with excitement at the sound. She slowly unbuttoned my outer shirt.
—Fling!
Serena stripped off my outer shirt completely and tossed it out from under the covers. The pitiful mewling stopped abruptly.
—Crash! Clatter!
After a moment of silence in the room, a loud thud erupted.
"Meow! Meeeow... Meooow!!"
Moments later, the cat doll climbed onto the covers over us, scratching desperately with heartbroken cries.
"Grrrr!"
"Kyaaak!"
The cat doll scratched at the covers for ages until Serena whistled, summoning the owl that pinned it down and dragged it away somewhere.
"...Why's it acting up like that?"
"That cat was made with black magic, right?"
"Huh, how'd you know?"
I asked, dazed from watching the chaos, and Serena smiled.
"I know that spell very well."
"Yeah?"
"Yes. Kids enchanted with black magic to animate objects have intense jealousy. That's why the cat doll's behaving like that."
"Ahh..."
I nodded along to Serena's smug explanation, then asked worriedly.
"But... isn't that cat doll kinda pitiful then?"
"Pitiful? It's just paying back during the night everything it's suffered while the sun was up."
"Huh? What'd you say?"
I caught her muttering under her breath and asked what she meant, but she suddenly snuggled into my arms and raised her voice.
"Haa... I love this so much, Frey."
"Meow..."
As Serena writhed again, the plaintive wail resumed from afar.
"...Frey."
"Yeah?"
Ignoring it, she kept moving, then gazed at me with hazy eyes.
"How about we do the real thing instead?"
Her face was flushed red.
"...Gulp."
I nodded cautiously, and her eyes crinkled as she burrowed into my chest.
"Then... teach me."
"Huh?"
At her out-of-left-field remark, I tilted my head, and she glanced away slyly.
"Even I don't know how to do something I've never tried."
She looked up at me innocently and added.
"So teach me, from start to finish."
Serena looked even more beautiful today. Even in the dimness under the covers at night, her moonlit eyes and pale purple hair seemed to glow faintly.
—Rustle...
"Oh my."
As I reached out slowly, lost in thought, she suddenly grabbed my hand, smirked, and whispered.
"...I was kidding."
My face fell, and Serena burst into giggles.
"Sorry. But with the Subjugation Curse, I have no choice."
"Subjugation Curse?"
I asked gravely, and she looked regretful as she explained.
"Yes. The Subjugation Curse was designed to turn people into emotionless assassin puppets. So originally, you can't share 'love' at all."
"But... why can you..."
"Love you? That's because... my Subjugation Curse is weakened for some reason right now."
Her eyes flickered for a moment. It seemed the feelings I'd sensed from Serena during the second trial were real.
"Anyway, I can love, but... not the most fundamental act."
"...Ah."
I hesitated over whether to ask about the 'memory' she'd recalled, but her next words left me disappointed.
"So, here's a promise."
Reading my expression, she smiled slyly.
"The moment I kill the Secret Overlord or break the Subjugation Curse..."
She whispered ticklishly into my ear.
"...I'll give you as much as you want."
Stunned for a moment, I quietly replied.
"Starting tomorrow, I'll mobilize the entire Demon King's army."
Serena giggled at my words, then hugged me tight and murmured.
"Let's sleep like this."
"...Yeah."
For some reason, I felt like I'd dream of owls tonight.
"Ugh..."
Meanwhile, at the Imperial Palace.
"What... should I write?"
In her room, Clana groaned, quill in hand.
Frey, why didn't you reply to my last letter?
"...No, this might make him only respond about the slave market."
After agonizing forever and barely writing the first line, Clana incinerated the letter with Solar Mana and pulled out fresh paper.
Frey, tell me what you did to me.
"Wait, this exposes my ignorance. No good."
After much deliberation on a new opening, Clana sighed and burned it again.
Frey, I know everything you've done. Surrender yourself.
"...What if he turns the tables and interrogates me instead?"
After endlessly writing first lines and burning them, Clana realized she was unconsciously scribbling on the paper.
"Wh-what is this..."
Staring puzzled at the anomaly, Clana grew flustered reading what she'd written.
"Wh-why's my hand shaking too..."
As her hand began trembling uncontrollably, she bowed her head amid the bizarre symptoms and muttered.
—Knock knock!
"Eek!"
Her door suddenly knocked, and she desperately tried to summon Solar Mana to burn the letter.
"Again... again with this..."
But for some reason, only faint light leaked from her hand. It was the symptom that had plagued her since the nightmare, making her hand shake and robbing her powers.
"Lady Clana, I'm here to clean."
"Y-yes... I'll step out to the restroom for a bit, so please take care."
Unable to use Solar Mana, Clana burned the letter with a room candle instead, forced a calm expression for the entering maid, hid her trembling hand, and stood.
"Hoh."
Once Clana left, the maid, who'd been watching, swiftly approached the wastebasket where her gaze had lingered.
—Rustle...
"This..."
Shortly after, discovering the charred letter in the trash, the maid astoundingly restored it with recovery magic and smirked.
"...Must report to the First Princess."
You won't leave my mind, Frey.