The Third Design
That very evening, I paid a visit to Carmel's chambers. Perhaps because she had been barred from attending the regular council meeting, she looked to be in an exceptionally foul mood. I offered her a bright, innocent smile as I spoke.
"Have you been well, Lady Carmel? I recall you declaring a bitter revenge last time we spoke... I wonder how that is progressing."
Carmel had likely been entirely confident in her ability to manipulate Pehart—more so than anyone else in the world. But she was not the only one who knew how to pull the King's strings.
"You...!"
Carmel glared at me, her face contorted as if she had swallowed a bug. Soon, however, she smoothed her expression and stepped aside from the doorway.
"You have business with me, don't you? Come in. I have something to say to you as well."
Carmel had something to say to me? Now, this was promising. I stepped into the room and sat across from her at the table. Her expression was deadly serious.
"What is this matter you wish to discuss? I am quite curious."
Carmel crossed her legs with a sharp, deliberate motion. The elegant curve of her leg, revealed through the high slit of her gown, momentarily stole my gaze.
"You... how on earth did you find out about the Covenant of the Secret Wish?"
"The Covenant of the Secret Wish? Whatever do you mean?"
"Don't play innocent with me. You already confessed to it last time. You obtained that poison from a shaman in Lurie. I have already confirmed that the shaman sold the poison to a young Luistie woman who was well-aware of the Covenant of the Secret Wish."
"Oh, my..."
To be honest, I was surprised. I hadn't expected her to uncover that much in a mere two days. I suppose she was indeed Carmel. However, she was currently in a position where she could not leave the palace at will. There was no way she had personally gone out to investigate. This meant she had secured someone within the palace who would move at her beck and call. Whether it was a maid, a guard, or a servant... considering Carmel's usual talents, it was highly likely a man. Rooting out Carmel's accomplice inside the palace... It seems I have a new, unexpected task on my hands.
"I will ask you once more, Princess Sera. How did you learn of the Kakas tribe's most closely guarded covenant? That is something a member of the Luistie royal family should never, under any circumstances, know."
"Fufu, what an amusing question. Even if I did know of it, why should I share that information with you, Lady Carmel? Why don't you use that clever brain of yours to figure it out?"
Carmel was the only one who knew for certain that I had possessed that poison. Thus, the old merchant's testimony could not serve as concrete proof, so long as she could not prove that the young Luistie woman was me. Well, not that evidence or accusations mattered anyway, considering Pehart had already decided to turn a blind eye to the entire affair.
Carmel stared straight at me, her face twisted in frustration. She truly had a face that begged to be tormented.
"Fine, have it your way. But I have a solid lead now. I will no longer think of you as some delicate flower raised in a greenhouse. No matter what secrets you are hiding, I will drag them all into the light. In the end, I will leave you in an utterly miserable state. Look forward to it, Princess Sera."
"Please do. I look forward to it immensely as well."
My angelic smile clashed with Carmel's venomous glare. Neither of us yielded even an inch.
"So? What is your business here?"
"Ah, it is regarding the wedding. I came to discuss the attire you will wear as the future Queen."
I pulled out three sketches I had brought with me and spread them across the table. Carmel scanned them in silence.
The first was a traditional Luistie wedding gown. It was a noble, elegant dress that perfectly captured the essence of a "blossoming bride." Even Carmel, with her strong aura of a villainess, would look somewhat softened and less venomous in such attire.
The second was a modern wedding gown that boldly broke away from tradition. Rejecting the conventional notion that a bride must wear white, it was a lavish dress adorned with vibrant primary colors and glittering jewels.
And the third was...
"What on earth is this...? You call this clothes? For a wedding where I am to be crowned Queen, no less?"
Carmel reacted with sheer disgust. And with good reason—the third sketch depicted an outfit that anyone would deem fit for a degenerate. It exposed incomparably more skin than the previous two designs. While her private parts were barely covered, by the standards of this era, she might as well be completely naked. It was essentially a bikini or lingerie, draped only in a sheer, translucent silver veil. It was an outfit suited not for a royal wedding, but for a high-class courtesan. Carmel stared at me, utterly dumbfounded.
"Are you mocking me, Princess Sera? You expect me to consider this trash...?"
"If you want my opinion, the third option is currently the strongest candidate."
"What...? By whose authority?!"
"Did I not mention it before? His Majesty the King has entrusted the entire wedding planning to me. This means the final authority to choose the bride's attire rests solely with me."
Carmel continued to look at me in disbelief, but her face grew increasingly grim as she studied the third design. It was a perverted outfit, meticulously detailed from multiple angles. Princess Sera possessed a remarkable talent for drawing. It was a masterpiece born from the combination of Sera's artistic skill and my own brilliant imagination.
Carmel seemed to be imagining the wedding ceremony taking place in that outfit. Her face rapidly turned a pale, ashen gray. Countless citizens from all over the Luistie Kingdom would gather to catch a glimpse of their new Queen. And before them all, Queen Carmel would finally reveal herself, shamelessly flaunting a body that was practically naked...
"Don't be ridiculous."
Carmel managed to speak in a relatively calm tone.
"There is no way such a thing would be permitted. No matter how much authority you have over the planning, how could such an outfit be acceptable when the nation's dignity is at stake? For someone with such an innocent face, you make some filthy jokes, Princess Sera."
"Fufu, of course there would be an absolute uproar on the day of the wedding. Someone might even have to take responsibility and lose their head. Ah, poor Zbaka. To think he would risk his very life just to humiliate the Carmel who looked down on him."
"...You mean to pin the blame on the Minister of Finance?"
"Yes, exactly. After all, who would ever suspect that the pure, lily-like Princess Sera would approve such a vulgar garment? Well, I suppose I might have to take some minor responsibility for failing to inspect it properly. But compared to the sight of you wearing this, wouldn't that be a remarkably cheap price to pay?"
Carmel stared intently at the third design once more. No matter how many times she looked, the conclusion was the same. It was absolutely not an outfit one could wear in public. Yet, she wiped the emotion from her face and spat coldly:
"Do whatever you want."
"Oh? Are you certain?"
"Yes, Princess Sera. I will no longer dance to your filthy tunes. If you wish to turn the most important event of the Luistie Kingdom into a global laughingstock, then go right ahead."
"Is that so? Very well."
I gathered the sketches scattered across the table. Rising from my seat, I walked toward the door without a single moment of hesitation.
Carmel was likely bluffing because she believed no princess of this nation would ever commit such an act of sheer madness. But I felt no particular attachment to this kingdom. Whether Luistie became the laughingstock of the world or not had absolutely no bearing on my happiness and satisfaction. In fact, watching Carmel writhe in intense humiliation throughout the entire wedding ceremony while wearing this degenerate outfit would be far more beneficial to me. Thus, I had nothing holding me back. Just as I opened the door to step outside, Carmel called out to me, her voice losing all its previous bravado.
"W-Wait...! Hold on!"
"Yes? What is it?"
"Are you... are you really going to do it?"
"Of course. Didn't you just encourage me to do as I pleased, Mother? I will gladly see it through."
In a game of chicken like this, the moment you begin to worry, 'What if they actually go through with it?' you have already lost. And that was precisely the thought currently racing through Carmel's mind.
"...Fine. Let us talk. Sit back down."
I let out a soft chuckle and closed the half-open door. When I sat back down at the table, the tense atmosphere from before had completely vanished.
"The fact that you prepared three options... means you intend to demand another 'deal' from me, doesn't it?"
It seemed Carmel had finally grasped my pattern of behavior. Creating an inescapable situation, then issuing a command under the guise of a "deal." Since this was already the third time, she was bound to get used to it. Two visits ago, it was her breasts; last time, her naked body. What would be next? It wasn't hard to guess what kind of thoughts were running through her head.
Carmel looked at me with an anxious expression and asked:
"You... what is it you actually want from me? If you simply wanted to humiliate me, there are plenty of other ways to do it... Why do you act like this... as if you are obsessed with my body...?"
She had hit the nail right on the head. Carmel's exquisite body—that was indeed a massive part of why I wanted to possess her. But that wasn't the only reason. Her body, her face, her personality, and the countless wicked deeds I had read about in the novel... all of it combined to form my desire. It was a bit difficult to explain that to her directly, so I had no choice but to generalize.
"Fufu, well... it is because I like you very much, Mother."