Chapter : 76
When I returned to my room after having tea with Aria, I ran into James, who had been waiting in front of my door.
It was obvious that James—who had once served the Duke of Stern and then betrayed him—would come up with another scheme to secure his own survival.
On top of that, he was the very person Maria had warned me about before I came here.
There was no doubt he would plot something for his own benefit.
There was just one thing he had misjudged.
“Lady Themis, I have a proposal I would like to make to you.”
Namely, that he thought his clutches would work on me as well.
“I believe that you, Lady Themis, deserve far more recognition than Her Highness the Princess.”
James began by lavishly praising my abilities, pointing out how unfair it was that all the attention was focused on my master and Aria.
“Just as you were finally stepping out from the Great Mage’s shadow, don’t you find it unreasonable that all the praise and spotlight are being directed toward the Princess?”
It seemed he thought that my decision to finally take action stemmed from personal ambition.
That’s the kind of thought you’d expect from someone like him…
His way of thinking really was just like his own nature. To hear him out, I quietly played along.
“I suppose one could think that way. But what can I do? I’m just an inexperienced mage with no real power.”
“I truly believe that you are the one who deserves far greater acclaim than what the Princess is receiving now.”
Thinking I had shown interest, he quickly revealed his true intentions. The impatience he couldn’t hide made his carelessness obvious.
“From what I can see, you seem to be quite close to Her Highness the Princess…”
At his cautious question, I shook my head.
“Not at all. How could I possibly dare to claim that I’m close to Her Highness?”
It wasn’t exactly a lie.
“As I thought… Right now, the Princess would only be an obstacle to you, Lady Themis…”
When I let my words trail off just enough, he swallowed the idea easily. Perhaps his desperation to survive had blinded both his eyes and ears.
“Since Her Highness lacks experience and hasn’t been awakened as a mage for very long, it must have been frustrating for you to act alongside her. And yet, despite all the hardship falling on you, people only praise the Princess’s achievements. Isn’t that terribly unfair?”
“So what are you suggesting?” I asked.
“How about we create a stage where Her Highness can truly show off her talent?”
Even at that point, his scheme was easy enough to guess.
For instance, under the pretense of letting Aria shine, he likely intended to put her in danger.
If Aria disappeared, the Duke of Stern would lose his reason to kill James—such must have been his calculation.
I listened quietly to his absurd preamble, waiting for a decisive blow.
Of course, James took my silence as tacit consent.
“I knew you would think the same, Lady Themis. That’s why I’ve come up with a plan.”
The corners of his eyes curved upward.
With an uneasy smile, James added,
“We prevent the Great Mage and the Princess from entering the dungeon together.”
For someone like me, who had already resolved to enter the dungeon in my master’s place if it came to that, it was an alarmingly tempting proposal.
“You’re saying we send the Princess into the dungeon first?” I asked.
It was a ruthlessness unimaginable from someone who had been clinging to Aria earlier, begging for his life.
“Yes. If she completes the dungeon subjugation on her own, her abilities will be fully recognized. And even if she fails, none of the blame will fall on us.”
Sending Aria—who had even less experience than I did—into a dungeon alone was no different from murder.
“It would simply be framed as Her Highness’s own independent decision, driven by her desire to fully demonstrate her abilities.”
Recently, Aria had become immensely popular as a member of the imperial family who personally conquered dungeons. However, public opinion among the aristocratic faction, led by the Duke of Stern, remained unfavorable.
If it were portrayed as Aria independently choosing to tackle a dungeon to prove herself to those nobles, it would be a sufficiently convincing scenario. And, of course, the noble faction would surely side with James.
“After all, if the person inside fails to clear the dungeon, the gate will open again, won’t it? At that point, you can enter, Lady Themis.”
He was utterly convinced that Aria would fail the dungeon, and he tried to tempt me into seizing the opportunity she left behind.
The sight of him trying to kill an innocent Aria for the sake of his own safety made bile rise in my throat, but I forced myself to keep my expression under control.
“It’s not a bad proposal for me… but I don’t feel comfortable going against my master’s wishes.”
If I appeared too eager from the start, he would surely grow suspicious, so I deliberately hesitated.
Considering how Everett, Aria, Jed, and even Michel could read my expressions so easily, I was hardly a good actress.
My acting must have been terribly awkward even now.
But James, pushed to the edge of a cliff, couldn’t notice such things.
That was how desperate he was.
In any case, his proposal was an opportunity for me.
“What can you offer me in return, Lord?” I asked.
“I can provide ample compensation. And once the matter is resolved, the Duke of Stern will be most pleased as well.”
Recognition from the Duke of Stern—what a pointless reward.
I frowned deeply and shook my head.
“I’m a materialistic person. I prefer something tangible.”
“Money, then… How much do you want?”
James’s eyes sharpened. He, too, was sensitive when it came to money, and his tension showed.
“I want exclusive rights to all the dungeons that appear along the Deshua coastline from now on.”
Taking this chance, I wanted to handle all the dungeons here myself.
Even if not this time, gates would continue to appear, and I never wanted my master to have to enter the gates in this region.
I had no intention of allowing anything that might make my master grieve.
Of course, I couldn’t reveal such thoughts to James, so I gave him a plausible excuse instead.
“The parts from the monsters that come out of the gates fetch a pretty good price.”
“Ah, that pearl! It was indeed quite impressive.”
I hadn’t even had the pearl appraised yet, but it looked large enough to justify my claim.
It must have seemed impressive to James as well, since he nodded in agreement right away.
“But still…”
“If I continue to subjugate dungeons in Deshua, there will be a steady supply of monster parts and spoils. What if I give you the right of first negotiation over all of them?”
I said “right of first negotiation,” not exclusive rights.
“Since we’ll be in the same boat, I trust you’ll take good care of me. Isn’t this a good deal for both of us?”
“H-however, we’d need to consider the will of the temple as well… and obtain the Duke of Stern’s approval…”
James hesitated, not yet completely convinced. No matter how he looked at it, handing over the dungeon rights to me clearly bothered him.
He might not be as foolish as I thought.
Perhaps I had underestimated him. But I had another move prepared.
“Then let’s pretend this contract never existed. I’ll keep everything we discussed today strictly confidential, for your sake, so please take your leave.”
I rose from my seat without a trace of lingering attachment and saw James out.
To emphasize that I was someone he could trust, I added that I would keep his secret.
“Lady Themis truly seems to be someone I can trust…”
Grab.
James seized my hand and pulled out a sheet of paper.
“Very well. Shall we draft this magical contract together?”
In the end, James fell for it.
In exchange for exclusive control over Deshua’s dungeons, I agreed to separate Aria from my master and ensure that only she would enter the dungeon.
Ever thorough, James had brought a contract-exclusive magical tool made by the Mage Tower. At first glance, it looked like nothing more than ordinary paper.
But anyone who wrote a contract on that paper would pay a price if they violated its terms.
In severe cases, it could even cost them their life—an utterly terrifying sheet of paper.
James and I drafted the clauses together.
However, while I fueled his greed by writing detailed provisions about dungeon spoils, I secretly left a loophole in one of the clauses.
Specifically…
In the clause about separating Aria from my master, I did not explicitly state, “Princess Aria must be sent into the dungeon alone.”
Fortunately, James completed the contract without realizing this, and the contract automatically split into two copies, which we each took one of.
