The Verdict
“Do not touch Princess Titania.”
“…”
“As of yet, I have no feelings whatsoever for Prince Brian.”
“B-Brian, but he’s now…”
“I am not here to convince you, Your Majesty. The House of Castner has no need to.”
Stomp, stomp. Raymond stepped forward and ground the demon’s remains under his foot. Drip, drip. Black goo and demon blood mixed and stained the floor.
“So I can only give you a warning.” He said it as if stating the most obvious thing in the world.
“…Is this because of that flimsy reason, that she’s your fiancée and the savior of your family?”
The Empress tried to remain calm. No, it’s not a flimsy reason. The House of Castner was too immense an opponent to lose for the sake of just one Titania.
“You acted as if you had no interest in the next succession to the throne, and you’ve never cared before now. It’s difficult for me to understand why you’re acting like this all of a sudden. Is this the will of the House of Castner?”
“I told you plainly that you don’t need to understand. I am merely making a pronouncement.” The man, who had spent more days among piles of demon corpses than he had ever spent sleeping soundly, spoke calmly.
“Do not touch her. Because you will surely regret it.”
“…”
Regardless of what anyone else said, today was the Empress’s defeat. The one who had stylishly bested her was Titania! And yet, here was Raymond, coming to warn her, telling her not to “touch Titania.” He was telling her that if she harbored a grudge from today’s events and sought revenge, he would not stand by idly.
It was outrageous. Wasn’t the House of Castner a rather haughty, and also very staid, family? Even though he had seemingly fallen for his newly adopted sister, it was rumored that he was more interested in demons than in people. They were a family that rarely entered the palace unless it was by the Emperor’s command, even during the social season!
“The savior of the family… the title of fiancée… If you want a reason other than those, I do not know the answer myself. However.” Raymond of Castner gave a final, firm warning with an expressionless face. “I think you will come to regret it when you see the answer with your own eyes.”
His voice was as plain as if he were just stating the path of a quarry to be slaughtered.
The E-Mote Sword
“You, are you okay?”
I was contemplating how to act and how to wrap things up after sending off the Emperor and Empress. That’s when someone rushed over and suddenly grabbed my shoulder.
I flinched, worried that I might stab them with the E-Mote Sword, but my opponent paid no mind, shaking my shoulder. I stared at the trembling red eyes in front of me with a strange feeling.
“Hey, you! You! You just had to cause trouble like this when I was away?! In just one day, no less?!”
“There are still a lot of people here, Young Master Lisiansius.”
“Does that matter now!”
Lisiansius, whom I felt I hadn’t seen in a while, punched his own chest as if he was about to burst. I glanced at the situation around me. Most of the demons that had invaded the palace had been easily eliminated after the Emperor ordered Raymond to investigate, and almost everyone here was under the influence of the House of Castner.
Even so, how could he act like this when you never know what might be heard? Oh, wait. No, that’s not it. Ah, I see! He’s angry because it looks like I’m using the reputation of the House of Castner. Come to think of it, Raymond’s attitude was strange, too.
Although I had quite confidently declared to Raymond, ‘I’m going to break the engagement! I won’t cause you trouble! Go find the person you love and marry them!’, I did feel a little guilty. The ducal family has managed to stand firm in the midst of a dirty dogfight between the imperial family. It was true that I dragged them into this using the excuse of a debt.
“It matters because we’re going to deduct it from the debt!”
So what! I decided to be bold.
As long as the outcome is good, what’s the problem? The House of Castner probably doesn’t want to awkwardly keep up this ambiguous state of having to give endlessly to their “savior” either. The current Duke of Castner has excellent judgment, after all.
That confident look from me made Lisiansius stare at me with a twisted expression. His gaze, like a lit firecracker, rested on me, and I wondered what was bothering him so much.
“What are you swinging with those hands like sticks of firewood that have never held a sword before?! Are you crazy?!”
“Ah…” I was momentarily speechless.
*-Master! ✧٩(ˊωˋ)و✧ The automatic weight adjustment feature is currently active. Shall I reduce it more if you’re finding it difficult?**
This sword has no sense of timing… I looked at my wrist, which was holding the sword, and subtly swung it. Lisiansius’s gaze danced, following my hand swinging the sword back and forth.
…I’ve seen this look before. When I was living my previous life, my friend’s cat would look at the end of a fishing rod with this exact expression.
Of course, Titania’s body was as light as paper. She didn’t eat much, and exercise was a foreign concept to her. And since she had almost died twice recently, even though she had been recuperating at the Empress’s Palace, she still felt like a skinny, underfed person compared to healthy people. It makes sense that he’d be suspicious… A girl who should be staggering from the weight of a sword suddenly swinging it and putting on a demon-slaying show.
“A-a-and, you don’t know much about demons, so you’re doing something so scary!” Lisiansius, as if he had made up his mind, suddenly snatched the sword from me. I opened my mouth, dumbfounded by the unexpected situation.
“H-huh?!”
Crack-crack-crack!
A static shock and vibration, like touching an electric fence, rang out. Woooooong, woooong-woooong! Lisiansius held the sword with a bit of difficulty as it seemed to protest, and said to me, “You kill demons with the power of a sword? Even if it shortens your lifespan? Did you really sell your mind just because people said you were crazy?! Do you want to die?”
“…”
…How am I supposed to tell him what I said to the Emperor was just a lie?
The sword trembled violently, like a cat being held in a stranger’s arms and getting angry. The extremely agitated vibrations made me flinch.
“You, you’re bleeding!”
I hadn’t noticed since he had suddenly snatched the sword, but he was holding the blade with his bare hands. Bright red blood was pouring out, but Lisiansius said in a flat tone without even wincing, “It’ll get better if I lick it.”
“Stop being crazy and let go of the sword, you lunatic! Why are you so careless with your hands when you use a sword?!”
“Being crazy is a weakling like you not knowing what this sword is and just using it!”
“No, just let go! Let go!”
It was at that moment. A voice echoed in my head. It was the same voice that had asked about opening Horus’s power in front of the Emperor.
[Confirmed contact with Glory’s Emblem.
Master permission denied.
Contact with a person other than the ‘Contractor’ Titania confirmed.
Would you like to summon <nigredo> to the Contractor’s side?]
“…Huh?”
What’s that?
[Permission granted]
WHOOSH!
Thud.
In the next moment, the E-Mote Sword, now stained red with Lisiansius’s blood, fell into my arms.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…You, what is this?” Lisiansius’s voice was surprisingly calm. That was what was even scarier. Like an angry dog that had been growling suddenly falling silent right before it bit its prey. He was looking down at his hand, still gushing blood, and then calmly at the sword resting peacefully in my arms.
I just darted my eyes around, feeling an odd pressure.
-C-c-c-contractor! Th-th-that vicious and violent man! That man touched me! Wahhhhhhh! ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽!! Oh my goodness, this is just so unfair!
‘You, be quiet for a second.’
-Contractor… you’re so mean…
“What kind of sword is this? You found it? That’s a lie, isn’t it?”
“It’s a good sword, although it’s not as good as <Flambeau’s Wrath>!”
Lisiansius stopped dead in his tracks. As if someone had thrown cold water on his rage. I smiled brightly.
“…You.”
“You’re asking where I heard that name? I even sacrificed <Glory’s Emblem> to it… Well, I’m borrowing it now, but anyway. It can handle the power of fire like this! And it’s an amazing sword! Because of that sword, the me from a long time ago made a big fuss because her fiancé danced the first debutante dance with another girl! It’s an obvious connection, isn’t it?”
“You…”
Lisiansius’s eyes trembled.
