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Episode 7:
I Am a Hostage Now
AS I WAS TALKING TO FATHER ABOUT THE TEA party while sitting on his lap, my smiling father’s eyes narrowed like a hunter who had just spotted his prey.
You’re kind of scaring me, Father…but you’re still cool.
“Oh? Rick, you say? Did he tell you to call him that?”
“You know him?”
“Yes. He’s the son of someone I know very well.”
Еn ū ṁ ӑ . і̇ d̂
“Ooh.”
Perhaps he really is the son of someone Father knows from work, then? Maybe I shouldn’t have teased him and chased him off like that.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
If a shut-in like me were to show up at his birthday party, I bet they would only jeer at me, saying, “Wah hah hah! I can’t believe the country bumpkin girl actually showed up.”
“Are we going to his party?” I asked with a tiny hope that we wouldn’t.
Father frowned, looking perplexed. “Hmm. Good question.”
Oh, dear. I knew that if I begged, Father wouldn’t force me, but judging by that reaction, I figured this was like the tea party, in that I would put him in a hard position if I refused.
Е n̈ǔm̃а..і́ d
“But if you want to go, then I suppose we should—”
“I do!”
“What?!”
Why did he look so surprised even though I had resolved myself to go?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“W-wait, Yulucia. Don’t tell me that you actually like Rick?”
“Huh?” Why would he think that? This conversation was taking a weird turn.
Еn û ṁа̀. і̃ď
“Rick…? So, you and Rick, then… Heh heh heh.”
“Father?!”
What’s gotten into you, Father?! You have this really scary look on your face!
And you, Vio! Why do you look like you’re about to hand Father a sword?! Are you planning to kill someone?! I know you two won’t take me up on it even though I’m a demon and all, but I would sooner kill them for you than allow Father to get his hands dirty! I shall gladly take up the role! I am prepared to go as far as the forbidden summoning of cockroaches! I’ll scare—I mean, request—a weak earth elemental to plant peppermint all over their garden (a truly heinous crime, by the way)!
At any rate, I was feeling nervous because Father and Vio were acting a bit strange and weren’t going back to their normal selves. But I had an ace up my sleeve!
“I’m gonna marry Father.”
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“Is that so?” Father was suddenly in a good mood again as he cheerfully patted me on the head. He was so easy to please… So much so that it worried me as his daughter!
Things might be difficult for me when I had to get married someday. But before that, I would have to actually find someone willing to take such a scary girl like me for a bride.
“Then perhaps I’ll take the day off from work and spend it with you.”
“Yaaay!”
Are you sure you’re okay in the head, Father?!
***
Е n̆ ŭ m̌ӑ.і̂ d
“He’s not coming home today either?” Albertine murmured, so quietly that only she could hear it, as she gazed out the window from her room in the manor. It was growing dark.
She pondered the obvious truth.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
About a year ago, her husband had started coming home less and less. Ostensibly, it was because he was out for inspections in one of the territories of their lands. Yet despite this, he usually returned home to this estate for a third of the year.
Her husband was one of the leaders of the country and had work that he needed to attend to or else it wouldn’t get done. Of course, the area where Albertine had been born and raised was important; however, they had a steward who could take care of the majority of the paperwork. Therefore, her husband worked in the capital for half of the year. As his wife, Albertine had moved to their manor in the capital during that time. After she moved there, she gave birth to two daughters and had only gone home to their principal residence in their territory a handful of times.
Because of this, Albertine, as well as her daughters—who had been born in the capital—all thought of this house as their home. The fact of the matter was, Albertine found the opulence of the royal capital quite comfortable. She was able to get all of the latest information and know the latest trends right away, there were balls held practically every night, and she hosted tea parties that she invited many nobles to. Albertine enjoyed wealth and an excellent standing in society. She was a belle of high society equal to the queen and crown princess. The other noblewomen all eagerly yearned for her attendance at their social functions and sang her praises as if in competition for her favor.
And what did their daughters think, seeing and being raised by such a mother versus their father, who probably wasn’t even aware of how henpecked he was? Albertine understood that tension was also part of the reason he had stopped coming home.
Wе̌ b̊ń о́v.е̃ l Е̂n ũṁ а̊
For all of her power and beauty, even Albertine had her enemies.
They weren’t directly antagonistic, but her “enemies” were the crown princess’ clique—who snubbed Albertine and her friends—and the antiquated nobles who sympathized with her husband.
Albertine was aware that their opinion of her was based in her personality.
All she ever did was want. She yearned for power, wealth, and admiration, and she had gotten as much as she wished for. That was why she’d even managed to obtain him—the thing she had wanted most ever since she was young.
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She’d pulled all kinds of strings to make him hers. But now the husband she had worked so hard to obtain wasn’t coming home and, in a way, it was justly deserved.
Albertine had torn her husband away from the woman he was in love with, after all.
Ẇèb̀ n̈ оv̊ е l Еn̆ û mа
“My lady.”
The voice woke Albertine out of her reverie. She turned to face Zumana, her servant who was dressed as a butler. He was looking at her with concern.
She chuckled to herself, realizing that he must have tried many times already to get her attention. “Sorry, I was lost in thought.”
“You must be tired. Shall I prepare something warm for you to drink?”
He knew that exhaustion wasn’t the reason, which must have been why he seemed so worried. This made Albertine happy but also irritated her.
“Then how about…” She was about to ask for fruit liqueur, but changed her mind when she realized the decanter was already empty. “Ah, how about some bean tea?”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Right away, my lady.”
Zumana set about getting the tea ready from the tea cart he had brought. There were all kinds available here in the capital, though Albertine had taken a particular liking to the unsophisticated aroma of the one made from boiled beans, popular among commoners in the south.
“Ah…”
“Is something the matter?” Zumana asked.
“No. I was just wondering if the girls are asleep already.”
The warm tea was relaxing. Albertine couldn’t help but laugh at her hypocrisy when it occurred to her that she was getting upset about her husband’s absence when she was hardly ever home herself.
Ё n ũ m̂а .i̊d̊.
“Yes, they went to bed a short while ago.” Zumana understood what she was doing, but went along with the change in topic anyway.
Watching him, Albertine recalled how she had first met Zumana.
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About ten years ago, Albertine had been given an executive position at the Academy of the Magical Arts. She had discovered that Zumana was highly talented despite being a commoner and decided to take a personal hand in his training.
When she’d initially poached him from the academy, she had only been interested in his looks and his skill in spellcraft; however, when she learned that he was surprisingly dexterous with his hands and had a keen eye for detail, she found a use for him as her butler and spy.
At the time, Zumana’s merchant family had been in a lurch, so he had sworn a life of servitude to Albertine to repay her for the support she’d given his family and for giving him a place of employment after he withdrew from the academy.
Albertine’s eyes faintly wavered at the sight of Zumana’s devotion to her, since she herself had been the culprit behind his family’s predicament.
Еn̈ ů.m̂а
“Your daughters bathed after dinner and then—”
“It’s fine. They just did the usual, right?”
“That is correct.”
Her two daughters wanted to talk to their mother every day, but they didn’t miss their father at all. She believed they had been close to him when they were younger, but as they got older, they started viewing him coldly. She was sure that they didn’t hate him, but they would only ever approach him when they wanted something or to show his good looks off to the other girls.
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It was bound to happen from the onset.
She had used her family’s power to snatch her husband away from another woman. As he was also a noble, he had known that this was a political match and had done his duty. And yet, despite becoming her husband and the father of her daughters, he had never surrendered the entirety of his heart to her. He had tried to dote on his daughters and love her as his wife, but it had always felt as if he were one step removed from them.
Е̌n ũm̊.а . їd̃_
This had irritated Albertine, so she had treated him with contempt and at times even laid into him with scathing rants. However, he never once got angry with her. He would only smile sadly and say nothing.
Their daughters, meanwhile, had grown up seeing such an unloving relationship between their parents, and started acting coldly toward their father as well. They had no idea how else to interact with him.
Since Albertine had been unable to steal her husband’s heart, she instead showered her daughters with affection, spoiling them by giving them everything and raising them into noblewomen like herself, who would do whatever it took to get what they wanted.
How badly had their daughters’ cruel words afflicted his heart?
Of course they had hurt him. The young girls had no idea what they were saying, but their words were sharp as thorns—they had been saying the words that Albertine felt in her heart out loud.
So of course her husband didn’t come back to this house and instead devoted himself to his ideal wife and ideal daughter.
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And that was precisely why she wasn’t going to turn a blind eye.
“Zumana? Are the preparations coming along on schedule?”
“Yes, my lady. All is going according to plan. There was an abrupt change, but you could say it’s actually worked in our favor, rest assured.”
“I see. Then I shall have to reward you today.” Albertine beckoned Zumana with a bewitching gaze.
Albertine loved her daughters. Her younger daughter seemed to only be imitating her beloved older sister and mother, but her older daughter was just like Albertine had been when she was young, even down to how she lived.
Albertine was aware that it was cruel, but noble daughters raised to be selfish were not all that unusual. Nevertheless, at ten years old, her oldest should have managed to forge relationships with her peers and calm down just as Albertine had. But because she was also his child, she’d wound up provoking the wrath of Forte’s family, losing the engagement she had wanted, and that made her personality all the more prickly.
Ё n̄ üm а
For the sake of her poor daughter.
For the sake of protecting her own heart.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
For the sake of obtaining everything she’d ever wanted—
Albertine would tear everything down and start again from a clean slate.
***
It was now two days later and that boy’s—Rick’s?—birthday party had just gotten started. It was being held in the enormous garden at the same manor as the tea party. It was supposed to be held at night, but they were going to be holding a party in the afternoon too for the children who couldn’t be out so late. In other words, this birthday party was happening first in the afternoon and then again at night. I had to wonder just how rich Rick’s family was.
Е ñ ũm̄ а
Since they were rich, it made sense for it to be held at night so the adults could go, but why did they suddenly decide to have a party in the afternoon too?
“Why, Father?”
“Good question.” Father pretended not to know, laughing as he looked somewhere far in the distance.
Vio, who was accompanying us to the venue, looked disconcerted as she told me, “I believe it is because you are attending, Lady Yul.”
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What was that supposed to mean?
Today, I was wearing a dress that Father’s manor had prepared for me for tea parties. It so looked like the kind of dress a princess would wear, what with how it was so pure white and frilly with flowers. At the tea party, the noble-looking girls had all been wearing fancy, charming, and pretty dresses, but none of them had looked like they were straight out of a fairy tale like this one did. Who could possibly look good in this kind of dress? I supposed only someone as unhuman-looking as me—and that wasn’t a compliment to myself at all.
Е ṅūm̌ а
Father was quickly called over by some important-looking people and left me to my own devices. Vio had accompanied us to the entrance of the venue, but she had to stay back in the waiting room for servants, so some butler-looking guy escorted her elsewhere. This meant that, for the first time in a while, I was walking on my own two feet into the venue.
Thank goodness I still remembered how to walk.
The second I stepped inside, a whole bunch of musicians noticed me and started loudly playing music before they left in a hurry. The other children there surrounded me from a distance, but otherwise there was nothing unusual to note.
At least, that was the only noteworthy thing up until I got inside.
What happened after the party began was a completely different story.
“Lady Yul!”
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“Ooof!” A girl suddenly tackled me from the side, knocking the wind out of me. “Shelly?!”
“Yes, it is I, Shelly!”
She hugged me so tightly I was afraid I would take a tumble; however, a pale-faced butler managed to quietly stop her with a hand.
“Lady Yul! I’m so glad I get to see you again! The moment I laid eyes on you, I felt this great shock, as if seeing your sparkling radiant self had given me a blessing! It was then that I realized something! You look so pretty in that white dress, I’m sure you must be some kind of white lily fairy! Or maybe since that dress is just so frilly, you’re more like a white rose blossoming in full glory! But then I realized you look more like you have angel wings and like you’ve swooped down from heaven to bring the lowly people happiness! But no, wait, I bet even angels must be hiding with jealousy at how pretty and beautiful you are, Lady Yul! I have no idea how best to describe how blessed I feel to get to see your wonderful, lovely self again, my lady! Ooh, you are so sublime, it is dizzying! I feel so dizzy…” Her shoes clicked as she staggered backward like some kind of stage actress who had the spotlight shining on her.
Unfortunately for her, it was because she had run out of oxygen.
This girl was surprisingly multitalented. Was this that thing nobles did where they made a mockery of people with excessive praise? High society must have been a hellish place indeed for even a five-year-old to behave like this.
Еn ùm а̄ .і̊ d
“You look like a princess yourself, Shelly.”
“My! That is so kind of you to say! Thank you so much!” Shelly had at last calmed down—or maybe not. Her light pink dress did look like the kind a princess in a picture book would wear.
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Because of Shelly’s eccentric behavior, though, it felt like all the other kids were keeping their distance. And even if I wanted to cry for help, there were only children here; Shelly’s parents weren’t around.
I wonder if that guy who looks just like Shelly, who’s hiding in the corner and looks like he’s getting ready to leave, is Shelly’s older brother? Hmph. What an undependable boy.
Unfortunately, Shelly’s outburst drew so many eyes to us that we wound up getting the attention of someone I really would’ve rather avoided.
“Yulucia!” Rick had been talking to some cute girl with black hair when he spotted me and started making a beeline for us.
Ẁ е b̂ǹ o v̈ еl Ӗ n um̈ а̄
“Rick—”
“Now that you’re here, let’s—”
“Happy birthday, Lord Rick!” Before he could say anything, I interrupted by greeting him like any other three-year-old might.
“Uh, thanks.”
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I still had the knowledge of the dream world, so I knew how to properly greet someone, at least. Now that that was over and done with, I could go home. “Now, if you would excuse me.”
“Why, Lord Ludoric! I was just in the middle of a conversation with Lady Yul here! Come, Lady Yul, let us go get ourselves a cup of fruit water over there.”
Е́n u m̂ä.і̌ d
“So what?! How dare you talk that way to me! You’re Ciellindo from House Oralens, right? Don’t think you can just go and play hostess to Yulucia here!”
“What are you two doing?!” A girl stepped in to interrupt.
Wait a sec, this girl is—
“My Lord Ludoric, we were just in the middle of a conversation ourselves! What is the meaning of just walking away from me like that?!”
“Uh, I was just…”
Even Rick cowered back from the menacing look the black-haired girl was giving him. Wait, who’s Loodo-Rick? Well, whatever. Anyway, Rick shrank away and Shelly took my hand without missing a beat.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Come, Lady Yul. Let’s go over there!”
“You two have some nerve to ignore me too!”
Now sparks were beginning to fly. The new girl looked at me and was suddenly so taken aback that her face turned bright red and she even took a step back.
“Ugh. That’s unfair.”
What?! What was so unfair about just looking at me?! This girl with her black hair and jade green eyes had been the prettiest girl at the tea party. She looked like she was the same age as Shelly or maybe a year older. I remembered her well since she was so pretty. Her attitude really was a shame.
“Ciellindo, Bertille! Enough already! Yulucia’s here today for my birthday party!” Rick pointed out.
W ӗ b̄ n_ŏ v́ě l̆ Е̂ǹü m ӑ
“Yes, but she said happy birthday to you already! Now it’s time for her to socialize with the girls,” Shelly said.
“Think again! I, Bertille, shall be the one to spend time with her today!”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“What?!” Shelly and Rick exclaimed in unison.
Huh? What’s going on? Do these three not get along? Had Shelly looked so frightened at the tea party because she was actually trying to hold in how much she dislikes Rick? And, that girl, uh, Bertille? She came over only because she got mad that he ignored her, not because she’s interested in him? I don’t really get what’s going on, and I don’t really care, so please don’t drag me into this!
I had thought to wait until I found the right chance to leave, but now all three of them had grabbed ahold of me—I was trapped.
What should I do…? I wonder if they’ll start fretting over me instead if I tell them they’re hurting me.
Ẇ е bn ô ṽ е l̊ E num̆а̄
I was keenly aware that everyone was staring at us too—well, more like everyone was only staring at me, even though the guest of honor and a couple of cute girls were the ones making a big ruckus.
The servants all looked bewildered and there were no adults around I could turn to for help, so I was at a loss for what to do.
“Oh, my. Rick, Shelly, Betty, you know this isn’t how you should behave,” a woman said as she picked me up from behind. She was a pretty lady with orange hair that looked like fire. “You must be gentle with smaller children.”
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The three looked up at her, dumbfounded. She winked.
Judging from the hair, I thought she might be the pretty lady I had seen from the carriage that one time, but she wasn’t. That woman was more like a deep crimson rose with thorns, while this pretty lady was warm like a scarlet fire.
Wëbñ o̊v̆е̃l Е̃ nu̇ m̂ а
“Mother!” Rick exclaimed as he looked up at her.
Ooh, so this is Rick’s mom. They’re nothing alike.
“Your Hi—” Bertille was interrupted with a finger to her lips.
“Hush now,” the woman said with another wink.
Rick’s mom smiled at Shelly and the two of them kept their mouths shut and nodded. I looked up at the lady who was holding me now, wondering what the secret was. She looked back at me and chuckled.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Yulucia. You’re Lia’s daughter, yes?”
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“You know Mother?”
“I sure do. My name is Elea. I’m Lia’s friend.”
Ooh! I had no idea Mother had friends. As I had such a rude thought, Elea started walking with me still stuck in her arms.
That’s right—Lady Elea had trapped me.
“Girls are simply the cutest.”
The three children watched on in dumbfounded silence.
Ẃ е b̃ n̂ ô.v̀ e l̆ Е ǹ um̊ а̂
It seemed I had another person to carry me around now.
Elea sat us down on a remarkably large sofa with Shelly and Bertille on either side of her, and me on her lap, cooing at me as she stroked the two girls’ hair.
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Was this some kind of late-night entertainment business?
And sitting next to us in an armchair was Rick—who had been the prime host up until now—looking dejected as he sipped his fruit water.
Uh, Lady Elea? Saying how much you like girls is making your son pout.
“Rick may be cute now, but he looks just his like father, so I just know that he’s going to grow up to be a big and rugged man.”
W е́ b́n̂ оṽ еl̊ Е̊ǹ um̊ а̄_
She was relentless toward her seven-year-old son. Wasn’t that all the more reason to fawn excessively over him now?
“Hmph. If I’ll be so like Father, then that means I’ll be really strong.” Little Rick surprised me with his toughness.
Lady Elea narrowed her eyes so much as she smiled that it looked like she was smirking as she looked down at me in her lap. “So Rick’s going to grow up to be strong, then. Yulucia, do you like strong boys?”
“Huh?”
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“What?”
“Wh—”
En u m а̂
“Huh?”
Me, Rick, Shelly, and Bertille all exclaimed in unison. Lady Elea’s expression made her seem like she was joking, yet the way she said it didn’t sound like a joke at all.
I knew what this must be. Even I, who was so estranged from nobility, understood their ways. But if I gave the wrong answer in this moment, Lady Elea would prompt the conversation to go as she wanted it to. That was what she really wanted, wasn’t it?
“I dunno.”
“I see. You still don’t know yet. Which makes me wonder, what kind of girls does Rick like?”
Please, make it stop. Rick, Shelly, and Bertille seemed to all understand what she was really asking and averted their gazes as they fell completely silent.
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“You don’t have a daughter, Lady Elea?” I asked in hopes we could get away from this weird topic.
Thankfully, Lady Elea played along. “That’s right. I only have boys. This pleases my husband, but I do wish I could have had a girl too. My eldest is talking with your father right now, so you’ll be able to meet him in a little bit.”
“’Kay.”
Well, I supposed that for nobles, having many heirs was a good thing. Be that as it may, while Lady Elea seemed the type to speak at a leisurely cadence, I had a feeling she was speaking even more slowly when talking to me because I was a toddler.
“Sooo, I want you, Betty, and Shelly to feel free to think of me as your mother too. If you ever need anything, you can come to me.”
“Okay,” we three replied after a moment of hesitation.
W.е̊ḃnо v е̄ l̀ Е̄nŭ m̀а̀
There’s something scary about the way she said that. But maybe I should just think of this as having a supporter among the nobility? Let’s just not think about what she’s implying too deeply, I thought as Lady Elea looked at the three of us and then inclined her head to the side.
“You’re the only one I’m calling by her full name though, Yulucia. I’d like to call you by your nickname too. What does Lia call you?”
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“Uh, Yu—”
Wait a minute. I told Shelly to call me “Yul,” but she doesn’t need to call me by my nickname just because Mother and the others do! I hadn’t been able to protest before because I’d been just a baby and they’d decided all on their own to call me Yul. However, this was my chance to get away from this cutesy kind of mascot character of a nickname. I could tell her something else. Since my name was Yulucia, I could tell her to call me “Lucia” or “Yua!”
However, just as I was about to answer, Shelly interrupted me. “Lady Yul’s is Lady Yul! It makes me so happy that she allows me to call her that!”
Shelly?!
W̄ е̂b̂ n̆ o ṽе́ĺ Ěǹ ů mа̊
“Then I shall call her Yul as well, then! And Yul can call me Betty!”
Even Betty now?!
“Very well. Then I too shall call her ‘Yul’ from now on.”
“Okay.” I drooped at missing my chance to correct them. How long was I going to have to put up with this carefree mascot image?
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***
Keil Palace was known for its gardens owned by the royal family and for being a place for the utmost elite. Only the most trusted people of the kingdom were allowed to use it—in other words, only those of count peerage or higher. Middle nobility such as viscounts and barons were only permitted entry by invitation from the host, and even then, they needed a high-ranking noble as their escort.
Е n̄u mа̂.і d̊
The original plan for the day had been to hold the birthday party of the son of a certain family in the evening. A few days prior to the party, however, it had been decided that they would hold a party in the afternoon as well, so a large number of cooks and servers had arrived in the morning and a portion of the guard had been stationed there.
That meant they needed more guards than usual, so the existing guards compensated by taking longer shifts as the royal family was busy overseeing the event.
“I’m starving,” grumbled a young soldier who had been on guard duty since first thing in the morning until the afternoon.
The senior soldier with him merely agreed without rebuke. “Well, that’s just how it is. It’s part of our jobs.”
“Yeah, but inside they’re eating all kinds of delicious-sounding foods right about now.”
It wasn’t that they didn’t take their jobs seriously; it was just that there was nothing better to do than complain. If they didn’t care about their jobs, they would have been off looking for food instead. Moreover, guarding such a big party meant that they and the servants could have whatever food was left over. There was an even higher chance of that when the event was a celebration like this one.
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Here at Keil Palace in particular, they had to prepare more food than could possibly be eaten by the high-ranking nobles, which meant even commoners like them got to eat the finest desserts they never would have an opportunity to eat otherwise.
“I bet the maids are going to go for the desserts first,” the younger guard said.
“Perhaps. But don’t worry. Since it’ll only be the noble children attending the afternoon party, it’ll basically be a bunch of desserts, though no alcohol.”
“Sounds great. Thank the Goddess for that.” The young soldier gave his thanks to the Goddess, just as a pious citizen of Talitelud who would be bringing home desserts for his children should.
“Hey, quit slacking,” someone barked from behind.
Both men immediately straightened their postures. “Y-yes, sir!”
Е̊ ñ u ḿ а. īd̃
The man addressing them was a young knight whom they did not recognize. While these guards had been specially posted at Keil Palace, they must have brought in additional help since they were shorthanded.
The blond knight shot a crooked smile their way as he reached into a basket, which was a most unbefitting accessory for a knight. From it, he pulled out a plate of meat and a small bottle of fruit wine. “The captain said that the guards should treat themselves too.”
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“R-really?”
“It’s a celebration today. It’s not much, but even the Goddess herself would allow this.”
“Thank you, sir!”
The guards didn’t question a thing, being that it was a celebration and the knight said the Goddess would allow it. Their expressions brightened and the young knight gave them a charming smile before he left.
Wе b̌ n о vе̌ l̊ Е̃ n um̃ a
The people of the royal capital enjoyed such peace that being suspicious of others’ motives never even occurred to them. Meanwhile, in the shadows, villains were quietly proceeding with their plans to destroy that peace.
The blond knight gave out the same food and drink at various stops, making his way toward a certain place within the estate’s grounds: the location where outsiders would make their deliveries. As the majority of the guards and knights were guarding the party’s venue, the corridor was completely empty.
The guards and knights who were standing guard at the party couldn’t have possibly recognized everyone in such a large crowd. However…
A middle-aged knight who looked to be in charge happened to be passing by with a young knight who was carrying documents. The older man stopped to call out to the blond knight. “What are you doing here?”
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The young knight calmly turned to face them. “I was patrolling this area.”
“I’m fairly certain that my subordinates were assigned to this location. Not to be rude, but I’m going to have to ask you for your full name and post.”
Е.n uḿ а̂
The man’s somewhat suspicious tone made the young knight faintly snicker.
“Yes, sir. My name is…” In the blink of an eye, the young knight sliced the older knight’s head cleanly off. “Zumana. Now, if you would excuse me.”
“Eek!” The other knight gasped at the sight of the blond man murdering his boss. He tossed his papers aside and drew the sword hanging at his waist.
Zumana noticed that the knight’s blade did not falter at all despite the mayhem, so he pointed a finger at him and unleashed a spell: “Lightning.”
There was a flash of light and an audible crack as the knight was hit. Black smoke rose from the knight’s mouth as his silent corpse crumpled to the ground.
“I suppose this means it’s time for us to begin, then.” Zumana tore off the blond wig and ran toward the venue.
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***
“Ugh…” Something suddenly surged up inside of me. I clapped both hands over my mouth and cast my head down.
“Yul?”
“Lady Yul?!”
“Are you okay, Yul? Does your tummy-tum hurt?!”
Lady Elea, who was still holding me, and Shelly—since she wouldn’t stop staring at me for some reason—were the first ones to notice and cry out. Betty, the unfortunate pretty girl with black hair, then tried to rise but instead slid off the sofa.
Еnu m̌ а̃.ï d́
What the heck was happening to me? It was like something in my stomach was protesting and all of the blood in my body was boiling. What was this feeling?
“Do you feel sick?” Even the self-absorbed Rick looked worried about me, so I must have looked pretty bad.
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That was when Lady Elea suddenly looked up and muttered, sounding somewhat grim, “Is that blood I smell?”
She was right. I could smell blood.
The sweet smell of human blood was flowing into me along with pain and despair.
“Lady Eleanor!” A lady-in-waiting was suddenly right next to us, whispering in Lady Elea’s ear. I couldn’t hear what she said, but I could faintly make out Lady Elea’s murmurs.
Е nùm̈а
“Guards…poisoned?”
Bam!
The huge doors to the venue flung wide open. Knights and servants hiding their faces with black cloths came streaming into the great hall, heavily armed.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” the children and maids screamed. Of course they were scared; there were dozens of people with weapons at the ready to intimidate them. Even someone as lower-middle-class as myself could understand this situation.
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One of the terrorists stepped forward to make their demands. “Quiet, all of you! We’ve taken control of Keil Palace, and the children are going to be coming with us.” He sounded young.
Yep—this was a full-fledged terrorist attack. They were doing something criminal in the name of something greater. This might have been a ransom scheme, but I felt that they must have had a much more complex motivation than that to go out of their way to do this in the heart of the royal capital—in broad daylight, no less.
W̊ е b_n о v ѐl̇ Ѐṅu̇ ḿ а
“How dare you!” Lady Elea set me down on the sofa and conjured a ball of fire at crazy speed. It looked like she had used the usual kind of fire spellcraft to make it and put a lot of oomph behind it.
However, she didn’t release the fireball.
“You wouldn’t want to hurt the children with that kind of spell.” One of the men grabbed two of the terrified and sobbing children to use them as a shield.
“Ugh…” Lady Elea ground her teeth but didn’t extinguish the ball of the fire as she glared at the man.
This was not good. At a glance, it looked like they were in a deadlock, but the kids would surely die if Lady Elea took action. Even if she didn’t fire any spells at them, the terrorists would likely kill the kids in retaliation.
The solution to this situation would be to throw the fireball despite knowing that the kids would get caught in it. However, I didn’t think Lady Elea was capable of that, considering how much she loved children.
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Moreover, the longer this situation continued, the more likely someone would start to panic, leading to them getting themselves killed as a warning to the rest of us. All of the kids who had been captured—even Rick—looked pale and about to reach their limits.
The reason they hadn’t started completely panicking yet was likely because Lady Elea looked like she was trying to protect them and she was an adult. If Lady Elea extinguished the ball of fire, the children would break. This was why the butlers and maids couldn’t act either—they understood.
But didn’t that mean we had already lost?
It didn’t look like there was anything that could be done, but I had a moment to think while the terrorists still assumed they had the upper hand…
I wasn’t sure what their goal was, but they themselves had said that they were here to kidnap the children. As I was not even four years old yet, I couldn’t do anything to prevent that. While I had no idea when my demon powers would return, I knew full well that the world wasn’t so kind as to let me suddenly recover them now. Not that I could use them in front of such a large crowd even if I did have them back.
Which meant that the only way to break the current deadlock was to let them succeed in their goal. Then the question that remained was how much that would decrease our chances of being injured.
Е ňum̃ ӑ
Their most likely target was Rick. He looked like a son from a really good family, despite his personality. Betty also seemed like a noble’s daughter, but it only made sense to attack such a heavily guarded place like this in the daytime if Rick was their target.
Personally, I believed that the best idea would have been to just hand Rick over and let them leave. However, I didn’t think that would go over well with anybody. Considering how far the terrorists had gone already, they’d probably want to take as many kids as possible, though too many hostages would hinder their escape. It was likely there were more terrorists in their group than the ones we could see, but from the looks of it, they could probably grab five of us max.
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Assuming that abducting three of us would satisfy them, likely the biggest problem then would be the people left behind. From the point of view of a terrorist, there was no point in leaving anyone here alive once they had the hostages—and letting an adult live would be an especially bad idea.
Kids were annoying, but there was a possibility that the terrorists wouldn’t kill all of them. But while going with them would be dangerous, staying behind also had its dangers. What an annoying situation to be in.
Uuugh, this was all so annoying!
Lady Elea was Mother’s friend and she smelled nice. Shelly was cute. Betty was funny. Lady Elea would probably be sad if Rick died, and it wasn’t like he was a bad kid or anything. Argh!
Е ńu̇ ḿ а_
Even though I was a devil, my head was a jumble because of these human emotions!
Ugh, this sucks, but I guess I have no choice.
And this wasn’t even my character type either…
“Lady Elea, put down your hand,” I said as calmly and clearly as possible as I touched her.
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“Y-Yul?!”
I slipped my hand out of Shelly’s grasp and slid off the sofa. I walked slowly, steadily, and with the calmest expression I could muster, trying to look as arrogant as I could as I stepped out in front of everyone.
Wе bn ô v̆ е l̇ Е n̈ ǔ m̈ а̃
No one moved. They were petrified as I—the youngest child here—steadily walked forward with my uncanny appearance. The terrorists looked completely baffled as well, but showed no sign of fear.
I utilized my inhuman appearance to overpower them with a fierce gaze. “Let ebrybuddy go!”
At my declaration, the terrorists all shrank back in fear. It wasn’t because of my bad pronunciation. Not at all. Probably.
Thanks to the people at our manor, I knew that it took people time to get used to my weird looks. This was why I had to force them to do what I wanted before they recovered from their confusion. However, I was not so optimistic as to think that they would let us all go without anything in exchange. So I…
“Take me inped.”
Gasps and quiet commotion filled the air.
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It wasn’t my fault that my pronunciation was bad—I was only three years old! I gave up on speaking, smiled at the masked knight with black hair who seemed to be their leader, and slowly started walking forward so as to not startle him.
So long as nobody interrupted now, I would win once I passed through the crowd of terrorists and reached the big doors. If they let me outside, then they would just follow me without trying to capture me.
Or at least I hoped so.
If all went well, this would lead to the smallest number of injuries. I doubted the terrorists would do anything too terrible to a three-year-old. Of course, my life would still be in danger, but if I were alone, I figured I might be able to do something with the forbidden summoning of a black avalanche of cockroaches.
Though I myself might wind up hurt.
Ŵ eḃ.n̂ о v е̂ l En̂ um а̃
In any case, I could manage by myself. I was aware that it was thanks to my previous experience living a savage life as a demon that I felt no fear in this situation, but it was better than them dragging Shelly and Betty along with me.
The masked leader watched me curiously as I walked past him. I was almost there. I was just about to walk through the doors when—
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“I cannot allow Yul to shoulder this all on her own! You must take me with you!”
What? Lady Elea?!
“I’m going with Lady Yul too!”
Shelly?!
En̈ŭ m̆а̄ . і̇ d
“I-if they’re going, then I’m going too!”
Betty…
“M-me too!”
Even Rick. That sounded like it had taken whatever energy he had left just to say!
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“Very well, I shall invite you all to come with us. Heh heh. You were a big help today, my lady.” Now even the leader was grinning at me with amusement.
Ugh, how did I get myself into this mess?!
Ẅèbn ô v́ е ľ Е ǹ u̇ m̈ a
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