In my life, all I’ve had with the opposite gender is a little neck grabbing.
Suddenly, I got a cheek kiss while sleeping.
Sleeping Eliya invaded my sanctuary.
Feeling some primal fear of an unknown origin, I turned my head.
Eliya’s sleeping face was getting closer.
‘Nooooo-!’
Screaming in my head, I hurriedly restored my head to its original position.
Eliya’s lips touched my cheek.
Fortunately, I managed to protect the purity of my lips.
‘W, what is this…!’
I looked at Eliya again.
Being cautious lest the same thing might happen.
Fortunately, this time, she was calm.
‘Y, you…! I’m going to scold you! Huh? You may be my master, but I will scold you anyway…! You think I can’t do it? I can!’
Unlike me, Eliya was very composed.
She slept soundly as if the world had no problems or hardships.
Oblivious to others’ feelings.
‘Haa… what on earth…’
I wanted to sigh deeply, but I couldn’t for fear of waking her.
In the end, I only swallowed it down.
‘…Really.’
Suddenly, a similar feeling of either emptiness or humor flooded in.
I quietly chuckled.
‘I go through all kinds of things in my life…’
Kissing? From Eliya of all people?
If someone had told me that before I possessed this body, I would’ve outright ignored them.
There’s a limit to nonsense.
‘What kind of dream are you having?’
Eliya sleeps with a smile, unlike usual.
Moreover, it was an unfamiliar kiss for Eliya.
She must be dreaming something pleasant that got translated into reality.
Kissing someone means it’s a good dream, right?
I know nothing about Eliya.
Who could make Eliya smile like this?
Thinking back on her sleep talking, the most likely candidate might be her mother.
I don’t even know her name.
“Hi… hee…”
Eliya giggled like a child.
She hesitantly clung to me.
‘That’s not good for your health, you know.’
Experiencing a mishap at dawn, wondering how many sighs I untook.
I just held Eliya.
Just like before.
She happily rubbed her face against me and smiled again.
‘Don’t laugh. I’m going to get attached.’
Why do I end up getting strangled by this girl?
Did I do something wrong to Eliya?
Or perhaps…
Maybe, just maybe…
Is the tragedy already passing by unnoticed?
‘Although that time hasn’t come, it might not happen due to some change in our relationship…’
I held Eliya.
Not out of obligation, but simply because I wanted to.
The small warmth snuggled up to me.
A pleasant scent wafting from her soft hair.
Strange.
No, it was strange before, but now it feels familiar.
Comfortable.
‘As long as it’s not a tragedy, I…’
I closed my eyes quietly.
What will become of us?
*
Anemone in a cage.
Eliya hugged her knees and gazed at the flower.
She just enjoyed seeing it, watching it quietly all day.
Just by looking, a smile bloomed on her face.
“It’s beautiful.”
The fireflies that had gone outside returned.
Flying in, they left a faint ivory hue in the emptiness.
The little one dropped a few leaves outside the cage today too.
Eliya cheerfully reached her hand out.
As if it were natural, a firefly settled in her hand.
Feeling good, Eliya walked with a bounce in her step.
In the cage where quite a few leaves had disappeared.
A space to dance emerged.
The ivory light of the firefly sitting on her hand sparkled like a ring’s gem.
“Thank you.”
When Eliya said thank you, the firefly fluttered its wings in response.
She sat in front of Anemone again.
The firefly would sit in her hand occasionally, but also on Anemone’s petals.
Anything was fine.
But suddenly, a shadow loomed.
The cage’s bars cast a striped shadow on the ground.
“Huh?”
The emergence of a shadow meant there was light.
Eliya looked up.
On the other side of the cage.
A huge light shining brightly.
It was the moon.
The full moon.
The moon’s shape, divided by the bars of the cage, looked like a sliced cake.
“Wow.”
Eliya exclaimed in pure awe.
The world of the cage, hanging in the dark.
Light has appeared outside.
The round moon provided light.
Anemone, soaked in moonlight, glowed brilliantly and bloomed even further.
Eliya smiled even brighter.
The moon, which seemed like it would last forever, had come.
*
“Hmmm…”
I struggled to open my eyes.
Heavy eyelids wouldn’t budge easily.
I couldn’t sleep properly because Eliya was lying on my arm.
This girl is on my cheek… No, don’t think about it.
‘It’s going to be so tough after morning training…’
Since Anna isn’t waking me, it doesn’t seem like it’s time to get up.
‘…But it feels like there’s someone here?’
I blinked my eyes that had barely opened.
In a softly lit room beyond the curtains.
Someone’s blurry figure becomes clearer.
‘Ria…?’
It was Ria, Eliya’s dedicated maid.
She was quietly gazing down at Eliya.
Not waking her, just quietly.
‘…I didn’t know she could make that kind of expression?’
Ria, who usually has a very cold demeanor, didn’t reveal her true feelings either, as I had almost never interacted with her before.
Anyway, she had a rather chilly atmosphere.
Yet, the expression she wore while looking at Eliya was…
“…”
Oh. Our eyes met.
Her expression changed instantly.
To her usual coldness.
‘What was that face just now… did I imagine it?’
Since she wasn’t waking her, I figured I could sleep a bit longer.
The fatigue overwhelmed me, so I just closed my eyes.
Then, Eliya burrowed into my arms, mumbling.
‘Go ahead… snuggle in…’
I let her do as she pleased.
“Lady Eliya, it’s time to get up.”
Ria suddenly yanked the curtains open.
Blinding light poured into the room.
‘Ugh… my eyes hurt…’
Even when I closed my eyes, the light kept irritating me.
“Uhh…”
Unlike me, defeated by the light like a vampire, Eliya immediately sat up.
She stretched her arms high above her head with a big yawn.
“Aaaaah…”
‘She’s so cute from the morning…’
Eliya groped around for the bed with her swollen eyes.
I handed her the cat plush I’d been hugging for days.
Eliya, receiving it, smiled sleepily at me.
‘Don’t smile at me… I might get attached…’
I also struggled to get myself up.
Despite being tired, I had no other choice but to rise.
I could catch a nap after lunch.
I bowed my head slightly toward Eliya.
“Good morning.”
Now that I think about it, this is the third time.
Sleeping with Eliya.
But this is the first time I’m facing a normal morning.
The first time, Ria barged in like she was about to break the door.
The second time, an assassin showed up.
Eliya smiled brightly and said.
“Yeah. You?”
“Thanks to you…”
Thanks to you, I couldn’t sleep.
But I decided not to say it.
Ria helped Eliya adjust her clothes.
I just sat there, dazed, watching the two of them.
‘Now that I see, they’re a little… alike…’
Eliya wandered over toward the window.
A place flooded with dazzling sunlight.
Where the pot I got from Eliya was.
Looking down at the pot, Eliya gasped.
“…Huh!”
What happened?
Even before I could confirm, Eliya disappeared.
“Lady?”
As Ria called to her, Eliya reappeared.
Looking as though she’d teleported somewhere.
In her hands was a pot.
She placed the pot Eliya brought down next to mine.
“Come here!”
She spoke like a happy little bird.
I hurriedly got up to join her.
The pots sitting side by side.
On them…
“A sprout!”
A little green sprout had emerged.
Eliya smiled at me.
The sunlight streaming through the window illuminated her face.
Her bright smile was blinding.
The innocence of her delight at a mere sprout emerging—how that wasn’t the Eliya I knew.
She looked nothing like the Eliya I was familiar with.
I just stared at that figure, dumbfounded.
Though she wasn’t the Eliya I recognized, it was such a perfect smile for her.
“Well, it seems so.”
Eventually, I couldn’t help but smile back at her.
Eliya, seeing my smile, widened her eyes in amazement.
“You’ve smiled at me like this for the first time.”
I touched my face, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Did I?
It certainly felt that way since I was always nervous and flustered around Eliya.
“It looks nice.”
“……”
Eliya smiled again at my words.
I smiled back at her again.
Her melting laughter seeped into my heart.
Anemone sprouted a tiny shoot.
*
Eliya clutched a blanket and her stuffed toy tightly.
The scent she craved filled the air more richly than ever.
Oblivious to the fact that it was her body scent, Eliya hugged it.
Surrounded by comfort, she pondered.
All the things yet to come.
The internal strife of the Bevel family would intensify as a result of bringing Narcissi here.
She would have to find the assassin guild members who executed her mother.
If possible, turn that guild upside down.
And discover why the Imperial Family and the Molsin Church planted spies within her training facility.
For that, she was investigating magic concerning memories.
Once she learned magic, she wanted to help Judas recover his memories.
It was only natural for her to feel Judas was involved in her matters.
She felt at ease with that fact.
‘Perhaps…’
Just one person.
There might be a singular existence she could trust and rely on.
The weak expectations she buried away long ago began to sprout.
Eliya didn’t trample that new sprout.
Let’s watch a little longer.
After all, her fight would be a long one.
It would take a very long time, so taking a brief moment to observe would be fine.
Eliya envisioned the day when Judas would kneel before her and receive the title of knight.
By then, she would know.
Whether there were allies in the world or not.
Ria approached.
Cautiously calling out to Eliya, who was lost in thought.
“Lady, it’s time to move for the next schedule.”
“Okay.”
Eliya leisurely rose from her seat.
It was a satisfying morning.
She headed toward the underground prison.
Where Narcissi was locked up.
She must have been sufficiently tamed by now.
In a space illuminated by torches.
A ghostly woman appeared behind the iron bars.
She looked at Eliya with hollow eyes.
Disheveled blond hair and dirty clothes.
Her lips torn in places.
A pitiful figure.
There was no trace of the proud, healthy noblewoman she once was.
Eliya smiled at her.
“Good morning, Duchess.”
“Kill me… please…”
“Are you in pain?”
“Just… kill me…”
Eliya opened the barred door and stepped inside.
Clunk, clunk.
The sound of her steps pierced through.
She stopped in front of Narcissi.
Suffering from the fire of torment consuming her whole body.
She remained calm, perhaps having accepted her fate.
They say humans are animals of adaptation.
What if I reset that adaptation?
Eliya’s eyes took on a strange hue.
Her eyes glimmered golden.
With a quivering orange surrounding them.
And a red background.
The tricolor harmony symbolizing fire.
Eliya smiled menacingly.
“You’ll feel a bit better now.”
“…?”
Narcissi only tilted her head like a zombie.
In that moment.
“Ah, aah! Aah, ahhh…!”
A scream of ecstasy erupted instinctively.
Like receiving a god and the overflowing faith surging forth.
As if witnessing a miracle, her heart was filled with overwhelming emotion.
“Aaaahhhh!”
The pain vanished.
From head to toe.
From her skin down to her organs.
The burning torment, akin to fire and lava, dissipated as if washed away.
“Hah! Huh…! Kyaah…!”
Narcissi finally shed tears.
Not from sorrow or sadness.
Just overwhelmed.
Grateful that life could be this comfortable and the world this beautiful.
She worshipped Eliya, the one who invoked the miracle of tranquility.
“Aaaaaaaah…!”
Eternal bliss.
Eliya was the only master who could freely control that pain.
This meant she was Narcissi’s god.
“Duchess.”
Eliya called softly.
But Narcissi, blinded by her heavenly trust, couldn’t hear her.
With a faint sigh, Eliya withdrew the gift of eternal bliss.
“Ah, huh…?! N-no, Ahhh…!”
Soon, Narcissi writhed and screamed wildly.
The shackles held against the wall rattled with her intensity.
Eliya briefly inflicted pain before withdrawing it again.
“Ugh, huff, huh…! El, Eliya…”
Finally, Narcissi looked up at Eliya.
“Do you understand your situation now, my lady?”
“Y-yes… I understand. Truly, I deeply understand…”
“I have a few things to tell you.”
“Anything! Just say it!”
“There are many things, but first. Balak and his lot are coming to take you away.”
“……”
“Of course, they won’t take you straight away. I suspect they’ll sort it out through a trial. In that trial, your testimony will be very important.”
Narcissi rolled her eyes slowly.
Her face displayed indecision.
Should she side with Eliya or Balak’s faction?
Eliya found Narcissi’s internal struggle intriguing.
Just a moment ago, she had been acting as if she’d do anything for Eliya, but now, mentioning a reliable ally puts her in a dilemma.
Eliya decided to relieve her anguish.
“Of course, you have the right to speak freely as a victim and a witness. However… the magic of eternal bliss is only controllable by me. Thus, cooperating with me would surely benefit you.”
Narcissi instantly understood her meaning and nodded.
What was important to her now was neither family nor anything else.
If she could just be freed from that horrific torment, she’d be willing to lick Eliya’s heel.
“Then, of course!”
Eliya nonchalantly nodded.
Even witnessing the cowardice of Narcissi before her didn’t fill her with glee.
She would rather find joy in cradling Judas.
“And I want to ask one thing. Do you know if there’s a connecting point between the Grand Duke, the Molsin Church, or the Empire?”
Balak had sent Gaston and Dalant to her training facility.
And those two were, respectively, spies from the Molsin Church and the Imperial Family.
It was essential to confirm whether they were connected to Balak.
“Any meaningful and secretive connections that others wouldn’t know would be even better.”
“The Molsin Church and the Empire…?”
Narcissi hesitated as if she heard something foreign.
Eliya crossed her arms, looking disappointed.
“Just wait a moment! Give me a second…! The Empire tends to socialize and meet regularly, so it’s hard to know. But for the Molsin Church… Ah!”
“Do you recall anything?”
“Not frequently, but there was a bishop from the Molsin Church who occasionally corresponded with the Grand Duke. His name was…”
Thinking for a moment before speaking again.
Eliya waited silently for the name she wouldn’t expect to hear.
“…Angra. Yes, definitely Angra.”
“Angra…?”
Helios Imperial Family and the Molsin Church.
Balak, the Molsin Church, and Angra.
The protector of Judas, Angra.
The presumed mentor of the assassin Tredito, Angra.
The three forces surrounding her.
Eliya instinctively felt it.
‘Something is about to happen.’
*
The door to the reception room opened, and Eliya entered.
On the spacious sofa, guests were seated in a line.
Six in total.
Eliya glanced at them before sitting opposite.
None of the guests were looking at Eliya.
They watched the boy holding her hand.
It was Judas.
He looked utterly confused.
‘Why did you bring me here…!’
Eliya had suddenly said there was somewhere she needed to go, and he followed her here.
The reception room where Balak and his direct descendants had gathered.
Eliya sat side by side with Judas.
Ria stood waiting behind them.
Balak briefly glanced at Ria, and Ria lowered her eyes, avoiding his gaze.
Eliya spoke first.
“It must have been tough traveling a long way. I’m sorry to say this, but due to recent events, I couldn’t offer as warm a welcome as I would like.”
There was no intention to offer any hospitality and a wish to wrap things up quickly because they were all busy.
Such was the meaning behind her words.
Meanwhile, Judas was impressed by Eliya’s unexpectedly mild attitude.
He was also curious if this was part of her mask.
No one on the opposing side answered.
They were all looking at Judas.
As if they were seeing an unwelcome guest who shouldn’t be here.
Judas felt similarly.
He couldn’t comprehend why he had been brought here.
Eventually, Balak couldn’t hold it back any longer and spoke up.
“Why is that brat here? Get him out.”
He had already been uncomfortable enough with Eliya living under the same roof.
But now she had even brought him along by holding his hand.
It was infuriating, but he kept his annoyance in check.
Yet Eliya was not going to back down.
“That’s a matter for me to decide as the master of this mansion.”
“Eliea. Did we not agree to discuss matters concerning our family’s internal affairs? We can’t bring in an outsider.”
Judas felt like he was sitting on a pin cushion.
His discomfort dissolved upon hearing Eliya’s words.
He felt as if he had been hit on the head.
His earlier worry about being an unwelcome presence didn’t even compare to that statement.
Ria, who had been pouring tea, dropped the cup at that moment.
But the impact of Eliya’s words overshadowed everyone’s attention to the accident.
Eliya casually said, “So, shall we get engaged?”
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