Chapter 48
“Do not touch Imperial Princess Titania.”
“…….”
“As of yet, I have no particular thoughts regarding Prince Brian.”
“B-Brian is, right now….”
“I am not trying to convince Your Highness the Imperial Consort. Castline has no need to do so.”
Step, step. Raymon approached and crushed the remains of a demon beast under his boot. Drip, drip. Black ichor and demon blood mixed together, staining the floor.
“So, I have no choice but to warn you.”
He spoke as if stating the most obvious fact in the world.
“…Are you doing this for such a flimsy reason as her being your fiancée and the family’s benefactor?”
The Imperial Consort struggled to remain calm. Right, it wasn’t exactly a flimsy reason.
The Castline family was… an opponent far too massive to lose over someone like Titania.
“You’ve acted as if you had no interest in the succession struggle, never paying it any mind until now. I find it difficult to understand why you are doing this all of a sudden. Is this the will of the Duchy of Castline?”
“I believe I clearly stated that you have no need to understand. I am simply delivering a sentence.”
The man who had spent more days among piles of demon corpses than in a comfortable bed spoke flatly.
“Do not touch her. You will certainly come to regret it.”
“…….”
Today’s events were, no matter who looked at it, the Imperial Consort’s defeat.
The one who had delivered a brilliant blow to her was actually Titania!
And yet Raymon had rushed here to warn her ’not to touch Titania.’ He was saying that if she sought revenge out of spite for today’s events, he would not stand by.
It was absurd.
Hadn’t the Castline family always been incredibly noble and slow to act?
Even if he was infatuated with the newly adopted daughter, it was to the point that rumors circulated saying they were more interested in demon beasts than people.
Even during the social season, they were the type who rarely entered the palace unless by the Emperor’s command…!
“A benefactor to the family…. the pretext of being a fiancé…. If you want another reason beyond those, I do not know the answer myself. However.”
Raymon Castline issued a warning with an expressionless face, driving the point home.
“I suspect that by the time Your Highness the Imperial Consort sees that answer with your own eyes, you will already be in regret.”
His voice was as level as if he were describing the path of prey he was about to slaughter.
“Are you okay?”
It was just as I was contemplating my next move and how to wrap things up after the Emperor and Imperial Consort left.
Someone who had rushed over suddenly grabbed my shoulders.
I flinched, worried I might accidentally stab him with the Emoticon Sword, but he didn’t seem to care as he brushed off my shoulders. I looked into the trembling red eyes right in front of me with a somewhat strange feeling.
“Hey, you! Why do you cause an accident like this just when I—when I happen to be far away?! And in just one day?!”
“There are still a lot of people here, Young Lord Lisianthus.”
“Does that even matter right now?!”
Lisianthus, whom I felt like I hadn’t seen in ages for some reason, thumped his chest as if his insides were burning up. I glanced around at the situation.
Most of the demon beasts that had infiltrated the Imperial Palace had been easily eliminated the moment the Emperor ordered Raymon to investigate, and almost everyone remaining here was under the influence of the Castline family.
Even so, you never know when or where words might leak out—wait, no. I see! He’s angry because it looks like I went wild here just to use the Castline family’s name. Well, Raymon’s attitude was pretty strange too.
I had very confidently told Raymon, ‘I’m going to break the engagement! I won’t be a burden! Go find the person you love and get married!’, but I did feel a bit guilty.
The Duchy had managed to keep its position while staying out of the muddy dogfight within the Imperial Family until now. It was true that I had dragged them in using the excuse of a debt.
“It matters because we agreed to deduct it from the debt!”
So what!
I decided to be bold.
As long as the result is good, it’s fine. The Castline family probably wouldn’t want to linger in an ambiguous state of having to give me things indefinitely just because I’m a ‘benefactor’ anyway. The current Duke of Castline himself is incredibly sharp at making judgments.
Lisianthus looked at my confident self with eyes that seemed twisted by something. A gaze like a fuse on a firework landed on me, as if he didn’t like something.
“With hands like kindling that have never even held a sword, what are you swinging around?! Are you crazy?!”
“Ah….”
I momentarily lost my words.
-Master! ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧ The automatic weight adjustment function is currently active. Should I reduce it further if it’s difficult?
This clueless sword….
Sensing his gaze, I gingerly rotated the wrist of the hand holding the sword. Lisianthus’s eyes danced along with my wrist as I gave the sword a little shake.
…I’ve seen this somewhere before. In my past life, when my friend’s cat watched the tip of a toy rod being shaken, its eyes looked exactly like this.
Of course, Titania’s body was essentially made of paper.
She didn’t eat much and exercise was a foreign concept to her.
Furthermore, having died and come back to life twice recently, even though I had been recuperating in the Empress’s Palace, I still felt scrawny compared to healthy people.
It was understandable for him to be suspicious if a girl who should stumble just from the weight of holding a sword was suddenly swinging it around and putting on a demon-slaying show….
“B-b-besides, you’re doing something this dangerous because you don’t know anything about demon beasts!”
Lisianthus, as if having made a decision, suddenly snatched the sword away from me while I was looking at it contemplatively. I stood there with my mouth hanging open at the unexpected situation.
“Hu-huh?!”
Zzzzzzt!
A crackle of static electricity and vibration rang out, as if he had touched an electric fence. Vrrr, vrrrrrr! Holding the protesting sword with some difficulty, Lisianthus spoke to me.
“Killing demons with the sword’s power? Even at the cost of your lifespan? Have you actually lost your mind because people keep calling you crazy?! Do you want to die?”
“…….”
…How am I supposed to tell him that what I said to the Emperor was just a lie?
The sword blade thrashed like a cat being held in a stranger’s arms and throwing a fit. I was horrified by the violent vibration that clearly looked like it was incredibly pissed off.
“Y-you’re bleeding?!”
I hadn’t realized it because the sword was snatched away so suddenly, but he was gripping the blade with his bare hand. While bright red blood trickled down, Lisianthus said in a blunt tone without letting out a single groan.
“It’ll get better if I put some spit on it.”
“Stop being crazy and let go of the sword, you lunatic! Why is someone who uses a sword treating their hand so recklessly?!”
“The crazy thing is a weakling like you swinging this sword around without even knowing what it is!”
“No, just let go! I said let go!”
It was then. A voice echoed in my head. It was the same voice from earlier that had asked if I could release the power of Horus in front of the Emperor.
[Insignia of Gloriana—Direct contact confirmed.
Owner recognition unapproved.
Contact with someone other than the ‘Contractor’ Titania confirmed.
Do you wish to summon to the Contractor’s side?]
“…Pardon?”
What is that?
[Approved]
Whooooosh!
Thump.
The next moment, the Emoticon Sword, stained bright red with Lisianthus’s blood, fell right into my arms.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
“…What is this?”
Lisianthus’s voice was unexpectedly calm. That was scarier. Like a dog that had been growling fiercely suddenly going quiet and staring at its prey right before biting out of real anger.
He looked down at his palm, where blood was still trickling out, and stared at the sword lying quietly in my arms with calm red eyes.
I shifted my eyes around nervously under the eerie pressure.
-Co-co-contractoooor! Th-th-th-that thuggish and violent man! A mere man did that to me! Waaaaaaah! ༼;´༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽!! Oh my goodness, the sorrow is real!
‘You, just be quiet for a second.’
-Contractoooor…. That’s mean….
“What kind of sword is this exactly? You picked it up? That’s a lie, right?”
“It’s not as good as , but it’s a fine sword!”
Lisianthus froze. It was as if someone had thrown cold water on his flaming anger. I smiled brightly.
“…You.”
“Where did I hear that name? I even offered up the —well, I’m borrowing it right now rather than having offered it. You use such a! Splendid sword while wielding the power of fire! And because of that sword, the p… past me even threw a fit because her fiancé danced the first dance at another woman’s debutante! It’s obvious!”
“You….”
Lisianthus’s eyes wavered.