Episode 207
It was a feeling I hadn't experienced in a very long time.
When I became the heir to the throne of the Cloud Kingdom, and when my heart was frozen by a curse, I thought I would never be able to feel such a thing again.
But while playing pranks on this boy before my eyes, I could clearly feel it.
The door of my frozen heart, opening ever so slightly.
"Loser♡ Can't even handle that?"
"W-what are you doing..."
"You're my leg rest now. Just be quiet."
While I was in the middle of provoking him, after placing my leg on Frey's knee, there was a time when I subtly rubbed my leg or wiggled my foot for a while.
"Mmph..."
"What, are you actually getting excited? You really are pathetic..."
He lowered his head and let out a moan, and as I slandered him like that, he made an expression as if he had no excuse.
He was known to the world as quite a lecherous scoundrel who chased after women, so I never expected him to show such a cute side.
Was that why?
"Boring... You, tell me a story."
"What?"
"Quickly, anything."
Did a desire to have a conversation with him suddenly sprout?
Even thinking about it now, I can't understand it, but at that time, I was filled with the thought of wanting to drink and have a conversation with Frey.
As if it were an ingrained memory. As if I had to do it.
Persistently asking him about various things over and over, while drinking with him who clearly looked weak to alcohol, we had a crazy conversation.
"...So, you're a virgin?"
"No, if you put it that way..."
"Pfft, pffthahaha! That's really funny...! You really were a loser?"
And the conversation with him.
"So, why did you, a certified virgin by the Stone of Purity, purchase my family? Didn't you say you'd use them as sex slaves?"
"...I was interested in you."
"Huh?"
"I used them as bait, to lure you out... *hic*."
Surprisingly, it was quite enjoyable.
"From what I hear, there are too many lies?"
"...I-it's true."
Of course, I didn't take his words at face value.
The Stone of Purity could be replicated as much as one wanted, and his words showed signs of falsehood, so it was only natural.
Still, at least the him I experienced in this place today was a bit far from being 'the world's greatest villain.'
At best, he was foolish and clumsy enough to fall for all my pranks, a playboy who knew how to have fun, perhaps?
Well, according to the rumors from the informants, the appearance he showed me was nothing more than a facade.
But that wasn't something I confirmed with my own eyes, and I was someone who believed what I saw before me.
"This isn't something I should say in this situation, but you're kind of pretty?"
"...Are you even hitting on a girl your age? You're a real pervert. Just die."
"I-I'm only one year older than you?"
"........."
And so, the conversation with him continued for quite a while.
At first, I had thought of him merely as a toy I could torment to my heart's content without guilt, but before I knew it, I was feeling something more than interest toward him.
It was precisely at that point that the door of my frozen heart opened ever so slightly.
'...That voice, I can't hear it.'
And at the same time, I realized.
That the voice that had wanted to drive me to ruin somehow was not being heard at all.
Had the boy before me, who somehow made me feel strange emotions, brought out this bizarre experience I had felt once before?
That was why, after talking with him for a while, the conclusion I ultimately reached was that I wanted to form a more lasting relationship with the boy before me.
Why my emotions, which had been frozen since childhood, were feeling such inexplicable, strange emotions toward him.
And because I wanted to know why that damned voice didn't come to me when I was talking with him.
"Ugh, uuu..."
"Does it hurt a lot? You're really weak..."
So, I tried to withdraw the curse.
When I first transferred the curse to him, I really intended to kill him, but now my heart had melted much more compared to then.
Of course, the grudge still remained, and rumors circulated that he belonged to the Demon King's army.
That was why I decided to deceive him into thinking the curse remained as a deterrent, while secretly trying to retrieve it.
But.
I failed spectacularly.
I clearly tried to recall the ice bird inside his body, but for some reason, the bird didn't budge.
Rather, only his pain was amplified.
As I was sweating cold sweat at this incomprehensible sudden situation and continuing to try to retrieve the curse, he slowly opened his mouth.
"C-cold..."
Then his pale, drained face came into my view. Did I go too far? When I was playing pranks earlier, did I fail to control the temperature?
"W-wait a moment."
I hurriedly try to withdraw the freezing magic. It was a prank, but since I had a grudge against him, I had raised the intensity a bit, and that seems to have been the cause of the trouble.
"Ugh..."
As the temperature inside the cafe returned to normal, he slowly raised his head.
"I'm a bit better now."
He whispered with a weary smile.
"W-wait... just wait a..."
"I... need to go now."
I tried to stop him, but he was making a tired expression and preparing to leave.
"That proposal from earlier... I'll accept it."
Frey, who had been doing that, quietly looked at me and spoke.
"You can really fix my curse, right?"
"Huh? Y-yeah..."
"Alright, then I'll become your toy whenever you want."
I opened my eyes wide at those words.
"That voi... no, I've also developed a personal interest in you..."
He smiled at me and finished speaking.
"...Because talking with you was quite enjoyable."
He stood up unsteadily from his seat.
*Creak...*
With trembling hands, leaning on a cane that didn't suit a boy of his age at all.
*Step, step.*
Watching him walk so painfully toward the exit, what I felt momentarily was...
Pity? Or something else?
"Well, goodbye... lo..."
*Thud...!*
"...Frey."
And so he left the cafe, and I, left alone in the cafe, quietly gathered my hands at my chest.
*Hup...!*
Then, closing my eyes, I recalled the time when I pulled out the bird that had settled in my chest at the slave market.
With more concentration than ever before, I began to operate my magic circuits.
*Hah... hah...*
But the ice bird did not return.
.
"T-this isn't right..."
The mischievous princess who had been making leisurely expressions and playful smiles while dealing with Frey just moments ago had vanished somewhere.
"This shouldn't be happening..."
Instead, a princess with an expression full of fear, soaked in sweat and forcing mana to operate, was just sitting in the cafe.
"Why isn't it being retrieved... Why on earth... Wait."
After sweating cold sweat for a while, she stopped the spell and began to recall the past.
"T-that time... that voice..."
The conversation she had with the damned voice when she tried to temporarily transfer the curse to Frey during the slave market raid incident.
"This curse is one that I can take back whenever I want."
*- That curse is one that, once transferred, can never be taken back, though.*
"Nonsense."
At that time, she had naturally dismissed it as nonsense.
Because the voice that had echoed in her head since childhood had never once spoken the 'truth.'
And because the kingdom's sage who taught her how to bring the curse outside had told her that the curse could be retrieved at any time.
"T-that can't be. Surely, that lo... loser is just too weak. Once his condition improves, I'll be able to pull it out right away. Yeah, that's obvious."
Because of that, Aishi, who was slowly biting her fingernails and muttering like that...
"Your Highness, excuse me, but why do you meet with that person?"
The attendant who had stepped away for a moment approached her side with a deeply furrowed brow, and she turned her gaze to him.
"His reputation is the worst, and he's the worst as a potential bridegroom. Do you not know that he's on limited time?"
"What?"
And Aishi, who heard his words...
"He was originally sickly since childhood, but after suddenly collapsing the day after the slave market raid incident, his condition has reportedly deteriorated rapidly."
"Ah..."
At the sudden anxiety and dizziness that washed over her, she couldn't help but close her eyes tightly without realizing it.
"I don't know why his condition deteriorated like that, but anyway, according to the intelligence you requested, Your Highness..."
The attendant, who was looking at her with a puzzled expression...
"He'll only live for about 1-2 years at most."
He quietly drove in the wedge.
"......"
Thanks to that, the princess, who had been dazed for a moment...
"So, please stop paying attention to such a fellow..."
"Contact the royal court mages. And that sage too."
She urgently gave orders to the attendant.
"Pardon?"
"Quickly!!!"
Before long, after hurrying the attendant who was making a bewildered expression, she urgently rose from her seat.
*- You didn't believe it until the end, serves you right.*
For some reason, the evil voice that had been quiet for a while threw words mixed with sneering mockery, and she froze right there.
"........."
"Y-Your Highness?"
Even after quite some time had passed since then, she just stood there dazed like a stone statue.
.
"C-cold..."
After leaving the cafe and walking a few steps, Frey wrapped his arms around himself and muttered.
"Ugh..."
For some reason, even though he had separated from Aishi, he was trembling from deep cold.
"F-Frey?"
"Master?"
As Frey, who had been trembling from the cold for a while, barely managed to enter the carriage, Irina and Lulu, who had been waiting for Frey with craning necks, opened their eyes wide.
"Y-you met with Aishi, didn't you? You idiot! I told you not to do that!"
"S-sorry... But I couldn't help it..."
"Idiot! Idiot, idiot!"
Irina, who was looking at Frey stamping his feet and emitting a cold energy from his entire body...
"Since it's come to this, I need to quickly use healing magic..."
She raised her hand and muttered...
"..........."
Suddenly stopped speaking and stared intently at Frey.
"I-Irina? Why suddenly..."
At Irina's somehow strange gaze, Frey started to make a flustered expression.
"Huh? Uh...?"
Irina rushed at such a Frey and began to remove his coat.
"W-what are you doing?"
"...What are you doing?"
"........"
Frey, who was surprised by such actions, and Lulu, whose eyes had turned cold, asked questions, but Irina, who had already removed his coat and thrown it somewhere, continued to strip Frey's clothes.
"Ugh, uuu..."
"Growl... N-no... I'm asking what you're doing right now!"
After a while, when Frey's bare skin started to be revealed, Lulu, who was startled, began to try to stop her.
"...Kuu."
An owl that flew from somewhere began to look coldly at Irina.
"This is absolutely necessary for curse healing. Don't interfere."
"Hiek?"
"Ku, kuu?"
Irina, who unknowingly emitted an inexplicable aura and instantly overwhelmed Lulu and the owl...
"...This isn't a lovers' quarrel but a 'medical procedure.' One that's directly connected to Frey's life. So it doesn't count."
She whispered, timidly looking into the owl's eyes.
"I-Irina... I'm cold..."
And Irina, who looked down again at Frey, who was trembling violently while looking at her.
*Thud...!*
After a moment, something fell from under the cloak she was wearing.
""......!""
Seeing that, Frey and Lulu opened their eyes wide.
Because Irina's top was rolling on the carriage floor.
*Thud...!*
"Irina? What on earth is this...?"
Before long, when even Irina's bottom clothes were rolling on the carriage floor, Frey, who had urgently asked a question...
"I have to directly melt the fragments of the ice bird embedded in every corner of your body."
Irina, with a shy expression, slightly opened her cloak to show herself and began to speak while avoiding his gaze, and he started to make a dazed expression.
"I can't exactly light a fire in your body, and using normal healing magic would take too long."
Irina, who swallowed dry saliva while looking at such a Frey...
"So come inside here, Frey."
She began to mutter, using magic to make her body hot.
"I need to precisely manipulate the cold energy mixed in your body. That's why as much surface area as possible needs to be in contact..."
Like that, Irina, who had been explaining about the act for a while...
"...Alright."
She quietly finished speaking while looking at Frey, whose face had turned red.
"I'll melt you, Frey."
"......."
"Come inside quickly."
After a moment, Irina's cloak completely swallowed Frey.
"Ugh..."
Frey's bare skin touched hers, and his sickly and frail body slipped into her voluptuous embrace.
"Hahhh..."
Like that, for a while, Irina kept her eyes tightly closed and let out a moan while fully feeling Frey's movements as he clung to her body.
"L-let me help too..."
"No, precise mana control is needed. If even one thing goes wrong, it'll be a big problem."
After pushing Lulu, who was urgently clinging to her, to the side.
*Slide...*
She pushed Frey's head, which was sticking out above the cloak, completely inside the cloak with both hands.
"Rest comfortably, Frey..."
She closed her eyes gently and leaned against the carriage seat, whispering like that.
"...Please remember this moment happily."
Frey's heartbeat, completely swallowed by Irina's cloak, was being transmitted directly to her chest.