Episode 220
"Excuse me? How long are you planning to sleep?"
"...Mmm."
A sweet voice reaches me through my hazy consciousness.
"Ugh..."
My eyes hurt from the brightness, so I cover them with my arm as I sit up in bed, feeling a searing pain in my heart. It seems my physical condition is in a terrible state.
Given that the only way to improve my condition is the "Star's Blessing," and that depends on my total life force, this was somewhat inevitable.
The one fortunate thing is that the pain has lessened somewhat compared to before. Perhaps that earlier situation was only temporary?
"Excuse me."
Still groggy from just waking up, I force my heavy brain to work as I sink into thought, but the voice reaches me once more.
"...Hah?"
I turn my head toward the source, and a rather familiar face comes into view.
'Damn it.'
The face of the woman I hate as much as the Demon King, whose name I don't even want to utter.
"It seems you've come to your senses?"
"........"
The fact that this woman has appeared means the operation against me has begun in earnest.
I had been spending quite happy days these past few weeks, but it seems that's over now.
I should have enjoyed myself a bit more. I didn't know she would move this quickly.
"Do you remember the promise from back then?"
As I sit on the bed with a furrowed brow, lost in thought, she whispers with an alluring smile.
"About joining hands with me."
"What?"
"The alliance proposal."
Hearing those words, a memory surfaces in my mind.
On my birthday during the first semester break, after I had declared defeat due to the influence of the second trial, she had looked satisfied seeing Clana trembling in fear.
She had extended her hand to me with the same enchanting smile she wears now.
"What did I say back then~?"
"You told me to become yours, to lend you power so you could become Emperor, and promised me the position of Imperial Chancellor. I believe you also explained why recruiting me would be quite advantageous."
"You remember remarkably well?"
I answered in detail because I was sick of her questioning style when she already knew everything, and she raises her eyes as she responds.
"However, Frey."
And then, her reaction changed.
"...If you do this, the story changes, doesn't it?"
Erasing the kind smile and expression she shows to the public, and the alluring and beautiful appearance she shows to me.
"Isn't that right?"
"Ugh..."
Scoffing, annoyance, disgust, desire to dominate, superiority.
She grabs my chin with a twisted smile filled with all those emotions.
"What... do I look like now?"
"........."
"Why so quiet?"
With my chin held by her, I quietly gaze into her golden eyes.
"I... apologize."
I speak in a low voice.
"Pfft."
Then, she suddenly bursts into laughter.
"At least you have some sense? Or have you finally understood your place?"
She then slowly pushes me down onto the bed where I was sitting.
"You're already finished, Frey. Politically and socially."
She whispers in my ear.
"You're no longer that impressive young lord from before. Just a weak, sickly fallen noble, nothing more."
Saying that, she undoes the tightly bound curtains of the room in an instant.
"Now, look."
"........"
Revealed before me, the guards densely packed around the mansion. Seeing that sight, reminiscent of a swarm of ants, my heart starts pounding for some reason.
"Hmm... I see. Your heart races just from looking at it?"
As I stare blankly out the window with a dazed expression, she places her hand on my chest and smiles coldly.
"Of course, with the curtains tied shut like this... and soundproofing magic cast, you must have been exhausted from things like this already."
Honestly speaking, her appearance in that moment was incredibly beautiful. She was, after all, one of the most beautiful women in the Empire, having inherited her mother's looks.
"...Ugh."
But why does such intense disgust surge up when that beautiful face is wearing such a beautiful smile?
"...Hah."
I fail to control my expression without realizing it, and she tightens her grip on my chin.
"Frey, just admit it. You're no longer the promising scoundrel from the past. You're just a has-been rotting away in a corner room."
Then she slightly relaxes her grip and casually sits on the edge of my bed.
"Still don't understand your position?"
Soon she reaches out to me and.
"...Hng."
Very slowly, grips my throat.
"Put simply, right now I could strangle you to death like this."
"Khck."
"No one would mourn, no one would comfort you. Officially, it would be known to the world as death by illness. The Imperial newspapers have long since submitted to the Imperial family."
As oxygen to my brain is cut off, my consciousness blurs. At the same time, I start feeling bubbles bursting in my head.
"Ugh..."
The impulse to rise and subdue her wells up, but I bite my lip hard and endure.
Things cannot go wrong here. Now is the time to simply endure.
"See... I'm trying to take your life, yet no one comes to help you."
I sense Lulu's presence outside the door. She must have seen the situation with her Magic Eye and couldn't bear it anymore.
"Kheck... keck..."
"Struggling so pathetically? Funny... like a disgusting bug. It's almost a waste that only I get to see this."
I desperately shake my head to send a message to Lulu, who must be watching me. The Demon King is enough. I cannot let her make an enemy of the Imperial family as well.
"Hmm... should I just kill you? You're starting to annoy me."
"...Hng."
Having barely stopped Lulu at the doorway, she was now strangling my throat with both hands, putting her full weight into it.
"Ah........"
Just as my mind was turning completely white.
"...Tsk."
She clicks her tongue and releases her grip on my throat.
"Puhah... haaah... haa..."
The next moment, fresh air begins rushing into my nose and mouth.
"Disgusting. Vile. I want to strangle you to death. I really hate you..."
I quickly exhale, having been on the verge of suffocation, and she denounces me with eyes full of disgust.
"...Do you want to live? Frey?"
Then, looking at me drooling, she asks.
"If you want to live, follow my commands."
She then takes a handkerchief from her bosom and begins wiping her hand carefully as she speaks.
"Just become my puppet for a while."
Seeing her say exactly what I predicted, word for word, I nearly burst out laughing but barely maintain my reason and put on a dazed look.
"That promise from before is null and void. You're useless now."
"......."
"Chancellor? Don't even dream of it. The thought of being intimate with you disgusts me. I have no interest in men who are politically finished."
She's spouting lines that don't deviate from my expectations in the slightest. I wish she'd just finish quickly and leave. I desperately need rest right now...
"Why? Did you not expect this? Of course you didn't. You think you're the best, after all."
But that doesn't seem likely. Seeing my expression, she guessed and started rambling on her own.
"Honestly speaking, you were handsome. Perfect for keeping by my side. The princes from neighboring countries are all unimpressive, you see. Even a fake husband should match my appearance, shouldn't he?"
"........"
"But you're too pathetic. And you keep acting up. And you kept hitting on me several times, didn't you? I wanted to strangle you or humiliate you... to think such a good opportunity would arise."
When I fall silent at those words.
"The Starlight and Moonlight families are still following along. It wasn't easy giving up that merit... but you made me give it up. Congratulations."
She crosses her legs and continues.
"...Still, I want to see your downfall."
"What do you mean... urgh!"
When I inadvertently spoke those words.
"How insolent. Please understand your place already..."
"I'm sorry... I was wrong..."
She drives her fist into my stomach and whispers with a cold expression.
"I want to see the man who thought himself so superior thoroughly fall to rock bottom, ruined like this, broken, and dying."
"Ugh..."
"Looking at your broken, dead eyes, playing with you for a while, giving you hope, then discarding you—that's my wish."
Saying that, she pulls her fist from my stomach with an unpleasant expression and.
"Anyway, time to become my puppet, isn't it?"
She takes my hand and pulls me up from the bed.
"Announce to the reporters gathered at the mansion that you've sworn loyalty to me. At the same time, create a somewhat intimate atmosphere. It's a kind of scandal."
"A scandal...?"
"There's an incident that needs to be covered up. And after that, move your residence to the Imperial Palace."
"......."
Saying that, her eyes sparkle.
"I already know Clana likes you. If I act like I've taken you in, she'll throw a fit, won't she?"
"......"
"Put on a show of affection whenever she's around. Cross the line a bit. That would be really entertaining. Right?"
"That's..."
"...You're not planning to refuse, are you?"
Naturally I want to refuse, but this event cannot be avoided. I must be violated by her for the remainder of the break.
That's the only way to provide the catalyst for Clana's awakening.
To make her Emperor, and to kill the Demon King, her awakening is essential, so there's no choice.
"Do you dislike it?"
Of course I dislike it. I detest it terribly.
Despite that beautiful appearance, she's a villain, not a heroine, and if following the standard route, she becomes the final boss of the third-year scenario—why would I want to become her puppet?
Of course, I'm on the route of the Enemy of Evil, so perhaps I won't make it to the third year, but regardless, I hate what I hate.
The reason I didn't tell the heroines in the first place was because this was an essential event, and I intended to handle it quietly without them knowing.
To think she would come all the way to my house.
"...I pledge my loyalty."
"Good."
As I close my eyes tightly and say those words, she leads me with an ecstatic smile.
"...Tch."
Seeing her like that, my heart darkens involuntarily.
What Rafael is aiming for with me is the 'gaslighting effect.' She intends to erode and erode my pride to make me dependent on her.
I know that full well, which is why she looks repulsive, but what can I do?
"Are you not coming?"
For the time being, I have no choice but to grit my teeth and endure.
.
"M-master..."
"......."
Rafael, stepping out of Frey's room, discovers Lulu and Miho standing right in front of the door and tilts her head.
- Huff, huff, huff...
Lulu, tears streaming from her eyes, was frantically scratching her arm with her fingernails, where the Brand of Misfortune still faintly remained.
"It's because of me... because of me... me..."
"Lulu."
Frey grabs her arm with a gentle smile.
"I'll be back for a bit."
"W-wuu..."
"Watch over the house well."
Saying that, Frey is led away by Rafael's hand, leaving the corridor behind.
"No..."
"Pfft, pffthhh..."
Glancing back at Lulu, who was collapsing as if she had lost everything, Rafael begins stifling her laughter.
'Finally... I finally have Frey in my hands...'
Soon, in contrast to the disgusted look she had given him earlier, she mutters to herself with an excited expression.
'Ever since that day I wanted to have you somehow... to think such an opportunity would arise...'
"Ugh..."
"Hah, walk faster. Useless trash."
"...Yes."
"Really, a useless bastard."
She glares at Frey, who has stopped in place clutching his chest, and denounces him before muttering to herself once more.
'Don't make that expression, Frey... this is saving you.'
In Rafael's heart, she was a hero.
'Anyway, the whole world will hate you and try to kill you, so from now on, look only at me.'
Of course, to anyone, she was a quite twisted hero.
'Of course, to do that, I'll need to train you well, won't I?'
Thus, feeling the greatest happiness of her life, she exits the mansion.
"...Hmm?"
Then she frowns and tilts her head in confusion.
"What is this? You all?"
Her personal guards were in a tense standoff with the Imperial guards.
"What is the meaning of this..."
Filled with thoughts of quickly taking Frey, now in her hands, to her room, she was about to lash out in anger.
- Kugugugugu...!
"Hwah?"
But then the sky and earth trembled, and a massive wave of energy surged forth, causing her to step back involuntarily.
"Ugh, uuu..."
And the same was true for everyone else.
- Gooooo...
Swept away along with the others by the dominating aura that instilled indescribable fear and awe, as if standing before a tiger or a dragon.
"...Hah?"
Rafael's eyes went wide at the figure who suddenly appeared between the parted guards.
"Huh?"
And the same was true for Frey, who had been wearing a dazed expression until that moment.
"...Clana?"
Emerging from between the guards. For some reason, Clana, having completed her awakening, was blocking their path with a fearsome expression.
- Fwoosh...!
A handkerchief flew into Rafael's face the very next moment.