Episode 96
"What are you trying to do?"
"P, please... Just once, just once please hold my hand."
Klana reaches out her hand toward me with a desperate expression.
Seeing her like this, the image of Klana slamming her hands on the desk until they were mutilated during the trial comes to mind.
Now that I think about it, her hands right now are just as mangled as back then. Seeing a bit of blood on the floor and railing, it seems she slammed her hands down just like during the trial.
"What is this, are you trying to throw a tantrum now that it's come to this?"
"I will. I'll throw a tantrum so... please..."
I try to respond coldly while gritting my teeth at her, but my heart wavers as she trembles and begs.
Throughout all my evil deeds so far, the only time my heart wavered like this was during the early part of the first iteration. It seems seeing her broken in the trial is having a major effect on me.
"My, what are you two doing here?"
While I was thinking and hesitating, suddenly a voice mixed with laughter came from behind me.
"...Your Highness the Princess?"
Startled, I turned around to find the 1st Princess standing behind me with a smile.
"Shall we talk for a moment?"
"...Yes."
Agreeing to her request for a private meeting, I spoke coldly while watching Klana hurriedly trying to rise from behind me.
"Wait."
"Eep."
At that, Klana, who had been trying to stand, flinched and then stopped her movement.
"...Pfft."
The 1st Princess, who had been watching this, burst into suppressed laughter and walked forward with light steps.
"So, what is this about suddenly? Didn't you say earlier that you had nothing to discuss?"
"Well, you see... After hearing her declaration of defeat with my own ears, I couldn't help but praise you."
Upon arriving at a secluded corridor, the 1st Princess began speaking to me as I maintained a composed expression.
"Frey... Actually, I didn't have high expectations. No matter how capable you are, I thought bringing down someone as fierce as Klana would be quite difficult."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, honestly I thought it would be wonderful if you could somehow interfere with Klana from the sidelines. But... pfft!"
Finding something apparently hilarious again, the 1st Princess burst into laughter once more, then casually placed her hand on my shoulder and whispered.
"To think you'd completely subdue that weed-like Klana."
With the corners of her lips raised, the 1st Princess continued.
"Watching Klana, who used to glare at me with vicious eyes every time she gave orders without knowing her place, trembling like a puppy at your commands... was truly enjoyable."
"...Thank you for the compliment."
"So, by the way... have you considered becoming mine?"
"Yes, I under... what did you just say?"
Having answered absentmindedly, I asked her to repeat herself belatedly. The 1st Princess placed her remaining hand on my shoulder as well and spoke in a low voice.
"Exactly as I said. Become mine, Frey."
"What do you mean..."
"Give me your strength so I can become Emperor."
Saying this, the 1st Princess moved slightly closer to me and spoke.
"Klana, who had recently emerged as a rising power threatening my brother, has been rapidly losing influence due to her mental instability that started a few days ago."
"Is... that so?"
"Yes, but given what she's built up until now, she still can't be ignored... But if I bring you to my side, I could easily absorb that influence, couldn't I?"
"Just for that..."
"Just? Have you forgotten what your status is?"
Lightly tapping the star-shaped brooch on my chest, the 1st Princess whispered in a low voice.
"If I bring you in, not only the Starlight family but also the Moonlight family will come rolling in. Serena is completely smitten with you, after all."
"There's no guarantee that will happen..."
"If you have Klana's gathered forces and both ducal families behind you, it would be worth challenging my brother. Am I wrong?"
As expected, the 1st Princess has quite a sharp mind.
She maintained a low posture while submitting to the 1st Prince, then moved like this the moment an opportunity presented itself.
However, her goodness value is '-90', and she's already sold her soul to the Demon King.
If not for those facts, it would have been quite a tempting proposal.
"Then... what can you offer me, Your Highness?"
"Hmm..."
At my question to the 1st Princess while having such thoughts, she narrowed her eyes and whispered.
"The position of Imperial Secretary, doesn't it tempt you?"
"What?"
"The highest position someone not of royal blood can attain."
Seeing my flustered expression at her words, she moved slightly away from me and spoke.
"Do you not like it? Then let's pretend this conversation never happened..."
"No, it's just that the sudden proposal was so unexpected."
While calculating future plans as I looked at her, the 1st Princess spoke to me in a low voice.
"Think about that later. For now, let me give you a reward for making me happy today."
"A reward?"
"Yes, I'll give you one wish voucher you can use whenever you want."
Saying this, the 1st Princess slowly turned around and spoke.
"Contact me anytime. Within what I can grant, I'll fulfill it."
"Thank you, Your Highness."
"And if the Imperial Secretary position tempts you, contact me anytime as well."
Having finished speaking, the 1st Princess quietly slipped out of the dark corridor.
'Imperial Secretary, my ass...'
Glaring at her retreating figure, I fell into thought.
'...When she'll assassinate within a year of marriage.'
The 1st Princess is someone who has hidden immense lust for power in her heart. That's why she's someone who will do anything for power.
In the previous iteration, everyone who married her died of mysterious illnesses within a year. Of course, all the dead husbands' assets and power went to the 1st Princess.
Moreover, if she becomes Emperor, it leads directly to a bad ending.
Therefore, I should just use her proposal this time to the maximum extent and...
"Hm?"
Lost in thought for a while, I felt something strange at my chest.
"Chirp..."
Wondering what it was, I reached my hand in and found the canary that had been flying around the room earlier, huddled in my chest.
"Cold?"
The canary was shivering for some reason. As I stroked it, I felt the surrounding temperature had grown cold with the coming of night and rain, and concluded it was trembling from the cold.
'Come to think of it, there was a warming spell cast on that room earlier.'
Lost in thought for a moment, I carefully cupped the canary with both hands and headed to the room where I had played with those trash friends earlier.
"You there, bring the 3rd Princess who's on the balcony to this room."
"Ah, yes!"
Arriving at the room, I gave orders to a nearby maid and entered the room where warm air circulated.
.
"The position of Imperial Secretary, doesn't it tempt you?"
".......!"
Just before Frey entered the room, Klana, who had been on the balcony until then, was horrified upon hearing the words the 1st Princess spoke aloud.
"No..."
It was truly a bolt from the blue for Klana, who had barely managed to stop her hands from trembling and recalled the canary back into Frey's clothes, secretly observing the situation.
The fact that the forces she had painstakingly built could all become for nothing, the news that rumors of her mental instability had already spread widely, and above all...
'She... reached out her hand to Frey...'
Above all, the fact that the 1st Princess had extended her hand to Frey came as a considerable shock to Klana.
This was because not only had she broken off her engagement with Frey multiple times when she was young, but the 1st Princess had never extended her hand to Frey even until the very end in the previous iteration.
"T, this isn't right... This isn't..."
But the 1st Princess extended her hand to Frey, and Frey showed a positive reaction. Because of that, Klana fell into panic far worse than before.
This was because while with Rosewin, she could somehow overturn the situation by canceling the request and other means, but with the 1st Princess, there was nothing she could do.
For Klana, who had been thinking countless thoughts to somehow diffuse the situation until just now, an irreversible event had occurred.
"Ah..."
Klana, who had been watching with a dazed expression as the 1st Princess clung to Frey and launched an affectionate offensive through the canary's vision, eventually lowered her head deeply with dead eyes.
Of course, not a single person paid attention to such strange behavior from Klana, who had been rumored to be mentally unstable recently.
"...Hah."
Klana, who had been buried in Frey's chest with dead eyes, suddenly raised her head in surprise when a warm energy enveloped her body.
"Cold?"
"M, mm..."
Then, Frey with a worried expression came into the view of Klana, who was still connected to the canary.
"Haaah..."
When Frey carefully wrapped her with both hands, Frey's touch began to be fully felt on Klana's body which had been growing cold, and she flushed red and collapsed to the floor.
"W, warm..."
But the embarrassment was brief as a pleasant warmth washed over her, causing Klana to unconsciously huddle on the floor.
"...Are you feeling a bit better now?"
"Y, yes."
Klana, who had been imprinting Frey's touch on her body for a while, ended up answering unconsciously when he asked with a worried expression.
"Chirp..."
"You look a bit better now."
Of course, the canary Frey was holding could only make bird sounds.
"Do you want to eat this?"
Whether he felt sorry for the canary that was trembling with its eyes closed in his hand, Frey smiled and offered some cookie crumbs from the desk to the canary.
Klana, who had been hesitating while watching Frey, eventually began carefully accepting and eating the cookie crumbs he offered.
"You're cute, you know that?"
Klana, who had been pecking at the cookie crumbs Frey placed on his palm like eating bird feed for a while, flushed red unconsciously when he stroked her and spoke in a low voice.
"Lady Klana."
"Kyah!?"
Just then, a maid who had received Frey's request earlier appeared behind her and whispered, causing Klana to startle and rise from her seat.
"W, what is it?"
"Um... Lord Frey is looking for you..."
"What?"
"He's waiting in that room over there..."
"Haaah..."
While the maid looked at Klana with pitying eyes and spoke in a low voice, Klana, who had been startled, began trembling intensely with a groan.
It was a disaster caused by Frey gently stroking Klana at that exact moment.
"Ah, thank you for letting me know."
Klana, who belatedly changed her expression and expressed her gratitude, walked past the maid with a dazed expression and began heading to the room she had been told about.
- Knock knock knock
"...Frey. I'm here."
Klana, who had been staggering from the warm touch continuously wrapping around her body, barely managed to arrive at the room where Frey was and knocked on the door.
- Creak...
Then the warm touch that had been continuously felt disappeared, and the door slowly opened.
"Frey, I was wrong..."
"Be quiet and come inside."
Klana, who had been about to apologize the moment she saw Frey, lowered her head deeply at his cold words and quietly entered the room.
"Frey... about what happened earlier."
"Earlier?"
"Yes, I mean when you requested reconciliation."
As Frey continued to glare at her coldly for a while, Klana, with a pale face, began speaking desperately as if grasping at straws.
"Thinking about it again, I should accept that request..."
"It's too late."
But before she could even speak for long, when Frey cut her off, Klana closed her eyes tightly and lowered her head.
"That earlier was your last chance. The desire to mend my relationship with you has now completely disappeared."
"Ah..."
"You also find me terribly disgusting, so I won't love you either. That settles it, doesn't it?"
When Frey pronounced his judgment, Klana, who had been making hollow sounds, eventually became dead-eyed.
"Instead."
Quietly looking down at Klana, Frey added briefly.
"I'll make you Emperor."
".....What?"
At that moment when Klana's golden eyes and Frey's silver eyes met, the moon and stars rose in the sky.
.
Meanwhile at that time.
"........Is this really my power from now on?"
"Can't you tell by looking? It's power on a completely different dimension from your moon mana."
A man was staring blankly at the purple aura rising from his hand.
"Thank you... truly thank you..."
"So, when will you begin?"
"I plan to carry it out... within a few hours..."
The girl with ruby-colored eyes, who had been watching the man with an interested expression, straightened her robe and whispered.
"Then, go ahead and play to your heart's content."
"Thank you..."
The man, who bowed to the girl, slowly rose from his seat as she vanished in the blink of an eye and muttered.
"Tonight... I'll take you all down."
In the man's eyes, the ballroom where the banquet was in full swing came into view.