Episode 97
"You'll... make me Emperor?"
When Klana asked with a bewildered expression, Frey nodded impassively.
"That's right. I'll make you Emperor."
"W-why?"
At her question, tilting her head in confusion, Frey answered with a smirk.
"Think about it. Why would I want to make you Emperor?"
"Um..."
Klana, who had been thinking over Frey's words for a moment, glanced at him nervously and answered.
"I-I don't know. Why on earth would you...?"
"Obviously, to use you."
At those words, Klana's expression went blank.
"You're well aware of the abnormality in your body, right? Why do you think it suddenly appeared?"
"Th-that's..."
"Naturally, it's because I cast a spell on you. To not even be certain of that—you're truly incompetent."
Having received Frey's cold rebuke, Klana quietly lowered her head. Watching her, Frey propped his feet on the desk and continued.
"From now on, without me, your mind will slowly crumble. Eventually you'll go completely mad, and then forget about becoming Emperor—you'll shave your head and lock yourself away in a convent."
"Mmph..."
"So you have no choice but to obey me absolutely. Understand?"
As Frey leaned in close to Klana, she nodded with a terrified expression.
"Sigh... If only you'd shown such humility from the start. Always acting so high and mighty, pretending to be so noble. No wonder no one likes you."
"I-I'm sorry..."
"Shut up. Don't cry in front of me."
When Klana forced herself to stop crying, Frey spoke with an annoyed expression.
"You can never defy me now. So just stay quiet and serve as my means of maintaining power..."
"Why did you refuse the offer from my sister?"
"What?"
Frey, who had been about to rise and leave the room, stopped at those words. Klana, watching him, began reaching out as if grasping at a final straw.
"I saw it earlier by chance. You receiving a marriage proposal from my sister."
"Impossible. There was no one there..."
Frey, who had been about to calmly refute, stopped as he recalled Canary, whom he had been carefully shielding with his hand until just moments ago.
"My sister... made a promise to you. She said she'd give you the position of Prime Minister."
Then, Klana began to speak with an increasingly hopeful expression.
"But why did you refuse that and choose to make me Emperor instead?"
As Klana finished speaking, clenching her hands tightly while looking at Frey, he gazed at her blankly for a moment before sighing.
"It's simple. You're safer."
"Safer... you say?"
"That's right. Using you, who can't even live without me, is more convenient than a venomous snake harboring poison."
Frey began thoroughly crushing Klana's last hope as he grabbed the shoulder of the dazed woman.
"Rather than the First Princess who might kill me at any moment, making you, who is essentially my puppet, into Emperor is..."
"Stop!!"
Cutting off Frey's piercing words, Klana grabbed his hand.
"Let's make up. Let's reconcile."
"I said no? That was your last chance."
"I don't like it either. Let's make up."
As she spoke, pressing Frey relentlessly, Klana's eyes were filled with chaos.
"K-Klana?"
"You won't make up with me? Frey?"
Watching her with a slightly flustered expression, Frey began backing away as Klana suddenly started emitting golden mana from her entire body.
"...What is this now?"
Something was happening.
.
"Frey... make up with me. Frey..."
"Calm down! Klana!"
Klana had lost her mind.
At first, I blamed myself, wondering if I had pushed her too hard, but when I examined her information window, that wasn't it.
[Name: Klana Solara Sunrise]
[Abilities: Strength 7 / Magic Power 7 / Intelligence 7 / Mental Strength 3]
[Special Notes: Emotional Rampage / Madman Transformation]
[Disposition: Hegemon]
[Goodness Value: 85]
I can understand why her mental strength dropped from 8.1 to 3.
If Klana is recalling memories of the ordeal as I suspected, it makes sense that her mental strength would be削减that severely.
However, the disappearance of her Sun's Protection and Ruler's Aura, and the appearance of 'Emotional Rampage' and 'Madman Transformation' phenomena—this is no ordinary matter.
The special notes in the information window don't appear from normal emotional changes; they only record changes caused by sorcery or magic.
In other words, Klana is currently going on a rampage due to an artificial force.
- Zzzzt!!
"Hehe, hehehehe..."
While I was thinking this, Klana began creating golden spears around her.
"This is insane... seriously..."
Realizing that not a single day goes properly, I urgently drew my sword from my waist and began preparing to defend against the spears.
"Ah, no!!"
Suddenly shouting, Klana retracted the spears and began slamming her own arm violently against the floor.
"Not this time! Not this time! No!"
"Klana..."
"Rrrgh...!!!"
Yet when her arm continued to point toward me, Klana summoned a dagger from thin air and...
"Just stay still!!!"
"Stop!!"
She drove it forcefully into her own arm.
- Thud!!
Finally, the sound of a deep stab.
"Ugh...?"
"Ah...!"
Thankfully, the sound came from my arm rather than hers.
"You...?"
"Damn."
Blood was pouring from my arm, pierced by her golden dagger.
"Ah, ugh..."
And seeing this, Klana fell into panic, her hands trembling violently.
"Klana, withdraw the sun's mana."
"N-no... my hands are shaking... if my hands shake, the sun's mana will..."
"I'll hold your hand, so breathe slowly."
"Hoo, huaah..."
Embracing her and carefully taking her hand, I began calming her down as I muttered quietly to myself.
'It's okay. I can still manage this. For now.'
I can just tell her that what just happened was an illusion created by her confused mental state.
Right now, she may have stabilized slightly, but she's still in an 'Emotional Rampage' and 'Madman Transformation' state.
So, for now...
- Knock knock knock
"Who is it?"
As I was patting Klana's back while she slowly withdrew the sun's mana, someone started knocking on the door.
"Wait a moment. I'll be out soon."
Of course, I couldn't show Klana in her rampaging state to anyone, so I spoke in a calm voice, but the knocking wouldn't stop.
- Knock knock knock knock knock knock knock knock
"...Who are you?"
- Bang! Bang! Crash!
When the knocking turned into violent destructive sounds, Klana, who was clinging to me, began to show a terrified expression.
- Crash!!
Holding Klana tightly, someone broke through the door and entered.
"Ugh..."
"What the?"
I thought monsters had invaded the ballroom, but it wasn't a monster—it was a person.
Specifically, a maid serving in the imperial palace had invaded.
"What on earth is this..."
- Whoosh!!
As I tilted my head with a guarded expression, the imperial maid suddenly drew a dagger from beneath her skirt and charged at me.
"This is ridiculous."
"Heek?"
In that absurd situation, I quickly threw myself and Klana aside, and began gathering star magic carefully in my fingers.
- Zzzzing!
The star mana gathered in my finger struck the dagger of the charging imperial maid, and then the maid, her expression turning cold, drew another blade from within her clothes.
'...A combat maid.'
I wondered why this maid was so skilled in combat—seeing her draw hidden weapons, she appears to be a combat maid secretly mixed in among the regular maids.
"Yah!!"
Prolonged combat with a highly skilled combat maid wouldn't be good, so the moment she lost her grip on the dagger, I rushed in and kicked the combat maid, sending her flying into the wall.
- Boom!!
A loud crash echoed against the wall.
"Rrrgh..."
Even though I put quite a bit of force into the kick, the combat maid merely staggered.
"Ugh? Ugh..."
"Klana, listen carefully."
After glaring at the combat maid for a moment, I grabbed the shoulder of Klana, who was still making dazed sounds and not understanding the situation, and began speaking with a serious expression.
"This isn't reality."
"What?"
"This is inside your dream."
Hearing those words, Klana began to show a confused expression.
"Because of the curse placed on you, you're trapped in this terrible dream. Understand?"
"W-what are you saying... Frey... I..."
"I'm not Frey. I'm just a being your unconscious created to protect you."
As I gritted my teeth and continued the lie, Klana's gaze began to waver.
"If this weren't a dream, Frey wouldn't be protecting you, would he? Get a hold of yourself."
"Ah... that's true. Hehe..."
Running out of time, I shook Klana's shoulders, and she began laughing with a vacant expression.
If she wasn't in an emotional rampage and madman state, this story wouldn't have worked at all, so in a way, it's fortunate.
"From now on, you need to escape this terrible place with me. Otherwise, you'll never be able to wake from this dream."
I said this, shaking Klana who was still giggling.
"So pull yourself together... we have to get out of here. Understand?"
"I don't want to."
"What?"
"I want to live here with you forever."
"Stop talking nonsense and..."
Just as I was about to scold her, she started saying something strange.
"Now, now I'm starting to remember. But, since it's already too late to turn back, at least here with you..."
"What are you saying right now?"
"You... gave me star-meeting flowers... and then morning-meeting flowers..."
Suddenly stopping mid-sentence, Klana looked at me with trembling eyes and began to speak.
"You... surely... gasp."
Watching her, I struck the back of Klana's neck before she could finish speaking, knocking her unconscious, then pointed my sword at the combat maid approaching us again and muttered.
"...I'm going to go crazy."
"Kreeee!"
With no need to worry about Klana's reaction now, I quickly struck with full force, knocking the combat maid unconscious.
"Now what do I do?"
I sighed as I looked at the scene beyond the door the maid had destroyed.
"Ugh..."
Because the imperial nobles, their eyes glazed over, were shambling through the ballroom, emitting evil energy as they slowly approached this location.
The imperial nobles are trying to kill me.
.
Meanwhile, at that time.
"It's only been a few hours, but it's already started?"
Watching the ballroom where the man who had received her purple aura was heading, the girl traced her finger through space and spoke.
"Good, then..."
Drawing silver-shining weapons from a rift in the air, the girl carefully equipped them and muttered.
"...Time to become a hero."
Her ruby-colored eyes were fixed on Frey's flustered expression reflected in the window.