episode_0078

Episode 78

Rika carefully put my big toe in her mouth. The soft tongue moves and tickles the toes.

“Haap… Hrub… Haaa…”

It is truly a pet dog. Rika was following my orders without any resistance.

‘I never thought it would work so smoothly…’

Even with the help of Hypnosis, Rika’s deterioration was much faster than I expected.

Perhaps this kind of desire was inherent from the beginning. A perverted desire that he himself was unaware of.

I smiled secretly as I looked at Rika, who was engrossed in licking my feet with a cute face I had never seen before.

Carmel thinks Rika has been freed from the saints.

Of course you can’t even imagine it. The fact that my dear subordinate Rika has now become my dog and is licking my feet with great care.

Carmel’s reaction when she soon found out the truth… wasn’t hard to imagine.

He will tremble and become angry, question with a voice full of evil, and eventually pour out his hatred towards me.

This is something I had been preparing for since Rika was imprisoned here. No, the expression ‘resolution’ is not appropriate.

Because I was looking forward to that moment.

The reason was that I wanted to see Carmel soaked in intense emotions, whether it was anger, sadness, or hatred. I still get goosebumps thinking about the tears Carmel shed when she first held on to Rika.

But now it’s not just about pure anticipation.

When I imagine Carmel criticizing me sharply, I feel another emotion along with a chilling excitement.

It is a type of emotion that should be called anxiety.

If you didn’t get it from the beginning, there’s no need to be afraid of losing it. But once I touched it, I was afraid of returning to the lost state.

Of course, I have no regrets.

The card called Rika was a card that must be secured. Just because your current conditions have changed does not mean that your past judgments are wrong.

Now it’s impossible to turn back.

“Princess Sera…?”

Seeing me with a serious face, Rika stops her dog duties and looks up. Looking at Rika like that, I had a slightly bad thought in mind.

It is impossible to undo what happened, but it is possible to hide it.

If what I did to Rika, and Rika’s existence itself, are interfering with the relationship between Carmel and me… the solution is extremely simple.

Anyway, Carmel doesn’t know Rika’s whereabouts. All I have to do is for Rika to disappear like this.

Either sell it at a low price to a merchant in a distant city, or…

The current Rika would accept any command I give her. Even commands to harm yourself.

“It’s okay to stop, Rika.”

Following my command, Rika immediately stopped licking. The dog was waiting for the next command in its posture.

After seeing that, I made up my mind.

There will be no harm to Rika.

It is not that compassion or mercy suddenly sprouts. It wasn’t because Rika’s unconditional loyalty was admirable.

Carmel obviously values Rika.

If Rika is erased from the world like this, Carmel will always look for Rika. There will be a void that cannot be filled.

It’s true that I want to see Carmel’s many faces, but I don’t want to see them all.

So, I plan to make Rika face Carmel again. With everything I did to Rika. Of course, I have no intention of apologizing.

Of course not right now. There are too many things to resolve right now, including Rika’s problem.

“Princess…?”

Rika looked up at me again, saying nothing, still using the honorific with an awkward accent. I smiled and said to Rika.

“It’s nothing. Now, shall we continue what we are doing? Come up to bed, Rika.”

Saying that, I hit the whip on my palm until it made a percussion sound. A wry smile appeared automatically on the corner of his mouth.

* * *

‘It’s later than I thought…’

The moon was already high. I entered the palace with my hood pulled down.

Today I went to bed early in the evening. In order not to make more excuses, I was quietly going back to my room, keeping the maids out of sight as much as possible.

At that time, someone’s voice came from right next to me.

“You are here, princess.”

The owner of the calm voice was Pilgret. I said, hiding my surprise.

“No, you were surprised. Wait, but are you really waiting for me to come here?”

“No. If you want to come up from the gate, you have to go through this hallway. I just got the timing right.”

“How did you know I would come now?”

“It’s the smell.”

“…smell…”

This man had such superpowers. It’s creepy when you think about it. If I had a sense of smell that good, wouldn’t I be able to know to some extent where I was and what I was doing?

“Uh, anyway… what’s going on? You probably didn’t call me here just to say hello, right?”

“Yes. A request for help has arrived from Viscount Roberts. For more information, see this.”

A note made of torn paper folded several times. There was only one sentence written there, in a much more scribbled handwriting than last time.

– help!!

“This is…?”

“The man who brought this was a commoner living near Sans Academy. He said he received a request from a boy with an urgent expression at the window of the Academy of Sanctuaries to deliver it to the Knights. You probably wouldn’t have thought it was Viscount William Roberts.”

“How do you understand the situation?”

“After inquiring at the mansion, it seems that he did not return to the mansion even after all classes were over. It is said that the coachman in charge of dropping off students waited in front of the school gate all day, but never showed up.”

It was within the academy that William requested salvation. In that case, it would seem that the missing person was also inside the academy.

“Kidnapping… I don’t know who did it, but they use pretty direct methods. Even if he was demoted, it would definitely be a crime committed by a nobleman with a title… someone with a status that would allow him to ignore it.”

The one that immediately comes to mind is Carmel… but there is no particular reason for Carmel to touch William.

However, it is not something that anyone can do. The Sanctuary Academy is a prestigious academy that only the children of the country’s greatest nobles can attend. There is no way that ordinary kidnappers would be able to kidnap a person there.

In all likelihood, the Noble Association is involved.

“Yes. What would you do?”

“It’s a good opportunity. There’s no way he didn’t know that William Roberts’ guardian was me, Sarah Lustier, and yet he committed such an atrocity. Should I make you pay a heavy price for disrespecting the royal family?”

In response to my answer, Philgret smiled faintly and said,

“I thought you would say that. If so, get ready to go right away tomorrow morning…”

“Tomorrow morning? No, are you going right now?”

“Are you speaking at this time?”

“Yes. Even at this time, the ‘appeasement’ toward William Roberts is likely continuing. The longer it is delayed, the less likely it is that he, who is still a boy, will be able to endure it.”

William Roberts’ life is in no danger. If the purpose is to be entrusted with the management of the estate, William must be alive.

However, in this world, there are all kinds of ways to test human will, including magic. For example, hypnotic scent.

No matter how extraordinary his mind may be, he is still a very young boy. Even without using magic, there is a good chance that it will not be able to withstand threats or light torture. That was why I wanted to hurry.

“I understand. I will wake up the personnel immediately.”

Philgret immediately nodded firmly and responded.

* * *

“I also heard the news. They say the boy William didn’t come home. But what does that mean?”

The president of the Academy of Séncenes, Marchioness Juliana Séances, looked very bothered. There was no sign of hiding such feelings in front of the princess.

“Well, you probably don’t know that Sarah Lustier is his official guardian, right? His disappearance most likely took place within the Academy. So it would be natural to search the campus first.”

“Ha…”

Even after seeing the knights lined up, Juliana didn’t seem too intimidated. Wearing the fur that still had most of its original form, he sighed and spoke in an irreverent manner.

“You may search as you please, Princess Sera. But it would be pointless anyway. Moreover, this is a sacred place of education with a long history and tradition. To bring an armed soldier into a place like this in the middle of the night and cause such a commotion… The King would be really proud if he found out.”

The corner of Juliana’s mouth rises awkwardly. You seem strangely confident. Does this mean William is no longer in the academy?

I said with a soft smile that contrasted with hers.

“Of course. My father is always proud of me. And if, by any chance, it were revealed that something unpleasant had happened in that sacred place of education, it would be difficult for the Marquis to escape responsibility.”

“Heung…”

Hearing Juliana’s rude snort, I ordered the knights I had brought with me to search the entire academy.