Variables (2)

Late in the evening, a dagger drawn from my dress glittered, reflecting the light spilling from the Imperial Palace Annex.

It went without saying that I had no intention of confronting him with just a single dagger. After all, there was no advantage for me to face him alone in this situation.

It was enough to simply threaten him to prevent him from approaching easily. Since I had already sent the signal, time was on my side.

“What, a dagger? Are you going to stab my hand and run away again like last time?”

“I will stab you. This time, not your hand, but your neck.”

“Are you sure about that? The crime of assassinating a royal is a serious offense. If you only get executed the moment you commit it, that would be a better outcome. Wouldn’t it be better to just become my fiancée?”

“Bullshit. You’ve sweet-talked and discarded a truckload of women by calling them your fiancées or whatever. I’d rather kill you and commit suicide than crawl between the legs of a bastard like you.”

“Truck…? Is that some kind of dialect? Anyway, it’s quite fascinating that you know even that kind of information. Like how you were wary of my power and reacted to it last time, how exactly do you know these things?”

“……”

“As expected, you’re an interesting woman. Perhaps I can play with you for a long time this time.”

Mana surged around Machart. Given that he wasn’t yet emitting demonic energy, it seemed he was still conscious of their location within the Imperial Palace Annex.

Just as that thought flashed through my mind, his body came flying towards me.

– Taak!

“Hahaha!”

Machart closed the distance in an instant with mana-enhanced footwork. Seeing him abruptly reach out to me, it seemed he intended to grab my arm and drag me into the Mental World again, just like last time.

He thrust his unguarded arm and neck towards me as if daring me to cut them off, and for a moment, a dotted line seemed to appear between his jaw and shoulder.

– Paat!

I forced myself to suppress the urge to swing and kill him instantly, instead leaping into the air with Lillith’s innate agility.

The moment I thrust my hand to stab my dagger there, he would surely drag me into his Mental World. I couldn’t afford to mess things up by being consumed by the desire to end it.

– Taak!

– Paat!

– Tataat!

– Pabak!

For about ten-odd seconds, Machart and I repeatedly chased each other in the Imperial Palace Annex’s back garden without a single word.

Machart used mana-enhanced physical acceleration, while I relied solely on Lillith’s basic physical abilities, which I had trained until now.

If I had Sei’s wind magic, it would have been helpful in this situation, but unfortunately, the two spirits were waiting for me outside the Imperial Palace Annex.

It was unavoidable due to the Magic Detection Devices installed in the Imperial Palace and Imperial Palace Annex after the Imperial Palace Assault Incident. I couldn’t bring the two spirits, who were magic incarnate, inside those detection devices.

Indeed, even in this current battle, I was evading solely with my physical abilities, without using a single bit of mana. Unlike Machart, who was glaring at me while freely expending mana.

The reason why only Machart could use mana within the same Imperial Palace Annex was simple. His mana, as a member of the Imperial family, was registered not to trigger the Magic Detection Device.

Although it was frustrating to be rolling on the ground alone, avoiding his approach in this situation, if I felt wronged, I should have been born into the Imperial family.

“Just a moment ago, you were talking about stabbing me with a sword or whatever, but as soon as we actually started, you just keep running away. Are you scared now that the crime of assassinating a royal has been mentioned?”

“It’d be weird not to run away when you’re shoving that disgusting face of yours at me. Humans naturally have an excellent danger-sensing ability, so avoiding ugly-looking bastards is instinctively ingrained in their genes.”

“Hmm, you really are a girl after my own heart. Women should have a strong spirit, after all. Ever since I’ve been living with this face, no one even thinks of rebelling, so it’s been quite boring. By the way, a disgusting face, you don’t really mean that…”

“I’m not talking about that smelly skin suit, but the real face buried beneath that fake one, you moron.”

“……”

“Ah, my bad. I shouldn’t call a moron a moron, should I? I spoke too harshly.”

“…I don’t know who you heard that from, but I definitely have to capture you, one way or another.”

– Kaak, tweh!

I spat saliva in his direction, conveying the meaning of ‘try if you can,’ and the sight of him abruptly stopping his chase towards me, flustered, was amusing.

“Moron. Just look at him flinch at a bit of spit, as if he isn’t a timid bastard.”

“…What’s the problem? I just dodged something dirty flying at my face. Your taunts aren’t even convincing anymore.”

“You call her your fiancée, but then her spit is dirty? And speaking of dirty, isn’t your original fiancée’s mouth far dirtier? I heard the sound of her sucking another man’s dick from the bathroom all the way to the banquet hall.”

“…Shut up. What do you know about Evelyn? She’s not someone you can insult like that.”

Just like in the original story, Machart flared up and charged when I hit his trigger. Those sluts and bastards, they’re really going at it, licking and sucking each other.

However, if I provoked him too strongly, my life could be in danger before my other companions arrived, so I only stirred up enough tension regarding his fiancée.

‘By the way, when are they going to get here…?’

About a minute had passed since I started playing tag with Machart. Even if all four couldn’t make it, at least one of them should have started to appear in this Imperial Palace Annex garden where he and I were, but I still didn’t sense anyone approaching.

Since I had caused quite a commotion and slipped out, Ethan would take a bit of time, but the other three had enough time to make an excuse and leave.

Especially Agnes and Celista, who could use Stealth Magic and Blessing of Concealment, should have arrived by now if they had confirmed the signal, so why were they so late?

Just as an unknown unease began to creep into my mind, Machart looked at me and flashed a sinister smile, as if he had read my expression.

“You’ve been looking at the corridor towards the banquet hall for a while now, haven’t you? As if you’re waiting for someone.”

“…Bullshit. I told you to stop fantasizing.”

“I generally know who you’re waiting for and why you’re stalling for time like this, but you’d probably do well to give up.”

“……What?”

“You don’t seriously think I came to get you without any preparations, do you? Haven’t you considered that it’s too much of a dream-like fantasy?”

…It must be a lie. There’s no way Machart’s brain could have come up with the idea that I had set a trap and was waiting.

Even if he had thought of it, there would be no reason for him to deliberately fall into my trap like this. If he did, it would only be in a situation that benefited him, but no matter how many combatants Machart had gathered, facing a Hero, a High Priest, a mana tank, and a Sword Expert who wielded dual swords was simply out of the question.

“…Bullshit. You’re just making wild guesses and imagining things…”

“It’s obvious when you’re running away so desperately without even using mana. If you used mana while escaping, the Imperial Palace Guard would rush here, and you don’t want that, do you?”

“…Yeah. Because if the Imperial Palace Guard comes, I won’t be able to cut off your neck.”

“For someone who says that, you’ve been running away this whole time. And you’re deliberately not even leaving this spot. It was amusing to watch you desperately run around, so I played along, but looking at your stamina, it seems you’re reaching your limit.”

“……”

“By now, the banquet hall is probably in an uproar. If you were leaking mana to summon the Hero or Saintess from the banquet hall and waiting for them, it’s already useless.”

“…I, don’t, quite, understand, what you’re saying.”

Fuck. No way he actually noticed? That this was a trap to lure him out?

He knew about this plan from the very beginning? This plan that I created by having a Magic Duel with Agnes at the Academy, which was never in the cards, and then putting on that ridiculous love feud with Ethan at the banquet hall just now, all to set up this situation?

As I frantically rolled my eyes, unable to hide my confusion at his words, Machart wore a mocking expression and mentioned an unexpected person.

“Among the members you gathered today to trap me, there was quite an interesting young lady.”

“……”

“Agnes, was it? That short girl.”

“…You fucking bastard…! If you laid even a finger on Agnes…!”

“Calm down, calm down. Well, that young lady is quite pretty, but I’m not really a pedophile. Do you think I, who has Evelyn as my fiancée, would be interested in an underdeveloped brat like her?”

“……”

“However, my younger brother doesn’t seem to think that way. I wonder what’s so good about that short brat that he’s making such a fuss.”

Unfortunately, at that moment, I couldn’t immediately understand Machart’s words.

Because at that time, I couldn’t even imagine what kind of ‘variable’ Machart had thought of was doing in the banquet hall.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Around the time Lillith and Machart began their standoff in the back garden, inside the banquet hall.

Hero Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, who had received a mana signal from Lillith, was tied down in the center of the banquet hall and couldn’t even confirm if Lillith had sent the mana signal.

In fact, even if he had checked properly and on time, the outcome might not have been much different.

Because Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot was already in a position where he was receiving everyone’s attention at the Noble exchange meeting, he couldn’t possibly slip away unnoticed.

“Draw your sword, Gyeotmwa Josyegigot Volt.”

“No, Prince. That is, it’s a misunderstanding…”

“Today, I shall reclaim my fiancée, who participated in this exchange meeting as your partner, with this very sword.”

The Fifth Prince of the Argentia Empire, Antonio Robert Valtoria.

Because it was the appearance of a variable that neither Lillith, Gyeotmwa Jyosyegigot, nor anyone else had anticipated.