Throughout her short idol career, Etoile had always played the lovable airhead. It was grating at first, having to smile and laugh off all those thinly veiled insults. Her manager would constantly tell her to bear with it, and she would. But in only a few months' time, Etoile would find the persona to be her sole source of salvation.
Being a verbal punching bag for a whole two hours? Who cares?
Pretending to have forgotten her fluffy signature pen almost every signing session? Well, at least they’d always remember to bring their own.
Tripping over nothing as she left the stage? Yeah, Etoile had to admit, that was a bit much. But people seemed to love it regardless.
And she loved them too. For their overwhelming support and encouragement. Etoile really did love making them smile. Sometimes she’d grin to herself, wondering whether she deserved to be spoiled so much, like she was some sort of lucky girl. But in the end, they’d always remain fans first and foremost. Nothing more.
Etoile knew none of that was anyone’s fault.
Her fans were only there to see her sing and laugh. Not because they wished to know her any better. There was absolutely no reason to show them the timid girl cowering within. The fragile side that Etoile despised so much. After all, putting up fronts in the workplace was the most normal thing in the world.
These fronts were mostly better versions of oneself whether that was in a situational sense or just generally. Maybe that meant being more extroverted, or perhaps more authoritative, or simply just the person one desired to be. Of course, some people somehow managed to love their ‘true’ selves—whatever that meant—but Etoile knew that those were a dime in a dozen.
Still, people can’t change so easily once they mature. And as much as she wanted to become that airhead who lived life so recklessly, she’d always find herself transforming back into the timid girl on her way home.
Then she’d steel herself for what was coming next.
Because even behind closed doors, her facades wouldn’t stop. They couldn’t stop. Otherwise, she’d break under the weight of his relentless beatings. If she was a verbal punching bag by daylight, then that would make her a literal one at night. And one obviously hurt much more than the other.
The only person she’d truly ever had in her life was her twin sister, Dolly. Nothing gave Etoile more joy than performing duets together with their virtual avatars and posting them online. That side gig seemed to pay surprisingly well. But even then, their relationship hadn’t always been that smooth.
Gyaaaaahhhh… Being the damsel in distress sucks...
Trapped several feet under the bedchambers of the ogres she was supposed to be attending, Etoile let out a frustrated sigh. She was helpless then, and helpless now. Being in another world hadn’t changed much.
She needed something to do. Something to convince her that she wasn’t a good-for-nothing pretty girl.
Why does my arm hurt so much?
Etoile took a glance behind her, scanning the luxurious room and its inhabitants with cautious eyes, before willing the [Soul Menu] into existence. They appeared to be in some sort of jewellery room that was temporarily being used as an emergency bunker. It seemed that they had been tipped off about whatever Dar was doing, and because of that, the whole household had been escorted here: The Chieftain’s wives, maids, children, and other slave girls. Standing vigilantly by the gilded door, was a handful of guards all dressed in decorated tunics.
Dar told her they would be sneaking in. Looks like that plan went kaput.
He’d also told her not to do anything reckless and call him if there was an emergency. By ‘call’ he’d meant using [Soul Form], something Etoile had discovered after hours of deep diving in the [Soul Menu]. She initially tried to find a way to somehow merge back into Dar's body, before realising that what’s done could not be undone. But that wasn’t to say that deep diving was a complete waste of time.
[Archive]
[Soul Form]: A body status allowing you to become immaterial and invisible to the naked eye at the cost of restricting movement. You can still be seen by inhabitants of the same Soul and can be tethered by their [Physical Body] when in contact, allowing you to be pulled along.
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This also grants direct [Soul Communication] whilst physically separated.
Cost: 1 MP%/min
Etoile mostly used it to feed Dar information on her whereabouts and the Mansion layout. Sometimes she’d also ‘call’ when she was feeling lonely or had a longing to hear Dolly’s voice, resulting in her having less than half her mana left. But after making sure no one was looking, Etoile figured now would be a good time to call.
This counts as an emergency, right? He won’t scold me, right?
Dar couldn’t really lecture her on being reckless after attracting the attention of the whole Ogre household.
[System]
You have entered [Soul Form].
[“Hey, Dar? Can you hear me? Is Dolly with you?”]
In her head, she could hear him panting.
[“Yeah,”] came his deep voice [“What’s up? Emergency?”]
[“Not really.”] Etoile replied [“Just wanted to check up on you and sis. You good?”]
[“Well, I got my left arm amputated an–”]
[“Seriously!? Are you alright?”]
[“Yeah, It’s stuck back on with healing magic but…”] A short pause followed as Dar caught his breath [“Etoile… that wasn’t funny. And you know we really have no time for this. Save your mana. Later.”]
[“Wait!”]
[“I swear… If it’s more stupid one-liners then–”]
[“It isn’t! I swear! I ran out of them since the last call.”]
["You’d better have… So? What did you want to talk about?”]
["Um… I don't think we can meet at the agreed spot. They locked everyone up in this underground jewel room after the commotion you caused."]
["That was hardly my fault."] Dar sighed ["So where is this place?"]
["Just underneath the master bedroom, I think. There's a hidden basement door behind the wardrobe, but it needs like, five keys. And it's full of guards as well."]
["Five keys? The spy only gave me one. Can't you find a way to make them get you out? I don't know, maybe just ask to go toilet or something?"]
["I'll try."] Etoile answered doubtfully.
She stared out towards the other ogres, noticing that they were still fussing over the bedridden lady-ogre who had been rushed in on an abnormally large stretcher. She was extremely beautiful in a motherly sort of way; luscious white hair flowed outwards from beneath her back, like a blooming rose, and a tender voice which she was using to calm the surrounding maids down. There was also another group of women whispering amongst themselves and looking at her with disdain. Whilst also exceedingly attractive, they had a cold and arrogant air about them.
So these are the Chieftain's wives? I can almost tell the whole family dynamic just from the tense atmosphere.
It was also obvious that the Chieftain loved the first wife the most. Etoile had spotted him sitting by her bedside for the past couple of days.
Then a high-pitched voice whom she quickly recognized to be Dolly's, entered her head.
["Etoile. Buran didn't touch you, did he?"] Dolly asked ["You're still fine? Right?"]
She smiled to herself upon hearing her sister's words. Of course, Dolly would be beside herself with tears. She was such a worrywart.
["Heh. What do you think, Sis? Would I still be cracking jokes as usual if he had?"]
["Yes. You would."] Dolly's voice suddenly broke. ["You're always lying for my sake, Etoile… you're… always…"]
["Wait, what?"] The response had caught her completely off guard. ["Dolly, hold on! He didn't do a thing! Trust me! I barely even saw him for the past four days. In fact, I got fed all this nice food and got to wear some fancy clothes and–!"]
["Well if you say so... Just... Take care..."]
She still sounded a little unconvinced.
God, this girl is such a handful.
["Etoile,"] Dar said awkwardly ["Let me know if you manage to leave that jewel chamber. We're pretty close right now."]
["Okay. Stay safe, you two,"]
Then Etoile felt the mental connection break.
Leave the jewel chamber? How on earth was she going to do that? There was no way they'd open the door for a lowly slave girl. Maybe she'd just take Dar's suggestion for now.
Etoile cleared her throat, causing everyone to look at her. “
A hint of pride welled up inside of her and she suppressed the urge to smile. The ogre language seemed to be coming naturally to her. Maybe she’d be able to impress the socks off Dolly and Dar once she got out of here. If she got out of here.
Meanwhile, the group of guards regarded her for a while before murmuring something amongst themselves.
Must be surprised at my multilingual talent.
She and Dolly were ‘Hāfus’ after all. Half Japanese and half French. Add that to the fact that they’d attended an English-speaking private school since infants and the travelling nature of their Father’s job, it was only natural that they’d have some degree of fluency in several languages. However, Etoile had always been better at it than her twin sister.
At last, the guards seemed to have made their decision.
"
Yeah, I thought so.
Then one of the haughty wives spoke out, flourishing her embroidered dress impressively. Her hands were resting on the shoulders of a small child-ogre with hair like snow, completely contrasting the wife's dark blue.
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Still looking conflicted, the captain bowed low before turning to Etoile and the others.
"
Ah. Here's my chance.