Stahlia, Twelve Years Old, Second Month of 948
Rupert and Gustav guided me out of the room where Jacqueline was and into a side room. I sort of just went along with them, being in a daze as I was. Who the hell is Alysha!? I hadn’t the faintest idea who Jacqueline was referring to just then, but it wasn’t me. Before I knew it, I was seated across from Gustav and Rupert, the former was watching me with a resigned expression. Right, I knew this was a possibility, but damnit if it doesn’t hurt!
Clenching my fists beneath the table, I looked down as I forced myself not to break down and cry. Several deep breaths later, I was able to lift my chin up and meet the two of them in the eyes, “What happens now.”
Rupert nodded and motioned for Gustav to speak, and after a brief conflicted look, he did so, “We have already announced your return, so we simply need to put the plan in motion. You will spend the weekend out of the public’s eye and make your return to the academy at the start of the next school week.”
I nodded, freezing a grimly serious expression on my face, “What of the Francois being demons?”
This time it was Rupert who answered, “Largely irrelevant; we were going to bring them down anyways. Rushing things on account of that would be unwise and jeopardize the plan. Though, we will prepare a stronger force than originally intended when it comes time to arrest them.”
“Are we still clear about Lady Elienor?”
The prince glanced at Gustav and then confirmed that nothing had changed in regard to that, “Conditionally. She will of course need to be tested; as long as she does not harbor demonic attributes herself, then it will actually be much easier to have her pardoned.”
The salvation of Elienor was one of the things I had made sure we had discussed prior to signing the engagement contract. Though, the way it was worded her rescue was not a requirement; Rupert simply had to try and have her saved and could not allow her demise through inaction on his part. If saving her had become impossible, then that clause of the contract would no longer be binding.
Considering the kingdom’s practice of punishing entire families when matters of treason were concerned, I had been genuinely scared for my friend when we were plotting the downfall of her house. Thankfully, the very man I was now with had set a precedent for dodging that particular custom when he managed to save my father. Though I was a bit unsure as to why he had done that, now that I knew he was a functional psychopath. I highly doubted that asking that question would yield a satisfactory answer, so I didn’t plan on wasting time asking it.
The weekend passed me by uneventfully. I did visit Jacqueline daily, but there was little change in her condition. Likewise, my visits with Sarala and Edith did not yield much; I only had a few opportunities to speak with Sarala one on one, but I did not attempt to breach the subject of her heritage. It would be best, I felt, if she was the one to first speak with me about it.
Rupert visited me on the day before I was supposed to return to school. While we had lunch together, it was hardly romantic. Not that I was expecting it to be. While publicly he was coming to apologize to me while also dissolving my engagement to Dominic, in practice it was a business meeting more than anything else. We went over the security measures that were going to be put in place. Namely, I was being assigned four knights that would accompany me to the Academy, and a small brooch.
The knights were something I had expected. In terms of level, they were all in the mid-fifties. When I questioned their composition, I was told that each one of them had four classes, consisting of their Tier-One base class, two Tier-Two derived classes, and a Tier-Three advanced class. In any case, if I took Jacqueline as the standard, then these knights were quite powerful; she was level forty-eight back when I gave her [Charm Immunity] after all. Granted, they wouldn’t stand a chance against Sitri, but a demon of that level would be a very rare sight.
The brooch was something unexpected, and when I asked about it, Rupert explained that it was a locator beacon magic tool. I was a bit miffed about the idea that I had just been given a tracking device, but when he explained it was out of worry that I would be kidnapped for real, I decided to go with it.
That was how I found myself standing in a circle of my new body guards, who were in turn in a circle of very angry school girls. I honestly should have expected this… After all, Dominic was still alive, even if he wasn’t at the Academy due to the rumors swirling around the Francois. At least, I had been told that Count Francois had told Duke Percius that Dominic would not attend until things were situated. A political move that did not make any sense to me; surely by not attending in the face of the rumors, it was as good as admitting that they were guilty?
That was why it was so important for me to attend, despite the risk. It showed strength and would help improve my image. All part of the plan for Rupert to “fall for me” over the next few months. All that was fine and dandy, but the fact that the majority of the girls, Make that all of them, were under Dominic’s sway was obviously going to cause issues. Like how I was currently surrounded by a pack of angry noble girls. Granted my knights were more than capable of keeping them at bay, and they were for the most part behaving, but it would get ugly if they got injured.
Right, chin held high. This should be over soon anyway. I lifted my head and kept an ambivalent neutral expression. Then, I started walking forward. My knights’ pressure against the crowd caused them to part like a certain sea. As long as things went like this then I would be able to arrive to my classes on time. But with all of them reacting unanimously, their families will certainly realize that something is wrong. That will make it a lot easier when we expose the brat and move in for the kill.
Unfortunately, that would still make classes very awkward. I still was not planning to attend the sword fighting class, but I had all of my magic classes to go to. While still largely male, there were female students in those. Then my Alchemy class and Math class were entirely female as those subjects had a large enough student body to be segregated. Briefly, I considered skipping those as well, as a matter of security, but I opted to attend in spite of the risk. There was little that a group of level ten to level twelve eleven-year-old girls could hope to do, other than slinging mean words at me. That was without taking my knights into account.
Still, words hurt. Even the female teachers were harsh. At least the ones that Dominic had contact with… somehow. Clarice was in the clear, as far as I could tell. But she was still short and harsh towards me, so even if she was charmed, I wasn’t totally sure I would be able to tell the difference. By the time the day was over and I was returned safely to the estate, I was physically and mentally drained.
I have at least another week of this until he gets arrested, then it will be even worse until the faux trial and execution. I really hope that the charm dissipates when he dies, otherwise things are going to get even worse… I might actually have to worry about distraught attempts on my life at that point. As opposed to calculated attempts on my life from the Shadows.
The next day and the day after went about much the same. By the fourth day, the girls had mostly stopped hurling abuse openly, but they would still stare at me with eyes full of hatred and venom. It wasn’t all bad; several of the girls stopped going to the Academy. Starting with the higher stationed houses, the female student body mysteriously began to fall ill, or need to take a break for stress. A myriad of excuses were used, but it was obvious to me and Gustav that the families in question had noticed that something was amiss with their daughters and were panicking.
By the end of the fifth day, all of the high noble girls had been kept home so it was only the barons and the commoners who were left. This meant that the abuse was greatly lessened, as the barons were much less likely to act rudely towards me because of our similar station. The commoners were smart enough to avoid me all together. The fact that the charm wasn’t driving the girls to act above their station was gratifying to see, as it indicated that it was not wholly dug into them.
The thought that most of them should be able to recover made me giddy, and I was in a very good mood when I arrived at the estate for the weekend. Irina had been reassigned back to Edith permanently now that I was living in the Claurence estate officially. In her place, I had been granted the service of a maid named Christina. She was actually a noble in her own right, the daughter of a baron.
Owing to her birth as the fourth daughter, she was in a similar position to my own family’s second maid; she would not be able to have a marriage arranged by her parents. Her only real options then, were to leave the nobility and marry into a wealthy commoner family, marry a knight and lose her station, or work as a maid for a higher stationed house. There was also the route of trying to strike out on her own, but that was highly unlikely to go well.
“Lady Stahlia, Lady Edith would like to see you; she is curious about what is going on in the Academy in the wake of recent events.”
I felt my face twitch; that did not sound like it would be a fun conversation since it would most likely devolve into Edith insisting that there was no way “The amazing Lord Dominic could do that!” and “You have to tell the truth!” While she was technically correct, that just made it worse since it meant I would have to lie to my friend’s face. The number of people who knew the truth was to be kept to the absolute minimum as per Rupert and Gustav’s wishes.
Still, I wanted to help my friend where I could, so I resolved to deal with her until the charm could be cured. Thanking Christina for relaying the message, I asked the same questions that had become our routine this past week, “Thank you, I will be sure to see her as soon as I am able. What of Lord Claurence, Lord Ferdinand, and Jacqueline?”
That was not the order I actually wanted to know the answers, but it was the socially correct order to ask about my acquaintances and servant. Christina nodded, “Lord Claurence is visiting the palace to answer a summons from the crown prince. Lord Ferdinand is out on business, and Miss Jacqueline has exhibited no changes.”
I nodded quietly. I already knew where Duke Claurence and Ferdinand were. That was according to the plans we had laid out. In fact, Ferdinand was actually leading a team to bring the Francois into custody, while Duke Claurence was going to publicly petition the Crown Prince to expel the count from his faction. Really I had just wanted to know about Jacqueline, though the news was not unexpected.
“Well then, I will be going to visit Lady Edith now.” Addressing the head of my four knight detail, he nodded, and he and his men fell in behind me. Being followed around the manor was, in my opinion, a bit much, but I could still see the reasoning behind it. After all, the Shadows would probably be able to sneak in here if they really wanted to. In fact, I was sure they could, given that they would need the ability to assassinate a duke if the order was given.
We arrived at the wing being used to house Edith and Sarala, and my guards entered the room after we knocked. They then fanned out and began to check each room carefully. Edith had her own guards as well, so this was a bit silly and was simply violating her privacy. Calling out to the head knight, I ordered them to leave it and wait outside. Begrudgingly, my orders were followed.
Turning to Edith, I smiled apologetically, “Sorry about that Edith… How are you doing?”
Glancing around at my guards nervously, she waited until they had left and the door was shut before speaking, “Ah, I am doing quite well, all things considered. Come with me, Irina has prepared tea for us!”
So that’s where Sarala is then. Indeed, I had not seen my other friend anywhere since I arrived. I smiled, “That sounds nice, lead the way.”
It really did sound nice, since Edith hadn’t actually mentioned Dominic once. Dare I hope that she is not actually planning to bring it up…? No, it will come up during the tea. I may as well enjoy this while I can though. The first hint of suspicion to arise in my mind came when Edith headed towards her bedroom, rather than the tea room. Unfortunately, it would prove to be too little too late.
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In hindsight, there were a lot of signs that something was amiss. The glazed over eyes of the servants I had passed and paid no mind to. The lack of Edith’s guards despite the fact that I knew she had eight. The fact that Sarala, despite caring so strongly for Edith, had left her side. There were a lot of things I could have noticed, but we were so close to resolving things, that I got careless.
“Edith… Are we not going to have tea…?” She froze at the sound of my voice, her hand on the door handle. I heard a cough from the couch, not a sick cough, but the cough of someone who was injured. Looking over, I saw a hand clinging to the back of it. A small hand that I recognized. Sarala!? What the hell is going on!? Whirling around, I saw that Edith’s shoulders had slumped over and she was exuding an air of sadness.
“This… this is all your fault, Stahlia.” She turned the door handle and pushed the door so that it swung open. My initial reaction was to scream, but the words caught in my throat. Dominic’s voice rang out. Low and cold dripping with contempt and a cold fury, “Don’t scream, or I’ll gut the kitty.”
That was why I hadn’t screamed; Felicity was being held with both of her arms wrenched behind her head, and a dagger was pressed against her throat. I glared at him, and stepped into the room, “Let. Her. Go.”
Dominic laughed, “Ha! You, you are in NO position to make demands, skank!”
He isn’t yelling, but he’s clearly angry. Probably, he’s afraid of the guards coming. I need to be careful, but I should be able to manage something. I wasn’t at a hundred percent, but I was greatly recovered. I could use magic freely again, though it still hurt a bit, and seemed to be a bit reduced in potency. I just need him to release Felicity, and then I can grab him. To hell with a faux trial, I’ll just kill him here.
“What do you want.” I spat my words at him, letting all of the built-up vitriol spill into each syllable.
“Just another moment please.” He grinned maliciously, and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
A clear, young, flirtatious voice rang out from the hallway. A voice that I recognized.
“Aallll dooonnneee! These guys were kinda strong huh?”
I didn’t need to check to know that the guards had been dealt with. After all, while they may have been able to deal with a Shadow, or maybe a few Shadows, Sitri was well above their capabilities. I felt the pressure of the demoness behind me, but I refused to turn around.
“Well then Domi, you good here? I’ve got another date lined up for me and my new toys.”
Dominic nodded, “Yea, I’ll be fine Irtis, you can go deal with the group father said is coming to the manor.”
Just as capricious as I remembered, her tone changed. It became much colder as all the color and joviality fell out of her, though the voice remained just as annoyingly high pitched as ever, “Good, don’t fuck up this time. You wouldn’t want to make Nikki mad again, now would you?”
Without waiting for his answer, she left and the door slammed shut behind us. At the mention of “Nikki” getting mad, Dominic’s entire body convulsed in what was pretty obviously a shiver of fear. Nikki? Nikolaus, probably. So his father did something to him last time he ‘fucked up’…? As for what that fuck up was, well it could only be how he had driven me away by acting like a child. Of course I was planning to leave anyway, but from the perspective of Count Francois, it could only look like Dominic being an absolute moron was what had driven me to my actions.
I can use that. This will be sickening, but I just need him to let go of Felicity, then I can act. Putting as much care as I could into my voice, I swallowed my vomit and asked Dominic if he was ok while looking down at the floor off to the side, “Dominic… are you… are you alright?”
He simply glared at me in response, “Don’t pretend to care. Not after everything you did. Do you even know what you threw away? How lucky you were!?”
Felicity let out a whimper as he rudely wrenched her arms further back. Her eyes were swimming and her teeth chattered in terror. I threw up my hands and threw away my pride, “No, no I don’t! Just tell me what you want and let her go! Don’t… don’t take another sister from me… please.”
“Edith, give her the bracelet.” My outburst, which was actually somewhat sincere, caused Dominic’s anger to abate somewhat. At his order, my friend approached me with a bracelet made out of glimmering mythril. My eyes narrowed when I saw it; mythril had mana dampening properties, that was why it was used in the construction of the capital after all. If I put that on, it would dramatically reduce my ability to form magic. I would still be able to use Blood Magic at a reduced speed, but chanting would probably be impossible.
Seeing my eyes widen, Dominic grinned, “Well? Put it on. You know what happens if you don’t.” To punctuate his point he pressed the dagger a bit harder against Felicity’s throat, drawing blood.
I fixed him with the coldest glare I could while snatching the bracelet out of Edith’s hand and putting it on, “I’m going. to kill. you, you bahstard.” I spoke in unsteady English. I was hoping to unsettle him, but he merely smiled.
“So the harlot shows her colors. Irtis already told me your secrets.” It was upsetting that I couldn’t get my petty win by shocking him, but that didn’t matter in the grand scheme. Holding up my arm, I showed that the bracelet was securely fastened to my wrist.
“There, I’m defenseless now. Release Felicity.”
Dominic shrugged, “Hardly. I am sure you will still put up quite the fight, but that’s fine.” He threw Felicity away from himself, and while she staggered a bit, her catkin agility allowed her to instinctively remain on her feet. At least she seems mostly unhurt… The question remained as to if she was charmed or not, but considering that Claire attested to how much Felicity disliked him, she was probably immune.
After confirming that Felicity was safe, I turned back to face Dominic, “Now, what do you-”
Just in time to catch his fist to my stomach. Doubling over in pain, I vomited as my lungs screamed for air. I would have cried out in pain when he next grabbed my hair to haul me back to my feet, except I lacked the breath with which to do so, “According to Irtis, you figured out I was another reincarnator a while ago, is that right?”
I still couldn’t answer, as I was too busy gasping for breath. It didn’t seem like he wanted me to answer though, tossing me away from him. Unlike my adoptive sister, I wasn’t able to land on my feet and instead went sprawling. Dominic stalked up to me, “We could have used our advantages to take this kingdom by storm!”
His eyes were crazy as he dropped to his knees straddling my waist, “What were you planning!? Huh!? Were you hoping to strike it big as an adventurer!? Go out on some fantasy journey!? Too bad!”
My face stung and I saw stars as I realized he had slapped me, without holding back either. I tasted iron, and judging from the pain I had probably just lost a tooth. Rotating my head back around, I glared up at him but inside I was starting to get scared; I had been struggling against his grip this whole time. Even now, I was squirming, trying to get out from under him.
My limbs were flooded with mana, though the bracelet was restricting that somewhat. But Dominic was a lot stronger than I was, and it was making me start to panic, “After all, this is a man’s world. It’s not like where we came from. There are different rules, and different morals. Thanks to your betrayal, I was able to see that… no, thanks to Irtis opening my eyes. She’ll make a good wife I think; she respects me like you never would.”
“Ha! Sure she does!” *Ptui!* I spat out a mouthful of blood, which hit the bastard square in the face. Perhaps not the smartest decision, but I was beyond caring; I just wanted to get away.
“…Don’t worry, from one reincarnator to another, I’ll make sure to take good care of you.” A disturbing, lecherous grin spread over his face and I felt his hand grabbing roughly at my chest. All thoughts of anger and rage were replaced with fear as I realized his intentions, perhaps a bit late. My struggling intensified as I tried in vain to buck him off.
Flailing my arms, I managed to catch him on the side of the head. This only earned me another punch, this one cracking a rib. Gasping for air, my arms fell limply and I started to cry. I would not beg and plead though. If I could stop the tears I would, but that much was beyond me. No, I was planning to struggle for as long as possible.
As I was recovering my breath, Dominic’s groping found something hard; the ring Rupert had given me that bore the crest of the Royal Family. As always, it resided in a hidden pocket of my dress. Fishing it out, Dominic scowled when he saw the symbols engraved on it, “So, your treachery runs that deep? I’ll have to correct that.”
I’m an idiot! He might be a demon, but as a noble he’s still a citizen of the country! So caught up in the events unfolding, that in my fear I had forgotten that I could simply use the voice of the king. Being related to Blood Magic, it was not a chant so even with the mythril bracelet it should work. I opened my mouth to order him to release me, but in that moment he leaned in and forcibly stole my lips.
Jamming his tongue into my mouth, I fought back the urge to gag even as I bit down. Hard. With a yell of pain, Dominic pulled backward, “WOO BIFTH!” Spitting a mouthful of his own blood at him I grinned, revealing two rows of teeth dyed crimson. Just as I was about to give the order, he reared up and leapt off me of his own accord. Leaning up on my elbows while ignoring the pain in my side, I saw Felicity.
Her trembling hands were clutching a spoon. Where she had gotten it, I had no idea. Somehow, it was red with blood. How…? How hard did she stab him with a spoon to draw blood!? Questions aside, this wasn’t good. Like a deer in headlights, the girl was frozen stiff. Her eyes were wide open and locked on Dominic. Glaring at her, he raised his dagger up in the air. Damnit Claire! What did you promise!?
“GET AWAY FROM ME! I ORDER YOU!” My scream drew on the power of the Drakas Royal Family and laced a compelling force through the air. Edith was seemingly unaffected; she had probably instinctively countered it since she knew about the effects. Dominic staggered forward but seemed able to resist somewhat. Probably owing to the Demon Blood. Felicity on the other hand, had her eyes glaze over.
“Damnit Stahlia! You better pull through this, you hear!?” Then Claire turned and ran their shared body out of the room. I’ll need to find out exactly what happened later. It looked like Felicity had been knocked out by the voice, and Claire had instantly assumed control. Clearly, there had been an internal power struggle or something.
Time for that later. I stood up while Dominic was still recovering, and drew the dagger I kept sheathed under my dress. The blade was a bit old and worn; it was ten years old after all. Still, the blade gleamed in the light. Falling forwards toward Dominic, I used my weight to stab him in the back. Based on the cough and the blood he spat up it looked like I had hit a kidney.
My momentum and the sudden pain carried us to the ground. Now it was me straddling him. Raising the blade above my head, I brought it down. Again. Again. And again. Eventually, my mind went white. When I came to my senses, I was in a pool of crimson. My arms were leaden at my side; stabbing someone, even with a gravity assist, takes a lot of energy. Based on the state of the body, I had really gone to town.
Edith was by my side, begging forgiveness and crying while generally blaming herself, but I let the words wash over me. I was both physically and emotionally exhausted. I knew that I should get a move on; Sitri was heading to the Francois estate with a bunch of the Claurence’s charmed guards. But whenever I thought about moving, I lost interest in doing so.
Suddenly, I was embraced from behind, though it was a bit awkward, “Stahlia, it’s me, Jacqueline… are you… are you alright?”
Slowly, I turned my head towards the sound. Mechanically, I answered the question, “I’m… I’m ok. Nothing, nothing happened, I was… I was able to protect myself.” But what if I wasn’t…? What if I completely forgot about the voice…? This place… I glanced towards the body. This place is no good.
“We need to get out of here…” It was then that I realized who I was talking to, who had returned to my side at long last, “Jacqueline! Oh thank goodness! You’re back!” I felt fresh tears running down my face, but unlike the ones I had just shed, these were tears of happiness rather than fear. Crying into her shoulder, I felt Jacqueline pick me up and begin to carry me away.
Vaguely, I was aware of Edith letting out a tearful cry of her own when we passed the couch where Sarala was lying. Drifting off into my own world, I let myself relax in Jacqueline’s arms. It wouldn’t last though. Too soon, I was forced back to reality by a cold voice, accompanied by the sound of slow, mocking clapping.
“Marvelous. I do not believe I have been this infuriated since the last war. You have talent, brat.” Pulling myself back to reality, I felt Jacqueline stiff as a board against me. Looking from her down to the speaker, I saw a face that I really dreaded, since I knew that he was a demon. Count Francois was looking up at us from where he stood in the entrance of the Claurence Estate.
Holding his hand up in front of his chest, he began to remove his gloves, “Manipulation, that would be Mephistopheles’s thing. Sometimes Leviathan or Asmodea might get involved. Personally, I would rather use more direct methods. I can not begin to describe how frustrating these past thousand years have been.”
Jacqueline slowly set me down, “Stahlia, listen carefully. You need to run.”
Count Francois finished removing his gloves, revealing he was missing one of his fingers on each hand. I couldn’t help but notice his hands, as wordlessly they became enveloped in a black flame.
“Now, with that dreadfully disappointing son of mine deceased, we can take off the mask and use those direct methods.”
Vanishing from my sight, he suddenly appeared less than a meter away. Jacqueline leapt between us, only for his fist to pierce through her stomach and out her back. My vision tinged red with rage, and I howled.
“Miss Stahlia, would you kindly fall into the depths of despair?”