“Damn it! I told you not to trust that bastard!”
Bang!
In a dimly lit room without even a single window, the sound of a man angrily slamming a table echoed. Among the three n seated at the table, the one with the most furious expression spoke up, though the other two were equally troubled.
“Hah, that idiot Potts. We should’ve known better when he said he’d keep her hidden until the festival was over.”
“…What can we do now? It’s already done.”
“Damn it! Do you have any idea how many of my A-rank ghouls were lost just to kidnap that dumb princess? He kept saying we’d get back tenfold once we captured her, but he ended up dying like an idiot!”
“…We get it. Now shut up. You’re not the only one who’s pissed off.”
The n continued their conversation in a room where not even a sliver of light entered. Despite the pitch-black darkness, they could still see each other's expressions clearly, thanks to their keen night vision.
“We trusted him because draining blood was what he did best, but now everything’s gone to hell. In hindsight, maybe we should’ve just turned her into a ghoul early on, awkward as it might have been.”
“If we’d done that, Seraphine would’ve given up on zzlen ages ago. It was a necessary choice. Our goal isn’t that dim-witted princess anyway—it’s Seraphine.”
“Damn it! How is it that there’s not a single noble family with a grudge against that woman? How many people did she have to sleep with to avoid making enemies?”
“Heh, maybe she’s just been generous with her favors. It would explain why no one’s holding a grudge against her.”
Their conversation, which could have gotten them executed for treason if overheard, continued in the darkness. Yet none of them seed concerned about such consequences. It wasn’t that they weren’t afraid of charges of treason, but their bodies, cursed to no longer live under the sun, rendered such concerns aningless.
“Shut… your… mouths…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Princess Seraphine… isn’t that kind of person…”
A woman’s faint voice interrupted their conversation. Her tone was weak, as if she were on the verge of death, but the three n shifted their attention toward the woman bound and lying on the floor.
“Oh? Still alive?”
“Of course! We kept her alive, didn’t we? If she’s alive, we can always turn her into a ghoul later!”
“With the way you were beating her, I thought you were tenderizing her at. Weren’t you the one who said female ghouls don’t have good durability anyway?”
“Damn it! That bitch cut down ten of my ghouls! There’s no way I’m letting her off without working her until her limbs fall off! She’s mine—don’t touch her!”
“Do what you want. But you clean up the ss. The room’s reeking—she might have soiled herself already.”
“…”
The woman on the floor remained silent, even as the vampires mocked her. She chose not to respond, knowing that as long as they insulted her, they wouldn’t turn their attention to Princess Seraphine or Princess zzlen, whom she served.
“So, what now? Are we going back empty-handed?”
“Hell no! We’ll never get another chance at Seraphine’s blood like this!”
“If you’re suggesting we storm the church again to kidnap her, count out. Unlike you and Alondo, I don’t have a death wish.”
“What?! So you’re just giving up, Jeremy?!”
“I never said that. I just don’t want to rush in without a solid plan. I have no interest in dying like Potts did. If you’ve got a good strategy to drag Seraphine out again, feel free to suggest it.”
“Damn it…”
Alondo cursed under his breath, unable to counter Jeremy’s cold reasoning. Having spent his entire life relying on brute force rather than strategy, devising a new plan was far beyond him. Naturally, his gaze turned toward the third man seated nearby.
“Hey, Miguel. Got any ideas?”
“You were the one complaining about my plan just monts ago. Now you’re asking for help?”
“T-that was blaming that idiot Potts, not you! Your plan was perfect—it was that moron who screwed things up by running off to a stupid hiding spot!”
“There’s a way. Dragging out Princess zzlen again might be difficult, but it’s possible we could lure her out.”
“…zzlen is at the church right now. How would we do that?”
“We don’t have to go inside the church. All we need to do is make that dim-witted princess co out on her own.”
“…W-what?”
The woman on the cold floor reacted to the ntion of the princess’s na, lifting her head weakly. Despite her exhaustion and pain, the re thought of a threat to Princess zzlen was enough to awaken Kate, Princess zzlen’s personal maid.
“W-what are you planning to do?!”
“It’s simple. We’ll use ‘that.’”
“…What?”
“From what I’ve gathered, that woman Kate has been Princess zzlen’s personal maid since childhood. If we take her and threaten her outside the church, we’ll be able to draw zzlen out easily.”
“…That’s absurd!!”
“Haha! You really are sharp when it cos to this kind of thing.”
“…Leaving her as a human turned out to be useful after all.”
“No! You can’t do that!”
Kate struggled to get to her feet, resisting the plan to use her as bait to lure out Princess zzlen.
Thud!
“Stay down until sunset. We need you alive for now, at least until we’ve used you.”
Crash!
The blow to her head knocked her out, and she wouldn’t regain consciousness for another five hours.
⁎ ⁎ ⁎
Thanks to Seraphine’s swift action, Serista’s healing magic, and Harold’s tily blood transfusion, Princess zzlen narrowly escaped death. Although her life had been saved, the situation was still fraught with uncertainty.
‘In the original story, there were four vampires involved in Seraphine’s kidnapping. But during zzlen’s kidnapping, only Potts showed up.’
In the original, I distinctly rembered there were three others. It didn’t make sense for just one or two people to kidnap and imprison a princess of her stature.
I couldn’t rember their nas, but if I saw their faces, I could probably recognize them. Even though I played Luminor Academy 25 tis in my previous life, I didn’t have the mory to recall every minor villain’s na.
Even if I did rember their nas, it wouldn’t help use the Whispering Leaves to track them. The condition for using the leaves requires not only knowing the target’s na but also having seen them at least once.
‘There’s no ti to waste sitting around. I need to get back on track and wrap up this kidnapping event.’
I wasn’t sure if the remaining three would show up, given how far off-script things had gone. But I needed to be prepared.
If I had any hope of correcting the story that had gone so wildly off course, I had to act now.
‘First, I need to secure the doppelgänger who’s pretending to be zzlen at the maid café. The problem is that I’ll need Serista’s Truth Mirror to expose the doppelgänger. And if we simply imprison it, it might escape by transforming into a bug or sothing...’
“Lillith, here.”
“…Thank you, Master Ethan.”
Ethan had stepped out for a while, noticing how troubled I looked after my conversation with Harold. He handed a glass of cold water, and as I drank, he offered a cautious apology.
“I’m sorry, Lillith. Don’t let what my father said bother you too much.”
“There’s no need for you to apologize, Master Ethan. It’s true that I acted in a way that made it easy for Professor Harold to misunderstand . And it’s also true that Princess zzlen was put in danger because of .”
“…What do you an?”
“Do you rember how Princess zzlen refused to wear a maid outfit? If I hadn’t convinced her to participate in the maid café, none of this would have happened.”
“How is that your fault?! If you put it like that, then it’s the hero who suggested the maid café who’s at fault, or maybe even my father for visiting while the Princess was there.”
“No… it’s still mostly my fault.”
After all, in the original story, the hero’s party didn’t participate in the maid café. Princess zzlen wouldn’t have attended an event like that, wouldn’t have fallen in love with Harold, and none of these complications would’ve arisen.
Each incident seed harmless on its own, but when added together, they led to the kidnapping of Princess zzlen. And every single one of those events had involved in so way.
“I’ll begin searching for anyone else who may have been involved in the kidnapping. Whoever had the ability to abduct a princess during the festival likely wasn’t working alone.”
“…”
“I’ll also report Princess zzlen’s condition to Princess Seraphine and start looking for any remaining accomplices…”
I had planned to throw myself into action, rushing to resolve the situation. I fully expected Ethan to follow my lead without question. But what he did next took by surprise.
Swoosh.
“No, Lillith.”
“…What?”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you go right now.”
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