[No. 058: Magic Torture 48% → 62%]
[In Progress]
Seeing the words on the status window, a trauma I’d tried to bury begins to crawl up from the depths of mory.
There were a few tis when Asella went completely insane, rampaging like a monster.
In the later part of the ga, she would sotis appear as a mindless beast, incapable of speech or reason.
It was like a hidden boss event.
That ending... was a bad end where I was captured by the hidden boss version of Asella and tortured to death with magic.
And now the odds of that ending are going up because of the Empress?
I involuntarily frowned.
The reason for the increased bad ending probability—
From this point onward, Asella would experience sothing deeply negative that triggered it.
Then there’s only one thing I can do.
I just have to take the opposite action.
“Miss Lucie.”
“G-Goodness, Master?”
I grabbed the head maid’s arm mid-step, and she clutched her chest like she’d just run into a monster.
Bit too jumpy, aren’t you?
“What does it an, ‘she’s going to the workshop’?”
“Um, perhaps we should discuss this outside first...”
“I’m not going anywhere until I hear an explanation.”
“Ah, really now...!”
Lucie bit her lip in visible distress, then leaned in and whispered hastily in my ear.
“There’s a magical workshop under Moonlight Palace, belonging to Her Majesty. When Her Highness falls behind in her studies, she receives... supplental instruction there. At tis like this, it’s best to leave quickly—”
“You an she’s disciplined with magic?”
“Well...”
The head maid trailed off without answering.
I got the picture.
Camilla, the Empress, was no amateur when it ca to magic.
She was at least a fifth-tier sorceress.
And magical punishnt, from her?
That’s going to hurt.
Though depending on the spell type, it might not even leave visible marks.
As I lingered in thought, Camilla called out to us with a voice like cracking glass.
“Court physician. Did you not hear ? Leave the room.”
“I believe my proper title is ‘Doctor.’ It seems that wasn’t communicated to you.”
I stepped forward and replied, and the Empress’s expression twisted.
“What did you just say?”
“If you’re planning to discipline the princess with magic, I must intervene. As her personal physician, her physical condition is my responsibility.”
At my words, Asella’s pupils dilated.
Her quivering eyes fixed squarely on .
“Ha. So the little healer finally oversteps.”
The Empress scoffed in derision.
“Discipline? This pertains to the education of the Third Princess. You—this is the Imperial Palace. Know your place.”
“If she gets injured, it becos my job to treat her. That falls within my professional responsibilities.”
“Then treat her afterward. Sit down and stay quiet unless you want your house’s na sared. You were appointed through favoritism and manipulation anyway.”
“Wow. ?”
“Lord Gotberg. When you committed blasphemy in the marquessate, we overlooked it. Even when you wasted the Holy Grail, we rcifully forgave you.”
“Right. Out of respect for my father, I overlooked your provocations, and I generously accepted the Grail.”
“You insolent little—!”
Now red as a steam engine under full load, the Empress ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ trembled with rage.
“There’s only one reason I haven’t dealt with you. Engaging with a witless brat is beneath . But this ti, you’ve gone too far.”
“Excess is virtue, isn’t it?”
“Asella will be raised my way. And you—without any qualifications—are interfering in the Imperial Family’s thods!”
“As her betrothed, I am qualified.”
As I spoke, Asella’s eyes widened again.
“You...!”
The Empress gnashed her teeth and glared at .
“How dare you talk back at every turn!”
“Then please inform what this ‘special education’ entails. Depending on the content, I may permit it.”
“You expect —the Empress—to seek permission from a re healer?”
Step.
I advanced a step toward her.
“I’m not ‘re’ anything. I am the royal physician personally appointed by the Princess. Address by my title. I serve the heir apparent and stand as a mber of Her Highness Asella’s faction.”
As my words ca out, clearly and logically, the Empress’s aggression faltered slightly.
“If Your Majesty intends to harm the princess’s body with ill will, then yes—authorization is required.”
“Did you just call , her birth mother, an outsider?”
“Isn’t that the case? In the royal family, blood ties don’t make allies. I serve only one lord—Her Highness Asella.”
The Empress had clearly run out of patience. Unconsciously, she released her mana.
A sinister, dark energy filled the air.
“Everyone else—get out.”
Her voice was cold as ice. The kind that might command a guillotine to fall.
Tanya stepped between us.
“My duty is to guard the doctor—”
“It’s fine. Wait outside.”
As a direct Gotberg, I might be spared, but she... the Empress could twist the law and fra her for blasphemy.
I gave Tanya a nod to signal again. She hesitated, then exited.
Slam.
The door slamd shut behind them, leaving only Camilla, Asella, and in the room.
“You said you were curious about the content of this special education,”
Camilla said, her hand flicking casually as a magic circle unfolded into the air.
Four intricate geotric shapes intersected, greedily absorbing dark mana.
As formulas etched themselves along the outer rim, the spell reached completion.
“Mother...”
Asella, silent until now, finally spoke.
But the Empress paid her no mind, her attention wholly consud by the magic.
“Why not experience it yourself? See firsthand whether it’s harmful to Asella or not. That should answer your question.”
Snap.
With a flick of Camilla’s fingers, the spell activated.
Boom!
In the sa instant, a crushing pressure bore down on like a mountain of boulders.
“Urgh...”
It was a fourth-tier gravity manipulation spell.
Gravity in my imdiate vicinity had multiplied several tis over.
The weight was so intense I could hardly remain standing.
My body dragged itself toward the ground against my will.
“How is it? It doesn’t leave wounds or physical injury. It’s simply a vital educational thod to help Asella understand the weight of magic. Do you understand now?”
Camilla sneered as she snapped her fingers again.
—Rumble...!
The magic circle swelled in size and intensity.
...I couldn’t even breathe anymore.
The air had beco so heavy, my lungs struggled to move.
My back bent, and my arms hung limp at my sides.
You’ve got to be kidding .
She actually believed this passed for education?
This was nothing but torture.
I was seconds away from collapsing.
My upper body had already crumpled like a hedgehog curling in on itself.
But sohow, my legs held firm.
“You’re surprisingly resistant to kneeling.”
There was no doubt now—Asella’s sadistic streak ca straight from her mother.
Camilla. A woman who did nothing but obstruct and increase the probability of bad endings. I hated her.
I had no intention of showing her the reaction she wanted.
I forced a twisted smile, my lips dragging upward like lead weights, baring my teeth.
“My knees are reserved solely for my liege.”
Camilla’s gaze sharpened into sothing murderous.
Hmm. I’d seen that expression before.
Suddenly, mories flashed across my mind like a stuttering film reel.
—You certainly don’t kneel easily, healer of the hero’s party.
Asella, laughing with a demonic grin.
It was the look she wore in the final monts of countless loops, ten years into the future.
Now, Camilla’s face overlapped with the golden witch’s in my mind.
My vision crackled like static.
The intensified gravity was cutting off blood flow to my brain—blackout was imminent.
Was this rely a hallucination before fainting,
or a warning painted by instinct?
A face I never wanted to see again surfaced in my mind.
—How dare you lay hands on an offering ant for the Emperor of the Empire?
Asella’s tone in that mory was calm and majestic.
A far cry from her usual petulance.
Thinking back, she really did take after Camilla...
It made sense. Parents and children inevitably shared traits.
Magical talent, genetic disposition—from appearance to physical performance to ntal tendencies—genes determined a lot.
But environnt couldn’t be ignored either.
I could feel it. Camilla had played a major role in shaping Asella into the deranged villainess she beca.
But why am I thinking about this now...?
The thought floated up, unbidden.
—Beautiful, isn’t it? The day the curse ends.
The curse.
Asella used that word often.
I could never quite grasp what she ant by it...
“Here, let’s see if you can endure this too.”
Just as Camilla raised her arm to summon another magic circle—
Crack!
A golden magic circle pierced through hers.
A spell to interrupt casting.
“Hahh...”
I let out a pathetic gasp and clutched my chest.
When I looked up, Asella had her hand raised toward Camilla.
Golden mana shimred from her small palm.
“...Asella?”
The Empress stood frozen, as if she couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
Asella, her resolve visibly steeled, glared at Camilla with burning eyes as she spoke.
“Take your hands off my possession.”
I recognized that tone.
It was the one she used when she was truly furious—sharp and shattering like an ice pick cracking a frozen lake.
“Now.”
―――――――――――
· Notification: Ending probability has shifted.
· Bad Ending
No. 058: Magic Torture – 62% → 14%
· Good Ending
■■■ ■, ■■ ■■■ – 0.04% → 2%
―――――――――――
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