CHAPTER 1
Like a New Couple
1
The Empire accepted the surrender of Nebulis Sovereignty Princess Kissing.
Since the princess had confessed and showed no desire to fight, they decided to hold her at the Imperial forces’ base. But she was still the Witch of Thorns. Consequently, the Lord ordered the Saint Disciple of the third seat to accompany and supervise Kissing for the duration of her stay.
“So there you have it. Simply put, she’s to be treated as a guest—who will be watched, of course.”
The sound of their footsteps echoed through the hall. Risya’s tone was blithe as she walked down the Lord’s deserted offices.
“Besides, we already have two other guests under supervision with us—Princess Aliceliese and Princess Sisbell. Now there will just be three. There are plenty of empty rooms in the Lord’s office for them.”
“…That’s unexpected.”
“Unexpected how, Isk?” Risya turned around, giving him a curious look.
Iska forced a smile.
“I was sure you’d say something like ‘I hope things don’t get any busier around here.’”
“Nah. None of this is under my jurisdiction.” Risya nonchalantly waved her hand. “Mei is watching Princess Kissing. And you and Unit 907 are watching princesses Aliceliese and Sisbell. I don’t need to do anything.”
“That might be true, but still…”
“Besides, this is in my best interest. Kissing is an important witness—she’s the only person who’s seen Elletear’s astral power and is still lucid.”
Elletear’s astral power, Song. Her singing could overcome any barrier and doom anyone who heard it to eternal slumber. They had yet to find a way of rousing people who had been put to sleep.
“The Lord will probably have more specifics about what we’ll do.”
Beyond the glass corridor they were walking down was the topmost floor of a collection of four buildings known as the Heaven Between Insight and Nosight. The three other members of Unit 907 were there already, standing in front of the large reception hall that served as the Lord’s chambers.
“Oh, Risya, Iska! You’re late!” Commander Mismis, their blue-haired leader, crossed her arms and stared at them with exasperation.
Behind her were Jhin and Nene.
“C’mon, Risya, you’re the one who told us to be on time for the meeting with Their Excellency!” she said.
“I only said it’d be in the afternoon,” Risya replied.
“Yeah, and it’s already twelve thirty!”
“I was having Isk do an interrogation. I mean, who wouldn’t be worried about the Witch of Thorns breaking out and going after him? But it turns out our fears were unfounded.” Risya shrugged. “We’ve got Mei keeping an eye on her, but Kissing’s done a one-eighty since last night. She’s even answering our questions now. I guess she wasn’t lying about surrendering to the Empire. I only hope the princesses will all keep being this cooperative. It’ll sure make things easier.”
“Hey, Imperial!” A sharp shout rang through the hall. Rin glared at Risya from behind Commander Mismis. “Are you trying to start something? I have no idea what Lady Kissing is trying to do, but neither Lady Alice nor Lady Sisbell will bow to the Empire. So you’d do well not to assume they’ll do the same.”
“Oops, how rude of me. Did that bother you?” Risya smiled wanly. She looked ahead at the three astral mages.
Rin, the attendant, continued to glower at Risya. With her were Princess Aliceliese, whom she had sworn her loyalty to, and Aliceliese’s sister, Sisbell.
“Princess Aliceliese and Princess Sisbell are our valued guests. I understand that perfectly well,” Risya said.
“That’s not exactly what I was hoping for…” Alice sighed abruptly, crossing her arms wearily under her ample bosom. “All I want to do is to talk to the Lord. I want to figure out how Elletear ended up the way she did. In fact, I need to figure that out, to stop her.”
“I fully agree,” Sisbell chimed in. “I heard about Princess Kissing, but that’s the Zoa’s business. It has nothing to do with us.”
The Zoa wanted revenge. By contrast, the two Lou princesses were intent on stopping the atrocities their sister was committing. Though they had both pledged to bring down Elletear, their motives were entirely different.
“So. May we go inside?” Sisbell pointed at the door. “It’s closed.”
“Oh, you’re right. It’s usually gets left open… I wonder…”
The moment Risya flung open the two sliding doors, the sharp scent of rushes wafted out from inside. The chamber had been outfitted with dozens of tatami mats. A catlike beastperson was curled into a ball in the center of the hall.
This was Lord Yunmelngen. The Lord was one of the people who had been bathed in the astral power of the world’s first vortex. Though the exposure had transformed them into something other than human, the Lord was still the leader of the Empire.
“Oh no…” Risya looked down at the sleeping beastperson, then turned to the heavens. “The Lord is fast asleep. They must be tuckered out from using Phage, the Planet’s Defense, to fight Elletear. It’ll be days before they wake up.”
“What?!”
“You never mentioned this could happen!”
Rin’s and Sisbell’s eyes widened.
“W-wait! Is the Lord really asleep?!” Alice went up to the Lord as fast as she could and stared intently at the curled-up beastperson. “Can we wake them…?”
“You can try, but it won’t work. Once Their Excellency gets like this, they’re impossible to wake up. A missile could blow up a few meters away from them, and they would still stay asleep.”
“But this isn’t what we discussed!”
It was no wonder that Alice was getting worked up. She was on enemy soil. She must have wanted to go back to the Sovereignty as soon as possible.
I’ll tell you the secret behind your older sister’s transformation.
They had all gathered here because they’d believed the Lord’s promise.
“Lady Alice, would you like to go back to the Sovereignty?” Rin asked unassumingly. “I can stay here and wait for the Lord to tell us what happened to Lady Elletear. I’m sure that Her Majesty is worried for you and Lady Sisbell, so you should leave quickly, to—”
“No, we can’t do that.” Alice shook her head. Then she looked at Risya, who was standing across from her on the opposite side of the Lord. “You said it would be a few days? Are you sure about that?”
“If the Lord doesn’t wake up, then it’ll be an issue for me, too. We can’t have them sleeping for months on end.”
“…”
The two women faced each other.
Their gazes locked in a stare, almost as though they were waging a cold war, as they silently waited for the other to act first. Alice was the first to look away. “Let’s stay.”
Rin and Sisbell turned to her and nodded.
“We need to hear what the Lord has to say. I don’t know whether it’ll be a few days or a whole week, but I think we should wait until they wake up.”
“Leave this to me, Princess Aliceliese.” Risya flashed a businesslike smile. “I’m sure you’ll be bored until Our Excellency wakes, but at the least, you won’t be uncomfortable.”
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