4
A white room. A doorless space. Even the floor and ceiling were the same color.
Sisbell gulped as a door materialized.
“Yo, Sisbell.”
“…Eek?!”
“Oh, don’t be scared. Besides, I’ve been ordered to be nice to you.”
Vichyssoise.
The little witch toyed with her dark red hair, chuckling in a low voice. She wore a stud on her right ear and a hoop on her left. Her feral eyes said she was trouble. This girl was not human.
“…You.”
“Hmm? Oh, well, this is the Solar Spire. Can’t really wander around in that form.”
The Solar Spire? Sisbell was still within the palace grounds.
“Ah-ha-ha. You look relieved. You feel better ’cause you think you know where you are?”
“……”
“Whatever. So, Sisbell…” Vichyssoise sidled up toward her.
She pushed like she wouldn’t take no for an answer, which made Sisbell bite her lip and shrink back. Anyone would fear Vichyssoise after seeing her as a monster.
Sisbell felt the wall press against her back. She had been pursued into a corner of the room.
“D-don’t come any closer!”
“Oh, don’t be so mean.” Vichyssoise stretched out an arm, grazing Sisbell’s cheek as she leaned against the wall. Made-up in purple lipstick, her lips came close to Sisbell. “There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“And you think I’ll talk?”
“It’s nothing serious. Just something I was a little curious about. How’d you get that guy to work for you?”
“…What guy?”
“The former Saint Disciple, Iska.” Vichyssoise drew closer, as though trying to look into her soul. She was close enough Sisbell could feel her breath.
“I know I’m not human, but that swordsman seems inhuman in a different sense. Seems like all the rumors about him having a draw with your sister in the Nelka forest are true.”
“What?” Sisbell couldn’t help but let that slip out.
What did that mean? She hadn’t seen that in their past.
…My sister fought Iska in the battlefield?
…But she never spoke a word of that to me.
Of course, she’d had her suspicions. When Sisbell had tried to hire Iska as her guard, Alice had been reserved.
“Why would you know this Imperial soldier when you are a Sovereign princess? Didn’t you just call him ‘Iska’?”
“I heard you call him by his name.”
Even using her power, Sisbell had not been able to determine the past that linked the two of them together.
…So that’s how it is, huh?
…They met in the Nelka forest?
Illumination could only work within a three-thousand-yard radius. Her astral powers couldn’t unlock these memories since the forest was so far from the Nebulis Sovereignty.
“Alice fought against Iska? …What do you mean?” Sisbell asked.
Have they always been enemies who had fought each other on the battlefield?
That meant they were sworn enemies. They must have attempted to fight to the death. There was no way they could have opened up to each other in the independent state or the villa.
“Oh? You didn’t notice from the way they were acting?”
“O-of course not!”
If anything, I’d like to know more, Sisbell wanted to shout. She couldn’t say it. If she showed any weakness, the witch was sure to take advantage of it.
“…More importantly, is my attendant Shuvalts safe?”
“Of course,” Vichyssoise said and nodded so readily, it was anticlimactic. “I’ll guarantee he’ll live as long as you obey me. Your astral power is useful, after all.”
“…What do you intend on making me do?”
“You’ll find out once you wake up.”
“Ngh.”
The witch reached her hand out, covering her vision.
“Night-night, little princess.”
And then, Sisbell lost consciousness.
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