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༺ As Planned ༻
"You used me? What do you mean? And Absolute Obedience Magic… that's absurd…"
"..Lie down."
I coldly ordered Serena, who was rapidly spouting words with a bewildered expression on her face.
"Yes."
Then Serena naturally lay down and continued speaking.
"There is no way you can brainwash me. Even if it is you, who is actually smart but pretends to be dumb—"
"…Stop."
As such, Serena froze mid-sentence.
"Kania, I'm really sorry, but can I ask you for a favor?"
"…What favor?"
In that situation, I began whispering to Kania, who was standing still beside me.
"What, WHAT!?"
Then Kania looked startled and blushed as she exclaimed.
"Ah… Is that maybe a bit too much? I'm sorry, then I need to find another way…"
Seeing her reaction, I was thinking we couldn't use that method, so I started thinking about another way as soon as possible, but…
"…I will do it."
"Huh?"
As Kania raised her face with a resolute expression, I asked with a slight frown.
"Kania, this is neither coercion nor an order. If you don't want to do it, I'd like you to clearly express your will…"
"I'm saying this is my will."
Kania, who was still blushing, said so with a determined expression.
"If it's for you, Young Master, I can do anything."
"…Thank you, Kania."
As I thanked her and was about to turn to face Serena, Kania inquired with a worried look on her face.
"But… Will we be able to fool Miss Serena?"
"…We will."
After giving Kania a brief answer, I added a few more words to reassure her, as she had a puzzled expression on her face.
"…Don't worry, it's possible."
Having said this, I again gave an order to Serena, who had been staring at us with a vacant gaze so far.
"…From this moment onward, stop instinctively following my orders."
"Yes."
"Then continue from where you left off."
"Impossible…"
As soon as I gave my order, she continued saying what she was talking about earlier but noticed that she was speaking while lying down. As such, her expression soon turned blank.
"What's wrong? Didn't you say it was impossible?"
"Ho-How? How come…"
I laughed at her for a while and said.
"You have been following my orders since you were young. Because I cast 'Absolute Obedience Magic' on you back then."
"No… There is no way… There is no…"
"Do you want to know something even more shocking?"
Soon after, Serena was presented with a conundrum. Meanwhile, I approached her, looked straight into her eyes, and whispered.
"…The reason you love me is because I ordered you to do so."
Serena's expression hardened when I finished saying this.
"Thanks to that, I've enjoyed using you, Serena."
"No… No… There's no way…"
Serena shook her head vigorously, completely in denial, but I just ignored her desperation. I settled down on the bed and reached out to Kania.
"You two… What are… What are you doing right now?"
Soon after, I pushed Kania down to lie on the bed and began looking at her endearingly. As I held her hands, Serena mumbled while looking at us with quivering eyes.
"St-Stop with your fake affair. You will never be able to fool m…"
"…chuu."
But Serena was at a loss when I kissed Kania after looking at her lovingly.
"Sto-Stop. Please stop…"
"Mmm…"
"Stop… I SAID STOP!!"
Serena, who was watching us for a long time while mumbling with a soulless voice, ended up screaming at us, unable to suppress her rage.
"What, you're still here?"
"There is no way… you definitely weren't sincere till now, then how come?… Why did you…"
Hearing those cries, I moved away from Kania and wiped the saliva from the interlocking of our lips with my sleeves. Meanwhile, Serena trembled and muttered.
"The-There is something wrong… You would never…"
– Slap!!
Serena hurriedly came to me, but I slapped her across the cheek, then pointed to the door and said in a cold tone.
"…Go to your room and wait for the next command. Don't you dare do anything stupid."
"Yes."
Having said that, I looked at Kania lovingly and started kissing her again, and Serena, who was looking at me quietly, soon wiped the tears from her eyes and staggered out of the room.
[Serena Lunar Moonlight's Current Emotions: Love / Sorrow / Dilemma / Confusion / Suspicion]
"…Damn it."
Moving slightly away from Kania, I used my ❰Mind Reading❱ skill on her, then lowered my head and muttered as I saw what appeared on the system window.
"What the hell does she love about me?… How can she love me despite going through that…"
She wasn't sure about anything, so I thought it would be less effective… but it still would be enough to hurt her. However, it seems that I was wrong.
I had been able to get rid of the 'concern' emotion that she shouldn't have during the 'Ordeal of the System', but I hadn't been able to erase her 'love.'
Serena Lunar Moonlight was still in love with me despite having seen me fooling around with another woman right in front of her eyes, and despite being verbally and physically abused.
"Y-Young Master…"
"Ah, I apologize… Kania."
Sighing from feeling such an insatiable sense of guilt, I got up from the bed as Kania, who was still being embraced by me, slowly turned away and muttered.
"…What was the result?"
Then Kania, who tried hard to put on a stoic expression, still blushed and looked at me with a troubled expression. A moment later, she inquired cautiously.
"Her 'concern' is gone, but the love is still there…"
As I heaved a deep sigh again while replying to her, Kania had a slightly complicated expression on her face.
"…Lady Serena is truly devoted."
When I heard that, I closed my eyes and fell into deep thought.
'…Well, at least we got over a hurdle.'
The purpose of this operation was to make Serena turn her back on me completely.
What I did now would have made anybody hate me. If this had been anyone else other than Serena, it would have been a piece of cake.
However, the difficulty increased many times over because Serena was my opponent.
Because even if I, someone who loves and cherishes Serena, cursed her or insulted her, she would not change her mind about me after knowing my true feelings firsthand.
That is why I came up with a trick.
The trick was to make use of Kania, one of the 'Main Heroines.'
Thanks to that, Serena was probably shocked by how completely different my attitude was. That's why her feelings of concern for me disappeared. In its place, sorrow, dilemma, and confusion had settled in.
However, she still loved me.
If she continued to love me, her feelings of concern for me would come back sooner or later. And if this happened, she won't be safe from the 'Ordeal of the System.'
And the curse of ❰Familial Subordination❱ would continue to haunt her.
'Then, from now on…'
"Young Master, I have a question."
"…Huh?"
I was about to draw a conclusion and ease my troubled mind, but Kania, who had been sitting next to me in silence, asked.
"…Young Master, do you love Lady Serena?"
Kania asked with the same impassive look she had while she was engrossed in work. I momentarily stared at her before heaving a deep sigh and answering her question.
"If I said I didn't, it'd be a lie."
As I replied with a smirk, Kania's brows furrowed slightly and she said.
"…When we were younger, Lady Serena warned me not to lay a hand on you, Young Master. She said you were her first love."
"Did she?"
"Is it the same for you, Young Master?"
Kania tilted her head as she asked this, and I tried to turn my gaze away from her while answering.
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
"…I just, in this situation, felt like we should talk about something else."
"Did it have to be about this?"
"I apologize."
As I inquired with a smirk, Kania bowed her head and replied. I gestured to her that it was fine, then after lying down in bed for a while and blankly gazing at the ceiling, I glanced at Kania and opened my mouth.
"Kania, this is a very shameless request, but…"
"You can request whatever you want, Young Master, you have the right to do so."
Kania replied in a determined tone before I could finish, and I told her the conclusion I had reached before with a guilty-ridden look on my face.
"Kania, I apologize but… I think we will need to continue acting like this."
"…Pardon?"
At that moment, Kania's face, which had a calm expression, slightly distorted.
"Sorry, so… The fact that Serena keeps having feelings of 'love' for me is a big problem, so… and the feelings of dilemma and confusion she has right now may not last forever so…"
Because of her expression, I began spouting gibberish while feeling quite remorseful.
"…So to keep Serena from worrying about me, and at the same time get rid of her feelings of love towards me, it would be best to keep acting like this in front of her…"
"I will cooperate."
As I kept on rambling on for a while, I finally stopped and quietly looked at Kania, when she held my hand with a smile and answered back.
"…You might end up being threatened by Serena. Are you fine with that?"
"I'm quite strong myself."
"Even though you will probably feel the same guilt I feel right now?"
When I asked with a worried look, she smirked and immediately responded in a calm tone.
"I'm an evil Warlock. Guilt doesn't affect me."
"…Thank you, Kania."
It would have been rude to keep asking any more questions to Kania, who made such a tough decision for my sake, so I thanked her, and then lied down in bed and muttered.
"When this is all done, how do I apologize to Serena? No, do I even have the right to apologize in the first place?"
When she heard this, Kania closed her eyes tightly, and after contemplating for a while, she opened her eyes and asked me cautiously.
"Young Master, I know this may sound rude but… I have a question."
She was very unlike herself, talking nervously and even gulping, so I nodded my head, putting on a serious expression as I thought this would be something important.
"Earlier, Young Master, you… shook Lady Serena's feelings by showing displays of affection with me."
"…I did."
When I answered calmly, Kania continued speaking in a hushed tone.
"If Lady Serena's heart is shaken after witnessing you falsely cheat on her, then—"
"..."
"Well… You see…"
She lowered her head and stopped talking as she slurred at the end of her sentence. Soon her face turned completely red, and she whispered in a barely audible voice.
"…Thank you for cherishing me."
I looked at her blankly for a while, then soon regained my composure and answered.
"Thank you as well."
And silence lingered in the dormitory room for a while.
"I-I think I should get back to work now."
Kania broke the silence and left the room in a hurry. It was unlike her usual self.
"Phew…"
After looking at Kania's back for a moment, I quietly closed my eyes, thinking that I should try to get some sleep, but…
"…Damn it."
For some reason, the image of Serena's face shedding a tear kept lingering in my head, so I finally got out of bed while uttering a curse.
"They are all precious people that I want to save, no matter what it takes…"
I thought about the faces of all the five 'Main Heroines' who had been hurt differently by me. It was still something that I chose to do, and with a sigh, I approached the window where the owl was sitting and gazed outside.
"…If I keep hurting them like this, I won't be forgiven after everything is done."
The sun was high in the sky, illuminating the entire world, unaware of my sorrow.
– Knock knock
"…Who could it be?"
While I was staring out the window blankly, someone knocked on the door.
"Hello."
The one who opened the door and entered was neatly dressed Irina.
"I have come to work as your slave."
"Sigh…"
I was so frustrated, thinking about the heroines I had hurt, and just then Irina, who had become a slave because of me, appeared, frustrating me even more.
'…I had originally planned to share my mana with her.'
The reason why I made an 'Oath of Death' with her was also to have a justification to give her mana until she had enough.
But, having unexpectedly beaten her, I had no choice but to make her a slave that served me directly.
Because of this, there were annoying rumors going around, such as that Irina, the magical genius who had entered as top of her class, had been turned into a sex slave by Frey, and that the upright mage had knelt down before his filthy power.
It was annoying as hell to hear such things myself, so how humiliating and irritating would these rumors be for Irina?
It would be unacceptable for a belligerent, noble, and proud woman like her. Even in the previous timeline, there were some aristocrats who had insulted her and gotten hurt as a result.
"…Did you get some rest? Judging by how good you look, you probably enjoyed your time without me, huh?"
However, I still have to commit an act of False Evil on Irina today. Even if it upsets me, even if I don't want to go through with it, I have to do it.
"I have been sweeping and cleaning your room every single day, Master Frey. After all, I'm your exclusive slave."
"Really? It must have been hard. Then come here for a bit."
Seeing Irina speaking calmly, I looked at her with a sly expression and patted the side of my bed.
"…Yes, Master."
Then Irina realized what I was trying to do, closed her eyes, and slowly approached me.
"So… How is it? Can you feel your shoulders loosening up?"
"...."
I started gently massaging her shoulders.
"…This side feels stiff?"
"Is it?"
"Yes, so you know… I feel like this will probably help loosen them up."
Saying this, I hugged her gently.
"...."
"…Hmm?"
But something was weird. Irina, who would have usually twisted her body and avoided my touch, was still calmly letting me lay my hands on her.
"…Hey, what are you doing?"
"...…"
No, she wasn't just accepting my touch, she was even cautiously touching my body.
What's going on?
"At times like this… I told you to resist me, just resist…"
Eventually, unable to withstand Irina's touch, I moved away from her and poked her cheek, desperately trying to hide my flustered expression.
"…I apologize."
At that moment she, having kept still so far, looked at me and said.
"I have been thinking about it for three months, and I think this behavior is more appropriate for a slave."
Looking at her like that, I fixed my expression, grabbed her by the chin, and started speaking in an icy voice.
"There are already plenty of obedient bitches around me. So I'm starting to get sick of them."
"Is that…so…?"
"So I want you to resist me… Only then would I be able to enjoy breaking you down."
"…I understand."
As she said this, she kept staring at me.
"Sigh… This ruins everything. Forget it, today mop the…"
Feeling something strange about Irina, I put on a stony expression and moved away from her, pointing to the floor, but—
"Cough! Cough!"
I suddenly felt my heart tighten and began coughing while pounding my chest.
"…Are you all right?"
"Don't worry, and just clean the room."
Upon hearing that, Irina frowned and approached me, and I furiously shook my hand.
"...."
But Irina looked at my mouth with a sharp expression.
I put my hand to my mouth because of that, and some red blood stained my hand.
"…What are you doing? Hurry up and clean up."
I stared at my hand blankly for a few seconds, then hid my hand behind my back and ordered Irina.
"Master Frey, I have a question."
"What?"
But Irina didn't clean and instead began asking me questions.
"…When is your birthday?"
"Mine? In two weeks."
"I see. Then would you…"
"Shut up and clean up."
I felt like I was being interrogated for some reason, so I cut her off and quietly started heading to the bathroom.
"Ah, I brought some seedlings to grow in the dormitory… Which one do you think would be best?"
But Irina blocked me this time and held out some seedlings, so I pushed her aside and answered in an annoyed tone.
"…grow whichever one you want."
After answering, I locked myself in the bathroom and started letting out the coughs I had been resisting until now.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!!"
It seems soon I would have to prepare a handkerchief with an automatic cleaning function.
.
.
.
.
.
Meanwhile, around that time, at the Imperial Magic Tower.
"…What the hell kind of sorcery is this?"
"I tried a bit and I guess it worked?"
The Tower Master stared blankly at Glare, who was shattering various Magic Stones, Mithril, and Adamantium just by flicking her fingers.
"I already knew that your mana was a kind of mana that had never been seen before, but…"
When the Tower Master saw her shatter the shield she had made with all her might with just a simple snap of a finger, she was filled with awe. She then opened her mouth with an amazed look.
"Your mana and skill… the only word to describe it would be 'Miracle.'"
– Hoot!!!
"Oh my!!"
While she was staring at the child, who was sure to shake up the world of magic that had existed for so long, the Tower Master grabbed her magic staff in astonishment when a white owl suddenly flew in through the window and began pecking her head.
"Hoot!!"
Then, the quick-witted owl quickly threw up a letter through its beak and slipped out through the window again.
"Ugh…"
Staring at the owl in vain, the Tower Master quickly opened the envelope covered in saliva.
It's going according to the plan.
That was the only thing written in the letter.
"Sigh…"
The Tower Master stared at the terse letter with an irritated look, then threw the letter at Glare after tearing it into pieces. She then heaved a deep sigh before muttering under her breath.
"…That bitch."
You can read 505 episodes for $10. p.*atreon.com/Astrid02