Two of Lugunica's top magic users exchanged glances, each recognizing the gravity in the other's eyes.
Fueling their spell with wind elements, grounding it with earth, and amplifying it with fire, he unleashed a meteor that obliterated nearly half of Roswaal's mansion—yet not a scratch touched Ryou. Strange, arcane curses were futile, time-stopping magic left him unaffected, and even space-severing spells fractured around him, as if he existed in a separate dimension. No matter what magic Roswaal and Beatrice attempted, every spell seemed to veer away from Ryou, leaving him unscathed.
Roswaal, relentless, experimented with powerful composite spells. Beatrice, shedding her initial disdain, cast one dark curse after another, even employing space rupture and time-freeze spells in desperation. The sky lit up with the unceasing flash of magic, while the stately Roswaal mansion was reduced to ruins in the magical storm. Yet nothing worked—each spell, whether individual or area-targeting, elemental or temporal, inexplicably avoided Ryou as if intentionally.
Watching him stand, unperturbed, in the center of the destruction, Roswaal and Beatrice, exhausted to the brink, began doubting reality itself. The outcome was inevitable.
Casually, Ryou walked through the magical onslaught, drawing closer. Refusing to yield, Roswaal attempted to flee into the air with wind magic, only for Ryou to appear before him in an instant, using a technique called Shave. Horror filled Roswaal's eyes as Ryou's hand—imbued with unstoppable force—descended upon him.
Boom!
With a crash, Ryou drove Roswaal's head into the ground, leaving the proud mage looking like a peacock with its head buried in the dirt. Panic seized Beatrice, and she attempted to escape through a teleportation gate. Unfazed, Ryou pulled out a Space Gem, shattering her escape with a blue ripple. Frozen in shock, Beatrice could only watch as Ryou seized her by the collar, lifting her effortlessly.
Lugunica's finest magic users, perhaps the world's most powerful, were utterly defeated. Ryou beatdown Roswaal, and as for Beatrice—he endured her magic and then reprimanded her with repeated, humiliating spanks. The haughty spirit-loli shed tears, her face flushed with embarrassment, completely subdued.
...
The next morning, the group cleaned up the least damaged rooms for temporary living quarters. The atmosphere, once harmonious, had grown heavy. With the kitchen destroyed, the twin maids had to venture into the forest to hunt for breakfast. Bitter towards the man who had torn their home apart, Ram and Rem had no intention of serving Ryou willingly.
But this was Ryou. He had placed a peculiar binding curse on them, adorning their slender, pale necks with golden collars, a mark of his cruel intentions.
When Ram, her expression stony, silently placed food and plates before him, Ryou spoke up.
"A maid who doesn't greet her master properly in the morning—does that mean you have some complaints against me?"
Ryou's smile was unsettlingly pleasant.
Ram's body trembled as though recalling something unpleasant. "None…" she gritted out, adding, "Master…"
"But your eyes say you're not convinced at all," he replied, amused.
"None, Master," Ram repeated through gritted teeth.
Convinced? How could she be? Their home of a decade lay in ruins and the man they saw as a father had been reduced to a fool. No sane person could accept that.
If Ram and Rem had shown genuine obedience, Ryou would have suspected them of plotting revenge. To ensure complete control over the twin maids, and to satisfy his twisted whims, he had even spared Roswaal's life. Though, in his eyes, Roswaal's fate was trivial.
With a smirk, Ryou glanced at Roswaal, enjoying the scene before him.
The strange clown costume had been removed, revealing a handsome face. But now, that face was utterly wasted. Once as sharp and venomous as a snake, his eyes were now dull and lifeless. He stared blankly at the food in front of him, mouth slightly open, saliva dripping silently from the corner.
Yes, the once-great court magician of the Kingdom of Lugunica, the frontier lord who could single-handedly defend against an army, Roswaal L. Mathers, had been reduced to a drooling fool. Now, Roswaal truly lived up to the nickname Roswaal the Brainless.
Even so, Ryou didn't let him go. He kept him as a hostage to control Ram. Ram, of course, noticed this. A trace of sadness flickered in her eyes. Even if Roswaal had deceived them, even if his adoption of them had been for ulterior motives, the ten years they spent together had not been a lie. Feelings developed over ten years weren't so easily discarded.
Ram took out a handkerchief, intending to wipe the drool from Roswaal's mouth. Suddenly, Ryou grabbed her hand and pulled her onto his lap. Stripped of her magic, Ram had no strength to resist. Ryou's hand fell nonchalantly onto her thigh, which was covered in white stockings. The incredibly smooth texture instantly transmitted through his palm. A classic line from a chocolate commercial came to mind: "Smooth as silk."
Ryou found it fitting.
"Let me go!"
Ram struggled violently, but without her magic, her strength was no different from that of an ordinary girl. There was no way she could resist Ryou's power. His face showed a wicked smile. His hand, no longer satisfied with caressing her thigh, slowly crept upwards, invading under Ram's skirt.
"N-No!"
Ram's face turned crimson with shame, and she let out a soft, tearful moan. Across from them, Rem's face also flushed red, and she leaned weakly on the table, breathing heavily as if she could feel Ram's emotions. That was the nature of the binding curse: Shared Sensation. This curse linked the senses and lives of the two sisters. If one felt pain or pleasure, the other would feel it too. Double the fun, they called it.
But the curse's true cruelty lay in another effect: it also tied their lives together. In other words, Ram and Rem were now each other's hostages. Any thoughts of revenge against Ryou were curbed by the knowledge that any action would endanger the one they cared for most. Nothing in the world is foolproof, but Ryou believed that with this insurance, the chance of the twin maids betraying him was less than five percent. Ryou didn't think his luck was so bad that he'd lose this gamble. After all, if he lost, there were no real consequences, and if he won, he'd have a pair of battle-ready, kitchen-savvy twin maids who could give massages when he was tired and warm his bed when he was cold.
The one who provided this curse was none other than Anastasia. What surprised Ryou even more was that Anastasia had suggested it herself. Initially, he had been cautious, not daring to be too presumptuous around her. But Anastasia had come to him on her own. Curious, Ryou asked her why she wasn't jealous. Her response left him speechless.
"They're just bedmaids. Why would I be angry?"
Ryou studied her expression. There was no trace of false modesty in her words; she truly saw it that way. It then hit him—Anastasia was Russian royalty. Though far removed from feudal nobility, some old customs lingered. Bedmaids, whether from the male or female master's perspective, were seen as tools to spice up relationships, not as true partners. Poor Ram and Rem had probably been reduced to toys in Anastasia's eyes.
"That's enough! Doing such shameless things so early in the morning has ruined the taste of the food, I suppose!"
Seeing Ryou's actions growing more outrageous—with Ram collapsing weakly against him and Rem similarly sprawled over the table—Beatrice could no longer contain her outrage.
A golden collar engraved with runes was clasped around Beatrice's neck, sealing her magic. This 400-year-old spirit-loli was just as helpless in combat as the others. Ryou turned to her, a disturbingly kind smile on his face.
"It seems someone didn't learn their lesson last night."
Beatrice's hand trembled, and the fork she was holding clattered onto the table. Still, she wasn't one to give in easily.
"If you think Betty is afraid of you, then you're sorely mistaken! You better pray that Betty doesn't find a way to break this magic seal, or Betty will make you regret it, I suppose!"
Her defiance seemed almost crafted to provoke Ryou. Anyone with a short temper would have killed her by now, but Ryou only smiled strangely.
"Do you have a death wish?"
Beatrice flinched, instinctively turning her head to one side.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Why would Betty—?"
Before she could finish, Ryou interrupted forcefully.
"You want to die because, for four hundred years, you've been waiting for 'that person' promised in your contract and they never showed up. You're using death as an escape from that contract."
Ryou's words struck with certainty. Emilia, who had been too embarrassed to watch Ryou teasing the twin maids, looked over in surprise.
"Beatrice, why would you have such thoughts? Puck would be heartbroken!"
Ryou reached out and patted Emilia on the head.
"There's more to it than that…"
But Emilia, ever earnest, replied seriously.
"No matter what, life is the most precious gift. It can't be abandoned so easily."
... Your words are so full of optimism that I'm left speechless, Ryou thought, dumbfounded.
But Beatrice wasn't listening at all.
"What do you know about Betty!? You don't know anything!"
She pushed her breakfast aside angrily and began to storm off.
Ryou sighed, releasing Ram, who immediately scrambled away to sit beside Rem. The two sisters, with tears in their eyes, clasped hands and began accusing Ryou like they were in a comedy sketch.
"Rem, Rem, sister has been sullied by that shameless, lecherous master."
"Sister, sister, Rem has also been sullied by that shameless, lecherous master."
Ryou's eye twitched.
"You two haven't been disciplined enough, making jokes at my expense."
Ram and Rem, still playing the part of helpless maids, clung tightly to each other.
"Rem, Rem, this lecherous master is going to tie Rem up and do all sorts of unspeakable things."
"Sister, sister, this lecherous master is going to drag sister to the basement for all kinds of humiliations."
Ryou decided to be magnanimous and deal with the mischievous twins later. He would discipline them until they couldn't take it anymore! Then, turning to Beatrice, he dropped a bombshell.
"I can help you break the contract."
Beatrice who was about to run froze, then her face filled with even more anger.
"Don't try to deceive Betty! A spirit's contract is sacred, more important than even our lives. It can't be broken by some underhanded trick, I suppose!"
Ryou's expression turned serious.
"I'm not lying to you, nor do I have a reason to. Your contract with Echidna is to wait for 'that person' foretold by the Book of Wisdom, correct?"
Beatrice's mouth fell open.
"How… how do you know, I suppose!?"
But soon, her expression darkened.
"Even if you know, so what…"
"You probably don't know this yet, but the Witch of Greed, Echidna, isn't dead."
Ryou dropped another bombshell.