Soft voices lured Emilia back to consciousness. She floated in a peaceful slumber, reclining in Subaru's arms.
As her slumber began to recede, Emilia was seized by a strong sense that something wasn 't right.
The way that she was being held was just … wrong. She was being carried carelessly, not the way that Subaru would have held her.
Emilia shook her head and opened her eyes. She found herself in a magnificently appointed hallway in an elaborate mansion. There were a dozen beautiful women staring at her. Each one was dressed identically, wearing the same white maid-like dress.
Emilia realized that she was being carried slung over someone 's shoulder like a sack of flour.
Emilia straightened up and looked around. She recognized that it was Regulus who was carrying her, and she pushed him away with a gasp. Regulus didn 't try to hold onto her, and she fell to the floor with a thud.
Emilia skittered backward, regaining her feet and pressing her back against the wall.
Regulus glowered at her.
Emilia fought to catch her breath. The memories from all those years ago of the man in the white suit 's vicious attack on the forest were scarred into her mind as if branded with a hot iron. The realization that this same man was also Regulus , the Archbishop that even Subaru feared above all others, made standing in his presence even more terrifying.
"Master," a dark-haired woman murmured calmly. Her face was exquisite, and her eyes lit up as she spoke to Regulus. "Shall I begin to prepare your new bride to serve you?"
Emilia 's jaw dropped. She sputtered, struggling to find a response to this lunatic question.
Regulus snorted. " This one? She 's nothing. She's disgusting. Just a trollop of that benighted fool Subaru Natsuki! She doesn't even deserve to be here at all , much less to be honored as one of my wives. " The mad Archbishop glowered at Emilia with an almost physical malice.
Emilia swallowed hard. She turned her face away from the snarling Regulus and carefully inspected the women gathered around him. Except for the dark-haired woman who had spoken, all of the other women 's faces were carefully expressionless. Their eyes ranged from frightened to haunted to dead.
Emilia 's jaw dropped when she realized that one of the women standing in the crowd was another elf. The woman seemed several years older than Emilia, with long pale blond hair and green eyes. She was extremely beautiful, but her face was expressionless, and her eyes looked empty.
Another elf?! Emilia thought in disbelief. I haven 't seen another elf since before the forest was frozen! Except for the Ryuzus.
Regulus seized hold of Emilia 's chin with a rough hand and jerked her face back toward him. "Look at me ! " He shouted.
Emilia flinched back violently, tearing her attention away from the elven woman. She swallowed hard, looking up at Regulus and trembling in fear.
Regulus glowered down at her, his eyes smoldering with rage. "You pathetic, disgusting little harlot. My hands feel unclean for even touching you! I'll send you back to that bastard piece by piece. I'll-"
Regulus 's tirade was cut off as the grand double doors of the mansion opened and silently swung inward. A pale mist began to drift in from outside.
Regulus stared out into the darkness with a shocked expression.
Emilia could see a magnificent garden outside the mansion, but she saw no one who could have opened the doors.
Regulus swallowed hard. "128," He snapped. "Get her out of my sight. All of you, go!"
There was a beat as if these instructions were completely unexpected.
The dark-haired woman snapped into motion. "Yes, Master," She said. As if this was a signal, the other women raced away, spreading out into the house and fleeing the hallway.
The elven woman started to rush off, but then hesitated. She darted forward, seizing Emilia by the arm, and gently pulled her deeper into the house.
Emilia willingly followed along, eager to both get as far away from Regulus as possible and to speak to the beautiful elven woman. Emilia noticed that the dark-haired woman gave the elf a questioning look before hurrying in a different direction.
The elven woman pulled Emilia through a swinging door into an enormous kitchen. A dozen extraordinarily beautiful women were busy preparing food in the kitchen. They were all dressed identically, and they worked with a frantic concentration as if they feared making even the tiniest mistake.
A tiny demi-human with pink rabbit ears extending out of her pink hair stood by the counter, carefully squeezing frosting onto a pastry. She watched a line of women flee into the kitchen with a dark, suspicious glance.
The bunny demi-human considered the situation for a moment, and then she seemed to come to a decision. She bolted to the kitchen 's swinging door and opened it the tiniest crack to peer out into the hallway.
"Don't!" The elf hissed to the bunny girl. "He might see you!"
The rabbit demi-human ignored her.
Emilia took the opportunity to introduce herself to the other elf. "My name is Emilia," She began.
"You have no name," The elf said absently.
Emilia blinked. " What ? " She asked.
The elf turned and regarded Emilia gravely. " None of us have names here, " The woman said in a dead voice. "We are all known only by number. I am 78. In this place, you are nothing but an unworthy acolyte to the Master. You will only receive a number from the Master when you prove yourself worthy of it."
Emilia looked incredulous. " Why ? " She asked, putting a dozen different queries into that single word.
"Wipe that question from your mind," 78 said firmly. "In this mansion, you do not ask questions. You do not speak unless spoken to. You are no longer a thinking being. You exist simply to obey."
"Excuse me!" Emilia sputtered. "By what right do you speak to me in this way?!"
"I am trying to save your life," 78 continued in a dire tone. "The Master has exacting standards for his wives. And the punishment for failure is death."
Emilia 's eyes widened. "You're all his wives? "
78 's face twisted in agony and then she smoothed out her expression and continued her instructions in a calm tone, "You are to be silent unless you are praising the Master. You are to be immaculate and beautiful at all times. You are to walk softly and slowly. You are never to mention your name or anything about your past life within these halls. You must accept that your past life is over. As long as you live, you will serve the Master."
"This is insane!" Emilia said.
78 gave Emilia a piercing look. "The Master will kill you if you violate any of his rules, " She said simply.
Emilia 's mouth went dry.
78 sighed. "The Master will kill you if you fail to live up to his standards of beauty and decorum," She continued matter-of-factly. "The Master will kill you if you force him to think of anyone except himself for even the tiniest moment. Many of the Master's brides do not survive their first month. Hopefully… Hopefully, you will be different."
Emilia bristled. "My Subaru will come for me. "
"Your lover, husband, or whatever he is to you will never find this place. And if he does, the Master will kill him."
Before Emilia could protest, the rabbit demi-human whispered, "14! Come quick!"
A young brunette barely in her teens jumped. The startled girl was trying to fill a bowl with a fruit cocktail, but the porcelain bowl slid out of her hands, and she barely caught it before it shattered on the floor.
Her hands trembling, the girl put the bowl back on the counter with a sigh of relief. "42!" She protested. "What is it? "
The rabbit demi-human flickered her ears. "There's a girl here, 14," 42 muttered darkly. "She's talking to the monster."
"Capella?!" 14 squeaked.
Every woman in the kitchen stopped what they were doing and looked at 42 in horror.
Emilia's eyes widened. What?! Capella can't be here! She's locked up in Siros!
42 shook her head as she kept peering into the hall. "No. I've never seen her before."
"If she's here, she's dangerous," 14 whimpered. "We should all go hide until she leaves."
42 stared into the hallway, and her eyes widened. "I don't believe it," She whispered.
"Don't believe what?" A dark-haired cat-girl asked.
"The girl!" 42 hissed. "I've never seen the monster act like this before. I think… I think that the monster is afraid of her!"
You could hear a pin drop in the kitchen.
The kitchen workers all stared at 42, then scrambled toward the swinging door. Everyone except 78, the cat-girl, and Emilia were piled up behind the door, staring through the crack so that they could peer out into the hall.
"Stop! Stop!" The elven woman called 78 hissed at the others, desperately trying to pull them away from the door. "If the Master sees you, he'll…"
The women all ignored her.
The elven woman sighed as she gave up.
The cat girl swallowed hard and licked her lips. "The… the Master is invincible. He's not scared of anyone," She said in an unsteady voice. She looked at 78 as if hoping to be told she was wrong.
The elven woman bowed her head in agreement. "I've been here for forty years, 117," She said to the cat-girl in a dead voice. "I've watched people try to kill the Master with poison, with blades, and with magic. No force in the world can even scratch him. The Master needs to be afraid of nothing."
Emilia looked at 78 with anguished sympathy. Her voice made it clear that the elven woman was actively trying to suppress the spark of hope inside her before it could cheat her once again.
With a sigh, the elven woman joined the throng, peering out into the hall. The dark-haired cat girl, 117, started to join them and then hesitated. She hung back, her golden eyes frightened.
Emilia attempted to peer out into the hall as well, but the mass of bodies held her back. She couldn 't see anything, and all of the wives' murmuring meant that even with her sensitive elven ears, she could only hear about every other word uttered.
"I… How… No, of course not," She recognized Regulus's voice but his tone had lost its grandiose and pompous quality in favor of a wheedling and nervous timbre. "I… Yes…. I don't know. I'll check."
Emilia suddenly found herself engulfed by a tidal wave. The women stampeded past Emilia in a desperate attempt to get back to their posts and to look busy. The surge of bodies threw Emilia back against the kitchen island and nearly knocked her to the ground.
A moment later, Regulus burst into the kitchen. The women all worked frantically, hoping to avoid the maniac 's attention, but Regulus had eyes for only one person.
Regulus grabbed Emilia, who punched him in the face as hard as she could, but Regulus ignored the blow as easily as he would ignore being hit by a raindrop. It was clear that, for the moment, Emilia wasn 't a person to Regulus. She was just an obstacle.
Regulus wrenched at her clothing, and for one horrifying moment, Emilia was terrified that she was about to be assaulted, but then she discovered that Regulus was actually searching her pockets.
Emilia was baffled, too confused to even resist, and her pockets were all empty anyway.
Then Regulus seized on something in her pocket that clinked and jingled. With an expression of triumph, Regulus pulled Subaru 's keys out of her pocket, then he turned and left the kitchen without a backward glance.
Emilia 's face was hopelessly confused. She stared at the door that Regulus had left swinging in his hasty departure. She looked at 78, hoping for an explanation.
78 didn 't even glance at her. Her attention was riveted on the door that Regulus had just exited. 78's frightened expression was that of a woman who had only narrowly avoided a terrible disaster.
Emilia glanced at the other women in the kitchen, but they now seemed too cowed to even risk eye contact with Emilia, much less to be caught speaking to her.
Emilia screwed up her courage, and she flitted to the door, pressing her ear against it. She opened the door a crack and saw that Regulus was still talking to someone, but he blocked her view of who it was.
Emilia heard the women continuing to cook behind her. They murmured to one another nervously as they opened and closed draws, filled pots with water, and stirred and mixed ingredients.
With the women no longer blocking her view of the room, Emilia found that she could hear Regulus much more clearly. However, the sounds of cooking were so loud that even Emilia 's elven ears couldn't make out anything at all from the person that Regulus was talking to.
"Yes," Regulus whimpered. "I… No! I only did as you instructed! Goddess, I… I didn't know! How could I have known?!"
Goddess?
"Yes. Yes, I understand," Regulus said in a placating tone.
Regulus paused. Emilia knew that the other person was speaking, but try as she might, Emilia couldn 't hear a word.
She heard Regulus gulp audibly. "Yes. Yes, I understand," he repeated in a sick voice.
Then, the other person seemed to turn and walk away toward the mansion doors. Regulus followed them down the hall, speaking obsequiously and trying to reassure whoever it was. Emilia couldn 't get even a glimpse of them.
A hand landed on Emilia 's shoulder, nearly making her jump out of her skin. She spun around and saw the elven woman, 78, standing there, her expression unreadable.
"Be careful," She warned more quietly than a whisper. "There are barely any of us left. The Blood of the Forest is nearly spent. Don't be so reckless and get yourself killed so soon."
So soon? Emilia thought with a sickly feeling. In other words, this poor woman who bizarrely calls herself '78' thinks that one way or the other, I'm going to die in this place, but she doesn't want it to happen yet.
I need to get out of here. But with no magic, I couldn 't even overpower a few of these women, much less Regulus himself. I need to find a way to sneak out of here.
The kitchen door opened behind her, and Emilia jumped again.
The dark-haired woman from before entered the room. Her face was calm and resolved. A beautiful red-headed woman stood just behind her, her expression nervous.
The dark-haired woman studied all of the women in the kitchen. "It's time," She said simply.
As if this was some sort of signal, the women all hurried out of the kitchen.
The dark-haired woman gently took hold of Emilia 's arm and pulled her out of the kitchen. Emilia briefly considered struggling but realized it would accomplish nothing without her magic, so she reluctantly cooperated.
"I am the Master's head wife," The woman said patiently. "My name is 128."
"Why are you all numbered?" Emilia asked.
128 turned around and gave Emilia such a cold glare that she blanched.
"I will forgive your insolence this one time," 128 grated. "I will be patient because I know that you are new in the Master's home and I know that you have been corrupted by the outside world.
"In this place, you do not ask questions. You obey. We have all been greatly honored to serve one of the Blessed Ones. We sacrifice all that we were before to show proper respect to the Master. You have been greatly honored, and you will be appropriately grateful," She rumbled threateningly.
Emilia swallowed hard.
128 sighed and continued walking. "There are many rituals in this house. You will learn them all. You will perform each ritual flawlessly every time. If you do not, you will be punished. Tonight, you will perform your first ritual, the Renunciation of your Name.
"You will kneel before the Master and you will publicly surrender your name, your past, and your identity into his wise custody. You will beg the Master to accept you as his humble Acolyte, and you will promise to work hard to repay his generosity by earning a number in his service. Remember to thank the Master after he takes your name from you."
Emilia was utterly baffled.
128 led Emilia out into a grand and ornate sitting room. Dozens of beautiful women, all dressed identically, stood in attendance, including the women from the kitchen. They all wore glowing smiles, but their eyes ranged from terrified to haunted to just plain dead.
Regulus sat in an enormous lounge chair that stopped just short of being a throne. He held a glass of wine in one hand. Most furniture in the room lay around the edges and pressed against the walls but Regulus 's seat sat in the very middle of the room, the more easily to be surrounded by his wives.
Regulus smiled and rose from his chair as Emilia entered the room. 128 and the redhead stood on either side of Emilia. They bowed reverently to Regulus as he approached her.
Regulus inspected Emilia closely. He wore a jaunty smile, but his eyes were filled with loathing as he looked at Emilia.
"Splendid!" Regulus said cheerfully, his words and tone entirely contradicted by his murderous eyes. "Now that I look more closely, you are exquisite! Those violet eyes, that lustrous hair, and clear skin. Your slender curves.
"Yes. You will be a worthy addition to my perfect household. You will spend your days in service to me, the most perfect existence in this world, and your life will be an endless celebration of me.
"I realize that you are completely below my normal standards for a wife, but I am nothing if not benevolent, and so I will forgive this. You are now among your family. I have rescued you from the unspeakable misery of the outside world and granted your life meaning and purpose for the first time in your miserable existence," He said fondly.
Regulus paused as if waiting for Emilia to thank him, but Emilia could only stare at him in disbelief.
Regulus 's smile flickered. "Do you feel no gratitude for my kindness? " He whispered threateningly.
Emilia swallowed hard as Regulus started to pace around her with a dark expression.
Regulus scrutinized Emilia closely. "Get rid of that necklace," He ordered. "You will now abandon everything about your past as the first step of embracing your perfect new life here."
Emilia 's eyes widened, and she reached up protectively to touch the explosive slave-collar. "What ?! No! I can 't!"
Emilia saw stars, and the back of her head exploded with pain. She gasped for breath, and her feet dangled in the air.
She belatedly realized that Regulus had grabbed her by the neck and then slammed her head hard into the wall. Now, he held her high over his head without the faintest sigh of strain.
Regulus glared up into Emilia 's face as she fought to pull his strangling fingers off of her neck. "Did you just say 'no' to me?" He hissed. " No one says 'no' to me in this house! You do not think! You do not question! In my surpassing benevolence, I have rescued you from the cold, cruel outside world, and I expect to hear nothing but naked gratitude from you for this gift! You do nothing but what you are told! Is that clear? "
Emilia struggled to breathe. "Explode!" She choked.
Regulus frowned. "What?"
Emilia fought to get the words out. "It's a slave-collar. It will explode if I take it off!"
Regulus mulled that over for a moment. He let go of Emilia, and she fell to the ground with a bruising thud.
Emilia 's hands clutched her neck as she panted for breath. She felt painful bruises all across her throat.
"A slave-collar," Regulus said, his voice once again cheerful. "How utterly appropriate. A slave. Of course, the boy could never convince anyone to follow him willingly. Not even a pathetic little bitch like you." All amusement fled his voice, and he glowered down at Emilia as he finished.
Emilia trembled as she looked up at him.
Regulus 's smile reappeared. "Fortunately," he said in a magnanimous voice, "I have no interest in your past or the pathetic people you may have been entangled with. All of that means nothing here. In time, you will realize that my rescuing you from your meaningless life was the best thing that could ever have happened to you.
"You are my possession now, and henceforth, you will love nothing except me. You will think about nothing but me. It will take time for you to be properly trained, but trained you will be. You will forget your past. Nothing matters to you anymore except for me. All that matters is that you are fortunate above all other women to be given the chance to become one of my brides."
Regulus turned to the other wives and said in a grand voice. "This is a most wonderful day. Rejoice, my loves. I've found a new companion for you. A new maiden that I've rescued from the hopeless meaninglessness of the outside world and brought here to share in my perfect life. The song of my flawless existence is made even more splendid now that a new singer joins the chorus."
Emilia stared at him, completely dumbfounded.
The other women cooed and began to applaud, but Emilia saw that behind their bright smiles, their eyes were terrified.
"Welcome to your new home," Regulus said grandly to Emilia. "You are now one of my possessions. A subject in my perfect kingdom. You will remain here forever, worshiping my magnificence."
Emilia couldn 't imagine how she was supposed to respond to this lunacy.
What do I do? Subaru warned me about how powerful Regulus was. Even if I had my magic, he could still kill me with a snap of his fingers. And the collar leaves me completely helpless.
Something poked Emilia in the back. She glanced behind her and saw 128 give her a meaningful look, wordlessly ordering her to fall to her knees.
I 'm supposed to kneel now, Emilia remembered. I 'm supposed to kneel and renounce my name or something like that.
Regulus smiled at Emilia, but the smile didn 't reach his eyes. "You need to learn the truth," He whispered with a deadly smile. "The world may have told you that your beauty made you somehow special. That it gave you value, but that was all a lie. Beauty has no value until it is turned to a higher purpose. I have granted you an unspeakable honor by bringing you to these hallowed halls of mine where your beauty can finally be put to use. A woman like you has no purpose until she submits to something greater. "
Emilia didn 't know what to say.
"Now," Regulus said with more of an edge in his voice. "It is time for you to kneel down and beg to become one of us. This is your only chance to have a life of meaning and purpose. The only way that you can have a purpose is to become my unworthy acolyte. Now. Beg."
Emilia 's hands trembled as she stared into the face that had haunted her nightmares ever since that night in the forest so long ago.
Emilia swallowed hard. As scared as she was, the memory of Regulus 's cruel assault on the forest filled her mind with flames.
"No," Emilia said. She tried to sound brave and defiant, but her voice trembled.
Regulus 's fake smile disappeared, and his eyes glittered insanely. He stepped forward, raising his arm as if to smash Emilia to pieces.
Emilia flinched back and shut her eyes tight.
A moment later, she hesitantly reopened them and saw Regulus standing there, struggling to restrain himself. He glanced at the other wives and then slowly lowered his hand.
"Hm," Regulus said thoughtfully. "It seems that we have a defiant one here. And defiance can be contagious. As your benevolent guardian, I can not allow this. This sort of behavior may have been tolerated in the world outside, but in this house, defiance has… consequences."
The other wives trembled like trees in the wind, and Emilia swallowed hard.
Regulus gave her a malicious grin. "42," He murmured.
The tiny, pink-haired bunny girl immediately bolted to Regulus 's side. Her face was terrified, and she panted for breath. Regulus put his hands around 42's shoulders. What could have been a gentle caress was revealed as painful by the bunny girl's immediate squeak of pain as he squeezed her slender shoulders.
Regulus looked at Emilia while running his fingers through the bunny girl 's pink hair. His caress was deliberately rough, and 42 kept wincing as he rubbed her head.
"Oh, yes. Defiance has a price," Regulus said philosophically. "Are you prepared to pay that price?" He asked Emilia threateningly.
42 winced as Regulus 's rough hand squeezed her face. 42 looked at Emilia with terror written all over her face.
Emilia stared at Regulus in horrified disbelief.
"Defiance is contagious," Regulus said sadly. "It hurts not only the defiant but also everyone else around them. And as the benevolent and loving guardian of our perfect way of life, I can not allow that.
"No, defiance must be uprooted and excised from the very beginning. You might think that by being defiant and disrespectful, you're hurting me. But I'm not the one that you're hurting by your selfish actions."
42 let out a pained cry as Regulus 's grip tightened.
Emilia trembled.
"Kneel. And beg," Regulus grated, all pretense gone from his voice.
Emilia swallowed hard.
128, and the redheaded wife quickly came to Emilia 's side. 128 whispered into her ear, instructing her to what Regulus was demanding that she say.
Emilia stared at the terrified bunny girl in front of her.
Either I give in, or Regulus makes her suffer in my place … It seems like people are always suffering because of my mistakes.
Emilia squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she slowly knelt on the floor and bowed her head.
"I…" Emilia stammered, trying to repeat 128's whispered words. She swallowed hard and tried again. "I… renounce my name. I am 'Emilia' no longer. I forsake my… my old life, and now I belong only to you. I… will love nothing except for you. My life is meaningless without you. Please… let me be your worthless Acolyte," She finished in a broken voice.
Emilia felt mortified. She felt like she was prostituting herself to Regulus, abandoning her pride, her dignity, and even her desire for justice for the attack on the forest by groveling before Regulus like this.
Tears slid down Emilia 's face.
Regulus calmly watched her, giving her ample time to appreciate her own actions.
Then Regulus 's face twisted into a sneer. "Was that the best you can do? Pathetic. "
Emilia looked up at him in confusion.
"Did you really think that you can lie to me?" Regulus demanded, his face twisted in wrath. He grabbed the bunny girl's hair and gave it a savage yank. The girl screamed out in pain.
Emilia 's eyes widened.
"Do you think that I can't see that you're not being sincere?!" Regulus bellow. He gave the bunny girl a vicious backhand, breaking her nose.
"Stop it! Leave her alone!" Emilia screamed. She tried to leap to her feet, but 128 and the redhead held her down on her knees.
"You're the one doing this to her!" Regulus screamed, striking the bunny girl again. "I told you what to do! I told you how to spare her from this! All you had to do was be sincere! But you were too proud, too selfish, and too defiant! Now she suffers because of your decisions!"
Regulus punched 42 in the face, and her cheek broke as purple bruises blossomed all over her face.
The stunned demi-human began to fall to the floor, but Regulus grabbed her shoulder and held her up. He began to beat her without pause, striking her again, over and over.
"One! Two! Three!" Regulus shouted, counting off the blows with a savage grin. The tiny bunny girl's head rocked back from every hit, her body twisting and flailing in pain.
"Please, stop it!" Emilia screamed.
"You can stop this!" Regulus snapped, not pausing in his savage beating. "Beg! Prove your sincerity!"
Emilia froze for a single second, then bent forward, prostrating herself on hands and knees.
"Please! I'm sorry, I was wrong! Please, let me be your Acolyte!" Emilia groveled desperately. "I'm nothing! I'm worthless! I don't even deserve to serve you! My life is meaningless without you! I have nothing! I am nothing! The only thing that gives me value is being here! I'm sorry for being stupid and defiant! Please, let me serve you! Please! I don't deserve it, but please accept me as your most worthless Acolyte!"
On and on, Emilia begged. And on and on the beating went.
Finally, Regulus stopped the beating with a satisfied sigh. The bunny-girl dangled from his grip like a limp rag doll, her face nothing but a bloody mass of purple and black bruises. Her head was swollen up like a tumor. Her nose had been broken, and both eyes were nothing more than huge purple bruises on top of a pair of crushed cheekbones. She 'd had several teeth knocked out, and her mouth looked like a bleeding wound. She now barely had a face at all, just a mass of bleeding wounds all across her head.
Emilia stared at Regulus in absolute horror. She 'd never encountered this kind of sadistic, targeted brutality before.
Regulus looked at Emilia with a considering eye. "I think that will do… for now," He said reflectively. "One more thing. 42, what do we say?"
The bunny-girl twitched in Regulus 's grip. Her bleeding lips parted, and she panted for breath. She wheezed once and then twice… She struggled…
Finally, she whispered in a barely audible voice, "…Thank you, Master, for correcting us."
Regulus smiled and dropped the bunny girl to the floor with a thud. She landed limply, unable to even try to stop her fall.
"128, take care of this," Regulus said dismissively.
The woman holding Emilia 's shoulder gestured to the elf woman, 78.
78 scrambled to scoop up the broken 42 in her arms. 78 's hands glowed with a pale green light, and she performed some kind of healing magic on the girl. 42's wounds remained grievous, but her breathing steadied a bit. 78 quickly carried her tiny body out of the room.
Regulus stared down at Emilia, his expression smugly satisfied. "Now. Who are you? " He asked in a menacing tone.
Emilia cringed, and she cursed the slave collar wrapped around her neck.
If only I had my magic! I couldn 't fight back against Regulus, but at least I could break free from the women holding me! I could try to run and escape. And I could have at least tried to fight Regulus. But with the collar on, I 'm utterly helpless. I'd be lucky to be able to fight Felt or Petra!
Emilia swallowed hard. "I'm… I'm nobody. I'm just your Acolyte," She said in a dead voice.
Regulus smirked. "And who is 'Emilia?'"
Emilia choked. "…There is no Emilia…" She whispered. The words were like shards of ice in her heart.
Regulus clapped his hands together in delight. " Very good , " He said in a jaunty tone that didn 't reach her eyes. "Now. What do we say?"
There was a long pause. Misery welled up inside of Emilia even as she forced herself to go on with the final humiliation.
"…Thank you, Master… for correcting us…" She whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks.
Regulus looked at the other wives with a satisfied smile.
"Excellent, my dear Acolyte," Regulus said in a kindly voice. "You finally admitted to what I knew all along. You're right. You are nothing. You are worthless. You do not deserve to be among my perfect wives. Your life never had any meaning, and it still doesn't. It won't have any meaning until and unless I finally accept you.
"But now you've finally admitted the truth. You've admitted that your greatest problem is your own disobedience and pride. And now that you've admitted to it, those sins can be cured. I will help you overcome them, but you must put in the patient labor to become more than you are. To become worthy of me before you will finally have any value. And since you pleaded so beautifully, tonight I will grant you your first lesson. 128, bring her down to the Mirror Room."
Emilia felt herself pulled to her feet by 128 and the red-headed wife. The other wives just stared at Emilia in horror as the pair pulled Emilia from the hall. Regulus watched smugly as they went.
128, and the redhead half-dragged Emilia down the hall.
"Where are you taking me?" Emilia whimpered.
128 barely spared Emilia a second glance before she backhanded her.
Emilia 's head rocked back, and if not for the redhead catching her, she would have fallen. Emilia touched her sore cheek, and she felt a bruise forming.
"I already told you," 128 said calmly. "You do not ask questions. Come along, 246. We need to hurry. The Master will be displeased if she's not prepared in the Mirror Room by the time he arrives."
The red-headed 246 just looked sick.
The pair kept pulling Emilia deeper into the mansion. Emilia was helpless to resist as they led her down a long flight of stairs to what had to be the mansion 's basement.
"Acolyte," 128 said patiently. "I want you to consider what a mercy it is that the Master has allowed you this chance. Not every woman is granted the honor of the Mirror Room. It is a place where you will have a chance to confront all your deepest flaws, even those that you yourself can't see yet. But rest assured, the Master will show them all to you. In time, you'll come to appreciate what a blessing this is and how badly you need the Master's guidance. He sees all of your flaws, including your own stubborn pride. And tonight, he will help you to move past it."
128 and 246 dragged Emilia into a strange room. It was the size of a theater, and except for a small elevated stage in the center, the room was entirely covered in mirrors.
Everywhere Emilia looked, she saw her own reflection. In the mirror, Emilia could see that 128 's blow had already left a purpling bruise on her cheek.
The wives pulled Emilia onto the stage, where a pair of manacles on chains dangled from the ceiling.
128 inspected Emilia closely, seeming to measure her, and then she used a lever on the stage to lower the manacles slightly.
128 and 246 clapped Emilia 's wrists in the manacle so that she hung by her arms from the ceiling, her toes barely able to touch the stage floor. There was a metal grate directly under her feet.
Emilia trembled in fear, wondering what horrors awaited her in this terrible place.
246 looked at Emilia sympathetically. She seemed about to say something comforting, but then she blurted out, "Don't you understand? It's your own arrogance that makes this necessary! " She said in a desperate voice. "But in this room, the Master will show you who you really are. Only then can you be worthy. "
"246," 128 said quietly.
246 winced and bowed her head.
Emilia looked at 128 and trembled at her unyielding expression.
246 gave a soft sigh as she and 128 grabbed hold of Emilia 's robe. With a single deft movement, they tore it completely off her body.
Emilia screamed out in panic as the two women roughly stripped her.
They quickly gathered up the shreds of cloth, leaving Emilia hanging there, completely naked. Everywhere she looked, she saw her own reflection, and somehow, that made her feel even more naked than she already was.
"What's happening?! What are you doing to me?" Emilia screamed.
128 scowled at these questions. She raised her hand to strike Emilia again, and then she hesitated.
128 lowered her fist with a sigh. She looked at Emilia almost sympathetically. "Acolyte, it's not easy to let go of your past self, but after tonight, you'll be chastened and free. If it seems harsh then just remember, the Master only does this to help you. Don't try to fight it. Submit, and you will find peace. You may feel humiliated right now, but the Master always knows what's best for us. Even if we ourselves can't see it."
With that, the two women turned and left the strange mirror room. Emilia hung there, naked and helpless, as she struggled to stand on her tiptoes to keep the weight off her already tired arms.
Emilia hung there trembling as she wondered what Regulus planned to do to her for her first 'lesson.'
Subaru wasn 't sure how long he lay there, face down on the field. He just lay there, blending in with all the other garbage and debris scattered across the landscape from Regulus's attack.
"Subaru," Felt murmured uncertainly as she approached. "Are you OK?"
Subaru gave a snorting sound that might have been a laugh.
Felt looked rueful. "Yeah, OK. I guess that was a dumb question," She whispered.
Felt studied him for a moment. "…Hey! Are you just going to lie there? " She demanded in an angry voice.
"I can't fight Regulus…" Subaru whimpered. "I can't even scratch him…"
Felt took a deep breath. "What the hell , Subaru?! Since when do you give up and quit just because everyone tells you that something is impossible?! " She asked in a scathing voice.
Subaru laughed hoarsely, rubbing his face into the dirt.
That might be the funniest thing I 've ever heard…
Since when do I give up? I 've done nothing but give up my entire life.
Felt snarled. "Come on, Subaru! You think you're the first one who's ever gone up against someone who's unbeatable? I do it all the time!"
Subaru groaned and slowly pulled his face up out of the dirt. "What are you talking about?" He asked in a dead voice.
"I'm talking about Elsa, Subaru. Remember back at Gramps's tavern? If you hadn't been there that night, Elsa would have killed me. And Gramps, too!"
Subaru groaned. "Elsa was nothing! Elsa-"
"To you and Red, she might be nothing! To me, she was like some kind of demon! She was knocking Gramps around like he was a rag doll! We had absolutely no chance against her! She would have killed us both like she was swatting flies. You didn't even know us, but you jumped into the fray to protect us anyway, and you nearly got cut in half doing it!"
Subaru shuddered at the memory.
Felt sighed and sat down beside him. "Look," She said in a more conciliatory tone. "I never asked you for help that night. Hell, I even stole that damn insignia from you… or from Emilia or whatever. You had every right to hate me. To just … stand back and watch while Elsa sliced me to ribbons. But when I needed a hero, you were there! Now, Emilia needs a hero! Are you just going to sit there in the dirt and give up on her ?! "
"Felt," Subaru muttered, his voice choked with misery. "You don't understand. I threw everything that I had at Regulus! And I didn't even muss his hair…"
Felt snorted. "Yeah. Regulus is pretty tough. But we both know that you've dealt with way worse. Hell, you 've done things that no sane person would have even tried ! And now you 're just going to let this guy scare you into giving up? That's not the Subaru that I know. Sitting here sulking is not going to get Emilia back. So we can either get up and fight back, or we can give up and leave Emilia in the hands of that monster. Which is it going to be? "
Subaru stared at her and shook his head helplessly. "Felt," He whispered.
Felt gave a profound sigh. "Look…." She said awkwardly. "I… I know I'm not real good at saying this kind of stuff, but… Aside from Gramps, you're the only person that I've ever really looked up to.
"People throw the word 'hero' around a lot, but to me… that's what you are, Subaru. You're a man who's always done the right thing, even if it was hard. Even if the whole world turned against you… Even if we all turned against you…
"Emilia needs you to get back up and find a way to rescue her, Subaru. Hell. I need you to get back up and try again," Felt said, her voice growing thick. "I need you to get back up because I am not a hero! I'm just some stupid kid from the slums who's been in way over her head for months! I'm just an ordinary girl! All I have is a blessing that lets me run away from trouble! I don't have any powers or magic or anything like that! I can't fight monsters! Anri could probably kick my ass in a fight! But I'm out here with you, Subaru. I'm staring these monsters in the face every day because I believe in you! I believe that somehow, you'll find a way to beat the odds one more time! I believe that you'll find a way to keep us all safe and to keep going! And I am sitting here scared to death right now because if even you're going to give up then what possible hope is there for me?"
Subaru was shocked to see that Felt was trembling, tears dripping down her face.
"Felt," Subaru whispered, reaching out his hand to her.
She batted it aside. "I don't need you to hug me and tell me that everything is going to be OK, Subaru, " She said tartly. "I need you to prove to me that the man I always saw in you is still there! I still need a hero, Subaru. And Emilia needs a hero now more than ever! The person that you claim to love the most in the entire world is in mortal danger, Subaru! So. What are you doing to do about it? " She demanded.
The words washed over him. Subaru lay there feeling completely helpless. "I… I don't know, Felt…. I wish I did…"
"Lord Subaru!" Brador cried out, rushing out of the dark field and over to them. "Are you alright?"
Subaru took a deep breath and slowly got back to his feet. He tried to use the distraction of Brador 's presence to push back against the overwhelming despair.
"Regulus took Emilia," He told Brador in a shaky voice.
Brador looked indignant. "That monster . He 's been savaging Vollachia for generations, killing innocent people and stealing whatever woman caught his eye."
Subaru 's throat tightened. With that statement, he foresaw an entirely new threat to Emilia, above and beyond Regulus killing her.
Subaru took a deep breath. "Do you know where he is?"
"I don't," Brador admitted. "But Imperial Intelligence most certainly will."
"Then maybe the Emperor can help us defeat Regulus and rescue Emilia," Felt murmured.
Subaru snorted. "Yeah, right. Does the Emperor have a pet dragon that he could lend us? What about a nuclear bomb?" Subaru's despair was starting to be buried under the overwhelming rage at his own helplessness.
"A what?" Felt asked.
"It doesn't matter," Subaru snarled, getting up in Brador's face, using the minor functionary as an outlet for his rage. "What matters is that against someone like Regulus, the Empire is completely useless!" He snarled.
Brador 's face twisted in outrage. "Lord Subaru! That is outrageous! That is completely untrue! The Empire is never helpless against any foe! "
"You live in a dream world," Subaru snapped, pacing around, feeling like he might explode from fury at his own helplessness. "Nothing can hurt Regulus."
"Please! The Empire has a plan for all contingencies! Even the witches feared the First Emperor's-" Brador cut himself off abruptly.
Subaru 's gaze locked onto Brador like a hunting predator. "What did you just say?" He demanded.
The First Emperor …. That's the person that Korë mentioned. The person who had the weapon that Sphinx wanted. The weapon that Sphinx thought could protect her against the witches.
If it works against witches, then it must be able to work against Regulus!
Brador looked like he realized that he 'd just let slip something most unwise. "I… I was saying that it's unforgivable for you to speak so rudely to your host and-"
"The First Emperor's what?" Subaru snapped, getting so close to Brador's face that the minister flinched. "What could he possibly have had that the witches would be afraid of?"
"His… his army," Brador said weakly. "The Vollachian Army is invincible and-"
"Brador," Subaru said in a deadly whisper, raising the golden staff over his head like a club. "My wife has just been kidnapped by an authentic monster. I don't know what he wants with her, and I'm already having nightmares about what he might do to her. I'm literally thirty seconds from using the golden staff to tear this whole region to shreds, including you. So, if you have anything that you'd like to share with me, now would be a good time."
Brador swallowed hard. "Lord Subaru," He said in a frightened voice. "I… I can be absolutely certain that the Emperor has the means to assist you in this matter. I give you my word . So, if you would speak to him and- "
"How?" Subaru grated. "How are you so certain that the Emperor can help me defeat Regulus?"
"Lord Subaru-"
"If I were you, I'd just tell him, buddy," Felt said pointedly, folding her skinny arms across her chest. "This is a man whose patience is gone."
Subaru seethed. "Brador, the next thing that you say that doesn't answer my question is going to be the last thing you ever say, " He hissed.
Brador 's face grew trapped. "Lord Subaru, you don't understand! I'm not even supposed to know about this! I just overheard it while bringing documents to a classified meeting! If the Emperor found out that I even knew about it, much less that I told you, he 'd-"
"Kill you?" Subaru finished calmly.
"Well, yes. Among other things," Brador looked sick to his stomach.
"Well, Brador, I'd say that you have quite the problem then," Subaru said in a deadly whisper. "It sounds like Vincent has already made up his mind to kill you as soon as he finds out that you know about this. So. If I might make one small suggestion, why don't you worry less about Vincent, who's already made up his mind to kill you, and more about me, who's still mulling it over?"
Felt looked shocked at this naked threat, but she didn 't say anything.
Brador swallowed hard. "There's… a weapon," He whimpered.
"What kind of weapon?"
"I don't know! I swear that I don't! But when the Empire got word that the witches' seals were beginning to fail, they held an emergency meeting at the top level, way above my clearance level. I was only called in to deliver some documents to the attendees, and I overheard them talking."
"What did they say?"
"Well… They stopped talking as soon as I had entered the room and didn't start up again until after I'd left. But I heard one of his majesty's top advisers ask about 'the First Emperor's weapon.' He said that if the Witch of Envy really did break free, it was the only possible weapon that could defeat her, and he asked his Majesty if the time had come to recover it from the Vault."
"And what did Vincent say?" Subaru grated.
"His Majesty said 'no.' He didn't want to retrieve it yet. He was worried about the civil war and the possibility of it falling into the wrong hands. He said that they would wait."
"A weapon that could defeat the Witch of Envy?" Felt whispered incredulously.
Subaru took a deep breath. "Alright. Alright, I think we know all we need to know for now. It's time for us to go see Vincent."
"Forgive me, Lord Subaru," Brador said, backing away slowly, "But it will be hours before the camp is even… err, extinguished. Let alone before we can gather an escort to travel." He gestured at the army camp, now in shambles.
"Who needs an escort?" Subaru snorted. "Let's move!"
"But what if Octavian's forces take advantage of the confusion and come out of the jungle to try to attack us?!"
"I couldn't be that lucky," Subaru growled, lifting the staff. "Anyone who attacks me right now is walking face-first into a meat grinder!"
"Hang on, Subaru! What about Garfiel?" Felt asked.
This brought Subaru up short. " Garf ?! Wait, what happened to Garf? Where is he? "
"He fled into the trees with most of the soldiers during the attack," Felt explained. "We need to go find him before we leave."
"That's a bad idea!" Brador said at once.
"Excuse me?" Felt asked in a dangerous tone.
"The jungle is under an enchantment! People can go in, but they can't come out!"
"What?" Felt gasped in horror. "You mean that's the Gandahar Jungle?"
"Bullshit," Subaru said in an icy voice. "You literally just told us that Octavian's forces are coming out of the jungle to try and ambush your men!"
"That's true," Brador admitted quickly. "They have found a means of bypassing the curse. And the Emperor might know what it is and be willing to share it with you. But I don't know what it is."
Subaru made a face. "Alright then," He said apologetically to Felt. "We need to talk to Vincent before we can try to save either Emilia or Garf. So that 's what we'll do."
Felt made a face like she was in pain. "We need to save Emilia first," She grumbled, shaking her head in disgust.
Subaru looked at Felt in surprise.
Felt took a ragged breath. "Garf is smart and strong. He can protect himself for a good long time and he has all those soldiers to help him in there. Emilia's power is completely sealed, and she's in the clutches of that monster. We both know that we need to save her first, Subaru. I understand that. Just… promise me that you won't forget about Garf. He doesn't deserve to be an afterthought after everything he's done for us."
Subaru nodded at once. "You have my word. We'll find a way to bypass the curse on the jungle and rescue Garf."