Cold.
That was the first thing Lucian noticed as his consciousness returned. The cold was followed by a pain in his chest.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and the sight before him made them widen in surprise...or perhaps, horror.
Noelle was standing right in front of him, her eyes meeting his.
Her eyes were also wide as the two slowly looked down, and the prince finally noticed the reason for the pain in his chest.
Noelle’s hands were wrapped around a golden, glowing blade, one that Lucian recognized.
The Excalibur.
And said blade was buried deep within his chest.
"H-how–" Noelle stuttered out in a horror-filled voice as she tried to let go of the blade.
Unfortunately, her body seemed to reject her command as it did the opposite.
The blade slowly sank deeper into the prince’s chest.
"N-Noelle," Lucian managed, his voice barely above a whisper.
Her eyes were wide, tears already forming as she frantically tried to release the blade, her hands trembling violently.
"I can’t..." she sobbed, "I can’t let go, I’m trying, I–"
Blood escaped the prince’s lips as he slowly felt his vision growing heavier by the second. Any second now, he’d slip back into unconsciousness.
"Stop," she begged her hands, but it was all for naught, "please stop."
She watched in horror as the prince’s body fell to the floor, with her hand still on the sword.
Just after the prince’s body went completely cold, the saintess finally regained control of her body, as all she could do was collapse to her knees.
Her eyes had gone completely blank as she looked at Lucian’s lifeless body.
What had she done?
"That was quite the performance," a voice suddenly pulled her attention to the side.
She noticed Renelle’s butler walking towards her with a smile on his face, and if Noelle had previously been scared of him, this time she was horrified.
She immediately realized that this situation was his fault, but before she could do or say anything, the butler spoke up again.
"Shall we do it again?" he clapped both hands once as he spoke, I know, why not switch roles?"
The next second, Noelle felt her vision getting blurred again before darkness took her.
The next time she regained her consciousness, the first thing she felt was cold and then a pain in her chest.
She opened her eyes and spotted the prince again, and that’s when the two noticed, everything had looped again.
And they had to experience the same,
Just that, this time, the prince was the one with the sword.
***
"I guess that’s enough," Adrian muttered before mentally asking, [Is my lady satisfied?]
After all, if Renelle said nothing, then the two would have to go through the loop over and over again.
Renelle looked at the two within the illusion, their expressions now completely blank as they had experienced a single loop over and over again.
It was the same way that she had ended up dying in the hands of the prince, in the hands of someone she once loved.
And thanks to her butler, the two had experienced the same.
Perhaps Adrian deserved a reward for this, or at least that’s what she thought as a small smile surfaced on her face before she replied,
[Yes, I think that’s quite enough. ]
Adrian nodded before placing a hand on Isla’s head, a signal for her to end it.
Gradually, the illusion faded, and both Lucain and Noelle found themselves back in the arena.
They sat exactly where their bodies had been since the reality took them, on the training ground floor, and for a long moment, neither of them did anything at all.
"Did it work?" Isla asked as the ’blindfold’ was removed and her hair went back to its usual white.
"Hmm," Adrian nodded with a smile, his hand still on her head, "thank you for your help."
Isla smiled, glad that she had been of help, even though she had no idea what she had just helped with.
Conan, on the other hand, seemed to finally realize something: his benefactors were completely insane.
And these two psychopaths were a perfect fit for each other.
Was he going to say anything, though? No.
He still owed them a lot; besides, Conan was certain that Adrian wouldn’t do what he just did without reason.
Perhaps the prince and saintess had done something against his Lady?
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Tears fell to the floor as Noelle’s vision quickly turned blurry.
Her arms were still trembling from the illusion, and she could still feel the phantom pain from the sword.
Slowly, Noelle heard footsteps approaching, and she lifted her head only to spit at the devil butler approaching.
He still had a smile on his face, almost as if he hadn’t just subjected them to what was basically torture.
She wanted to move as far away from him as possible, but her body completely refused her command.
She just sat there looking at him approach until he stopped right in front of them and looked down at her.
"Usually, I’d savor this moment," Adrian started, "but I guess this makes us even."
"Right, Lucian?"
The prince, who had been silent all this while, turned to look at the butler before slowly standing up.
He still didn’t understand why Adrian had subjected them to that, but if that’s what he had to do to help his father, then he’d endure it.
"Right," Lucian said quietly.
"I’m glad we could come to an understanding," Adrian said with a smile, "then I’ll try to figure out what’s wrong with your father."
Noelle frowned at this, wondering if something was wrong with the king.
Did that mean what they just went through was part of the deal Lucian had with the devil butler?
Was this why the prince seemed to want to speak with the butler?
She a lot of questions, but Lucian seemed to be paying her no mind, instead, he was only looking at Adrian.
"Alright," The prince nodded before turning around, walking out if the training arena.