Well, here’s a plot twist, Tanya snarked to herself.
After their spectacular victory at the break of dawn, surely no one would’ve seen something like this coming.
“We’re in jail!!! Again!!!”
“Hahahaha! Mon dieu, this is hilarious!”
“This isn’t funny, Laplace!”
Atop the clock tower, with their arch-nemesis vanquished, they basked in the glory of their accomplishment—and the vague sense of emptiness that followed—as the morning sky grew brighter and brighter.
Eventually Nadine and Katherine arrived with Vis in tow. And as soon as the woman in white had confirmed her princess to be safe and sound, the captain of the guard had ordered them to stand down and surrender.
At dawn, the sleeping spell Laplace had cast upon them had worn off, and so they had come running when they heard the Explosion. That said... no matter how many elite soldiers they called to the scene, they didn’t stand a chance against the Great Sorceress now that she had carried out her retribution and regained her mana. Their lives were essentially in her hands.
So what would she choose to do?
The answer, of course, was “roll with it.”
“Hahaha! Sure, I could go for a nap right about now! I’m feeling generous—maybe I’ll take a vacation in one of your cozy little prison cells.”
Naturally, Tanya understood where she was coming from, but—
“...If they find out we nuked the Court Grand Mage off the face of the earth, I’m pretty sure they’re going to give us the death sentence...!”
She clutched at her hair in distress. Of course, since Maxwell was very literally erased from existence, there was next to no chance they’d find any evidence connecting Laplace to the crime... but even so, it was plainly obvious they’d destroyed the clock tower.
“Hahaha! Why do you look so scared, Tanya? If worse comes to worst, your old friend the Great Sorceress will take care of it! I could bust us out of here, no problem!”
“Yeah, I get that, but—”
“Besides... I owe you a lot for all your help with my revenge. From now on, I’ll always be on your side. Together, the two of us will be unstoppable.”
“...Laplace...”
She felt something warm in her chest. Laplace’s gentle smile exuded unwavering trust and deep affection... but...
“Real talk—I think we’re allowed to get upset that they arrested us!”
To everyone I left back home—my mom, my brothers and sisters, my two cats—sorry in advance if someone knocks on the door to interrogate you about me. Please don’t tell them anything.
“What’s so bad about the castle dungeons? No one ever comes here,” Laplace shrugged, winking playfully.
“Probably because you loaded the place with traps on par with—you know, the other kind of dungeon!”
“Plus, it’s comfy here.”
“Only because you transmogrified a bunch of bricks to make a tea set, and last I checked, that’s forbidden magic!”
“Non, non! It wasn’t forbidden back in my day!”
“Okay, well, it is now!!!”
“Hahaha! Oh, how far Pajan has fallen!”
Tanya heaved an exasperated sigh.
Lord help me, I’m going to strangle this woman.
But on the other hand... it’s nice to see her smiling again...
“Wh—you’re going back to bed?!”
“Oh, settle down, Tanya. Katherine and Nadine are both sleeping, are they not? We should join them.”
“Frankly, I don’t know how they could possibly sleep at a time like this!”
“Now, now, they both worked themselves to the bone today. They need their rest to recover the mana they lost.”
Tanya stared in disbelief as the other two members of Lilium lay sound asleep in the king-sized bed Laplace had conjured for them. Seriously, of all the inopportune times for a catnap... Am I the only sane woman here? I thought for sure Nadine would be on my side!
“Mmm...”
“Oh, she’s awake.”
“Hmm? Oh, good morning, Tanya.”
Nadine offered her a sleepy smile. She seemed happier now that she’d had some much-needed rest... A little too happy, in fact... She almost seemed to be glowing... You doing okay, Nadine?
Next to her lay a certain blonde foxkin girl, sleeping with a contented smile on her face... Am I missing something?
“I guess I really needed that nap!”
“Yeahhhh... Fair warning, you’ve got major bedhead right now.”
“Aack!” Nadine hastily pressed her lavender hair flat against her head. Behind her thick lenses, her eyes sparkled. “Wake up, Katherine.”
“Meow...?”
“Meoow?!”
“I thought you were supposed to be a fox!” Tanya shouted before she could stop herself.
Just then, Nadine tensed up.
“Someone’s coming.”
✦ ✦ ✦
It was Arianora. She was dressed not in her pajamas from last night, but in a beautifully embroidered dress embedded with violet gems signifying her royal status. This was Arianora Aweigkorrt, the Crown Princess of Pajan.
“Wait, what? How did she evade your traps?”
Somehow, this young girl had walked straight through the equivalent of an adventurers’ dungeon.
“Oh, right. About that... My traps are designed not to activate against us.”
“ ‘Us’? What do you mean...?”
“You, me, Nadine, or Katherine, obviously.”
“What? But—”
“And Ari counts as me.”
“Oh!”
Tanya clapped her hands together in understanding. In order to create Arianora and the other Brides, Maxwell had essentially cloned Laplace. Evidently their mana signatures were so similar, even Laplace’s spells could be fooled into thinking the Princess was the Sorceress.
Accompanying Arianora was a crowd of attendants her same age—Katherine took one look at them and yelped.
“What the?! You all survived?!”
“Yes, thanks to your perfect heat control,” they all responded in perfect unison.
There were slight variations in their physical appearances—some had dark hair, others had blonde or even white hair—but they all shared the same facial features, and each of them was the spitting image of Laplace herself.
These were the girls from the laboratory—the Brides that Katherine had done her best not to injure with her Fox-Fireballs.
“Whoa... They can talk!” Tanya exclaimed. Apparently they were more than just creepy puppets.
“All thanks to you for putting an end to Maxwell’s reign of terror,” Arianora explained, standing tall and proud among her sisters. She smiled. “Members of Lilium, I am prepared to hold an audience with you... Come and see me when you’re ready.”
And with that, Arianora turned on her heel and left the dungeon.