“I think it’s all gravel now.”
“Now that’s a real pickle,” Vyce replied. “They’re gonna have to pan for gold, huh?”
The king drooped and plunged his hands to the ground, as if he wouldn’t be getting back up again.
Seeing this, Livio put away his sword and tilted his head to the side. “Can’t you fix this with magic?”
“If they just limited it to certain materials like gold or ruby, they might be able to collect them from the rubble and put them back, but unless they have an accurate memory of how it used to be, I think it’d be rather difficult to restore.”
“So it’s not happening.”
Nope. It’s probably not.
Sophie herself had once been in a position that had brought her in and out of a castle. While she knew that there was a list of what lay in the kingdom’s treasury, and someone who managed it, if it were a matter of whether or not there was someone with a picture-perfect memory of everything there who could sketch it all out, Sophie would have to shake her head no. If there were someone like that, we wouldn’t even need a crummy old list! While it’d be a different matter if there were some sort of illustrated, detailed list, even if there had been something like that, it was almost certainly long gone now.
“Now then, Mr. King,” Vyce started. “Why don’t you and I make a deal, hmm?”
Making a deal with someone like Vyce, who was bursting with energy despite this calamity, might as well have been making a deal with a demon.
The king had no hope for a positive outcome, but even then, if he didn’t make a deal, he’d just be wiped out. The outcome would be terrible no matter how things turned out.
Incidentally, none of this pertained to Sophie in the slightest, so she herself was excited. Vyce cared for Lunetta and he cared for his own kingdom, so just what would this man known as the Usurper King say?
“Sir Vyce, that’s one hell of a nasty look on your face,” Livio said, laughing as he took his place beside Sophie.
“Livio, Azuello’s so fluffy!”
“Is it okay if I see for myself?”
“Thou art master’s mate, after all,” Azuello answered. “I shall make a special exception for thee.”
“M-Ma...?”
Both of their faces flushed red.
“I-I’m not her mate yet.”
“Ye...?”
“Yet”—that was what Livio had said. Yet. So then would that mean there was a future out there where he would say, “Yes, that’s correct”?
Sophie didn’t want to just get dumped one day out of the blue since that’d be a whole problem too, and as far as she was concerned, well...she did hope they could always be together. But I can’t just go saying that!
Sophie sank more of her weight into Azuello’s billowy fur. He’s so fluffy!
“If you accept my conditions, I’ll build you a castle,” Vyce said. “And I’ll vow not to reveal the contents of these memoirs. Oh? There’s no need to thank me. This is all for my fiancée, see?”
Buried in floof and fluff, Sophie blinked in anticipation.
It was an unprecedented proposition and then some. Building a castle required an enormous budget, and if the true story of the First Witch made its way through the kingdom, the people’s faith in the royal family was sure to plummet.
However, the latter would also be a chance to clear the witches’ stained reputation. As far as Sophie was concerned, she certainly hoped they’d circulate the truth far and wide, but she was, after all, just a passerby and a part-time lady-in-waiting. Sophie sank back into her spectator seat without any objections.
“And what are your conditions...?”
“First, you’ll remove Lunetta from your family line,” Vyce said. “Don’t ever get involved with her again. Don’t you ever treat her however you feel like. Lunetta will be a citizen of my kingdom. From here on out, unless I and Lunetta permit it, you’re forbidden from exchanging words or even letters with her.”
Lunetta gave a hearty nod.
“I’d like you to screw right off, please,” Lunetta said.
And just who on earth taught her to talk like that?
“Very well...” the king answered. “So far as I am concerned, I have no need of such—”
“Answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ only. Keep yer trap shut otherwise.”
Vyce gave the king a sound kick to the face. This guy just doesn’t learn, does he? Gotta say, he sure can take some abuse, though.
“Next,” Vyce went on. “You’re going to announce you’re forfeiting the crown and have the first princess take the throne instead.”
“Wh-Wha...?” the king stammered. “N-Never in our history has a woman ever inherited the throne!”
“Who the hell cares?” Vyce bit back. “Like your kingdom has anything to be proud of in its history in the first place! Lunetta, you can amplify someone’s voice with magic, right?”
“I can share a treat with the whole kingdom.” However, that was one nasty treat.
Vyce flashed the king the memoirs, which made the king groan painfully and nod.
“A-Agreed.”
“Next one,” Vyce went on. “The princess is still young, and she hasn’t been educated as the kingdom’s ruler. Starting off a new government from scratch ain’t easy, after all.”
Every last bit of it was all just gravel now. They were hardly in any place to govern; their officials would have to work at restoring—no, making from scratch—all sorts of different documents. Oh wow, that sounds like hell on earth!
“Which is why I’ll provide you with exceptionally talented personnel,” Vyce said. “Everyone in the castle will be under them, and the prime minister will be from my own kingdom. Want me to have them support Her Majesty the Queen?”
Oh my, how kind! That’s a full-on takeover! Not that Sophie could say that.
“Th-That’s nothing short of a takeover! You shameless barbarian, how dare you—?!”
And that’s how you get a foot in your face...
Had he really been a decent king? His lack of anything resembling learning ability was astounding. Sophie found herself in awe at how the kingdom really had survived on nothing but magic alone.
Even though he’d nodded along to having the princess ascend the throne, he’d likely thought that could just be the setup while he still held all the power. His deduction had come up just a bit short, but the situation was what it was. He’d been physically pushed into a corner, had his castle blown away, and threatened when he was all alone. Thinking about it that way, he was actually putting up a pretty good effort. On second thought, keep doing what you’re doing!
“I thought I told ya to keep yer trap shut for anything besides yes or no,” Vyce replied. “So that’s a no then, huh? Works for me. Then you can just work real hard and rebuild your castle all on your own. I’ve got a fun book club I’ve gotta run off to now. I sure do hope you get the funds and people ya need, though!”
After all, the king was up against one hell of a nasty opponent. It was a commendable display of courage to try and stand up to a thug with wealth and fame.
“If I accept your conditions...you’ll truly rebuild the castle and keep that book a secret from the public?”
“Don’t put me in the same bag as you lot,” Vyce said. “Honest business is the only game I play. And more importantly,” he continued, shaking the memoirs in his hand, “if you don’t hurry up and nod, the queen and all yer vassals are gonna see ya and come runnin’, don’tcha think? You might want to make a decision before they get here.”
He was putting the “brute” in “brute force.”
While Sophie had no complaints that Vyce was on Lunetta’s side, she found it odd that she didn’t quite know how to feel about thinking that she herself was on Vyce’s side.
What would you even call this? I feel like I’m some sort of pawn for evil...
“I-I understand,” the king said. “I shall accept all your conditions.”
“You really don’t know what sorta position yer in, do ya?” Vyce asked. “Don’t get uppity with me. That’s a ‘yes.’ You hear me? ‘Yes.’”
“Yes...”
“That’s right, now you’re learnin’ to listen.”
Vyce was the worst. He was acting just like a villain—or rather, a thug. Just the worst. He was a demon—the devil himself. Was this hell? Just how can Lunetta go on nodding like that? Why are those obsidian eyes of hers sparkling so much right now?
“She’s just like the devil’s bride, isn’t she...?”
“Wonder why the first thing that springs to mind is ‘he’s a bad influence on her,’ huh?”
Livio and Sophie exchanged a dry smile.
“All right, next,” Vyce went on.
There was more?
“There’s still more?!”
“An’ what’s wrong if there is?”