After we separated from the others, we were eventually found by the guard who was searching for us. Though I’d been ready to get a scolding, Miss Maria somehow managed to smooth things over. Unfortunately, the same excuse didn’t work against the servants waiting for us back in our room.
“Really! Where did you both go!” the elder attendant exclaimed, a distrustful look in her eyes.
They’d been a bit nicer when we first got there, but now they were suddenly very cold.
“Now, we must get you ready for the party. Everything’s already prepared. Please hurry up!”
It seemed as though they’d been waiting for us for a long time. As they hurried us along, Miss Maria and I were taken to separate rooms.
“This is Dal Canto’s formalwear,” the attendant said as she stuffed me into a dress.
Dal Canto’s formal dress was much different from Banfield’s. Though they were both squeezed under the breasts, Dal Canto’s showed a lot more skin.
Seeing myself in the mirror, I immediately felt embarrassed, and tried to hide my face behind my sleeves.
“U-Um, isn’t the chest a bit too open?”
“This is how we dress in our country. Now, your escorts are here.” The attendant shut down my protests with an emotionless voice.
Four men came to escort me, but something was wrong. Was it because instead of being dressed the same, they all had different outfits? Or that their outfits were all loose, even though the party hadn’t even begun?
“Um...?”
Ignoring my questioning look, the attendant roughly pushed me onto the men. The moment I began to wonder what was going on, I was grabbed by one of the men.
“Keep quiet, missy,” came a whisper in my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. Something’s wrong here. Something is definitely wrong! They haven’t come to escort me!
“This is your fault, for making our princess upset,” the attendant said coldly, confirming my fears.
“...Ah!” I gasped as something was put over my mouth.
She stared at me with emotionless eyes, but I could feel the hostility. Since the men were covering my mouth and holding down my arms, I couldn’t even ask why before I was taken away.
✦ ✦ ✦
The men took me towards a deserted part of the garden. I could hear foreign music in the distance, but the fact that it only got farther away made me even more worried. Who are these people?
“Heh, are you scared?” one of the men laughed, mocking me.
The other three began laughing too once they heard. Feeling the danger as they cackled, I tried my best to get at least a bit away from them, but I didn’t have any luck. All it did was make them grab me harder. It hurt!
I’m scared! Wait, I’m really scared! At least uncover my mouth so I can scream! While I was gripped by a kind of danger different from that which I’d felt against monsters, they pulled me deeper into the gardens.
I was in a deserted place with four men. One of them, messily dressed, seemed to be the leader, while the other three followed behind. They seemed to be around the same age as Lord Reynard. It also seemed that they were Dal Cantan, because both their skin and hair were dark. I wonder if they would calm down like monsters did if I used Soap on them? I would have tried to use it and run, but since they were covering my mouth, I couldn’t cast it.
Trying not to lose my cool, I did my best to think. That attendant said ‘princess,’ so would that be Princess Cecilia? Could she have fallen in love at first sight with Sir Celes, and been upset that I existed? What if these people are trying to get rid of the thorn in their princess’s side... Oh no, I might be in a lot of trouble!
While I went pale from the revelation, the men dragging me along finally stopped.
“Okay, this looks like a good place. You guys ready?”
“Yessir.”
The short and stout man pulled out a large fang-like thing and a hoof. Dreading what they were about to do to me, I cringed as the leader laughed. “We’re gonna make you disappear in a monster attack.”
As the leader took the fang, Mister Short-and-Stout pressed the hoof into the ground a few times, making tracks. Now that I saw the fang up close, I realized it was covered in fresh blood. Whose blood could it be...?
They must have felt my fearful gaze, because the leader held the bloody fang out in front of me, and told me where it came from. “This is the poor gatekeeper’s blood. It’ll be covered in your blood soon enough. Don’t worry, I’m good at this. It ain’t the first time I’ve used this fang.”
“Yep, yep, we’ll kill you...gently,” Mister Curly said, chuckling.
“Shut up, you’re talking too loudly.” The leader punched him in response, then stepped closer to me.
If only I could speak! I didn’t know how much Soap would work, but it was better to try than to do nothing. Realizing that I didn’t have a moment to waste, I frantically fought back. The man who had been covering my mouth, Mister Droopy-Eyes, loosened his grip for a second as I did.
“Oww!”
Biting his hand as hard as I could, I got a chance to scream out my incantation, “Soap...!”
I didn’t know if it would work on human hostility. It might have worked against Miss Maria’s irritation, but since they weren’t irritated, I had no idea what would happen. But I couldn’t get killed here, so I bet everything I had on this.
“Wha—”
All four men flinched at the sudden burst of soap bubbles.
“What the hell...!?”
As the soap bubbles surrounding them popped, at the same moment, it seemed their strength drained from them. After the hands holding me loosened, I tried to run away, but the next moment, I was pulled right back.
“What the hell was that!” the leader shouted.
Oh no, it didn’t work! They didn’t seem calm at all, so I panicked. What should I do!?
“Was that shit your magic just now!?”
They’d started swearing at me. Didn’t that mean I had made things worse? I was rocked by despair as the leader pulled me closer. They were right. My Soap is really just a shabby excuse for magic. Of course it wouldn’t always work out for me...!
But as I paled, the leader ended up saying something shocking. “Do it again!”
“...Huh?”
As the leader started seriously begging for me to recast it, the others joined in. Um...what’s going on here?
“S-Soap...?” Egged on by the four men, I nervously cast it again. When the bubbles appeared, all of them started writhing, looks of ecstasy on their faces. This is scary! A different kind of scary than before, but still very scary!
“Man, this is bad!”
“It’s so bad!”
I didn’t know what was so bad about it, but they just kept repeating themselves, nodding at each other. Do they mean this is bad for me? I didn’t feel as cornered as I had before, though. Was I saved now? The air about them might have changed, but I was still surrounded by four strange men, so I wasn’t sure.
“Eeek!”
While I was thinking that, the leader spun around to face me, his eyes completely bloodshot. Letting go of my arm, he instead grabbed my hands, holding them between his.
“We’ll spare your life!” he exclaimed. “I promise we won’t lay a hand on you, so please, come with us!”
“N-No...!”
“We can’t let you die! I’ve never in my life felt as fulfilled as I do now! We can’t lose you!”
“Next thing you know, someone’s going to take a liking to you and drag you off.” I remembered what Sir Gaius said to me back in Amarith after saving me from the drunkard. The men were begging, holding my hands... Is this what he meant? Wait, what’s wrong with my magic!?