“Hermes… Is there anything we can do to stop them?”
“I’m afraid there is no way… Master Hanayuki has already accepted the duel. She’s on fire herself. Seems like she’s holding back her fist all this time.”
“Hermes, you noticed the bloodlust earlier.”
“As a former assassin… I could sense even a pinch of bloodlust. If someone has threatened your life, as a living human, the natural response is to fight back.”
Aster and Sebastian look so worried.
I’m Aster’s acquaintance. There was a possibility that this rotten prince would turn his anger on Aster later. I can’t drag down Aster because of my actions.
I don’t want that.
“Zenon… Promised me that you won’t put a finger on Aster if I win this duel.”
“I may not look like it, but I’m a man of my word. Aster is beautiful but not my type of woman. I don’t have a single interest in her.”
“Then, you’re interested in me? You pervert.”
I pointed my index finger to him.
“Don’t get the wrong idea, Kanna… You might be cute, but that’s all you have. I don’t even get why you’re popular. Your hoaxed voice is too much to handle and you’re an insane girl. I hate working with you on any movie project.”
I felt hurt but at the same time, I didn’t get it.
Movie? Popular? Me? My voice is indeed hoaxed.
“... I’m not into a cutesy type like you… I’m into a pretty princess type.”
“Let's just start this duel.”
I ripped down my skirt to shorts size. Followed by the activation of my lightning speed. Going closer, I swung my hand with a conjured lightning sword in my left hand. Zenon dodges the s***h easily by bending his head down. His right-hand rises with the black ball.
“Shadow Ball!”
He's quite fast… Faster than earlier.
“Lightning discharge!”
A huge AoE attack was held. Lightning power destroyed anything around me in a 20-meter radius. Aster placed a barrier immediately protecting them from my magic. Meanwhile, Zenon, who couldn’t respond, was knocked 5 meters away from me.
He was directly hit, but he's still standing.
“Shadow Hands!”
Eight hands coming from his shadow emerge straight from my location. I leaped up high in the sky, but the shadow's hands chased me down, stretching to no end.
I need to speed up. More speed…
I dived down to Zenon like a bullet crashing down on him with a kick. He catches my kick with his right arm. Grabbing my feet, I hastily conjured a lightning blade on my feet, skewering his hands.
“Why not extend your blade to my neck?”
“If I do… It will kill you.”
“...”
Zenon closed his eyes and melted down with his shadow. His body then emerges at a distance away from me.
He escapes.
“Heal…”
He cast on himself, closing the wounds on his right palm.
“... There is no meaning to this duel anymore… I was convinced that you’re not Kanna Hiyami. You’re just someone who happens to look just like her. The fighting style is different and you’re not a killer. Kanna pledged to kill me if she saw me again. You’ve proven your innocence… This duel just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Tonight, I’ll indulge myself with three hot women.”
He once again transformed into pure shadow and disappeared from our sight.
It was a shame… I wanted to juice him about this Kanna. On the other hand, I would like to avoid him as much as possible.
“What was that?”
“I destroyed the dress Aster had given me.”
I panicked, looking at it with tears. I got consumed in the battle and just ripped it off without thinking straight.
Aster will hate me.
I turned to her with tearful eyes.
“You just got a wonderful opportunity there, Hanayuki.”
Aster said. Looks like she doesn’t care about the dress.
“... If you just extend the conjured blade to his throat. It will surely kill him. The attack was so fast that I could not reach it. You killed the evil prince and his corpse. We can just let the monsters in this forest eat him.”
Aster did hate evil and wanted them to die. She had some pinch of darkness within herself.
“That was admirable, master Hanayuki… Even though I was a master assassin in my youthful days, I wouldn’t Master able to respond to a kick. It was fast, the same as the speed of light.”
“You were an assassin before?”
I asked in surprise.
“Yes I am, I've always been in love with Lady Aster’s grandmother Kirie. Since I was still four years old. I have already pledged myself to serve the family.”
That’s his backstory.
“Sebastian had a great love story.”
“It was sad… Also, it's Hermes.”
“I heard grandmother rejected him thousands of times. Even my grandmother had wrinkles and was in her 80s. Hermes, who is in his prime and very popular with women, still asks my grandmother shamelessly.”
“There is nothing to be ashamed of in love… That is what I believe. It was indeed sad, but I won’t regret it. I died loving the girl I wanted till the end without any conditions.”
Hermes is surely an admirable man.
He's someone who truly knows love. Love is always giving after all.
…
We get back to Springwood city and go home to Aster’s mansion.
I headed to the huge bath Aster owned.
I immediately took my clothes off. Disappointed that it was ruined.
“I’ll ask the tailor to fix this later.”
“Don’t sweat the little stuff, Hanayuki... It’s ripped off and beyond repair… I’m not angry.”
“I see… Wait, what are you doing here?”
Aster hugs me from behind. Cuddling her cheeks to mine.
“Let's just have a bath together. Tonight is your last night after all. You’ll be going on the requested mission, Olivia, right? I wanted to go with you, but I have lots of things to do.”
After taking off our clothes, we washed first and dipped our bodies in lukewarm water.
Nothing could rival a hot spring, but this water is also nice… My shoulder is melting.
I blissfully enjoy the water.
“Hot bath sure is great.”
“I agree.”
“I used to have baths with girls at my parties.”
“Now that you mention it… Aster, I’ve been living here for quite some time. But I never saw a single one of them. Where are your party members?”
“They are all here…”
“Here? I never saw them.” I became confused.
“You’ll see them soon because you’ll join them.”
Aster said grinning.
Suddenly, my head became dizzy. Aster is saying something but I’m unable to comprehend it. My vision is spinning around.
“I have already tried to poison you many times… This most expensive poison is the only thing that works. If it didn’t work I would give up, but since it works… I guess I’ll have a new party… I mean friends preserve to be with me forever.”
Aster then hugs me.
“... I like it acting as a kind girl and then stabbing my prey behind the back. This is such a good plot twist, isn’t it? I mean you’ll never know what a bad guy looks like…”
This must be a joke… This is a nightmare… I refuse to believe this.
“Hanayuki is so soft all over her body. When I inject formalin you’ll get stiff. I wish I could preserve you like this. I’ll make you my hugging pillow.”
The Aster I respected and thought of as a friend is one of the nutcases.
“Hanayuki, don’t worry, I’ll make sure to dress you up pretty every day.”
I lost consciousness.
The moment I woke up, I saw myself inside a big room. Around me were human-sized mannequins. Both my hands and feet were tied with rope made with anti-magic material on a surgical bed.
“They are too realistic. These aren’t mannequins.”
“. They aren’t mannequins. They are my party members… They are all good people like you… I wanted them but they all left me. Because I love them so much, I wanted them to stay with me forever.”
“This is nuts… Let me go.”
“Nah… Nah… Nah… I won’t… What kind of villain will let his victim go? I’m so sorry I lied when I said no one wanted to marry me. In reality, there are plenty of them. I’m just refusing to accept their offer because. I know they won’t like it when they find out about my hobby… If somebody is poking too much in my life. I just kill them… Sometimes I ask Hermes. I don’t like blood after all…. First, I have to put you asleep and drain your blood. I’ll preserve your cuteness for all of eternity, Hanayuki.”
What is the face of evil people? Are they ugly? Are they beautiful? They don’t have distinct features.
I’m so convinced by the act she showed me. The kind-hearted Aster.
All this time I’m just playing along with her palm.
How am I going to get out of this situation?
“I’ll make a short story about this in the novel I’m writing… This is such a good plot twist, isn’t it?”
Aster said and struck a syringe on my arm. I shouted in pain but she forcefully blocks my mouth as she savagely turns the syringe left and right while it is stuck on my flesh.
“That’s that expression. I love.”
This girl is insane.