Chapter 63
Saintess Iris Fairchild.
Aside from her somewhat abnormal sexual preference for wanting to be thoroughly subdued and subjugated by the man she liked, she was not only perfectly normal and ordinary, but an exceedingly ethical person.
She hadn’t been chosen as a Saintess for nothing.
…It feels like I left out something I shouldn’t have, but let’s move on for now.
She hadn’t been chosen as a Saintess for nothing.
Anyway.
When Iris, with her perfectly normal ethical values, visited the handsome young lord she’d met yesterday, she was greeted by a woman dressed in something scarcely different from a naked apron.
“Welcome. If you’re looking for Gilliam, he’s still resting in bed.”
And with a distinctly hostile air toward Iris.
‘Is she used to situations like this?’
In other words.
Was it common for women interested in Young Master Everchess to come calling?
‘No…! He has to become my master!’
Iris decided she should first find out exactly who the woman in front of her was.
“Who are you?”
“Me?”
Lucy smiled with unconcealed ease.
“Who do you think?”
Of course, Iris wasn’t asking who Lucy was as an individual.
She was asking what kind of relationship she had with Gilliam Everchess.
“As for the relationship between me and the boy… I’d say we slept together last night, and I’m making his breakfast this morning.”
“!!!”
“I’m preparing meat for my husband, who exerted himself so much last night.”
Of course, the one he exerted himself with wasn’t Lucy.
They had slept together last night, but all they’d done was sleep in the same space.
But producing the same effect as a lie without actually lying was a basic skill for a noble.
‘Now that I think about it, what a shame.’
If she hadn’t fallen asleep while waiting for him, maybe he would’ve had her for dessert after visiting Elettra.
‘He could’ve done whatever he wanted with my sleeping body.’
If he had, her dream last night would’ve been even more passionate.
Though it had already been passionate enough without that.
‘I didn’t think he’d notice the smell even after I’d done the laundry….’
How embarrassing.
Lucy put thoughts of last night aside for the moment and focused again on the newcomer before her.
“What are you going to do? Come inside and have breakfast with the three. of. us?”
“Uuuugh….”
Iris glared up from beneath her brows, openly frustrated.
‘Is she a commoner? A lot of clergy are commoners, after all.’
If she were a noble, she wouldn’t show her frustration like that, even if she felt it.
“I-I’m fine without breakfast.”
Iris stubbornly refused. She didn’t want to eat food prepared by a woman she was competing with.
“Wouldn’t it be more effective to eat breakfast together and find something to nitpick about?”
“!!”
Iris’s eyes widened, as if she were exclaiming, ‘Gasp, that’s an option!?’
Lucy gave a small laugh.
‘She’s kind of cute.’
Her awkwardness was cute.
She was caught halfway between grabbing someone by the hair like a commoner and mocking them with elegant, roundabout insults like a noble.
‘How is she going to survive like that?’
Whether it was a fight for the principal-wife position or the concubine position, she’d have to clash with plenty of women to become someone who could earn Gilliam’s attention.
Was she planning to be indecisive and flustered like this every time?
A hint of sadistic amusement bloomed in Lucy’s heart.
“Come in. Gilliam will be down soon, too.”
“U-uuugh….”
Iris eventually followed Lucy inside, still frustrated.
“I-I’ll help.”
“Hm? You’re a guest. Just sit still.”
Interpretation: I’m already Gilliam’s woman, and we’ve done everything there is to do, but you haven’t. Don’t overstep—just sit there.
“Uuuugh…!”
Iris trembled even more.
Lucy smiled with ease.
“When did you come to the academy?”
“Y-yesterday…!”
“Really? He and I started getting to know each other intimately on the first day of classes.”
“Uuugh…!”
Overwhelming composure.
Overwhelming defeat.
But.
Lucy’s composure wavered when Gilliam came downstairs.
Because the first thing he said as soon as he saw Iris was:
“…Did you come here first thing in the morning to ask me to put a collar on you?”
“Of course not!? Who does that kind of thing first thing in the morning!”
…Huh?
‘So she did do it!?’
Lucy felt a sense of urgency.
‘They’d only met yesterday, and they’d already gone that far? Even I didn’t get a collar from the boy until quite a while after we met…!’
Iris shouted indignantly.
“I didn’t even know until this morning that the person I was supposed to meet was Young Master Everchess!”
“…What does that mean?”
Sensing danger, Lucy interjected.
“Eat and talk. It’ll get cold. Say ah.”
“I can eat by my—”
“Ah?”
Weird. Just one change in tone, but it felt completely different?
〈Next Recommended Praise (LV.3)〉
【Target: Lucy Merhantia】
Recommended line: 「I want to keep eating the meals Lucy makes from now on」
Mood: Soft and comfortable, naturally
Target’s trait: ■■ who secretly harbors a great deal of anxiety
This is the compliment that’ll get me the most points right now?
“…I want to keep eating the meals Lucy makes from now on.”
“…Honey♡”
【The target is relieved】
<Praise Points: +3000(4200→7200)>
*×3 multiplier applied
‘Relieved?’
What would Lucy have to feel anxious about?
Was it because Iris had suddenly shown up?
“But actually….”
Lucy spoke hesitantly.
“It’s really, truly unfortunate, but I might be too busy to prepare meals from now on. We’re getting a new professor.”
“In your research lab?”
“Yeah.”
Lucy was officially a research student at the academy.
The reason she’d been able to prepare Gilliam’s dinner every evening was that her advisor, Fraham, had left the academy in disgrace (and not long afterward, had to leave this world as well).
It seemed the unsettled situation was finally being sorted out after about a month.
“Is it the old professor?”
“Professor Kadisha’s side considered absorbing our whole lab, but apparently a completely new professor is coming.”
“What about you research students graduating…?”
“It’ll be fine. None of us should have any problems.”
“That’s a relief. I hope the new professor is a good person.”
“Her name is Hildet.”
“Khhurgh!?”
Gilliam choked.
“Boy!? What’s wrong all of a sudden!?”
“N-no…! W-what did you say the new professor’s name was…?”
“Hildet.”
—Wooooong! I’m Hildet! Big brooo!
No way, right?
There’s no way the third-ranking member of the <Cult of the Abyss> is getting hired as an academy professor to infiltrate it, right!? The academy’s hiring checks can’t be that shitty… surely….
Huh. Why am I suddenly getting nervous?
‘…Even if Hildet does come, she probably won’t be able to do anything strange inside the academy that easily.’
Come to think of it.
“Since you mentioned Professor Kadisha, there’s something I’d like Lucy to look at.”
“What is it?”
“They say it’s a contract woven with mana.”
“What…? That can’t be….”
As Lucy blinked, Gilliam took out the contract he’d received from Kadisha the other day.
“This. It says I can give one command to whoever signs it. What exactly does that mean?”
Lucy’s face stiffened.
‘…Why does something like this…’
Why on earth does something like this exist!?
Though it was only good for one use, its terms were absolute, quite literally.
It was an item that probably wouldn’t have been easy to produce even back when people actually kept slaves.
“What can I do with this?”
“…What can you do with it?”
Even if he ordered Professor Kadisha to dance naked in the middle of the academy, she’d have to obey without the slightest resistance.
Absolute obedience.
Subjugation.
Just imagining it made her face grow hot.
Her body throbbed.
But.
‘Why is he suddenly showing this to me?’
Gilliam, who came from a prestigious noble house, couldn’t possibly be ignorant of mana contracts.
Nobles, with so much to lose at the family level, were taught about the dangers of such items from a young age.
So why was Gilliam pretending he didn’t know what it was and showing it to her…?
‘…Aha.’
Lucy understood.
“I see.”
“…?”
You don’t have to make that face.
‘Professor Kadisha did this, so he wants me to show him the same degree of devotion, right?’
Good grief.
And here I thought it was something else.
‘You didn’t have to go to all this trouble to tell me.’
You want me to obey any order you give?
‘Even without a contract like this, I’m already prepared to do that for you.’
But you want a more definite token of my being bound to you, right?
I understand.
I’ll give it to you.
You’re already my owner anyway, but I’ll put the ownership in writing to make it official.
“But you’ll have to wait a little.”
Since I’m making one, I’ll make it properly.
A one-time command from Professor Kadisha?
I’ll make a contract that makes that thing look like nothing.
“…Y-yeah?”
Gilliam was bewildered.
‘I asked what I could do with this, so why is she telling me to wait? Does Lucy not know either, so she has to check?’
In that case, I should put off using it for a while.
Iris muttered.
“…Are all of you crazy?”
“Hm?”
…
For some reason, Iris stared intently at my face.
“Sigh… well, you do look like the sort of person who might be crazy….”
“??”
What?
What bizarre question had she asked herself, and how had she come to terms with it on her own?
“By the way, Young Master Everchess, isn’t it almost time for our appointment?”
“…What appointment?”
“Huh? Didn’t you hear?”
“Hear what?”
“The expedition to explore the temple discovered nearby. We’re supposed to meet in front of the academy’s main gate by 9 a.m. today.”
“A temple? Seia, the God of Water?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
“Why are you talking about that—ah!”
Something Professor Kadisha had said before.
—I asked the Holy Church to help us so we could challenge the dungeon before midterms.
Iris was a Saintess. A representative sent by the Holy Church.
And she’d said the date would probably be the weekend before midterms, which meant this weekend—today and tomorrow.
‘Damn these romance-fantasy people.’
How could they interrupt the students’ studying on the weekend right before midterms? Do nobles really not study?
Could I actually end up being top of the class?
‘Come on, that can’t happen, no matter what.’
Anyway.
“Sorry, but it looks like I’ll have to go out today, Lucy.”
…
“Lucy?”
“Hm? What is it?”
“…Are you okay?”
For some reason, Lucy’s expression seemed to have changed a little…?
“Me? Of course I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine. It’s not like you’re going because you want to, but because you have to, right, boy?”
Lucy smiled sweetly.
She was definitely smiling, but for some reason it felt chilling.
“So of course I understand. Yes.”
Lucy really did understand.
That the boy had spent the night out with the princess instead of her.
That a woman she’d never seen before had come to his house in the morning.
That it turned out the woman had advanced to the collar stage even faster than she had.
That he’d demanded proof of obedience from her by comparing her to Professor Kadisha.
And then, after receiving that vow of obedience, he was leaving her behind and going with a Saintess from the Church.
Wasn’t that simply because the boy didn’t want to go, but had no choice since it was official business involving the Church?
There was no surer way for a wife to earn her husband’s heartfelt hatred than nagging him when he was genuinely busy with work.
Therefore.
Lucy could understand, of course.
“I can wait for you, no matter how long it takes. So.”
Stars twinkled in Lucy’s eyes.
“Don’t worry about me at all, and go with a light heart.”
【Warning】
〈Fate: The possibility of <Witch of the Profound Ice> has increased by 35%〉
【56%→91%】