Chapter 54: Servant Cedric (20) - Farewell, My Servant.

#54화 Servant Cedric (20) - Farewell, My Servant.

The Great Demon Lucidra had been in a good mood lately.

Just how good, you ask? Good enough that even when she stood or sat alone, a laugh would suddenly slip out and the corners of her mouth would twitch.

For a Great Demon who, in the distant past, had swayed countless people with a mere gesture or a smile, it was hardly fitting behavior, and Lucidra knew that as well—yet she still could not hold back her laughter.

'This time, I win!'

It had been several months since she awoke from her long seal and formed a contract with Crown Prince Alondre.

At first, she had assumed that tormenting one precious young master who had likely been spoiled and knew nothing of the world would not be difficult at all, but Crown Prince Alondre was an extraordinary being in many ways.

No, to put it kindly, he was extraordinary; to be bluntly honest, he was simply not human.

Because of that prince’s cheat-like abilities and even stranger personality, just how much had she been toyed with and put through misery all this time?

But those humiliating days ended here.

From Lucidra’s perspective, that noble girl Claudia had absolutely no intention of letting Cedric—the Crown Prince’s doppelgänger—go.

It seemed the prince himself thought he had already done everything he could, and that since the contract period was over, he could simply leave without looking back, but when had human hearts ever been so neat and tidy?

'As a rule, there is nothing more reckless than a girl who’s fallen in love. No matter how exceptional you are, this time you won’t have any special way out.'

Whether she used the power she held as a noble to forcibly keep him by her side, or threw a tantrum and insisted he’d revert to a wastrel if he disappeared, either way it would go against the prince’s intention of having Claudia stand on her own as a lord after his departure.

And that also meant Lucidra would win the wager she had made with the prince.

'...Heh, hehe. Hehehehe! What should I ask for? What should I demand to repay that shameless man for all the humiliation I’ve felt?'

Because the contract had been drafted in the prince’s meticulous style, she couldn’t make absurd demands the way demons usually swindled contract holders.

There was no way she could do something outrageous like turning the empire upside down by making the prince her puppet.

But it was more than enough to vent her personal grudge and anger.

Still mulling over the delightful possibilities, Lucidra soon shifted her consciousness from the prince’s shadow to Cedric’s shadow.

Now then, let’s see what kind of trouble that adorably cute noble lady would cause to torment Cedric, that is, the Crown Prince—

“…Okay. I’ll let him go.”

─Huh?

***

After finishing her conversation with the marquess, Claudia returned home.

On her shoulder was a blood-red snake, one of the marquess’s blood beasts, lent to her because he himself couldn’t go.

Even though she had achieved her desired goal, her expression was dark.

'Cedric is an imperial agent?'

The marquess himself had drawn the line by saying it was only a "guess," but Claudia felt a strange certainty in his tone.

More than that, if his guess was correct, it would perfectly explain Cedric’s bizarre level of competence.

She wanted to deny it, but she couldn’t.

That fact burned Claudia’s chest.

“Young lady?”

The moment she saw Cedric looking at her with those round eyes, Claudia lost her words.

She had so much she wanted to say to him after meeting him, but now that she was actually facing him, her mind went blank and she couldn’t say a thing.

-Ssshh.

But the blood-red snake she had brought with her was different.

Eager to return to its master as soon as possible, the snake ignored Claudia’s dazed state and, flicking out its tongue, carefully observed Cedric.

-Ssshh?

Then it raised a question mark over its head.

A powerful predator’s instincts told the snake that the creature before its eyes was unquestionably on the brink of death.

At the same time, those same instincts told it that he was also in a state of overwhelming power and momentum.

Faced with those contradictory sensations at once, the snake would have kept tilting its head if it were human, but in the end simply conveyed what it had felt to Claudia exactly as it was, from its own, or rather this snake’s, point of view.

But one thing to note here is that blood beasts do not fully understand human language and then speak accordingly.

They merely exchange "intent" with the being connected to them by blood, the one they can call their parent and master.

So while communication with their original master, the marquess, was fairly smooth, there was a slight problem when it came to Claudia, who had inherited his blood but was still, of course, a different person.

Specifically, it caused a subtle distortion, like an incompetent interpreter slightly mangling the message midway.

The marquess knew this and had explained it to Claudia, but she, already half out of her mind, had let it go in one ear and out the other.

The marquess noticed this, but he did not bother grabbing her and telling her to listen properly.

After all, if they were only talking about whether something hurt or whether one was fine, even a slight distortion would not cause much trouble.

As a result.

-This guy is definitely on the verge of death. But maybe he's somehow okay because he's connected to something huge?

That sentence.

-This guy is already dead. But maybe something huge is clinging to him and forcing him into a state where he's okay?

had been twisted into something like that.

Naturally, Claudia was horrified.

With a trembling voice, she asked Cedric without thinking.

“Cedric, you… are you, by any chance, connected to someone through some kind of magic?”

Cedric’s expression stiffened in an instant.

It was the most shocked reaction Claudia had ever seen from him.

Cedric’s gaze went back and forth between Claudia and the blood-red snake on her shoulder, and soon a bitter smile appeared on his face, as if he had realized everything.

“You suddenly left the mansion without saying a word, so I was worried—turns out you went to ask the marquess for help.”

“N-no, that’s not what matters right now. So? So you said you were fine? Because of that magic?”

Something of great power was holding Cedric and sustaining his life.

That was not such an unfamiliar concept to Claudia.

Even the blood beasts she handled could recover from any injury as long as they returned to her alive.

And Cedric let out a short sigh.

If he could have hidden it until the end, maybe there'd be room to deny it, but to deny it in front of someone who had already seen through the truth would only look ugly.

“That’s right. As long as this doppelgänger magic exists, true death will never come to me.”

“To think you were under such a subjugation spell…!”

Claudia could not help but be shocked.

Not only did they send an imperial agent, they even kept hold of his life and controlled him.

Just how powerful—and how wicked—was the Empire?

To Claudia, who had gone speechless and was only opening and closing her mouth, Cedric continued his confession.

“Everything I did here was not entirely innocent. No, in a way, you could call it wrongdoing. After all, I deceived and used you, young lady.”

“That wasn’t your fault….”

To Claudia, Cedric had merely been forced to obey the orders above him, with his life held on a leash.

How could that be Cedric’s crime?

“No, it was my fault. I acted of my own will.”

But Cedric firmly denied it.

For him, it had simply been the truth, with not a shred of lie, yet to Claudia even that looked like nobility that refused to shirk responsibility.

“To cause my liege such grave worry, I may be a servant unworthy of the title.”

“R-right now, I’m not the one who’s important, am I?”

“No, you, young lady, are the important one.”

Cedric looked straight into Claudia’s tearful eyes.

“Do you know, young lady? If you look at it in the coldest possible way, a servant is nothing more than someone who gets paid to work under a master. There’s no warmth or regard in that.”

“But when the master they serve is someone they truly deem worthy of their devotion, servants take pride in their hearts. When their master is recognized by those around him, they feel happy in turn, and when their master walks the right path, they take pride in following after him.”

“When we first met, the young lady had locked herself inside a narrow cage, constantly hurting herself and those around her. You were not someone worthy of respect, to put it mildly.”

“But you have changed. You do not treat people carelessly anymore, you use the power you carry to help them, and if there is a skill you lack, you work to learn it. The servants who once trembled just from seeing your face now take pride in the fact that they work under you.”

Cedric paused for a moment, as if to steady his breathing.

And then, proudly and without a trace of hesitation, he declared:

“I am the same.”

Claudia’s eyes widened.

“My name, my status, everything is a lie. But I can say without a doubt that the joy I felt at your growth was real. The Cedric standing before you is nothing more than a fleeting mirage, but if you continue to remain an excellent ruler, then ‘Servant Cedric’ will also remain immortal within that shadow. Therefore, you are the most important person of all, young lady.”

Claudia did not answer.

For a long while, she kept her head lowered in silence.

Cedric did not rush her.

And then, at last, Claudia opened her mouth.

“…Okay. I’ll let him go.”

Cedric bowed deeply, even though he knew she couldn’t see it.

“Thank you for considering me until the very end, young lady.”

“Consideration? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Claudia finally lifted her head.

There was still moisture at the corners of her eyes, but her gaze no longer wavered.

A forceful resolve unique to one who knew the path she had to walk made her pink eyes shine like jewels.

“This is only temporary. Right now I lack ability and power, but... just you wait. Someday I’ll march straight up to the one behind you and declare that they need to give me back my servant.”

Cedric was briefly stunned speechless, then gave a wry smile.

'To ask the one behind you to give my servant back—that is, me—what a truly poetic expression.'

Even someone like him, who could usually brush off honey traps with a snort, couldn’t help but find this level of resolve rather intriguing.

But admiration was admiration, and what needed to be said had to be said.

“That’s an unbelievably thorny road, young lady.”

“Try to stop me all you want. I’m absolutely going to do it.”

“I really think you ought to stop.”

“I’m doing this because I want to! You don’t have the authority to stop me!”

“Haaah.”

Cedric let out a sigh.

Whatever he had felt in that sigh, Claudia forced the corners of her mouth upward and tried to make something like a spirited smile.

“So stay healthy and wait. Someday, I’ll definitely come find you.”

“...I won’t affirm that. I still think you should give up.”

“Hmph! Good! You need to get a taste of being toyed with sometimes, too!”

“Oh, dear.”

After that, it was just the usual noisy chatter.

At times Claudia would sniffle as if she were on the verge of tears, but she never once let them fall.

Even if parting was sad and difficult, it was as if she were insisting this was not the end.

And so, the final day of master and servant passed.

And the Great Demon cried in the shadows.