Chapter 16
『Morgan: Arti, I don't mind if you possess me. But from now on, I'll possess you, too. Take what you want from me. I'll take what I want from you. We're ‘lovers,’ after all.』
『Morgan: I came to like what you like, because you're my ‘lover.’』
『Morgan: Arti, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me, love me.』
『Morgan: I'm sorry, I'm sorry… Please don't hate me.』
『Morgan: Arti, all I need is you, the one I love. I'll never let you go—』
「—Forever.」
“….”
Lydia recalled the lines from Morgan's route, which she'd carefully read the night before in the ‘Library of Memories.’ As she read through all the bizarre behavior and dialogue packed with intense obsession and dependence, she was reminded that, yes, this really was an otaku game.
‘Setting aside the fact that I became a woman, I think hearing lines like that in real life would make me feel suffocated.’
Among those lines,
she found one thing in common.
-We, as lovers….
-You, my lover….
-Me, your lover….
-We, who love each other….
Perhaps thanks to the story writer's sense of responsibility (?),
Morgan's lines had a remarkably consistent trait.
She wanted to define the relationship clearly.
Morgan was deeply fixated on defining the form of a ‘relationship.’ Just like Arti and Aria right now, she absolutely hated situations where people were simply together because they liked each other.
If someone tried to press emotions on her,
like pity or pure friendship,
she'd react with rejection first.
Lydia took this into account.
‘Morgan cares less about the feelings she has for someone than about the ‘form of exchanging feelings.’ If that applies to friendship, this should be an easy way to explain it.’
Then she declared to Morgan:
-I'll use you, so you use me.
-We'll be friends who use each other.
Morgan had frozen at this kind of declaration, something she'd never heard before.
“….”
“….”
Friends who used each other.
It was an incredibly simple, ordinary, and sordid relationship. Just two people of the same age using each other… but it was also a contract based on ‘equality.’
It was a contract Morgan had never experienced before. She'd always lived amid inequality and contempt, ignored by everyone around her.
And so.
Morgan was wavering.
Like her red eyes, trembling in the darkness.
“….”
“….”
Lydia saw hope in the silence.
‘But if we leave it at that, she wouldn't be a heroine with the spiciest affection events. There should be some defiance, like a cat hissing at people on the street—’
As expected.
As if to steady herself after wavering for a moment, Morgan shook her head hard. Then, her face slightly flushed, she retorted haughtily.
“Ha! Y-you're lying. You think that if you say that to me, I'll give you everything I have? Don't get the wrong idea. Even if I was born a commoner, I know how the world works…!”
“I don't expect devotion without compensation. I shall simply give you the reward you desire, and you shall do what I ask.”
“…What is it you want?”
“When the need arises, lend me your wisdom as a mage. And join our party so you can help us explore dungeons.”
“….”
The request was more reasonable than she'd expected,
and Morgan's eyes wavered this way and that again.
“….”
The only emotions in her eyes were…
suspicion, suspicion, and more suspicion.
After thinking it over, Morgan spoke.
“I won't run errands for nobles under the pretext of being a party member. I won't secretly poison someone for you, either. And I won't seal or curse anyone.”
“I have hands and feet of my own. And I have no intention of asking you to poison, seal, or curse anyone. I'll say it again: I have ‘absolutely no intention’ of asking you to poison, seal, or curse anyone.”
“….”
Lydia spoke clearly and deliberately.
“What I want from you is the brilliant wisdom, magic, and insight only a genius mage can provide. And there isn't anyone in our group who would make you do the laundry or carry their bags. If anything, I'm worried they'd do it if you asked them to.”
“Hmm….”
Morgan pursed her lips.
“…And what do I get in return?”
“I'll provide all the materials you need for your Magic Department classes. And if you join our party, we'll divide all the materials we find in dungeons fairly. If there's something you wish to trade with me for personally, as ‘friends who use each other,’ I'll consider it. Little favors, money, extra materials, protection, things like that.”
Morgan's mouth fell slightly open. Then she fell silent, as if she couldn't believe it.
“….”
“….”
Lydia found herself thinking,
‘…Her teeth are very neat. She must take care of her hygiene. But for someone in her late teens, the inside of her mouth is badly ulcerated. Her nutrition is clearly poor. And stress has made her pick at her lips.’
More than the dry text in the game,
the state of her mouth said more about her situation.
Lydia made up her mind.
‘Once I get her to join us, I need to make sure she eats well.’
Morgan spoke in a trembling voice.
“Why are you offering so much? Do you know how much the brass alchemy cauldron used in the Magic Department costs?”
“It takes a fair reward to have a genius mage as a friend.”
“….”
Morgan's expression softened at the words ‘genius mage,’ but she quickly composed herself. She managed her expression better than most nobles.
Lydia didn't bother to point that out.
Silence returned to the room. But unlike before, it wasn't an uncomfortable, tense silence. This one was filled with hesitation and anticipation.
Morgan cleared her throat and crossed her arms for no reason. Then she composed herself and glared haughtily at Lydia.
“Ahem, ahem…. Well, I suppose I need to think about it a little more.”
“….”
Lydia let out a wry laugh.
‘Crossed arms and throat-clearing… An unconscious gesture to shield herself. Her reason already tells her this is a fair deal, but maybe she's embarrassed that she was so quick to accept it.’
Lydia felt the need to drive the point home.
“You and I are equals.”
“…!”
Beneath her arrogantly crossed arms, Morgan clenched her fists. She drew in a small breath and opened her eyes wide. Her red hair swayed softly.
The face of a child with exactly what she wanted right in front of her.
“….”
“….”
Morgan kept silent, then began tapping the desk with her fingertips for no reason and shifting from side to side. Her legs moved restlessly beneath her skirt.
Step.
Step.
She paced in the same spot.
Like a fish pausing with its mouth open, just before taking the bait….
“….”
“….”
Feeling that she was about to land a big catch, Lydia took in Morgan's appearance.
‘She's beautiful, too, as befits a heroine. Petite and slim, but with good proportions? Still, with those sharp eyes and vivid hair, Arti would probably freak out if he saw her. Aria is a very different type.’
Well…
Arti in this world had no reason to experience Morgan's yandere power. And if she showed any signs of it, Lydia would step in and rein her in herself.
If anything, Morgan's meek and innocent behavior was almost cute. She was practically a kitten.
Lydia breathed a quiet sigh of relief.
‘…Compared to the times in the story when she actually poisoned, sealed, and cursed people because of her obsession, this is truly innocent. She could stand to be a little more vicious here, really.’
At that moment.
She came to a sudden stop—
Morgan halted in place. Then she went to her desk and began tearing up a sheet of stationery.
It was a trivial action,
but Lydia knew what that letter was.
‘Is this the foreshadowing for the Back-Alley Experiment near the beginning? Another nasty event almost slipped by, just as you'd expect from an adult game.’
Although the heroines' erotic scenes couldn't be shown early on for adult reasons, there were plenty of ways to make the player feel awful.
Morgan came back in front of Lydia. Then she held out a trembling hand.
“Morgan. Never attach the surname Driach to me. I only used it to enroll in the academy.”
“Understood. I'm Lydia de Gallia. You don't need to call me Your Highness. Here, I'm just a cadet.”
Lydia took her warm, damp hand. She gave their lightly clasped hands a small shake.
“….”
“….”
They looked into each other's eyes.
Blue and red.
Resolve and hesitation.
In their eyes, filled with different emotions, they saw each other.
“….”
“….”
Lydia and Morgan became friends who used each other.
There was no warm friendship or smiling between them. Only tacit trust. But this was precisely the kind of ‘relationship’ Morgan truly wanted.
Morgan held on for a long while before carefully letting go. Her breathing gradually quickened, and the hand she'd shaken trembled slightly, too.
“….”
For the first time,
she had a friend.
“….”
For the first time,
she'd made an equal deal.
“….”
For the first time…
someone had called her a genius mage.
“….”
Morgan unconsciously drew in a sharp breath. Like a child taking their first steps, she stared wide-eyed as she accepted what was happening.
Then she looked ahead.
There she was.
Her first friend, Lydia de Gallia.
“!”
Embarrassed at having shown such a vulnerable side, Morgan turned her head slightly. Then she spoke with deliberate indifference.
“…Hmph. Fine. From now on, I'll make full use of the princess's wealth.”
“Understood. I shall make full use of a genius's intellect, too. I'll pay you accordingly.”
“We'll see about that. You have no idea what I might ask for.”
Morgan chuckled and spoke provocatively.
“For example, what if I told you, ‘Kneel before me’? Or what if I asked you to give me a ‘passionate lover's embrace’? Would you do it?”
“I can't.”
“Hmph, I thought so. Well, I wasn't expecting you to anyway….”
Lydia shook her head lightly.
“I have also told my other friends not to kneel before anyone of their own accord. It would mean throwing away their own dignity. So if I knelt, I'd be betraying them.”
“…?!”
“And….”
Lydia took a step closer.
Morgan's eyes widened slightly.
“!”
“I don't have romantic feelings for you. I've only heard of your wisdom and talent through rumors at the Alchemy Guild. I can't fall in love with someone I've met for the first time today.”
“….”
“Instead….”
“…?”
Lydia gently embraced Morgan. More than a head taller, her softly curved figure warmly enveloped Morgan's small frame.
“…If you ever need a friend's embrace like this, you can tell me anytime.”
“Uh, uh….”
Morgan's eyes trembled. At the warmth gently surrounding her, the soft, fragrant hair, and the beating of Lydia's heart…
-Morgan!
-Mom!
“Uh….”
An unfamiliar emotion welled up,
and she felt like she was going to cry.
The tears streamed down before she could stop them.
“…!?”
What was
this?
Don't.
Stop it.
It's too hot.
Morgan instinctively felt afraid. So she quickly pushed Lydia away.
“…Stop.”
“Understood.”
“….”
Morgan roughly rubbed the corners of her eyes with her sleeve. Then, covering her face, she spoke.
“…Forget it.”
“Understood.”
“….”
Stupid princess,
all you've said this whole time is ‘understood,’ ‘understood’….
Damn it.
Damn it….
Morgan shouted the words. Then she snapped her fingers and dispelled the illusory barrier that had trapped Lydia. The red thorns vanished from the shabby door with a soft rustle.
“That's enough! The deal is over. Get out.”
“Understood.”
Lydia turned and left just like that.
But only for a moment.
“Morgan.”
“What?”
“My group trains every morning at the clearing below the academy hill. And before classes start, we all have breakfast together. When classes are over, we meet again at the clearing.”
“So what?”
“Nothing. If you're interested, you can come by at the right time. I'll be there.”
“….”
“Then, I'll be going.”
Lydia left.
Morgan stood still, her back turned.
“….”
Stupid princess,
you go and do something weird, then leave.
What am I supposed to do with that?
‘But she didn't order me around or tell me what to do. She gave me the choice…. Is this what it means to be equals?’
Really,
really….
Did we become friends?
“….”
Morgan bit her lip.
Her stress was rising.
Because she had a hunch.
Probably.
By dawn tomorrow,
she'd head to the clearing on her own.
She wouldn't be able to help it.
But,
she didn't hate the idea.
“….”
How stupid.
You, too.
Me, too.