CHAPTER 9

“You will have to make a decision, Lady Charlotte.”

The girl in question groaned over her cup of night tea. Scarlet had decided to visit her in the dark of the evening, right before the Lady had to retreat for the night, because she knew that everybody else would be asleep at this hour. Well, everybody except the fanatical Sage Vanaseid, probably, but that gorgeous elf never had much of a daily schedule, anyway. Maybe living for so long ruined her daily rhythm. Scarlet wasn’t sure.

What she was sure of was that Lady Charlotte was annoyed. Prank successful.

“Enlighten me, Miss Scarlet,” the young noble said, keeping her annoyance in check. “What kind of decision are you asking me to make?”

Scarlet licked her lips, grinning so widely her fangs were in full display. “Do you wish me to start with the good news, or the bad news?”

Just like that, Lady Charlotte fell silent. Scarlet knew immediately that Lady Charlotte got the message.

She peeked behind Scarlet. The door to the study was closed. There was only one lantern still illuminating the room—Lady Charlotte often came here to just get some quick reading done before sleeping, after all, so she probably did not intend for the room to stay too bright for too long, too deep into the night.

Lady Charlotte once more ensured that nobody was behind the door, judging for a moment if she could trust Scarlet with locking the door. Seemed like she decided to answer with a ‘yes’. “Is this about the … the man?”

“Yes, Lady Charlotte, this is about the man.”

That was all Lady Charlotte needed to hear. As if her drowsiness had washed away, the girl nearly jumped out of her seat, closing each and every curtain that allowed anyone outside the study to peer inside, and double-checking that every door was properly closed. Then, silently, she gestured for Scarlet to sit down.

The demoness smoothly slid over the table and sat next to the book Lady Charlotte was reading.

Lady Charlotte didn’t even complain about it. She just sat back in her chair, right in front of the inviting demon, then carefully inched her face closer to hers—as if making sure that even if somebody eavesdropped from outside, they still wouldn’t hear a thing.

There was only dead seriousness on Lady Charlotte’s face as she whispered. “What did you find out?”

Scarlet’s ears felt somewhat tickled by the sound of Lady Charlotte’s whisper. “That you were right on all accounts, Lady Charlotte.”

“Explain.”

Scarlet leaned forward a little more. “You were right—he had killed countless slaves, personally. You were right—he was not alone. He had others who had to do the exact same thing he was doing, and they were scattered everywhere throughout the Kingdom. And you were right—I had to go pretty far to get all this out of him.”

Then Lady Charlotte frowned. Oh, her reactions were so precious. Scarlet just couldn’t help but want to tease her whenever she could. “You said you have good news and bad news,” Lady Charlotte continued. “How bad of a news are we talking about?”

Always to the point. For a politician, she’s certainly very honest and open to the other Mansion dwellers … almost too delightfully so. Even to a former Archdemoness. Scarlet just couldn’t get enough of her. “Bad enough that you may change allegiances entirely.”

“Change allegiances? I’ll never leave Suzuki.”

Aww, she thought of him as her main allegiance by reflex. Adorable. Scarlet giggled. “Oh, no, my fair Lady, I’m not talking about that allegiance.”

A second’s pause. Lady Charlotte blushed. “O—oh, I see.”

“Aren’t you just the cutest? Anyway, Lady Charlotte, the entirety of what you caught the tail of goes deep. Very deep. Do you still truly wish to know?”

To Scarlet’s surprise, there was an unmistakable glint of wonder in Lady Charlotte’s eyes. “Did you obtain all that from … that man?”

Scarlet giggled again, this time a little longer. What kind of a fifteen year-old would light up in wonder over knowing that her ally had just potentially tortured someone with dark magic for information? Scarlet was once more oddly reminded that Lady Charlotte was raised in the battlefield, as young as she was. “Partly, yes. I am fairly versed in Cataclysm, after all.”

“You never cease to impress me.” That was honest praise. “But yes, Miss Scarlet, I do wish to know. As much as I loathe it, it is precisely my business to know.”

To a certain extent, Scarlet truly was flattered. There was the honest praise, of course, and Scarlet had always loved being praised—it’s really an inborn trait to her kin, she surmised—but she also knew that Lady Charlotte was too kind to make her so-called ‘business’ only and entirely about the Hero. No, of course she loved him, but she fought this hard in the grime and dirt of the freakish frontline that is human politics not only because of him—it was because she truly cared about the entire Mansion. That included Scarlet.

Even if she had to have a strange man tortured, Lady Charlotte would still rather choose that over letting an unknown danger befall the Mansion. It’s not that she wouldn’t have moral qualms about that—it’s just that her love was always much stronger. There was something strangely comforting to Scarlet about knowing how far Lady Charlotte was willing to go for her.

But that also meant Scarlet had no choice but to give the Lady her bad news. Her smile dissipated a little. “Very well, then. Come a little closer.”

Fully trusting her, Lady Charlotte leaned forward even more, their faces now only an inch from each other. Normally, Scarlet would use this chance to snag a kiss or do something else that she knew would inconvenience Lady Charlotte, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Not this time. Scarlet sighed.

“The good news, Lady Charlotte, is that what I learned could really turn the tables. Not only on the circumstances—it turns the tables on this entire kingdom. With your brilliant mind, I believe we can even take control of the whole kingdom if we must, without even the smallest show of strength.”

Scarlet could see Lady Charlotte’s gears turning. “The entire … kingdom, you say?”

“Yes.” Scarlet knew she understood. Not only the gravity of the situation—that too, of course, but Scarlet had warned her—but also that Lady Charlotte understood what Scarlet implied she had learned.

“Are you saying…?”

“The unfortunate fact is, Lady Charlotte, it is exactly as you think it is.”

Lady Charlotte’s green eyes had never looked so crestfallen. Scarlet almost felt bad.

They finally both leaned back, and the young lady just slumped into her chair. Scarlet tapped on the table—she wasn’t done.

“And the bad news?” Lady Charlotte asked. Scarlet gave her the closest thing she could to a sad smile.

“Where do I even begin?”

The eyebags underneath Charlotte’s eyes were brutal. There’s no denying how tired she was. She didn’t conceal it here, either—she really just groaned in response. “Any order is fine, Miss Scarlet. If it’s really as bad as I imagine, I get the feeling that it wouldn’t matter all that much.”

“That is somewhat true,” Scarlet purred. “In that case, let me start with who our mysterious man is. He is currently called an Abditum.”

“Lenamontese for ‘Hidden’,” Lady Charlotte translated. “In neutral form instead of masculine? Are you saying that there are both men and women Abdita?”

Scarlet nodded. “From what I gouged, yes. They are stripped of everything, literally everything, including their clothes and their identity. Then, naked and armed with only a knife, they were told to survive Lenamontis for an entire year.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“In this winter? Absolutely. However, the survival part was not half the hard part of being an Abditum.” Scarlet started grinning again. “Why do you imagine they were given a knife, Lady Charlotte?”

“To surv—” Lady Charlotte suddenly sat right up. Scarlet could tell that the pieces were clicking in her head. “Wait … the slaves he killed. They were desecrated, shown to the public … cut entirely open. Are you saying—?”

“Yes.”

Lady Charlotte’s expression just turned into a very deep red. “But why?”

“They were not told personally, no. I found the answer to that specific question, but not by gouging this man. My means were not the most legal, and certainly involved some people who are less … amicable. I fear that, if I tell you, you will have to bear the risks of this crime with me.”

“I don’t mind if it’s you. Lay it on me.”

Scarlet raised her eyebrow at Lady Charlotte’s very prompt reply. “Very well. I found it out after I traced his memory to search for his superiors, then I just kept using my Cataclysm to go higher and higher in the ranks until I found someone who could answer my questions. To answer your question, what they were doing seems to be based on Diutiscan culture—a way for them to train their young soldiers and nobles while also keeping their slaves in check. To kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

“So they killed slaves as … basically target practice?”

“While breaking the slaves’ morale so they don’t ever rebel, yes.”

Lady Charlotte’s eyebrows furrowed together. There was something unmistakably dark about her expression. Scarlet really had to give her compliments to whomever it was that first coined such a terrible custom that could make the polite Lady Charlotte so visibly full of rage. “And who are these superiors? Why are they adapting Diutiscan culture?”

Scarlet sighed. “This, Lady Charlotte, is the difficult part. The first superior I traced from the man was an Executor Legis working in Constantius. However, the next one I traced from him was a Vindex Regis. After that, a Crura Velocia.”

The Crura Velocia, or the Striders, were the footsoldiers of Lenamontis. There were three branches to the Lenamontese military: the Vindex Regis, the Guards, were meant to protect the Royal Court and serve under the royalty, Praetorium. The Executor Legis, the Enforcers, were meant to protect the peace and serve under the judiciary, the Magistratus. The last branch, the Crura Velocia, or the Striders, were meant to protect the people and serve under the nobles, Patritia.

Praetorium, Magistratus, and Patritia were the Three Powers that ruled Lenamontis. They used to be three separate smaller kingdoms, but the land where Lenamontis was built was such a desirable land that they were always under constant outsider threats, so they banded together to one day become Lenamontis.

The three military branches were originally the softer military groups of each Power. After the Powers banded together, they were united under the single banner of Lenamontis military, then given roles that matched the original Powers that they served. Many of the Lenamontese nobilities of today were originally soldier nobilities.

Lady Charlotte’s very own House Constantius, for example, were originally soldiers who intimately served the Praetorium.

However, the thing about having three separate branches is that, although the recruitment and basic training were all done together, they stopped interacting in any official capacity once they were specialized. A young soldier who chose to be a Vindex Regis, or chosen to be a Vindex Regis, for example, would rarely ever find themselves communicating with the Crura Velocia—they cover very different lines of work, to begin with.

So the fact that the captured Abditum had superiors from all three branches….

“Are you saying that this involves … the entirety of Lenamontese military?” Lady Charlotte hissed.

“Either that, or just some very high-ranking people of Lenamontese military—but this does involve all three branches.”

“So the Abditum was…?”

“A military cadet in training, yes.”

“And he was made to do that by…?”

“The Lenamontese military, correct.”

Lady Charlotte took a very deep breath before touching her own chin. “But that doesn’t make sense. This timing is too odd—the Three Powers don’t even share command of the military. For something to be orchestrated at this level, and so quickly, too, it has to come from someone who could connect all three branches of—”

She stopped.

Her eyes widened.

Scarlet sighed. “Exactly, Milady.”

“No.”

“I’m afraid that isn’t a lie.”

“There’s no way.”

“I’m sorry—but I’ve confirmed it myself.”

“Is this one of your tricks?”

“Oh, my dear Lady, my little tricks are always meant to annoy you, not aggravate you.”

From the blood red boiling anger, Lady Charlotte’s face really drained of all colors almost instantly. Scarlet knew she had made the connection.

Only one person was allowed to propose changes to all branches of the Lenamontese military. The proposal could still be denied, of course, but nobody could veto the change. So they had the right to keep pushing for this change, or versions of it, as many times as they wished to—because they simply had the authority.

After all, they were the King of Lenamontis.

Lady Charlotte was shaking. Was it fear? Anger? Disappointment? Betrayal? Scarlet wasn’t sure, but she knew that a very large surge of negative emotions was hitting the Lady as of that moment—and it was only going to get worse. From Goddess-knows-where, Scarlet just felt the sudden impulse to hug Lady Charlotte.

But she held back. She knew Lady Charlotte wouldn’t appreciate that.

Not right now.

“Y-you mentioned confirming this yourself,” Lady Charlotte whispered. “What did you do to the King?”

“Nothing,” Scarlet answered calmly. “I just went to the generals of all three branches instead. I saw that they were all instructed by Rex Lenamontis to carry out the Abditum program. That was it. Even I’m not stupid enough to try anything against the King. Not under these circumstances.”

But maybe under different circumstances, Scarlet continued in her mind. She knew for a fact that Lady Charlotte was already thinking the same thing.

The root cause of the deepest fracture Lenamontis had ever experienced was a massacre order by the King.

And it wasn’t only a massacre order—the King made children do all that.

They were thrown naked into the brutal winter wind. They were told to kill people without being caught.

If they fail, they die. Simple.

Scarlet had no particular qualms about it—many demon children were raised similarly, after all. But she knew childhood was something of a big deal among humans. She’d seen more than enough adult tears to prove that, back when she actively tried to capture human territories, back when she would sometimes stumble upon human families.

She’d heard directly from the Hero Suzuki, who wanted to rescue Little Miss Karin so badly, even if they had to be engaged on paper.

She’d seen directly of Lady Charlotte—who was supposed to be but a child, already bearing duties that could make even Scarlet’s head hurt.

Worst of all, Scarlet felt, was the fact that Lady Charlotte was the Right Hand of this very King. Scarlet understood that Lady Charlotte voluntarily undertook the duty because she loved the Mansion, but above all, she did everything she did because she loved her kingdom. She loved the ground she stood on. She loved the nobles who wanted her dead. She loved the peasants who sang her praises. She loved the slaves who longed to be free.

Lady Charlotte loved the kingdom too much, but its own king, the one she dutifully served, just secretly decided to off so many heads by bloodying the hands of mere children at a time when they needed peace the most.

Scarlet was a master of betrayal, but she really couldn’t imagine many worse ways to betray Lady Charlotte.

Scarlet could really only see a solution. “Milady,” she purred, “I’m not bold enough to go after your King. I’m a demon. I would lose my place by your side if I were to try anything foolish … but we both know somebody who could do something about the King with minimal repercussions.”

Lady Charlotte took two seconds until her eyes focused back on Scarlet. Scarlet nodded.

“Someone powerful.” Scarlet sighed, softly, making it clear to Lady Charlotte that she was thinking only of Lady Charlotte’s interests. “Someone too powerful.”

“No.”

To Scarlet’s surprise, the answer came almost immediately.

“I mean—” Lady Charlotte slumped again, this time forwards, and she grabbed entire clumps of her own hair, groaning in crystal-clear frustration. “I don’t know. I don’t know … should I? This is … we’re getting desperate. We shouldn’t have fallen this far. This isn’t something I can handle by myself. Maybe you’re right….”

Scarlet tilted her head as Lady Charlotte wrestled with her own thoughts.

“No … no, there’s still something we can try.” Lady Charlotte turned her face up, once again meeting Scarlet in the eye. “Is the Abditum still alive?”

“Yes.”

“Can we get his testimony to maybe … kick the King down a peg?”

What a delightful surprise. “You mean blackmail?”

“A very public one, if necessary.”

“Oh, my fair Lady, I wish I could say yes. You know I delight in these things! But no, unfortunately. Our timing was off by a wee bit.”

Lady Charlotte was, unmistakably, exasperated. “Why?”

“The King had dismantled the Abditum program as soon as you abolished slavery in Constantius. The military unanimously agreed that the risks would be too great if they were ever to be discovered at that point. The program had been buried, the trainees’ statements disavowed, and all proof of it ever happening had been erased. That man’s statement would be useless.”

BAM!

Scarlet had never seen Lady Charlotte turn violent. She had never even seen Lady Charlotte hit the table, let alone with such force. Oh, dear, that might have awakened some people. “Lady Charlotte, please—”

“What do I do?” To Scarlet’s surprise, instead of her face, it was the Lady’s eyes that were growing red. And teary. She started sobbing. “Scarlet, wh—what do I do? This is impossible. Why is—why is this all happening, I—Sc-Scarlet, I just—”

Scarlet was taken aback. The Lady Charlotte she was used to seeing had never called her by her name. The Lady Charlotte she was used to seeing always insisted on being extremely polite.

But this Lady Charlotte wasn’t the one Scarlet was used to seeing, either.

Lady Charlotte had only ever been this vulnerable in front of the Hero Suzuki. Lady Charlotte had only ever been this vulnerable in front of Ma’am Leonie de Lupa.

Lady Charlotte was never, ever, vulnerable in front of anyone else. Ever.

Awkwardly, Scarlet offered her both arms outstretched. Lady Charlotte really just took the offer and hugged Scarlet, very strongly, as she shook and cried into her shoulder.

Scarlet softly caressed Lady Charlotte’s back. Was she always this small? She always stood with such dignity, with an unmistakable air of nobility, carrying burdens of so many thousands with each step, that Scarlet just couldn’t really imagine how much of a child she really was.

For once, just for a split-second, Scarlet felt like she could probably understand why humanity treated childhood with such care.

Just for a split-second.

“I want to send him.”

Charlotte’s voice was muted, and Scarlet hesitated hearing that. She knew it was her own idea, but seeing how shaken Lady Charlotte was by the turn of events, Scarlet started thinking that maybe it wasn’t what Lady Charlotte wanted. At all. Not that it would matter, though. “Your wish is my command, Milady.”

However, Lady Charlotte still refused to let Scarlet go. If anything, her grab on Scarlet just got stronger, as if she was holding Scarlet back from going away. “Mm-mm. No. I changed my mind.”

Scarlet took a deep breath, carefully stroking Lady Charlotte’s head. The young Lady did not respond. “Is that so?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I changed my mind,” Lady Charlotte muttered into Scarlet’s shoulder. Once more, her whisper tickled Scarlet’s ear. “Let this girl be selfish for a bit, will you?”

“If you so wish, Milady. My job is to make it true.”

“Then make one thing true for me.”

Lady Charlotte finally let go of her embrace. Her face was still a mess, her heart definitely in tatters, her voice quivering and her fingers trembling, but Scarlet could see that she had at least made her mind up regarding what she was going to ask of her. Scarlet nodded, and Lady Charlotte nodded back.

“Do not,” she said, strongly, as she gripped Scarlet’s shoulders, “ever, ever, tell a word about all this to Suzuki. Nothing about the Abditum. Nothing about the King. Not a word.”

Scarlet’s heart sank.

Now that’s a surprise.

Mm … no, maybe not quite so.

It’s not actually a surprise.

Scarlet didn’t expect Lady Charlotte to still be so steadfast in her own belief, but that was by no means a surprise. Maybe there really was a reason the humans could corner Scarlet, even if they were inferior to her Arts—these creatures are, after all, insanely stubborn.

Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

If anything, Scarlet found herself pretty proud of the Lady holding her right now. She flashed her most beautiful smile at Lady Charlotte. “Then true I shall make it, Milady. Not a whisper to the Hero about what the King had done. But, if it’s alright with you … may I ask why?”

“Because I’ll figure this one out on my own,” the noble said. She then left her seat to grab something from the table near the window—a piece of paper with a blue seal. “Rex Lenamontis just summoned all nobility representatives to the Royal Court for an emergency. If this is what I think it is, things are about to get bad enough as-is. If we throw Suzuki into play right now, it’ll make things so much worse much, much faster. I don’t want that.”

Her eyes were resolute. Scarlet just couldn’t help her reply. “And if I spill this to the Hero, still?”

Catching her by surprise for the last time, Lady Charlotte suddenly dropped to her knees, then to a bow, then to a grovel. “Then I beg of you a favor. Please don’t tell Suzuki.”

Scarlet was only teasing, but she wasn’t ready for Lady Charlotte to answer with so much conviction. She broke into a grin. “And in return, I may ask of you any favor, is it?”

“Yes, Scarlet. Please.”

And she used only her name again. No honorifics. Wasn’t she just the cutest? Scarlet couldn’t stop herself from giggling. “Then I suppose I have no choice, now, do I?”

*