CHAPTER 11

Charlotte awoke to the very heartfelt care of Maelys and Amelie.

The moment she opened her eyes, the two women almost broke into tears. Maelys had been with Charlotte for as long as her memory served—if nothing else, it was a miracle that the old woman was still alive. Charlotte had had to learn of war since the moment she could read. She had had to learn to lead battles the moment she understood how to observe the way people think. She had had to shout her commands by the time she was eleven. She had had to negotiate for supplies by the time she was twelve.

She had had to be familiar with everything that could kill her before her age was even in the two digits.

Maelys had always been there every step of the way.

Her hair had grown gray, her face had shown its wrinkles; this woman could not defy her age, but she had defied death countless times.

“If nothing else, my dear Lady Charlotte,” she said to Charlotte before she took off to help Suzuki’s exploits, “I wish to be of service to you until the Goddess embraces me.”

Neither ever really said it aloud, but Maelys was as much a mother to Charlotte as her birth mother was—and Maelys had always thought of Charlotte as her own girl. Maelys knew this. Charlotte knew this. It remained unsaid, but when Charlotte saw the relief in Maelys’ expression when she awoke, she wished she had said it sooner.

“Hi, Mama.”

Maelys almost laughed, then choked on her tears of joy. “I’m Maelys, my dear Lady.”

“You’ve been with me since I was a babe.”

The lady’s maid just held her mistress’ hand, praying to the Goddess that she would never have to let go. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Amelie was being polite about their moment, but Charlotte gave her a smile as well. “Thank you, Amelie.”

“I’m just glad that you’re alright, Lady Charlotte.”

“How long was I out?”

“Approximately one whole day, Lady Charlotte. You must’ve been very tired.”

Charlotte couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “Mm. I think so.”

“You can rest easy if you want,” Amelie said. “The King is currently traveling the Lenamontese lands. I think He scheduled His departure for a little later today.”

“Is He really going to be alright without His Right Hand?”

Both maids laughed. “With you as His Right Hand, Milady?” Maelys looked oddly giddy. Charlotte could feel her pride. “Absolutely not.”

They shared another laugh. Amelie decided to leave the room for a bit to bring Charlotte her food, and it was then that Charlotte’s stomach grumbled its protest. She never knew sleeping could make her feel so tired.

“I’ll be right here, Milady,” Maelys assured. Charlotte held her hand.

“And don’t you ever leave me.”

“I wouldn’t dare dream of it.”

Amelie apparently also took the chance to bring the news about that Charlotte was already awake, because not long after, Astrid was basically storming into the room—the door nearly slammed open, her steps so loud that it could be heard from miles away, and her presence alone felt like it shook Charlotte’s bed.

Then, as her eyes locked with Charlotte’s, she just pounced at the poor girl.

“I was so—hic—worried!” she sobbed into Charlotte’s shoulder. “What kind of meeting could make you collapse? Goddess gracious, you’re the one strongest—hic—girl I know, and you collapsed? Are you kidding me? Was it that bad? I mean, I heard that it wasn’t, I heard the results—hic—but, still—”

“Hey, I’m here, aren’t I?” Charlotte said as she patted Astrid’s back. “Is everybody alright? Did anyone try anything?”

Astrid broke into tears even more for some reason. “This is the—hic—anniversary of—hic—the Demon King’s defeat, you—hic—big dummy! Everyone’s okay! We’re—hic—celebrating! No one’s gonna—hic—try anything!”

Oh … yeah, the anniversary. Of the defeat. Of the Demon King. It was such a momentous event for the entire world, for all the races, most especially for the Hero host kingdom Lenamontis, but Charlotte had just about forgotten that it was supposed to be—

Hang on a minute.

“Wait—it’s today?”

“Yes!”

Charlotte just perked up. “Where’s Suzuki?”

Astrid finally let go of Charlotte, but she still refused to let go of her hand. Goodness, her face was such a mess after crying like that. “In the parade, of course. His last stop should be at the Castle to see the King off on His journey.”

Charlotte couldn’t help but grimace a bit. So that’s how He framed it. Nope, nothing to do with slavery, nothing to do with taking control of supply lines, nothing to do with the fact that Lenamontis nearly broke into a civil war at all—it was just a victory tour celebrating one year of the Demon King’s demise, while also celebrating with the newly freed slaves. He was only securing the routes for that purpose. Nothing nefarious. That cunning old man. “I see. Have you guys eaten anything?”

“Are you kidding me—why are you worried about me? Everyone in this Mansion, I swear—”

Blam!

Three more figures just barged into the room—Miss Cath, Miss Artia, and Little Miss Karin. Their expressions were so bright that Charlotte was pretty sure they were shining. Even then, they searched the room for a second, and their faces still lit up even more when they locked eyes with Charlotte.

“Charlotte!”

“Miss Charl!”

“Lady Charlotte….”

“Hey, everyone,” Charlotte greeted back with an equally big smile. “How are you all—bwugh?!”

She wasn’t ready for Miss Cath to pounce her right from the door.

The catwoman was laughing so openly, but Charlotte was fairly sure she felt tears on her shoulder.

“I heard—I heard, Charlotte!”

“Y-yes?”

“You did it, didn’t you?”

“I—” the other two girls entered the room with more poise and grace, but it was unmistakable: they were both smiling. Well, Little Miss Karin may not understand exactly why, but she was probably just happy that the two Caturix ladies were smiling so openly.

Even that usually stone-cold, matter-of-factly Miss Artia had a huge grin on her face, and she looked like she was right on the verge of tears. Charlotte never realized how pretty she really was.

So she did the only thing she could. She hugged Miss Cath right back. “Yeah,” she said. “We did it.”

Miss Cath laughed as she ruffled Charlotte’s hair. “Oh, you humble thing, you.”

“What? I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Miss Cath gave one more squeeze before she let go. “You stay rested,” she said then. “Except if you feel like moving your body, in which case let’s see how Suzuki’s doing.”

Hearing that, Charlotte just couldn’t help but laugh. “He never did like crowds, did he?”

“Just so you know, he considered bringing one of us along, but he was also too worried about leaving you, so he decided to brave it on his own. He’d rather have us all look after you, he said. He knew we were worried about you, too, so I think he was only being considerate, but I felt that he really was more worried than he let on.”

Charlotte pursed her lips, fighting the urge back, then just let go and let herself blush. “That guy, I swear….”

Miss Cath just replied with her usual playful, toothy grin. “Amelie’s also cooking everything she could, so get up and help me stop her before she stuffed all our stomachs. She doesn’t really let it show on her face, but she was so giddy when she told everyone that you’ve woken up. She was basically hopping all over the place.”

“What about Leonie? Where is she?” If she were to be honest, Charlotte actually thought Leonie would appear before Astrid did—that girl had a habit of just showing up when Charlotte missed her, for some reason.

Miss Cath and Miss Artia both scratched her heads. Identically. They’re definitely sisters, alright. “Well….”

“She was kidnapped by Lady Dreyhilda…?” Miss Artia said. Charlotte tilted her head.

“Why the question mark?”

“Lady Dreyhilda just suddenly barged in and whisked her away,” Miss Cath said. “She didn’t say where or why or anything, she really just grabbed Leonie, told her to come, and disappeared again.”

“Just like that? I thought Suzuki was the only one who could Teleport….”

“To be fair, there’s probably a reason the elves could stay isolated for so long.”

Miss Artia shrugged. “I don’t think that has anything to do with how Lady Dreyhilda just appears and disappears like that.”

“You’re one to talk. You blend in with the forest like nobody’s business.”

“It’s called camouflage, Lady Cathubodua.”

“It’s called mimicry, and I told you to call me Cath.”

“Mimicry is when you change colors to match the forest. I don’t do that.”

“But you wear clothes the same colors as the forest, doesn’t that mean you’re mimicking the forest?”

The two catwomen continued their argument as Charlotte finally stretched for one last time before she left the bed. It’s been comfortable, but there’s still a lot to figure out.

For example, would Rex Lenamontis really be alright? Charlotte threw the question at Maelys and Amelie half-asleep and somewhat as a jest, but now that she’s awake, she realized that it was really a question worth asking. Her job as Manus Dextra was nowhere near done. What they just solved this past half a year was just virtually one issue—and its ripples would be huge. Would it be alright for the King to leave His Right Hand behind on a trip that was just for show?

Where did Leonie go? Why was Lady Dreyhilda in such a rush? Why did she need Leonie? Also, Scarlet had a habit of just doing whatever she pleased, so Charlotte didn’t look for her at all, but Charlotte would be lying if she said she didn’t worry about Scarlet. Did she get out of all this unscathed? Did the Lenamontis military figure out that the Capitoline demoness basically gouged information from their top brass using what used to be called Dark Magic? Did they retaliate? What happened to her after all this?

There were also the ramifications of what they just accomplished. Charlotte made specific use of the Regulations regarding the freedom of slaves to help her maintain the King’s position politically and legally while still guaranteeing that the slaves were properly freed, and she managed to do all this without accidentally starting a civil war or making her beloved Hero kill somebody. If anything, she managed to do all this relatively bloodlessly—except for the deaths of Paulina and her family, and the virtually nameless deaths in the shadows if the Abditum casualties counted. Now that Charlotte thought of it, there were actually a lot of dead faces staring at her in her nightmares. But speaking of Abditum, what happened to them, anyway? The program ended up not lasting too long because Charlotte rushed the abolition in Constantius. How were the trainees collected back from their outing in the wild? Where are they now? Even if disavowed, could their statements still mean something?

Despite securing His position, Charlotte had yet to forgive the King for the Abditum. Should she start collecting cards that she could use against Him, after all this? If the greater good later involves toppling Rex Lenamontis, would she do it?

Also, she never really did get to the bottom of the Admarian raid that started all of this. The one party that the Kingdom of Admari managed to catch was still serving his punishment, but nobody got to learn anything about that—for example, was Suzuki really involved? That operation happened a fair bit further away than the slaver attacks Suzuki did do all over Lenamontis, but with Miracles involved, Charlotte really couldn’t be sure.

The Arcane Arts theory lent a lot of research into Magic and Spirit Arts, but Miracles were very difficult to research. To begin with, unlike Magic (which was systematized) or Spirit Arts (which had traditions), there wasn’t even any existing theoretical framework for Miracles: the one framework the Church had was basically shattered when Suzuki came along and did impossible things with it. Things the Church could never do before.

In other words, there’s really no telling what Suzuki could’ve done with it.

Charlotte still had so many questions, but she took a deep breath. Maelys helped her get to her feet, then Astrid insisted on brushing her hair. There’s still so many questions, but first, Amelie was going to fill up everyone’s stomachs with food to the brim to celebrate Charlotte’s triumph. After that, there’s the celebration of the one year that’s passed since Suzuki and his Party came back alive from the battle that ended a thousand years’ worth of suffering across the races.

There’s still so many questions, but Charlotte decided to start with the ones she could answer—and that starts with leaving the room.

*

As she went through the day’s motions, Charlotte’s questions were finding their answers, one by one. First: Lady Dreyhilda took Leonie because she needed the brave redhead’s monstrous strength as a knight. Leonie was a brilliant guard, as much a genius with the sword as she was with the shield, and Lady Dreyhilda said she just discovered something disturbing—she’d need someone strong to help her in her expedition, and both Suzuki and Scarlet were unavailable.

Not that the elven sage was lacking in combat power, either, as she was the mage of the Hero’s Party who defeated the Demon King, but she said the discovery disturbed her enough that she felt she had to play it safe.

She said they would return in about a week’s time, ‘if nothing tripped’. Charlotte wasn’t sure what to make of that letter. She just hoped Leonie would be back safe and sound.

Second: Charlotte did find Scarlet. It happened closer to the end of the day, when Charlotte decided to have a lone walk all over the Mansion—the time when the maids were taking their evening break, making the upper floors virtually empty since everyone was hanging out downstairs. Charlotte only wanted to clear her mind when she accidentally found Scarlet sitting quietly by the windowsill.

Even with her wings and horns in full display, even with her sharp red eyes warning Charlotte of what species she was, she was still picturesque to behold.

What Charlotte didn’t expect was how melancholic she looked.

“Scarlet?” Charlotte called out. The demoness lazily shifted her eyes to see who called her name, then gave a very curt smile in response.

“Hello, Lady Charlotte.”

Charlotte walked up to her. The moon was shining brightly in the early spring sky, and there were some clouds up there, darkening the stars. “Are you alright?”

The demoness feigned surprise. “Why, do I look that pale?”

Charlotte knew that Scarlet’s joking response was her reflex, but she also understood if she didn’t feel like talking. Charlotte had started calling Scarlet without honorifics, but maybe it was still too soon to think that Scarlet had opened up to her. “Yeah, actually. You look pale.”

This time, Scarlet turned to look at Charlotte. She was clearly taken aback. “Hmm? You’ve really observed everyone in this Mansion, haven’t you?”

“What can I say?” Charlotte took to Scarlet’s side by the windowsill, staring at the same moon. “I love you all. I’d want to know if something’s wrong. I’d like to help if I can. That’s just how it is.”

Scarlet chuckled. “So that’s what love is to you? A voluntary service?”

Charlotte shrugged. “Among other things, yes.”

Scarlet didn’t respond. She just stared blankly at the sky again with the same sad expression. Then, after a few more minutes of silence she finally spoke up. “Then … then maybe I did love that man.”

“That man—” It took Charlotte a few more seconds to connect the dots. She just remembered what anniversary that day was. “You mean the Demon King?”

Surprisingly, Scarlet nodded. “Maybe not quite in the same way I love Suzuki, or Sage Vanaseid … or you. I feel very differently for each of you. With Suzuki, I feel free. With Sage Vanaseid, I feel so stimulated. With you, I feel reassured. With that man, I just wanted to submit.”

Charlotte took a deep breath. “Well … there are lots of ways to love, I suppose.”

“Oh, but please don’t get me wrong,” Scarlet said without turning. “I do feel the same way as you do, that voluntary service thing. I feel that way about Suzuki. I feel that way about Sage Vanaseid. I feel that way about you, too. It’s just … I never really took the time to think about that man, although he was such a big part of my life for as long as I’ve lived. It’s rather odd, now that I think of it.”

“I don’t think we think of our feelings very often, honestly,” Charlotte replied. It was only after she stole a glance at Scarlet that she realized that Scarlet was, ever so slightly, blushing. Charlotte noticed that it was the first time she ever heard Scarlet talk about her personal feelings to anyone at all. Cute. “Nothing weird about that. And thank you for reciprocating my feelings.”

“Oh, my, did you just fall a little more for me?”

“Sorry, Pretty Miss, but my heart is for Suzuki only.”

A second’s silence, and they both laughed. The sky was cloudy, and by no means was it particularly beautiful, but there’s something serene about how the cloud floated ever so steadily by across the zenith. Scarlet finally decided to leave, and as she stood up, she turned to Charlotte. “Thank you. I feel much better.”

“Glad to be of help.”

“Let’s talk again some other time, then,” Scarlet said as she walked away, “Charlotte, dear.”

That sudden call almost made Charlotte choke for a second. It felt so weird to hear Scarlet’s sultry tone without her usual half-mocking use of honorifics. “Y-yeah! Let’s, Scarlet!”

Huh. Maybe she did open up to her a little.

Third: the King was alright. This one Charlotte knew only right before everyone went to bed, because apparently Suzuki brought home a secret message from the King.

“He’s done withdrawing the Guards,” Suzuki said over the cracking of the fireplace. “They’re now all concentrated around Him, and He’s considering asking Hari if she could help arm the Guards as well—since she’s now Lenamontese, there shouldn’t be any problems, He said.”

The Dwarven Federation was very careful about where their inventions would go. Every trade was closely monitored and had to be done as an actual trade, something that enriches not only the wielder of the technology, but also the dwarves as a whole. Had Miss Hari still been one of them, she wouldn’t have been able to create the Academic Transmission or even do what Rex Lenamontis was asking of her. However, He was right: her position now as a Lenamontese citizen meant that she could provide her services regardless of affiliation, as long as it’s for Lenamontis. Charlotte felt that something was fishy, but she kept her annoyance in check.

“Also, He said that He’ll be in touch with you throughout the tour,” Suzuki added, “and that’s what this is for.”

He took out a handheld square the size of a palm. There was a thick magic stone embedded on it, but the stone had been carved into the shape that made the object a box. There were wands on both sides of the box….

Charlotte gasped. “Is that what I think it is?”

Suzuki grinned. “Yup. Hari made it work. It’s now realtime and works both ways, just like a real phone. It’s the size of a smartphone, too!”

Charlotte had no idea what any of that meant, but Miss Hari had once again casually revolutionized the way they could communicate. Someone would have to get that dwarf under control one of these days.

“So there’s another one of these?” Charlotte confirmed. Suzuki nodded.

“Yes. It’s with the King.”

“And we can talk instantly both ways on this?”

“Yup.”

“So He’s gonna be calling me for reports and the like?”

“He also said He’s very proud to have you as a Right Hand,” Suzuki warmly smiled as he held her hand. “You’ve been doing great, Charl. Thank you.”

Somehow, that little compliment was enough to make Charlotte forget all the annoyance she was feeling about letting the King basically have the ability to call her into action any time of the day. She couldn’t help but grumble a little as she hid her blushing face from Suzuki. Since when was she so easy? “… thank you, Darling.”

Thankfully, what transpired in the next few days was nowhere near as hectic as Charlotte had feared. In fact, it felt like everyone was still feeling plenty festive after the anniversary. The King did call Charlotte a few times—but always to report what He found on the dukedoms. Charlotte had no idea what kind of King reports to His Right Hand rather than the opposite, but she was thankful for it. Apart from that, the King’s information network was apparently still working just as hard, and He was somehow still staying on top of it all. Rather impressive, really.

Throughout the calls, Charlotte started piecing together the picture that she was missing.

The first and most important topic: the immediate repercussions.

The international community all reacted at almost the same time the moment Lenamontis formally announced the abolition of slavery.

The strongest and most powerful reaction by the higher-ups was probably by the Kingdom of Admari, but other smaller kingdoms that made up the Alliance also had something of a kneejerk response. There’s one massive gaping hole in Lenamontis abolishing slavery, and that was status.

This was the first repercussion: status conflict.

For example, a noble from Admari comes along with his slaves in tow. Since Lenamontis does not acknowledge slavery, that slave could choose to act in manners befitting a free man—making his own choices, having his own opinions, or even deciding to become a citizen of Lenamontis—and there’s nothing in Lenamontis law to stop that. It would be treated as virtually the same as when a free man wished to become a Lenamontese citizen, for example.

In other words, there would no longer be any meaning to having a slave if those slaves would be treated as free men when they hit Lenamontese soil. Their status would mean nothing. Even attempts to discipline the slaves could invite legal consequences, as a lot of these attempts involve harming the slaves in some form, meaning that they’re not something that can be done to free men without inviting trouble—and these slaves were considered free men in Lenamontis.

That was also assuming that the slaves entered Lenamontis legally as someone else’s cargo.

What if they don’t?

Lenamontis just became the only safe country for slaves who wished to escape their confinement. And that was the second repercussion: slave exodus.

Mass slave exodus.

Slaves who managed to escape, slaves who could help each other escape, and the people who wanted to help slaves escape, all pointed in the direction of Lenamontis. While Lenamontis had become something of a beacon of hope, this brought with it countless problems—the first was the immigration wave that they did not have the structure for. These people would need lodging, jobs, administrative support, and so on. Rex Lenamontis was unsure that the system they currently had would be strong enough to handle the sudden influx. He was even more unsure about how this would socially affect the Lenamontese people—new people come with new customs, and there’s bound to be conflict with the existing customs of the people of the land they newly settled into.

The second was that it’s insanely bad for business. Slave trading was a huge industry, with thousands if not millions of gold circulating there internationally, and Lenamontis just made that entire business invalid. Sure, Lenamontis had also invalidated other, more questionable businesses before, but nobody ever tried to attack slavery. At most, they would attack human trafficking, which sold people into slavery—an attack pretty much like what Suzuki did in Diutiscus. But slavery itself, as a system? That’s a whole other beast with a lot of money.

Which brought Charlotte to the third repercussion: withdrawal.

Like it or not, Lenamontis was a considerably prosperous country. It took a lot of resources in order to continually defend against the Darklands, after all, so the fact that the country used to still thrive just fine during the War meant that they now had a lot of leftover funds after the War. Most of those went to the rebuilding efforts, but either way, the money was spent, which meant it circulated in the market—and many merchants needed that.

Slavery was a lucrative business, and Lenamontis was a wealthy kingdom. It seemed like a rather logical choice for merchants with enough capital to trade in slaves in Lenamontis, and that was indeed the case for so many merchants—so many that half the slave market consisted of merchants specialized in only slave trading.

All of those merchants were just rendered irrelevant.

The only merchants who survived were those who were a lot less specialized, often because their businesses were bigger so that they had the money to diversify their offers. It’s still a huge loss of revenue, of course, but they could get by nonetheless. The smaller merchants? They were basically kicked out of the kingdom. They had no choice legally and not enough money to continue staying in Lenamontis with so much slave cargo to take care of. Their only option was to pack up and leave.

The business withdrawal was one thing. The fact that some dukedoms depended on slavery, and had to have that backbone uprooted, was another.

And that brought Charlotte to the fourth repercussion: dissatisfied nobles.

While it first sounded nightmarish that the dukedoms that had always relied on free labor must start paying its people, the King was actually willing to subsidize some of their early pays, under the condition that the former slaves were treated well. If they start to look for work, they could be taxed. With the sudden population growth of free men, as long as they really started to work and produce results, Lenamontis would have a whole population of taxable people that just virtually appeared out of nowhere.

What the King wanted was to stimulate that group and give them a bit of safety, something they could get more used to until they found their proper starting grounds. It would, of course, come out of the King’s treasury. Suzuki and Charlotte had agreed to chip in to help—although their reserves were nowhere as large as the King’s, of course—and the business-minded Miss Hari actually volunteered to help the Court accountants if they felt it necessary.

The problem was really not with the pay. The pay issue was just a front that the nobles used to cover up the fact that they were still immeasurably upset that they were humiliated in Court.

All the Three Powers did have inflated ego. They kind of had to if they wished to survive the noble society. What Charlotte and the King pulled in Court was a massive blow, and the nobles’ dissatisfaction was at an all-time high.

That alone wouldn’t have been a problem. It did, however, enter the King’s consideration when word came to him that some of those nobles started whispering to forces outside of Lenamontis. If they had kept it internal, the King wouldn’t have been quite as worried—some of those nobles did, after all, try to take out their frustrations on their former slaves, the ones they were used to taking out their anger on, only for the Enforcers to suddenly appear and apprehend them for assaulting another person. The Magistratus might have dubious loyalties, but the Enforcers always did their job by the letter.

No, internal issues wouldn’t have been that scary. External forces, however, was another story.

Whatever would happen next, they were charging in blind.

That night, Charlotte found herself wandering the halls of the Mansion again. This time, Suzuki found her by the small rooftop garden that Miss Artia had started maintaining. Suzuki took her to his room to offer some blankets and warm milk—just something to help her feel more comfortable.

She felt like she would break at the lightest touch.

“Darling,” she said gently, “can I sleep with you tonight?”

She knew Suzuki felt her anxiety. “Sure.”

When they climbed onto bed, she just clung onto her beloved and didn’t let go.

She had done the impossible—she ended slavery entirely bloodlessly. However, what she failed to consider was that it was all nowhere near over. Slavery in Lenamontis was done. The danger that loomed over them all, not so much. What she had done was but a stopgap, a way to pause the fracture, and now she had powers beyond her reach turning their heads at her, working their way to worm even closer into everything she held dear.

The only solid ground she had left was the person she was hugging with all her might.

Her exhaustion soon caught up to her, and she could feel her consciousness fading away—but she just had to ask. “Suzuki….”

“Hmm?”

“Did I do good? Did I … did I manage to make your dream a reality?”

Suzuki gave her a soft kiss on the forehead. “You did, Charl. Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you, too….”

With that, Charlotte drifted off to sleep, knowing fully that whatever comes next would be where the real battle begins.

***