I Understand

I ended up hitching a ride to Aizus with Elysa’s entourage. At first I just planned on giving them some of the potion and leaving things at that, but my fourth sense warned me that I needed to get out of Roswand as quickly as possible. Not only had Ane built up a surplus desire to torture, aparently her father, the previous head of the house, lived in Roswand and he was quite busy because of me. You know that deal I made with Elysa about the grain? Well obviously I wasn’t going to work out the details myself, and I still didn’t know where Selini was. That’s why I told the people at the castle that Ane’s father would take care of it. Sure, it was probably a lot of work for him, but he should be happy that I brought so much business to the Blanche household. Even after I took my fair share of 73%, he would be making enough from all the bread we’d have to make it worth it.

And yeah, turns out stealing a deal out from under a duke’s family may make things a little difficult for a lower ranking noble, but I’m sure he’d figure things out. At least Ane would deflect most of the obvious criticism against him. Although I wouldn’t let anyone use any excuses like the saint collecting bread to give out to the masses or anything like that. I disliked both the idea of using Ane like that and the idea of people thinking I was giving bread away for free.

Anyway, the fact remains that I didn’t want to stay in Roswand for family reasons, so I made up some lie about needing to give Elysa the potion in person. And for whatever reason they just instantly accepted that I couldn’t give it to Elysa back in Valieris and brought me with them.

What a score. Don’t they realize you usually have to pay to ride in a carriage? They just brought me along for free. These people from Aizus really are suckers.

Anyway, the trip to Aizus wasn’t very eventful. Traveling with a caravan rarely ever was. So instead of boring you with those details, allow me to bore you with the details of the lies, I mean plan, that Dimitris thought up.

So basically, he was worried that no one would accept the beautiful woman who completely massacred their army as a new business partner, no matter how intelligent she was. Fortunately, it seems like Aizus had a bit of a rebellion or something recently. I imagine that’s how the real king and queen ended up dead.

Anyway, the lie was to frame the army that invaded Valieris as an offshoot of that. The commander was by all accounts a loyal guy, but he’d go down in history as being in cahoots with the head honcho of the rebellion. That means that I wasn’t a war criminal, well, I guess I still kind of was, but I wasn’t a bad guy. I’m the person that eliminated the last sparks of the unpleasantness they’ve been going through.

And as an added bonus, I was apparently going to perform an act of goodwill. Some terrible monster had been wrecking havoc in Aizus lately, apparently that was one of the causes of the rebellion in the first place. But anyway, I would go out and exterminate the monster for them. Personally I had no problems with that, but Dimitris didn’t seem to think I could actually kill it, so he’d find a way to deal with it using other means, and just give me the credit.

Anyone in the know would instantly realize these were just cheap lies, but apparently anyone in the know would also realize that playing along was in everyone’s best interest. For some reason both him and Elysa seemed confident the nobles of Aizus would overlook a troublesome reality and accept a convenient lie.

Was that why Elysa started wearing the pads?

Either way, they managed to solve the biggest problem without any real trouble. That made the rest of the trip pretty much a vacation for me. And Aizus was exactly the kind of place I was hoping it would be.

It would still take me a little longer to get a full count, but from my initial estimates the capital city of Aizus was slightly smaller than Milize and certainly not as aesthetically pleasing.

Perfect.

It’s not that I was judging them or anything, but it’s just the way it is. Not everyone can be at the top. If anything, they should be proud of their humble little city. I mean, it was definitely a step up from an ostentatious city like Roswand. Even the castle that Elysa lived in was fairly humble as castles for royalty go.

As soon as we arrived Elysa went off to handle other business and led me through a mostly abandoned wing of the place. He kept saying that he wanted me to use the potion on Elysa as quickly as possible. If that was the case I don’t understand why she didn’t come with us, but it didn’t really matter anyway. I decided to practice my skills and secretly dosed her food with the potion while we were on the road.

But I didn’t want to let them know how sneaky I actually was, as that ruins the point of being sneaky in the first place, so I just decided to play along. Honestly I felt a bit bad about these Aizus rubes; constantly being toyed with by a genius like me.

“Dimitris, after we finish with this stuff, I’d like you to introduce me to whoever does the portraits around here.”

“Excuse me?” Despite being in a rush to lead me wherever we were going, he paused to respond to my question.

“No, it’s nothing that interesting. I’m sure you are expecting me to have some kind of great plan or revelation, but it’s just a simple thing. I was just really impressed with the portraits of Elysa, and wanted to know if whoever painted them could paint something for me.”

It really was just that simple. Meeting with so many important people over the past few weeks was really awakening my sense of vanity. And whoever did the portraits for Aizus really was skilled. I mean, at first glance they just look like normal portraits, but that isn’t the full story. Listen to this, most people would never notice, but the Elysa in the portraits is wearing pads. Isn’t that impressive? Not only did he discern the truth, he managed to paint her in such a way that she doesn’t just have a larger chest, she is definitely wearing pads in the painting. And that was present in all of them.

“If that’s the case, then introducing you will be no trouble.” Dimitris continued guiding me without giving it another thought. I suppose he just didn’t appreciate the arts.

Things stayed quiet until we found ourselves in a locked room with an old maid and a sleeping woman.

“Clock tower, what exactly is going on here?” I didn’t specify what I was talking about, but anyone would recognize I was addressing the sleeping woman.

“This is Elysa Aizus. She is currently under the effects of the soul’s bane.”

“And you’re sure you actually want me to cure whatever is causing this?”

“Yes, I know what you are implying and the trouble that may come of it, but I can’t leave her to suffer like this.”

Suffer? He called this suffering? Was this some kind of sick joke? The sleeping woman was clearly Elysa, obviously I could tell that. She looked the same, smelled the same, but more than that, she had the same essence.

But one thing was different. Something major. They weren’t pads. They were real. I took my glasses off just to make sure. What was the meaning of this? I won’t blame Elysa for sneaking off and taking a nap without me, but what kind of sorcery is this? Had she been under a curse or something?

No, that isn’t possible. Like I said before, even in her portraits from her teenage years she was wearing pads. I could say with certainty that Elysa Aizus wore pads. Then what was going on here? Was she some kind of sexy werewolf or something?

Rakki once mentioned something about werewolves to me, but I didn’t know this was the kind of transformation they made. Maybe I spoke too early before.

Wait a minute. The past doesn’t matter, but the future does. Rather than be concerned with understanding what happened, I need to figure out how to infect myself.

“Dimitris, what can you tell me of her condition?”

“Like we said before, Her Majesty was poised by soul’s bane. A terrible poison that directly targets the soul, leaving only an empty husk. The effect is so strong that it has even been affecting Her Majesty’s double, the Elysa you are familiar with.

So then if the downsides are soul related, doesn’t that mean it is perfectly safe for me? I mean, either way, it’s worth the risk.

“Dimitris, her condition is far more extreme than I ever imagined. I’ll need to mix the potion directly into her blood.”

“I see. Should I call for her physician?”

“There’s no time for that! Can’t you see? We must act quickly! What I’m about to do may seem rash, but the potion will cure it, trust me!”

I grabbed Elysa’s arm and bit down. Not as hard as I could, but hard enough to draw blood. Once I felt it on my tongue I made sure to suck as much out of her as I could without looking suspicious.

From what I remember, vampires tended to go for necks, but with werewolves it probably didn’t matter.

Anyway, by the time I managed to drink a reasonable amount of her blood Dimitris was starting to panic. He was trying to pull me off, but I mean, come on. Ane’s bodyguard was one thing, but it isn’t like a normal human could overpower me.

With that in mind, I decided to drink a bit more. Better safe than sorry, right?

Once I was finished, for real this time, I poured some of the immortality potion onto the wound. I already gave her a dose, so this was basically a free bonus to cover up for me eating a bit of her.

Dimitris was still panicking, but he calmed down as he watched the wounds on her arm and neck close up.

Why her neck? Well, part of the way through I started to wonder if maybe I was mixing up werewolves and vampires, so I decided to drink her blood from there as well. And it must have been working, because the more I drank the more of a headache I got. It was a sensation that I felt before and didn’t particularly enjoy, but given the circumstances it was definitely worth it. In order to achieve my dreams I fought through the urge to pass out.

“I will admit to being slightly surprised that this potion worked as you claimed, but I can’t say I’m pleased with your methods.”

“Well if we’re admitting things, I don’t particularly care. This was serious business. Far more serious than you thought. This whole thing was just a light hearted vacation for me, but once I understood her affliction I had to act. I couldn’t let this opportunity slip away. Do you have any idea how much is riding on this? So what if my methods were extreme. I had to act.”

This changes everything. And I mean everything. Could society handle a peerless gem like myself getting such a big buff? No, I doubt it. Entire kingdoms would crumble, but the utopia that would rise from the ashes would understand true perfection. I wasn’t doing this for me, I was doing it for everyone else in the world. One look at my upgraded form would bring them to a sage-like understanding of the world.

“Her wounds closed up, but how long will it take for the treatment to take effect? Until I see results we won’t be able to move forward with our part of the deal. I hope you understand.”

“Trust me, I understand.” I mean, who could blame him? Of course he wanted to see what would happen to me now that I drank so much of her blood. People would be lining up just to catch a glimpse of me. How could I deny him the pinnacle of earthly pleasures? “I can’t say for certain, but from what I understand it should take effect by the next full moon.” Werewolves transformed with the moon, right?