XXII: Devil

The figure in the smiling Oni mask drew closer as I took a step back. I tried to return inside the casino, but, evidently, the door behind me had locked when it shut.

Damn it!

I walked backwards down the alley as the masked person continued to approach me. Their pristine, dual blades reflected strays of light from a dim lamp that tried its best to illuminate the narrow space.

"I'd ask if this is a joke, but I think I know the answer to that," I muttered, receiving no reply.

My eyes darted around the alley, searching desperately for something I could use to make a hasty escape. But I didn't have the chance to form the slightest ghost of a plan. Without warning, the masked figure leapt towards me.

"Ah!" I reacted, just barely managing to duck beneath a swing that surely would've taken my head off.

My assailant wasted no time following up their decapitation attempt with another that I avoided by stumbling backward clumsily just in time. While I was off balance, however, the person jumped onto the wall, using their momentum to launch themselves from it and plunge a ferocious, flying kick right into my stomach. I flew into a pile of trash cans and felt a wave of pain ensnare my head.

I can't even think right now! This psycho is going to kill me!

My assailant began to sprint towards me with a clear intent to run me through with their blades. My body moved automatically, and I hurled a fallen trashcan lid directly into the hand of the attacker. The figure stopped and deflected the object with ease, but I kipped up to my feet and wasted no time attempting to spear my target.

They halted my momentum with ease as I tried to take them off their feet to no avail. They delivered two hard blows to my back with the hilts of their swords, and then kneed me in the stomach. One roundhouse kick later, and I was on the ground once again.

Like a harbinger of death, the figure slowly approached until they were looming above me, their mask catching the light in horrifying fashion.

Calling upon my training with Eva, I seized the opportunity and wrapped my legs around theirs, forcing them to the ground with a drop toe hold. Before I could take advantage of my surprise move, however, the assailant elbowed me in the face, breaking the hold. We both shot up to vertical positions, and I yanked the figure into a chokehold from behind. In seconds, I was slung over their shoulder with ease, pulled back up, pushed against the wall, and punched repeatedly in the face until I dropped back down into the pile of garbage.

My body reacted on its own, coughing and panting as though to let both me and the perpetuator of my assault know that I was finished.

The figure stood above me and buried both swords in the ground in a cross pattern around my throat. The sharp curves of the blades were mere inches from the racing pulse in my neck.

"I knew it," my attacker spoke for the first time. Their voice was distorted, as if they were speaking through a voice modifier. "You're just a fool out of your depth. You're going to ruin everything."

What?

The door I had used to exit out into the alley suddenly began to open, capturing the attention of my attacker instantly. In a blindingly swift motion, the masked figure pulled their swords and sprinted down the alley, disappearing as quickly as they had appeared.

The door fully opened, and from the bright lights of the casino's interior, Sylvia emerged. She stood in the doorway, looking left and right until she spotted me on the ground.

"Shinsuke?" she called out in confusion. She knelt, placing a small canister by the door to keep it from closing, and then approached me. "What happened to you?"

"I've fallen and I can't get up. Mind giving me a hand?"

Unamused, she helped me to my feet, but I immediately crumbled into her arms. "Gods. Be serious, would you? What happened?"

"Some psychopath in a white Oni mask tried to kill me out here. I barely know what happened myself."

"...I see," she replied flatly. "Here, use me like a crutch and let's get back inside."

As she requested, I hung onto her, and we cooperated until we were both back inside the casino. I thought we would stop at one of the couches, but she kept leading me towards the elevators.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"Up to my room."

"Uh, why?"

"Because I said so. Now move."

With the dark-haired princess's help, I hobbled into the elevator, and she pressed the button for the floor containing the VIP suites. We made our way to her door, and she wasted no time swiping her keycard. The room she brought me into was appropriately gigantic.

Sylvia laid me on a couch just across from a huge window that contained a breathtaking view of the city and the castle in the distance. For whatever reason, she didn't turn the lights in the room on, so the bright glow of the city at night was the only source of illumination.

After setting me down, she walked over to her refrigerator and retrieved a bag of ice from the freezer. She tossed it at me and sat on the couch across from me. "Use that to ice your face."

"Thanks..." I said, placing the bag against my cheek. "Could you, uh, turn on the lights?"

"No."

"Why not?"

She crossed her legs and dryly stated, "I like the dark."

As good a reason as any, I suppose.

"Can you tell me why you brought me here now?" I asked, cautiously.

"Isn't it obvious? To keep you safe."

"And why would you do that?" I pried. "We're rivals, aren't we? How do I know it wasn't you that attacked me?"

The princess shook her head, making her long hair sway elegantly. "Do you think you're living in a slasher film? How could I have attacked you and then saved you in such a short span of time?"

"You could have orchestrated it for all I know."

"While I commend your skepticism, I suggest you direct it elsewhere, Shinsuke. I'm not responsible for the assault on you tonight."

"You walked away from the blackjack table while I was with Eli and Emil, and then you happened to reappear just after I was attacked."

"And?"

"And the casino is as secure as a place can get with so many royals and your armies of security on the premises. There's no way that alley was a blind spot, which makes it pretty clear to me that it had to be one of you who did it."

She folded her arms and agreed. "That was my thought as well. But you would suspect me above Emil when you two argued multiple times tonight?"

"It wasn't Emil," I declared.

"What makes you so sure?"

"The person that attacked me said I was going to 'ruin everything'. Someone is afraid they're going to lose their chance if I'm defeated. That wouldn't be Emil."

Sylvia rose from the couch and approached me. She stood over me, her eyes dull but radiating a palpable irritation. "This is the last time I will tell you this. It wasn't me."

Her stern glare warned me not to challenge her statement any further. She was either telling the truth or she was a fantastic liar. Either way, it didn't matter. I knew it wasn't likely anyone was about to own up to the attack on me.

She knelt close to me, inching closer and closer to my face until our noses were practically touching. She said nothing as her aloof gaze pierced right through me.

"Wh-what are you doing?" I stuttered.

I flinched and felt the sensation of an object slipping into the palm of my hand. It was a phone—my phone.

"You dropped this in the alley," Sylvia explained. "It seems you didn't even realize it. Take it. Contact your princess and get out of here."

"Oh, right. Thank you..."

Sylvia sighed and rose back to full height once again. "I hope this helplessness is just an elaborate act. Otherwise, that person who attacked you has every right to be worried. The boy I'm looking at right now stands no chance against Emil."

"I'm going to tear Emil apart," I contested. "The rest of you should only worry about yourselves."

"The only thing worrying here is your false bravado."

Like she suggested, I tapped away at the screen, sending a message to Cynthia explaining what happened to me and requesting a ride back to the castle. My phone rumbled instantly, alerting me to a bewildered response from Cynthia.

You were attacked?! I told you not to get into any trouble over there! I'm sending a car to pick you up right away. Find somewhere safe to wait and don't move, idiot!

Of course, her first instinct was to blame me. But I was too preoccupied with the oncoming pain to care about that.

"Well? Is she coming?" asked Sylvia.

"She's sending a car now. I can't imagine it will take long to get here, so I'm going to head down to the lobby." I slowly pulled myself up from the couch and awkwardly held out my hand. "Uh, thanks for taking care of me."

She kept her eyes locked on mine and never moved to shake my hand. "I don't require your gratitude. If you're going to go, go. And keep the ice, your face is starting to swell."

I nodded and exited the Gliovanian princess's room. My walk quickly devolved into a slight limp as I made it to the elevator and descended to the lobby. When the doors opened, I found the closest couch and planted my aching body down. I had about two seconds of solitude before Eli appeared and sat beside me.

"There you are!" he announced. "I was looking for you! I thought we could—whoa, what happened to you?! Damn, looks like someone beat the breaks off you..."

"Thank you for noticing. Very astute observation."

"You gonna tell me what happened?"

"I was attacked and there's no way it wasn't one of you royals. So, no offense, but I don't really feel like talking to you or anyone else right now."

"You really think I would do that to you?" Eli challenged. "Even after I invited you along and lent you cash to play tonight?"

"I don't know what to think, Eli."

"Right. Tell me, did you even see what this person looked like?"

"All black clothing and a white, smiling Oni mask."

Eli's expression twisted into anger and his gaze ventured off into the distance. He stayed quiet for a bit, stroking the stubble on his chin and chuckling once in irritated fashion. "Oh, I know exactly who jumped you. But since you chose not to have any faith in me, I'll just keep it to myself. Watch your back, Shinsuke. Because the person that did that to you isn't playing around."

With that ominous warning, Eli left me to wait for my ride in silence. That wait was thankfully quite short. And, before long, I found myself stuffed in the backseat of a Steylian royal car.

***

I arrived back at the castle and was taken directly to Cynthia's room where she and Siegfried were seated across from her fireplace. They both rose as soon as I entered.

"Shinsuke!" she cried, running up to me. "What happened?!"

How many times am I going to have to explain this tonight?

"I should get going now, Cynthia. It was delightful catching up with you again," Siegfried started. "I hope that we can see each other more often."

Cynthia focused her attention on the prince and replied, "I had a wonderful time. We really must do this again soon."

Siegfried locked eyes with me for a moment. His expression was blank yet carried an unmistakable air of judgment. He bid Cynthia farewell before taking his leave.

"Seems like you had a good time," I remarked.

"What? Just tell me what happened!"

Once again, I retold the story of my unexpected assault. Cynthia treated my wounds with her magic as I spoke, and we both came to the agreement that we were better off addressing the situation in the morning.

I was led to the same room I had previously spent a night in, and I wasted no time collapsing into the giant, fluffy bed. I didn't want to face the wrath later on, so I made sure to send a brief summary of the night's events to my parents and Mizuki before shutting off my phone. I knew they would inundate me with messages, but I needed sleep—badly.

The cozy mattress beneath me made drifting off easy on my body, but not my mind. Until the moment I passed out, my brain looped the same sequence of words over and over.

What could possibly happen next?