My tour of Yuria’s mansion finally came to an end when the evening came and the sun started to set.

Well, technically, it was the time when the artificial lighting began to dim.

“...”

Although when one looked up toward the sky one could see something that seemed to resemble a sun, a closer look would reveal that it was merely an artificially created sculpture that moved according to some kind of mechanism.

Basically, it implied that the facility itself was hidden deep underground.

‘Such a paranoid setup.’

“I believe that should give you a good understanding of the mansion, Mr. Servant.”

Young Yuria said so with confidence as she cleared her throat to add to the flair.

Seeing how proud she looked as she introduced me to the entire place, I couldn’t help but smile like a proud dad and applauded her in spite of myself.

And that seemed to inflate the punk’s pride even more as she puffed out her chest, exhaling a ‘Hmph’ proudly with her nose.

When I patted her head, though, she quickly straightened her face.

“...What is the meaning of this? Are you treating me like a child?”

“...”

I wanted to ask that myself.

Seriously, why was I doing this to her? She was still technically my employer.

I’ve noticed this for a while now, but it seemed like I had a tendency to dote on children a bit too much.

Especially when they gave off the vibe of a younger sibling.

“...”

It reminded me of the good old days.

The thought made me let out a bitter smile inwardly.

Shaking off such musings, I beamed at Yuria, pulling the back of my hand from her head.

“I apologize. Did I upset you?”

However, as soon as I uttered those words, Yuria grabbed my hand.

When I looked at her with a puzzled expression, she mumbled for a while before finally managing to speak.

“...I did not ask for you to stop.”

“...”

It seemed like it didn’t matter whether she was my superior or not. In the end, she was still just a kid.

I continued to stroke her hair until it became all tousled. A content expression appeared on her face, reminding me of a purring cat.

‘...This is beyond just being generous to her employee. She’s just lax to them.’

At this point, I couldn’t even tell who the employer was.

Like, it was her who came to wake me up after I overslept. It was also her who had a busier day than me, doing everything while teaching me how to do my duties.

While I was thinking as such, I started to notice the stares from others around us.

“...”

They seemed to be really, truly displeased with how close I was to her…

As if they found my interest in this ‘thing’ discomforting.

“...It is about time you go to bed. My Lady.”

Unable to hold back my surging irritation, I blurted as such.

I just wanted to separate her from these other bastards.

But when she heard my words, her expression quickly darkened.

“...?”

What’s this?

Did I say something wrong?

“A-Alrea…dy?”

Her stutters made me cock my head in response.

“You have shown me the entire structure of the mansion and it is getting quite late, isn’t it?”

“...T-There m-might still be places in the m-mansion we h-hav… haven’t…”

As I watched her struggling to continue her words, I realized something.

I didn’t say something wrong.

She was just afraid of being separated by me.

“...”

I didn’t know why she felt that way, but there was a simple solution for this.

“...Then, how about we do something special? I’ll tuck you in for tonight, My Lady.”

“...!”

Seeing as her expression instantly brightened, it seemed I had made the right choice.

“...and so, the Princess lived happily ever after with the Prince.”

I was familiar with the act, but this was actually the first time I’ve ever told a bedtime story.

It was a classic story.

A princess, persecuted by the world, was eventually saved by a prince on a white horse.

Afterwards, it continued to a pleasant happy ending that was found in a lot of other fairy tales.

“...”

However, despite it being a cliché, Yuria’s eyes sparkled with an unmatched brilliance after she heard it..

“What a beautiful story…”

“...You think so?”

“Yes. Especially the part where the Prince marries 12 Princesses all at once was particularly memorable.”

“...”

Right. There was something like that in the story.

Seriously, whoever thought that it would be a good idea to add such bullshit to a children’s fairy tale must be out of their goddamn minds.

“The way the Prince seduced the women easily felt a bit iffy to me. There’s also the way he effortlessly overcame all the obstacles. Oh yeah, he also played around with all those women he seduced like a libertine. Despite that, it was still a beautiful story…”

“...”

Strange.

For some reason, my heart felt heavy.

As I pondered the reason why the phenomenon occurred, Yuria spoke up again, albeit hesitantly.

“Excuse me, Mr. Servant.”

“Yes, My Lady.”

“Do you think a prince like that will come for me as well?”

“...”

Hearing those words, I was instantly rendered speechless.

Uh…

I’d rather not convey such a harsh reality to her, but in her near future, she’d be ridden by a storm of blood and tragedy that was caused by her making contact with Severer.

Such a ‘stage’ was likely orchestrated by the Pope to awaken her role as the ‘Talisman’.

“...”

And from my perspective, who roughly knew such contents…

I couldn’t bring myself to utter even empty promises about princes and such.

Because just the thought of me doing that was already enough to make me feel like a massive asshole.

!!! Warning !!!

[ Rebellious intent detected from the target. ]

[ This knowledge is not supposed to be known by the ‘exclusively contracted servant’. ]

[ Do not disclose this! ]

[ Do not break character! ]

“...”

I looked at the red warning window that appeared before me with a bitter smile.

It seemed like I couldn’t even speak of it in the first place.

After all, I was under a restriction to not break ‘character’.

And, most of all…

Honestly, I wouldn’t feel all that sorry if the people here all just dropped dead.

This place was a gathering of the dregs of humanity anyway. Scums who didn’t even deserve to exist. At least I thought so.

Although Yuria might feel guilty later about cutting them apart, I would rather she didn’t know about any of this. That was how fucked up these people were.

As I was thinking this, Yuria opened her mouth with a dull voice.

“Right now, the only person by my side is Unni, you see.”

“...Excuse me?”

“...This is the first time someone has indulged me like you have, Mr. Servant.”

I looked at Yuria with a dumbfounded expression as she clamped her mouth shut.

‘...She definitely said…’

 

‘Only’.

Which meant she knew that she was isolated in this mansion.

“...My Lady, what do you—”

“...I already know that I’m all alone here.”

Yuria spoke in a calm voice.

“According to doctrine, life is sacred. The most sacred union that humans can create. And according to such a doctrine… I am just a lowly creature…created ‘out of necessity’...without even a mother or father.”

Right now…

What she was trying to say was that she was something that deserved contempt from those around her.

That she was aware of this matter, painfully so.

This young child was reciting those cruel words so plainly.

“...As such, I should not complain and I should not be sad. I cannot be a burden to those who treat even something like me kindly with a smile.”

“...”

“I must fulfill…my role…the duty given to me.”

Seeing her forced smile made me lose my words.

“His Holiness and Unni will be visiting soon. When that time comes… I’ll be able to repay the kindness I’ve received.”

She described her life, trapped in a bird cage, as a result of some kind of kindness. That was enough for me to notice.

But it was far clearer from the nuance that she exuded with every word.

She already knew.

That there was not a single person in the mansion who genuinely cared for her or wished her well.

The purpose for which she was created was never in her best interests.

And that in a few days, the Pope would bring Lucia, and it would most definitely not be anything beneficial to her.

“...”

When thinking about it, the reason she was so gentle with me throughout the mansion tour…

The reason why the person who was supposedly the owner of the mansion showed such an attitude to a mere exclusively contracted servant…

Was because she herself understood her ‘circumstances’, so she was just being as kind as possible.

But then, that raised a question.

‘...Why?’

Why would she go to such lengths?

Why did she accept such facts so calmly?

“...”

Given the personality I had seen from her so far…

There was only one reason that came to mind…

It was simply because…

She had no other choice.

From the very beginning, she was never given an environment where she could choose a different path.

‘...That’s just…’

‘Horrible…way too horrible…’

She was still a little kid.

At this age, she should be sulking in her parents’ arms as they gave her an overflowing amount of love. What she should do was to learn about the world, to fall down and get back up, to grow and develop without a worry.

But to be trapped in such a cage for a specific purpose, isolated, and ultimately needing to sacrifice herself for those who didn’t even give her a speck of love…

For such a precocious child, who accepted all those atrocities and even acted as kindly as possible of her own will, to meet such an end…

That was…

Far too terrible of an ending…

“...Still.”

While I was lost in such thoughts, Yuria continued with the same flat voice.

“...I am truly lucky to have met…a good person like you…Mr. Servant.”

“...”

“You seem a bit different from others, Mr. Servant.”

As I listened quietly to her words…

It suddenly made me realize something.

“...”

I summoned a window before me.

< Event Info >

▶Sweet Play◀

[ Persuade target ‘Yuria/White Devil’. ]

[ Your assigned ‘role’ is ‘Lady Yuria’s exclusively contracted servant’. Do not break character! ]

[ A time limit of 3 days is given. If you break character or fail to escape the Image World within that time, you will be trapped in the world in question forever! ]

[ Prevent the tragedy that will befall target ‘Yuria’! ]

I focused particularly on the last line, reading through it once more.

Now it began to click for me.

The reason why the White Devil had shoved me in here.

And what she exactly did expect from me.

‘...You want me to prevent a tragedy, huh?’

As I confirmed once already with Riru and the Blue Devil’s relationship…

The relationship between a ‘Devil’ and a ‘Vessel’ was much, much closer than I thought.

There were exceptions like Seras and the Purple Devil, but they were the only ones like that, so I could put them aside.

Anyway, in regards to the White Devil…

She wanted Yuria to see a ‘happy scene’ from her most nightmarish past.

That was why…

“...My Lady.”

What I had to do here was clear.

I smiled back at Yuria, who was trying so desperately to smile.

“Do not worry too much.”

Upon hearing my words, Yuria gave me a weak smile.

“...Mr. Servant, you really are a good person.”

She probably thought that my encouragement was futile.

After all, she already knew that a great misfortune would befall her in the next few days.

Since the orchestrator of that event was none other than the Pope, a figure that was no different from a natural disaster, she knew it could not possibly be stopped.

However…

I was not just making empty promises.

“I will save you.”

“...?”

Yuria’s eyes widened.

She seemed unsure of what exactly I was trying to say,

“You see, while you might feel iffy to see the Prince seducing all the women around him, while you might find it strange that he overcomes all those obstacles effortlessly… While he will be the crazy bastard who plays around with all those women he seduced like some sort of libertine…”

“...E-Excuse me…?”

I continued speaking to the dumbfounded Yuria.

Honestly, I’m not sure about being a prince on a white horse. Because I didn’t really have any confidence in playing that kind of role.

However…

“Such a bastard will definitely come for you.”

If it was a superman on a white horse, I should be able to manage it.

By superman I meant someone who was able to completely overturn a decided course of a play.