"Can I really do this?
Could you perhaps reconsider?"

Those words rose to the tip of the puppet’s tongue.
But in the end, they remained unspoken.

Surely, there must be a reason why the Master entrusted such a task to them.

And so, the puppet resolved to play the role its Master desired.

***

Ever since coming to the Tower, Demia felt like she was merely surviving, not truly living.

The never-ending complexities of administration, no matter how much she learned.
The relentless workload that refused to diminish, no matter how hard she worked.
The complete …