Chapter 174: Play (4)

Chapter 174: Play (4)

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.”

“...”

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 /genesisforsaken