3

“That’s right. The wine was so good that I nearly forgot why I came here.”

The wine bottle and glass Lydia released moved to a nearby side cabinet in an instant.

“First, I thought I ought to greet the witch. Until now, we’ve been acting quietly out of consideration, but from now on, I intend to move openly. Greetings are important, aren’t they?”

“To think you had the awareness that you were being considerate.”

“That matter in Elias—my adorable subordinate did good work for me. It was quite a blow, wasn’t it? I intend to take advantage of this chaos and go claim it.”

“Would it be uncouth to ask what?”

“No, this is the kind of thing that’s more tasteful when stated clearly. Wenceslav’s head. I’ll be taking it in the near future.”

Lydia declared that with the corners of her mouth raised.

“That is why I thought I ought to notify the witch who has been babysitting that old geezer for so long in advance.”

“Hmph. Do as you please, if you intend to do it.”

“Oh? What a cold reaction. That’s not what I expected. I was certain the witch had quite the attachment to this country.”

Lydia tilted her head and made a thoughtful gesture.

Her words clearly indicated the overthrow of the kingdom.

Standing beside Kirishiya, who had risen to her feet, Mireine moved only her eyes and confirmed the distance to the door.

It was not far. Mireine had no idea what kind of magic Lydia used and could only find it bizarre, but even so, she judged that if she ran, she could make it outside the room.

“…Lady Kirishiya, I will immediately call for help. Then I will inform His Majesty of Lydia’s words and urge him to evacuate at once.”

Mireine whispered into Kirishiya’s ear, then waited for the right moment and broke into a sprint all at once.

That was not the movement of an ordinary attendant.

Her footwork and speed were comparable to a trained knight’s.

“Do not make a scene, attendant. Right now, I am talking to the witch. If you interrupt me, I will kill you.”

Lydia picked up the silver corkscrew that had been lying on the floor and threw it at the luxurious chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Lizelotte merely followed it with her eyes.

Kirishiya, who was beneath the chandelier, foresaw that the chandelier destroyed by the corkscrew would fall and leapt away from the spot.

However.

“Ghh!”

There was no sound of the chandelier shattering.

Far from that, the corkscrew was not stuck in the chandelier, nor in the ceiling where it had been thrown.

“If you so much as reach for that door, next time I will pin that hand to the door.”

At Lydia’s words, Kirishiya turned her eyes toward Mireine, who had been running.

Just before reaching the door, Mireine had one hand on the floor and could no longer move. Silver corkscrews were embedded in both of her calves.

In addition, an identical corkscrew had also been driven into her left upper arm, and red stains began seeping through her clothes.

That corkscrew came from Lady Lizelotte’s room. But there should have been only one…

Then why were three completely identical corkscrews embedded in Mireine’s body?

“…Mireine, stop. It would pain me as well to see my precious toy crucified.”

Lizelotte, whose expression had not changed at all at the sight of Mireine, shifted her gaze to Lydia.

“I will not allow her to leave. And since I am magnanimous, I may hear what you have to say. However, that will be after I have Mireine treated.”

At Lizelotte’s words, Lydia merely shrugged in response.

At Lizelotte’s eye contact, Kirishiya ran over to Mireine.

“Mireine, this will hurt, but please bear with it.”

“I am all right, Lady Kirishiya.”

Kirishiya first placed her hand on the corkscrew embedded in Mireine’s left calf.

“Here I go.”

Kirishiya slowly pulled it out while turning the screw, trying as much as possible not to damage the flesh.

“…Ggh!!”

Even so, Mireine was struck by intense pain.

The moment it was pulled free, blood spurted out.

Kirishiya pressed it down with cloth.

Then, in the same way, she pulled out the one in the right calf and stopped the bleeding.

The final one embedded in her left arm was pulled out by Mireine herself while twisting her face in pain, and she stopped the bleeding.

“You could have cried, you know? Cries leaking out from pain excite me, but this attendant is a real mood-killer. If she were one of my subordinates, she would have let out a sweet cry and entertained me.”

Lydia chuckled, then turned her eyes toward Lizelotte.

“We wasted time on someone boring, but as a greeting, I wanted to see the witch’s sorcery.”

As she said that, Lydia took a single long, thin needle from her chest.

She held it between her fingers and flicked it upward.

Just like the corkscrew, the needle headed for the chandelier, and likewise vanished the instant it was about to touch it.

No, that is not right. Was it sucked in?

Lizelotte, who had followed the needle’s movement with her eyes, quietly wove her words and deployed her sorcery.

If it was the same as the corkscrew, then although she did not know what mechanism was behind it, it would undoubtedly split apart and attack Lizelotte.

A power from another dimension whose mechanism was unknown.

The next instant.

From the hanging chandelier, a rain of more than several hundred needles attacked Lizelotte.

Their number was incomparable to the corkscrews.

So there does not seem to be a limit on how many it can split into.

Without moving even slightly, Lizelotte captured the countless needles in her eyes.

Just before they could pierce Lizelotte’s soft white skin, the needles stopped moving as if blocked by a transparent wall only a few centimeters away.

Without bathing in the witch’s blood, the needles lost their power.

“Limit Release: Arbitrary Flux: Acceleration.”

The countless needles decayed on their own.

They turned to ash and scattered onto the raised-fiber carpet.

“…Heh, what an interesting sorcery. I see. So this is the witch’s sorcery.”

Lydia clapped her hands in admiration and delight.

“It seems you are not all talk either. Hmph. Unpleasant though it is, even rotten, you are still a sorcerer.”

At Lizelotte’s words, Lydia twisted her face into a broad grin.

Looking displeased at that, Lizelotte picked up her fan and hid her mouth behind it.

When Mireine was wounded by Lydia, Lizelotte had not changed her expression at all. However, that did not mean she had felt nothing.

If anything, she had felt intense anger.

Lydia had toyed, right before Lizelotte’s eyes and without permission, with Mireine, whom only Lizelotte herself was allowed to dote on, tease, and use as a plaything. That was terribly infuriating.

Those whose proper names Lizelotte remembered, whom she took interest in, and whom she played with all existed solely for her sake.

Mireine’s face, which should have been distorted by Lizelotte’s hands, was distorted by Lydia. Mireine’s expression, which should have been warped for Lizelotte’s pleasure, pleased Lydia instead.

That was something she simply could not tolerate.