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Translator: penny
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Let's Come to an Agreement With Each Other
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It was strange.
No, "strange" wasn't nearly enough to describe it.
The next morning.
Even until just before the sun climbed fully into the midday sky, blurring the boundary between breakfast and lunch, Elcia paced circles around the annex room the Argent family had provided, stomping her feet in frustration.
The noble guest chamber, which should have been silent, brimmed with her anxious breaths and the swish of her skirts.
The reason was obvious.
The night before, Belcia and Celcia had stormed out to deal with Ira—and even after a full night had passed, they still hadn't returned.
Of course, they weren't quite on Elcia's own level of nobility, but those two were born inheriting the proud blood of high elves.
They weren't mere servants or hollow noble ladies in name only.
...Which only made it stranger.
'No way... did they get taken out?'
The thought flashed through her mind, and Elcia's brow furrowed deeply.
She shook her head at once.
'No. Ridiculous.'
A formal heir of the Argent family might be one thing, but raiding the annex of some illegitimate bastard child?
Against just Ira, no less.
Someone whose only "combat experience" came from scraping by in the shadows like it was breathing—there was no way those two could lose to her.
Elcia knew their strength better than anyone.
During their time in the kingdom, she had personally assisted with their training.
She had watched the tremble in their sword hands, their breathing as they drew up mana, every moment their focus wavered.
Girls who gritted their teeth and endured, determined not to shame their big sister.
Girls who followed without a single complaint through training that drew blood from their palms.
And lately, they had finally awakened their mana, able to wield magic freely even beyond the forest.
Yet those girls... had somehow hit a snag in the bastard's annex, where Ira was holed up?
Anxiety swelled slowly but surely in Elcia's chest.
That was when it happened.
Knock knock.
A careful but unmistakable knock.
Even through the door, it rang out with unnatural clarity.
Elcia's footsteps halted.
She swallowed hard, staring at the door. Her heart thudded a beat late.
"Belcia? Celcia...?"
Calling their names softly, she felt her fingertips tremble faintly without realizing it.
At this hour, no one else would come to this annex room but those two.
...But.
The door swung open, and Elcia reflexively cocked her head.
It wasn't a person standing there.
Just a palm-sized crystal orb resting quietly on the floor.
Elcia stared down at it in silence for a long moment.
A transparent sphere, utterly still, no presence at all.
But instinct whispered a warning. This wasn't discarded trash.
She crouched slowly and picked it up. A faint chill seeped into her palm.
In that instant, Elcia recognized it immediately.
"This is... a recording orb?"
This world had no concept of a "camera."
Magical tools that captured and sealed the sights and sounds of a moment were exceedingly rare—items even the royal family or great noble houses couldn't handle lightly.
They were never just tossed carelessly on the floor like this.
In other words, this was a message.
Left deliberately by someone.
An unavoidable invitation, inevitably linked to Belcia and Celcia's whereabouts, whether she liked it or not.
Elcia hesitated briefly, then clenched her teeth.
She hurried back inside with the orb in hand.
One by one, she drew the curtains. With sunlight fully blocked, the room plunged into rapid darkness, the very air growing heavy.
Elcia set the orb on the table and placed her palm atop it.
A short incantation, mana flowed in—and the orb's interior began to glow faintly.
Then.
"Heh, hehehe..."
"Sister... sob."
Elcia's breath caught in her throat.
Floating above the orb was an image of familiar faces.
Belcia and Celcia.
But their appearances were so utterly alien at the same time.
They were laughing. Smiling, unmistakably.
Yet tears still glistened at the corners of their eyes, and their lips trembled unnaturally.
Scratches and cuts marred their bodies vividly, their noble dresses—symbols of pride—torn to rags.
And the poses: deliberate, bodies pressed close in a humiliating double peace sign.
One glance made it clear—they'd been subdued and forced in front of the orb.
"Celcia?! And even Belcia?!"
Who the hell.
Who the hell would do this to my precious little sisters.
To high elves, blood kin were more than family.
Especially for girls like them, who had whittled away at themselves to preserve their pride—this was the unforgivable "ultimate humiliation."
Yesterday, stealing water from the Immortal Spring, Elcia had held back from killing to avoid escalating things.
She hadn't wanted needless bloodshed or pointless grudges.
But.
That restraint snapped like a twig.
Right now, in this moment, an impulse surged to slaughter everything here—from the living to the wall ornaments.
The room's air warped in response to her fury.
Mana waves howled, shredding wallpaper; furniture rattled from their spots.
Then.
"Princess Elcia. As you can see, I'm taking very good~ care of your two little sisters."
A black-haired pretty boy lounged with a sly, leisurely grin.
A face she'd never seen.
Yet Elcia knew his identity in an instant.
"Lucas Argent...!"
Crunch.
Her jaw clenched so hard her teeth ground audibly.
Blatant killing intent filled Elcia's eyes, but the Lucas in the orb paid it no mind.
If anything, he seemed to enjoy the reaction, his grin turning even smugger as he continued.
"No way my two proud little sisters would get done in by some bastard, right? You must've thought the same—only to get counterattacked. Bet you're pretty pissed."
He paused deliberately, then added with a chuckle.
"But, Princess. Now's not the time to lose yourself in rage."
Tutting his tongue mockingly, Lucas cut to the chase.
"More importantly, don't you want your two little sisters back?"
"What?"
"Ah, if you figured I'd hand them over to the Argent family for some gain, that's a huge misunderstanding~."
He tilted his head, letting out a low laugh.
"These girls have screwed me over plenty. You think I'd hand such prime breeders to the very people who did this to me?"
Elcia gulped unconsciously.
A chill slithered down her spine.
Gazing down at her like that, Lucas delivered his final line.
"Come to our annex at the stroke of dawn today. There... I'll explain the deal."
"Now... about ten minutes left till dawn."
Unlike yesterday, tonight's sky held an especially lovely moon.
As if it knew what was about to unfold here but smiled innocently anyway.
I sat on the rickety terrace out front of the annex.
Shabby on the outside, but my cup brimmed with the finest tea from the Argent stores.
Its subtle aroma mingled with the night air.
A leisurely sip.
Another.
To greet my incoming guest, a man needed this much composure, right?
Beside me stood Piel, bound by the contract of my Pactum Mortis ability.
My life, Ira's, and Piel's own.
Three lives staked as collateral.
Right now: instant death against any non-high elf foe.
In exchange: absurdly overpowered against high elves alone. A "promise" made real.
Piel, basking in its full effects, stood as steadfast as yesterday.
Chest puffed like a veteran guard knight, even tossing in a pointless "Ahem!"
High-elf-exclusive thug.
Couldn't describe it better.
And across from her.
Two more bound by my contract magic.
Belcia and Celcia.
Their terms were straightforward.
Any whiff of funny business against me, Lucas Argent—instant heart explosion.
Simple. Direct.
The sisters stood with humiliation swallowed on their faces.
Prideful high elves—heads held high, but their bodies tensed subtly.
"Ugh... To think a mere Argent bastard wields magic like this...!"
"Damn it, beaten by Ira's master... such humiliation!"
I took another sip and cocked my head.
"Oh? Wanna pop your own hearts for me?"
"Eek?!"
"Th-that was just talk!"
Instant reactions.
Lives-on-the-line contracts worked flawlessly, any era.
...But even amid that.
Shiver shiver.
A different tremble entered my peripheral vision.
"Ira, you okay?"
"Y-yes?! Ah, yes... I'm fine, Master Lucas..."
Her words rang clear, but her voice pitched too high, shoulders unrelaxed.
I set my cup down, speaking as softly as I could.
"Sorry for dragging you out here. But without you today, this whole meeting falls apart. Just hang in there a bit."
"...Yes."
Short answer.
She nodded, but her fingertips stayed ghostly pale.
Even leashed by my contract magic, hanging by threads—something trembled more than Belcia or Celcia.
The discarded youngest princess: Ira.
Ira kept mouthing "I'm fine" but couldn't ignore her sisters' piercing stares.
Glance. Glance.
Almost meeting eyes, then ducking away.
Shiver again.
Pure Pavlov's dog—conditioned reflex.
Still, I didn't tuck Ira inside the annex.
Could've hidden her, pulled her aside—but no.
One reason.
In the original Vengeful Goddesses, Ira's SED ending eight years from now.
That wretched finale—I had to smash it right here.
And the curtain on that "plot"—
Bam!
Rose with the thud of a rough landing.
"Lucas Argent..."
"You've arrived, Princess Elcia."
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