Esther, because of her mischievous victory over me, is taking me out on a date. I wonder why she chose this, but I'm not going to complain because it's the first time I've left the mansion since we got married.
And now we're riding in the carriage to someplace. I look at the outfit Esther picked for me. It's very elegant and pretty, but once again, it's too mature to the point of giving me a more... "hot" style, so to speak.
"Do you like stockings, Esther?" I ask, noticing that most of the outfits Esther has chosen for me come with a matching set of stockings.
"Yes, but not in the sense you're thinking. You talk as if I had some fetish for stockings," she says, exactly what I was thinking.
"...S-So..."
"I just like the aesthetic. But I don't like wearing stockings like this; they don't suit me. So I make you wear them in my place."
"...You don't like them?" she asks while I'm not quite sure what to say. They're just stockings, and they look pretty on her.
"I guess I do like them," I admit timidly as the carriage stops in front of a huge mansion.
"This place is?" I ask doubtfully, seeing many people entering.
"It's an auction. I'll buy anything you want from the auction. But for each thing you choose, I'll charge a 'price' in bed with you," she says with a smile as I blush.
"Anything?"
"Yes, anything you see at the auction and like, I'll buy it. With a limit, of course, but a very high one. So you can ask for things without holding back," she says while I smile.
"You're spoiling me badly..." I say it as a joke and also seriously. After all, ever since I started hoarding gold, the desire to accumulate things has really increased. So her giving me choices like this really does some harm to the hoarding mania I'm developing.
Just like my mother said when I started earning gold and storing it in the vault, this desire began to emerge. And now, from time to time, I go to the vault, look at the gold bars, and give a satisfied smile.
"It's no problem. I have the capacity to spoil you as much as necessary," she says while taking my hand and leading me out of the carriage toward the mansion.
'She's gotten so much...sweeter...' She's still being mischievous and wicked with her words, but she really seems to be trying to take good care of me! After all, she was quite malicious during the board game with what she said, but now she's here talking all sweetly with me.
I see the place we've entered, and the spot we've arrived at is very chic and elevated. Looking around what is clearly a VIP area, I see many people below. The environment looks like a theater, with a large stage at the front.
"Esther...this auction is legal, right?" I ask, knowing there's a 40/60 chance Esther is taking me to the black market.
"Yes, yes, it's an official auction. I wouldn't take you to the black market. After all, the Demon King is watching and...never mind, it doesn't really matter. If you want something from the black market too, I could get it," she says with a mischievous tone.
"No need...by the way, get your wallet ready! Because I'm going to ask for a lot of expensive things!" I say while looking at the stage, waiting to see what will be sold, and I wonder what else we'll do after the auction.
'Maybe I can resell these things at future auctions for even more than we buy them for today.'
...
...
...
"Clarissa, what a surprise. Why are you here?" Eve asks while wiping the sweat from her body with a handkerchief. Syl'Vyr, on the floor, looks at me with a smile, while Faye is sprawled in a chair resting.
"I just came to bring a little snack. I finally finished my training as an official maid of this mansion! And now I'm serving officially," I say, remembering the exhausting training I was forced to go through.
The rules in the mansion are very rigid, and I had to memorize every single one in a severe training that only ended 3 days ago.
"I see. You came from the castle to this mansion. No wonder I found it strange not to see you around," Eve says, dropping her sword on the chair and coming over to me. She looks at the tray I'm holding and takes a glass of juice.
"What did you see? What did they do to you? Did you notice anything strange in the mansion?" Eve asks seriously as she starts drinking the juice. Syl'Vyr and Faye look at me curiously too.
"..." I feel uncomfortable and look around. I don't want to cause problems with Esther's servants. They are clearly dangerous people.
"I-I was just taken to a private room where I had to stay until I memorized every rule and duty of the mansion, plus they gave me a schedule I must follow...and the strangest thing was probably the servants' quarters."
"You all sleep in Wing B, right? That's where those who serve Esther and Evelyn stay, but who aren't tied to the mansion's duties. Well, I'm in Wing A, and things there are kinda...harsh."
"Esther's servants seem like zombies! They're so rigid, stiff, and say almost nothing beyond what they must do. It's kinda scary," I say, looking around to see if anyone heard me complaining.
"Hmmm. Who are you loyal to?" Eve asks, and I quickly remember her threat.
"O-Of course I'm loyal to Evelyn-sama!" I can't deny I received a lot of money, but I really think Eve might end my life if I switch my loyalty from Evelyn to anything else.
"...Good. Then you'd better serve Evelyn-sama with great dedication... Also, Clarissa, could you explain to me what Esther was like before? I don't have much of a sense of her from before I was born."
"I just know that Evelyn-sama is afraid of her," she says something I didn't know, but which makes sense.
"W-Well... I don't know much either? Almost no one knows things about Esther-sama... She's mysterious, hides everything about herself, but... among all the candidates for the throne, she was the one who killed the most servants for mistakes."
"Although many say Esther-sama only kills servants who fail beyond a certain limit, that limit is very variable. And the rumors among the castle maids are that Esther-sama has already killed over 6,000 servants for failures she judged to have surpassed her limit."
"Along with another 20,000 deaths caused by the complete training her servants have to go through! I was so relieved I didn't have to go through the complete training. I think she brought me here just to serve Evelyn-sama, so I had a close call!" She is the candidate for the throne with the highest chance of you dying if you choose to serve her.
'...' The silence that falls is strange. Faye looks at me with a somewhat frightened expression while Syl'Vyr whistles.
"20,000 deaths in servant training? Isn't that too heavy?" Syl'Vyr says, getting up and coming over to me. She takes a cupcake from the tray while staring at me.
"By the way, you look at Faye as if you know her. Why?" Syl'Vyr stares at me with a strange fixation.
"Well, of course I know Faye. After all, she's one of Evelyn's puppets, right? And we've seen each other several times and..." I'm interrupted by Syl'Vyr, who puts her hands on my lips.
"Faye, how many times have you seen Clarissa in person?" When Syl'Vyr's question hangs in the air, Faye speaks.
"None, actually. I-I'm new here, so few have really seen me, and I-I spend most of my time training with you two," she says something I don't understand.
"What are you talking about, Faye? We've seen each other before. Like... like... you know that time and...huh? Wait... where did we see each other?" I ask, confused. Eve and Faye look at me equally confused, but Syl'Vyr has a dark expression.
"Eve, you were right. You can't trust Esther one bit," Syl'Vyr holds my head while I squirm uncomfortably.
"Eve, this girl. You said you knew her before and already had a conversation with her. Tell me, was she formal and polite like this?" Eve stops for a moment to think.
"No. She was much more cowardly, and even had a somewhat opportunistic and fearful look in her eyes... Wait, could that be..."
"Magic. In her head. I'm a mage, I'd obviously notice, but I don't know how to recognize it," when Syl'Vyr says this, I get scared.
"W-What do you mean?"
"Clarissa has some magic in your head. It's flickering faintly. It seems to be a slow-acting magic. It doesn't seem dangerous or deadly, but it gives me a kinda bizarre vibe. Like, really bizarre."
"..."
"I had already noticed something similar in the servants, but in them, it's just remnants and nothing harmful... But seeing you now, it's clear they're doing something to your head... Esther is truly bizarre."
'T-Those rumors...'
"N-No! T-This isn't... s-she wouldn't do anything, right?" I'm terrified. There's a rumor that was more of a joke among the maids. When one of Esther's servants passed by someone so mechanically, the maids would say they looked like dolls and that maybe Esther-sama was controlling their minds.
"I-I don't want to end up like the other servants of Esther," I say with tears. Eve looks at me briefly and sighs.
"Syl'Vyr, can you remove whatever is in her head?"
"Maybe... But what matters now, Eve, isn't this random girl. It's the fact that Esther uses magic on her servants' heads. What's to stop that monster from doing it to Evelyn-chan?" The two start talking, ignoring me.
"..." Faye jumps from the chair and comes to me, holding my hand.
"Don't worry! We'll help you!" she says, spreading her wings in a comforting manner. I just get more scared. The training was severe, but I never imagined they were messing with my head.
"Hey, girl. I need you to come to my room tonight. I need to see what this magic is and what exactly it's doing. Maybe I can reverse it or at least stop its effects before they complete..."
"What do you think, Eve? Should I help her?" I look at Eve hopefully, begging with my eyes for her not to let me disappear inside my own head.
"...Okay, help her. And you, Clarissa, you'd better be honest about everything that's happened since you arrived at the mansion. We need to know what exactly Esther is planning. Just because she's been acting as if she loves Evelyn-sama doesn't mean we'll be fooled."
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