To Get What You Want

Deep inside a vast cavern, the rebel group known as the Black Scorpion had established a temporary base.

Torches fastened to the uneven stone walls cast light in every direction. People moved busily between stacks of weapons and stores of food, distributing what little they had.

Those who had been given their rations gathered around a bonfire in the common area.

Fred sat among them, eating thin soup and gazing into the flames.

Beneath a hood marked with a scorpion, his blue eyes narrowed in thought.

Crackle. Crackle.

Each shower of sparks brought the faces of his family back to him.

He murmured their names beneath his breath, then sighed and set his bowl on the ground.

They must be having a terrible time.

He had been the Count's second son, marked out as the next head of the house. Then he'd suddenly fled the castle and joined the rebels.

The scandal was certain to damage the standing of House Pelgaroin, one of the Empire's most prominent noble families.

His father, Count Leonberg, would suffer. Ashley, so devoted to the family, would be struggling just as hard.

The guilt twisted in Fred's stomach.

Yet he had no intention of turning back.

If war breaks out again, the Empire will be destroyed.

In Fred's eyes, the Emperor had lost his reason. He listened to the flattering counsel of courtiers and pursued bloodshed.

Even the Church supported war against the demon realm.

Its stated aim was to punish evil that refused the God of Light's teachings. Fred could only imagine the dirty political bargains concealed beneath such righteous language.

That was why he'd joined the rebels.

If he couldn't stop the war outright, perhaps he could at least delay it.

For my older brother. For all the people who suffered in war.

Ordinary people didn't long to see their families slaughtered by demons. They didn't want another conflict soaked in blood.

Fred had chosen to risk civil war to turn the Emperor's attention inward, away from the demon realm.

He wanted the ruler to hear the voices of his own people and understand how badly his ambitions were hurting them.

He hadn't even tried to suppress the rumor that Pelgaroin's second son had abandoned his place in the succession to join the rebellion.

Perhaps a scandal that great would make the Emperor reconsider.

It hadn't.

As Fred understood it, the Emperor had promptly sent his daughter at the head of an army.

The public called it Princess Benelia's independent decision. Fred believed the order had come from her father.

However the order had been issued, the arrival of imperial troops in Pelgaroin was a terrible threat to the Black Scorpion.

The rebels still lacked weapons. They had too few seasoned soldiers to train the new recruits. Their forces were nowhere near ready to face an elite imperial formation like the Dawning Steps.

For a while, Fred had wondered whether the rebellion would end in his death before it had properly begun.

But the princess never came after us.

Her soldiers made an elaborate show of searching. As far as Fred could tell, they were only going through the motions.

From the following day, Benelia had scarcely concerned herself with the operation. Command passed to Count Leonberg's forces, and the hunt slowed noticeably.

Instead, the princess spent her time speaking to Theorad of House Deharem.

Did the princess make some arrangement with my future brother-in-law?

Fred believed Theorad had dealings with a powerful practitioner of black magic. A connection with the imperial princess wouldn't have been beyond him.

Perhaps he was pursuing some design of his own.

But what could it be?

After turning the question over and over, Fred raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.

A Black Scorpion officer approached and bowed.

“Did you call for me, brother?”

“Yes. I'm going to write a letter. Prepare the materials.”

“A letter…?”

“To Ashley. She's clever. She may understand what's happening. I expect she hates me by now, but I can't help that.”

Why had Benelia brought troops only to let the search falter? What had she and Theorad discussed?

Fred could think of no way to answer those questions without asking his sister.

“Understood. I'll prepare everything.”

The officer bowed again and walked away.

Fred watched him go, then returned his gaze to the fire.

In the shifting flames, he almost imagined Theorad's silhouette.

Brother-in-law. What are you planning?

What sort of scheme would require influence at the imperial court as well as power borrowed from a black magician?

Even if I lived another lifetime, I doubt I'd understand you.

In truth, he didn't especially want to.

He only hoped he wouldn't have to make an enemy of Theorad.

Fred picked up his soup bowl again.

---

The morning after parting from Princess Benelia, I woke to a nightmare of a different kind.

“Ugh…”

The elf was straddling me.

Her silver hair hung down around her face, and she'd planted a hand on either side of my head.

Those brilliant red eyes were fixed on me with a terrifying intensity.

Wh-why is she doing this?

For five days I'd been almost able to forget the danger she posed. To be ambushed in my bed when I least expected it left me helplessly shaken.

I might have reacted more calmly if a thief had pressed a knife to my throat.

An elf looming over me without warning was far worse.

At this rate, she's going to rape me!

I opened my mouth in a panic.

“What—what do you think you're doing? You're only a slave! How dare you enter your master's guest room—!”

Damn it.

My words were coming out in a tangle. I'd barely woken up, and already the role of the cold-blooded master was slipping out of my grasp.

“I'm sorry.”

The elf smiled as though my frightened appearance amused her.

“The pill Master gave me seems to be working. I'm excited.”

“W-what?”

Nonsense!

What I'd given her was a headache pill. It couldn't have caused any such effect.

But I couldn't admit the deception.

If she realized I'd lied about a medicine meant to overwhelm her with desire, who knew how she would react?

She might strangle me on the spot.

My lie, invented merely to escape one difficult moment, had become a trap.

This is bad. Very bad.

I forced myself to breathe and searched desperately for some way out.

Then I cleared my throat and looked up at her with my sternest expression.

“I said I'd rape you in ten days. Did you not understand? Stop bothering me and go downstairs.”

I'd made the declaration earlier as a sort of restraint on her behavior.

However much she enjoyed acting like a slave, I expected her to obey the orders of the master she was supposed to serve.

Instead, she remained on top of me.

Her dissatisfied eyes didn't waver.

“I want that, too.”

Her voice was a low murmur.

She leaned down to my ear.

“But ever since we came to the castle, Master has stopped paying attention to me.”

Her chest pressed against mine.

The contact might have been intimate in another situation. To me it felt like a threat.

I swallowed.

“That's a misunderstanding…”

“It isn't. You spend your time with Lady Ashley and Princess Benelia, while you leave me in the stable.”

The words were soft, but they filled me with dread.

Was she going to force herself on me now?

My hands trembled and my breathing grew shallow.

Fear came long before any excitement. I couldn't even bring myself to push her away.

I felt like a fly trapped in a spiderweb, knowing that resistance might only make things worse.

Knock, knock.

The sound from the door felt like a lifeline.

I didn't care who was outside. Anyone who could interrupt this was welcome.

“Come in! Quickly!”

The door opened.

Ashley stood there in an elegant dress.

“Sir Theorad? I wanted to ask—”

She stopped.

Her gaze had found the elf sitting astride me, clinging as though she had no intention of letting go.

This was the last thing I'd wanted Ashley to see.

Still, without help I feared the situation would only become worse.

“…”

Ashley's eyes narrowed at the elf.

The warmth left her face.

The elf sat upright and stared back. Their gazes met with such hostility that the air between them seemed ready to ignite.

At last Ashley spoke.

“What foolishness are you up to at this hour?”

“My lady? I don't understand.”

“You're sitting on Sir Theorad, and you claim not to understand? Are elves less intelligent than humans?”

Ashley?

Why was she attacking the elf instead of assuming that I was the one behaving disgracefully?

I couldn't understand why either of them would choose to escalate matters.

The elf answered without the slightest sign of surprise.

“Perhaps it's the young lady who's lacking in intelligence. Master and I are often like this.”

“Liar.”

“I'm not lying. Don't try to deny what's in front of you, my lady.”

Wait. How did this become an argument?

I couldn't think of any way to intervene without making things worse.

Ashley bit her lower lip, then steadied herself.

“How much?”

“How much for what?”

“I'll settle the bill.”

The elf frowned in confusion.

I didn't understand either.

Then Ashley smiled.

“I doubt Sir Theorad separately paid you for your prostitution.”

The elf's expression hardened.