Fremd Torturchen - Volume 1 - Chapter 6

6

Kaito’s Decision

Kaito reflected on just how miserable his life had been.

People kept calling him a Sinless Soul, but he certainly didn’t feel like one. On the contrary, as he’d just committed his first murder in this world. Even though he’d been complicit in murders before, such as helping clean up bodies, this was the first time he’d ever stabbed someone with a sword.

His new life had been a mess. He’d born witness to unspeakably horrible sights and been tortured for nonsensical reasons. He’d been forced to cut off his own hand and carve deep wounds in his own chest. But despite all that, he’d also had some experiences he didn’t want to forget.

Someone had wished him happiness. Someone had promised to protect him.

He’d had to dig through metaphorical mud, chunks of metal tearing at his flesh, but he’d finally received those blessings.

For most people, small comforts like those were a constant in their day-to-day lives, trivial motes of warmth that hardly bore mention. But it had taken Kaito until after his death to receive them.

Because of that, Kaito thought something for the first time.

He definitely wasn’t a Sinless Soul, and the things he’d seen had been hellish. But even so… In spite of all that…

This second life he’d had forced upon him wasn’t a bad one.

Perhaps there had been meaning in the resurrection of a pitiful creature like himself after all.

Of course, he’d never share these thoughts with anyone.

When he opened his eyes, Kaito found himself seated on an extravagant chair. His surroundings were dimly lit, and the edges of his vision faded into darkness. He brushed against his chair’s expertly crafted armrests as he surveyed the room.

Wait, where am I? What am I doing here?

A pearl-gray tablecloth extended out before him. On the table lay an assortment of foods on silver buffet platters. The food was so colorful, it almost looked like it was made of wax.

There were a number of hors d’oeuvres, from a translucent gelled oyster dish and a vividly orange marinated salmon to a broad selection of pâtés. For entrees, there was a golden-brown pig roast, a vegetable quiche, and an aromatic lobster chowder. There were also fruits drizzled in honey, a cake covered in crushed almonds, and an olive-brown pudding adorned with berries.

The table was absolutely packed with fragrant foods. Flames illuminated them from atop red candlesticks, flickering as they cast their light on the banquet that looked too good to be true. But despite the meal’s splendor, nobody was partaking of the spread.

The silhouette of a man sat at the head of the table.

He wore a silk shirt with a cravat. His coat was decorated with silver thread, and he declined to remove it as he ate. The man ignored the buffet platters, instead eating from a single pure-white dinner plate.

Upon the porcelain dish was a slab of meat with blood dripping from it. The raw liver didn’t even look seasoned. The man cut thin slices of the meat and carried them to his mouth with his fork.

The darkness was broken up only by the candlelight and the soft sound of dishes clinking.

Kaito immediately recognized the man’s crimson eyes, silky black hair, and beautiful, androgynous features.

The man, Vlad, bore a striking resemblance to Elisabeth.

But…why? Why’d they bring me straight to the final boss, of all people?

Confused, Kaito took stock of his body. The pain in his abdomen hadn’t gone away, but he could move his arms and legs freely. He wasn’t bound, nor did there appear to be any manner of magical restraints.

Kaito looked at Vlad, hoping he would drop his guard. Vlad simply continued eating in silence. He seemed engrossed in the meat, as if it was the sole thing on his mind. It was unclear if his guard was down or not. Kaito then turned away from the table to check out the room. However, he couldn’t make out many details. Any part of the room that was even slightly removed from the candlelight was shrouded in darkness.

I can’t even tell where the entrance is. That’s not good.

Kaito choked back his impatience and frustration and calmed his breathing. He had to keep cool. But the feral aroma the smoke from the candles emitted set his nerves on edge. It evoked the image of that black dog, its eyes burning with hellfire.

That reminds me—are Elisabeth and Hina all right?

“Hmm? Caught your attention, has it?”

Kaito looked up with a start. Vlad, no longer eating, wore a surprised expression on his face. Kaito hadn’t expected him to sound so young. Unsure of how to respond, Kaito elected to remain silent.

“My invitation was rather abrupt, I’ll admit. No doubt you’re rather confused at the moment. My apologies.”

Vlad nodded to himself, then snapped his fingers. Darkness and azure flower petals spiraled in front of Kaito, and a bowl of water appeared. The water’s surface formed a mirror, then projected a distant scene.

Kaito’s eyes widened as he looked at it.

“Elisabeth… Hina…”

Elisabeth and Hina were making their way up the slope to the castle, fighting off a colossal black dog as they ran.

Hina swung her halberd, knocking the black dog off its feet. However, her blade couldn’t pierce the dog’s thick fur. Elisabeth sent countless stakes flying toward its back, but they all simply bounced off. The dog’s jaw bore down on her, and she bound it with conjured chains. But although she restrained it, she couldn’t deal a decisive blow.

“Damn you. To think that you would resist my torture devices this well. Truly, you bear the Kaiser’s name well.”

Elisabeth spat a mouthful of blood on the roadside. Her sharp intent to kill hadn’t been dulled. But try as she might to hide it, her crimson eyes were stained with frustration.

Placing both hands on the table, Kaito reflexively shouted out:

“Elisabeth!”

“Don’t you think she’s being a bit impatient? As I see it, Elisabeth is more volatile than a powder keg. Only a fool would try using brute force to subdue the Kaiser. Although to that point, I suppose trying to fight him in the first place was a mistake in and of itself.”

Vlad shrugged, his voice filled with the intimacy of one describing their willful child. He gracefully brought the last piece of meat to his mouth. After wiping his bloodstained lips, he gestured with his fork to the bowl Kaito was staring at.

“The Kaiser is the highest ranked among all the demons we summoned, the apex of what man can invoke. Even Elisabeth, the famed Torture Princess, won’t be able to kill him quite that easily. It would bear poorly upon the Kaiser’s name if she could. And he has his pride as a first-rate hound to consider, as well. The leader of the fourteen is in a league all his own.”

That was the kind of foe Elisabeth and Hina were fighting. Kaito clenched his fists hard. But then he noticed something out of place.

“Wait, hold up a minute. The demon’s over there, but you’re right here. Does that mean you summoned the Kaiser, but you didn’t fuse with him?”

“Precisely. You likely heard it from Elisabeth already, but I acted as the intermediary to materialize the Kaiser into this world. In a sense, the two of us are as one. Normally, it would have been prudent to merge with him for the sake of my own safety. But I’d rather not abandon the pleasure that comes of having a human body, nor do I much care to have my form reduced to such a hideous state—they are laughably hideous, are they not?”

Vlad chuckled. With a frankness that bordered on cruelty, he laughed at his fellow demons. Kaito was reminded of the time Elisabeth had instructed him to laugh at an underling.

Kaito shook his head, then continued asking questions.

“So that means you’re flesh and blood, right? And if I kill you, the Kaiser will die with you.”

“Quite so! A rather foolish thing to ask me, though, don’t you think? You seem surprisingly foolhardy, so I’ll advise a bit of caution—you can’t kill me.”

Vlad delivered this statement with total apathy. He took his napkin and wiped more blood from his lips.

“Elisabeth might stand a chance, but… Much like her, I am no ordinary human.”

Azure flower petals and darkness gathered around his fingertips. He let go of his napkin, and it unraveled. The thread drew a spiral in the air, then suddenly burst into flames. White ash fluttered gently to the table.

Watching him handle the darkness and blue petals, Kaito realized something. This man was close to what Elisabeth would be if she contracted with a demon, just like in Clueless’s example.

“So why’d you bring me here? Are you going to use me as a hostage?”

“…Forgive me. You don’t seem to be joking but rather laboring under a misapprehension… Tell me, do you honestly believe that you would have any value as a hostage?”

“Oh, hell no. I’m just a benchwarmer. I doubt Elisabeth gives a damn whether I live or die.”

“I agree. I invited you here because I have a certain proposal for you.”

Vlad nodded again in a show of near-innocent frankness. But his face then turned serious, and he crossed his hands as he looked at Kaito.

“I wish to adopt you as my son and mold you into a second Elisabeth.”

“Hard pass.”

Kaito immediately refused, not waiting to learn what Vlad meant by “a second Elisabeth.”

Despite his confusion, he was sure of his answer. The instant the idea of being the Kaiser’s contractor’s adopted son came up, refusing was the only reasonable choice. Vlad bore a confused expression, but he continued.

“Oh, Elisabeth. My dearest beloved Elisabeth. She was my first daughter, and she was my masterpiece. Her only flaw was that she surpassed perfection. She matured even faster than I expected, but in the end, she severed all ties with me. I want to replace her. For all I have attained, for all I have yet to attain, I need a successor.”

“But why would you pick me of all people? It really makes no sense.”

“What I see in you is the potential to surpass even her. I heard a bit from Clueless, but your death was unspeakably cruel despite having committed no sin worthy of such a fate, correct? You understand pain, yet you remain calm in the face of it. On the other hand, you react strongly toward those you hate. Your passion and your composure counterbalance each other.”

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. I feel like there’s a pretty big gap between reality and what you think of me.”

“Is there? I daresay the gap is quite small—I believe I can expect great things from those who know pain but can still kill others if it meets their needs.”

Vlad snapped his fingers. The blond maids from before appeared behind him. They blinked their scuffed purple eyes, then bowed gracefully. Kaito, taken aback, glared at the two.

Vlad, showing no indication of whether or not he’d picked up on Kaito’s hostility, continued, his voice almost musical.

“Above all else, you were murdered and had everything taken from you. And those who have been taken from have a right to take from others in turn. They are, if nothing else, prepared to accept that they have that right. A deep hunger is required if one wishes to harness the pain of others. For if one’s hunger—one’s desire—is shallow, they will eventually be consumed by it. You need a certain capability—the capability to wear the tyrant’s mantle as if it was the role you were born to play.”

Vlad’s performance was that of a poet, and his analysis of Kaito was that of a scholar.

Kaito struggled desperately to avoid being taken in by Vlad’s words. The candles flickered, and Vlad’s utterances echoed like an incantation. If he kept listening, Kaito felt that his consciousness might drift away. He needed to avoid losing sight of himself. Kaito had no desire to become like Elisabeth. He doubted he’d even be able to.

The words coming from the man in front of him were nothing but the ravings of a lunatic.

“Ever since she was a child, Elisabeth was exposed to an unreasonable fear of death. Her pain and her fear molded her into the finest work of art. I wish to make you into my second work, into my successor. I admit that wanting a son for having lost a daughter is a rather simple conception, but so be it. What do you say?”

“Hard pass. And quit your babbling; you make me sick.”

“Ah, a spirited answer! But do listen just a while longer. You won’t regret it.”

Vlad was unperturbed. He looked at Kaito the way someone would inspect a mischievous child. Or perhaps it was closer to a breeder, impressed by the strength of a puppy’s bark.

“I don’t intend to look down on you like Clueless did. And I’m not trying to simply take your future for free. That wouldn’t be right… Although now that I say it out loud, I suppose it’s a bit odd for me to be talking about right and wrong.”

“What’re you offering? Elisabeth’s and Hina’s safety?”

“Heavens no! What makes you think I would give you any say in regard to my daughter? The Kaiser and I will settle things with my beloved daughter, with my beloved, adorable, foolish, loathsome Elisabeth. For that is what love is. Know your place, child—that girl is my, Vlad Le Fanu’s, beloved daughter.”

For a second, a cold light burned in Vlad’s crimson eyes. He strode to Kaito’s side, then ran one of his black nails through the bowl of water. Elisabeth’s figure blurred.

“Don’t think for a moment that you have a place in our relationship.”

The glare directed at Kaito lasted only an instant. Then Vlad smiled yet again.

“Besides! What I have to offer you is something much more wonderful, something I think you’ll find much more important. You see, my skill in magic surpasses Elisabeth’s, and connecting to other worlds is hardly a challenge for me.”

Vlad puffed up his chest with pride. His face was so pleased, he looked like a child inviting a friend to come play with him. Despite speaking of adopting others, Vlad himself possessed a certain childishness to him. But all of a sudden, a cruel smile carved its way across Vlad’s face. Seeing that expression, Kaito came to a realization.

Fused or not, this man was unmistakably a demon.

And demons wedged their way into the cracks in the hearts of men.

“It seems your father ran into some trivial problems the other day and was drowned at sea. I can summon him and give him to you as a toy.”

When he heard those words, Kaito’s heart stopped.

“…Wait, you’re telling me… You’re telling me that asshole died?”

Before he realized it, Kaito was standing. His chair tumbled over behind him and landed with a crash. The bowl shook, and the image in the water blurred. But Kaito didn’t have the composure to pay attention to any of that.

He felt as though someone had taken a hammer to his skull. A moment later, a sense of emptiness overtook him. It was like his chest had gone hollow and his heart had shattered.

That was how surprised and astonished he was at Vlad’s statement.

That man had died. That man who seemed like no matter what happened, he’d live forever. Fuck.

“Oh, that he did. Congratulations—your father died! Perhaps this is karma at work… Heh, as the bona fide personification of evil, is it contradictory of me to say that? Well, who cares if it’s contradictory? What a pleasant result! Now then, what will you do?”

“What will I do…? I mean, he’s dead, so…”

“What did I just say? I can bring him back and give him to you as a toy! If you desire revenge for your untimely demise, I recommend nodding. After all, you have no need to hide that from me or be embarrassed.”

Vlad nodded repeatedly to demonstrate his understanding and affection. He showed Kaito an innocent smile.

He bore an expression of one inviting another to play a cruel game as he continued.

“Wouldn’t it feel good to spill his guts, scrape out his lungs, and wring his neck?”

He couldn’t afford to lend an ear to Vlad’s cajolery. Those were the words of a demon. But even knowing that, Kaito could feel something bubbling up from the cracked depths of his heart. He couldn’t deny those sublime dregs of emotion.

He could tear out his father’s viscera, then ignore his pleas for mercy as he ruthlessly beat him to death. Just imagining it filled him with satisfaction. Surely, putting it into action would be even more exhilarating.

If he did that, he could finally throw off the fear and hatred that bound him like shackles.

Surely that was worth throwing the rest of his life away.

“Give me…some time to think it over.”

Kaito finally managed to choke out those words. It felt like spitting up blood. He was trembling all over, his giddiness so strong, it resembled terror. Vlad nodded magnanimously.

“Take your time. We have plenty of it. Well, you do, at least.”

Hearing that, Kaito turned his empty eyes to the water’s surface. A sharp silver flash ran diagonally across the view.

“…Tch!”

A massive executioner’s sickle swung down upon the dog’s neck. But the dog blocked it with its jaw and bit down hard enough to shatter it. The maid was still swinging her halberd, but her clothes were covered in rips and tears.

“Master  Master  Master  Master where are you?!”

Sparing no concern for her own wounds or condition, she frantically shouted for someone else.

That’s… I’m…

Watching her, Kaito realized there was an emotion he was supposed to feel. But although he understood this necessity, he didn’t know what emotion it was. He was in a state of shock, and his mind wasn’t able to properly parse the scene before his eyes.

The scene he was witnessing felt like it was taking place in another world. It was like his soul alone had returned to that room he was strangled in, that room he died in.

Unsure of what to do, Kaito reached toward the water like a toddler.

The water engulfed his trembling fingertips.

The mirrorlike surface of the water shattered, and it projected nothing more.

“This will be your room, Master Kaito. Please make yourself at home as you think over your decision.”

The speaker was a new, third maid holding a lantern in one hand. She bowed.

As she looked up, her dented pearl eyes glittered. She seemed to be of an older make, as her cheek was beginning to crumble. Kaito nodded, and the maid turned around and left for the dark hallway. The creaking of her loose left ankle faded into the distance.

Now alone, Kaito scanned the dingy room in surprise.

“…Wait, is this the same room?”

This should have been his first time here, yet he remembered this room.

Upon the square room’s walls hung yellow wallpaper, so degraded you could just barely make out its floral design. The cute plaster sculptures by the window were covered in ash, and the once-white furniture was filthy as well. However, the metal handles on the chest of drawers were just as vibrant as ever. The chest itself had once been decorated with dolls and stuffed animals, but perhaps in deference to the fact that Kaito was a boy, it now bore a hunting rifle and a model rocking horse. A crushed mat lay atop the spiderweb-ridden four-poster bed. The mattress was covered in a heap of flowing blankets.

Dry bloodstains were splattered all over the fluffy blankets. After taking in the whole scene, Kaito nodded.

“Yeah, this really is Elisabeth’s old room.”

This was the real-life counterpart to the phantom room he’d stumbled into when he got lost in the Treasury.

The door he’d found in the Treasury had most likely used the memories from this room and materialized them within its magical space. The actual room was much dirtier than its phantom counterpart, but its design was almost identical. Vlad must have replaced the things Elisabeth had taken from here, returning the master-less room close to its original form. One more example of his bizarre fixation on her. The fact that he’d accounted for Kaito in spite of that and decorated the room for a boy was almost comical.

“…Heh.”

Suddenly, everything seemed hilarious to Kaito. A spasm of intense laughter rocked his chest. He couldn’t help it. Everything was just so amusing. He opened his mouth wide and laughed as hard as he could.

“Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

His abdomen cramped, and tears poured out of his eyes. But no matter how much it hurt, he just kept laughing. Everything, from his father’s pitiful death to his current situation, was comical beyond belief.

And it was all such bullshit.

Wham!

Kaito suddenly stopped laughing and punched the wall. His bone cracked, and a sharp pain ran up his arm. Even so, he re-clenched his fist. Blood dripped down the wall. His finger was broken, but he punched the wall again and again. He yelled, striking the wall as if possessed.

“He died. That asshole died. After torturing so many people to death, he ended up getting himself killed. Serves that bastard right. But what, is that supposed to make me feel better?! Is that supposed to make me forgive him?! Fuck that—I wanna kill him myself!”

Kaito punched the wall especially hard. His little finger was on the outside of his fist, and it snapped loudly. Even though his mind was steeped in vengeance and hatred, his usual sense of cold composure didn’t come. He lashed out in tears, like a child throwing a temper tantrum. He heaved a ragged breath, slammed his forehead into the wall, and mumbled something in a hollow voice.

“But a dead person killing their dead killer… Man, nothing makes sense anymore…”

His tone was full of self-deprecation. He smiled a hollow smile. After a while, he pulled his forehead from the bloodstained wall. He looked around, as if searching for someone who could help him.

His gaze settled on the bed.

“…Elisabeth.”

A vision of Elisabeth in her younger days floated before his weary eyes.

The frail, beautiful girl sat half-buried beneath the sea of blankets. She stared at Kaito, her vacant eyes devoid of life. That beauty of hers was the one thing that had never changed.

Kaito grimaced childishly as he asked the young Elisabeth a question.

“Hey, what the hell happened to you? What was it that made you the way you are?”

The vision didn’t answer. But Kaito kept asking, practically screaming at it.

“Dammit, Elisabeth! Why’d you choose to become the Torture Princess?!”

It was the question he’d often wondered about and the question he’d never asked her.

Why had she become the Torture Princess? What reasons did she have; what hatred did she harbor? Or had she not had any reason at all? Unsurprisingly, the vision didn’t explain anything.

After all, she was nothing more than an illusion that Kaito’s mind had conjured up due to stress. Kaito knew that. But he implored her nevertheless, and then she simply faded away.

“Ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!”

Kaito began laughing again. He laughed like a madman, laughing and laughing and convulsing with laughter. He punched the wall. His bloodstained fingers made horrible noises as he peeled them off the wall, and he found himself blinking back tears.

Then, all of a sudden, his confusion cleared. No more tears welled up in his eyes. His tantrum ended abruptly. His mind as clear as a still lake, he came to a conclusion.

No matter how much he laughed, this pain would never fade.

He had been stricken down in a manner most foul.

That one fact was his everything.

The maid with the dented pearl eyes was standing by in the hallway.

“Master Vlad is waiting for you in the dining room, sir.”

Following her lead, Kaito found himself in the dining room once more. Vlad still sat alone at the head of the table. Unlike Elisabeth, he didn’t seem to take dessert, instead choosing to sip at a glass of wine after having finished his meal. Watching Vlad rock his glass from side to side, Kaito spoke.

“I’ve made up my mind. Let me kill my dad with my own hands. Even with him dead, I can’t forgive him.”

“A splendid decision, if I do say so myself. None would deny that you have a right to revenge. Exercising it seems wholly reasonable.”

Vlad set his glass down, and he spoke in a warm voice carefully crafted to wash away Kaito’s guilt. His face bore no signs of surprise. That was the answer he’d been expecting. And why wouldn’t it be? The reason he wanted Kaito as a son was surely because he understood that Kaito was a prisoner of his own hatred.

Kaito softly clenched his aching fist. He wavered a little, then made his follow-up request.

“Before that, though, just once… I won’t ask you to let me see your daughter, Elisabeth. But…can I at least say good-bye to Hina?”

“…Hina? Ah, that puppet I left behind without turning it on. I’m surprised you took such a fancy to it. Are you fond of playing with dolls? If you wish, I can have one just like it prepared for you… Or rather, one tuned specifically to your tastes.”

“She’s not a puppet. And she can’t be replaced. Hina is Hina.”

Kaito closed his eyes, thinking back to the warm sensation of her arms holding him tight. Her silver hair and adoring smile flickered beneath his eyelids. But then he opened his eyes, erasing the image.

“We only spent a little time together, but I’m indebted to her. Oh, and one other thing. Call off the Kaiser’s attack while I’m saying good-bye to Hina. It seems unfair to make Elisabeth fight him alone.”

“I must admit I have difficulty comprehending how one could feel indebted to a doll. And if you wished to betray me, this would certainly be a convenient arrangement for you… But this is a special occasion. As my one and only successor, I shall grant you this sole indulgence.”

Vlad nodded and gave the pair of gold-haired maids an order. They carried the clock with them as they headed outside. Vlad spoke boastfully as he watched them go.

“That clock is a magical apparatus. It can pull those without magic resistance from the flow of time and space. You yourself saw space halt around you, no? But nobody else was removed from the proper flow of time. The maids, the ones using the device, could have killed you whenever they pleased within that space yet would be unable to so much as lift a finger against Elisabeth outside it. To be blunt, it’s a tool designed for weaklings. But I wonder how that automaton will fare. Normally, it would have little effect, but given her wounded state, who knows? Now then, would you care for some wine while we wait?”

“I’m good.”

“How cold. I myself find life more enjoyable when it’s accompanied by liquor.”

Rejecting Vlad’s offer, Kaito plopped himself down on a nearby seat. He ignored the food before him and clasped his bloody hands. Vlad gave a light shrug, then lifted his glass.

They remained that way as they waited, time seeming to slow to an agonizing crawl. Eventually, the door to the dining room swung open. Two pairs of footsteps drew near, as well as the sound of something being dragged. Kaito peered in the direction of the noise, and his eyes widened.

“…Hina!”

“There was no need for us to subdue it. It was just lying in the rubble.”

“It seems that Elisabeth judged it a hindrance and left it behind.”

“That girl, making sure it didn’t fight to the point of breaking. Elisabeth did always have her gentle moments. It seems the doll won’t be of much use if your plan was to tell it to take Elisabeth and flee from the Kaiser.”

Hearing the maids’ reports, Vlad cast a sidelong glance at Kaito and laughed at him. Kaito frantically rose from his seat.

The maids were propping Hina up by her shoulders. Her clothes had been shredded, as had her humanlike skin. It didn’t seem like she would have trouble walking. Yet, she refused to let go of her halberd.

“…Master…Kaito… Oh…Master Kaito, where…are…?”

As she muttered the single-minded phrase, she looked up, her tangled silver hair swaying. As her vacant emerald eyes landed on Kaito, they widened, and a jovial light flashed within them.

“…Master Kaito!”

Hina shook off the maids, then dropped the halberd she’d been clutching. As she reached out her arms, she seemed to have forgotten her pain entirely. Kaito paused. His plan to entrust Hina with a message and save Elisabeth had gone off the rails, but he was still planning on betraying them. He had no right to be hugged by her.

“Master Kaito! Oh, I’m so, so glad that you’re unharmed.”

“This is good-bye, Hina. You have to head back to the castle without me.”

Hina had been about to rush toward him, but upon hearing his words, she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked like she’d been stabbed in the heart from behind. After a few seconds, she straightened herself out, then looked straight at Kaito.

She softly pressed her hand against her chest, steadied her breathing, then spoke.

“Master Kaito, do you find some aspect of me inadequate, perhaps?”

“Hina, what are you—?”

“If there is, would you permit me to be rude enough to ask what it is? I will repair it. I am but a simple fool, unwitting as to my own failure, but if you give me a chance to fix my mistake, nothing could make me happier. I beg you for clemency.”

“No, no, that’s not it. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Kaito hadn’t expected Hina’s reaction, and he hastily corrected her. She appeared perplexed.

“If that is the case…then perhaps, have you come to hate me? Can you no longer bear the sight of my face? Do you no longer wish to have someone like me by your side? If that is what the problem is, then I will take my face and, with Lady Elisabeth’s aid, reconstruct it so as to better meet your—”

“You’re wrong, Hina. There’s nothing wrong with you, nothing at all. I just chose to follow this guy.”

“Master Kaito… You mean…Vlad?”

Hina looked at the person Kaito was pointing to in bewilderment. Kaito nodded.

“I can’t say it’s my first choice. But even if I have to stand on the side that hurts others, there’s something I need to do. And he’s the only one who can make it happen for me.”

Kaito tried to explain himself. Hina’s expression made her seem like an abandoned puppy, and he had to turn away.

There wasn’t a single thing wrong with her. Although he was betraying her, he didn’t want to be the reason she wore such a pained expression. But he didn’t have the luxury of being able to keep her by his side.

Right now, she was unfit for combat. If she would just give up on him, Vlad would probably let her go.

After all, their relationship was the result of him accidentally starting her up. If she could just forget about him and find a new master, she should at least be able to spend her days happily and peacefully.

If nothing else, that’s what he wanted to believe.

“Just forget about your configured lover, and after you get back, you can live your life freely. I’ll have Elisabeth…or, rather, Vlad set it up so you can forget me and arrange a new config—”

“Please don’t make light of me, Master Kaito.”

“Huh?”

She interrupted Kaito, her voice cold and pointed. She’d never shown such anger toward him before. She took a short breath, exhaled, and straightened herself up in a dignified manner.

“I may have the preconfigured heart of an automaton, but it is still mine and mine alone. The moment I chose you as my master, and you chose me, I decided to dedicate my life and my love to you and no one else. I live because I wish to live for your sake, and I break because I wish to be broken. I have no intention of serving another master. Even if my noble master was to order it, I cannot allow you to deny that fact.”

“…Hina…”

“Why do you choose to serve a man such as him?”

“Sorry. I’m gonna follow him. Even if I have to give Vlad everything I hold dear, I’m going to kill my father!”

Before he realized it, Kaito was yelling. As if in response to his unstable thoughts, anger and bloodlust welled up within his heart, and the suffering he’d once felt returned to him. He clenched his teeth, panting like an animal.

The harshness immediately faded from Hina’s face and was replaced, in an instant, by understanding. She should have had no way of knowing his past, but she seemed to have sensed something, as she gently asked him a question.

“Will that… Will that bring you happiness?”

“Huh? …Happiness?”

“Will it?”

“Uh, well, probably.”

Overwhelmed by Hina’s earnest tone, Kaito nodded. But he had no idea if the act would bring him happiness. To the contrary, homicide was about as far removed as an act could be from something as idyllic as “happiness.” But all he had to do was kill his father, and the torrent of muddy hatred flowing through his heart should vanish.

Hearing his response, Hina beamed.

“Thank goodness.”

“Huh?”

Kaito was surprised, once again, by her response. For some reason, Hina was nodding in relief. She laid her hands on her chest with a satisfied expression, like a mother understanding her child’s happiness.

“Even back at the castle, you never once smiled from the heart, Master Kaito… I was so very worried for you. If this choice will grant you happiness, then there is nothing more for me to say. With a heart full of joy, I shall support you on your path.”

“Wait, Hina, you were worried about me all this time?”

“Your happiness is my happiness, Master Kaito. A single, supreme happiness… I understand. As per your wishes, I will now suspend all functions.”

“Wh—?!”

Her unexpected proclamation caused Kaito’s eyes to widen. That wasn’t what he wanted at all. Hell, the whole reason for this farewell was because he wanted Hina to live a long life.

Kaito grabbed her shoulders. She calmly returned his gaze.

“Hina, quit talking nonsense! Why would you have to shut down?!”

“If you say you no longer have need of me, Master Kaito, then why should I keep on living? Lady Elisabeth does not wish to flee, and I am simply a burden. Please put your mind at ease. If you say this will bring you happiness, then I will gladly return my body to that of a mere doll.”

“Cut it out—I’m begging you. Please. I don’t want you to die. Can’t you think this over?”

“How kind you are… What a truly kind and compassionate man you are. Although I am unworthy of such sentiment, I will accept it nonetheless. But my life is by your side, and the moment you no longer needed me, it came to an end. You needn’t feel guilt about this. My work is complete, so instead, please send me off with a smile.”

Hina smiled. Her voice rang with a resolute sense of pride, one that far surpassed Kaito’s ability to comprehend. No matter what he said, he doubted that her resolve would waver. When he realized that, his hands loosened. Hina took a step back and clasped the hem of her maid uniform. Her silver hair gently swayed as it glittered in the candlelight. She lowered her injured leg and gave a lovely bow.

“And with that, Master Kaito, I take my leave. Within the hour, unless you find yourself once more in need of me, I shall enter my eternal slumber. You have my sincerest thanks. Allowing me to be by your side…and graciously permitting me to be your lover made me happier than you could possibly imagine.”

When Hina expressed how happy she’d been in the short time they’d spent together, her voice contained no traces of falsehood, just fervent gratitude. She bowed deeply, then continued.

“With a heart full of love and gratitude, I welcome death… Please excuse me.”

She finished her bow, picked up her halberd, and used it to prop up her body as she walked. The maids went to lend a hand, but she shook them off and left the dining room alone. Her resolute figure soon receded into the darkness.

Standing frozen in place, Kaito watched her leave.

As he did, he recalled Marianne and Elisabeth’s exchange.

“Once you’ve killed me, I imagine there will be no one left in this world who truly loves you.”

“Yes… I will have no one. Not a single person for the rest of eternity.”

He felt as though he had just lost something precious without having ever realized just how important it was.

He remained motionless. But before he could process his profound sense of loss, Vlad called out from behind him.

“I have to ask, just for the record. Did I witness a miracle a moment ago? A miracle such as your plaything’s lofty words washing away your age-old grudge, leaving you with a cleansed spirit and ready to live happily ever after?”

“…Don’t worry about it. Just summon my fucking dad already.”

Kaito spat out his words. Vlad nodded, then snapped his fingers.

The maids quickly rolled in a cart designed to carry food, as if they’d been waiting impatiently for this. The top of the cart was covered in a silver lid, which the maids promptly removed.

Upon the cart lay a doll clad in gray clothes. It had no hair, eyes, or mouth.

The ball-jointed doll’s skin was pale, and its construction looked so plain that it was difficult to imagine it housing a soul. Vlad took a knife from the table, spun it by its hawk-insignia handle, and brought it to a sharp stop. He then forcefully plunged it more than halfway through his wrist.

The cut severed an artery, and blood gushed forth across the tablecloth and dripped onto the floor. The blood coalesced, seeming almost alive, and began painting a complicated design on the floor, a different design than the teleportation circle Kaito was familiar with.

While that was happening, Vlad gave a brief scowl. His arm, hidden in his sleeve until then, shone crimson with divine glyphs. The Church’s shackles were burned into his skin. It seemed that when he used magic, they caused him even more pain. However, his expression quickly returned to neutral.

“My words bear no lies. My words bear no falsehoods. My words bear no untruths. His soul ferries between worlds. On Earth he calls out, his body in tatters. In the ether he finds his form once more.”

Vlad muttered something in a low voice. In concert with his chant, the summoning circle on the ground flickered.

As the light grew stronger, the atmosphere in the room began to change.

“La (become)— La (traverse)— La (become)— La (return)— La (become)—”

The air grew dry and sharp, as if thousands of pieces of glass were flying through it. A formless radiance danced on the tip of Kaito’s nose, and he tracked it with his gaze. The edges of his vision were full of images that were most definitely from another world.

Highways, cars, crowds, billboards, rivers, schools. All of them scenes from the world he’d left behind.

They refracted with a rainbow of colors, filling the dark room with a strange light.

“You should close your eyes for the rest. Staring at the light for too long would drive ordinary men mad. You wouldn’t want to have your soul sucked out, would you?”

Hearing Vlad’s warning, Kaito frantically squeezed his eyes shut. Still, the rainbow light burned into his retinas. As he turned toward the darkness to ward off the light, memories of the events leading up to now flashed through his mind.

As if fleeing from the strange light, Kaito sank into the depths of a sea of memories.

A beautiful girl with fluttering dark hair spoke, her tone of voice often waxing between malice and pride.

“I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu.”

“I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow.”

“You and I—we are fated to die, forsaken by all of creation.”

A pretty doll with fluttering silver hair gave a smile full of kindness and affection.

“Everything is going to be okay, Master Kaito. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you.”

“With a heart full of love and gratitude, I welcome death.”

A red-haired boy gave a pained smile, his voice trembling in confusion as he answered.

“I was just hoping you could find happiness in this world.”

In the end, he hadn’t been able to fulfill Neue’s wish.

When he realized that, his chest began pounding violently. His heart ached, and it hurt to breathe. Are you really okay with this? a calmer, more composed part of himself asked. Will this really leave you without regrets?

Shut up, shut up… Even if it doesn’t, I still have to—

As he tried to respond, he heard Vlad’s voice.

“…It is done.”

And Kaito opened his eyes.

“…H-huh?”

The man standing before him was unmistakably his father.

The stern, unshaven man looked about anxiously. He tore at his unkempt black hair, and his eyes darted around the room like a chameleon’s. Kaito recognized that face. He recognized that conspicuous hooknose. Yet, still he squinted, somehow unsatisfied.

Kaito looked over the man before him from head to toe. After a moment, he murmured quietly.

“…Huh, is that what he was like?”

“Wh-where the hell am I? Even the afterlife ain’t supposed to be this gloomy. And whaddaya think you’re doin’ here, Kaito? Hey. You little punk… You tryin’ to get revenge or somethin’? Listen here, you—don’t go tryin’ any dumb shit!”

Suddenly, his father began carrying on and on. Even in death, his boiling point seemed to be as low as ever. And he’d always had a sense for when he was in danger, often to the point of paranoia.

Spit went flying as he spoke, but his eyes lacked the shade of madness they’d once possessed.

It was then that Kaito came to a realization. His father’s madness had largely been the product of his rampant drug use. Even now, Kaito could see that the cruel, sadistic nature hidden within him was unchanged. His brawny figure and the readiness at which he hurt others were frightening, true. But that was the extent of it.

His father was screaming at him, but his expression was a far cry from the wicked one Elisabeth wore.

In fact, it didn’t even compare to the gruesome images of the demons. It didn’t compare to Clueless’s dry, condescending gaze or to Marianne’s tear-stained face. And it didn’t even come close to Vlad’s cheerful smile.

Kaito was dumbfounded.

“…You’re not scary at all.”

The instant he witnessed his father’s clumsy, mundane fury, the fear in his heart vanished. His anger and bloodlust turned on their heads, as well, as he wondered if this was really the man he’d hated so passionately. And then, the tension that had been wound throughout his entire body just…dissolved. Losing the composure he’d held until then, he rubbed his eyes.

Sheesh, what’s up with this? This guy? Is this really the guy?

“Hey, Kaito. What’re you all quiet for? Gimme some answers, you little shit!”

Kaito couldn’t even perceive the man standing before him as the same person who had killed him, the man he had feared, or the man who, by all rights, he should hate more than anyone else. Compared to this guy, the Earl had been a much more threatening foe.

Ohhh… I get it.

Thinking back on all the things he’d seen in this world, he found his answer.

I’m already numb.

He’d spent too much time around evils that surpassed human reason and too much time around the woman who fought them. The man who the old Kaito had been so terrified of no longer registered as someone to fear.

He finally realized something. The despotic, tyrannical “father” he’d despised so much no longer existed. The only one here was a small man, quick to anger and unable to control himself.

Watching his father continue to shout, Kaito spoke with quiet disappointment.

“…What, so that’s all he was?”

In the next moment, Kaito broke out into laughter. His father looked confused. Kaito, finding this amusing, laughed even harder. As he clutched his sides with laughter, he could practically hear the invisible chains that had bound him shattering. This time, he truly, from the bottom of his heart, found it all to be so absurd.

Who would have guessed that the person who long held the key to Kaito’s mental prison had been someone this trivial?

“I don’t need him.”

“Huh? What’re you goin’ on about? And why’re you just ignorin’ me and laughin’ like a dumb-ass? You losin’ it or somethin’?”

“I don’t need someone like him. He’s not worth the price.”

His father was grabbing him by the collar, but Kaito just shrugged as he looked over his shoulder. Vlad frowned. The wound in his left wrist should have been deep, but it had already healed. What a monster, thought Kaito as he pointed a thumb at his father. With a clear heart, he made his declaration.

“Killing this guy isn’t worth giving you my future.”

Although he didn’t understand the context, Kaito’s father could tell that he was being mocked, and he raised a fist. But Vlad snapped his fingers, and Kaito’s father’s arm fell motionless. He looked at his arm in surprise. Vlad tilted his chin at Kaito, instructing him to continue. Kaito nodded and spoke.

“After I came to this world, I saw Hell…”

He’d seen people who crafted horrors, and he saw those who fought them. He’d seen sickening spectacles. He’d seen the weak get devoured. And amid all that, he’d somehow been able to survive. He’d had a teleportation circle carved in his own chest. He’d stopped running away. He’d helped defeat a demon. All that had been possible only thanks to the twisted ego of one woman.

The Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. A woman as prideful as a wolf and as lowly as a sow.

The woman Kaito now served was more terrifying, more beautiful, and more steeped in sin than any other.

After all that, he couldn’t remain shackled by a man as pathetic as his father.

He’d been killed. But so what.

He’d made a promise that was far more important than something as trivial as that.

“…But in that Hell, someone made a wish on my behalf. So no matter how impossible it is, I have to do everything I can to find happiness.”

Kaito finished speaking his piece. Without a moment’s hesitation, he called off his deal with Vlad.

Vlad crossed his arms in consideration. He gazed intently at Kaito’s face and heaved a heavy sigh. Then, with theatrical exaggeration, he buried his face in his slender fingers and shook his head.

“It appears I approached you a hair too late.”

“Yeah, a little. Well, maybe more than a little.”

Kaito’s response to Vlad’s forlorn statement was lighthearted, and Vlad nodded in agreement.

Vlad then walked with a limp, as if he was grieving this outcome from the bottom of his heart. He drew near Kaito’s father, then placed a hand on his shoulder. As he did, Kaito’s father opened his mouth and began babbling loudly.

“Fuck’s the matter with you you screwin’ with me cut it out dammit fuckin’ with me gonna kill you gonna fuckin’ kill you—”

Apparently, Vlad had had restraints on his speech as well. No wonder he’d been so quiet. Knitting his brows in irritation, Vlad leaned toward Kaito’s father’s ear. As if approached by a carnivorous beast with fangs bared, Kaito’s father immediately shut up. His earlobe had been warped in a fistfight, and Vlad’s voice was sweet as he spoke into it.

“If you kill that thing in front of you once more, I will allow you to enjoy life anew. What do you say?”

After a moment of confusion, Kaito’s father practically licked his lips. Quick on the uptake as ever. At the same time, Kaito turned on his heel and ran. An angry voice thick with avarice chased after him.

“Hold it, Kaito! Don’t you fuckin’ run from me!”

“I’m definitely gonna run, dumb-ass!”

As long as his brain wasn’t atrophied, he could at least make sound decisions. And he had no intention of lying down and dying.

His father gave chase, shouting something incoherent. Kaito aimed for the entrance he had just come through. The maids did not stand in his way. He doubted he’d make it to Elisabeth alive, but if nothing else, even if he died, he had to stop Hina from shutting down. He should still be able to make it in time.

Then Vlad snapped his fingers. Azure petals and darkness swirled, and stakes pierced Kaito’s feet.

“Gah-rgh!”

Kaito let out a scream of pain as he dropped to one knee. At the same time, his father caught up with him and hoisted him by the scruff of his neck. Trembling with rage, his father wrung his neck.

“Don’t you look down on me, you no-good piece o’ shit motherfucking brat! Don’t you look down on me; don’t you look down on meeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Ahhhhhhhhh, you’re a pain in my ass!”

Kaito tried to raise his hands and resist, but those were skewered as well. His arms drooped, covered in blood.

His field of view shrank and grew blurry. He recalled the unpleasant sensation of having his windpipe crushed. He was experiencing the same thing again. His body might be immortal, but at this rate, the bones in his neck would snap and his arteries would get punctured. If that happened, even he wouldn’t survive.

Am I gonna get killed again?

He’d talked a good game, which made this all the more embarrassing. Just like last time, nobody came to save him. Even if he called out, there was nobody his voice could reach. There was nobody to come to his rescue.

This was the end for him, but he’d wanted to stop her, at least.

He recalled her gentle smile and her warm embrace. Why hadn’t he run up to her and held her to keep her from leaving? A tear ran down his cheek as he whispered, his heart full of regret.

“…I’m sorry, Hina.”

Suddenly, a stampeding sound came out of nowhere.

Kaito’s father’s grip loosened in surprise, and Kaito opened his eyes a sliver. His father was staring in the direction of the noise with his jaw hanging open. Curious, Kaito managed to look.

When he did, his jaw dropped, too.

Hina was barreling toward them, twirling her halberd like a tornado.

The maids rushed to stop her, but she blew them away with such vigor, it made one wonder what had become of her previous listless state. Her cheeks were flush and her eyes were glittering as she let out a strange voice.

“You called? You called for me? I just heard you calling for me, didn’t I, Master Kaaaaiiiito?! I’m coming to save youuuuuuuuuuuu!”

“Are you for real?”

Kaito muttered in astonishment. Sensing the danger he was in, his father pushed him aside and began running. Kaito fell hard toward the floor. But the impact never came. He found himself cradled in Hina’s right arm. With her free left hand, she brandished her halberd.

“Huh?”

“For the sin of strangling Master Kaito, the punishment is death.”

The top half of his father’s body went flying and landed on its side. Blood and entrails splattered on the floor. In no time at all, he was well past the point at which blood loss became fatal. He slumped over, motionless.

Without a shred of hesitation or doubt, and with a bit too much eagerness, the deed was done.

Still cradled in Hina’s loving embrace, Kaito couldn’t help but be astonished by what was happening. As if to avoid causing him any further shock, Hina plopped him on the ground, tossed aside her halberd, and held Kaito tight in her arms. She buried his face in her ample bosom and spoke with joy in her heart.

“Oh, Master Kaito! You saved me once more from the bleak abyss of death! How kind you are! I love you so! Your voice, along with its infinite mercy, has reached me! Oh, my beloved Master Kaito! As long as you wish it, I shall remain by your side for all eternity! I shall love you until my dying day, protecting you from all who would harm you!”

“Ha…ha-ha-ha…”

Kaito unwittingly broke into a weak laugh. It was all well and truly absurd. But little by little, joy welled up inside his chest. He’d thought that no one would come to save him. But that hadn’t been true.

That wasn’t true anymore.

He raised a bloody hand. Seeing it, Hina cried out in alarm. Ignoring her outburst, Kaito stroked her cheek. Not wanting to sully her perfect skin, he felt her warmth through his fingertips. After a little while, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Master Kaito, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”

“I’m just glad you’re alive. I’m so, so glad… And I’m sorry, Hina. I’m so sorry.”

“M-Master Kaaiito! Please don’t apologize! It’s all right. Henceforth, and forever and for all of eternity, in sickness and in health, I will serve you with all my heart for as long as I live! Oh, this feeling of love! These emotions! Could they be the beginnings of maternal instinct?”

With an enraptured look on her face, Hina began muttering to herself. But then she turned, her expression fierce. A feral, murderous look flashed across her emerald-green eyes.

“…And it appears there’s one brute left who would try to harm you.”

Kaito looked up and saw Vlad, for whatever reason, trampling on his father’s viscera with the soles of his leather shoes. As he looked at Vlad’s icy profile, he felt his blood run cold. The man was livid. In his irritation, he looked like he planned on wasting no time in crushing Kaito and Hina.

“Fester and die, you son of a bitch.”

“Hina, no!”

In the next moment, Hina vanished. Despite her injured state, she scooped up her halberd. Her pupils dilated as she drove it toward Vlad. Not even turning toward her, Vlad snapped his fingers.

Darkness and azure petals swirled, and a rotating saw appeared in the air.

The saw flew not at Hina but straight at Kaito. Vlad trained his apathetic eyes on Hina, testing her. She didn’t hesitate even a moment. Casting her halberd aside, she wrenched her body into an impossible pose. She threw herself upon Kaito.

For a second, Kaito saw Neue’s form superimposed on hers.

“Hina, no!”

At once, Kaito shoved Hina out of the saw’s path.

“…What? Master…Kaito?”

Her eyes were wide, and her arms were outstretched. Kaito looked at her and smiled.

Then heat burned through his body. His stomach had been cleaved open. But although the rotating saw looked flashy, it turned out to be duller than Hina’s halberd. Kaito had avoided being bisected, but his intestines still spilled from the wound. He collapsed without a word. Hina howled a crazed scream.

“Master…Kaito? Master Kaito, Master Kaito! Noooooooooooooooo!”

“…Urgh… Gah, hrk… Blech…”

Kaito could feel something warm pumping away from his heart. The gushing sound of his heartbeat was obnoxious. As he lay trembling on the floor, a thought faintly crossed his mind.

I hope…Hina will…take this…chance…to escape…… But I wouldn’t…bet on it…

Based on her personality, he doubted she’d be able to leave him behind. He needed to find a way to tell her to run. But his voice no longer obeyed him. His field of view grew dark.

It should have been completely pitch-black, but light ran across his vision. What was that sensation? He remembered it from the time he’d activated a teleportation circle on his chest. It was the feeling of the magical energy in Elisabeth’s blood, which was mixed with his own, writhing. On the brink of death, Kaito’s soul was resonating with the powerful magic in the blood.

The memories in the blood began to resurface.

It was almost like his life was flashing before his eyes, like it did in stories.

But it was something else entirely, something sinister.

Endless corpses of the brutally slaughtered. Hundreds of crows taking flight. The frenzied masses, chanting in unison and crying out for blood. A girl, bound in a straitjacket, hanging in the air. A frail young child, peering out of her bedroom window.

A willowy man’s fingers crept toward her bony shoulders draped in a negligee.

Her matted black hair shook as she gave a start. Flustered, she turned to look. Her gaze landed on the man, who raised his arms in surrender. Upon seeing his face, she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Oh, Uncle Vlad. Don’t startle me like that.”

“Ah, Elisabeth. My darling daughter. Have you been a good girl? You haven’t been killing cats in secret again, have you?”

“I haven’t. I don’t do that anymore.”

“I wonder about that. But don’t worry. No matter what you do, I’ll keep it a secret for you.”

Her uncle’s features much resembled hers, and his voice was full of joy over their reunion. For some reason, he always referred to Elisabeth as his daughter rather than his niece.

She was about to respond, but she then clamped her hand over her mouth. After a fit of dry coughing, she hacked up blood. Seeing her suffer, Vlad readied his proposition.

“O pitiful Elisabeth, born with incurable illness. Darling Elisabeth, she who possesses the same ruthless nature as I. You possess the capability yet are trapped on the brink of death. I have come to cure your ailment.”

“Really? But Uncle, even the doctors say it can’t be cured. And what do you mean by ‘capability’?”

“You will eventually understand in time. Now come, take this. But just like I keep quiet about your mischief, you mustn’t tell anyone about this.”

Her uncle put his index finger to his lips and winked. Elisabeth nodded. Vlad then praised her with a pat on the head and retrieved something from his bag.

“With this, you shall surely lead a more enjoyable life than any other.”

In her outstretched hands, he deposited a gray lump of meat. It was shaped like a human heart.

After eating the meat, Elisabeth made it safely to her sixteenth year.

Everyone rejoiced at her miraculous survival. But then, as if in payment for that miracle, both of her parents passed away. One night, their carriage drove off a cliff. The cause of the fall was undetermined, but right before the accident, an elderly individual reported seeing a massive black dog by the side of the road.

On the night of their funeral, Elisabeth sat by her window as she’d done in her youth, clad in her mourning dress. A pale finger crept toward her shoulder. With a start, she lifted her tear-stained face.

Before her stood her uncle, dressed in black. He should have been away, traveling the countryside.

“Uncle Vlad.”

“Ah, Elisabeth! I’m so glad to see you alive and well, my darling!”

Not noticing how unnatural his greeting was, Elisabeth rushed to hug her beloved uncle. But all of a sudden, he began clapping. She stopped in her tracks, her eyes wide. Even though her parents had just died, he was clapping as if to say that there was nothing to be done about it.

“…Uncle?”

“The demon’s flesh was able to take root within you!”

Elisabeth couldn’t understand what he was talking about. But upon seeing him again in the moonlight, she noticed something. His face was far too young and much too handsome for his age.

And it was wicked, besides. He continued, his voice like that of a child inviting another to mischief.

“Elisabeth, by now, no human illness can kill you. But from this moment on, you’ll have to hurt others and offer up their pain, and the discord in their souls, to your body. If you don’t, the demon flesh within you will rot, and you will die, racked with gut-wrenching agony. No, no, there’s no need to be afraid. Be at ease, my pitiful, lovely Elisabeth.”

Vlad grinned as he basked in the moonlight. He continued speaking, a wicked grin on his face.

“Your parents left you the population of the fiefdom, throngs of subjects to indulge yourself in. Until you have licked your plate clean, until you have feasted to your heart’s content, you should eat as much as you can.”

Elisabeth sensed that her uncle’s words were no jest. Belatedly, she also realized something. That thing she had eaten all those years ago had been something forbidden, something that should have never been consumed.

Trembling, Elisabeth clutched her shoulders. Her uncle smiled as he spoke again.

“Yes, Elisabeth Le Fanu. Now you can become a greedier sow than any other.”

A few days later, Elisabeth became unable to bear the pain that racked her body. With her uncle Vlad’s help, she used a real torture device for the very first time and committed her first murder.

She ripped out the guts of a living person with a windlass and slaughtered a young girl in a hanging cage, weeping and vomiting all the while. As she piled up bodies by the day, Vlad laughed loudly by her side.

“Very good, Elisabeth, very, very good! More, Elisabeth, more! What do you think, beloved daughter of mine? Aren’t you having fun?”

“…Yes, maybe… You might be right…”

With tears in her eyes, she looked at the corpses of those she’d killed, those who had hated her, resented her, and wanted her to die. The more she wept and apologized, the more their hatred grew, expanding without limit.

Before long, the poisonous flower was in full bloom.

She’d tried to kill herself over a dozen times, but Vlad kept her in check. It was only after meeting the demonic friends he’d assembled that she finally stopped resisting.

“Weep or rejoice as I may, the results remain unchanged.”

She accepted her lot in life. She draped herself in a dress she weaved with magic, used the energies she’d accumulated to summon torture devices, and slaughtered the inhabitants of her castle town.

As she violated her innocent subjects, she sat alone in the throne room and swirled a glass of wine back and forth.

“What kind of person apologizes when eating pork or feasting on steak? No amount of tears that I shed, no amount of regret that I feel will change who I am or what I’ve done. As such, I have made my choice. I choose to be proud.

“I choose to rejoice as I make all the people of this world into my sacrifices.

“Why should I weep when I make victims of others? Why should I apologize?! I shall laugh as I slaughter you. I shall line you up on my plate. I shall take pleasure in devouring you. And I shall rub my belly when I’ve eaten my fill. However, you all have the right to kill me. I shall show you no mercy as I consume you, but the day will come when the devourer and the devoured trade places, and I shall die at the stake.”

“Rebuke me. Hate me. Curse my name and condemn me to Hell!”

“I am the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu!”

“I am the proud wolf and the lowly sow, forsaken by all of creation!”

After that, Elisabeth gave rise to myriad blood-soaked legends, accumulating magical power comparable to that of the strongest demon. Once more, she became a worthy successor to Vlad. But for some reason, she suddenly revolted against her self-proclaimed foster father.

She laughed as she skewered his underlings with thousands upon thousands of stakes.

“Why, hello, Vlad. Don’t tell me you truly believed the day you met your match would never come, did you? ’Tis your judgment day. Your fate and mine are the same—to be killed like the swine we are.”

The two of them struck at once, each downing the other, and they were both captured by the Church.

Perhaps her heinous deeds, committed without fear of God, were all for the sake of extending her own life.

Or perhaps they were for the sake of defeating her “father,” whose power and allies had grown well past the point where any normal person could stand against him.

Her motives would remain a mystery.

“…Gah, hah!”

Kaito coughed up blood as he came to his senses. It appeared he’d been fortunate and vomited up the blood that had pooled in the back of his throat. The sudden pain had shaken his soul out of its shocked state. Elisabeth’s memories faded, leaving him unable to see them anymore. Reality, along with the fact that he was steadily losing blood, came rushing back to him.

The floor felt warm, like a blanket, and strangely soft. His senses seemed to be failing him. The blood he was lying in felt strangely comfortable.

Closing his eyes again, Kaito thought back on the memories he’d just witnessed.

…That was rough; I’ll give you that. Given your circumstances, no one could’ve saved you.

Resisting the urge to surrender himself to sleep, Kaito opened his eyes. His vision was blurry, and he couldn’t make much out in the darkness. But he could tell that Hina was waving her halberd and fighting something off.

She was protecting him. His head swimming, Kaito tried to think.

Even God turned away from you. And yet, you intentionally… You chose to become the Torture Princess. Man, I can’t even begin to understand that.

Kaito reached out his hand. It sank into the sticky pool of blood surrounding him. He stretched out his arm again, searching for a dry section of floor. His arm trembled as he frantically began moving it.

Even for the sake of living or fighting back…I still don’t get how you could choose something like that so easily… So brazenly…

As he squirmed about on the floor, Kaito moved his fingertips once more. Ignoring his pain and the blood he was losing, he wriggled on the floor like a worm. Perhaps thinking he was trying to flee, Vlad laughed and muttered.

“It seems your master intends to abandon you, even as you fight for him. Do you wish to continue in spite of this?”

“Master Kaito is fleeing? How wonderful! Then I shall buy him as much time as he needs!”

The metallic clang of blade against blade rang out. All the while, Kaito continued crawling around. He dragged streaks of blood across the ground, and as he connected line to line, he let out a small laugh.

“But man… I guess we did have one thing in common after all. Like…birds of a feather, they say.”

It was just as Clueless had said. There was one area in which Kaito and Elisabeth resembled each other quite a bit. Kaito extended his arm a little more. Straining his exposed innards as he worked, he wrote a glyph.

“I’m already dead…and back when I was alive, I never did manage to get in a solid hit. But you’re still alive, so…while you still can…go give your ‘dad’ one good punch.”

Kaito connected the beginning and end of the circle with his finger. His work finally done, he collapsed. He could feel the blood burn with magical energy. Vlad, finally realizing what was going on, shouted.

“…That’s—”

In front of Kaito, Elisabeth’s summoning circle had been completed.

Over the course of his first life, he’d developed a certain skill—he never forgot any information he’d learned through pain. He’d taken advantage of that by carving a map of the castle’s underground tunnels in his skin so he wouldn’t get lost.

And he’d once gotten Elisabeth to carve a teleportation circle on his chest.

He’d drawn the teleportation circle just as he remembered it, and it began undulating wildly. The blood flowed, full of Elisabeth’s magical energy. It glimmered, its vivid crimson hue resembling melted rubies.

Aided by the light of the circle, Kaito could finally make out what was going on in the room. Vlad was firing off attacks, his face full of impatience, but Hina was somehow holding him at bay. Kaito coughed up blood as he let out a scream.

“And then, once you’ve cleaned up this mess, you can go straight to Hell like you swore! ELISABEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETH!”

As Kaito screamed, darkness exploded from the circle. Crimson flower petals spiraled around the room like a blood-soaked hurricane.

A long dress fluttered amid the tempest of darkness and petals. Its scarlet interior swirled across his view. A fair woman appeared, puffing out her buxom leather-bound bust. Her sleek black hair wafted behind her, and her crimson gaze settled on Kaito.

She landed atop Kaito’s blood and guts sporting her bondage-style dress and devilishly good looks.

It made for a beautiful, warped image.

In her hand, she held the Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal.

“Hello there, Vlad.”

Elisabeth, immediately grasping the situation, laughed a dark laugh. Her lips twisted in the most wicked yet sublime way imaginable. Vlad recoiled a step.

Elisabeth, drenched in blood, was currently free of the Church’s shackles. Not only was Vlad shackled, but the Kaiser wasn’t by his side. She licked her lips as she eyed her prey.

She raised the Executioner’s Sword of Frankenthal aloft. Crimson flower petals and darkness spiraled around the blade. She then brought the shining sword down, as if conducting an execution.

“Now die alone—forsaken by heaven and earth and all of creation!”

Chains appeared from every direction and quickly filled the room. Hina was lying on the ground, and they flew over her head, shredded the maids, and twined around Vlad like a serpent. He struggled and fought, trying to break the chains with his own darkness and azure petals. But the chains wound around him faster than he could cut. His bones creaked as they bore down on his skin.

“Tch… Ah, rrrgh…”

He hung in the air, suspended by chains as Elisabeth had once been. Crimson petals piled up around him, like a massive bouquet for the dead. Then, in an instant, they melted and transformed into a platform with a stake. The chains bound Vlad to it. Elisabeth swung her sword again, and crimson flames burned in its wake. It was not a demonic flame but a mortal one.

He burned in the flames of man, as if he was being judged by the people.

“To think I would be done in…by something like this… This is a cruel joke, Elisabeth…”

Heavy darkness and azure petals whirled around Vlad. But the chains remained unbroken, and the fire spread to the tail of his elegant coat. His flesh began to burn. He opened his eyes in disbelief.

His sapphire stare was trained on Elisabeth. She returned it with a smile that seemed almost kind. Vlad frantically looked about, as if he’d only just grasped his situation.

Suddenly, he’d found himself trapped within the jaws of death for the very first time.

A bleak murmur dribbled from his mouth, as if imploring her.

“Elisabeth… Elisabeth… Elisabeth… Elisabeth…”

“Despots are killed, tyrants are hung, and slaughterers are slaughtered. Such are the ways of the world. The demise of torturers should be garnished with their own screams as they sink to Hell with no chance for salvation. Only at such a time is a torturer’s life truly complete—so meet your fate, you vile man. I have no intention of fleeing. I shall follow you shortly.”

The tips of Vlad’s long hair caught ablaze. No longer keeping up appearances, his body convulsed. The platform creaked a little. Then his skin burst into flames. He burned like an ordinary man, and Elisabeth made her declaration.

“Death by Burning—a fitting end for you and me.”

“ELISABEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEETH!”

As Vlad let out a resentful scream, the blaze swallowed him.

The flames caused his face to bulge and sizzle. His skin turned to carbon. And eventually, his entire body burned away. All that remained were bones, and the chains mercilessly shattered them. He became white ash, then scattered into the air and vanished on the wind. Vlad Le Fanu had become nothing more than another victim claimed by the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu.

* * *

And that was how the man who had served as the Kaiser and created the Torture Princess met his end.

All that remained was Elisabeth, standing alone, ever the picture of regality.

Amid the heat from the flames still lingering in the room, she closed her eyes and looked up at the sky. Her black hair drifted behind her, and a crimson flower petal fell from her skin.

Having defeated her lifelong foe, Elisabeth took a short breath, exhaled, and opened her eyes.

“How weak!”

She thrust her fist skyward as she shouted in pure satisfaction.

Out of all the things she could have chosen to say, that’s what she went with?

As he lamented her choice of words, Kaito’s consciousness slipped away.