Fremd Torturchen - Volume 1 - Chapter Ep

Epilogue

“Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!”

Elisabeth gripped her fork and knife as she shouted with glee.

Laid out before her were jellied beef tongue, gizzard rillettes, kidney pie with a blue-cheese sauce, and tripe cutlets.

“I am grateful for your praise, Lady Elisabeth.”

“Man, your reactions are always way over-the-top when it comes to food.”

Hina smiled and gave a tidy bow. Kaito stood next to her, holding a wine bottle with both hands. Each time Elisabeth emptied her glass, he mechanically moved to refill it.

His task hardly took his humanity into account. His poured the wine with dead eyes, not giving a damn about the wine’s flavor. Apparently, though, as long as the food was good, Elisabeth didn’t much care about the quality of the liquor. She happily drained her glass. At least my job is easy, he thought. He looked down at his clothes and sighed.

He would have really appreciated it if she got him something nicer to wear than his butler uniform.

Ignoring his complaints, Elisabeth devoured the spread. But as she finished her final plate and Kaito moved to refill her glass, she suddenly spoke.

“Have you no misgivings?”

“About what?”

He immediately returned her question. Still holding the wine bottle, he waited for her reply.

A few days had passed since they’d purged the Kaiser and returned to the stone castle.

This was the first time Elisabeth had spoken on the matter.

That night, after being carried back to the castle, Kaito had confessed that he’d temporarily accepted Vlad’s invitation. But Elisabeth had simply treated his wounds, then tossed him into bed. He’d immediately slipped into a comatose state, and Hina had held his hand through the night while Elisabeth delivered her report to the Church.

The following day, his usual warped yet not-unpleasant lifestyle awaited him. He’d decided not to mention prior events, so when Elisabeth broached the subject on her own, he was taken by surprise. There were too many possible answers to her question about his “misgivings,” so he simply tilted his head.

Elisabeth raised a slender finger.

“First, the matter of the Church’s custody.”

“Oh, well, misgivings or not, people from other worlds are still rare, right? And that place seems full of holes, so if there was anyone else like Clueless there, I’d be done for. It’s not like I’d have any way to resist, so because I can’t guarantee that I’m not gonna become a lab rat, I have no plans of fleeing to the Church at the moment.”

“At the moment, eh?”

“Well, yeah. If I really felt like you were gonna die and I was gonna follow shortly after, then who knows. I might well go sobbing to the Church and beg them for help.”

“Ah, how very like you.”

“Yeah, I’d rather not accompany you to Hell.”

“And I would rather not have you.”

Elisabeth responded in a muted tone, then shook her empty glass. Obeying her unvoiced order, Kaito filled it to the brim. Spinning the glass as she spoke, Elisabeth asked her next question.

“Second, then. Are you truly okay with that?”

“Oh…yeah. That. Yeah, I’m fine with that as it is.”

“I see. Well, if you say so, then that is that.”

Unlike Kaito, who had survived due to Elisabeth giving him a blood transfusion, his father’s doll body had lost all its blood, and his soul had disappeared. Elisabeth could have summoned it again, but Kaito had turned her down. On his request, though, she’d recovered the doll’s body, and Kaito had buried it behind the castle.

The burial had had no meaning. Yet, for some reason, Kaito had wanted to do it anyway.

And so he did.

Kaito had no plans to visit his father’s grave. In time, it would grow over with weeds or flowers as they sprouted naturally. That was for the best.

That thought alone had allowed him to sort out his feelings.

Here in front of him sat Elisabeth again. It was her egotism that had set all of this in motion. It was the Torture Princess who had thrust herself into this insane situation and she who had forced this second life upon him.

Kaito shrugged, then spoke to her casually.

“And hey, you bringing me back to life and summoning me here must have been some kind of fate… So until you start walking the road to Hell, I’ll try and stick by your side for as long as I can, even if I’m the only one.”

Elisabeth would die alone. Not even a demon would be by her side then.

But perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad for one human to stay by her side until that fateful day arrived.

Throughout Elisabeth Le Fanu’s bloody life, she was accompanied by a single foolish servant.

Kaito thought that sounded just fine.

Elisabeth cast a sidelong glance at him. She then shrugged and gave a catlike laugh.

“And what of it? Am I supposed to be overjoyed at the prospect of being served till death by an unfaithful servant like you? One who can’t even cook?”

“Man, you ask a lot for someone who can only summon people from other worlds who can’t cook organs worth a damn.”

“I’ll kill you for that. Painfully. But…very well. Bring me that thing, that one talent you possess.”

“Aye aye, cap’n. It’s been a while.”

He obeyed her command and returned the wine bottle to its bowl. He then picked up the earthenware pot from the tub of ice it was chilling in. Hina, unable to restrain herself, bubbled with excitement as she peered at it.

Watching the other two crane their necks, Kaito whipped off the lid.

“Ah, so that’s what Master Kaito’s special purin is like! How splendid!”

“Indeed, it jiggles so wonderfully. I crave it from time to time. Now, without further ado…”

Kaito gazed at them, Elisabeth readying her spoon and Hina unable to contain her excitement. It was then that he realized something. He felt around his face with caution.

Sure enough, a natural smile had spread across it.

…Oh, so that’s what that feels like.

He thought back to the promise he’d made Neue. Then he calmly surveyed the scene before him.

Elisabeth was there, and so was Hina. He hoped these chaotic, happy days would continue. For the first time in his life, he prayed that he wouldn’t lose them, even as the battles heated up. And to that end, he planned to do everything in his power.

To fulfill his promise to Neue and to keep the promise he’d just made to Elisabeth.

The Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu, had summoned him from another world.

She would one day die alone, forsaken by all of creation, and descend to Hell.

But they still had some time before then.