"Aww, this is so annoying! You're cute! You're cute, but you're a bit burdensome! So, can you please step away from me?"
The corners of Gremory's mouth dropped after being hit hard. Was it really worth yelling at someone just for sticking around for a little while?
Gremory, who had been thinking that she should just leave, turned into a cat. Only then did Isolene start to pay attention to Gremory.
"Oh my, so cute! Can you do this kind of transformation too? You're so cute! I can touch it..."
"As expected, humans are obsessed with appearances. Tsk tsk. That's enough. I don't need your attention anymore."
The offended cat jumped up and disappeared out the window. Isolene muttered, "What is that?" and finished drinking the tea she was drinking.
***
Chession was quite angry about this. He had obtained information from the wizard who had tried to kill Isolene. The woman quickly gave him the information before he could even begin to torture her.
"Guild! We have a guild! We take on any dangerous requests! Recently, a man signed an exclusive contract with our assassin guild! And he paid a huge sum of money!"
Chession had figured out the guild's location, people, and even their movements. After leaving the torture room, he grabbed a knight he was passing by and held a temporary meeting.
"She was sent by Severian, who didn't know about the secret contract between the Emperor and me. Furthermore, she is said to belong to a guild of rare, top-tier magicians."
Gremory rested her chin on her hand and asked something she was curious about.
"Why are you just sitting there? Isn't it enough to go get revenge on that damned Crown Prince right now?"
"I want to do that too, but I can't. I made a magical contract when I left the palace. It made it so I couldn't be able to touch the imperial family."
"The royal family can mess with you however they want? This is a completely unfair contract. That's why you have to carefully consider the situation and the treaty before signing a contract."
Gremory rebuked her as a witch who made unfair contracts. Huh, Iris laughed beside her.
"Anyway, I plan to eliminate the Assassin's Guild and warn Severian. I'm sending a message that even a guild of the highest level players can't harm us."
"What a frustrating method."
"According to the wizard woman, they have a weekly meeting every Tuesday to receive missions and reports. Since today is Tuesday, I'm planning to raid the site."
"That's not bad. But how are you going to deal with the rare top-tier players?"
"Mori, I am a member of the Imperial Family with combat abilities. Don't underestimate me."
Chession smiled confidently, and Gremory nodded. But there was something uneasy.
"I'll go too."
"No, Mori. You stay here."
"Why?"
"I'll leave the Grand Duke's residence to you. It seemed like that woman had a lover. If she doesn't return to the guild today, there's a chance that her lover will move and attack the Grand Duke's residence."
"That lover also plays with dolls?"
"The information about his lover is uncertain. She keeps changing her story. It seems like she's just lying about having a lover to scare us, but it can't hurt to be careful."
Gremory sighed. It seemed better to go to the torture chamber and look into the woman's darkness to find out the truth. But.
"I'll go see that woman."
"I've already taken care of it. I've got all the information I need."
"This."
Things turned out badly.
After that, a meeting with the knights followed. Chession calculated the travel time and decided to set out tonight. He selected twelve of the most nimble and experienced knights.
Although the schedule was decided in a hurry, the knights quickly finished preparing. And as the sun was setting.
"I'll be back. Please take care of the mansion, Mori."
Gremory grabbed the hem of Chession's clothes as he turned around and tried to move forward.
"Mori?"
"..."
Worry. Yes, she is worried. This feeling was clearly worry.
"Wait for a second."
Gremory quickly took the emerald ring from Isolene's hand, who was standing next to her. Then, she poured the witch's power into the ring, turning the emerald dark red.
"Put this on. It will protect you."
Isolene's face turned bright red.
"Hey, you witch! You told me to go to our house! What the hell have you done!"
Chession smiled and put a ring on his little finger.
"Oh my, a witch. Such harsh words are forbidden in our house."
"Ugh! This is driving me crazy! How am I supposed to explain this to Dad?"
When Isolene tried to grab Gremory by the collar, Gremory turned into a cat and ran away.
"If it was something so precious, it shouldn't have been taken away so easily."
Saying that made Isolene's blood pressure rise significantly.
***
Chession left, and night came.
Gremory sat on the roof of the Grand Duke's residence, wagging her tail.
A slightly warmer spring breeze blew pleasantly. She looked at the Milky Way in the sky and recalled old memories. She used to look at the constellations with Lenia...
'At that time, I had nowhere to go, so I went to Lenia's side. And then we became friends.'
Now she could go anywhere in the human world, but for some reason, she felt like she wanted to stay here.
- Miss Mori. What are you thinking about now?
"I think I should take good care of my prey in the Grand Palace."
- Ah! Prey? You seem to treasure it too much. Look, you're staying up all night to protect the people of the Grand Duke's Palace, watching for intruders.
"Because I don't like seeing others eat my prey."
- Well... If you think about it, all humans are prey to witches. Think as you wish.
Iris laughed as she looked at the cat looking up at the sky with pride.
No intruders came in. Instead, Gremory felt something different.
It was a sign of fear and anxiety. Perhaps it was because of the news that the assassin might come again today, but the Grand Duke's family members were shaking in fear and unable to sleep.
Even the nuns of the convent were huddled together in the Grand Duke's residence and trembled. The nuns, fearing that even the convent might be attacked, chose to spend the night in the relatively safe Grand Duke's residence.
'They're really scared.'
"Hey, Iris."
- Yes.
"Isn't it strange that humans are so weak that they would react to an assassin, yet they are so warm to others without even knowing their place?"
- I find you more amazing. You are so strong that you treat assassins like ants, yet you live your life feeling warmth towards weak humans.
"What? Why do I feel warmth towards humans?"
- The fact that you're on guard all night to protect the humans in this mansion is proof that you feel warmth towards humans. I live these days for the joy of seeing you become attached to humans.
"What's the point of living? You're already dead, so why are you talking nonsense?"
- Anyway, that's true.
Gremory looked down at the mansion. A delicious aura of fear was gathering and growing. At the center of the aura of fear were the nuns.
Gremory jumped down to where they were to feed on their aura of fear.
However, as soon as Gremory appeared, the aura of fear began to fade.
"Oh my, where did this cute cat suddenly come from?"
"Are you hungry? Should I give you some milk?"
The nuns surrounding Gremory began to laugh.
'What? I haven't even eaten fear yet?'
When Gremory tried to run away in panic, the nuns blocked her like an iron wall.
"Hey, it's dangerous tonight. Come with us."
Gremory, who had the back of her neck grabbed like that, was being caressed in the arms of a nun.
'Damn, who on earth would pats omeone on the back for being so weak... Uh...'
Iris laughed as she looked at Gremory, who had almost fainted. It was right to live feeling warmth from weak humans, but pretending otherwise.
When Gremory was at her peak, Isolene, who felt uneasy about being alone, was walking around outside the mansion when she found Gremory and burst out laughing.
"What? Why is everyone here... Phew. Ahaha!"
Then the nuns who were petting the cat looked puzzled.
"What's wrong, Isolene? Do you know that cat?"
"Yes, I know that cat. It likes to be petted, so feel free to pet it."
Gremory was angry. She wanted to get up and give Isolene a good bite, but her body was limp and wouldn't listen to her.
'Damn, they saw through my weakness.'
Gremory, who had struggled to come to her senses and stand up, quickly slipped through the nuns. Then she went up to the roof of the mansion again. The terror that had been gathered together and formed a lump was now scattered and unrecognizable.
In this way, the Grand Duke maintained peace until the sun rose.
The problem arose on the other side. Gremory noticed that something was wrong with Chession through the ring she had given him.
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