033 – Queen of Dreams
A report came in: Eloise Family’s next head had dined at a restaurant without an escort.
“Tell me everything.”
“Last night, Ella Eloise had both lunch and dinner in the restaurant’s VIP room.”
The Marchioness’s eldest daughter, famous throughout the magic kingdom for her exorbitant value, wandering outside the academy alone, without guards?
At first, I dismissed it as absurd nonsense.
“A male student in uniform was also observed entering the VIP room a little later.”
“Is our Marchioness’s daughter having a secret affair?”
If Ella Eloise was engaged in a clandestine romance that she wanted to keep hidden from the family, that changed things.
“And…”
“And?”
“They have a reservation for the VIP room again, three hours from now, during lunchtime.”
Kyah.
A young lady traveling alone, without protection.
The one accompanying her is a student, and so unremarkable that the affair is forbidden from her family.
Everything clicks into place, isn’t this a sign from the heavens to kidnap Ella Eloise?
“Recently, our forest friends have expressed a desire to raise young ladies…”
Our forest friends, the elves, have recently developed a taste for raising young ladies.
If Ella Eloise were to appear as an auction item, wouldn’t she fetch an astronomical sum?
“Prepare immediately. Kill every employee in that restaurant and replace them with our people. Spare only the chef, understood?”
“Understood, sir.”
And so, preparations for the Ella Eloise kidnapping operation began immediately.
*
They’ve laced our wine with sleeping potion.
And tomorrow, Miss Ella will be sold at auction.
I wanted to spit in the face of the kidnapper, sneeringly relaying the details, but…
‘Once night falls… you’re all dead, truly.’
The number of guards watching this place was too great; I was forced to remain quietly locked in this cell.
Then.
“Don’t touch him.”
“Ho?”
Across from me, in her own cell, Miss Ella had insisted to the kidnappers that they leave me alone.
Drawn by this, a surge of kidnappers rushed towards her cell.
“A boyfriend? For our Marchioness’s daughter?”
“…I am under no obligation to answer your questions.”
“Heh heh~ She’s running around with a pathetic worm like him as a boyfriend?”
“…He is not a pathetic man.”
“Isn’t he~? Oh, how impressive~.”
Giggling, the traffickers tried to humiliate Miss Ella.
From these traffickers, it felt like they were deliberately trying to demean her.
“Jealous~ That her boyfriend is such a~ handsome man?”
“…”
“You really don’t think your boyfriend is pathetic?”
“…”
“Since you’ll never see each other again after tomorrow, it’d be easier to give up now~.”
“…”
Look at them, spouting lines that only some third-rate villain would say…
When Miss Ella and I first regained consciousness inside the prison, they had silently guarded us.
Now that I think about it, they had suddenly become much more talkative…
‘Why?’
I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss with them.
‘I don’t know anything…’
I hadn’t delved into the Arcane Campus.
I could sense they were preparing something special, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what that special thing was.
‘Why today of all days…’
If I had my way, I would smash my head against the floor.
To think I had placed a spyglass on Miss Ella…
‘I am a brainless piece of trash ruled by lust…’
I should have set it up to call Professor Layton in case of an emergency…
Just so I could sneak a peek at Miss Ella showering..!
‘…I will definitely save you tonight.’
Fortunately, Miss Ella said that she would be sold off at auction tomorrow…
It seemed that she would be safe until tonight, and I decided to wait for the traffickers to fall asleep.
…
‘When are they going to sleep already?’
It was already 11:30 PM.
I was getting tired of watching the traffickers, who still hadn’t fallen asleep even though dawn was only thirty minutes away. Then…
Creak…
With the sound of rusty iron doors opening, I could see a muscular woman, seemingly very healthy, entering the room.
“Am I late?”
—
Lucy (247)
[Abduction] – Activated
[Observation] – Ella Eloise
[Sleep] – Activated
—
“?”
The moment the woman named Lucy uttered a single sound, the human traffickers, previously exuding the air of third-rate thugs, fell into utter silence.
“Did I take too long with the cooking~? I seem to be a bit late, no?”
Behind the woman entering, a man carrying two covered bowls, their contents obscured, followed closely.
“Good work. The rest of you, go get some rest.”
No sooner had the woman spoken those words of appreciation…
than the traffickers scrambled to leave, vanishing from sight.
“…”
Instinctively, tension began to coil within me.
After all…
When a woman of 247 years possessed such muscle, what else could she be but a True Ancestor Vampire?
‘I’m screwed…’
If it were a Doppelganger, I might have attempted something.
But from my experience within the Arcane Campus, I knew that a single True Ancestor could decimate two Knight Orders.
So, I decided to remain silent and feign obedience, observing her actions, while awaiting an opportunity to escape with Ella.
“You two hungry, no?”
“…”
Silently, I continued to watch the True Ancestor’s movements…
Lucy approached the iron bars that held me captive, placing her hand upon them.
And then…
“..!!”
I felt an intense and maddening hunger surge within me.
“Hungry, eh?”
“..What.. did you do to me?..”
“You won’t remember me later anyway, so I’ll tell you now. My name is Lucy.”
“…”
“I’m called the Queen of Dreams.”
“?”
At the mention of Queen of Dreams, I realized the being before me wasn’t a True Ancestor Vampire, but a Succubus.
The moment I understood that the woman wasn’t a True Ancestor Vampire…
‘Oh, what? I was nervous for nothing.’
Even if they are strong, Succubi are weaker than Vampires, a fact which made me relax.
“..What is that feeling?”
“Huh?”
“…I told you, I’m a succubus?”
“Yes, you did.”
“…Why are you so relieved?”
“How did you know I was relieved?”
Though I had no intention of answering, strangely, my lips were automatically spitting out responses to the succubus’ questions.
And even though I hadn’t voiced the fact that I was relieved… strangely, the succubus before me seemed to perceive my emotions.
‘…How did she know? No… how did she *do* that?’
Were succubi capable of discerning human emotions?
Were succubi capable of compelling human actions?
“You’re a peculiar human, but I don’t care for positive emotions.”
“?”
Lucy, after declaring her dislike of positive emotions, spun around and headed toward Ella.
‘If that’s the case, why did you make me so hungry??’
That impudent creature, that race of hers.
If she was just going to drop her piece and leave, she could’ve gone quietly. Why make my stomach ache with such hunger, just to be spiteful?
‘I’m telling Isabella everything later.’
I vowed to escape this place and have her torn to shreds by the Dream Queen’s cat.
The succubus, having seemingly had some conversation with Ella, returned to the bowls on the floor, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“Alright~ little ones? You must be very hungry?”
“Yes.”
‘Oh, mouth, can you please just stay shut for once?…’
I resented my mouth, answering the succubus’ questions directly, against my will.
Clearly, some unknown magic was at work…
When it seemed a dangerous situation was brewing, and I was about to try and subdue the succubus…
“I made this myself~. How does it look?”
Upon the bowl, one could see pasta, warm steam curling from it.
“Looks delicious…”
‘Agh!! Shut that trap, would you!!’
The sight of the very appetizing pasta caused me to salivate, but only for a moment.
“There’s another one, too~.”
Saying there was another one, the succubus opened the lid of the remaining bowl…
“!!!!!”
There…
“I was wondering how I could make it taste bad~ So I just made it with whatever I could grab. Cabbage soaked in saltwater~ Cabbage well brined, with chili powder and garlic crushed by hand and smeared all over it.”
There was kimchi and rice.
“Alright~ you two will now choose one of these dishes to eat.”
“?!?!”
‘Kimchi?? How long has it been since I’ve seen kimchi?!’
“The choice belongs to you, my slave, what was your name?”
“Mikhail.”
“Huh…?”
“Alright, Mikhail. Choose. If you pick one, Ella Eloise will eat the other.”
“I’ll have the kimchi.”
‘Did I…just say my real name…?’
“Okay, the pasta… Wait, what? What did you say you wanted?”
“Kimchi and rice.”
This goddamn magic…
It forces me to blurt out the honest emotions I’m feeling, without exception…
So my real name, the one I’d kept carefully hidden… I let Ella hear it.
“…I’m asking because I don’t know what kimchi is, but…are you calling this pasta kimchi?”
“Not that. You know, the pickled cabbage and rice.”
‘…Should I just eat first and think later?…’
The water’s already spilled…
I might as well enjoy the kimchi to feel less wronged.
*
A dismal feeling.
The words of the kidnappers kept grating on me, sapping my strength.
The fact that I couldn’t escape this place was despairing.
And the fact that Mihaen-nim was also suffering because of me… it felt like my heart was tearing apart.
As I was feeling this concentration of all sorts of negative emotions…
“Hello, little lamb~”
I could see a burly woman standing in front of the iron bars of my cell.
“Haa… this is it, this is the taste~.”
“…”
“You see, I’m a being that lives by eating human emotions, you know? And out of all of them, negative emotions are just so delicious~.”
“Shut up.”
“So I kept telling the others to poke at you. I was curious what the negative emotions of a daughter of a noble family would taste like.”
“…”
“Now, I’ll tell you one truth, Ella Eloise. You love that man over there, don’t you?”
“…”
“I know even if you don’t answer~ I’m a succubus, I live by eating human emotions~.”
“…”
“I have the power to make the man I enslaved only speak the truth, you see?”
“…”
“So, I’ll show you. Whether he really loves you or not~.”