-『Chapter 12』-

«  Heiress of the House of Novaldein »
— Velestina von Novaldein —

 

Initially I simply wanted to point the blade towards the face of the Margrave but for a split second, I suddenly lost control of my hand and the pointed end of the blade continued forward on its own, scraping the left cheek of the old man and making it bleed profusely.

Luckily I've managed to regain control before the blade continued further.

I heard the Margrave groaned in pain but my mind was preoccupied with berating this annoying parasite within my mind. 

Why did you suddenly did that!? This person is very important piece for my plans so I absolutely cannot let this man die!

« S-Sorry I was just trying to help sister. Muu, you didn't stop me when I was aiding your movements earlier so I assumed that you wanted to stab this person too.  »

Those people are different and for the last time stop calling me your sister!

« B-But It would be weird to call you as 'Me' since that'll be confusing so I thought the most prudent one is sister but since you don't want as well then perhaps...M-Mother? »

That's even worse!

« Ahahaha your reactions are funny Sis! so this is what it feels like to tease someone...how fun! »

I imaginarily facepalmed myself at the ridiculous antics of this blithe mental cohabitant of mine. If only I knew beforehand that this entity would be this much annoying then I shouldn't had made a deal with it weeks ago.

Maybe this is how the girl from that myth 'Paragon's box' must've felt, for like that girl from the myth, I too have also felt that I unknowingly unleashed all the evils and miseries upon the unsuspecting world when I gave more freedom to this wayward entity.

« Hey hey Sis, are we going to stab some more baddies? »

Sigh.

Indeed making a deal with this loose cannon that's practically the embodiment of curiosity was definitely a mistake.

— One Week Ago —

I scrunched down my brows whilst looking at the ceiling with a frustrated expression. Currently I was sitting at my room and the wooden table right in front of me was full of parchments whilst the floor down below are littered by torn and crumpled paper remains.

We are almost at the last leg of our journey and should arrive at the New World within a week and so far all I did as a countermeasure was to correspond and exchange information with my family's own espionage team that's operating within the New World. 

Both me and my Grandfather knew that we'd been played by the machinations of the Narfá. They'd overblown the whole situation and made it look as if I was the one who had tortured that vixen for I was the only one who had a motive to do such a thing.

Upon all these accusations, I have only one things to say—

—Blasphemy.

Sure, I ordered some of my lackeys at the school to make her academic life unbearable and I too may have slapped the vixen just a couple of times in the past but I know my boundaries.

I came from a prestigious House and the suffering I've inflicted upon that vixen was just the proper amount to be given upon a girl that's trying to break off my engagement.

Social norms dictates that I should at least fight for my betrothal and to not do so otherwise would make the other Noble Houses look down on us for it would imply that the House of Novaldein wasn't placing any importance upon my engagement. 

Henceforth, I reprimanded that vixen as a show of obligation. 

I didn't messed with her simply because I was 'jealous' nor hurt like some rumors oh so proclaimed. Concerning the engagement itself, my feelings about it are absolutely blasé. I didn't like nor hated being betrothed for even at a young age, I already understood that my marriage would be used as a political tool. 

Freedom to choose love is only for the common people. 

We from the higher stratum are bound with honor and responsibilities and such matters are far more important than what our heart actually dictates. 

...Yet my ex-fiance seemed to had forgotten all about this fact.

To make the matters worse, the bastard even had the gall to name me as the mastermind behind the abduction and torture of that vixen. I wasn't the one behind it and obviously it was a plot to frame me as the perpetrator but alas, that imbecile Aurelius simply just won't listen to reason and even filed a case at the House of Lords.

Both the Narfa and the Kaizer's faction in an unbelievable plenary session have banded together to vote for my banishment unto the New World. With the two factions joining together, there's nothing much that my family could do but to accept such unfair ruling.

My grandfather knew that the Narfa is planning something thus he prepared lots of things for me  such as a large escort of ships, an ample amount of funds, a portion of our servants and finally, the full authority to command our espionage forces stationed at the New world.

—Knock Knock. 

The sudden sound brought me out of my reflective thoughts and the door opened on its own. My eyes landed upon the metal tray that was floating in mid air and the person that's been holding the tea set finally revealed himself once the door closed. 

"Here's the tea you've ordered Milady," Roan in a butler's suit came forward and gently placed the set at my table. 

I asked one of my servants to prepare that suit and had this Elf changed into that butler's attire for the previous clothes he wore actually reeks due to him not bathing ever since he boarded the ship. I also wanted to prepare something for the other two but alas, I didn't brought along with me any children's clothing and this guy's bodyguard seemed to be insistent that she didn't want any of my help at all. 

"Thanks, I really am fond of these teas that you make." I genuinely complimented and he simply gave me an odd glance for a second before replying, "...No problem."

The night before while I was on my way to the room that these lightelves are temporarily using, I accidentally stumbled upon the three of them drinking some kind of liquid substance that had these rich and alluring aroma. I couldn't help but asked him about it and he told me that it's a tea that he personally made using a blend of special dried leaves which he put together in a tea bags. 

It was a wondrous invention but within my mind, I added a new item on the list of odd things that this male elf does since in this world, we still brews our tea manually in a slow meticulous manner. The idea of 'tea bags' is still haven't been practiced by anyone and when I asked the other two elves about it, they said that Roan was actually the inventor of this tea bags.

Its taste was simply marvelous and my tongue began to crave for it since the drink also have this slight invigorating effects and it helps me soothes my mind thus I keep ordering him to make me one from time to time ever since then.

A comfortable silence followed right after as I take my mind off from thinking too much and simply let myself enjoy this brief tea break. Roan's eyes began to wander around and eventually those pair of orbs landed upon my messy table and softly chuckled.

"Having troubles Milady?"

I let out a rueful breath before finally placing my teacup down.

"Indeed. I thinking of ways to outwit the leader of my enemy but so far I've drew a blank as to what kind of strategy should I use..." My eyes then wandered to his ears which now looks like a pair of human ears before adding, "By the way, your kind uses concealment magic right? Can you perhaps let me become invisible for a time akin to the ability of your sister?"

Roan made a conflicted face. 

"I'm afraid I cannot do so Milady. You see, we Lightelves actually uses Mind Magic to alter the perception of others. Its like an illusion but we actually can't change anything in a physical sense per se." His appearance then began to morph and now it looks as if an 'another me' is superimposed over to his body. 

It was a very weird sight to say the least.

"With me being a tier three mind master, I can alter the perception of others that's viewing my target to make them change their appearance to another person but I can only use this ability for five minutes in total plus I have to be standing really close to my target in order to invoke this magic."

I gave him a deadpanned look before responding, "Quite odd. You used your magic just now right? To me however, you now look as if my appearance is superimposed over to your body and imitating your every actions..."

Roan eyes widened for a second.

"Really? Well I guess you Milady have a high mana control proficiency for our magic can easily be detected and be thwarted by people whom had practiced magic to its mastery." 

He finally returns to his human-eared appearance and the events that just happened gave me an idea. 

"So basically your magic can only change my appearance for five minutes and that you need to be close to my vicinity...Hmmm."

This mind magic is practically a cheat if applied in stealth missions. Its really makes me wonder how the hell their race still got annihilated by humans when they have such an absurd concealment ability in the first place.

Anyhow, I could use his ability alongside my espionage team to launch a sudden ambush and kidnap the Margrave. 

A glint of euphoria finally shone into my eyes. 

"Hey Roan, what's the total area range can you use this mind magic of yours? How many people can you alter? Will that five minute limitation suffer if you use your magic on more than one individual? Can you alter non living things? What's your mana rate expenditu—"

"—Wait wait wait, Lady Novaldein. Why are you suddenly bombarding me with all these questions?"

I glance at him as if he's asking the most redundant question ever thought.

"Why to prepare a plan for abducting someone of course."

"You're going to abduct someone!?"

"Indeed and you're going to help me."

"Since when did I decide to help you?"

My eyes then narrowed. "You're aren't going to help me? After letting you stay onboard my ship while also personally going out my way to give you accommodations and food at practically no cost at all? Ara, my apologies...I didn't knew that Lightelves doesn't have the concept of gratitude upon their culture."

My lips curved in a coquettish fashion and he reacted to my provocation with a cramped smile. 

"I never knew Lady Novaldein could be such a high-handed woman...Fine I'll help you just this once since its my policy to always return the favor to every people that I owe. But I'll say this now, this is a one time deal and after I helped you then I'll be on my way doing my own business, understand?"

I nodded with a triumphant smirk. "Well that's fine with me."

We silently looked at each other for a moment before Roan let out an exasperated sigh and muttered to himself, "...Haah, as expected of the villainess. She bosses people around and talks as if kidnapping someone is a perfectly normal thing..."

I blinked.

Villainess?

It was an obscured word and it slightly baffled me since people rarely use it nowadays.

"Anyway, since I'm helping you on this kidnapping scheme that your concocting then I might as well listen to the finer details of the plan." 

I nodded.

"Right...well so far here's what I have in mind."

I began explaining to him my plan. 

"The Narfá plotted to sent me in the New World so its a no brainer that they have a plan in mind. The most likely case is that they plan to capture me and perhaps use me as some sort of leverage to deal with my grandfather. These people absolutely won't acknowledge the mandate of the Kaiser that's appointing me as the new Viceroy thus I cannot reveal this fact right away for it would instantly paint a target in my head.

I knew the Narfá have planted some spies on my ship. 

However. this could be a good thing for me as well for I can feed some false information through the use of this Narfá spy. 

I will be surrounded by enemies on all sides once I arrive and the most crucial thing for me at this point is to gather information and eventually build a stable 'homebase' where I can discreetly maneuver around without the prying eyes of the Viceroy and his lackeys.

They plan to capture me and in the most likely scenario, the Viceroy would appoint the Governor of Guade Town to handle these task since that's the only settlement with access to shorelines and a working dock where Arklaund's ship's usually disembarks. Furthermore the Margrave was an ex-general and the only one amongst all of the Governors. His experience would surely come into play and would be a huge factor in deciding who will lead my arrest.

These people aren't idiots and will surely know of my personal details so I cannot remain hidden and go incognito for a long time." I finally took a breather after talking for quite a time and finished the rest of the tea whilst watching Roan silently contemplate upon everything that I've said. 

"Hmm...the number of soldiers that this Margrave can deploy, does Milady have a means to know this data? even a rough estimate will do." 

"What do you mean by this word, data?" I asked whilst rummaging through all the parchments on my table. 

"...Oh uhh, its just another term for knowledge. Its an E-Elven word you see and I'm still not used to using Arklaundian language."

I acted nonchalantly and merely said "Is that so?" but in my mind I added another item on the odd list since this word 'Data' were suprisingly also been used amongst some of those otherworldly memory fragments that suddenly appeared within my mindscape.

I finally found the parchment I'm looking for and handed it at Roan. He spent a minute analyzing it before showing a strained smile.

"Did they think that you've bringing along with you the entire forces of the House of Novaldein? These numbers looks as if they're preparing for a full scare war."

I merely shrugged my shoulders.

"It just goes to show how integral my capture is for their plans," My lips then curved into a wicked smile. "However, two could play at that game. I cannot face them directly in battle since they outnumbered me five to one and running away or contending in a bout of attrition aren't an option either since my resources are insufficient. The only method that I think may have a slim chance of succeeding is through a lightning fast stealth operation to capture the head of the enemy first before they even realize what's going on. Your concealment skill will raise my chance of success up to a high margin and my only problem now is how to lure the bulk of the enemy's force away so I will have an opening to lay about my ambush."

Roan crossed his arms together as he stood wordlessly in a contemplative manner.

"I could use my magic to make a bait like someone impersonating as you Milady but then I won't be able to join the covert ops since that'll keep me in the same place as the bait."

I thought about his suggestion and responded, "How about your bodyguard then? We could use her instead to cast the illusion magic on the bait but question is can she use the same ability as you do?"

Roan showed a confident smirk. "Ella's a Tier Two mind manipulator so she could use illusions to a lesser extent. She probably won't mind helping if I'm the one asking her to do it."

I raised a single curious brow and responded, "Is that so? Well you have my gratitude then." 

Roan chuckled. "Well even if you guilt trip me into this whole affair, I still can't deny the fact that your grandfather have helped us tremendously. I wanted to return the favor the best way that I can so by putting all of my effort is the least I could do."

I simply nodded and we resumed brainstorming for ideas. As we both exchange suggestions, I gradually discovered that this elven bastard has an uncanny ability to think of bizarre tactics. For instance, this concept of 'Trench Warfare' that he's suggesting was quite frankly...odd.

I don't know what to make of it actually.

On one hand, its quite well suited for our long range soldiers that uses that experimental weapon 'Pistolla' but if you factor in magic then this trench tactic can only be used as a one time surprise maneuver since once the the enemy figured out the mechanics behind it, they could make this trench an interconnecting pit of hellfire due to the fact that the enemy could simply just raindown a hail of flames across the sky.

I explained to him my misgivings but he simply replied, "Well this is the first time its going to be used so at the very least this trenching tactic can stall for a time and confuse our enemies. Plus I don't think the enemy would have that much Pyromancers within their midst. Certainly it isn't the perfect solution but an added defense is still way better than having none at all."

Certainly that's a valid point. 

That makeshift base my espionage operatives have been using could use an additional defense. 

I had Roan wrote the full details and schematics of these trenches so that I could send it to my operatives and have them construct it as soon as possible.

While I was waiting and watching him do his task, I then noticed that the time was already late into the night.

Ah how time flies...

After he was done, I decided to postpone our brainstorming for the time being as I escorted him towards my room's door. 

I was in a good mood due to our productive discourse thus I extended my hand and did this 'handshake' thing once more. 

"It was a pleasure exchanging ideas with you Roan."

He looked down at my extended right hand and raised his left with an amused yet complicated expression. 

Just as our fingers are about to touch, a sudden surge of vertigo assaulted my senses. My extended hand suddenly sprung upwards all on its own as it grabbed a hold of Roan's neck in a suffocating choke hold. 

"L-Lady Novaldein!...ugh..w-what are you—"

« —Sister..this person's soul..dangerous. »