Ouroboros Record ~Circus of Oubeniel~

In the end, his wish came true. Simone secretly hoped that someday, she would have someone that devoted to her. At the least, she was happy that she had made a difference in their story so far.

As he looked down at her, Tullius took out something from his pocket.

A new collar.

A new collar, to replace the one lost a week ago. He gave it to her, and she immediately went to put it on.

“I’ve bent over backwards to recover you. You wouldn’t think I will let you go this easily right?.”

“Yes, master. Unexpectedly so.”

“If you get it, raise your head.”

“Yes, but before that...”

She kneeled down.

“Can you swear me into your slavery once more? I don’t ever want to lose this again.”

“That’s fine by me, but…Alright, I’ll do it quickly.”

“Thank you, master. Then…”

With her lord’s permission, Uni uttered her oath.

 “Your slave Uni will never refuse to offer herself, never flee, never fail to protect, never cease to serve…May my lord accept my solemn vow as the foundation for this eternal servitude.”

It wasn’t a loud voice, but for some reason her words were carried on the air to Simone.

A worshipping figure, hands clasped, and eyelashes closed demurely.

It reminded her of a nun, lost in prayer.

“Very well. I shall receive your oath.”

In accordance with his acceptance, Tullius presented his left hand, palm facing the earth.

As agreed, Uni kissed the back of his hand. With that, a silver ring was locked around her neck, shut fast as if to protect that kiss.

Click.

The sound of the collar snapping shut was the epilogue to the drama of the week past.

 Simone thought that the ritual had been unusually smooth, despite being held in a courtroom after the conclusion of the trial. Was it because it seemed so natural to the two parties involved? To her, it seemed like it had been the next obvious step for him.

“Like a wedding…”

Uni glanced away from her master’s fingertips and stroked the collar, looking like a lovestruck bride drunk on her own happiness.

“Insanity. What kind of ‘holy court’ is this?”

Linus whispered indignantly..

To Simone, he was the man who shattered her image of a sacred wedding.

While both mildly shocked and slightly envious, she raised her left hand.

Shining on the ring finger was a band of platinum.

Platinum versus silver. Ring versus collar. Brother versus brother. Bride versus slave.

Two women connected to the same house by different colors in similar shapes, yet worlds apart.

----Which one was truly happy?

Upon realizing the futility of her question, Simone sighed yet again.

x x x

The woman returned home with her master, sporting a shining new collar.

“To my embarrassment, I announce my return.”

“Hello there. Welcome home, Feudal Lord and Chief Maid.”

Laubert called out with a smile.

Due, in turn said:

“…Yeah.”

With such an unmotivated reply, it was hard to appear honest.

Tullius raised an eyebrow in suspicion at Due’s lackluster greeting.

“You’ve got a pretty weird face there, Due. Is it so strange that Uni came back?”

“That’s right. After all, you’re the one who’s strange in the head.”

“Don’t say such rude things…”

 While saying that, Tullius relaxed on a nearby sofa. He seemed much relieved after the events of the previous week.

The root cause of the matter prepared a cup of herbal tea without orders and set a cup down before her master.

“After all the trouble, I chose chamomile for relaxation.”

“Thanks, Uni. Yeah, it’s gotta be you after all.”

“Your words are more than I deserve…”

Due sighed briefly at their antics.

In Due’s mind, there was something he was still mulling over. Tullius stated that the probability of Uni’s return was eighty percent, but how on earth did he even come up with that estimate. When he thought about it like that, he wasn’t completely satisfied.

“Hey, Master. How long have you been planning for this?”

“I was ninety percent sure of this specific outcome when Drei contacted me saying that Marquis Lavallee had Anna Marie in his possession.”

It was an unexpected answer.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me…”

The corner of his mouth twitched.

There’s no way. Did he think such a crazy event would occur from the beginning? It wasn’t impossible, but he still couldn’t believe it.

“You think I’m lying? Because Drei took full advantage of the teleportation network and quickly came to the capital, I thought she could afford to spend some time on activities other than Plan D preparations. I suddenly realized that I had enough free time to check out Marquis Lavallee, and when I thought back to the beginning I came up with this eventuality.”

“Sir, Mr. Due is still at the previous step. To me, it is strange that the Chief Maid was able to hold her own without guidance.”

Laubert muttered crossways.

“I’m curious about that too.”

“That’s completely out of question isn’t it.”

Tullius noted while letting the steam from the tea mist his face.

“I’ve known her for eleven years. I of all people should know she was capable of that much.”

It was a natural response, but did he understand it’s true gravity?

For her lord, she abandoned her father, mother, and half-brother, and joined hands with the enemy of her mother.

Wasn’t it too arrogant to assume so much?

Due wanted to say so but found himself unable.

The girl actually did it. She verbally beat her father into submission, didn’t blink an eye when confronted by her insane mother, and happily rejoined her lord.

Tullius continued without minding Due, whose words were still stuck in his throat.

“While I was looking into the nobles of this land, I found out a few things on ex-lovers and mistresses and such. I brought that information to the wedding, just in case any noble made trouble. I said what I did to Count Cartan because I didn’t want him to take offense.”

Tilting his cup, he moistened his lips.

“Of course, Uni noticed my unnatural behavior. We’ve been together for eleven years. Since I knew that, I asked that the wife be brought to the trial. Uni was intelligent enough to predict my actions in accordance.”

In terms of combat, Uni outperformed even a remodeled Due. She was also a master in spying, an excellent magician, and an experienced alchemist. Escaping the residence, concocting the medicine, and finding a few servants that had been laid off were child’s play to her.

After all, with the brainwashing perfume it was a simple matter to collect the necessary information.

“I see. Well, nothing to be done about it.”

“…Right?”

After all, he had to make himself look as competent as Laubert.

“Then, did you feel at all reluctant in handing the Chief Maid over to Count Cartan in order to gain time for concocting your plans? Well, you started preparing the fake evidence for the trial only after that.”

“Swindling is for villains. It’s not the same. If I didn’t resist, I’d look suspicious. It’s as simple as that.”

“I’m impressed. You thought all that out in such a short time.”

“Wasn’t there enough time? When Count Cartan insisted that Uni was his daughter, I knew the trap had sprung. The Count had both peerage and the moral right to take her back. So, I gave in, listened to the Count’s story, and thought up counterpoints for it. Wasn’t that the right way to go about things?”

“You’re insane, you know that. You’re even more of a schemer than that Marquis.”

Tullius shook his head with an ironic smile.

“Don’t make jokes like that. You come up with a counterattack at the last second, or you come up with a limited plan because your opponent is hiding their cards under the table. If you don’t do it right, it all falls apart.”

Even his humility was galling. The Marquis was about to win when he was pulled down in an instant by Tullius from nowhere.

“If anything, they’re sure to be more vigilant now. From now on, I’m going to have to get serious and think up my own strategies.”

That was his way, after all.

The parties based in the kingdom’s capital had been unsuccessful in sending spies to Marlan, so they had finally decided to brush away the insect buzzing around their ears. However, this time the insect stabbed back with a poisoned sting.

The aristocrats stung by Tullius’ counterattack would strike with full force next time.

“I’m sorry. This was all my fault—”

Tullius waved his hand with a bitter smile, trying to stop Uni from prostrating herself. Perhaps it had been that way all the way back from the capital.

“I’m telling you, it’s fine. Do I need to bow down again to get you to stand? At any rate, it was a good thing that the Marquis was publicly defeated. Instead, know that you did well in this.”

With that, he stroked her head with his hand.

“Master…”

“You’re all right. Good child, good child.”

The lord joked lightly with a smile, his servant accepting it with a slight squint.

A psychopath who murdered countless slaves and aimed to overtake his brother, and a cursed woman who shed blood on his behalf and cut down her own family for his sake.

Due shook his head once again, amazed by the twisted pair before him.

“Honestly…most importantly, is that you look happy.”

The slave responded to his sarcastic words by straightening her profile, holding back an acidic tongue.

She still smiled, however.

“That’s great.”

That smile was as innocent as a little girl’s, but at the same time a flimsy cover on an unimaginable abyss.

“I’m the happiest woman in the world right now, after all.”