* * *

“Mind lending me that key for a bit?”

Flash forward to the present day, I had snuck down to the basement dungeon. After descending the steps, I stood in front of the main entrance where traces of cool, wet air had escaped from the inner chambers.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that, my lady. Master expressly forbade anyone from going inside,” said the dungeon guard.

“So what, you’re refusing me? Really?” I replied. The dungeon guard winced at the sting in my voice. I sneered at him with my head tilted, daring him to oppose me.

From my first invitation to the grand feast at age 12, all the way to now at age 16, I had been a regular attendee to the coveted event. In other words, I was the Agrece clan’s rising star. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not particularly proud of that achievement, it just sort of happened. Although I don’t exactly have any criminal ambitions, I had to do whatever I could not to wind up dead.

“But...” the guard bumbled. He looked like he would cave after one more nudge. The only question was whether I should threaten or cajole him...

After a brief deliberation, I decided to grace him with my feminine wiles. Like magic, his face began to turn pink. But what the heck? I hadn’t even begun the seduction part. This guy was falling for me WAY too fast. Yet another hapless dungeon guard bound for the gallows stood before me. He was probably one of the lowest of the low in terms of rank, not to mention young. He looked to be just shy of 20. As I hardly ever graced the dungeons with my presence, there was next to no chance he would have developed any sort of immunity to my charm, which was perfect for me.

While the guard continued to dither about, I snatched the keys out of his grasp.

“I’m just gonna have a quick gander. I won’t leave a single trace of my having been here, so you won’t need to report this non-visit to my father. Understood?”

A whisper of confidence sprinkled with a smile was all it took to get the job done.

As he swore that he wouldn’t dare dream of divulging our new secret, he actually opened the door, then ushered me inside. Hmph. Yet another oaf likely to lose his post soon.

I was merciless in my judgment as I stepped into the dungeon. Inside, the damp air felt like it was trying to crawl beneath my skin. It was putrid as hell. Since the dungeons were used for keeping—and often torturing—captives, the smell should have come as no surprise to me.

With grim determination, I moved further down the hall. Through the metal bars of the cell door, I spotted the person I had come to see. Gripping the set of keys I had taken from the guard, I opened the door.

Creeeaak.

The rusted hinge seemed to shriek in pain.

The abducted teen was still bound from head to toe and sat leaning against the furthest wall. With his head tilted toward the floor, the first thing I noticed was the strange, bluish tint of his silver mane. The hate-filled glare from the golden pupils that had given me such a fright before was now hidden behind his eyelids.

He didn’t look like he’d be conscious anytime soon. Leaning against the door, I called out carefully.

“You there...”

Though in my head it was more like, “Yo! Big bro to the heroine, please open your eyes!”

“Cassis Pedelian.”

Even at the mention of his name, he didn’t budge. I inched a bit closer and away from the doorway. He was in much worse shape than I had assumed while at a distance. The magical cuffs had dug into his wrists and ankles, as well as new injuries which I hadn’t noticed when he first passed by us upstairs.

Although Father had only said to keep him locked up until he became docile, they must have decided to take the lash to the boy as well. Luckily, the wounds were free of glass shards, which means they just used regular whips. Seeing as he was still pretty much in one piece, the actual state he was in was anyone’s guess.

Unlike this lucky son of a gun, most of the poor saps Lante Agrece sent down here almost always suffered far worse fates. Not that this poor kid was even close to being in “good shape,” but based on the typical standards of the Agrece dungeon, he wasn’t doing too terribly.

This ultimately meant that I could relax a bit. If this kid were to die though, I knew all too well that as a member of this lousy house, I’d meet the same fate before long. I withdrew the medicine I had hidden in my bosom, then lifted his head up.

Clink.

My, what a handsome devil he was. He had the elegant visage of an aristocrat. The fresh scars on his pale face almost made him seem like a fan of masochism. It was a face that practically begged to be tormented.

When he was glaring at us earlier, he seemed to be brimming with a haughty spirit. But as he lay there peacefully with his eyes closed, he looked harmless—even delicate. By the looks of him, one might have assumed he was a few years older than me, but I believe he was still 17 to be exact.

“This’ll be tricky.”

Had I met him anywhere else, I would have simply admired his good looks and moved on. But the matter was a little more complicated now that he was locked up in our territory.

That was mainly because he was exactly Charlotte’s type. Charlotte is one of my two younger half-siblings who had asked earlier to play with our newest captive. Despite being three years my junior, she was a major pain, but also an undeniable badass as far as up-and-coming criminals go. Although relatively young, she had a sadistic streak she would often let loose on the “toys” Father brought home.

I had to squint to examine the boy’s face more thoroughly. Then I took him by the chin and pulled his mouth open.

“Ugh...”

First things first, I needed to give him some medicine. I must have accidentally grazed his bloody lip because he suddenly winced. Not wanting him to wake up, I remained still for a moment, but I really didn’t need to worry because he remained unconscious. Good boy. At this point, you can bear a little pain. We Agrece children were regular recipients of bloody lips ourselves during our monthly evaluations.

With less than what I would have called a “gingerly touch,” I forced the pill down his throat. In a way, his being unconscious actually made things easier. Had he been awake, it was unlikely he would have accepted the medicine I was offering him.

“Ugh...”

Right away, the kid started groaning. I honestly wondered if the little weasel had been faking being unconscious the whole time. He looked like he might actually wake up at any moment. And soon enough, he did. His eyelids fluttered briefly, then opened to reveal his golden pupils. He looked about without seeming to be able to focus, then slowly closed and reopened his eyes.

Damn this kid! I had hoped he would stay unconscious at least a bit longer. A moment later, our eyes locked.

“Uh... Hi.”

Unsure of what else to say, I just mindlessly greeted him. Obviously, “hi” was arguably the lamest thing I could have said in that situation, but the boy was luckily slow to come around. That delay, however, didn’t last long. Soon his eyes were sharp with comprehension. Finally, he seemed to register my presence. He also seemed to notice the medicine in his mouth at the same time.

“W-What the—Mmph!” he had begun to splutter, but his raspy protest suddenly came to a halt. Admittedly, that was because I had clapped my hand over his mouth to shut him up. In truth, it was a reflex, but one that earned me the boy’s burning fury.

He began to thrash about in an attempt to break free of my grip, his shackles clattering loudly as he moved. Goodness me, this kid still had so much spunk. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d have anything left in the tank. All the same, him struggling to move had zero effect on me, since I knew the chains linking his magical cuffs to the wall could withstand far more than that.

“Mmph!”

“Stop trying to spit it out. It’s an antidote, not poison.”

“Oop!”

“Calm down. Even if I intended to kill you, I wouldn’t use poison!”

But his frenzy continued. It was obvious he wasn’t ready to reason. And honestly, who could blame him? Not only had he been abducted and jailed in enemy territory, but he had also woken up to find a stranger forcing something down his throat. But while I did understand his state of mind, the fact remained that he was getting in the way of his own recovery. I realized I’d have to hold him down until the medicine could dissolve. What a nuisance that was...

“Sorry, but with all this flailing about, you leave me no choice.”

With my hand still over his mouth, I elbowed his head back.

“Mph, kegh!”

My sudden maneuver seemed to have succeeded in catching him off guard as I could immediately see the pill had made it down his throat. Now the only issue was that if I took my hand away, he might just throw it back up. So in truth, I had no choice but to do what I did next. He’d have to go back to sleep.

“Ack, ack! What’re y—?!”

“Again... I’m really sorry about this.”

Pow!

“Kegh!”

With one final apology, I punched him square in the stomach. I must have struck him in a vital spot because he immediately keeled over. Compared to when I had first shown up, he really was out cold this time.

Sheesh! I wonder just how hard I had punched him. Somewhat sheepishly, I took my hand away from his lips. All Agrece children learn basic combat skills, so manhandling someone around my age was easy enough even for me. Of course, the task was made all the more easy if the person was already tied down like he was. On top of that, he was under the effects of some sort of poison. I had only knocked him out because he was putting up such a fight, but even so, I regretted having possibly gone a bit overboard. Not that I can turn back the clock anyway. What’s done is done.

With the boy sound asleep once more, I left the dungeon, wiping away cold beads of sweat that were running down my forehead.