Mercedes slowly opened her eyes. The intermittent sound she heard was quite rough. Clunk, clunk, thud.

‘Is it… a carriage?’

Perhaps due to the strange drug effects coursing through her body, her movements were naturally slow. Her condition was not good at all.

Moreover, there was a gag in her mouth and a blindfold over her eyes.

Surprised by the incomprehensible situation, her heart began to tremble. On top of that, she felt fear because she couldn’t see anything or cry out.

However, she took a long breath to find her composure.

Although breathing was difficult due to the gag, she had to manage somehow.

Having barely regained her composure, she deduced from the vibrations beneath her that this was the interior of a cargo carriage.

It might not be, but the sound of horse hooves and wheels, along with the cargo bumping into her as it shook about, gave her certainty.

That made her even more afraid. Who on earth had kidnapped her? If they were taking her away so secretly like this, was their purpose to kill her?

Would she be able to, escape?

She had the strength to remove the gag, blindfold, and bindings. She could solve it with the life force she had recently drained from Count Cromwell.

But even if she solved that and jumped out of the carriage, she would surely be caught immediately.

These were people who had infiltrated the imperial palace. They must be either highly skilled… or have an insider.

She slightly moved her hand to gauge the power she possessed. Teleportation would be impossible. She had heard that was difficult even for top-tier mages.

Given the unpredictable situation, it was better to set aside gambling.

For now, she could use magic with this, at least.

‘Who would have thought I’d have reason to be grateful to Father.’

If she hadn’t absorbed and stored power to inflict pain on that man, she truly would have been consumed by fear.

Now, the issue was timing and location.

She needed to know where this was to counterattack and escape. She would have to observe the atmosphere after the cargo carriage stopped later.

‘And if it really becomes too dangerous.’

Since she could absorb a person’s life force just by physical contact… it would be fine.

Killing people was an uncomfortable thing, but her hands were no longer clean after killing Richard.

And these kidnappers were now beings who could kill her. There was no need to show mercy or hesitate with such people.

‘I will survive.’

She calmed her heart and resolutely vowed.

In the past, she might have given up prematurely, thinking death was approaching again.

But now she didn’t want to give up. She had thought she could give up and die after getting revenge on the Count.

But that wasn’t the case. She wanted to properly ask Carlos for his reasons, and see new things, whatever life she might live.

Breathing above the surface that people’s kindness had pulled her up to was much lighter and more enjoyable than the heavy life she had led until now.

So she would return alive. Though she didn’t know what exactly was happening…

A long time passed like that. Suddenly the cargo carriage stopped and there was a commotion outside. Then came the sound of the cargo door opening and a man’s voice.

“Oh, you’re awake.”

“…Mmph!”

As she tried to move her body and shout, the other person chuckled.

“What do you think you can do with those arms that look like they haven’t had a bite to eat? It’ll be less tiring if you just give up quickly.”

The man answered in a casual tone and then grabbed her arm, dragging her. Mercedes was forced to stand up and walk closely, following him.

When getting off the carriage, another man came and supported her.

Since she had decided to be cautious and not gamble, she didn’t immediately absorb his power. Using magic by absorbing power to break through would need to be done at the right timing and accurately.

“Aigo. It’s done. Took too long.”

“Indeed it did.”

With her eyes covered, all Mercedes could rely on was her hearing.

And she noticed something strange.

Everyone was using the common language of the continent, but… their accent was very different from the people of the capital.

A bit of the languages from countries that had disappeared and been absorbed into the empire, which she had learned from Mrs. Fisher, Nadia’s eastern accent, the accents of ambassadors from small countries she had heard at diplomatic dinners as the crown princess in Sheim.

Reflecting on her experiences and what she had learned, she could be certain.

These were clearly people who had not been citizens of the empire.

‘They said they had almost wiped out the remnants. Carlos must have left the palace and departed on an expedition with some peace of mind because of that…’

Yet there were remnants here too?

How many defeated soldiers could there be? What was their goal? Surely… the war hadn’t broken out in order to kidnap her?

She now knew her own position well, and understood how the world worked.

As a result, her thoughts began to approach very close to the correct answer.

Meanwhile, she was moved somewhere and made to sit. She could feel a hard wooden chair touching her body.

“Um… Uh…”

“Ah. Don’t.”

Someone whispered, and soon the blindfold covering her eyes was removed.

“…!”

Though startled by the rough hand that suddenly approached, she swallowed the scream that nearly escaped past her gag.

She absolutely did not want to show a frightened appearance.

She glared at those standing before her with eyes that seemed about to burst blood vessels. In a dark and damp place like a basement, only a few candles were lit, and those standing before her had half their faces covered with masks, showing only their eyes.

All of them appeared to be large in build and well-trained.

“Mmph, mph. Mph…!”

She tried to ask who they were, but the gag didn’t allow it.

“Miss. Just be patient for a bit. It won’t take long until you die.”

“Mph! Mmph!”

Though she stomped her feet violently and made noise, the masked men only laughed loudly. As if mocking her powerlessness.

Mercedes racked her brain. Fervently, earnestly. She had to think of what she could do in this situation.

She was not powerless. Although her body was weak and she was stupid, she also possessed abilities others didn’t know about.

If she acted calmly enough, she could break through.

No matter how she looked at it, it seemed impossible for someone to come and help her in this remote place.

Even if it were Carlos… it would be impossible.

“But she’s so pretty like this… Are you sure we can’t touch her? Who would know.”

“That’s true, actually. Besides, isn’t she the woman that monster bastard really likes? If the plan goes wrong, wouldn’t it be good to at least get revenge on this woman?”

“Her resistance is quite tempting too.”

The masked men just giggled, not knowing what she was thinking.

“It seems like it wouldn’t matter if we touched her… But our plan is more important for now. We need to focus more on keeping watch.”

“You’re right about that. Understood.”

As Mercedes listened to the men’s filthy conversation, a thought occurred to her.

“Mm-. Mmm.”

She blinked her eyes towards the man who seemed to be the leader here, with somewhat submissive eyes. It wasn’t a defiant sound, and even a pleasant voice was a bonus.

The man looked at her, seeming a bit surprised.

Even in the dark space, her eyes were shining like jewels. Her beauty seemed to illuminate this room.

“Tsk, what a waste.”

The man looked at her like that and then came closer, grabbing her chin.

“Your attitude suddenly changed… Right. What wouldn’t a woman do to survive? Do you know how to please a man, miss?”

For a moment, she got goosebumps as she was reminded of Richard, but Mercedes gave a very faint, slight eye-smile. This time the man made an “Oho” sound.

Mercedes didn’t miss the fact that he was showing interest in her, and gestured towards the gag with her eyes.

The men around also gulped as Mercedes gave a faint eye-smile.

“Do you want to say something?”

“Mmm-. Mmm.”

As she affirmed with a docile gesture, the man hesitated and then moved his hand towards where the gag was tied.

It was a gesture as if he was somehow entranced.

“Uh, is it okay to remove the gag? Of course this place is remote, but. They say that monster bastard is sensitive even to sound.”

“How could he come here right away when it’s two days away? Hey. Let’s hear what she has to say. Haven’t you heard the rumor that the beautiful and noble Empress is actually a seductress? You bastards are curious too, right?”

“Hehe. That’s true.”

They all smiled with somewhat off-kilter grins and approached Mercedes as if surrounding her. The already dark room, the area around Mercedes became pitch black.

The men bumped into each other slightly, unable to properly see light even among themselves.

In the darkness where even the faintly glowing candles were blocked, being surrounded by large men made Mercedes’s heart beat even more fiercely. She was afraid.

Nevertheless, she did her best. Ridiculously, Count Cromwell’s constant saying that “Men are satisfied just with a smile” turned out to be somewhat true.

At the same time, the gag was removed. She took a moment to catch her breath.

“…Haa. I don’t know who you are, but since you know my reputation, there’s no need for me to pretend to be a noble lady, is there?”

Then she gave a seductive smile.

The masked men who faced Mercedes’s face froze in place.

It might have been natural.

She was a person who knew how to become the protagonist anywhere, after all.

“What do you want? I’ll throw away anything for my life. The Emperor’s woman. Isn’t that tempting?”

She chuckled and drew them in with her beautiful voice.

The man stared at her blankly and then reached out to brush her lips.

“Ah-.”

And he was about to say something.

But Mercedes was faster, burning away her bindings with magic and lunging at him.

It happened in an instant.

The man only thought she might be an aggressive woman, bearing her light weight without much thought.

But when a sinister red light flashed.

He realized something was wrong. The man tried to push her off immediately, but Mercedes was already clinging to him with her whole body. She used her body weight to push him to the floor, already in the process of falling.

Of course he couldn’t push her off as he fell backwards off balance.

It happened so quickly.

“Aack!”

“Wh-what’s going on!”

“Suddenly. Wait, it’s dark so everyone step back a bit!”

They were all gathered together so visibility was dim, and it happened too fast. They registered that someone had fallen, that the woman had suddenly sprung up, but they couldn’t tell what happened after that.

They brought candles as quickly as possible, and light shone on Mercedes again.

Before them was… a woman sitting astride the man.

She was surrounded by a sinister yet somehow sacred red and white light, smiling.

Mercedes, exuding an otherworldly aura as if she were not of this world, had a chillingly beautiful yet somewhat bizarre atmosphere.

“Kuh… hack.”

“Captain?!”

“Wh-what is that appearance!”

“Ha… ugh.”

And the man lying beneath her expelled his last breath, looking like an old man drained of all vitality.