“What…? I mean, it’s fine, but that’s not the least bit persuasive.”

  “Gracious, it should do quite well. Master Claude spoils me, and I’m a useless girl who knows nothing of the world. That’s the image they have of me, at any rate.” Aileen gives a charming smile.

  Keith returns her nod, beaming. “That’s the demon king’s wife, all right. You have no qualms about deceiving others or tossing them aside like yesterday’s garbage.”

  “I shall take that as a compliment.”

  “Are you sure that’s what it was…? It seems to me as i-if…”

  Vica’s voice wavers unnaturally. The elevator is slowing down. They’re nearing their destination.

  Keith pushes up his glasses, then glances her way. “Come to think of it, Lady Aileen. Why did you suggest making for this elevator?”

  “What? …W-well, Kilvas doesn’t have the technology it would take to descend underground, and of course Ellmeyer doesn’t, either. That means both this elevator and wherever it leads must have been made by Hausel.”

  She remembered that in the game, you always used an elevator whenever traveling to a place connected to Hausel for the Valkyrie surgery or for medical treatment. Despite needing to come up with an alternate reason on the spot, she’s made a rather persuasive case. Vica nods. “The elevator wasn’t included in the building’s plans. I also think something must be hidden here. Your eyes are as sharp as a vulture’s, Lady Aileen.”

  “Y-yes, I— Wait, was that really a compliment?”

  “I also consider your keen vision worthy of constant admiration, Lady Aileen,” Keith agrees.

  She gets the feeling they’ve said something rude to her, but arguing would just come back to bite her, so she holds her tongue. What’s more important is the destination of this elevator; it doesn’t even have a display that shows floor numbers.

  A sound signals that they’ve arrived, and the door opens.

  A black floor and ceiling stretch away from the door in a straight line. Lights gleam at regular intervals in both surfaces, seemingly showing the way. This is most definitely a corridor that goes somewhere important. Steeling herself, Aileen steps out of the white box—and when she sees what opens up around her, her next words slip out involuntarily. “The queen’s blue country…”

  “Is this…? Are we at the bottom of the ocean?” Cautiously, Keith touches the transparent wall. It seems to be made of very thick glass. On the other side, the world is a deep blue. Higher up, small schools of fish swim past, and white diaphanous jellyfish drift by.

  Vica follows them with his eyes, then comes to his senses with a jolt. “Wait. As far as I know, there is no ocean near the wall.”

  “That elevator may be a transfer device,” Aileen says. “We might be on the outskirts of Hausel.”

  Hausel is an island nation. In those lands, the ocean is never far. Vica exhales in what could be either wonder or fear. “So this…is the Queendom of Hausel…”

  “Don’t be scared. It’s time to get moving. We aren’t here on a pleasure trip.”

  With those words of reassurance, Aileen sets off. Vica and Keith quickly follow after her.

  Without warning, the lights in the ceiling wink out. The underwater corridor is ending. As she takes a careful step into the space beyond it, bright light glares down from an even higher ceiling.

  The room is large and circular. An ornamented pillar stands in the center, encircled by a round table and haphazardly placed chairs. The walls are still glass, but the view beyond them is no longer the ocean. It’s a spacious room with gray walls.

  Several people come into view.

  They’re all dressed in simple clothing, and they all seem dazed. They’re standing up or hugging their knees, and their eyes are hollow and unfocused. They don’t seem to have noticed Aileen’s group. Even when she calls to them, there’s no response. Perhaps they can’t see through the glass.

  Vica murmurs quietly, “It doesn’t appear to be a jail for prisoners. The location’s too inconvenient.”

  “I’d imagine not… I think those are all men,” Keith says.

  At that, the same thought occurs to all of them.

  The man who became a demon before their eyes. The really concerning thing is the surgical table in the inner room.

  If I recall, the room used for the Valkyries’ treatment and surgeries looked like this in the game art…

  However, there are no women in that vast room. The abrupt crash of something breaking yanks Aileen back to the present. “Wh-what was that?! Have they caught up to us?!”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I broke this, and— Whoa! Aggghhh!”

  Vica tried to pull out something that had been stored beneath the round table in the center, and it’s spilled everywhere. There’s shelving under the table, and what Aileen thought were ornaments on the pillar are demon stones.

  “Warn us before you act, please. You startled me,” she says. Then she notices something. “Master Vica?”

  Vica has been flipping through the booklet he pulled off the shelf, and he stiffens. When Aileen approaches, wondering what’s happened, the sight of the book he’s holding makes her freeze as well.

  “The Demon King Creation Project…?!” Aileen can’t believe her eyes.

  “Huh? What did you just say?”

  “Look at this, Master Keith. This is a backup project; its objective is to artificially create a demon king by performing the Valkyrie surgery on men—”

  As is common with the Queendom’s documents, it’s written in the old tongue.

  Vica seems able to read it. He turns the pages rapidly, his eyes hungrily drinking in the words. Aileen explains to Keith the parts she’s managed to make out. “It says that incompatible subjects become demons—they transform.”

  Keith takes another look around, his eyebrows drawing together. “Then are these men test subjects? It’s likely they’ve been operated on alread— Master Vica?”

  “I’ll save them.”

  Suddenly flinging the book aside, Vica starts toward the glass, behind which the men are trapped.

  “W-wait, Master Vica. I understand how you feel, but if we do that—”

  “It’s all right. It looks as though I can use magic here. I’ll be able to teleport them all out.” As Vica reaches for the glass, there’s a crackling noise, and his hand is repelled. Some sort of spell has been cast on the glass. It’s magic, not sacred power. Sacred power isn’t suited to imprisoning people.

  Vica reaches out again, and there’s a series of audible cracks as his magic and the spell repel each other. Wind rages around them.

  Aileen raises her voice. “Even so! We don’t know what sort of state those men are in. It isn’t safe!”

  “Then are you saying we should just leave them like this? When it’s my fault—” Vica’s turned around, but then he covers his mouth with a hand and staggers.

  “Master Vica?”

  “Stay away!” he yells sharply. Leaning against the glass, he raises his hands to his face.

  Those hands are covered in black scales, and they’ve begun to sprout sharp claws.

  His red eyes waver—a premonition of mounting resignation and despair. An omen that he is becoming a demon.

  Why now?!

  Is it because he’s been using magic when he wasn’t used to it? At any rate, Aileen moves closer. “Master Vica, calm yourself. If you lose yourself in a place like this—”

  “Be…quiet. Someone’s coming…!”

  As she tries to look back, she feels herself rise off the ground. She and Keith are shoved into a corridor that’s different from the one they used to enter, and she falls on her rump. When she tries to get up, her head bangs into something. It’s a barrier. A thin, dome-shaped membrane covers their immediate surroundings. It’s clear whose work it is.

  “Master Vica! What’s—?”

  “You don’t seem to be feeling well. It’s because you got carried away and used magic.” A mocking voice echoes from the corridor on the opposite side. They’ve been found. Not only that, but the woman at the head of the group isn’t just a Valkyrie.

  What is she doing here? —No, thinking like that isn’t productive. The wall that was linked to this facility was built by Hausel. It wouldn’t be odd if there was a device or two that could transport her here from the capital in a flash.

  Raising his glaring red eyes, Vica sighs. “…Hi there…Di…ana.”

  “I never thought I’d find you here. Where are the other intruders?” Diana scans the room. She has to have seen Aileen and Keith, but her eyes move on as if she hadn’t.

  A cloaking barrier…

  Vica’s hiding them. If they stay quiet and still, they’re very unlikely to be discovered.

  “Well, it doesn’t matter. Not compared to the fact that you faked the attack on yourself.”

  Diana lifts a hand, and the Valkyries raise their weapons. The tips of their lances are all pointed at the emperor of their own country.

  “I thought it was odd, but it all makes sense now. So Ernst was in on it, too. Was this a plot to gain power over the Valkyries? How unfortunate for you. Oh, I won’t kill you. You’re still useful.”

  “…That’s an awful…thing to say to…your brand-new…husband…”

  “I wouldn’t have needed you once the wedding was over anyway. If you’d behaved yourself, though, you could have lived a little longer. By making a break for it, you’ve shortened your own life. You’ve really done something nobody needed. Thanks to you, we’ve been saddled with a substitute emperor, and on top of that, Cattleya… Whatever, it’s fine. She’s probably given up on the substitute emperor by now.”

  “…Did Emperor Claude…do something?”

  “He’s done plenty. That womanizer.”

  The word doesn’t fit the tense atmosphere. Aileen frowns. What has that husband of hers been doing?

  “Still, it’s about time for Cattleya to make her move. The narrative’s changed, but now we have a reason to invade Ellmeyer. We’ll make this empire understand it needs the Valkyries. I won’t let anyone treat us as useless.”

  Diana spins the magic lance in her hands, then raises it high.

  “You’re going to transform. Then you’ll lead the demons and destroy Kilvas. That is the destiny of the red-eyed demon.”

  Aileen catches Keith’s arm to stop herself from leaping out at them. Keith hugs her shoulders, as if he’s holding himself back as well.

  “If you have any last words, I’ll hear them.”

  “I have scores of them, but…I wonder if my sister will be sad.”

  “Cattleya is kind. There’s no other option, though. She’s steeled herself for this. No doubt she doesn’t want her life to be this constrained.”

  “…And you? Won’t you be sad?” Vica looks up at Diana. He’s wearing his usual gentle smile.

  Diana’s eyebrows twitch as if Vica has offended her. “Die, monster. It’s your fault. This damnable life… Don’t even joke about that.”

  Accepting those words, Vica looks Aileen and Keith’s way. The emotion in those lovely, soft, red eyes is resignation.

  This is how it was meant to be. And that’s fine.

  Aileen bites her lower lip. She can’t go out there now. She’ll ruin everything.

  The dull thud of a magic lance piercing a shoulder rings out. There’s a spray of blood. At the same time, the Valkyries unfurl a net of glittering crystal and cast it. Aileen knows what it is. It’s the magic item Hausel used to capture demons.

  The net swallows Vica like it’s catching a fish, transforming him into a small crystal. It falls to the floor with a light clink, and Diana picks it up, looking as if she’s lost interest in him already. At the same time, Aileen vaguely senses that the membrane surrounding them has vanished.

  Diana’s group hasn’t noticed them yet. Gently, Aileen sets a hand against the glass wall. She can see the ocean through it.

  These are probably the waters near Hausel. Demons who adore Claude are quite close. Demolishing a building in a ruined country won’t cause an international incident.

  When she catches Keith’s hand, he squeezes hers back. That’s enough for her to know that they’re thinking the same thing.

  In the next moment, the building rocks as if the earth has moved beneath it.

  “…What was that? We’re underwater. It can’t be an earthquake…”

  “Lady Diana, it’s a demon! A demon is attacking us!”

  “But demons never come near Hausel.”

  Diana’s correct. However, they will if the demon king orders them to.

  The ceiling and floor begin to creak. An enormous squid demon has wrapped its arms around the corridor. Cracks race through the glass walls, and seawater floods in. Apparently, the demon means to break the entire structure. Diana and the others hastily retreat into the corridor where they emerged.

  With a terrific crack, the thick glass walls shatter. Keith pulls Aileen into his arms. They’re flung out into the ocean with tremendous force and are welcomed by the wide, gaping mouth of a whale demon.

  After that, they simply have their new friend carry them to the surface.

  Even if she weren’t pregnant, this mode of transport is far too grueling for comfort.

  After Keith hoists her up onto the top of the whale’s head, Aileen sighs. “I do believe this child will be quite sturdy…”

  “How about that.” Keith is completely soaked as well. Once he’s set her down, Aileen wrings out her hair and her skirts. The sunlight is warm, but the end of summer is near. Both for herself and the sake of the child she’s carrying, she needs to warm up quickly.

  “What would you like to do now?” Keith asks her, as they stand side by side in the sea wind. “It looks as if things are about to get rough in Kilvas… Should we return to Ellmeyer? I ordered the demons to rescue us, so they’ll take us back. To either country.”

  Aileen laughs a little. “‘To either,’ hmm? …Master Vica’s face really is against the rules.”

  “It is, isn’t it? It reminded me of something. When he was about that age, milord often used to gaze out the windows of the old castle, and his expression looked just like that.”

  This is how it was meant to be. And that’s fine. If I can protect something by giving up, then…

  “Yes… Master Claude did wear that expression, didn’t he?”

  “Master Vica isn’t Master Claude, of course. I don’t want you to misread this. With that in mind, let me ask you: Which country shall we head toward?”

  “Hausel.”

  “Pardon?” Keith blinks.

  Aileen giggles. “As I’ve told you time and time again, I’m well aware that I am about to be a mother. I’ll stick to behind-the-scenes work this time. Perhaps I’ll be the shadow commander in chief.”

  “…Sigh. I really can’t bring myself to believe you.”

  “Don’t be rude. We mustn’t underestimate the Valkyries. Not only that, but this is about Kilvas. If Ellmeyer gets too involved, we’ll be accused of interfering in domestic affairs. Master Claude is trapped there already. If he can’t use magic, he’s weaker than Elefas… Ah, my poor Master Claude. To save that face of his, we must rescue him without wounding his pride. Being a wife is very trying.”

  Keith bursts out laughing.

  Aileen continues primly, “Rachel and the others will have called Ellmeyer at Hausel’s port by now. Besides, we should have a little time before the Valkyries make Master Vica attack the capital. Wouldn’t it be dashing to strike just as that woman’s feeling triumphant and has lowered her guard?”

  “I see. That’s very like a shadow commander in chief, yes. I imagine Bel and Almond will be delighted.”

  That should do nicely.

  The red-eyed demon. If things are progressing according to the game, Diana shouldn’t know that bit of information yet, so why did she say it? Until they’ve clarified that, Aileen will keep all her cards hidden.

  And while she is extremely reluctant to do so, there’s someone she would like to contact. Aileen certainly isn’t relying on her, and this doesn’t mean she believes her. Still, to save Vica, that woman’s advice is necessary.

  Particularly if the enemy is just like them.

  “For the sake of winning, I’ll use everything at my disposal. That’s quite fitting for the demon king’s wife, isn’t it?”

  When she sweeps her wet hair aside, the scattering water droplets glimmer in the light. Laying a hand over his heart, Keith bows respectfully.

  Taking a defiant tone, issuing gag orders, instigating a cover-up—they really aren’t pulling their punches. Ernst sighs; he’s seen the headlines of the newspaper Claude is skimming. “…It isn’t settling down at all, is it?”

  “The empress must have gone on a serious rampage. As you’d expect, Cattleya seems to be reining her in now, and she’s calmed down somewhat. Still, the Valkyries are no longer a united front.”

  The article also clearly states that Diana is opposed to the retirement system. Meanwhile, Irena has declared that she is in favor. The Valkyries have a growing schism in their ranks.

  “Public opinion is leaning toward the emperor… I’m not sure how to put this. I can’t believe it. Hardly two weeks have passed since the wedding. Everything is going so smoothly…”

  “It’s just a facade, Ernst. Nothing’s actually changed.”

  All they’ve really done is generate backlash against the Valkyries among the general public. It hasn’t solved the most fundamental problem: the difference in military strength.

  “If we had time, we’d be able to capitalize on the criticism and gradually chip away at their power…but I doubt we’ll manage that.”

  Now then, how will this go? From this point, Isaac has predicted three possible paths.

  First, the opposition will continue, and they’ll resort to drastic measures. In that case, the country will inevitably be forced to endure some turmoil. Their top priority is to prevent that turmoil from reaching Ellmeyer. If that’s what comes to pass, it won’t be long before Claude gets an invitation to leave the imperial capital as soon as possible, and it will be vital to time his departure carefully.