Chapter 174
Was this regret a human heart? Something more certain than pretending to be frail, something she had taught him.
Was endlessly chewing on it and feeling guilt the only punishment granted to him? Segleninde suddenly found the immortality and eternity that made up his existence detestable.
He would rather never have met her, and have all his memories return to the very beginning, becoming a blank-minded fool who knew nothing.
Ding—
At the sudden sound ringing by his ear, Segleninde woke from the sentiment that had been brutally carving up his heart and lifted his head.
Something Cynthia had seen several times in the past, a hologram-like window that he had certainly created with magic and planted, had appeared.
“…What?”
There was a being that had come through the music box, mingled with Segleninde’s power, and was speaking to him.
Pay the price for stealing control of this world as you pleased and toying with countless fates.
At that moment, light surged up around the music box, which had been vanishing as it mingled with Segleninde’s power.
As the music box activated, a grotesquely warped song flowed out as if being played rapidly, and Segleninde’s form collapsed within a blackly withering radiance.
The ominously dragging song cut off, and the music box disappeared.
Ding—
Restoration, complete.
* * *
Beeeeeeep!
At the sudden noise that shot up as if tearing through her eardrums, Cynthia, who had been drinking tea with Melissa, startled and lifted her head.
“What, what is it?”
“My goodness, how could this happen…!”
But Melissa was even more horrified than she was, and she sprang up from her seat. At the same time, a magical voice flowed from somewhere.
[ Beginning Wincastle Ducal Residence internal security protocol now! ]
[ From this moment onward, all control authority within the mansion held by ‘Segleninde’ will be temporarily granted to ‘Cynthia’. ]
“What, what is this? What’s going on?”
Cynthia could not understand the situation at all. To suddenly transfer Segleninde’s control authority to her. A sharp wave of anxiety rushed over her.
Melissa hurriedly added an explanation.
“It’s one of the automatic magical defense systems that activates when a crisis occurs inside the mansion. If, by any chance, something has happened to the Master, or if the defense system independently determines that there is a reason it must prioritize protecting you above all else, all control authority within this mansion is transferred to you, Madam…”
Only after saying it with her own mouth did Melissa seem to grasp the gravity of the problem, and all her movements stopped. Cynthia’s face had already gone pale.
“Right now… does this mean something happened to Sellie? To the point that he can’t protect me?”
Thinking back, she had heard this before.
There was absolutely no chance it would ever happen, but still, if by some chance, by the one-in-a-billion possibility that he became incapable of acting, or if he harmed her despite it not being his own will, all the rules and control rights over the creatures existing in this mansion would be transferred to her.
But Segleninde had told her dozens of times, enough to make calluses form in her ears and nails drive into them, that unless he suddenly went insane or lost his mind, or unless a being equal to him appeared and deliberately tried to oppose him by harming a frail life, such a thing would never happen.
Because of that, she had remembered only the part that said, ‘That will absolutely never happen,’ and had completely forgotten the content that came before it.
And what else had he said?
‘And if the situation ever goes that far… it’s basically the same as the mansion’s security being completely breached, so he said it would be a really serious problem!’
“Madam, you remember the location of the shelter inside the mansion, don’t you? Hurry and go there! We’ll take care of the rest. Master is probably already facing it, so it should be over soon!”
Melissa and the maids around her threateningly spread their flower-heads wide. With Melissa at the lead, having pulled out a massive axe from somewhere, the servants who had armed themselves in no time let out strange, terrible cries and rushed outside.
Cynthia did not stay still either.
In this situation, rather than getting captured by an intruder with a body that had not the slightest combat ability and becoming a burden to Segleninde and the members of the mansion, it was better to hide as quickly as possible and prepare for an enemy attack.
The shelter could be reached by passing through the magical passage in the Sky Garden. Segleninde’s clones guarded the front of it like an iron wall, so as long as she entered the Sky Garden, she should be safe.
Even as she hurriedly ran in that direction, her mind was filled with worry for Segleninde.
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