Chapter 14: The Assassin from the Royal Castle and the “Poison of Love”

The morning sun streaming into the golden log house was far too gentle to cool the lingering heat from last night’s Sensory Sharing — the Synchro.

Allen lay limply on Luna’s lap. His golden mascot fur was slightly ruffled from last night’s excessive onslaught of affection — all that unleashed dere — giving off an inexplicably alluring scent.

(…Luna, you can stop brushing me now. My skin is stinging…)

“I cannot. I must completely scrape out every last trace of the filthy mana that giant snake-woman Misha and the others left on you last night. …Understand? Managing your coat is my sacred duty as your official wife.”

Compounded by her lack of sleep, Luna’s eyes were slightly bloodshot. Her fingertips relentlessly traced Allen’s back, walking a fine line between caress and obsession.

Just then, the excited voices of the kobold girls echoed from downstairs.

“Allen-sama! Luna-sama! A wonderfully splendid gift arrived at the border of the territory!”

Rushing down to the plaza, they found a large, elaborately decorated wooden box. Inside were colorful macarons bearing the crest of the Royal Capital’s finest confectionery, Etoile, and a mountain of honey-preserved fruits.

“These are sweets you can only eat in the Royal Capital, right? I wonder who sent them!”

Eyes sparkling, the newly settled kobold girls began popping the sweets into their mouths one after another. Feeling a sense of foreboding, Allen tried to stop them with a telepathic message.

(Wait, everyone! Eating things when you don’t know where they came from is—)

But he was too late.

The movements of the kobold girls who had swallowed the sweets suddenly stopped.

The light vanished from their adorable brown eyes, replaced by a stagnant purple glow.

“…Ah. …It’s cold. …It’s sweet. …Queen-sama…”

What slipped from their lips was the title of the woman Allen feared most.

“W-What is this!? A curse!? I need to analyze it immediately—”

The moment Luna readied her staff, the brainwashed kobold girls let out beast-like roars and lunged at Allen. Their movements were sharp and destructive, unimaginable from their usual selves.

“Protect Allen-sama!!”

Misha swung her tail around, swatting the kobolds away, but against their painless, relentless assault, Misha’s scales were being chipped away.

“Hehehe… It’s useless. That is the ‘Love Subordination Potion’ — a Love Potion — that Elizabeth-sama poured her heart and soul into concocting. It is a ‘poison’ that forcibly rewrites loyalty toward a lord into an obsession for Elizabeth-sama.”

A single woman emerged from the purple smoke.

Clad in purple robes, a dark mage with an eerie smile beneath her mask — Viola.

She was an assassin directly under Elizabeth, and one of the puppets who had most densely inherited her twisted mana.

“You’re… Viola! Why is a forbidden mage who was supposed to be imprisoned in the underground of the Royal Castle doing here!”

“Elizabeth-sama freed me specifically for Allen-sama. …Now then, Allen-sama. She is deeply pained by the fact that you are out here in the frontier, frolicking with filthy females. …Why don’t we return to the master of those chains right this instant?”

Snap.

As Viola snapped her fingers, the brainwashed monster girls surrounded Allen, making pained sounds in their throats.

“Allen… sama… It hurts… help… But… we have to take you with us…”

The kobold girls bared their claws as they cried. Allen couldn’t bring himself to hurt them. They were his comrades who had trusted him and come to this territory.

(…Stop this! Everyone, wake up!)

“It’s useless, Allen-sama. Their souls are currently tethered to Elizabeth-sama’s fingertips. …And so are those chains of yours!”

Viola unleashed dark purple lightning aimed at the chain around Allen’s neck.

Clank.

The chains rattled violently.

Through the chains, Elizabeth’s will to dominate directly seared Allen’s brain.

“—Little Allen. …You refuse to listen to what I say? …Then I will let you kill those girls with your own hands. …Despair, scream, and crawl back to me…”

The chains began to rampage. Completely independent of Allen’s will, red and purple chains extended like tentacles, attempting to skewer his comrades right in front of him.

(…Stop… Stoooooop!!)

Allen screamed.

The only way to save his friends was to overwrite Viola’s magic.

Allen voluntarily sank his consciousness into the deepest depths of the cursed chains.

(To erase a poison, you need a stronger poison. …Elizabeth-nee-sama, I’ll swallow up… all of your mana!)

Allen’s golden fur was instantly enveloped in ominous purple lightning.

(–Curse Chain Full Release — Over Unchain!!)

A massive purple magic circle was deployed with Allen at its center.

What erupted from the chains was the true crushing pressure of Elizabeth, completely incomparable to Viola’s.

Booooooom!!

A shockwave tore through the plaza, physically pulverizing the threads of brainwashing Viola was manipulating.

“…What!? Impossible, you controlled and unleashed Elizabeth-sama’s mana yourself!? For a mere mascot to do such a thing…!”

Viola flinched.

The girls, freed from their brainwashing, collapsed on the spot.

However, the toll rebounded onto Allen himself.

Having released an excessive amount of mana, Allen’s consciousness was nearly dragged into the abyss of Elizabeth’s mind.

“…Hehe. …That’s good, Allen. …Use more of my power. …The more you use it, the more you will be dyed in my colors…”

Allen’s azure eyes were dyed a muddy purple for a fleeting moment.

“Allen! Pull yourself together!!”

Luna screamed as she tightly embraced Allen. Her indigo mana barely tethered Allen’s rampaging mind to this world.

“…Tch. …I suppose that’s enough for this time. …But Allen-sama, what rests on your neck is no longer a mere chain. …It is the ‘fingertips’ of the Queen herself. …Do not think you can escape.”

Leaving behind those ominous words, Viola vanished along with the purple fog.

A dead silence fell over the plaza.

The kobold girls, freed from the brainwashing, stared at their own hands while trembling.

“Allen-sama… We’re so sorry, we… we tried to hurt you…”

They broke down in tears.

With his battered little body, Allen walked up to every one of them, gently touching their cheeks with his paw pads.

(…It’s okay. …I’m just glad you’re all safe. …I’m sorry for making you go through something so scary because of me.)

His kindness only squeezed the girls’ chests tighter in guilt.

“…Unforgivable. …Those women from the Royal Castle who make Allen-sama suffer like this… I will absolutely never forgive them!!”

Misha shouted, clenching her fists so hard they bled.

Pee, Kuu, and even Aria — along with their deep love for Allen, a fierce hostility toward the Royal Castle unmistakably settled in their eyes.

The community built to protect Allen was now transforming into an army ready to face the mighty enemy of the Royal Castle.

Luna picked up Allen, who had fallen into an exhausted sleep, and returned to the log house.

Affected by Viola’s interference, the chain around his neck was darker than before, pulsating like a blood vessel.

“…Elizabeth-sama. …You have absolutely no intention of saving Allen. …You simply want to make him your possession. …If that’s the case, I won’t hold back either. …To save Allen, I will cross the taboos of magic.”

A tragic, resolute determination took root in Luna’s eyes.

The blood of “conflict” spilled on the golden territory for the very first time.

It was the signal that a deadly poison called love had begun to erode the world.