Interlude - The Princess

Five weeks had passed since Selena failed to obtain the head of the Primordial Demon, Lukhiel.

Her path to becoming a member of the Round Table Knights was completely closed off. Selena had no choice but to follow her uncle's orders. Now, she was nothing more than Marryphimia Pendragon's knight.

However, failing to become part of the Round Table Knights didn't mean she had given up on finding Merlin to obtain Rhongomyniad.

Bound by a vow of loyalty to Marry didn't mean she would just sit by and let her uncle win. Not at all. Selena wouldn't stop. She had even started poisoning Marry's mind with the word "adventure". It was only a matter of time before Marry became infected.

Speaking of Marry, Selena couldn't help but sigh as she looked at the princess smiling in her sleep.

A new day had already begun. The sun had risen about a foot high, maybe a little less. Yet, the long pink-haired girl was still lost in her dream. Selena knew Marry had the day off from lessons, but that didn't mean she should sleep as long as a buffalo. She was even dreaming!

No matter how one looked at it, Marry's actions were far from what one would expect of a "princess". But was there a rule about how a princess should act while sleeping? If there was, Selena was sure no royal princess would follow it. Controlling oneself in sleep was impossible. At the very least, Selena would immediately raise her hands if asked to control herself while sleeping.

"Marry."

Selena called out, but she didn't try to shake the princess's body. The red-haired girl walked over to the window, pulled back the curtains, and let the sunlight penetrate through the clear glass. She didn't stop there, though. She also opened the window wide. The cool morning breeze rushed in without permission.

"Marry, if you don't wake up within ten seconds, I'll announce to the whole city that you like wearing red panties."

Selena threatened. Of course, she didn't actually plan to do that. Selena just wanted to make sure whether Marry was truly asleep or just pretending. If she were pretending, she would wake up before the tenth count. But if she was still asleep, Selena would pick her up and carry her to the bathroom. Marry could continue sleeping there.

"1... 2... 3..."

As her mouth counted with a two-second pause, Selena stood with her hands on her hips beside the princess's bed.

"...7."

Selena pulled back Marry's blanket.

"8... 9... 10. Ah, looks like you're really still asleep. Heh, but this is even better. Congratulations, Marry, today you'll get to experience 'waking up in the bathroom'."

Selena immediately grabbed Marry and carried her to the bathroom. She placed the princess on the floor and quickly stepped out. However, before she could grab the blanket and pillows to make Marry's sleep more comfortable, a hurried knock came at the door.

Selena delayed her plan and walked over to open the door.

Clarent's face greeted her. But before Selena could ask why she was in such a rush, the woman thrust a poster into her hand. "Look, My Lady, this child is dangerous!" she exclaimed.

Selena glared at the poster Clarent handed her.

However, contrary to what Clarent might have expected, Selena actually smiled. Well, smiled might not be the right word; Selena grinned. Her grin grew wider with each passing second until it reached its maximum. Selena burst out laughing.

Clarent looked at the young lady, confused, not understanding why she was laughing so joyfully.

Selena's laughter stopped after almost a minute. "Do you know what this means, Clarent?" she asked, her expression full of joy.

"Of course!" Clarent replied with an utterly confused expression. "This child is dangerous, My Lady. He has deceived you. He saved a demon from death. That's the same as betraying humanity. He can't be trusted. He's dangerous!"

Selena sighed, slightly disappointed that Clarent didn't see what she saw. Indeed, what Mariel had done was highly questionable. However, there was something more important than that. Selena didn't care about her uncle's failure. What mattered was that by saving Lukhiel, Mariel had reopened the opportunity to behead the demon.

"My Lady?"

"Don't you understand yet, Clarent?"

Clarent shook her head; she didn't feel anything was missing from her answer.

"What Mariel did ensured that Lukhiel is still alive," Selena explained. "If Lukhiel is still alive, that means I still have a chance to behead him. That means...?"

"...You still have a chance to become part of the Round Table Knights?"

"Exactly." Selena smiled. "What Mariel did was surprising, but indirectly, he has thwarted my uncle's plan to block my way. What he did... is basically helping me."

"But he helped a demon."

"There must be a reason why he helped Lukhiel," Selena defended. "Even though he's a demon, Lukhiel is different from other demons. We can't ignore that fact. Who knows, maybe Lukhiel once helped Mariel, and that's why he's returning the favor. This scenario doesn't sound strange."

"Are you implying you would save Lukhiel if Lukhiel had saved you?"

"Of course. After all, we must repay our debts. It doesn't matter if it's to a demon."

"Then, doesn't that mean—"

"Mariel will stop me from killing Lukhiel?" Selena interrupted, finishing the question Clarent was about to ask.

Clarent nodded.

"If Mariel refuses to understand, even after we explain, we just have to defeat him too. I haven't forgotten our brief fight before. Beating him would also bind that boy to me. This is even better than I could have hoped for."

Selena handed the poster back to Clarent. "Don't worry about it," she said and turned without paying attention to the expression forming on Clarent's face. "Now go back; I still have to wake up Marry."

"Princess...?"

"She's fast asleep in the bathroom," Selena muttered with a wide grin on her lips. "I don't know how she ended up sleeping there, but I'll enjoy the process of waking her up."

"U-uh, then I'll leave right away."

Clarent left immediately. She even ran. Selena didn't mind. She quickly grabbed the blanket and pillow, rushing to the bathroom.

Marry was still asleep, but she seemed cold. If left alone, she would wake up soon. Selena didn't want that. So, she quickly slid the pillow under Marry's head and wrapped her up with the blanket. Then she rushed out and closed the door tightly.

But Selena didn't stop there; she had an even better idea.

The niece of King Arthur IV immediately shut the window tight and drew the curtains. She made sure no light seeped in. Then she turned off all sources of light, including the ones in the bathroom. Selena plunged the princess's room into darkness, then hid under the bed.

"Now, time to lower the room temperature," Selena murmured, holding back a laugh. "Oh, I'll make an ice monster too."

As her monsters were created, Selena's laughter became uncontrollable. She couldn't wait for Marry to wake up. Selena couldn't wait to laugh at her cousin, who often annoyed her.

...But Selena didn't realize it. She was too late to notice.

What she was doing now was like disturbing a sleeping tiger. Selena's actions awakened the sadism within Marry. Selena's laughter awakened the Evil King Apophis, who resided within the princess' soul.

Selena was too late to realize it. The joke she started... would be the beginning of a great disaster for Camelot. She was too late.