Chapter 11 : Steps To Break The Rebellion (Part 3)

"So, how was the interrogation?" Lynda asked as I entered her chamber. She was lounging on her throne-like chair, lazily swirling a glass of grape juice in her hand.

Hilbert stood nearby, arms crossed, giving me the "yo, okay, how was everything?" look. I could tell he wanted to ask me outright, but he held back. Smart move—speaking right after Lynda asked a question could easily land him in trouble. If she was in a bad mood, she might just decide to make it his punishment.

"I hope you bring good news," she added, taking a slow sip.

She really had a habit of drinking something every time I talked to her. I'd noticed it before, but now it was starting to stand out. Maybe it was just a quirk, or maybe she liked having something to occupy her hands.

"I think it would be better if you stopped drinking juice so often," I said, crossing my arms. "It's becoming a habit. You never know when someone might slip in a specially designed poison that bypasses your immunity. You might not even notice until it's too late."

Lynda chuckled, bringing the glass to her lips. "Oh, you care so much about me. It makes my heart blush." She took a slow sip before continuing, "But don't worry, there isn't a poison in this world that could affect me. My... dear Sitri…"

"Whatever…" I sighed, shaking my head. "Anyway, the interrogation was quite successful."

She set the glass down on the nearby table, leaning forward slightly. "Ah, so you managed to convince him to give us some juicy information?"

I walked over and sat on a nearby stool. "I did. And it was quite… easy, actually. No torture was needed. In fact, he willingly claimed to have valuable information to share..." I paused, letting the suspense build. "In exchange for bringing him the head of one of their own."

"Really? Just how did you do it?" Lynda asked, her voice laced with curiosity.

She dipped her index finger into the glass, swirling the juice absently. A few drops spilled over the edge, but she didn't seem to care. Then, slowly, she brought her finger to her lips, licking it before sucking it lightly.

To be honest, that was making me horny. You have no idea how much self-control it took to stop myself from reacting.

"I'm curious to know," she continued, her gaze sharp and playful. "Though, I'm very sure you did something psychological, just like you always do."

"Well..." I began, recounting the details of my interrogation with the old man—though I left out a few parts and exaggerated others to make myself seem more competent and menacing. When I finished, Lynda's lips curled into a delighted grin.

"Marvelous!" she exclaimed, tossing her glass aside carelessly. The sound of shattering glass barely registered as she strode toward me, grabbing my face with both hands.

"You have no idea—the euphoria I'm feeling," she purred, her grip tightening. "Not just from how cruelly you broke his will… no, not just his will—his trust, his belief in his comrades, making him believe in your lies." Her eyes gleamed with something dark and eager. "I can't wait to see the despair on his face when he realizes the full truth! It will be so pleasing. And not only that—I can already picture the faces of his son and daughter-in-law when I take out his daughter-in-law's foetus and serve it as a wonderful meal! His own grandchild!"

I let out a breath. "Well, I'm glad you liked it..." I said, gently pulling myself free from her grasp. "Though, can you be a bit less... touchy-touchy?"

Lynda tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly. "What? Don't like the way I touch you?"

This was it—the perfect moment to ask something I had been wondering about.

"It's not that, Lynda. There's something else bothering me..."

"What is it?"

"Be honest... do you actually love me?"

For a moment, she just stared at me, eyes wide in surprise. Then, a slow, eerie smile crept across her lips.

"Huh?" The silence between us stretched, thick with tension, before she finally spoke. "I didn't know you were bold enough to ask such a question out of the blue. It totally took me by surprise."

Before I could react, she grabbed my face again, pulling me closer until her lips nearly brushed my ear. Her voice dropped to a whisper, dripping with unsettling excitement.

"It's sudden, but... yes! Yes! Yes! I do! I do love you! You have no idea how lonely and boring my life was until I met you—a stranger from a faraway land, bold enough to hold me, protect me, and talk to me so... so frankly. You don't even hate me, even though I want to kill you."

What the actual—?! She's a yandere?! Are you kidding me?! How bad is my luck, actually?!

"If you love me as you say, then why do you want to kill me? Wouldn't it be better to just keep me locked up somewhere?"

Lynda chuckled, tilting her head as if amused by my naivety. "Because I don't have any other choice. If I don't, there's always the chance that your eyes will eventually fix upon one of the whores in my kingdom… and that, I cannot allow." Her voice dropped into something almost affectionate, yet chilling. "But don't worry, my dear. Your insides will always remain with me—inside me—so that we are together, body and soul."

She studied my face for a moment before finally releasing me. "Now, you should go and get the magic items from dear old Captain Yeshi."

Ah, right. The magic items. I had totally forgotten about them.

With that, she turned away, walking back to her throne as if the conversation had been nothing out of the ordinary.

I let out a sigh as I got up and made my way out of her chamber, heading toward the armory—where Yeshi could usually be found.

The route was simple: two hallways to the left, then another to the right. As I turned into the right hallway, I unexpectedly ran into Emilia, who was walking in the opposite direction.

"Hey, Emilia. What's up?"

She stopped in her tracks, crossing her arms. "Oh, it's you again. Tell me—what sort of embarrassing thing are you planning to pull against me this time?" she huffed, her lips slightly pouted.

"Nothing... just not in the mood. Kind of not okay with things," I said, exhaling deeply and leaning my back against the wall.

Emilia's expression shifted slightly. "What happened?"

I hesitated for a moment before telling her everything—from the start.

When I finished, she stared at me, eyes wide with surprise. "I can't believe Her Majesty would fall in love with someone like you," she said, her tone carrying a mix of shock and disbelief. "Though... shouldn't you be happy? Even if she loves you in her own way?"

"Normally, I would be. Or, I should say, any guy would be happy to have someone like Lynda. But..." I sighed again, running a hand through my hair. "Her yandere nature is a huge red flag. And that's not even mentioning her already mentally deranged state of mind. A yandere is already dangerous, but Lynda? That's like... yandere times two."

Emilia frowned slightly. "Yandere? I'm not familiar with that term. Would you explain it to me?"

"Think of a yandere as someone who's completely love-crazed," I explained. "They'd do anything to keep their loved ones close. But if that person rejects them… well, if they're lucky, they'll just get killed." I sighed. "That's the simplest way I can put it without diving into the more complicated aspects. If I did, we'd be here all day."

"I see… so that's what a yandere is," Emilia mused. "By that definition, I guess I'm one too. I loved my childhood friend, Harry, like crazy… and when he rejected me, I killed him."

I crossed my arms, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah… and at the age of five, no less. That's a whole new level of crazy."

She didn't respond, just stared at me with that usual unreadable expression of hers.

"Well, gotta go," I said, turning to leave. But before I did, I muttered under my breath, "I wish it were you who loved me instead..."

"Huh? Me?"

I stopped and glanced back at her. "Yeah… I think life would be much better if I could spend it with you."

Which, honestly, was kind of true. There were still twenty years before the main plot of the game would even begin. It'd be smarter to settle down somewhere, start a family… but that wasn't happening. Not while I was stuck in this place.

Unless I could get the hell out of here somehow… if only that were possible.