Published at 25th of March 2019 11:56 pm

Volume 3 Chapter 4: My Life as a Captive Continues Part I

That butler appeared the moment when I had finally found out Selena’s motives and when it had seemed like I had gotten closer to her. He’s a young man named Rufus who was always by Selena’s side.

After appearing so suddenly, he said something disturbing - that Selena’s role was “to take responsibility for this kidnapping and any other such crimes, then to disappear along with Prince Ian.” He even told me that my role was “to disappear with Prince Jared”.

But caring little for the bombshells he had just dropped, he took advantage of my shell-shocked state to pick up Selena from the ground and leave the room.

When I returned to my senses and tried to pursue him, it was too late – the door to the room was already locked.

I was left alone in the room.

It was the middle of the night, but in this situation, even I wasn’t able to go back to sleep soundly… I instead mused about Rufus, who had left after saying such disturbing things.

Selena had suddenly collapsed to the ground. “I’m just having her sleep for a bit,” that man had laughed.

It hadn’t seemed like Selena had been doused with some kind of medicine like I had back at the academy. Naturally, nor had it seemed like she had been knocked out through violent means. She had just quietly collapsed to the ground for some unknown reason.

But that man had said that he was the one to put her to sleep.

It hadn’t seemed like he had used medicine or violence, but his hand had been on Selena’s shoulder.

I knew just one power that could put people to sleep by simply touching them. I learned of it for the first time last year, during the incident I had gotten involved in – this was a power limited to only dark magic users, dark magic that could manipulate people’s hearts and minds.

Whenever Selena had thought to tell me why she had kidnapped me, that man would touch her. Then, she would immediately shut her mouth and her face would go blank, almost like a doll. I recalled that this happened numerous times.

… That man called Rufus may wield dark magic.

Apparently dark magic may be wielded by anyone who can use magic – but in order to do so, you need to perform a ritual with a human sacrifice.

Dangerous magic that can manipulate people’s hearts that can only be obtained by stealing someone’s life away… naturally, dark magic is strictly forbidden and its mere existence is a secret.

If Rufus truly wields dark magic… this means that he performed the ritual and sacrificed someone. That means that it’s possible that he’s a murderer.

It’s possible that he was forcibly given the power like Rafael, but considering those cold eyes as he looked at Selena, and his cheerful laugh… a shiver went up my spine.

************

I thought that I wouldn’t be able to sleep after everything that happened… but when I came to, I realized that I had slept well.

Now that I think back, I recall that the night before the graduation ceremony, when I knew that the destruction flags might be coming for me, I slept well. It seems like I can sleep well no matter the situation. Still, I’m surprised at myself for being able to sleep so soundly after being kidnapped and being told by a potential dark magic user that he would make me disappear.

And the one who woke me up from my sound sleep was –

“Geez, I can’t believe it. She’s sleeping so deeply after everything that happened – does this lady have nerves of steel or what?”

– someone who sounded incredibly exasperated.

“Ugh…”

Wondering why I was woken up from my nice sound sleep, I somehow force my eyes open. In front of me is a man’s face, one I saw just last night. If I remember correctly, his name was…

“Rufus…”

“… I am honoured that you deigned to remember my name, Katarina-sama. Now, I believe it would behoove you to get up already. It’s already past noon.”

For some reason the way he’s speaking is completely different from before, but his voice sounds the exact same. So then the one who woke me up was this person?

But more importantly…

“What?! It’s already past noon?!”

“… That’s what you latch onto, I see,” says Rufus, again in an exasperated tone… but seriously, I thought that I had only closed my eyes for a bit after all.

After Rufus had left, I thought that I wouldn’t be able to sleep for sure so I decided to start planning my escape while it was still nighttime. For example, I thought about using the dark to hide me and sneak out the window. To think that I had ended up sleeping past noon… and was woken up by a probable enemy…

“I’m surprised at myself.”

“… No, I’m the most surprised here. I couldn’t hear your voice all morning and even past noon, so I thought that you were trembling and crying… but to think you were sprawled out on the bed, snoring…” says Rufus, his exasperated tone increasing in intensity.

I see, so I was sprawled out on the bed… I’m a little embarrassed.

But this isn’t the time to worry about something like that. There’s something more important I need to confirm.

“There’s a lot I want to ask you, but firstly, is Selena alright?” I ask, looking at Rufus in a challenging tone.

Selena suddenly collapsed before being taken away by him… is she alright?

“… The rumours do you no justice. Very well, I’ll answer your question. Selena is safe, she’s sleeping soundly in her room.”

“… I see.”

I stare at his eyes but it doesn’t seem like he’s lying, so I decide to believe him for now.

Someone mentioned ‘rumours’ again. Was this about me being ‘unrestrained’ like Selena said? Well anyways, I couldn’t care less about that right now. What I want to know most is…

“Rufus, do you wield dark magic?”

His eyes widened slightly at my question. He quirked his lips.

“That’s very direct of you.”

Yes, I did think that it was perhaps too direct, but my conversational skills aren’t good enough to slyly pry it out of him.

“I couldn’t think of any way to hint at it.”

“You’re truly an odd person. And as you’re aware of the existence of dark magic, you must have been involved in last year’s incident, as I had suspected.”

I was shocked. While it was known in wider society that someone from a Marquis’ house had committed a severe crime, it should have been kept secret that dark magic was involved.

“Were you surprised? Did you think that it should’ve been a secret? But there’s no way that it could’ve all been kept quiet. Especially for the nobles who were friendly with the Deek family and for those involved with the darker parts of society,” he continued, as if he had read my mind. Rufus smiled crookedly, “And so dark magic caught his attention as well.”

“His?”

“My master. I obtained dark magic and came to the Burke household on his orders.”

“W – what for?” I ask, feeling a bit overwhelmed by Rufus, who had suddenly changed in intensity.

“I already told you – for Selena-sama to take responsibility for any crimes related to the kidnapping and disappear with Prince Ian, from both the battle for the throne and from greater society. You and Prince Jared as well, of course.”

“But why would you do such a thing…”

“Why? Because you’re in the way, obviously. My master wants the first prince, Prince Geoffrey, to ascend the throne, and he’s not the type to be picky about how he sees his desires fulfilled.”

I was shocked. Ian and Jared were in the way of Geoffrey’s ascension to the throne… wait, what about Alan?

This is probably a pretty serious conversation, and I knew that I needed to ask more, but a mental image of Alan floated up in my head and started sulking, complaining that he was the only one not involved.

No, wait, you’re probably going to be targeted later. You’re still growing, after all, I reassure my mental image of Alan.

I wonder what Rufus is thinking about me, given that I suddenly went dead quiet.

“Was that enough to make even you afraid? Well then, I’ll leave the chit-chat to there. I’ll leave a light meal here, so please, enjoy yourself,” he says, “If you need anything, use this bell.”

He leaves a single bell behind and leaves.

In this way, I was left alone in the room again.

Since I slept so much, I wasn’t tired anymore, so I decide to eat the meal that had been left behind for me.

All that had been left behind were a few different types of bread on the small side.

To be honest, this isn’t enough for a light meal for me – it’s about the size of a snack. Even as I think that it’s not enough, I take a round bun in my hand and bite into it.

… W – what is this?! It’s incredibly delicious!

I ate my fill of delicious food at the festival’s food booths, but this bun was just as splendidly delicious. The outside was puffy, the inside was doughy – I couldn’t get enough of this texture.

Hm, what if I add some of this cream-like mixture placed next to the plate? I’ll add this cream to this top-quality bread.

My, this is delicious as well! It looked like custard cream on the outside, but it seems like it’s something different. It’s not too sweet, but very refreshing – a delicious taste that matches well with the bread.

Alright, next I’ll try this flatbread. Ah, this is delicious too.

I wonder who prepared this light meal. I should ask later.

I eat all of the delicious bread within a few minutes, and with my stomach partially filled, I decide to really get down to business and think about what to do about my kidnapping.

You’re starting a bit late, points out the Anne in my mind. But it can’t be helped, I ended up falling asleep.

Alright! Time to hold an strategy meeting about this kidnapping!

President: Katarina Claes, Vice-President: Katarina Claes, Secretary: Katarina Claes.

I would like to begin by carefully examining our current situation step-by-step. Please, everyone, tell me what you think.

Yes, for now, I’d like to speculate about what Selena talked about last night and what Rufus said.

What an excellent idea.

I agree!

Well then, to begin with, from what Selena said last night, she’s been depressed for a long time about not being any help to Prince Ian.

That’s true.

Then that lady-killer butler Rufus appeared in front of her and suggested that she kidnap Katarina for Prince Ian, right?

That’s true… it’s also possible that he used dark magic to influence her.

Then, Selena kidnapped Katarina as suggested by Rufus… but Rufus’ true aim was to have Selena take all the blame for the crime and have them both be ruined, I’m guessing?

My! Katarina Claes-san, you’re particularly quick-witted today. Is something up?

Heh heh. I ate a lot of delicious food and slept a lot, so I’m unbelievably quick-witted this afternoon.

Amazing! You could call yourself the Great Detective Katarina right now!

Ooh, the Great Detective Katarina has a nice ring to it. Later, I can open up the Detective Katarina Agency, and solve difficult cases as they’re brought to me…

Everyone, please concentrate! You’re going off on a tangent!

… We’re sorry.

Well then, let’s get back on topic. About Rufus – he said that he’s executing this kidnapping plan for his master, didn’t he? In order to have Prince Geoffrey ascend the throne.

Yes, he did say that.

In that case, what if the true mastermind is Prince Geoffrey himself?

But, I really don’t think he’s the type of person to do this, from what we saw at the school festival…

… That’s true. The snacks he gave us were good too.

Yeah, those snacks were delicious.

I agree, I really want to eat them again. Now I’m getting hungry…

The bread was good, but there really wasn’t enough.

Really. How can we eat our fill with a portion size barely fit for a bird – wait, we’re going off on a tangent again! We need to get back on track…

Even if you say that… we’re already used a fair bit of brainpower… and I’m hungry so I can’t think of anything but food.

Same here… and since it’s not used that much, Katarina’s brain is at its limit… it’s crying out for sugar.

… That’s true… I can’t think of anything but food… Bread, meat, fish…

… cake, cookies, pie…

… apples, oranges, grapes…

All Katarinas became unable to talk about anything but food… the meeting was forced to a close.

This is no good, all that comes to mind is food. I’ll have someone bring food up to me!

And so, I lightly ring the bell Rufus left me.

************

“I can’t believe it. How steely are her nerves? Is she really a noble’s daughter?” mutters Rufus, a bit ruder than before, as he pours me tea.

When I rung the bell and he arrived, he said ‘My my, did even the great Katarina-sama get lonely? But until you fulfill your role, I’ll have you stay here,’ with a villainous smile…

But when I said ‘No. I’m hungry, so bring me something to eat. If possible, since it’s almost teatime I’d like tea and some sweets… just kidding,’ Rufus stood there, frozen.

He stayed frozen like that for a while… but when my stomach made a loud gurgle, it seems he suddenly came to. He left the room for a bit before returning with a cart with tea and sweets.

He seemed a bit scary a moment ago… but he might actually be a good person considering that he brought me tea and sweets just like I asked.

“It’s ready. Please help yourself,” says Rufus, holding out a cup of tea to me.

“Thank you,” I say, accepting the cup, “You know, teatime by myself is rather dull – you should join in.”

Usually, Keith and my friends are with me during teatime. Yesterday, I had Lana join in. So, today, I’ll have Rufus join me. He’s the one who brought me the sweets, so I thought that he’d accept my invitation as well… but he just stood there, looking frozen again.

Does he really like that expression or something?

“… Honestly, you’re just… actually, you know what, whatever. If I keep being shocked at everything you do I don’t think I’ll ever stop,” says Rufus, taking a cup in one hand and sitting in front of me.

Yes, it seems like he’s a pretty good person after all. But one thing bothers me…

“Aren’t you talking a bit differently?”

We were talking pretty casually right now, but when he woke me up in the morning – I mean afternoon – I feel like he was politer.

“Yeah, I was pretending to be a butler so I tried to speak all formal and stuff… but I started to feel kinda stupid for being so polite to someone like you, so I went back to normal. But if it displeases you, I can speak politely again, young mistress.”

That last sentence sounded off – it was delivered with a fake smile. Yeah, it just feels wrong – it makes me wonder why he’s speaking so politely after being so casual before.

“No, I’m fine with your current tone. It feels somewhat creepy for you to start speaking politely again, after all.”

“Ha ha, like I thought.”

“More importantly, you said that you were pretending to be a butler – you weren’t one originally?”

As I talk with him now, I can’t think of him as anyone other than say, a young man from the outskirts of a town, but when I first met him, that butler outfit fit him even better than Sebastian.

“Do I look like a butler right now?”

“Eh, right now you just seem like someone from the outskirts of a town,” I say truthfully.

“Amazing, got it in one. I’m impressed you figured it out,” he responded, sounding impressed, “Wait, you’re nobility – you still go to the outskirts of towns?”

“… Occasionally I sneak out.”

Truthfully, I drag Keith with me to go play there fairly often. The food is cheap, there’s plenty to do, and I love the commoner feel. But I am technically keeping it a secret. If my mother heard about it, she’d probably get mad at me for going out and playing, after all.

“But what do you mean that I was right about you being someone from the outskirts of a town? Are you from there?”

“No, but you got it more or less right. I’m not from the outskirts, even though I spent most of my time there. I’m actually from the slums.”

“What?! The slums?! There are slums in this country?!”

I knew the word, but I heard that thanks to the efforts of the magic users in this country, it was fairly well-off. Apparently, even the commoners had a higher quality of life compared to other countries. And so, I was taught that there were no slums… but maybe I just didn’t know about them?

“Ah, no. I wasn’t born in this country,” he firmly denies.

“Huh? Oh, I see.”

Ah, so Rufus isn’t from this country. Now that he mentions it, if I squint he does kind of look like a foreigner.

“When I was a kid, back when I was living with my buddies from the slums, I fucked up and got captured by slave traders. I was sold, and eventually I ended up in this country when I was bought by my current master.”

He casually drops a huge bombshell. In my sheer shock, I temporarily find myself unable to speak.

“Were you surprised? Maybe it’s something that a coddled noble like you can’t believe, but it’s not unusual or anything in poorer countries. Actually, I was one of the lucky ones – I’m completely healthy and right now, I’m even able to wear this high-quality clothing. I’m really blessed,” Rufus says, seeming to be looking somewhere far, far away.

As I look at him, a small thought briefly stirs in my mind. As I try to grasp at the thought –

“Heh, was that enough to creep even you out? Or maybe you’re pitying me? Sorry, but I don’t need pity. It’s not like I think I’m unlucky or anything,” says Rufus, quirking his lips again.

I can’t see any untruths in those blue eyes staring straight at me.

Looking at him again, I grasp the small thought from before.

“… So cool…”

“What?”

It seems like he didn’t catch what I just said, so I say it again.

“You’re really cool.”

“… Uh, where’s this coming from? I know that I’m fairly cool-looking already…”

“That’s not it. I’m not talking about your appearance, but what’s on the inside. I’m talking about the way you think.”

“… What the hell are you saying?”

“Your positive attitude is really, really cool.”

There’s plenty of people among both nobles and commoners who whine that it’s everyone else that’s to blame, that they’re just unlucky, that people should feel sorry for them.

But Rufus, despite his difficult life, doesn’t whine about it. He even goes as far as to say that he’s lucky. Someone like that just seems really cool to me.

As I gaze at Rufus in admiration, I see that he’s frozen again.

Hm, what’s the matter? Was I rude? Now that I think about it, maybe I was supposed to say ‘It must’ve been tough’…

“… I never thought that I’d ever meet someone who’d say the same thing as him…”

“What?”

After staying frozen a while, Rufus’ shoulders begin to tremble.

Oh no, I said something rude and made him angry – my heart skips a beat.

He then lets out a breath of air and begins to laugh, his arms cradling his stomach. He was truly roaring with laughter.

Wait, why? What was so funny about our conversation? Confused, I wait for his laughter to stop.

After a while, he finally stops laughing and begins speaking.

“You’re really funny. It’s been a while since I laughed this much.”

“Okay…”

But I didn’t think that I said anything that funny.

“Hey, let’s talk some more. I want to talk with you more.”

“Okay…”

This is how Rufus and I began to talk.

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