Wish Flower
Mira, she didn’t recognise the owner of that voice at all. A plump and balding man. Judging from his appearances, she could guess that he’s noble, but there’s no way she has an acquaintance amongst the nobles in the first place.
“Why is somebody like you at a place like this!?”
However, this man, he was undoubtedly aware her.
“Minister Deritekle……do you know this lady?”
King Raizer asked with absolute composure.
“Your Majesty, if I may. This here Mira＝Estheim, is not a noble, but a commoner’s harlot!”
While kneeling with his plump body. The man called Deritekle reports as such loudly.
The eyes around focused on Mira altogether.
“Eww, a harlot, he said” “What is a commoner doing at a place like this” “I wonder what were the guards doing” “How dare she dance with His Majesty; know your place” “That’s a guaranteed death sentence huh”
Barraged by the noblewomen that leaked from their affection for the King.
“Er, err……I……”
After taking a few steps back, she turns around and runs off.
“Haha, there, look! Running away after being exposed is, proof that she’s a commoner. Your Majesty, please leave it to me here. I shall give an appropriate punishment, to the foolish criminal who falsified their identity”
Deritekle bowed and chased after her exultantly.
“……”
King Raizer, he’s standing still there silently.
“You’re not going to give chase?”
Before he knew it, Asch＝Dahl was standing beside him. On both his cheeks, there are clear traces of a woman’s slap. An unpopular Magician who had just been horribly rejected, he is.
“……”
“That pig, I can’t imagine he’s the type that will cherish woman though”
“……”
“……well, whatever. Then, I guess I’ll excuse myself too”
While saying that, the Dark Magician left the dance party’s venue behind him.
＊
In the Cilkys Forest that stretches eastwards, the jet-black night enveloped the surroundings, and the owls’ eyes were the only things shining eerily. Amidst that, Deritekle, he brings along two skilled bodyguards and drinks his wine delightedly inside the carriage.
“Kukuku……that kind of beauty is, a waste on someone like King Raizer”
It was the woman he happily conceded upon being presented with an enormous amount of money, but he changed his mind upon seeing her today. ‘I shall definitely add her to one of my collections’, he chuckles to himself while twirling the wine glass.
At that moment, the carriage suddenly stopped, and all the wine splashed on Deritekle’s face.
“Kuu……gohoh, gohoh……you! What are you doing!?”
When he went outside the carriage while shouting, Asch was standing before his eyes. He has already, returned to his white hair and ebony eyes.
“Hey”
“Y, you……why are you here!?”
“I really didn’t want to. But something that I have to ask you came up.『Why did you break the promise』, that is”
The noble who was trying to buy Mira with money. That was none other than Deritekle. The Dark Magician, he got a hold of that information, handed over an even more enormous amount of money to him, and made him give up on her.
“Aah, didn’t I tell you? I often break promises”
“……is that so”
The Dark Magician nods quietly.
“Kukuku……it sure is a pity that I’m not a gentleman huh”
“Aah, don’t worry about it. It goes for both of us after all”
“……going on about incomprehensible things……oi, quickly kill this creepy man”
Deritekle shouts.
But.
The bodyguards who are supposed to be beside him aren’t there.
He realised that, for the first time.
“O, oi! You guys! Where are you!?”
He surveys the vicinity, but there’s not the presence of anybody there.
“Are the ones you are calling for, the owners of these heads perhaps?”
Like he’s playing with beanbags. He spins the heads of the bodyguards Deritekle recognises into the sky and plays with them.
“Wha-……”
The plump man, he takes several steps back with a terrified expression.
“Just now, I said it goes for the both of us, didn’t I. Do you know what it means?”
The Dark Magician drops the two heads onto the ground and slowly moves closer.
“A……u……”
“There’s something that I didn’t tell you as well. What will happen if you break the promise, that is”
The instant he said that, an intense, thunderous pain courses through Deritekle.
“Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
“……”
Asch tilts his head, opens his eyes widely, and stares at him.
A pain so intense that he can’t remain standing. The plump man rolls on the ground in pain.
「Gueeeeeh, o, ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow oww……」
“……a flower. I planted a flower in you”
The Dark Magician mutters softly.
「Flo, flower……ow ow ow ow ow ow ow……ugyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah」
“Aah, a flower that uses every drop of blood in your body as nourishment and blossom when you break the promise. I love appreciating flowers, you know”
Innocently.
Proudly.
While enjoying staring at him squirm in pain from the bottom of his heart, Asch explains.
“Pl, pleasee……help……eeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaa!”
“‘Wish Flower’, is what this flower is called”
“Eeeeee……”
Deritekle became incapable of making any sound before long.
“That’s right. From now on, you’ll no longer be able to do anything. Not screaming, not asking for help, not even lose your mind. But, your expression alone will be tranquil. That’s why, nobody will have even an inkling, that you’re in pain”
“……”
“I want to die, I want to die, I want to die, I want to die. You’ll come to wish that, every single moment. However, you can’t die. No matter how much you wish and wish and wish and wish to die, it will never be conveyed to others. Because you, will look like you’re sleeping continuously with a peaceful look”
“……”
Before long, exactly as the Dark Magician said, Deritekle’s expression turns into a tranquil expression. He no longer rolls around on the ground, nor screams because of the intense pain.
“You’ll wish for death, and a flower will blossom when that comes true. That is, the Wish Flower. It seems the longer you suffer, the more beautiful it blossoms, you know? Now then, I wonder how beautiful your flower will blossom?”
“Deritekle-sama! Deritekle-sama!”
“Oops……you still, had subordinates around huh. With this, that means you can no longer even die in the wild here. I wonder, how many more years……no, how many more centuries, you will continue to suffer”
With a face full of smiles, Asch speaks to Deritekle, who laid down like he’s sleeping.
“……”
“It looks like a beautiful Wish Flower will blossom, but unfortunately, it looks like I won’t be able to witness it. Well then, have a nice day”
The Dark Magician, he politely bowed and disappeared into the darkness of the night.
