Chapter 429: Konoka Leaves the Mansion

After Her Majesty the Queen visited, visitors stopped coming again, and even that Prince Green no longer came. Since I did not have to see that prince’s face or hear his voice, my feelings were relatively stable. Still, I wanted to meet Her Majesty the Queen once more, the one with whom I felt our hearts had touched even a little. And I also wanted to talk with that boy who had known about Kanazawa.

Several days later, at night after I had eaten dinner, a maid different from usual and a man came. Both were expressionless, and the man in particular had a face as though he were looking with narrowed eyes. Rather than looking cruel, it seemed as though he was looking at me not as a human but as an object.

The maid said,

"Lady Takamoto, from now on you will change lodgings. Please make your preparations."

She said it in a way that sounded like a mechanical voice with no emotion at all.

"Change from now? Why? Where am I going? Can’t it be tomorrow?"

To my questions, the man said in a low voice,

"Wherever you go, it is the same for you. Now, please make your preparations quickly."

He said it with the corners of his mouth slightly raised. Scary.

"The preparations are complete. The costume from the summoning ceremony is inside."

The usual maid brought a trunk.

"Did you know? Did you know I would be moving from here?"

I asked that maid, but she said nothing, placed the trunk at my feet, and withdrew. Even speaking of personal belongings, there was only the Miku cosplay costume from that time. I think more than ten days have passed since I came here, but I have not a single thing of my own. At that moment I suddenly recalled the time of entrance exams. Staying consecutive nights at a business hotel, wanting to ease even a little the businesslike feel of the hotel, I had placed small items on the table and a stuffed animal brought from home by the pillow. But while living here, there had been none of that. I had been in a room even more barren than a business hotel the whole time. There remained no trace that I had lived in this room.

The man lifted the trunk and said,

"Now, this way,"

and walked. I had no reason to cling to this place, and thought it would be the same wherever I went. So I followed behind the man with dragging steps. Behind the man who walked with large, quick strides, I barely kept up at a trot.

When I went outside the mansion, rain was falling steadily. A carriage was stopped in front of the mansion’s entrance. Since it was the first time I had seen a carriage, I could not tell whether this one was good or bad. It only looked terribly shabby, perhaps because it was wet from the rain.

The maid boarded, and the man indicated to me,

"Please,"

to enter.

Inside the carriage a small light was lit, but it was dim enough that I could barely see the maid’s face.

"Where am I going?"

I asked the maid, but there was no reply. Surely she had been ordered not to speak at all. Just as I thought the man would come in, he did not enter, the door was closed as it was, and the carriage immediately departed.

The carriage advanced through the darkness. I could hardly see the lights of houses. I could not even tell whether we were inside the mansion grounds or running through an open field. If it had been daytime I would have thought it would have been better to go outside at least once, but it was too late to think anything now. I could only tell from the sound and vibration that the carriage was running over cobblestones. Since looking outside was useless, I kept looking at my own hands on my knees. With these small hands, would I be able to do anything from now on? Was there someone who would help me? How should I live in this world? There were only questions, but looking at my hands told me nothing.

I do not know how far we ran. Suddenly the carriage stopped. Looking outside, weak streetlights were lined up. Not a mansion, an inn? It also looked like a warehouse. There were hardly any windows. Looking up, an overhanging eaves over the road was tilted, and rain was dripping from there. The building looked quite shabby, but was this my lodging? Were people living here?

"Please get down."

The maid said in a cold voice.

The carriage was stopped under a roof, but when I got down from the carriage the rain fell on me. The moment I got down and the maid got down, the carriage door closed and it ran off as it was.

I looked around restlessly. The presence of people approached. And they gave off an unpleasant smell. In that case I thought the cold-looking man from earlier would have been better.

"I have brought her."

The maid said to the approaching people.

"Well done."

"With this my role is finished, so I will take my leave."

Saying that, the maid disappeared.

"Wait..."

I tried to stop the maid, but she vanished into the rain in an instant.

I was facing two men. There seemed to be no other people around.

"Is this the girl we were asked for?"

"Yes. Do nothing. Do as you were told."

The two men were talking. It was dark and I could not see their faces. From their builds I could tell there was a thin man and a solidly built man.

"A-are you...?"

These two only felt as though they held malice toward me.

In response to my question, the solidly built man silently took one step forward. When I unconsciously stepped back, rain began falling on my whole body. My entire body was immediately soaked. But I thought going under the roof was dangerous. Just as I tried to take one more step back, the man closed the distance in an instant and stood behind me. Then he gripped both my wrists and made it so I could not move. Perhaps because my wrists were thin, they were restrained by one of the man’s hands. I cannot move! My hands were lifted all the way behind me, and I was barely standing on tiptoe.

"Don’t resist anything. If you stay quiet I won’t do anything, you see."

The man said by my ear. Even while saying he would do nothing, words that made me feel sexual desire were transmitted. Somehow, they were transmitted. The thin man farther back simply felt as though he had no interest in me. Only something like malice was felt.

"Now, dispose of that girl."

The thin man ordered in a voice with no emotion.

"Dispose? What! I was told I would change lodgings..."

"Shut up!"

"Guh!!"

While my wrists were gripped, I was punched in the side from behind.

My clothes were soaked with rain and stuck to my body.

"This one, she’s going to be discarded anyway, right? Before that, can’t we have a little fun?"

The man behind me asked the thin man while licking his lips.

"No. If you want to do it, do it outside. There are guys waiting outside the gate. Join them and have your fun. In exchange, you won’t be able to come in here until the gate opens tomorrow morning."

The thin man said coldly.

Discard? Have fun? Outside the gate? Guys waiting? The things that were said spun around in my head. Am I saying that from now on I will be thrown outside and become prey for the men waiting for me? I don’t want that! It’s impossible! Being forcibly brought here and becoming prey, I don’t want it! In that case dying would be better! Kill me! Someone kill me! I absolutely do not want to be raped by men.

"No, no, no, help me, no, nooooo!!"

"Shut up!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

While both wrists were gripped, I was punched in the stomach once more.

"Uuuu..."

From the excessive pain no voice came out, and I leaned forward.

"Help me..."

"It would have been fine if you had listened to Prince Green’s words from the beginning. What you did has come back on you."

The thin man said.

"Nooo!!"

Even if I screamed, when my wrists were twisted upward I went on tiptoe and could not move. Then I was punched in the stomach again. From the pain my voice stopped coming out. It was all I could do to breathe raggedly.

Looking at me soaked by the rain, the man behind said,

"Even with a body this poor, a woman is a woman, so it’s a waste."

He muttered.

"Hurry up and discard her!"

"Yes, yes, I understand."

The man walked while twisting my wrists upward.

The man stopped. He made metallic clacking sounds.

"Now, it’s open. You go have fun outside the Royal Capital."

The man opened a small gate that one person could pass through. He guided me there. Beyond the gate was pitch darkness. A world with no light at all. On this side there was still light, but on the other side nothing could be seen.

I twisted my neck and looked at the man’s face.

"Help me! I’ll listen to what you say! Don’t put me outside! Please..."

When I had said that much, my hands were released, and I was kicked in the back and tumbled out beyond the gate.