I gasped for breath as I saw the text on my status window, triggering traumatic memories I'd hoped to keep buried.
'There were a few times when Asella completely lost her mind and went berserk like a monster.'
In the later stages, there were instances when Asella appeared as a mindless creature beyond reasoning.
Like a hidden boss event, you could say.
This ending was a bad ending where I'd be captured by Asella-turned-hidden-boss and die while being tortured with magic.
'The Empress is causing this ending's probability to increase?'
I frowned unconsciously.
The reason for the bad ending probability rising.
From now on, Asella would have negative experiences from events that would become the cause.
'In times like this, there's only one thing for me to do.'
Simply act in opposition to that.
"Sister Lucy."
"Goodness! Teacher?"
When I grabbed the arm of the head maid as she was walking, she clutched her chest as if she'd encountered a monster.
You're being too cautious.
"What does it mean to go to the workshop?"
"Perhaps we should talk outside first..."
"I can't leave until I get an explanation."
"Oh my...!"
The head maid bit her lip in distress.
She quickly whispered in my ear.
"There's a magic workshop in the basement of Wolgwang Palace that belongs to the Empress. On days when the Princess doesn't study properly, she receives additional special education there. At times like this, we should leave immediately..."
"You mean disciplining her with magic?"
"Well..."
The head maid trailed off, unable to answer my question.
I understood how things worked now.
Empress Camilla was quite knowledgeable about magic, a witch in her own right.
She was a magician who had reached at least the 5th Circle.
Her magical punishment.
'That must be quite painful.'
Nevertheless, depending on the type of magic, it might not leave any marks on the body.
While I was lost in thought, Camilla called out to us in a glass-like voice.
"Doctor, did you not hear me? Leave the room."
"My title is Teacher, though it seems you haven't been informed."
I stepped forward as I answered, causing the Empress's face to crumple.
"What did you just say?"
"If you're planning to punish the Princess with magic, I must stop you. As her physician, I need to be concerned about my patient's health."
At my words, Asella's pupils dilated.
Her wavering eyes now looked straight at me.
"Ha, your healing game finally crosses the line."
The Empress sneered, mocking me.
"Punishment? This is related to the Third Princess's education. You, this is the Imperial Family. Know your place and don't overstep."
"If my patient gets injured, it naturally increases my workload. This is clearly within my scope of duties."
"Then heal her afterward. If you don't want to bring shame to your family name, sit quietly in your place. You who came here through internal meddling and manipulation."
"Wow, me?"
"Young Lord Gotberg, when you committed blasphemy at the Marquis's house, I overlooked it for the Marquis's sake. Even when you wasted the Holy Grail, I graciously forgave you."
"Yes, I overlooked Your Highness's provocations for my father's sake. And I graciously accepted the Holy Grail."
"This fellow, until the end...!"
The Empress, with heat rising to her head, was turning as red as coal in a steam engine.
"The reason I haven't dealt with you is simple. It would be my loss to waste time on a rascal with nothing in his head! But this time, you've crossed the line."
"The more the merrier?"
"I will raise Asella my way. You're interfering with the Imperial Family's methods without qualification!"
"I have the qualification of her fiancé."
At my answer, Asella's pupils dilated.
"You...!"
The Empress glared at me, grinding her teeth.
"How dare you talk back so insolently!"
"Then would you tell me what kind of education the Princess will receive? Depending on the content, I might permit this special lesson."
"Are you saying that I, the Emperor's wife, need permission from a mere healer like you for my actions?"
Thump.
I took a step toward the Empress and spoke.
"I'm not just anyone, but the physician appointed by the Princess herself. Please address me as Doctor. I am a servant of the heir apparent and a member of Princess Asella's faction."
As logical sentences came out of my mouth one by one, the Empress's momentum subsided.
"As long as Your Highness is an outsider who might potentially harm the Princess's body with malicious intent, permission is essential."
"Are you referring to me, Asella's birth mother, as an outsider?"
"Aren't you? There's no one in the Imperial Family who's an ally merely because they're parents or siblings. My only lord is the Princess."
At my statement, the Empress seemed to have lost all patience and unconsciously emitted mana from her body.
A sinister black energy.
"Everyone else, leave."
The Empress commanded in an ice-cold voice. The atmosphere was as if she might drop the blade on the guillotine at any moment.
Tanya blocked my path.
"My duty is to protect the Teacher..."
"It's fine. Go outside."
While I, as a direct descendant of the Gotbergs, might be safe, she could get into trouble if the Empress accused her of blasphemy.
I nodded once more to the hesitant Tanya, giving her a hint, and she left.
Bang.
The door closed, leaving only me, Empress Camilla, and Asella in the room.
"You said you were curious about the special education content."
Camilla flicked her hand, creating a magic circle.
Four complex shapes intersect, greedily sucking in black mana.
Formulas are engraved on the outer edge, completing the preparation for casting.
"Mother."
Asella, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke.
But the Empress didn't seem to hear her words, focusing solely on her magic.
"Why don't you experience it yourself? You can feel with your own body whether it will harm Asella or not."
Snap! As Camilla flicked her finger, the spell was cast.
Boom!
Simultaneously, a powerful weight crushed my entire body as if a pile of rocks had fallen on me.
"Ugh."
It was a 4th Circle gravity control magic.
The gravity had intensified several times just where I was standing.
The pressure became so strong that I couldn't stand in place. My body was being pulled toward the ground by my own weight.
"How is it? It's not a magic that leaves wounds or injures the body. It's an important education to make Asella feel the power of magic. Do you understand?"
The Empress flicked her hand with a sneer.
—Rumble!
The magic circle grew even larger, increasing in power.
...Now I can't even breathe.
The air is so heavy that it's hard to move my lungs.
My back bends and my arms drop.
'Well, well.'
Does she genuinely think this kind of punishment is education?
This is nothing but torture.
I feel like I'm about to collapse at any moment.
My upper body has already curled up like a hedgehog.
But somehow, I manage to endure with my legs.
"You're quite stubborn, not kneeling."
Asella's sadistic personality clearly resembled the Empress's.
Camilla is an unpleasant woman who always interferes and increases the probability of bad endings.
I have no intention whatsoever of showing her the picture she wants.
Forcibly lifting the corners of my mouth, which had become as heavy as lead, I smiled, showing my teeth.
"My knees are meant to kneel only before my lord."
The Empress's eyes grew even fiercer.
Hmm, those eyes look familiar.
Suddenly, memories flash through my mind like a kaleidoscope.
—You're quite stubborn, not kneeling, healer of the Hero's Party.
Asella, with a devilish expression, cackling.
It's the expression from the final scene I saw countless times in numerous repetitions ten years later.
To me, the Empress's face now overlapped with the face of the Golden Witch.
My vision crackles as if filled with noise.
Perhaps a blackout is approaching because the increased gravity prevents blood from flowing to my brain.
Whether it's just a hallucination right before losing consciousness.
Or an image shown by my brain that has sensed something.
I see a face I'd rather not recall.
—How dare you touch the tribute offered to the Emperor of the Empire?
Emperor Asella's tone naturally exuded composure and dignity.
Quite different from her current irritable manner.
'Come to think of it, she resembled Camilla quite a bit.'
Parents and children naturally resemble each other.
From magical talent to appearance, physical capabilities, and mental tendencies, genes determine quite a lot.
But of course, environment can't be ignored.
I had a feeling that Camilla had a significant influence on Asella becoming a crazed villainess.
'Why am I suddenly thinking of this now?'
—Isn't it beautiful? The day the curse ends.
Curse.
Asella often mentioned that word.
I can't guess what she was thinking, but.
"Let's see if you can endure this too."
Just as the Empress raised her arm to add another magic circle.
—Crack!
A golden magic circle penetrated her magic.
It was a spell interference magic.
"Huff."
I clutched my chest, breathing heavily in an unseemly manner.
When I raised my head, Asella was extending her hand toward Camilla.
Golden mana rippled from her small hand.
"...Asella?"
The Empress looked bewildered, as if she didn't understand what had happened.
"What are you doing?"
Asella, as if she had made up her mind, answered Camilla with fire in her eyes.
"Take your hands off my possession."
It was a tone I'd heard before.
The awl-like voice I often heard when Asella was angry, like breaking through a frozen lake.
"Now."
-------------------
· Notice: The probability of endings has changed.
· Bad Ending
No. 058: Magic Torture 62% → 14%
· Good Ending
· ■■■ ■, ■■ ■■■■ 0.04% → 2%
-------------------