Fremd Torturchen

Chapter 8

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Epilogue

"Soooooooooooooooo delicious!"

Holding a fork and a knife in her hands, Elisabeth exclaimed excitedly.

In front of her was ox tongue jelly, gizzard rillette, kidney pie with blue cheese sauce, and tripe cutlet.

"Lady Elisabeth, I am not worthy of your praise."

"Your reactions to food are crazy intense."

Hina smiled and bowed her head demurely. Holding a wine bottle in one hand, Kaito was standing by Elisabeth"s side. Whenever she finished her gla.s.s, he would mechanically refill her gla.s.s.

This distribution of roles did not take human qualities into account at all. With half-dead eyes, Kaito was pouring wine in a completely boorish manner. However, Elisabeth seemed to be tolerant of inadequacies in wine serve as long as the food was good, and she downed her wine readily. This job was fairly easy, but Kaito sighed as he looked down at his clothing.

(It"s about time she prepared some better fitting clothes for me than a butler"s uniform.)

It was unknown whether Elisabeth was even aware of Kaito"s dissatisfaction. Today, she ate all of Hina"s cooking as usual but after finishing the final dish and just when Kaito had poured another gla.s.s of wine, she suddenly said:

"Are you really sure?"

"About what?"

Several days had gone by since taking down The Emperor and returning from that stone castle.

Since then, Elisabeth was broaching the subject for the first time.

That night, when Kaito was taken back to the castle, he had confessed to Elisabeth about how he intended to accept Vlad"s invitation at one oint. However, Elisabeth simly healed him silently and kicked him into bed. Hina spent the whole night holding the hand of the comatose Kaito whereas Elisabeth went to handle reporting to the Church.

The next day, what await Kaito was his twisted daily life that was arguably not too unpleasant. He was starting to think that at this rate he might not find a chance to broach the issue, hence he was caught unprepared when Elisabeth asked on her own. With multiple matters coming to mind, unsure of which one, Kaito began to puzzle.

Elisabeth raised a slender finger.

"First matter. About seeking asylum from the Church."

"Oh, whether I go or not, it doesn"t change the fact that "I"m a rare soul from another world," right? They also seem kind of useless and it"s over for me if I run into someone like Krulus again. I"ve no way of resisting them and there"s no guarantee I won"t be treated like a labrat, so for now, I don"t want to side with them."

"For now, is that so?"

"I guess. Let"s be practical here, the fact that "I have to die after your death" still doesn"t feel real to me, so I can"t make any promises when I finally recognize it. Perhaps I might run crying to the Church and beg them for mercy."

"Well, that does suit your style."

"Yeah, I don"t wanna get dragged to h.e.l.l by you."

"Hmph, I would not want to take you either."

Elisabeth replied coldly and swirled her empty gla.s.s. Responding to her silent demand, Kaito sloppily poured wine into her gla.s.s. Swirling the wine gla.s.s, Elisabeth continued.

"Then there is the second matter. Are you really fine with that?"

"Uh... Yeah. Well, it"s fine, umm."

"Really? Since you say so, I shall take your word for it."

Unlike Kaito who had received Elisabeth"s transfusion, Kaito"s father had bled dry inside his golem body and his soul had vanished. Although Elisabeth could use magic to summon him back, Kaito declined. He asked Elisabeth to retrieve the doll that used to contain his father"s soul then buried it behind the castle.

Burial had no meaning. Even so, Kaito still felt compelled to do it, so he went and did it.

That was all.

Kaito did not feel like maintaining his father"s grave at all. Soon enough, that place would end up overgrown with weeds and wild flowers, naturally flourishing. Kaito believed that was good enough already.

Simply being able to think that already helped in coming to terms with his feelings.

Kaito shifted his gaze back to Elisabeth in front of him. All this had begun from her willful ways. The one who plunged Kaito in this utter mess, forcing a second life upon him was precisely Torturchen.

Kaito shrugged and said her casually:

"Oh well, being summoned by you and resurrected like this counts as a kind of destiny, I guess... So, I will accompany you as much as possible until you descend to h.e.l.l."

At the time of her death, Elisabeth would be all alone. No demon would exist by her side.

However, until it was time for her execution, there would still be s.p.a.ce for others by her side.

During Elisabeth Le Fanu"s life of bloodshed, she was always accompanied by a clumsy servant.

Kaito felt that this picture was not half bad.

Elisabeth glanced sideways at Kaito and laughed like a cat, shrugging.

"Ha, so what? It does not please me at all even if I have servant like you, lacking in loyalty and cannot even cook well, to follow me until the bitter end."

"I"m the one who isn"t pleased. Can"t you make fewer demands when I"m from another world and have no idea how to cook internal organs?"

"Watch it or I shall torture you to death. Whatever, serve that, your one and only skill."

"Fine fine, it"s been a while since I last made it."

Kaito followed her orders and returned the wine bottle to the bowl. He picked up the clay pot that was cooling on the iced container. Hina also stopped working, leaning forward from the side to watch.

Seeing the two of them extending their necks in antic.i.p.ation, Kaito opened the lid all at once.

"Oh my, so this is Lord Kaito"s prided pudding! How magnificent!"

"Yes, this smooth texture is quite addictive. I do desire it once in a while. Time to dig in."

Looking at Elisabeth, who had picked up her spoon impatiently, and the excited Hina, Kaito realized something unintentionally. Trembling, he touched his own face.

Hanging on his face was definitely a natural smile.

(......Ahhh, don"t tell me, this is...)

Recalling the promise between him and Neue, Kaito watched the scene before him with a calm expression.

There was Elisabeth and Hina. If possible, he wished these twisted and pleasant days could persist indefinitely. He wished that days like this would not be lost amid the excessively fierce battles. For the very first time in his life, Kaito prayed in this manner. As for himself, he intended to continue giving his all to realize this wish.

This was to uphold his promise with Neue and to honor what he had just said to Elisabeth.

"Torturchen" Elisabeth Le Fanu had summoned him from another world.

That moment when she was forsaken by all creation, dying in solitude, finally descending into h.e.l.l...

...Probably was not going to arrive just yet.

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