“What’s this, you’re not restraining my body today?”
The next morning, just as Elvira finished dressing in her formal attire and was about to head out to attend to state affairs, Maurice—who had been pretending to be unconscious until then—suddenly spoke.
And his tone was rather provocative.
Normally, this was simply masochistic behavior. Wouldn’t it be easier to just lie quietly? Instead, he insisted on reminding Elvira to use magic to restrain his body again—isn’t that just asking for trouble?
But that only happened when Elvira was in a bad mood or just so-so.
Now, after winning yet another round against Maurice the previous night, Elvira was still in an exceptionally good mood.
So even if Maurice tried to provoke her, she would only see it as the futile bluster of a disgraced loser trying to save face.
“Oh? Maurice, do you really like being treated like a puppet by me that much? Don’t worry, I’ll make you my personal puppet again tonight. As for the rest of the day, I’ll graciously allow you a little freedom. Remember to thank me for my great mercy, won’t you?”
As Maurice had expected, faced with his provocation, the delighted Queen simply mimicked his tone in return, then flashed a composed smile that only a victor would wear.
That tolerant and magnanimous manner was nothing like her when she went mad.
“Well, thank you so much, Your Majesty. Perfect timing—I should start considering ways to escape.”
Maurice sat up in bed, sarcastically expressing his gratitude for the Queen’s benevolence, but he didn’t hold back and continued with his outrageous remarks.
“My, how impressive. If you think you can do it, feel free to try, Sir Knight of Fastar.”
As expected, Elvira wasn’t bothered in the slightest. She simply gazed at the many marks she’d left on Maurice’s chest, a teasing, wicked smile curling at her lips.
“Hmph.”
Maurice snorted coldly, quickly buttoning up his white shirt, perfectly embodying the image of a resentful loser.
Usually, retreating is advancing. But when dealing with Elvira, advancing is actually retreating.
It looked like Elvira had Maurice under her thumb, but in reality, Maurice was the one who had Elvira figured out.
As the saying goes, a winner becomes arrogant, and arrogant troops are bound to lose.
Let Elvira keep winning for now—in the end, it’ll just be loss after loss for her.
With Maurice himself on the outside, and those three outrageous subordinates on the inside, Maurice really couldn’t see how Elvira could possibly win.
And so, under Elvira’s ambiguous and teasing gaze, Maurice finished dressing.
But even after Maurice had put on his shoes and stepped down from the bed, Elvira continued to watch him with great interest, showing no sign of urgency to go deal with state affairs.
“…You stared at me just now, so I didn’t say anything. But are you planning to just keep watching now? If so, I suppose your reign won’t last much longer.”
Maurice remained blunt, directly using sarcasm to remind Elvira to stop staring and get on with taking him outside.
As for why Maurice thought Elvira would bring him out—
It was just a guess. Maurice figured Elvira was waiting for him, intending to have him meet those other few trusted subordinates she was so proud of.
“My, such sharp words. Or is this your way of showing concern for me? Heh, who knew you were such a tsundere, Maurice.”
Elvira teased the defeated Maurice without restraint, her eyes full of flirtatious mischief.
“……”
Maurice made it clear he had nothing to say.
“Such a classic speechless expression—but I like it, you know?”
“……”
“Hmph hmph, fine then. You look rather pitiful, so I’ll hold back a little. Didn’t you want to find a way to escape? At the very least, you should know the route, right?”
“Come along. Let me show you a bit of this palace’s layout. Coincidentally, there are a few people I want you to meet.”
From Elvira’s perspective, her relentless assault had already rendered Maurice speechless.
Continuing to suppress an enemy who’s lost the will to resist was boring, so she decided to ease up a bit before pressing further.
Letting Maurice catch his breath and recover some strength—only then would she have more fun later.
So Elvira generously allowed Maurice to follow her outside the room for a look around.
“…Or do you want to wait in this room until I return? I don’t mind at all, you know?”
Elvira’s current expression was one of absolute confidence and grace, as if she had Maurice perfectly under control.
Seeing her so oblivious to being played, Maurice struggled to keep his face set in a dissatisfied scowl.
He didn’t reply to Elvira directly.
Instead, wearing his displeased and brooding look, he silently walked past Elvira.
Showing his choice through action.
And the moment Maurice passed by her, Elvira couldn’t help but show a smug smile.
She had no qualms about letting Maurice walk ahead, even giving him a chance to escape.
In fact, she wanted to see Maurice try to escape without weapons or magic. That way, she could enjoy catching him again.
Of course, she knew Maurice was more pragmatic than other knights and would never act rashly without a real opportunity.
And so, confident that she had Maurice entirely figured out—
The two walked down the palace corridors, one in front, one behind. Though they said nothing, Elvira didn’t care.
Just seeing Maurice obediently walking a short distance ahead of her only confirmed her sense of victory.
Besides, it wasn’t as if Maurice would remain completely silent forever.
“…Which way should we go?”
It wasn’t long before they reached an intersection where the corridors branched in different directions. Maurice stopped and turned to look at Elvira, who was following at a leisurely pace.
“Oh my, you were walking so fast I thought you already knew the way. Looks like that’s the end of your time leading the way. From now on, you walk properly at my side, understood? That’s an order. You wouldn’t want me to turn you into a puppet right now, would you?”
Stepping forward in white high heels trimmed with gold, Elvira caught up with Maurice and stopped in front of him. With one hand, she lifted Maurice’s chin, and in her trademark tone, threatened him once more.
“…Yeah, yeah, I got it. Let’s get going already.”
With no other choice, Maurice sullenly turned his head away and urged Elvira to hurry up and lead the way.
At the moment, Maurice was indeed feeling a bit anxious, since his original plan had been to stay here as a captive.
But now, he had to figure out what Elvira’s three female subordinates were thinking; depending on the situation, actually escaping might not be out of the question.
He didn’t have much time to keep playing this back-and-forth game with Elvira.
“Hehe, that’s better. You’re quite handsome when you’re obedient, you know? My Maurice.”
Completely unaware that Maurice’s anxiety wasn’t because of her, but because of something else, the Queen laughed proudly.
So pleased with herself, even her once sharp intuition as a woman had dulled.
She had no idea that it was her three confidantes that were making Maurice anxious.