[ A few minutes before Sol lost consciousness ]
"Will you please move out of the way?"
"No."
Charlotte took a deep breath, listening to the elf's adamant refusal.
Huuu—!
She must not give in to anger and bash the face of the elf in front of her.
Elves are esteemed guests of the Imperial family at this moment. Beating them might create an international issue.
Charlotte repeated the words her dear elder sister told her before heading out.
The problem was Setsuna had also asked her to look after Lumine – the elf slave of the 2nd son of Duke Lionel.
A day after Setsuna's departure, the elves arrived at Imperial Capital.
Their motives weren't clear but they were a noble race that was rarely seen.
Not to mention, one of the elves was the Priestess of the World Tree. The Imperial Family had to treat them with respect, no matter their motives.
As such, when they asked to take custody of Lumine – an elven criminal, they had no choice but to agree to their demands.
Of course, Charlotte had been coming to meet the elves daily, hoping that they would set Lumine free. But clearly, she was being too optimistic.
"Isn't it fine to let me meet her? It's not like I will run away with her."
"Stop bothering u-"
Bam!
"Ah, shit."
Before Charlotte realized she had punched the elf in the face. She coughed awkwardly while blood trickled down the elf's nose.
Surrounding her, the other elves pointed their spears and bows at her.
Charlotte knew she couldn't dodge the issue by calling it a mistake.
She sighed lightly. Maybe it was better this way. Deciding to deal with the problem with brute force, Charlotte opened her mouth.
"I don't care what she did or why she is a criminal by your standards. The elves banished her from their village already. You don't get to decide what she does anymore. Let her go."
Was this what Imperial physicians called the perfect way to relax?
Charlotte felt light.
All the stress she had accumulated from back at the Lionel estate when Sol talked down to her, to how she missed all the fun in the Forest of Silence as she had to stay with the convey, was leaving her body.
Meeting her beautiful elder sister had made her extremely happy. However, her departure was still painful.
It wasn't helping that these damned elves were stopping her from completing the duty her beautiful elder sister gave her.
They dared to go against her sister's wishes? It was blasphemy!
Charlotte nodded to herself. Indeed, anyone who was against her beautiful elder sister deserved a punch in the face.
"You… what are you doing?"
The elf whose nose became crooked a few moments ago growled.
"Is this how a human princess acts towards their guest?"
"Yes, of course." Charlotte smiled. "If you fucking kidnap our people and then bitch in front of us then of course this will be the treatment you receive."
Charlotte was feeling her soul being healed as she spoke her mind.
Indeed talking in a dignified manner like she was doing for the past weeks did not suit her personality. It was suffocating to her.
"W…what!? How dare you utter such uncouth words?"
"Will you shut up, you shit-nosed idiot? My ears are rotting from listening to your nonsense."
The elves were barely holding themselves back from attacking her. They knew Charlotte was a princess – despite the way she was behaving – and their action of imprisoning Lumine was illegal as Charlotte proclaimed.
Both sides refused to back down.
They released their pressure to intimidate the opposing side. The situation was becoming worse by the second.
"Stop"
When it seemed that a fight would break out, Baratos came out from hiding in hopes of diffusing the situation.
A sigh escaped his lips.
"What are you doing here, Sir Baratos?" asked Charlotte with her demeanor back to the pretentious polite personality.
"My Lady, I was monitoring you on Lady Setsuna's orders. She was worried that you might lose control and do something but…" Baratos sighed again as he looked at the bleeding elf. "You managed to surpass her expectations."
"Tsk, he saw that."
"I heard that, my lady."
"I wonder what you heard, Sir Baratos?"
His eyebrows twitched when Charlotte denied all claims, worried that the news might reach Setsuna's ears.
"Stop ignoring us huma—"
Thud–!
A noise of the unconscious elf falling echoed. It was soon followed by more similar noises.
Before Baratos and Charlotte could understand the situation, they also fell unconscious.
…
..
.
"Ack, where is this?"
Charlotte muttered lethargically. The last thing she remembered was abruptly falling asleep in the middle of a confrontation with the elves.
"Where the…"
She stopped in the middle of her sentence.
In a fairly large distance, she could see a tree. A tree big enough to touch the ceiling of the sky.
Her surroundings were nothing but an overgrown forest. Looking closely, there were wooden houses on the trees of the forest.
Given the massive tree in the distance, Charlotte recognized her current location.
"The elves kidnapped me because I just insulted them?"
She was at the elven village. The World Tree in front of her was the proof.
"W…why am I here…?"
Suddenly, Charlotte heard a familiar voice. It seemed she had failed to notice the person beside her.
"Lumine?"
Lumine, the one who had woken up a few seconds after Charlotte, hurriedly hid her face and turned away. She had lost her wooden mask. If Charlotte saw her true appearance….
"N-no…"
A heart-shaped mark appeared over Charlotte's neck.
Her eyes became hazy and her body posture changed. She moved stiffly towards Lumine while stretching her hand.
Lumine was too late. The damage was done.
Charlotte was now nothing but a mindless doll driven by its lust for Lumine.
Craaaaaack—!
But befoe Charlotte could reach Lumine a crack suddenly appeared in the sky.
Crack—! Crack—!
The sky shattered and hundreds of strange beings entered the world.
The combined dream world of Lumine, Charlotte, Baratos and other elves was invaded by the dream creatures.
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