Chapter 3

After using the toilet, Fiona returned to the room and sat down on the bed.

"Well, I'm going back to work."

Luke, saying he would clean up as well, took the tray with the empty dishes and left the room.

"Now, would you mind telling me a bit more about yourself?"

Matthias, who had been standing all along, sat down in the chair next to the bed and faced Fiona.

"What should I talk about?"

"Hmm, how about starting from when you were chosen by the artifact?"

"That would go back twelve years, so it's a long story."

"It doesn't matter how long it is. Can you tell me?"

"Okay, I understand."

Fiona began to tell her story from when she was six years old.

The country where she was born, the Garjudo Empire, possesses three artifacts.

One of them is a golden bracelet said to infinitely enhance the magic power of the person who wears it.

Artifacts have existed since ancient times and are said to have been created by the gods. They are scattered around the world, and each country holds a few, but they can only be handled by chosen individuals, so users are rare.

The golden bracelet had not had a user for over two hundred years.

Every year, all six-year-old children in the country are gathered at the central temple. They touch the three artifacts one by one to see if anyone can handle them.

Fiona, who turned six, was taken to the temple by her parents.

It was a simple ceremony; those who touched the artifacts could return home quickly. She was looking forward to sightseeing in the capital after it was over.

After a long wait, it was finally her turn. Thinking she could finally go play, she lightly touched the bracelet.

Instantly, the bracelet emitted a golden light, recognizing her as its owner.

She was quickly taken to the palace and made to sign a servitude contract with the prince.

Originally, the contract was to be with the emperor, but the prince, upon seeing her, insisted on making the contract himself.

Fiona didn't like it. The prince, with his lustrous black hair and ruby-red eyes, looked handsome but had a lecherous gaze that made her feel uncomfortable. She found him repulsive. The emperor would have been better.

However, she couldn't refuse and reluctantly branded the curse mark on her body, making the prince her master.

From that day on, her life as a magician serving the empire began.

With infinite magic power, even those with special magic abilities could cast extremely powerful spells endlessly. She gained the power to face an entire army alone.

However, she couldn't use magic freely. She was ordered to memorize a large number of magic books and trained rigorously in magic control by her instructors.

She lived alone in a room with an old bed and minimal furniture, separated from her family.

She continued to study magic, looking forward to her monthly visits with her parents.

She wasn't allowed to go out freely and spent her days from morning till night learning magic. Her precious break times were spent entertaining the prince, who often called her to pass the time.

The possessive prince, despite having many women, forbade her from making friends or interacting with young men.

After a few years, when she could handle magic freely, she was given missions, mainly to slay monsters and develop land.

With her infinite magic power, she was sent out almost daily to various places.

Her master, according to the curse mark, was the prince, but the missions were given by the emperor, the highest authority in the country.

While completing a vast number of missions, she was also forced to entertain the prince during her free time.

Sometimes, when she was finally able to rest, she would be called to the prince's room, only to find him enjoying himself with a woman. She often witnessed such scenes and felt exhausted, but at least she wasn't invited to join.

However, one night when she was sixteen, she was finally called to the prince's bedroom and ordered to have a physical relationship with him.

The idea of being with such a man was unbearable. She refused, and the curse mark inflicted excruciating pain on her.

Despite the pain, she continued to refuse, eventually coughing up blood and nearly dying.

The prince, panicking, canceled the order and called a healer to treat her. When she recovered, she stood up, not looking at the prince, and silently left the room to return to her own.

From the next day, she was only given meager meals, as if to punish her.

She lost one of her few daily pleasures.

She hated the lecherous prince and was tired of the pain that came with his commands.

She relied on her monthly visits with her parents to keep going.

When she turned seventeen, she suddenly started receiving missions abroad, tasked with plundering resources from other countries and repelling knights and magicians who interfered.

When ordered to kill all the enemies, she refused, shaking her head. She wouldn't do such a thing.

The curse was activated, causing her intense pain, and she coughed up blood, but she still refused.

When a large pool of blood formed on the floor, the prince canceled the order. Once again, she nearly died.

"Why don't you follow orders? Don't you want to live?" he asked.

"Being a murderer is worse than death," she replied calmly.

The prince, giving up, reluctantly changed the order to "repel all enemies," which she obediently followed.

One day, just before her eighteenth birthday, she lost her only support. Her parents were killed by bandits on their way to the palace.

A hole opened in her heart, but she continued to fulfill her duties.

Why am I living? Why am I fighting? She didn't know. She didn't know, but she was exhausted and lacked the energy to think.

She was tired of everything and didn't care anymore.

But when she received the prince's order to "repel all enemies and return after completing the mission," she went to the battlefield as usual.

There, Matthias stood in her way, and she gave up on life, thinking it would be better to die.

"I thought I would be cut in half right there, but here I am, still alive, talking to you. It feels strange."

"…I see."

Matthias, who had been listening quietly, had a deep frown on his forehead.

"Do you have any wishes? I can grant you some freedom, but there are limits. I can fulfill some requests."

"Wishes?"

"Yes, anything you want to do now."

Suddenly asked about her wishes, Fiona put her hand on her chin and thought for a moment.

"Um, I want to take a shower… Is that okay?"

She felt sticky from sweat and wanted to clean herself. She said what she most wanted to do, but Matthias looked conflicted, and she thought it might not be possible.

"Of course, that's fine. However, there's a condition… While you're not chained, either I or Luke must stay nearby. So, I'll wait in this room while you shower. It might be uncomfortable, but can you bear with it?"

"Sure. I think that's reasonable, and I expected it, so it's fine."

"Alright. I think there are clothes in that drawer…"

Knock knock.

"Can I come in?"

In the middle of their conversation, a knock sounded, and a calm woman's voice was heard.

"Sure."

The woman who entered, a magician in her late twenties with a deep green robe and chestnut bob, had heard that Fiona had woken up.

"I heard you woke up, so I came by. Hello, Golden Magician."

The woman, with a bright red lipstick smile, greeted Fiona.

"Hello. I've met you a few times, haven't I?"

Fiona greeted her casually, and the woman's smile became unnaturally beautiful.

"Hehe, yes. I'm Reila, the leader of the First Magic Corps. Nice to meet you."

Fiona could sense the hostility in her words. She felt a bit awkward but quickly adjusted her mindset, knowing she was in enemy territory.

"I caused you trouble. I'm Fiona. Nice to meet you."

She bowed slightly.

Reila pulled on Matthias's arm and started whispering to him, turning her back to Fiona.

"Hey, what's with this girl? She's nothing like the usual stern image."

"Yeah, this is her true self."

"I see… I was planning to vent all my pent-up resentment, but now I feel deflated. What am I supposed to do?"

"I don't know."

Fiona watched the two of them bickering and felt a bit envious of their camaraderie.

"Oh, you were about to take a shower. The clothes should be in here."

Reila stopped complaining to Matthias and moved to the chest, rummaging through the drawers.

"Here, use this. The towels are in the changing room."

"Thank you, Reila."

Fiona took the clothes and smiled, heading to the changing room.

"…She has a unique aura."

Reila muttered to herself.

Fiona confirmed the towels in the changing room, undressed, and entered the bathroom. She turned on the shower, which emitted warm water, and enjoyed it thoroughly.

She decided it was okay to use the soap in the bathroom and gratefully used it to wash her hair and body, rinsing off the suds with the shower.

She squeezed the water out of her long hair and, as she dried herself with a towel, thought, This hair is a nuisance.

After putting on the underwear and knee-length sleeveless dress she had received, she dried her hair with a towel and returned to the room.

When she reached Matthias, she lifted her hair and said,

"Hey, Matthias, can you cut this off for me?"

"…What?"

Matthias, momentarily captivated by her sexy nape, cleared his throat and regained his composure.

"Why do you want to cut it?"

"It's a nuisance. I can't dry it quickly without magic, and I only grew it long because the prince ordered me to. I don't need it anymore."

"Well, but…"

Matthias frowned and hesitated.

"No way! That's out of the question!"

Reila pushed Matthias aside and touched Fiona's hair, drying it quickly with a gust of wind.

"You can't just cut it off. If you can't dry it yourself, use a magic tool. I'll bring one later, so don't cut it. Matthias, if you agree, say so clearly."

Reila looked up at Matthias with narrowed blue eyes.

"…I agree."

Matthias faced Fiona. He was momentarily captivated by her sky-blue hair, usually braided, now flowing freely, but quickly regained his composure and said gruffly,

"It's a waste to cut it. So, no cutting."

"…I see."

Fiona's heart skipped a beat. She had never felt anything but discomfort when the prince complimented her appearance, but now she felt a fresh, pleasant emotion.

But then she thought of something.

"But I'll probably be executed someday, so I might as well cut it and feel refreshed…"

"‘Huh!?’"

Matthias and Reila exclaimed in unison, frowning.

"Executed? What are you talking about?"

"What do you mean? I'm talking about myself. I'll be executed someday, right?"

"Why would that happen?"

"Why…?"

As an enemy, wouldn't that be normal? Fiona tilted her head and said matter-of-factly. Finally, she received an explanation of her situation from Matthias.