[But do you have a plan?]
'Of course! Who do you think I am?'
To be honest, the plan was quite flimsy, but it was worth a try.
We dined at the same restaurant as yesterday.
The only difference was that only four people were sitting at the large dining table: Gardia, me, Viola, and Beatrice.
Beatrice ended up joining us for the meal, somewhat unexpectedly.
Originally, she had only been ordered to guide me, but Viola took a liking to her so she insisted on joining us for the meal.
She was so nervous that her fork was trembling uncontrollably, to the point where it was unclear whether the food was going into her mouth or her nose.
It almost seemed like the fork might end up in her nostril.
And then there was the princess standing guard at the entrance of the dining room.
Her sharp eyes were softened, and she was doing her best to hide her expression, which made her all the more captivating.
Gardia was the first to speak to Viola.
"Please forgive my rudeness from yesterday. I was so flustered that I ended up being disrespectful."
"Hoho, it's alright."
She didn't seem to know what she had done wrong, but she continued the conversation with a smile.
'…Did she really not hear anything from yesterday's conversation?'
[That seems fortunate. Although Viola wouldn't leave you, she might have felt guilty.]
We had quite a lengthy conversation about the hero yesterday, but Viola was so engrossed in her food that she didn't hear a single word.
Yesterday, I had asked Gardia to play along with the story.
We had loosely discussed how the hero was travelling the world.
Viola, who had no knowledge of the outside world, wouldn't have been able to understand how the world worked anyway.
"I'm glad. I thought my brother would be out looking for me, but hearing that he's travelling puts my mind at ease."
"Hahaha…"
Gardia was also sweating bullets as he carried on the conversation.
From Gardia's perspective, he probably didn't understand Viola at all.
But as I listened to their conversation, I noticed the princess glaring at Viola with a serious expression, different from before.
It seemed she had just realized that Viola was the hero's sister.
'…What should I do? Should I make her keep quiet, or just let it be?'
[It's fine to take it easy. Didn't you say you were going to win her over earlier?]
'Hmm… Well, what's done is done, and knowing this won't really interfere with the plan.'
My plan doesn't start with getting close to the princess directly.
It's about using the kid…
***
After finishing our meal and chatting with Gardia, we headed back to our room.
Beatrice was still stuck in Viola's grasp.
"How did you get these ears on your head?"
"Wah, they were just there nyaaang…"
No, rather, it was because of the Demon King's order that she ended up with Viola.
"While you're here, you'll keep her company!"
"Hueeeenyang!"
Even in the midst of her screams, her cat-like speech pattern was still coming through.
And at the front, there was someone escorting us, just like before.
It was the princess.
The serious expression she had earlier was gone, replaced by a polite demeanour.
She courteously guided us to our room.
It wasn't until we reached the door that she finally spoke.
"I will wait here. If you need anything, please call for me."
"Huh? There's no need for that."
"No, I'll stay here so you don't have to look for another servant."
"…"
She looked at me with a determined expression.
'…? Did the kid spill the beans?'
[Personally, I don't think he revealed anything directly. It seems she noticed something strange in your behaviour and decided to stay close.]
'Well, if I had told him as much as I did yesterday, he wouldn't have gone around blabbing.'
Yesterday, I had caught him off guard, and when he returned, Lena must have sensed something was off.
Even if he didn't say anything, he's still young and wouldn't be able to hide her actions.
Plus, this woman is sharp, so she definitely picked up on something.
'…Okay. Let's do this.'
[What are you planning to do?]
'Let's try what I just learned.'
I approached the princess who was waiting outside the door.
"…Is something the matter?"
"Come inside."
"It's fine. There's no need…"
"Just come in. It's uncomfortable for us. Or call someone else."
"…"
She didn't seem too pleased.
This wasn't really considerate of me.
From her perspective, being inside the guest room wasn't a good look.
But she obediently followed my forceful request.
"…Understood. If you insist…"
"And sit here."
I brought a chair from the room and placed it by the door.
"There's no need to sit…"
"Just sit. It's uncomfortable for us."
"…Understood."
Without even sighing, she followed my instructions.
At the large table in the center of the room, Viola and Beatrice were playing around.
I lay down on the bed and said to them, "I'm going to take a quick nap. You two keep playing."
"Okay~ Hoho, your tail is so soft."
"Ugh, you shouldn't touch there nyaa…"
As I listened to Beatrice's whining, I turned to face the door.
There, sitting upright without a hint of slouch, was Lena de Feron.
'Show me the explanation for the sleep and dream invasion skills I just learned.'
[Understood.]
Along with Armonia's response, the skill descriptions appeared before my eyes.
[Dream Invasion Lv.5: Allows the user to enter the dreams of a sleeping person within a 5-meter radius.]
[Duration: 5 minutes, Success Rate is Inversely proportional to Magic Resistance, Control Success Rate is Inversely proportional to Mental Strength.]
[Sleep Lv.5: Can put nearby individuals to sleep.]
[Duration: ??? minutes, Success Rate is Inversely proportional to Magic Resistance.]
Since Dream Invasion and Sleep are magic, they are affected by magic resistance.
It would be great if I could use magic circles, but these two spells are of an unknown attribute, and no magic circles have been developed for them yet.
'I'll have to study the magic circles I learned from Stura later and modify them.'
[Guardian, I don't recommend that. Those magic circles are the result of wisdom accumulated over a long history. If you tamper with them carelessly, you might end up causing serious harm.]
'Ugh… Alright, I'll put the magic circles on hold for now. Let's just try to cast Sleep for now.'
If I could draw a magic circle, I could control the duration freely, but for now, I had no choice but to cast it abstractly.
Even though I've learned magic, trying to visualize it without a magic circle was incredibly difficult.
While the magic I've learned so far could be easily activated by focusing on drawing the magic circle, Sleep had to be cast with a vague, uncertain feeling.
The good thing was that I had magical power, and the people in this world had almost zero magic resistance.
The hero might have been affected by Dream Invasion because he didn't need magic resistance, so he never developed it.
The same went for the princess.
As I stared intently at Lena de Feron with narrowed eyes…
Suddenly, her head drooped, and she fell asleep.
The princess, who had been sitting in a perfectly upright posture, slumped over like a puppet with its strings cut.
'Huh? Did it work?'
[From the surface, it seems like Sleep was successfully cast. Her mental strength was likely weakened due to accumulated fatigue, even though she appeared strong on the outside.]
'Wow, this is no joke.'
I didn't realize how inconvenient it would be without a magic circle.
It wasn't just the mana consumption that was the problem, but the fact that the mana was being wasted.
Using a magic circle felt like opening all your senses and focusing to fire a precise shot, whereas casting magic without a circle felt like firing blindly into the air with your eyes and ears covered.
This time, I cast Dream Invasion.
After concentrating for several seconds, I finally managed to enter her dream.
***
"Ugh, this is exhausting…"
More mana was consumed than I had expected.
Looking around, I found myself in a luxurious room.
The entire floor was covered with a red carpet, and a magnificent chandelier hung from the ceiling.
The bed was adorned with white fabric embroidered with golden threads, creating intricate patterns.
In the room filled with various luxurious items, there were two people: the princess and a middle-aged man.
At a glance, it was obvious who the man was.
'He looks exactly like her. But a man with pink hair doesn't suit him.'
The two were sitting at a lavish dining table, laughing and chatting.
The princess, who was wearing a bright smile, looked so different from the person I had seen earlier that it was almost hard to believe it was the same person.
She was dressed in a light coral-coloured dress with lace trimmings on the skirt.
The golden patterns adorning the dress didn't look tacky at all.
Her corset perfectly accentuated her chest and waistline, and the flowing skirt completely covered her lower body.
The man, who appeared to be the Grand Duke, was dressed in a nobleman's attire, a mix of red and white.
The two didn't seem to notice me at all.
It seemed they were unaware of my sudden intrusion into the dream.
"Lena… It's all thanks to you. If it weren't for you, this war…"
"No, Father. It was everyone's… everyone's victory."
I could roughly guess the content of their conversation.
It was a dream scenario where they had won the war.
'Wow… She's having a nice dream… But if she wakes up, she'll be even more devastated.'
In a way, it was a truly cruel dream.
The perfect scenario to drive someone to madness.
'First, can I really control this? Since her mental strength is weak, I should be able to manipulate it to some extent.'
Dream Invasion's description stated that the control authority shifts to the invader inversely proportional to the target's mental strength.
I focused my mind.
Soon after, the Grand Duke suddenly turned his head and looked at me, and the princess also turned to look at me.
The princess shouted, trying to drive me away.
"Who are you! How dare you enter my father's chambers!"
But it wasn't me who stopped her—it was the Grand Duke.
"Lena! How rude!"
"Ah, Father! I-I'm sorry… But that person…"
The princess was flustered, seeing the Grand Duke scolding her.
'Hehe… This is fun.'
At least, I could control the Grand Duke as I pleased.
The Duke approached me, bowing deeply, and began to apologize, forgetting his status.
"I apologize. My daughter has been disrespectful. Please forgive her."
"Ah, Father!"
The princess was truly bewildered.
The dignity I had seen in her earlier was nowhere to be found.
'Well, it's a dream after all… Hehe…'
No matter how skilled someone is, they can't control their mind in a dream.
In response to the princess's outburst, the Grand Duke began to get angry.
"Lena de Feron!"
"Ugh… Yes, Duke Feron…"
When the Grand Duke called her by her full name, the princess immediately knelt on one knee and lowered her posture.
What started as a joke was turning out better than I expected.
"Such insolence!"
"…I'm sorry."
I silently commanded the Grand Duke to punish the princess.
Then, he naturally continued the conversation.
"This won't do! Turn around and lift your skirt!"
"…Yes."
Was she really going to comply so readily?
Was it because it was a dream, or was she always this obedient to the Grand Duke? It was unclear.
Perhaps she was naturally obedient, and the dream removed any ability to refuse.
The princess, with her long pink hair flowing, turned around and lifted her skirt to her thighs.
Even though I was right in front of her, perhaps because it was a dream, she followed the Grand Duke's command without hesitation.
'Wow, sexy! But it seems she was raised strictly.'
Looking at the princess's calves, I noticed marks from a cane.
I had thought that as the Grand Duke's daughter, she would have been raised like a delicate flower in a greenhouse, but it seemed she had been raised in a rather strict environment.
Just as the Grand Duke was about to swing a cane he had procured from somewhere, I stopped him.
"Grand Duke. Even though you are her father, it's too harsh to discipline her in front of others."
"Hmm… My apologies. I almost showed an unsightly side."
The Grand Duke bowed his head to me in apology.
It was a truly amusing situation.
The princess, relieved by my words, was about to lower her dress when the Grand Duke handed me the cane and said.
"Then would you like to discipline her yourself?"
"…?"
The princess's expression twisted in confusion, unable to grasp the situation.
I smirked and said.
"Then I'll take care of her education."
***
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