Even in his previous life, Miles had never imagined that he would one day be placed onto a bed in a princess carry.
Quaedes's seemingly slender, fair arms contained strength utterly disproportionate to their appearance.
Totally unable to resist, his entire body drenched by "seawater" and his soul state exceedingly weakened, Miles found it difficult even to move a single finger.
Bending down over him, Quaedes began unfastening the buttons of his soaked shirt. Her ice-blue eyes drew ever closer… so close that Miles could even feel the steady warmth of her breath.
There was no way out now… The only thing Miles could do was close his eyes and accept fate.
Hopefully, the emperor would be gentle. After all, even counting two lifetimes, this was still his first time.
"…"
Nothing happened?
After waiting for a long time with no further developments, Miles cautiously opened his eyes to a narrow slit.
It seemed that after removing his soaked shirt, Quaedes had simply been staring at him without making another move.
Could it be that this was her first time in practice as well?
"Unwilling?"
After a long silence, Quaedes's cold voice finally sounded.
"I remember clearly rejecting you already."
"But you lost to me."
"Those are two different matters."
Losing a card game and then being forced… if that kind of plot ever aired, Yu-Gi-Oh! would hardly remain a proper anime.
Yet judging by the desire-filled look in Quaedes's eyes, the emperor who longed to control the genetic power of a God Card, it was clear she had no intention of letting Miles go.
Still, after helping him remove his water-soaked shirt, Quaedes did not proceed with anything that would never pass review.
"I said before the Duel that if I won, I would leave you without even a shred of dignity… However, my view has changed."
"Changed?"
"Miles, the strength you displayed in the Duel made me realize that you possess more than merely the genes to wield a God Card. You are a Duelist truly worthy of the Empire's emperor. So rather than forcing you into submission, I will grant you time to prepare yourself mentally."
She rose and walked to the door. The frost, sealing it from earlier, cracked as Quaedes pushed it open.
"You have until tomorrow night. In that time, prepare yourself to accept me."
"Only one day…"
Now that he knew he would not be crushed right away, Miles regained his composure and began to think carefully.
The deadline was tomorrow night… before the emperor's birthday banquet.
So Quaedes truly intended to obtain the qualification to control a god and summon Numerounius before the celebration.
"And if I'm not mentally prepared after one day?"
A slight crease formed between Quaedes's brows, displeasure surfacing.
She was no longer as icy as at the beginning, and Miles could not tell whether that was a good sign or not.
"If one day is not enough, then I will take you by force."
With that, Quaedes slammed the door behind her, freezing it shut once more and leaving Miles alone on the bed, staring at the ceiling and contemplating his life.
So this was house arrest.
The Empire's emperor intended to make him yield simply by locking him up for a day.
Was that efficiency… or impatience?
Or perhaps she actually had no more time and had to act before tomorrow night's banquet.
"Heh… hahaha…"
Even lying there, barely able to move a finger, Miles managed to let out a laugh.
"Trying to confine me this way? Your Majesty, you miscalculated one step."
Indeed, under the current circumstances, his body was fully under the emperor's control.
But only his body.
"Leaving my body here alone is a bit dangerous. Still, since Quaedes promised to give me one day, a dignified emperor should not break her word."
If she had said she would grant him time, then during that period, she likely would not do anything excessive.
In that case, he could safely implement Plan B.
He slowly narrowed his eyes.
It was time—once again—for Soul Exchange.
His soul slipped free from his body, instantly falling into the familiar current of soul traversal.
A new ability Miles had learned after obtaining this body.
Even separated from his former host, as long as Aisha still wore the Millennium Puzzle, he could forcibly exchange souls with her.
Distance did not matter.
When he opened his eyes again, that long-familiar sensation deep within his heart returned. As his awareness resurfaced, he found himself back inside the body he knew all too well.
Slender, powerless arms. White hair, brushing against his cheeks. And most importantly: the reassuring sensation at his chest that felt almost identical to his own.
Without a doubt, this was Aisha Carlos's body.
But why did his mouth taste salty? And why did his nose feel sticky?
Was that… snot?
Someone had been crying. I won't say who.
Aisha: "M-Mr. Miles? Is it really you, Mr. Miles?!"
Suddenly pushed back into the Soul Room of the Millennium Puzzle, Aisha was initially bewildered—but quickly realized that only Miles could have done something like this.
"It's me, Aisha."
"QwQ Waaahhh!" Aisha burst into tears. "I thought you disappeared!"
Spit it out… what nonsense was she saying?
Miles did not know that the reason Aisha was so distraught was because more than anyone, she feared he would one day disappear.
"The soul within the Millennium Puzzle cannot escape the fate of departure."
Ever since learning that, the thought of Miles suddenly vanishing had become her greatest fear.
This time, however, his disappearance had nothing to do with the Millennium Puzzle.
As Aisha's crying abruptly stopped, several others in the room turned their gazes toward her in confusion.
In the heavy atmosphere of the chamber—aside from the Crown Prince, who had gone to deploy guards to search for Miles—everyone from the Kingdom of Livorden was present.
Including one more person: Dark Aisha… now properly called El Carlos, whose condition had plummeted, her eyes vacant and lifeless.
"What's wrong, Aisha?" Irena asked with concern. "Why did you suddenly stop crying?"
That shameless witch… why did even her words of concern sound so shameless?
"Wait… this feeling—"
Snapping out of her empty trance, El Carlos suddenly lunged forward.
"Miles…it's Miles, right? Miles, you're back?"
"Correct~"
He casually grabbed a tissue and wiped away the snot that had nearly reached his lips. Even if it belonged to a beautiful girl, he had no intention of tasting it.
"Eh? Miles?!" Everyone gasped in unison.
Since the Crown Prince was absent and nearly everyone in the room understood the inside story of the Millennium Puzzle, there was no need to hide the matter of soul exchange with Aisha.
"S-So that means… the body Aisha is using right now contains Miles' soul?"
It was Alice who, after learning the truth, was witnessing this scene with her own eyes for the first time.
When the secretly extreme sister-con Alice saw that inside her beloved younger sister's body was the soul of a man and that her sister's body was being controlled and casually used…
Elra: "Rein in your killing intent, Alice."
"I already am."
"Really? Because it wouldn't surprise me if you pounced on him in the next second. Let me remind you: if you punch Miles, the one getting hurt will be your sister's body."
"…"
Control. She had to control her emotions. Alice admonished herself. This was a special situation. Since Miles, who had been forcibly teleported away by spatial magic, had returned in this form, he must have encountered trouble he could not resolve alone.
"What exactly happened, Miles?" Alice forced the words out through clenched teeth.
Miles had been forcibly teleported away. Even though the Crown Prince's guards later captured the kidnappers, they learned nothing useful.
Those men had only taken money to do a job. They just knew that they were to abduct the youngest boy in the carriage; they did not even know who had hired them.
As for the most critical figure, the mage who had cast the spatial transfer, he had fled along with the spell, leaving no trace.
In such circumstances, searching would likely be futile. Yet Homar Kaiser had not given up and resolutely led a team to conduct a thorough search across the imperial capital.
Everywhere except the most critical location: the imperial palace. Even the Crown Prince of Livorden had no authority to search within the Empire's palace.
So it was destined to yield nothing.
"What? Miles, you were captured by the emperor?!"
After hearing the shocking truth from Miles, everyone exchanged looks before asking the same question.
"Why?"
"Ahem… probably because she found out I possess a God Card and wanted to seize it," Miles replied, offering a fairly plausible excuse.
The highest form of a lie was to mix it with truth.
Emperor Quaedes had indeed taken him because she knew he could wield a God Card.
As for the deeper reason, Miles judged that for now, it was better left unsaid.
If these women found out that Quaedes had taken him merely to claim the genetic qualification to control a God Card by sleeping with him… There was no telling how chaotic things would become.
"The palace, huh… that's troublesome," Irena tapped her forehead thoughtfully. "If it were anywhere else, and we knew the location, I could use spatial magic to bring you back. But inside the palace, that's impossible."
"Why can't you teleport into the palace?" Dark Aisha asked curiously.
"Important places like the imperial palace are protected by anti-teleportation barriers. Ordinary mages can't freely enter or exit. Only their own people can cast spatial magic inside."
"I see…" Miles nodded in understanding.
So his plan to ask Irena to use spatial transfer to steal his body out of the palace had been doomed before it even began.
"If we can't teleport in, then we'll break in," Nova said angrily, rolling up her sleeves and exposing her slender arms.
"It's outrageous! Kidnapping Miles when he's a guest. I'll have my royal brother bring the guards into the palace to demand his return!"
"Calm down, Nova," Alice stopped her. "That won't work either. Give it up."
"Why not? Are we supposed to just accept being looked down on? In terms of national power, Livorden is no weaker than the Varian Empire!"
"That's precisely why we can't demand him back," Alice explained. "Without solid evidence, they will deny it one thousand percent."
If the emperor admitted to kidnapping an invited guest, especially during this delicate period of repairing relations between the Empire and Livorden, the already fragile diplomatic ties would shatter in an instant.
And precisely because Livorden's strength rivaled the Empire's, the Empire would never easily tear off the mask. In other words, they would absolutely never admit to abducting Miles.
"Ugh!" After hearing Alice's explanation and understanding the situation, Nova slumped onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
"This won't work, that won't work… then how are we supposed to rescue Miles?"
"Actually," said Miles, who despite being abducted by the emperor was still sitting right in front of them, "it's not absolutely necessary to rescue me."
"Huh? We're not going to rescue you?" Dark Aisha asked in confusion.
"Whether you rescue me or not doesn't really make a difference." Controlling Aisha's body, Miles stood up to demonstrate. "See? I'm perfectly fine."
The next second, however, a wave of dizziness surged straight to his head, and he nearly collapsed. He barely managed to steady himself by grabbing onto Alice.
It seemed that even after changing bodies, the aftereffects of Emperor Quaedes's overwhelming spiritual force during the Duel still lingered in his soul.
Leaning against Alice, Miles continued, "Let's proceed with the original plan."
The original plan was what Prince Zepha Soroya had proposed: defeat Emperor Quaedes at her birthday banquet tomorrow night and prevent the summoning of Numerounius.
Even after personally experiencing the emperor's power, Miles still chose to follow through.
Quaedes's strength was unlike any opponent he had faced before.
It was like an unfathomable ocean. Even after striking with Obelisk's infinite Attack, Miles could not glimpse the emperor's true limit.
Chaos Rank-Ups and The Seventh One. If Quaedes's Extra Deck truly contained all Numbers from 101 to 107, along with their Chaos forms…
Then the limit of the strongest emperor's power would exceed even what she had displayed today.
Despite that, Miles decided to fight her again.
The reason was simple.
This time, he would not be fighting alone.
"I'm counting on you tomorrow, Aisha. It's been a while since we dueled together!"
"Mr. Miles!"
The two whom Emperor Quaedes coveted for their genetic qualification to wield God Cards were now united in one body.
Thinking back, from beginning to end, it had always been Aisha who stood beside him in the most difficult boss battles.
No matter what god stood on the other side, it had always been beaten down.
"Aisha, it's because you're with me that I've made it this far! So this time, let's defeat the strongest!"
Miles could hardly wait to seek revenge on the Empire's emperor.
At the same time, he looked forward to seeing what expression would appear on Quaedes's once-frosted face when she learned that his soul now resided in Aisha's body and had risen against her once again.
So after losing a boss fight… you insert another coin and gain an extra life?
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