When the doors opened, the interior of the well built castle appeared before me. Even if I went to this place before, I never looked at the castle clearly. The decorations, the furniture and the paintings on the walls are really beautiful.
I entered the castle and a few servants looked at me, and one started approaching me immediately.
"Mister Verlt. It's an honor for us to have you here. Do you want to see Lord Klir?"
"Yes."
"Unfortunately, he's not here yet. You can wait for him in the waiting room, if you want, sir."
"Okay." My answers were slightly dry, like something Dern would probably say in public with a stranger.
The servant in front of me was really polite and they kindly guided me towards the waiting room.
The waiting room was really luxurious as I expected, it's a royal castle after all. There are two dark sofas that look comfortable, a beautiful table with quality food and tea. Despite the fact that the flowers looked like they were never watered, everything looked fine.
After the servant closed the door and left me in this room, I sat down on the sofa. 'That's pretty comfortable.' I thought as I was looking at my surroundings.
I took something from my coat pocket, it's a black notebook with a pen attached. Inside the notebook, a specific line is written on the very first page.
「Personal Observation of Xin Rhun ♡」
The heart was a little too much but it was fine, it's my notebook after all. Nobody will discover what I wrote in this.
After the few days I had spent in this world, I was able to observe Rhun and Kayle quite a bit. Kayle is a very good teacher, He teaches Rhun many things that I could never teach him; after all, Dern was already quite strong mentally and magically, but his physical strength was still quite normal.
Furthermore, he was easily killed by Rhun, especially since Dern had no weapon with him. Otherwise, Dern would have taken anything sharp and tortured or killed Rhun. The first option is much more suitable for him. Everything that exists is a weapon to him, and he loves torturing people to death. Only if it's necessary.
But anyway, Rhun is now in good hands... I hope.
I flipped the pages of my notebook while waiting for the emperor. My analysis of Rhun was not really well explained but it's really fun to read it after writing this.
Obviously, the other notebook was in my coat pocket too but it was locked with a special magical spell thanks to Dern. We can switch control of this body after all, but I'm mostly the one in control.
'Why does it sound weird when I say that like that...?'
Anyway, even if I don't really trust Dern or Kayle, they seem to be on my side. Especially Dern, but Kayle just obeys him so it's not like Kayle is actually on my side, he's just loyal to his Dern like always.
By the way, the emperor Klir was one of the closest Dern's allies. He's someone who would do anything for him but can also stab Dern on the back in the moment Dern starts to change their plans.
Slavery already exists before even Dern was in this. Klir was the emperor but he'd been involved in illegal activities for quite some time. He was involved in selling illegal drugs, potions, complicity to human trafficking, and even slavery. He had no reason to do something like that! Throughout the entire generation of the Orinus royal family, Klir is one of the first people in THFABW history to abuse his power against others, even if it could happen with anyone in real life.
'He's such a psycho!'
It's not even half of what he did.
I opened my notebook about all of THFABW's story.
All of Klir's crimes were written in my notebook.
So...
[Klir's actions in The Hope For A Better World]
— Kidnapping
— Threats
— Homicide
— Physical abuse
— Psychological abuse
— Exploitation
— Torture
— Sale of ill€gal dr█gs
— S€xu@l h@r█ssment
— R@p€
— etc....
My gaze cools as I look at this list; it's as if I'm reading about a born horror. I can't even describe the intense feeling of hatred I have towards this person without even looking at his face.
"..."
I remained silent, looking at the entire list on my notebook. How did I even write all of that?
"In all my life, he's actually the character in THFABW I h@t€d the m0st, he had no dev€lopm█nt, no b@ckstory, no tr@um#, no r€as0n to do that and he's just a stupid b@st█rd char#cter with p0w€rs!"
I found myself talking out loud and I quickly shut up before someone thought I was crazy. That was unlike me to judge a person like that in the back. Even if it was a character, it's a person now. So, it's completely different.. but I still don't like him. He's still a cruel person.
I hate him with my being. I don't even need to have pity or something like that for me, if only I was not in Dern's body, I could kill him like how he deserves it.
"Sigh..."
I shouldn't think about that in a situation like that. 'I'm so overthinking..'
I put away my notebook on THFABW and refocused on reading what I had written in my notebook about Rhun.
After a few minutes, I closed my notebook and put it away. 'The emperor Klir is completely taking his time.'
I looked at a portrait hanging on the wall. This portrait showed Klir and his two parents beside him.
"..."
I turn my attention to the clock.
[11:49]
It's already this time? If he's not coming, I'm just gonna stay here for a long time. Klir seems to be really busy, or he's just trying to make "Dern" mad because of his lateness.
"Sigh... Though, he has a great family... ugh..."
I shouldn't think about that right now.
Since I had nothing to do and to read, I took a book from a shelf near me. "The Life of a Regressor".
'Uhm.... I like stories like that.'
Reading is really my favorite hobby. I can escape real life with fiction, and I can take fiction into reality. And right now, I'm actually in it.
"It feels like a dream... A good dream..."
A slight smile forms on my lips because of the thought of that. And I started reading the book in my hands.
* * *
[12:51]
Klir had now returned to the castle. He opened the door of the grand castle, and everyone turned around to see him.
When Klir passed, the servants told him that Dern was here, looking for him and Klir immediately showed a bright smile because of this information.
"Really? After almost two weeks, this pretty boy finally chose to visit me again." Klir said it in a playing tone. Dern and him were just a bit close but Klir was surely attached to Dern.
"Where is Dern?"
After asking that, a servant right away conduits Klir towards the waiting where Dern was.
Klir entered the room discreetly and saw Dern on the sofa, he had a book in his hand, and he was sleeping sitting up.
Seeing this, Klir's smile widened slightly. Klir approached the place where Dern was sleeping.
Klir lightly touched a strand of Dern's hair, he smelled the fragrance of Dern's beautiful hair.
"Still as beautiful as ever."
Klir watches Dern's peaceful expression as he sleeps; it's strange, Dern has the face of an angel even though he's a complete psychopath. Klir slightly moved his hand towards Dern's chin. Klir had an idea in mind.
But before Klir could even touch Dern, his eyes opened and he immediately glanced at him.
Dern abruptly grabs Klir's approaching hand.
"Don't touch me." Dern's tone was firm and cold.
An expression of surprise appeared on Klir's face. "Wow, you're actually scary, my dear." Klir's smile didn't flinch even after Dern's action. This bastard was such a crackhead.
But the thing Klir didn't know was that this is not actually Dern. Jein was surprisingly good to act like Dern when it comes to other people like Klir.
___
After everything that happened, Klir and I were in Klir's bureau, I sat in front of him. The atmosphere was suddenly cold, for people who know each other like Klir and Dern, the silence was heavy.
Klir finally spoke, "Sorry if I was a bit late while you waited for me. I didn't know about this, I'm really happy you came here for me!"
A smirk on Klir's face, he was actually surprised that Dern could go to him by himself. Sometimes, it was just Klir who forced Dern to see him for business.
I was completely irritated with every word Klir says but I restrained myself from hitting him and forced a slight smile.
"Don't worry, I was not waiting this much."
Klir was confused by my words. "Oh, my dear. You're pretty kind today, I didn't know about that part of you, my Dern."
Was I really being too kind? I'm just polite and it's like he's seeing an alien, Dern was really a mess, huh. But calling Dern with "my" ? Was Klir just a bastard who wanted Dern or something?
'Damn it...' Klir was really getting on my nerves.
Klir took a cup of tea to the table and he drank that while I was still thinking.
"So, what is the purpose of your visit, my dear Dern?" Klir asked in a light tone. That was the question I waited for. It will be hard to say that but...
I gulped and started to talk in a serious tone. "Emperor Klir, I've been thinking about it for a while now and..."
"...?" Klir stared at me with confused eyes, I hesitated for a moment before continuing.
"I want to end our company." I said seriously in front of Klir. Klir froze, he then put down his cup of tea and he looked at me.
His expression was as if he doubted what he heard. "What...?"
Klir continued speaking with a strangely dangerous tone. "What do you mean ending that?! It's been months since you helped me with this and only now you're telling me you don't want to??"
I could feel Klir losing a little control, Dern never joked about things as important as their company or relationship with Klir.
I looked at Klir's eyes, his golden eyes were cold as if it was the calm before the storm. "Uhm... Yeah, I want to end it even after what we went through. And what is even the meaning of it? Even after selling one hundred or two hundred slave people, we cannot be with demons indefinitely."
Everything I've said so far was totally false. If Klir and Dern continued all of this, they could've been the most powerful people with the help of demons. And I was not really sure if I would win against Klir even if we're just talking about some business.
Before I realized it, Klir started to laugh. 'Is he now getting insane? It's not really surprising though.' I sat there awkwardly, waiting for Klir's answer while he was... laughing like a crazy clown?
And after a few seconds, Klir finally spoke, "Ah... my dear Dern.. You really think I'm that stupid? All you say is just b#llsh#t. It seems like you just want to quit because of something else than that."
Damn, he was right. A cold sweat trickled down my neck and I tried to keep my composure without panicking as I tried to continue talking. "I'm not..."
Before I could even form a sentence, Klir cut me off. "Don't lie to me. I know you very... very well." While saying that, Klir was clearly looking at my body and that was obvious what he was talking about. His glaze at my body irritated me more than anything else.
'What does he think he is?'
But before I could speak, I started to feel dizzy and I smelled a strange odor coming from somewhere. I couldn't move my body anymore, it was as if it were paralyzed to the point that someone was controlling it.
'What is happening to me? And this strange smell... It's getting stronger and stronger.'
I covered my nose with my hand, but the smell still wouldn't go away and I couldn't even concentrate on my conversation with Klir anymore. I tried to look at Klir but my vision was starting to be blurry.
As a few seconds passed, I almost lost consciousness but my... or maybe Dern's body was still there, not a sign of me fainting or something like that. It was as if... 'Ah, I can't think anymore...'
As my condition worsened, without my noticing, Klir approached me. He was standing in front of me, watching me suffer, sitting on the sofa.
'What is happening to me...?' A terrible headache flashed in my head, it was so painful. All the parts of my body were aching from inside, I didn't even know how to describe that. 'It hurts... It hurts... It hurts... please, make it stop...'
The pain was so intense, but after what I would say a minute the pain began to lessen slightly, but I was still in pain nonetheless. My mind was in complete chaos and I couldn't even look Klir in the eyes, as I believed he was still sitting in front of me. But before I could even try to move, I felt a hand placed on my chin to turn on the direction of the person's face.
"Huh...? Who is it...?" I said in a dumbfounded expression. I couldn't see anything yet because of my blurry vision, it felt so real that I almost thought I was going to end up blind at this time.
After a long silence, the person responded to me with a little mocking laugh. "You're such a weak and pathetic person, my dear. Don't ever confront me again or I'll do something even worse than what I'm going to do to you."
It feels like this person was smirking at me while saying that and this voice... It was him again. Klir Orinus.
'Was it because of this bastard that I'm like that...? I swear, I will.... ³█r€....'
My mind slowly loses his control..
___
"Dern's" eyes had gone blank, and Klir looked at him with a strange expression.
What Jein had felt after smelling a strange odor earlier was a symptom of Klir's power, he uses it primarily against his victims, who are slaves, so that they behave well; this power is primarily used to hypnotize people, but it can also be used to torture them sometimes.
Since Klir was in a somewhat good mood, he wanted to play with "Dern," but what Jein did caused damage. Klir now wants to do everything possible to make "Dern" suffer, at least for a few moments.
And it's not even the first time Klir did that to Dern.. Klir had already used his abilities on Dern several times before; even though Dern was his companion, Klir was still that kind of person. He had always wanted to possess Dern but he never could have him. He can't because it's not what "companions" do, and furthermore, Klir already gained Dern's trust a long time ago, so being actively involved with him like that could throw a wrench in the works.
And of course, originally, Dern didn't know about all of what Klir did to him. It was just Klir's personal goal, to "have fun" with his companions, isn't that a good thing to do?
[....]
Klir looked "Dern" straight in the eyes, and then he smiled arrogantly while looking at the hypnotized "Dern".
"Smile for me, my beloved puppy. Obey your kind master now." Klir said that in a childish voice with his arrogant smile.
"Dern" actually smiled at Klir's words, he gently obeyed his master's words like a well-trained dog. That was disgusting to see.
Klir gently held Dern's soft face in his hands. Dern's face was always so beautiful when he smiled, like an angel fallen from heaven. And it was because of that pretty face that Dern had fallen into Klir's clutches, and from Klir's point of view, it was Dern's fault that he had been seduced by him. It was Dern's fault, not his. (But obviously it was Klir's fault but he doesn't want to admit it.)
Klir brought his face slightly closer to Dern's and in a terrifyingly soft voice, he whispered in Dern's ear. "Now, let's get down to business. Are you ready to be punished by your master, Dern?"
This sadist person was saying such words. If Jein was not hypnotized, he would immediately punch at that handsome face of Klir's.
"Dern" smiled brightly and replied in a timidly soft voice to his master. "Yes, master. I'll do anything for you."
___
As Klir's face was moving closer and closer to my own face, I heard a familiar voice in my head.
[Jein. Don't let this b@$t█rd touch an even tiny part of you or my body.]
My consciousness was shaking at these words. It was Dern's voice, but his voice was a little strange. As if it was desperate.
'What.... how do you...'
[We don't have time to explain this. You're being hypnotized and I did what I did to make you conscious. So, now, just hit that b█$t@rd already!]
As he said that, I opened my eyes and saw Klir's face. My vision was no longer blurry but my head was still a little bit shaking. And when I understood what this j€rk Klir was going to do.. with what little strength I still had left to move, I struck him with my knee in the stomach.
A painful pain passed through Klir's stomach and he doubled over on the ground. And after a few seconds, he finally looked at me and he realized I was not hypnotized anymore. I immediately stood up and I took a few steps back at his glaze.
"Huh..? Dern... you're not hyp—... uh..." Klir immediately realized he was out in the open when he saw my look of fear and disgust as I looked at him. Klir flinched, it was surely because maybe before, Dern was never able to protect himself from hypnosis or had any ability to resist it.
"How did you..." Klir stopped himself, he wouldn't even dare to say that he really hypnotized me to do something. And then, with a weak fake sincere smile, he started to talk. "Dern, I can explain.. it's not what you think it is... I..."
"There's nothing to explain, Emperor Klir. I must go now." I looked at Klir for the last time before I opened the door and I quickly shut it up. I could still hear Klir's voice shouting at me from behind the door.
But I didn't listen to him and I walked quickly through the large castle and finally left that place.
When I was finally out, I was walking along a sidewalk where there was no one and I sat down on the ground. My body was trembling, and I couldn't stop the shaking even after a few minutes. I was so... scared.
What if Dern didn't save me? What if I was still hypnotized and Klir did "that" to me..? I was lucky because of Dern but... I should be more careful in the future if I don't want to be a victim.
I looked at my hands, which were still trembling slightly, and lightly touched my hair.
"Ah... Damn..."
[...]
After a little while, I finally thought of Dern, who was still there, and in a somewhat weak voice, I asked him. "Are you going to just watch me and not say anything?"
I said it out loud by accident, at least there was no one there, otherwise people will think I'm crazy.
[I... This is actually a situation where I don't know what to say... uhm...]
'So... You're just gonna stay like that...? Don't you want to talk about what Klir did?'
[...]
[I'm not really shocked he did that to me though... He's... He's that kind of person after all and I...]
'Don't say that... He was your companion and nobody deserves to go through that..'
[...]
[I see that you're always a good person as before, dear Jein.]
I couldn't see what his expression was but Dern was surely smiling a bit. I can't even think that just a few days ago he was just an arrogant nobleman I've known just through a book and now...
[We should leave now.]
As I was still thinking, Dern suddenly said that. 'Really?'
[Yes. Kayle is probably worried about me. And also, he put a radar in your pocket.]
'What the—... Okay, I'm not even surprised at this point. We can go now and talk about all that later.'
I stood up from the floor and I started to walk towards the road.