after another." "If so, then I daresay you have me to thank. If you wish to drop to your knees and express your reverent gratitude, I certainly shan't stop you." "Why? Just why?" They were bold words, coming from the person who'd shoved him into a magical device against his will. Kaito squinted at her. However, it was true that she was the one who'd destroyed that world. Wait, was she looking out for me...in her own weird kind of way, mind you? Suddenly, Kaito was reminded of a few other things that had piqued his interest. There were those traces of an explosion back in the garden. There was the way she'd said that she "just went through a rather unpleasant experience." And there was the way she'd acted as though something had just happened. Could it be? Had she been working on his behalf, even before she stuck him in the ball? It seemed like it might be possible, so Kaito decided to ask her. Before he could get the words out, though, Elisabeth turned once more. "Now then, Kaito, 'tis almost dinnertime. Should my meal be late, I assume you've no objections to finding yourself atop the Ducking Stool." "Actually, I think I have an objection or two." Kaito took it all back. Today, as always, Elisabeth Le Fanu's cruelty was in perfect form. Even in the evenings, Kaito still had plenty of work to do. First, he had to draw a hot bath for Elisabeth. Then he had to go around and check the magic lamps to see if any of them had gone out. And although it was an impossible task due to the castle's sheer size, he also had to make sure all the windows were closed and the doors were locked. If Elisabeth wanted wine with her dinner, he had to go get that, too. All in all, his evening workload was nothing to sneeze at. Once he was finally finished, Kaito staggered back to the servant quarters. He made his way to his room and sat down on his bed. As he looked up at the ceiling, he let out a small murmur. "God, I'm pooped." Not only had his day been filled with all sorts of bizarre mayhem, but he'd also had to do a full day's workload on top of that. Plus, he didn't even know if that strange device had actually worked or not. After dinner, Elisabeth had brazenly made yet another proclamation. "From today on, I suspect you'll have nightmares just the same as anyone! But I've a feeling that there may or may not be a chance that their frequency could well decrease!" Kaito didn't even know where to start with that one. That was a whole lot of words for not a lot of certainty. Her proof, as always, was nowhere to be found. Strangely, though, he didn't find that fact all that upsetting. A device that "reproduces the symbolic cause of nightmares" and ends them "by having a third party destroy the reproduction, thereby freeing the subject's mind," huh? The entire sequence of events had been totally absurd, but he had to admit that it had been kind of refreshing to watch the world of pain get destroyed. It made him feel like the thorn winding its way through his chest had lightened up a little. As they fell, those thousands of scraps of lightâ€” â€”had looked like beautiful, radiant stars. ...Huh? Wait, was that thing I saw out in the garden a symbol of the pain that caused my nightmares, too? Confused, Kaito tilted his head to the side. He still wasn't sure what that phantom had really been. Maybe it was just a new spin on his nightmare, but he found that hard to believe. He thought back over what it had looked like. It had been in eternal pain, an agony that would never end. It had been a corpse, yet even in death, it had still moved. "...I can't come be by your side." Him assimilating an entity that was going to suffer in pain for eternity wasn't an option. From now on, he served Elisabeth. As foolish of a servant as he may have been, he was all she had. He didn't have time to spend the rest of his days grieving for an event that had long since passed. Plus, he had no desire whatsoever to keep crying even after he died. If I had to die...I'd rather do it happily, with no regrets. It'd be nice if it were a situation where he could say, This was for the bestâ€” â€”where he could do it for someone else's sake and go out with a smile on his face. As that random thought passed through his mind, he collapsed backward onto the bed with his arms and legs sprawled out. He closed his eyes. Based on what Elisabeth had said, the magical device's effects were uncertain. Would he have another nightmare tonight? For a moment, Kaito was seized by worry. However, his exhaustion quickly won out, and he sank into a deep slumber. That night, Kaito Sena had a dream. A strange animal soared overhead, crying, "Bakuuuu," as it flew. It had a round back, and Elisabeth was riding atop it. As she and the creature bobbed gently through the air, she complained about how vile Kaito's cooking was. Well, that's not very Torture Princess-y of her, Kaito exasperatedly mused. It was a weird dream, to be sureâ€” â€”but it was about as far from a nightmare as they came. A Message from Someone (2) I'm at a little bit of a loss here. As you can see, my words were able to get through to you. Now, I have no guarantee that they're actually reaching you, but...let's assume they are. Like a miracle. But now that I have this once-in-a-lifetime chance, what should I use it to say? Hmm...I suppose I should start by reviewing my assumptions. First, that you live in this world, this fragile land that Diablo destroys and God constructs anew. And second, that you, like everything else that exists, are one of God's creations. With that in mind, then as long as you're not an exceedingly young child, then you've probably heard a dozen or two quotes of mine. Perhaps more, if you're particularly scholarly or fond of folklore. For such quotes were written down and passed through the ages. "She spoke thus," they probably all started. However, I have an unfortunate truth I need to share with you. Those were all lies. None of them were my words. They may have been affectionate or perhaps filled with deep unspoken meaning, but none of them came from me. Never once did I speak of my memories, and never once did I record one of my thoughts. All those quotes you saw were thought up by someone else before being attributed to me. That was how people embellished my story. They didn't do it out of malice. They merely wanted me to be the manifestation of all their kindness, ideals, and admiration. Most words, when spoken, serve as little more than vague annoyances. But that's precisely why they're more appealing than anything I actually said. Words thought up, chosen, and passed down through the ages by the masses hold much greater significance than those spoken on the spur of the moment by a single person. But as a result, I have no idea what it is I should say now. After all, I have no way of making my true words surpass the false ones that others have passed off as mine. No, now that I think about it, that isn't quite it, is it? It's that I didn't have anything I wanted to convey to you to begin with. Ah, that's right. I... ...I have nothing I want to say. Now I finally see. That was how it's been this whole time, but this was the first moment I realized it consciously. There isn't a single, solitary thing I want to say. There are no morals I want to teach you, no examples I want to set. No, actually, let me be blunt here. I never loved you peopleâ€” â€”and certainly not enough to want to leave you with my words. Kaito's Daily Routine (Back Side) A few days ago, the Torture Princess summoned a soul. Her demon-subjugation efforts took up most of her time, and she had never much cared for doing chores in the first place. As such, she decided to summon an "Unsullied Soul" to take care of her housework for her. However, that requirement was filled by a most unexpected individual. They were killed in a manner far crueler than their sins in life would warrant, trueâ€”but they also hailed from another world. His name was Kaito Sena. Now he was in charge of handling all the chores around her castle. Much to her dismay, though, Kaito's technical skills were lacking across the board, and his cooking in particular was downright disastrous. If it weren't for the one dish he did excel at, purin, Elisabeth would have strongly considered disposing of him. And to top it all off, he hadn't even started making her breakfast yet. In all likelihood, he was oversleeping, a crime that well warranted a punishment of death. "That Kaito... He certainly has some nerve, waking up after his master." When Elisabeth got hungry, she became much akin to a starving lion. Her heels clicked loudly as she strode briskly down the dim, unadorned hallway. The servant quarters were cramped, and they had none of the colored windows, suits of armor, or stone statues decorating their walls like the rest of the castle did. "He only just reincarnated here, and yet it's as though he's forgotten he's in the Torture Princess's castle already. Perhaps I'd best beat some respect for my majesty into him with the cat-o'-nine-tails... Hmm?" All of a sudden, she ended her ominous soliloquy. She frowned and stopped in her tracks. There was something in the middle of the hallway. Or to be more precise, there was a peculiar figure wriggling and squirming in front of Kaito's room. The thing was "soft," and it was stuck to his door, raggedly panting as it scraped its nails against the wood. Its body was split in half down the middle, making it look like the bizarre figure had been brutally torn to shreds. Flaps of skin dangled from the cross section, and for whatever reason, they were accompanied by a series of thin strings. On its other side, its heart was pressed against the door and rapidly pulsating. Given the state of the thing, it was odd that it was even alive. And in fact, it wasn'tâ€”it was "dead." It was nothing but a corpse, yet even so, it was writhing in pain. In that sense, its very existence was contradictory. Despite the fact that it was dead, it was shedding fat tears and scratching at the door in agony. All in all, it made for a rather sorry sight. The vast majority of people who saw it would have wanted to do something to help. Some might even feel guilty about how carefree their own lives were in comparison. However, Elisabeth was not the vast majority of people. She coldly clicked her tongue. "Unable to vanish, eh? Begone, now. You shan't find what you seek here." The moment she rejected it, it froze in place. Then without displaying an ounce of displeasure or annoyance, it disappeared. The vast pool of blood it had been accompanied with vanished as well. It left nothing behind. Hmph, Elisabeth scoffed. Irritated, she kicked Kaito's door open. After entering, she narrowed her eyes. Golden light was leaking in through the room's shutters, yet the darkness inside had yet to fade. She had little doubt that that was due to the agonized plea the thing had been making though the door.