It all starts with Love Chapter 2
Like the sweet droplets of despair, those words embedded itself slowly. The dumbfounded sword saint could only function his mouth like that of a fish. After all, that single word coming from that mouth was utterly out of place here. This silence was accompanied by cold strands of wind. And standing in front of him was the queen of Lugunica, the same person he had just confessed to.
"F-Felt-sama, I must have misheard you. I apologize for that. Could you once again repeat-"
"Ahh, I guess in the end a meatbag is nothing but a meatbag, huh! It really is laughable. Kahaha!"
"...Fe…No, you are….."
"Honestly, I can't stop laughing at your miserable self. 'I love you!', you said! Hahaha."
In that same voice, with that same face and in that same figure, 'Felt' mocked him. Laughing uncontrollably and with a devilish grin that did not suit that appearance, she continued to spit out venomous words. And as she did, an uncanny wind started to surround her.
"It was all for the sake of my scheme that I had to keep up with that farce. But as expected, even I was surprised and excited at the same time when you decided to give such a passionate confession of Love. Ah, I guess beauty such as mine is too hard to resist, eh. Gahaha!"
Once again that malicious laughter struck and rattled the insides of a listener's eardrums. Though that voice was the same as the liege he knew, that way of speaking and that unbearable way of laughing belonged to someone else. And that someone else was-
"No, no that cannot be possible. There is no way!" With a small but powerful stomp, the sword saint quickly rose to his feet. Then with a glare that would scare even the most powerful of entities, he pointed his finger at 'Felt' and spoke, "Who, who are you?! Reveal your identity and what you did with Felt-sama this instant!"
Receiving these words, the maddening laughter died down. As the cold wind surrounding her grew in proportion, her voice rang out. "Geez, chill out Mr Sword saint. If you want to know about this amazing lady that badly, then I will tell you all about me. Watch! Watch as the most venerable of existences graces you."
In an instant ,her body morphed. Twisting, turning and metamorphosing, the figure of Felt was quickly replaced with another. With disgusting sounds and visuals, the body of a golden-haired girl appeared. With crimson eyes, circular appendages above her waist, and a very revealing outfit that covered her small body, the villain commonly known as the Archbishop of Lust revealed herself.
That same moment, having confirmed what was in front of him, Reinhard made his move. Using his hand to form a stance similar to that of a sword, he dashed forward with clear killing intent in his eyes. And as the flower bouquet was launched into the atmosphere above, a disturbing voice reached his ear.
"-Don't you care what happens to your Felt-sama?"
That simple question was enough to stop his hand just short of Capella's neck. As much as he wanted to continue, the implications of her words were clear to him. "Felt-sama has been taken hostage! How could I be so pathetic?! Even though I was present. Even though I promised to protect her!"
"You, you are a fairly disrespectful guy. Raising your hand towards a lady like me is surprising coming from you."
"Shut up! A villain like you is not worthy of my respect, especially right now. Why are you here, Capella!? What did you do with Felt-sama?! If you don't answer these questions right now, then I will kill you for sure."
"-Oi, Sword saint." With those crimson eyes glowing with a slight hue, Capella looked directly into the threatening eyes upon her. Speaking in a calm but deadly voice, she gave her opinion on this matter. "Don't appreciate you threatening me like that. I think you need to understand with that tiny brain of yours, about who in this situation has the advantage. Put that disgusting hand down! If you don't obey me like a cute little puppy, then this Capella-sama makes you a promise."
Putting her face right next to his, she spoke, "-Your precious little Queen shall die. The moment you make a single step that is outside of my rule, that is outside of my expectations, Felt will be killed."
"..."
"I came here with the resolve that I could be easily killed . You guys are already aware of my power. I could attempt to use my authority on you and experiment whether you could acquire any divine protections against it. But, 'that witch' warned me against it. Ah, do not worry though. If even a single strand of my hair was hurt or if anything outside of this grand scheme were to happen, Felt will be killed. You could attempt to locate and reach her, of course. But, sword saint Reinhard. Do you have the resolve to risk failing to make it in time? After all, you even failed to avert her kidnapping! Gahaha!"
Biting hard on his lips and lowering his eyes, he quietly obeyed her. With silent dread filing him to the brink, Reinhard thought hard about what he could accomplish in this situation. But right now, the only thing that surfaced in his mind was his own failure.
"How long? How long have you been impersonating her?"
"Hmm, how long is it? Gaha! Around when the coronation for the new Queen happened, you know. So about 6 months?"
"...Impossible. Such a thing! During that , I was…..i was…"
"Oh, it is possible all right. It is way more possible than you think, meatbag. What were you doing at that time? Mourning the loss of your grandfather? Rejoicing over your mother's awakening? Or maybe helping out a long lost friend? Ah, should have informed you earlier! Other than your beloved liege, we acquired a new hostage. It pretty much just got delivered today! Pretty sure, that ugly woman looked like this."
Saying that, Capella changed her body once again. And appearing there, much to Reinhard's ever-growing despair, was a blond-haired young woman.
"Mother!"
"Gahaha! That's right, that's right. It is me Rein, your 'Mother'."
"-You bastard!" Once again a small, angry stomp rang out in the room. That stomp was simply met with another bout of laughter. At that sinful archbishop who defiled everything that was just, Reinhard could only lament at his powerlessness.
Looking deep within himself, he tried to grasp any and all divine protections that could help him rescue those two. But at the same time he began to do it, Capella interfered.
"Oi, you meatbag. I have two orders already. If you don't obey those in the next five seconds, then you already know what is going to happen." Saying that she suddenly embedded her hand inside her own flesh. And from there, she procured something.
"Swallow it!"
"This is…."
"Ah, it's a lovely subject of mine who adored me so much that it turned into this. What a beautiful display of Love that was. Mama was and is very happy! And that is why she rewarded that person." Held in her hand was an insect.
"One!"
With the appearance of a palm-sized spider, it wriggled and moved about.
"Two!"
Its eyes were crimson red and its skin was golden.
"Three!"
With a sadistic smile on her face, she gazed at the sword saint.
Looking at that same girl with clear hatred, he asked, "Are those two alright? Did you do anything to them?"
"Four! Unfortunately, those two are pretty much safe and healthy. "That witch" gave some incomprehensible orders after all."
Acknowledging those words, Reinhard did the only thing he could in this situation. The sensation of something entering his mouth reached his brain. With its fur reaching his throat, it wriggled inside him. Soon a sharp pain was experienced as the spider crawled its way inside him. Reaching the location it desired to reach, the insect settled itself close to his heart.
"Oh, ho! You did it, you did it. Yahoo! I guess up next is your sword. Give it here."
"One!...Oh, you were fairly early for this one. Guess you're getting used to this. Gaha!"
With her order's fulfilled, she once again changed into Felt's form. Looking over Reinhard with sadistic glee, she slowly walked towards the door.
"That insect."
"Hmm, what is it, Rein?" Reinhard's whisper was heard and replied by that same lovely voice that he had come to adore. But now, hearing it only caused his hatred to grow further. Shaking his head and trying his best to control his emotions, he turned his whisper into a question.
"What is the purpose of making me swallow that thing? I can still feel its vitality even now."
"Hmm, it's another extra precaution against you. That helps with knowing your location, your actions, your intentions and even your emotions. It even has a self-destruct feature. Well, to be honest such a bright result was not accomplished by my authority alone. But you can keep your complaints for 'that witch'. For now we have other matters to deal with."
"This witch that she is talking about, who could she be. We still are not aware of the Witch Cult's intricacies and relationships to the fullest extent. For some reason, progress had died completely after the battle in Pristella. Ever since then, we have not been able to strike back even once-" Before he could ponder any further, a sound from outside the room reached him.
After a weird pattern of knocking and permission from 'Felt', two royal knights that usually stand guard outside the door, entered.
"Weird. I had sent those two away for the sake of my confession. Did they notice the commotion? But what is even more strange is their eyes." With a confused expression plastered on his face, Reinhard looked towards the two whose eyes felt emotionless. It appeared as if something had completely changed within the two. Or maybe that the two were now acting like their true selves.
Both of those royal knights quickly bowed in front of the queen. And then-
" " Capella-sama. We have a report.""
"..." At those words, Rein could only display his speechlessness. After all, two royal knights had just bowed and recognized a sin arcbishop. It wasn't as if the two were just strangers or newbies. Reinhard knew them to a certain extent and was aware that both had been with the Kingdom for several years now. And noticing his shock, his liege was the one who took action.
"Ah, you two. Why don't you properly introduce yourself?"
" " Yes! Both of us blessed servants are nothing but tools belonging to the great Capella-sama. It has been our honor to be in service to her for many years now. We introduce ourselves to you, Reinhard-sama.""
"Gahaha! Good job you maggots. Look at that. Poor Rein is still so shocked. Well, I'll spare him the details later. Now, tell me the report. Have those guys arrived?"
" " Yes. The sage council has arrived at the royal palace at the queen's behest.""
Hearing that conversation and feeling his blood run cold, Reinhard asked, "You, what are you planning to do with the council?!"
"Uwaa, don't be so loud. Capella-sama has sensitive ears, you see." Replying in her usual way, she suddenly changed her demeanor. "Goddammit Rein, you are always such a pain. I just simply need those geezers for some 'counseling'. It's my job as a queen after all. Why do you have such an incomprehensible expression on you? E-even though you said you l-love me." Purposely, she acted and spoke the exact same way as the young girl who had been taken hostage. Purposely she mocked him even more, sinking him ever deeper into her malicious web.
As his eyes continued to dim further and further, 'Felt' held out her hand to him.
"Cmon, Rein. As my knight you have some work ahead of you. Take my hand and don't disappoint me, yeah? I did say I would work you to the bone when you pledged yourself to me."
Surrendering his hand to her's, Reinhard's other hand reached inside his pocket. There lay that black ring box which he held tightly. Clutching it, he prayed.
He prayed that whatever may he be forced to do from now, may it not involve the ones closest to him.
.
.
.
Author's note: Writing this, I wonder if i was able to properly depict Capella's personality here. Also, Subaru is definitely going to appear later. And I am going to write chapters on how he got to his present circumstances and what he is doing now.
Information regarding the major events that have led to this point will be revealed slowly. Stuff like the war between Lugunica and Vollachia, the other camps, who is alive and who is dead, etc. I don't want to just dump it all at once.
