chapter 42

Chapter 42 - The Desire To Control

"I know. The conference can end here. I have something more important to deal with. The conference shall be held at a later date!"

"Oh… I understand. Eh? Lady Dolin, how come…"

Vampire princess Dolin, who had been collapsed on the ground earlier, now appeared to be completely uninjured as she walked towards Heather. Dolin had clearly just been baked by flames at such a high temperature, and her head had suffered burn injuries. Yet, her astounding regenerative abilities helped her to fully recover to the extent where the skin on her face appeared completely undamaged. The only trace left behind was that her clothing was somewhat scorched.

"Although she didn't run away this time, what about the next time? Or the next time after that? Can you guarantee that she'll never run away? That's why you should always tightly 'leash' your own pet wherever you go in the future, Lady Heather…"

Heather heard Dolin's words quite clearly.

"Is that so? Please don't worry about me. My pet knows what's good for her. Even if I give her a chance to escape, she won't take it…"

Heather announced this as if she was making a declaration. She then forcefully tugged on Mirabelle's chain while slowly walking to the pet store's exit.

"That attitude… she's so unpleasant to deal with…"

Dolin was rather angry as she watched Heather leave.

Mirabelle also realized that Heather was angry due to feeling the force on her collar. However, Mirabelle didn't know how she should suck up to Heather. So, she could only obediently walk behind Heather and get on the horse-drawn carriage.

The carriage slowly began to move. Heather's actions also started to change. She tightly embraced Mirabelle who was sitting next to her while asking,

"Why didn't you escape?"

"As I said, why would I try to escape? Master treats me so well, so why would I escape?"

"Aren't you lying to me? Don't think that I don't know what you're actually thinking in your heart. Say it to me!"

Mirabelle silently lowered her head as she felt pressure emanating from Heather's body.

"Wah… I don't dare, I don't dare to escape. I'm afraid that Master will lock me up in that small dark room again, which is why I don't dare to escape…"

"Is that so? I'm going to issue you another command now. No matter the time or place, where you are or what you're doing, you're not allowed to leave my line of sight, ever…"

"Eh? Even… even when I'm going to the bathroom!?"

"That's right, you must also go to the bathroom in front of me!"

"Okay… I understand…"

Mirabelle seemed to resolve herself as she replied. -She never thought that her not escaping would actually lead to Heather's surveillance becoming even stricter.

'Isn't this too unfair?'

However, Heather used her mind-reading magic to read the dissatisfaction in Mirabelle's heart.

"Is there a problem?"

"N… no, since it's Master's command, I have no problems at all…"

Mirabelle was incredibly afraid of angering Heather, which was why she replied in such a helpless tone.

'What should I do from now on? If I have to do every single little thing within Heather's line of sight, doesn't that mean that I won't have even a tiny bit of freedom left?'

Heather was still reading Mirabelle's mind, so she knew exactly what Mirabelle was thinking. Mirabelle wanted freedom…

Still, Mirabelle was only at the level of 'thinking' about freedom.

However, the more that Mirabelle thought about this, the more that Heather wouldn't give her any freedom. Heather intended to one day train Mirabelle to the point where even the latter's thoughts were obedient to Heather.

"Master… aren't you embracing me too tightly? It hurts a little…"

"You're my possession. Can't I hug you a little tightly?"

Lucy glanced slightly backwards with some confusion as she observed the two of them while continuing to drive the horse-drawn carriage back towards the palace.

'-No wonder I felt like something is odd about Milady today. It turns out that she didn't bring that rabbit with her today. Has Mirabelle become the substitute for that rabbit?'

Lucy's observation was quite astute.

Heather had indeed imperceptibly started treating Mirabelle as a substitute for Yuuki.

However, in Heather's mind… she felt that this 'Yuuki' might possibly escape at any moment. In fact, Heather's mind was filled right now with thoughts about if she should permanently cripple Mirabelle's legs so that Mirabelle would permanently become disabled and be unable to properly walk for the rest of her life. That way, Mirabelle would be forced to remain by her side forever.

However, such a thing wasn't necessary quite yet. If Mirabelle made the mistake of trying to escape in the future, then Heather would permanently cripple Mirabelle's legs.

Mirabelle didn't know what Heather was thinking right now. Regardless, she felt that Heather was definitely thinking about something very scary. Mirabelle felt fear seizing her heart as she thought about this. When she returned to her senses, she noticed that Heather was staring at her with eyes that were giving off a blood-red glow.

'So, I won't even have the right of freedom of thought anymore?'

Mirabelle instantly felt like her future was filled with hardship. If Heather was forever by her side, then Heather could use her powerful mind-reading magic on her at any time that she wanted. What was she even supposed to do in that case?

"Sigh…"

Mirabelle sighed deeply as she felt the soft sensation under her butt. She had an expression of having given up as she glanced at the scenery outside the horse-drawn carriage.

Mirabelle desired freedom so much, yet even a tiny bit of freedom seemed like the greatest extravagance now.