Book 8: Chapter 16: Epilogue
Book 8: Chapter 16: Epilogue
Who on earth leaked the information?
I dont think Kukuri and his subordinates would go against my orders, and its not like anything wouldve happened by leaving Ciel alone.
Although she hates me and tries to get in my way, theres only so much she can do with her abilities.
Being the good person that she is, her actions are very limited.
If she was evil, I wouldve eliminated her already since those that can throw caution to the wind are dangerous.
From my perspective, Ciel is the perfect woman to have rolling on my palm.
It wouldve been tough to find a replacement, and it doesnt sit right with me to go out of my way to search for one.
Ciels worth is precisely because shes all-natural.
Basically, its a matter of taste.
In the end, where did the information get leaked from? Should I have Kukuri and his men look into it?
A sense of crisis takes hold of me due to the info leak that has occured.
Just then, Eulisia enters my office with some documents in hand.
Lord Liam, theres something I wish to consult with you. Its about Lady Rosettas personal guards.
Unlike her usual self, Eulisia in work mode is wearing a skirt suit, and giving off the vibe of a competent woman.
She should really take things more seriously on a daily basis.
Rosettas?
I browse through the documents and find nothing interesting about the personal guards that are being assembled.
Its neither good nor bad.
As dull as it is, its a solid selection.
As one would expect of Rosetta. Her personal guards are so unremarkable that its almost boring.
Even so, thats the best we could do.
Giving it your all means nothing.
Whats important in this world is the result, not the effort that you put in. Show me results.
So, mean! Oh, in that case, please praise me.
Huh? You? Why?
Why do I have to praise her?
Shes living off my money, so theres nothing weird with her working for me.
Itd be a waste to keep her otherwise.
Im talking about what happned to Ciel-chan. You see, I was the one who figured out that shes moving behind the scenes to interfere with the selection of Lady Rosettas personal guards!
Eulisia sticks her chest out and declares with confidence and pride.
Stunned, I shoot up from my chair and approach her.
Oh, feeling like praising me? Then be gentle withhey, that hurts!
I give her a good flick, prompting her to crouch down with both her hands covering her forehead.
What gives?!
What have you done, you disappointing woman!
With teary eyes, Eulisia complains about the mistreatment.
I didnt expect the traitor to be right next to me.
This girl must have found evidence of Ciel moving behind the scenes and tattled to Baron Exner!
Take this! And this! And this!
I jab her cheeks with my index finger.
S-stop with the mistreatment!
You should be grateful that Im willing to forgive you with just this. Dont poke your nose into Ciels business from now on.
Holding her cheeks with her hands, Eulisia stares at me, shocked.
Just as Im wondering what shes surprised about, she says something completely out of the blue.
Y-youre getting angry with me, but youre willing to forgive Ciel even when shes betrayed you?! You like her that much?!
It seems shes unwilling to accept the fact that Ciels loved more than herself.
What happened to your plan of casting me aside and breaking up with me?
And to begin with, I dont think there was any love between us.
Shes indeed better than you.
Compared to Eulisia, Ciel can heal my wounded soul.
Shes valuable in that she has what Rosetta lacks.
You keep moving on to other women!
When was I ever into you?
I call B.S.! Amagis the only one Im crazy about!
Eulisia causes a scene, and Rosetta joins us in the midst of that.
Darling, are you done discussing with her? I want to speak to you about my personal guards
Rosetta enters the room with a smile, but upon seeing Eulisia bawling with tears in her eyes, her expression turns cold.
However, the target of her cold gaze is Eulisia, not me.
Eulisia-san, what are you doing?
Me?! So, Im the problem now?! Its clearly Lord Liams fault! Hes cheating on me with another woman!
Why does she think Im interested in her?
Truly, shes being overly self-centered.
If she was less disappointing, I mightve considered treating her a bit better.
Also, its scary how Rosetta doesnt suspect me one bit after seeing whats going on.
Normally, one would take the side of the crying woman.
Her blind trust in me is quite burdensome.
From the looks of things, youre troubling Darling. Also, taking into account your normal behavior, what else do you expect?
Since she knows how Eulisia normally behaves, shes come to the conclusion that Im not the one at fault here.
Rosetta why are you such an easy woman?
You should be more suspicious of me.
Enough. You need me for something?
Oh, rightits about Ciel.
Ciel?
Ciel, after being scolded by her father and brother, had been told to reflect on her actions in her room.
Baron Exner had exclaimed, You wont find a finer aristocrat anywhere else! How could you call him a bad person!
On the other hand, Kurt had said, Apologizing wont be enough. Now that things have come this far, Ill undergo sex reassignment surgery and
Ciels pillow was wet from her tears.
Brothers an idiot! No ones aware of that persons true nature!
What made things worse was that she had to receive the help that Liam had offered for her offense to be overlooked.
He had bowed down before Baron Exner, saying that he was willing to pay however much is needed for her pardon.
With Liams help, Ciels education was once against entrusted to the Banfields.
She was crying because of how pathetic she felt and how her brother was seriously considering changing his gender despite having a fiance.
While her eyes were swollen red, the door to her room opened.
The door should have been locked, but she found Liam standing there.
Yo.
Liam, who was grinning, probably knew how she felt.
He was having the time of his life watching her cry in frustration.
I-its you.
Since youre a maid, you should greet your Master.
As if! Besides, Im currently under house arrest!
Normally, her status didnt allow her to talk back, but Liam looked like he was enjoying himself.
In fact, he seemed to very much welcome the retorts.
What did I say? Nobodys going to trust your words.
Ku!
As things stood, she would be yelled at or asked if she was okay if she went around calling Liam a villain.
However, Ciel wasnt about to give up.
Ill definitely expose your true nature to the world.
She was determined to prove to the others that they were misunderstanding him and that Liam wasnt the good person they thought he was.
Hearing this, Liam brought his face close to Ciels.
I very much look forward to it. Ill be rooting for you, Ciel-chan.
Ill defintely make you regret what youve done today! Ill make you regret ever helping me!
Ciel wasnt about to forgive Liam for tricking her brother.
Kurt was seriously debating whether he should change his gender.
If he did, he would go from being her dear brother to being her dear sister, and Ciel absolutely refused to accept that.
She was going to unmask Liam and open up her brothers eyes.
Ill give you plenty of praise if you manage to do that.
Liam beamed in happiness seeing Ciel maintain her stubborn attitude.
He turned around and left the room.
Ciel wiped off her tears with renewed determination, knowing that it wasnt the time to be crying.
Ill definitely expose your true nature to the world.
In the corner of her room, a faint light that resembled a dog cocked its head as it watched Ciel yell, I wont let my dear brother become my sister! towards the ceiling.
Then, it too exited the room.
Back in my room, Im drinking the tea that Amagi has prepared for me.
This is the time of day when I can have my peace.
Amagi asks a question as she prepares sweets for me.
Is Ciel-san back on her feet?
My heart went cold when I heard she was feeling down, but it seems her spirit isnt broken yet. Shes a rare talent.
She keeps saying shell expose me even though she cant, and I find that really cute.
Its like watching a chihuahua trying to initiate a fight against a tiger.
Master, I dont think its a good idea to tease her so much.
Dont worry about it. Putting that asideI heard Cleos also moving about a lot behind the scenes.
His Highness Cleo?
Hes using the money that Ive provided him with and distributing it to poor aristocrats. I had Kukuri and his men investigate, and it appears hes gathering people that can act as his arms and legs.
Will he remain satisfied as a figurehead, or
Amagi looks towards me. Shes as expressionless as always, but theres a hint of worry in her eyes.
Rest assured. Hes not my enemy.
Master seems pretty relaxed despite being up against His Majesty the Emperor.
Against the entire Empire, a puny lord like myself would normally be obliterated.
However, the fact that hes sneakily moving behind the scenes proves that he cant publicly make a move against me.
That, or hes toying with me.
All things considered; it does bother me.
The Guide mentioned something about my true enemy.
Everything would make sense if it was His Majesty the Emperor was controlling the Berkeley Family from the shadows, but that would also mean hes much more powerful than the likes of Linus and Calvin.
Ill leave the Empire intact if Cleo remains as he is, but if he doesnt
I dont finish my sentence.
Its become highly likely that my true enemy is this countrys Emperor, but that just means I have to do what it takes to beat him, and I fully intend to win.
Seeing that theres still some uneasiness in Amagis eyes, I reassure her.
Theres nothing to worry about. We have a good chance of winning.
But enemies keep appearing one after another.
Well, youre right on that one.
I want to remain cooped up inside my territory and play around, but I havent had any time for that.
Like seriously, I wasnt given any time to play around, even back when I was in university.
Thats why Ill remain in the Capital for a while and enjoy myself.
Since its the Emperor thats moving behind the scenes, even if I were to defeat the enemies that I have right now, more would pop up in due time.
Amagi asks how Ill deal with Cleo.
Is Master thinking of giving His Highness Cleo a warning? I dont recommend leaving him alone.
Ill let him be for now since it will be more interesting that way, and what hes doing is commendable. Dont you see? To stand against me, hes gathering everyone that opposes me.
Those that oppose me are generally good people.
Since my group consists of evil lords, those that oppose us should be made of virtuous ones.
Cleos basically gathering them all in one place and acting like a vaccum cleaner.
Once theyre all nicely gatheredIll erase them.
I should save up my strength for a while. Theres the matter of nurturing successors for the School of One-Flash, not to mention
My One-Flash still falls short of my Masters.
Theres something missing to it.
Should I seek out Master?
Its about time I seek his guidance once more.
I was able to defeat Izel, but Im not sure whether this is the answer to cutting down the uncuttable.
Amagi reports to me as I think about various things.
I believe His Highness Cleo is doing the same thing as Lady Rosetta.
The same as Rosetta?
Yes. To establish her personal guards, shes calling out to knights and aristocrats that are in distress and providing them with support.
Hmm.
No surprise there. Shes a nice person after all.
As expected, it was the right decision to establish her personal guards.
With just Eulisia alone, shell only be able to maintain the appearance of an army.
However, Lady Rosetta seems to be doing a lot of careful investigation, meaning shes not randomly selecting people.
I dont care about the details. Just notify me if any problem occurs.
Understood.
Amagi bows before looking at me.
Anything wrong?
No, but standing beside Master like this reminds me of the past.
The past?
Yes. I have been serving Master for a long time after all.
Now that I think about it, has it been over a hundred years?
Indeed, weve been acquainted for a long time.
It just irks me that Ive known Brian the longest.
Ill be counting on you in the future as well.
Of course.
Ciel (#): Ill never acknowledge my brother becoming a sister!
Brian (): The way Lord Liam views this Brian is terrible. Its painful.
Brian (): And that marks the conclusion of Volume 8. This section was originally written to promote other works, but things have taken a strange turn. Nevertheless, its a pleasant surprise to see this novel promoted as well.
Brian (**): This Brian is happy to announce that Volume 1 of Im the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! is being well received. Please have a look at The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs as well. Thank you.
Brian (*): Speaking of the first volume of Im the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!, a lot of revisions have been made prior to the novels publication, so readers of the web novel can enjoy it as well. Please consider purchasing a copy.
Brian (**): Well then, see you in Volume 9.
Authors Notes:
How was Volume 8?
On July 25th, Volume 1 of Im the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! was released!
On July 30th, Volume 6 Regular and Limited Edition of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs was released!
On August 7th, Volume 4 of the manga The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs was released!
And just like that, there was somehow a publication rush (^_^; )
Both series seem to be popular, and as the author, it makes me very happy. This is also thanks to our dear readers.
Thank you very much. (*^^*)
Also, we would like to know what the readers think of this work. You can write your impressions and evaluations of the work below, so feel free to give us your thoughts. We look forward to reading your reviews.
*However, please make sure to follow the rules.
Volume 9 will be up next, and the time of its release is yet to be decided, but I would like to have it uploaded by the end of this year.
Last, but not least, thank you for your continued support!
TN: That was a long authors note.
Editor: Im still confused about why Kurt needs to be a woman