[V3C10] Taboo of Shamans

Having been carried to a private room a distance away from the party venue, Monica was sitting quietly on the sofa with her face downcast.

Isaac stepped into the room and scanned the surroundings. Frieda Blanquet and the servant who had brought Monica were not visible inside the room.

Cyril, Raul, and Ray also entered the room following Isaac. Meanwhile, Monica finally covered her face and broke down crying.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Isaac knelt before the repeatedly apologizing Monica and spoke in a tone befitting the second prince.

“Oh, please don’t cry, milady. The blame lies with the fool who planned this incident, and those who did not stop him.”

Upon hearing Isaac’s words, the sincere Cyril groaned and clutched his chest. The guilt was eating away at his heart.

On the other hand, the main culprit, Raul, casually muttered, “You were so close,” while holding his hands behind his head. Only he could comment on Monica’s unfortunate performance as being “close.”

And as for Ray, the other cause of the commotion, he was as gloomy and timid as always.

“Ah, s-so that’s… my fiancé… I couldn’t see her well from a distance, but she’s tall… maybe as tall as me? …What should I do if she laughs at me for being short…?”

While muttering to himself, Ray fixed his eyes on Isaac.

Ray crouched down and began hugging his knees. He had been overwhelmed by the harsh reality of Isaac’s perfect figure, which was once praised by Monica for embodying the golden ratio.

“…This world is unfair… I should curse all the tall guys with exploding pants…”

Ray grew more and more spiteful, Monica continued to sob apologetically, and Cyril agonized over his guilt. The damp atmosphere was causing the room’s humidity levels to rise to critical levels. At this rate, it was only a matter of time until mold or fungus began sprouting.

In the midst of this, the oblivious Raul Roseberg spoke with a voice as clear as the sky.

“Alright, let’s regroup and move on to the next plan!”

“Uh, um, Thorn Witch-sama… th-that’s…”

The sniffling Monica lifted her face abruptly, glancing towards the window. She was about to say something to Raul.

But before she could utter another word, Ray interrupted.

“…Enough, it’s enough… I shouldn’t have expected my engagement to work out anyway…”

“Don’t give up, Ray! You always said you wanted to be loved so much!” interjected Raul.

“…Yeah, that’s right… I want to be loved, I want others to love me… At this point, I just want anyone to tell me they love me…”

As Ray grew more and more resigned, Cyril frowned disapprovingly.

“Anyone? Isn’t that a bit insincere?”

“W-Well, that’s the kind of line only people who are loved can say! My feelings must be incomprehensible to people who can have a normal romance…”

For some reason, Monica shivered upon hearing Ray’s mutters and lowered her head.

Did something happen between Cyril and Monica? Isaac tried to observe Monica’s condition, but her expression was not clearly visible behind her bangs.

As Isaac was concerned about Monica, Raul mumbled while scratching his cheek.

“You say ‘anyone,’ Ray, but you’re quite picky. Didn’t you say my sister wasn’t up to the mark?”

At that moment, Ray yelped like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

“Ugh, t-that woman is impossible, never…! I’d rather get turned into a slug for the rest of my life than be loved by her!!”

“Ahahaha! Did you say that to her face, Ray? You’ve got guts!”

“I’m…! I’m just not good with older women!”

Isaac also knew about Raul’s sister, the Fourth Thorn Witch, Melissa Roseberg. They hadn’t exchanged words directly, but he had seen her face at ceremonies several times, and everyone in the castle knew about her notorious behavior.

To put things simply, even the love-crazed Ray found her personality so intense that he ran away.

“Woops, we’re getting off track. Either way, let’s give ‘Operation Get Ray and His Fiancé Together’ one more try!”

“…This is pointless.”

Cyril crossed his arms and groaned, putting on a grim face. An earnest man like him must have found this kind of farce difficult to accept.

“If you have a fiancé, you should be honest with her. Why not talk to her face to face?”

Cyril was speaking common sense, but Monica’s shoulders trembled slightly for some reason. Something was definitely off.

As Isaac hesitated about whether or not to address his doubts, Raul loudly voiced his agreement.

“That’s right! Cyril makes a good point! Okay, Ray, go and charge at your fiancé!”

“Y-You know I can’t do that! That’s why we’re in this mess!”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it. Ray, you’re always begging to be loved, but you never say ‘I love you’ first.”

That statement from Raul caused Ray’s face to tense up.

Unaware that the blood was rapidly draining from Ray’s face, Raul continued.

“Why not try saying ‘I love you’ first for a change?”

To Raul, this was simply an innocent suggestion.

However, the change to Ray happened immediately. His originally pale face turned blue, and his pinkish eyes glinted with a fierce light.

“S-Screw you…!!”

Ray shouted in a volume that was incomparable to his usual self.

His face was twisted with anger, hatred, and——above all, intense jealousy.

“There’s no way I can say ‘I love you’! I’m a shaman! Those words will turn into a curse! I’ll be cursed just like my father, serving someone I don’t even like until the day I die!!”

Ray ruffled his purple hair in anger. His rant left everyone speechless. Even the usually cheerful Raul could only stare blankly in response.

Still violently tearing at his hair, Ray stomped his feet and shouted in a high-pitched voice.

“Ahh, I’m so jealous, jealous, jealous! I envy everyone who can casually say ‘I love you’! Curse you, curse you, curse you… everyone, everyone, curse all of you!! …Except for the girls!”

After accidentally letting out his true feelings towards the end, Ray stormed out of the room.

Raul attempted to chase after Ray, but Isaac grabbed his arm to stop him.

It was about time to end this.

“Your Highness, please let me go. It seems I said something insensitive, so I should go after him and apologize… I wonder if he’ll forgive me with a carrot?”

As if second nature, Raul pulled a carrot out of his suit pocket.

While it was rather intriguing how he intended to seek forgiveness with a carrot…

“Uh-huh, before that…”, said Isaac, as he turned his eyes toward Monica.

The pale Monica glanced nervously at the window——or more precisely, the curtain on the window.

Ah, come on. How blatantly obvious can you be?

“How about coming out now? Miss Frieda Blanquet.”

At Isaac’s words, the curtain rustled, and a woman appeared from behind it.

She was a tall lady with short blonde hair and gray eyes——Frieda Blanquet, Ray’s fiancé.

As Monica shrunk apologetically, Frieda turned her gray eyes to Isaac, Raul, and Cyril in turn.

“Please don’t blame the little lady over there. I asked her to keep quiet, because I wanted to know the circumstances.”

Frieda had hidden herself behind the curtain and listened to the entire exchange.

Cyril whispered in a low voice, “Isn’t this bad?” while Raul scratched his head in embarrassment.

Earlier, Ray had blurted out things like “I just want anyone to tell me they love me”. That was a significant slip of the tongue that could lead to dissolving the engagement.

However, Frieda didn’t seem particularly upset. She continued in a calm tone.

“My fiancé seems to have many friends.”

At the word “friends”, Raul’s face lit up.

“Yeah! Ray and I are great friends! Feel free to ask me anything about him!”

“In that case, I have a question. Do you know the circumstances regarding the passing of Lord Albright’s parents?”

Raul raised his thumb and answered in a confident tone, “I have no idea!”

“…”

Frieda turned to Isaac in silence.

With a wry smile, Isaac said, “I heard a long time ago that they passed away due to an accident relating to curses. Also, this is just a rumor that circulated at the time, but…”

Prefacing with the disclaimer that it wasn’t a pleasant rumor, Isaac continued.

“…Lord Albright’s father had been turned into a puppet because of his wife’s curse.”

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