Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

When Binaeril arrived in Essen, the castle was in the throes of battle.

He saw clashing weapons and dead soldiers strewn across the ground.

It didn’t take long for him to grasp the situation.

Soldiers bearing the emblems of various noble houses were in the ascendant, while the castle’s guards and knights were being overwhelmed.

‘A noble faction attack? So, targeting Rike was part of their plan?’

The nobles must have launched their assault while he was away.

A soldier spotted Binaeril standing idly and approached him.

“Hey, who are you!”

The soldier bore the emblem of Marquis Papen.

Binaeril, without hesitation, shot a magic bullet that exploded the soldier’s head.

The body fell without uttering a final scream.

“There’s the princess’s mage! Get him!”

“Kill the mage!”

With no intention of hiding, Binaeril was quickly identified.

Since most had already entered the castle, only a few soldiers remained outside the inner keep.

Rested from his journey back to Essen, Binaeril was more than a match for them.

Before long, bodies began to pile up around him.

One shot, one kill. The soldiers who witnessed this began to flee and hide in terror.

“Gah….”

As Binaeril put a hole through the fourteenth soldier’s chest, no more attackers dared approach him.

He prepared to enter the castle.

But then new soldiers arrived.

From the outer gate, an organized force began to march in.

Binaeril counted their numbers and swallowed hard.

One hundred.

A hundred soldiers were advancing towards the castle.

These weren’t the ragtag soldiers he had just faced.

Their disciplined march was reminiscent of a well-forged blade.

Binaeril noticed their banners and emblems, unfamiliar to him.

Were they also part of the noble faction?

Leading them was a man on a white horse.

A middle-aged man with a bald head and a long scar across his left eye.

The man halted his troops with a raised fist.

As the soldiers stopped, the chaos and screams from Essen Castle became more audible.

The leader listened and then spoke.

“Essen seems different than usual. What’s going on? Who are you?”

His tone was authoritative, used to commanding men.

Binaeril responded confidently, without flinching.

“I am Binaeril Dalheim, the second princess’s guard mage. And you?”

A ripple of surprise spread through the soldiers at the mention of a mage.

But the commander showed no such reaction.

He raised an eyebrow and spoke.

“I am…”

“You must flee!”

Hans Brante, the court count, burst into the audience chamber, shouting.

Regent Charlotte, with a startled expression, asked what was happening.

Crash!

The sound of the inner gate breaking down echoed.

Screams and shouts from the fleeing servants and maids filled the castle.

In an instant, the castle was in chaos.

Regent Charlotte understood immediately.

“Is it the rebels?”

Count Hans Brante nodded urgently.

“The noble faction has joined forces and attacked with their soldiers. You must flee immediately!”

Sylvia burst through the doors of the audience chamber, having understood the gravity of the situation, and ran straight to the regent.

“Your Excellency, you need to escape.”

As the three gathered in the audience chamber, a trembling woman entered.

“Your Excellency? What is happening?”

It was Lady Vivian Dux.

For some reason, she had stayed in the castle after the banquet.

Fear and anxiety were etched on her face.

“Lady Vivian, why are you here?”

“I heard the commotion downstairs and came to find out. Your Highness, what is going on?”

She was the daughter of Duke Dux.

Duke Dux was regarded as a leading figure among the noble faction.

But the regent knew better.

Duke Dux had maintained a neutral stance, not aligning with either the royalists or the nobles.

Could her father be involved in this attack?

Given Vivian’s fearful expression, it seemed unlikely.

Regent Charlotte surveyed the assembled group and asked,

“Where is Baron Dalheim?”

Sylvia responded,

“He left to find an antidote for the second princess.”

“Where did he go?”

“He said he was going to meet with Marquis Schiller.”

The regent shuddered at the mention of that name.

Viktor Schiller!

He was the one who had advocated sending an envoy to the Holy Kingdom during the assembly.

‘Was all this part of his plan?’

To assassinate her and her sister, and then seize the castle?

The envoy mission was merely a ploy to buy time.

“Your Excellency! You must escape. There’s a secret passage in the castle that leads outside. We must leave before the rebels reach us!”

Count Brante pleaded with her, holding her hand, on the verge of tears.

“Friederike, how is my sister?”

Sylvia shook her head.

“Her condition hasn’t improved at all.”

She couldn’t leave her fallen sister behind.

Abandoning her would be akin to sentencing her to death.

Her sister was her only remaining family.

“I will stay.”

“No!”

The count groaned in despair.

“Sylvia, take my sister and use the secret passage. Take the count and Vivian with you.”

“I can’t leave without you!”

“What will you do?”

Sylvia hesitated, torn between her loyalty to the regent and her duty to the second princess.

As they wrestled with their decisions, the commotion grew closer.

The noise outside the audience chamber indicated that the rebels had reached their floor.

Finally, they appeared.

The heavy scent of blood filled the air.

Soldiers, their weapons stained with death, spotted the people in the audience chamber and shouted.

The screams of the people gradually faded. It meant there were few soldiers left resisting. The first to enter the audience chamber was Marquis Felix Papen. He was lightly armed, and not a drop of blood stained his attire. Following him, the soldiers of House Papen lined up on either side of the chamber. Then entered Count Manfred List and his soldiers, followed by Viscount Walter Hartman. Within moments, the spacious chamber was filled with dozens of soldiers. The stench of blood from their weapons permeated the air.

Finally, Viktor Schiller, Marquis Schiller, entered.

“Viktor…!”

“Your Excellency, are you well?”

Marquis Papen greeted her.

His tone was light, as if he were out for a stroll in his garden. But he couldn’t hide the faint joy of victory.

Regent Charlotte maintained her composure, suppressing her emotions. They would want to see her angry and despairing.

An emperor must remain dignified, she reminded herself, responding dryly.

“Marquis Felix Papen. You didn’t return to your lands, I see.”

“I had unfinished business at the castle.”

“Your business being to massacre the city’s soldiers and bathe in blood?”

“No. That’s a secondary matter. We came to claim the position we should have rightfully held.”

“A place in the underground stables, perhaps? There’s no place here for sick animals like you.”

It was a scathing rebuke. But Marquis Papen only chuckled.

“I thought it was you and your sister who were meant to be in the underground. I heard you both threw yourselves from the castle. You seem quite fine for someone supposed to be dead. That wasn’t part of the plan.”

“Was it your doing?”

“That was me.”

Marquis Schiller, who had been silent, stepped forward.

The occupation of the castle was complete. Now, he needed to assert his contributions in front of the other nobles to strengthen his position in the forthcoming power struggle.

“I orchestrated the assassination attempt on the princesses. The greatest contribution to the first step of the new empire was mine, Viktor Schiller’s.”

“Why, Marquis Schiller?”

The nobles had refrained from attacking the castle immediately after the emperor’s death due to a lack of justification.

They had waited, commissioning assassinations in the shadows, all for this moment.

Marquis Schiller presented their justification.

“Since the previous emperor took ill, the empire has been in decline, internally and externally. The first princess, claiming to act as his proxy, has proven her incompetence. The second princess has shown no interest in her homeland, roaming outside the empire. Moreover, she allied with Elfenbine, plotting treason. As loyal subjects of the empire, we could not stand by any longer. This is the end. Albrecht will now rise as a new empire.”

Several nobles nodded, agreeing with his rhetoric. It was a thinly veiled pretense.

Regent Charlotte and her close associates knew it was all nonsense.

Behind that justification lay nothing but their ambitions.

“Your words are lofty. The decline of the empire stems from the antiquated thoughts of you nobles clinging to past glories. While monsters appear across the land and the people tremble in fear, you only cared for your own safety. The alliance with Elfenbine was a necessary step to make Albrecht safer. Do you deny this?”

Despite her impassioned speech, the sneers on the faces of the two marquises didn’t waver.

“That’s just your excuse. We have no reason to listen further.”

Marquis Schiller glanced at the noble faction members standing behind him.

Both he and Marquis Papen nodded simultaneously.

“Eliminate the treacherous princess who betrayed the empire.”

“Yes!”

At this moment, none of the nobles in the chamber felt any guilt for committing treason.

Everything was for the future of the empire.

They saw themselves as loyalists gathered under a righteous cause.

Sylvia stepped forward to confront them.

Despite casting spells to enhance her strength and speed, she was overwhelmed by the sheer number of soldiers.

“Quietly surrender your necks!”

Just as the knights were about to behead the regent and her retainers, the window shattered and someone entered.

Lady Vivian Dux screamed.

Though his hair was matted with blood and sweat, and his clothes were tattered, he was unmistakably the princess’s guard mage, Binaeril Dalheim.

“Be bound by shadows!”

The knights who were about to strike were suddenly immobilized by an invisible force.

Their shadows stretched and clung to their limbs like adhesive, restraining them.

“What are you waiting for? Kill them already!”

The soldiers who had been standing back rushed at Binaeril, but he was quicker.

“Argh!”

“Oof!”

Even their iron armor was shredded like paper by Binaeril’s magic bullets.

Chests, foreheads, solar plexuses, navels.

Each shot claimed a life.

“Baron Dalheim!”

Marquis Schiller spat out Binaeril’s name like a curse.

Binaeril pulled a vial from his robe and handed it to Sylvia.

“Give this to Rike. Quickly.”

Sylvia, understanding the urgency, took the antidote and ran.

Friederike’s room was directly connected to the audience chamber.

Binaeril turned to the assembled nobles and shouted,

“Traitors, drop your weapons and surrender. Anyone who resists will be executed immediately.”

Sunlight streamed through the broken window, illuminating Binaeril.

To the regent, Vivian, and Count Brante, he seemed like a savior.

“What nonsense is this? Do you think you can face all these soldiers alone?”

The castle grew chaotic again.

From the lower levels, the sound of marching boots and screams echoed.

The nobles began to murmur, confused about the situation.

“Bang!”

The door burst open, and a man entered.

“Where is my daughter!”

Vivian recognized the familiar face and responded.

Duke Torben Dux had arrived in the audience chamber of the castle.