Became the Unjust Contract Slave of the Archamage’s Book

‘Am I going to die like this?’

When she fled from the goblin attack, Rike held her sister’s hand and jumped out of the bedroom window. Clutching her screaming sister to her chest, she hastily chanted a defensive spell. The moment of falling was dizzying. She focused her concentration to the limit, determined not to make a mistake. Fortunately, the pain of the fall was not severe.

The regent lifted her head from Rike’s embrace and asked, “Are you okay, sister?”

Her sister nodded.

“That’s… a relief…”

That was the end of her consciousness. She could feel the poison she had inhaled unconsciously spreading rapidly throughout her body. Rike realized that her life was hanging by a thread. She sensed the magic within her fighting against the poison with all its might. But it wouldn’t last much longer. Even enduring this much was due to her resilience.

‘Still, I’m glad. I could save my sister.’

If it weren’t for Rike, her sister would have been doomed. Thinking about who was more necessary for the empire’s future, Rike could choose her sister without hesitation. All those years of training at Elfenbine, returning to Essen to stay by her sister’s side, it was all for this.

Yes, she could be satisfied.

‘Satisfied…’

Shortly after leaving Elfenbine, Sylvia had said to her, “Never sacrifice yourself again like you did with Violet.”

What had she replied? She couldn’t remember well. She just seemed to have nodded. But she hadn’t truly understood Sylvia’s words. Friederike wasn’t the kind of person who could sacrifice others for her own sake.

‘I’m sorry, Sylvia.’

She was sorry to her sister, to Sylvia, to her mentors at Elfenbine, to the Miao Tribe people she met in Hoenberg, and to everyone else. Friederike was so kind that all she could offer was apologies.

And to one person, Binaeril Dalheim.

The feelings she had left for Binaeril were quite different from those for others. Rike only understood this as she was dying. It wasn’t regret, nor was it gratitude. It was hard to pinpoint exactly, but perhaps…

‘Longing?’

If she had to express it, it felt like that.

If she were to die, Friederike wanted to sit across from Binaeril and talk with him again, even for a brief moment. No matter what they talked about.

At some point, the magic in her body began to change, driving out the poison. The poison that had spread throughout her body hesitated. Someone had poured a liquid into Rike’s mouth that revitalized her and expelled the poison.

She was coming back to life. It felt like a miracle.

Rike, who had been in a long slumber, slowly opened her eyes. She thought she was dreaming. So when she first saw the familiar face in her sight, she unknowingly threw herself into his arms. Her fingertips brushed against his rough and damp clothes. She could faintly smell the rain from him, just like his name.

Her senses, which had been dormant, were gradually returning one by one.

She then realized. This wasn’t longing. This feeling was,

“Rike!”

“Princess!”

Her hearing returned last, after all the other senses.

Friederike looked around at the sound calling her name, confirming that this was not a dream. She saw Binaeril’s tired and bewildered expression.

“Hehehe…” Friederike’s face flushed.

“They say raising a younger sibling is useless…”

“You saw her too, right? Throwing herself into a guy’s arms as soon as she wakes up?”

“Yes, Your Highness. I certainly did.”

“She doesn’t understand her sister’s worry at all. Sigh, I shouldn’t have spent all that money sending her to study at Elfenbine…”

Rike’s face turned as red as a ripe persimmon. Sylvia, with a triumphant smile, joined Charlotte in teasing Rike wholeheartedly.

“Sister, please stop!”

Rike, unable to endure it any longer, shouted in frustration like a teenage girl.

“Oh, did I say something untrue? This girl is really funny.”

When Rike glared daggers at the two perpetrators, Sylvia changed the subject to lighten the mood.

“Your Highness, are you feeling alright?”

“Yes, after eating and sleeping well, I feel much better.”

“Just in case, don’t overdo it.”

“Don’t worry, Sylvia. What is there to worry about now?”

And indeed, there was nothing to worry about. The rebellion of the aristocratic faction trying to seize the royal castle had been suppressed. The ringleaders were all imprisoned, and with Duke Dux, the empire’s most powerful figure, supporting the two princesses’ ascent to the throne, virtually all issues were resolved.

“It’s too early to be happy. Too much blood has been spilled in the royal castle.”

But that was not all. The soldiers and knights defending the castle had been almost entirely annihilated. If Duke Dux were to return to his territory, they would have to worry about the nearby nobles rebelling again.

Charlotte, the regent, held a modest funeral for those who had died in battle alongside her sister.

“Can’t we ask the Duke to leave some troops in the royal castle?”

“That’s an option. But ultimately, it’s just a stopgap measure. We still need to raise new troops.”

There were many other issues they needed to address.

“We also need to hold the coronation soon. And finally…”

“We need to decide the fate of the aristocratic faction.”

That was the most pressing issue.

How to deal with the rebel nobles.

At that moment, there was a knock on the office door. Duke Torben Dux entered with a respectful greeting and approached them.

“I heard you called for me.”

“Yes, Duke Dux. We have a matter to discuss with you.”

“Is it about the disposal of the remnants?”

Indeed, Duke Dux, seasoned and perceptive, immediately grasped their dilemma.

“That’s correct.”

Duke Dux looked back and forth between the faces of the two princesses. They were still too young to lead a vast empire. It wasn’t a matter of age; they still had a certain innocence about them.

If it were him, he would not have hesitated.

“My opinion is firm. Summary execution is the only way. You do not intend to show mercy to those who plotted rebellion, do you?”

“I want to do that too. But too many have joined the rebellion. I hear the underground prison is as full as a sow’s pen. If we execute them all as they are, the burden will fall entirely on the territories that lose their lords.”

“You mean a power vacuum will occur…”

“Yes. If the nobles are executed, we don’t know who will step into those positions and what kind of power they will wield. The royal castle cannot manage everything immediately…”

Duke Dux thought the regent was hesitating out of compassion. But that was not the case. She was assessing the situation with utmost coldness.

Duke Dux reflected on his own thoughts. He had declared his support for her, yet he had doubted her like this.

“I must have been thinking too simply. Your Majesty is right.”

“Is there any other way?”

It was certainly a difficult issue to resolve easily. They couldn’t just kill all the rebels immediately. But neither could they let them return to their territories unscathed. There was no guarantee that the nobles wouldn’t regroup and attack the capital again.

“No matter what, the two main instigators, the Marquises, must be executed. They cannot be forgiven under any circumstances.”

“I understand that. I never intended to forgive the two Marquises.”

Especially Marquis Viktor von Schiller. He absolutely could not be forgiven.

The regent was not a fool with a soft heart. She had no intention of forgiving Marquis Schiller, who had driven her sister to her death.

“But as for the other nobles under their command, hmm…”

“How about this?” Rike, who had been thinking, spoke up.

“Why don’t we do this with the remaining ones…”

Creak―.

The heavy iron door opened with a chilling sound. The guards of the underground prison in Essen Castle looked down at the prisoners with collars around their necks and spoke coldly.

“All criminals, come out.”

They were all nobles who had been captured while attempting to seize the castle. A murmur of fear spread among the prisoners.

“Is it our turn now?”

“Are they going to kill us all?”

“No, I can’t die like this. No!”

Some were resigned, some were terrified, and others were rioting.

“Quiet, quiet!”

The guards subdued the violent prisoners with their batons and loosened their collars.

“Shut up and follow quietly.”

“Follow quietly? We saw with our own eyes how Marquis Schiller and Marquis Papen were killed. Are we to die like beasts too!”

Just a few days ago, the two Marquises had been executed.

The remaining noble prisoners had clearly witnessed the two powerful men being dragged away and hanged like animals in a slaughterhouse.

“Then what? As rebels, if you don’t follow orders quietly, there will just be another dead body.”

At the guard’s harsh words, the remaining prisoners lost all hope. They followed the guards to the main hall of the castle, where the two princesses and others were gathered.

Among those gathered was Duke Torben Dux, the key figure in quelling the noble rebellion. The prisoners could not lift their heads. It seemed they were about to be executed in front of everyone as a warning.

Once the escort was over, the regent stood up and spoke.

“I will now announce the punishment of the criminals. First, Count Manfred List.”

A guard pushed Count List forward.

“All your lands and titles will be confiscated.”

Count List shed silent tears, hoping for a painless death. But the regent’s sentence was not yet over.

“Manfred List is granted the title of Viscount. The fiefdom of Viscount List will be from the eastern city of Bienen to Buwale.”

“…What?”

Count List, no, Viscount List, lifted his head and let out a foolish groan.

“Next, Viscount Walter Hartman.”

Leaving the confused Viscount List behind, Viscount Hartman stepped forward.

“Your lands and titles will be confiscated, and you will be granted the title of Baronet along with the fiefdom from Buwale to Jagan. That is all.”

Baronet Hartman had the same dazed expression. The names of the criminals were called in turn. They all had their titles and lands confiscated, and were then granted new titles and new fiefdoms.

“…Anyone who has objections to the decisions made may come forward now.”

“Wait, wait a moment!”

Viscount List stepped forward to ask a question. A torrent of complex thoughts ran through his mind, but in the end, he only wanted to know one thing.

“Is that all?”

“Do you have a complaint?”

“No, it’s not a complaint…”

“Are there no executions?” Baronet Hartman followed up.

Regent Charlotte let out a deep sigh and finally declared, “No blood will be shed today.”

A wave of joyous exclamations spread among the prisoners who had been hanging their heads in despair.

“Quiet! Among those sentenced, does anyone know the location of the territories just assigned?”

Bienen, Buwale, Jagan… Those quick on the uptake identified the commonality.

“They are all towns east of Hoenberg.”

In fact, calling them towns was generous; they were small, impoverished villages. These were abandoned lands, plagued by monsters and left desolate by the empire’s neglect.

“Correct. Your task now is to stabilize these devastated towns east of Hoenberg.”

“T-that means…!”

It was tantamount to a death sentence. These nobles were now penniless, stripped of their titles and soldiers. Surviving in the monster-infested lands to the east of the mountains with nothing but their bare hands seemed impossible.

“Do not worry. We are not sending you to your deaths.”

“How is that not a death sentence?”

“We have requested the cooperation of the Elfenbine Magic Tower at the heart of the continent.”

A new wave of astonishment rippled through the crowd.