A pitch-black space where not even a single beam of light could penetrate.
Princess Mezzlen, who had been asleep for a long time since the evening before, awoke in that dark, shadowy place.
"Mmff, mm... Ugh...?!"
The moment she tried to speak, a foreign object inside her mouth became painfully evident.
The first sensation Princess Mezzlen noticed upon waking was the tight pressure of a thick gag, sealing her lips and crushing her tongue.
"Mm... mmph... ugh..."
She tried to make any sound, but nothing escaped her throat. Instead, the pressure from the gag pressing deep into her mouth caused her to feel a wave of nausea.
When she noticed the firm sensation holding the back of her neck in place, Princess Mezzlen cautiously held her breath and assessed the situation.
'...I've been kidnapped, haven't I?'
Her hands and feet were bound as she sat on a chair in a pitch-black room, with a gag rendering her unable to speak. Even as the somewhat oblivious Fourth Princess of the Argentia Empire, she could at least understand that this situation was all too real.
Though her rank in the imperial succession was low, a princess was still a princess. Even if she had no chance of becoming Empress, her blood alone carried value. Her sister Seraphine and her brother Antonio had always told her to keep her guards close and never let her guard down.
Because of this, even after arriving at the academy, Mezzlen had diligently kept her maid, Kate, by her side for months, assigning her tasks to ensure her safety and comfort. But...
'I just wanted to be alone for a bit... I never thought something like this would happen...'
Mezzlen had sent Kate away on a trivial errand so she could spend time alone with Harold without interference. It was during this window of time that the assailants struck, and it was entirely her fault.
As if they had anticipated that Mezzlen would send her maid away, the attackers had struck the moment Kate left, and Mezzlen had been powerless to resist.
Her strength was far below that of an ordinary girl, and the magic she had diligently studied at the academy was useless in close combat.
The last thing she saw before losing consciousness was Kate rushing to her rescue, fighting off the attackers, but seeing as Mezzlen was now tied up, it was clear that Kate had failed to save her.
Having grasped the fact that she had been kidnapped, Princess Mezzlen...
'Haa... Being too beautiful really is a curse... Who's the poor soul that’s fallen for my looks this time?'
...even in her current predicament, her usual lack of concern persisted, as her mind wandered without any sense of danger.
Mezzlen had lived her life sheltered, like a flower in a greenhouse, so even being kidnapped didn’t shake her belief that she would be safe. Either her captors wanted a ransom for her royal blood, or they sought to indulge in her beauty.
She already had someone dear to her in her heart, so if it were the latter, it would be a problem. But at least she didn’t believe either scenario would endanger her life.
That is, until she felt something wet drip from her arm, as though she were tied to a cross.
Drip... drip...
"...Mmph?"
Drip... drip... drip...
"...Mm? Mmph?! Mmph!!"
A metal tube had been pierced into her left elbow, and liquid was steadily dripping from the hole.
In the pitch-black darkness, it had taken her some time to notice, but as her vision adjusted, she realized it was her own blood being drained.
It was a disturbing sight, and the mere thought of it made her feel like she might faint. But she couldn’t afford to pass out.
Even as a naive princess, she now understood—this was not a simple kidnapping for ransom. The situation was far more dire.
"Mmph... mmph...!! Mm!!"
Rattle, rattle.
"Mmmph, mmph...!! Mmph!!"
Panic and fear overtook her, and she struggled desperately against the ropes binding her to the chair.
But her weak resistance lasted less than ten seconds before being interrupted.
Shhht.
"...Stay still."
"Mmmph?!"
"...Your thrashing is making your blood spill everywhere. I went through so much trouble to collect it."
"Hnngh... mmph?!"
A chilling sensation at the back of her neck told Mezzlen that a blade was pressed against her skin. Her body froze in instinctive fear. The presence that had been so silent until now suddenly made itself known.
"Haa... You’ve made me spill a few drops. The angle is off too..."
"...Mmph."
"Should I just cut you open and drain it all at once? It would be easier, wouldn’t it? Hmm?"
Shhhk.
"Nnngh! Mmpph...!!"
Shake, shake.
The blade pressed closer to her throat, and Mezzlen frantically shook her head, trying to convey her desperate refusal.
Even though her life was likely only prolonged by a few hours, her primal survival instinct pushed her to express her will to live.
"...Well, if you say so."
Shhhk.
"Haa, haa..."
"But, you’ll have to repay me for the blood you’ve spilled. After all, I went through a lot of effort to collect it, and you wasted it by squirming."
"Hnngh...?!"
Just as she felt the blade leave her neck, relief only lasted a moment.
Something metallic clamped onto one of the fingers on her right hand, a sensation so foreign and unsettling that Mezzlen’s spine shivered with dread.
Clank.
"If you behave, I’ll only do this once."
"...Mmph."
"But if you cause more trouble, there’ll be ‘one more.’"
"...One more...?"
Mezzlen didn’t understand what "one more" meant, and she tried to express her confusion, but the voice from the shadows offered no explanation.
However, the meaning of "one more" became clear immediately after.
As the metal device moved, a horrifying pain surged through Mezzlen's finger, filling her mind with sheer agony.
Thud!
"............!!!"
The sound of something being pulled taut echoed in her ears, and she instantly knew. Even though she had never experienced such pain before, she instinctively understood. Her fingernail had just been ripped out.
"...Hnnngh...!! Mmph...!!"
The fear of having her blood drained or the terror of a knife at her throat couldn’t compare to this new, excruciating pain. For the first time, Mezzlen felt pain that directly tormented her body.
The helpless princess struggled reflexively, unable to endure the agony.
"Let’s do ‘one more.’"
Clank.
"Hnnngh...?!"
Before she could even process the pain in her first finger, she felt the device clamp down on her middle finger.
Shake, shake.
"No! Please... no...!!"
She frantically shook her head, pleading to avoid the same fate. But the figure in the shadows coldly adjusted the device, tightening the spring to its maximum tension.
"If you don’t behave, it’ll be ‘one more’ again."
"Hnnngh...!! Mmmph!!"
Thud!
"............!!!"
Once again, Mezzlen screamed in her mind as her middle fingernail was torn away, the pain far worse than before. Her vision blurred from the agony, but somehow, she managed to suppress her body’s instinct to thrash about.
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At this point, the thing Mezzlen feared most was hearing that figure whisper, "one more" again.
"......"
"......"
"The third one..."
"...?!"
"...I guess we can skip it."
"Haa... haa..."
Realizing that her torment was finally over, Mezzlen wept, tears of relief streaming down her face. All traces of her initial composure had long since disappeared, replaced by a desperate plea for rescue.
'Please... someone... anyone... save me... I’ll never wander alone again, I swear... just... please...'
All she could do was beg, desperately hoping that someone, anyone, would come to save her from this nightmare.