■ Cleaning Complete □
It has been three months since the hero was imprisoned in the underground dungeon.
Thanks to a large-scale purge operation against the Royalists, the Royalists and the Resistance they had sponsored were completely eradicated from the capital.
What would have been almost impossible was made possible due to the active cooperation of Duke Munhen, another leading figure among the Royalists.
Duke Munhen.
He was the cousin of Prince Tipetarius, who had fallen out of favor, and by bloodline, he was the man closest to inheriting the throne. However, he chose to become a supporter of the mage faction.
I once asked him personally why, and this was Duke Munhen’s reply:
“I’d rather be the tail of a dragon than the head of a snake.”
Two years ago, I naturally accepted his defection, and Duke Munhen became a central figure in the Royalist movement, even becoming the first president of the Oz Independence Association.
To anyone looking on, he seemed like the epitome of a patriot, so no one suspected him.
While acting as a leader of the Royalists, Duke Munhen steadily sent me information related to the Resistance, and I secretly continued my meetings with him.
Thanks to that, we obtained the organizational charts of both the Oz Independence Association and the Oz Youth League, the two major Resistance groups, successfully capturing all their key operatives.
In this way, after some time, the royal road, which had been noisy, regained peace.
There may still be troublemakers left in the provinces, but after being crushed this thoroughly, they will undoubtedly not make a sound for at least a while.
After Governor Ozma took office, it finally took about two and a half years to fully take control of the country.
[[#]] Three months of conditioning.
Continuous memory resets every 48 hours.
Unlike the brain, the body remembers pleasure, so compared to the beginning, the speed at which she succumbed to pleasure only increased.
But as they say, there’s a reason she was chosen as the hero—Sophia fell into physical pleasure but never surrendered mentally.
However, there is always a limit to such resistance. The暗示 that her hatred towards me would turn into affection remained, and eventually, after 51 loops, she signed the Geas Scroll, surrendering both her body and spirit to me.
And from the now-completely obedient her, I could get answers to things that had long puzzled me.
First, the true identity of Count Glorious, who died during the one-week war.
Surprisingly, the mysterious identity of Count Glorious turned out to be the exiled Prince Tipetarius.
Because he believed that the oath he made on the Geas Scroll when he renounced the throne prevented him from engaging in any acts of national betrayal, his true identity was something I frankly never imagined.
I asked how it was possible, and he said that before leaving the capital two years ago, he transferred all the authority of the fake identity, the Glorious family, to her and assigned her a loyal butler named Alfredo.
Since then, without receiving any specific orders, she trained and thought independently, thus managing to escape the contract I had with him.
Indeed, after retiring, he did nothing.
This was Prince Tipetarius’s hidden trump card, but ultimately, with her falling into my hands, all his plans failed.
I considered investigating Prince Tipetarius further, but when I sent someone to the Glorious family to gather decisive evidence, Alfredo, the butler, had already destroyed all evidence and committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Sophia mourned the death of the man who was like a grandfather to her, but she didn’t bare her fangs at me.
That was proof of how much she loved him.
As for the cause of the intrusion into our house via the cipher note, it was because the person helping her with weapon procurement was associated with the Royalists.
Perhaps fearing exposure, they acted out of fear, but unfortunately, they had long since vanished, executed on the field.
Had it not been for that incident, I might never have guessed that she was the new hero.
In many ways, it was lucky.
“This is where you’ll live from now on.”
“Yes, Master.”
I brought Sophia home after her conditioning ended.
After three months of sexual torture, not only love but also dependence grew endlessly within her, making her unwilling to leave my side even for a moment. But due to continuous hypnosis, her personality was significantly damaged.
Initially, I intended to appoint her as the chief of security for Oz due to her formidable power, but since she refused to leave my side, I decided to keep the existing personnel in place.
“Welcome, Lord Caldlasth.”
Camilla greeted me at the entrance, holding the edges of her skirt and bowing slightly.
I waved at her casually and pushed Sophia, standing beside me, forward.
“This girl will work as a maid here from today onward. Teach her well as her senior.”
At that, Camilla’s eyes lit up.
“So she’s going to be my junior, huh.”
For several years, Camilla had worked alone as a maid, so having backup was a relief.
Although her background as a former hero might feel strange, that part can be adjusted over time.
When Sophia met Camilla’s gaze, she shyly avoided eye contact and spoke softly.
“I hope we can work together.”
Seeing her cuteness, Camilla smiled gently and opened her arms.
“You’re very welcome.”
This marked the birth of Maid No. 2 in our house.[[#]] It had been about two and a half years since Oz fell.
It could truly be said that we had been running nonstop.
Even Ozma, who was suddenly given the heavy responsibility of governorship, suffered quite a bit, as did I, sitting in the unfamiliar position of treasurer and working hard.
Because of that, I couldn’t even take a vacation like everyone else.
With the country already unstable, it felt like something big would happen if both of us, key figures in the governor’s office, were absent simultaneously.
But through this matter, Oz entered a stable phase again, and with the Resistance, which had been a constant source of worry, completely eradicated, we finally found some breathing room.
So we decided to take a paid vacation.
Specifically, to the village where I was born.[[#]] Although we planned the vacation, we couldn’t leave immediately.
After all, both Ozma and I were important figures in the governor’s office, and our daily schedules were packed.
Handing over responsibilities to others during our absence took considerable time.
In my case, I entrusted everything to Agnes, the deputy treasurer, and Ozma handed her duties to a professional manager dispatched from the Demon King’s Castle.
Ah, I almost forgot to mention—I visited my master, who lent me the hypnosis book, to express my gratitude.
My master found it amusing when I told him that I had even managed to recruit the hero to our side but showed great interest upon hearing that Sophia was not only the grandmaster of water magic but also capable of using the energy sword technique.
Despite his advanced age, my master’s desire for improvement remained youthful, so he invited Sophia, now Maid No. 2, to the magic tower to exchange knowledge and use her as a sparring partner.
Well, he seemed happy, so it was fine.
Lately, he had complained of boredom, so I let him train to his heart’s content.
In this way, about two weeks passed.
Even amidst the breathless pace of everyday life, with the vacation as our sole focus, we worked hard, and before we knew it, the end was in sight.
And on the day when we completed all our tasks and finished the handover, Ozma and I, riding in the same carriage back home, shouted “We’re free!” and began packing for our trip.[[#]] It was a chilly morning.
The autumn of Oz had ripened, and the trees lining the roads were all painted in vibrant colors.
Our house was unusually bustling that morning.
After all, it was the first long-distance trip we’d taken after being cooped up in Oz for about thirty months.
All the women in our household gathered on the first floor, dressed elegantly.
Even Dorothea, who usually doesn’t bother hiding her tomboyish tendencies, was dressed modestly today.
She must have been tense at the thought of meeting our father.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s just…you look cute.”
When I smirked, Dorothea blushed and confronted me, but I brushed it off casually.
Among the women, only Camilla and Sophia, dressed in their maid uniforms, looked similar to their usual selves. When I asked if they wouldn’t consider wearing casual clothes, Camilla firmly shook her head.
Anyway, thanks to the early-morning hustle, we managed to leave the capital of Oz in the carriage we had prepared in advance, before the sun reached its zenith.
And the final destination of the carriage was my hometown, Schwein.
