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After years of not visiting Ciel, Duke Rispelgia finally appeared before us one day. Although he appears to have aged, his commanding presence remains strong and refined. It’s admirable how he seems to have grown more distinguished with age. As a former man, it’s really enviable. He maintains a lean figure and could be considered an attractive middle-aged man if he remains silent. However, his demeanor towards Ciel is still frigid, and he promptly departed after saying 「Tomorrow, I’ll be seeing your job.」

Throughout the encounter, Ciel remained entirely silent, with an expression akin to that of a doll. It’s possible that Duke Rispelgia didn’t feel like he was conversing with a genuine human being either. Though unpleasant, this occurrence indicates that the long-awaited opportunity to bring about significant change has finally arrived. Moreover, it has almost been a decade since my reincarnation.

The meticulous and punctilious life I have led in Japan now seems like it was all a lie. For in all our days heretofore, upon consuming the prescribed medication, we were practically free to do whatever we want. As I mull over the impending end of this lifestyle, I expected to be fraught with anxiety, yet surprisingly, I am more composed than I anticipated. Similarly, Ciel appears unperturbed and slips into a peaceful slumber without difficulty.

◇◇◇

And now, it’s finally arrived; Ciel’s 10th birthday. Since Ciel isn’t allowed to leave this room, the mask-faced butler informed us earlier that Duke Rispelgia will come with the tool used to check jobs. The whole time, Ciel expressionlessly let things run its course.

『Are you nervous?』
「Not particularly. Still, I am uneasy about the arrival of that man.」
『You’re amazing, Ciel. I’m so nervous that I feel like I might die.』
「In that case, I guess I can’t switch with Ain right now. I don’t want our heart to break, after all.」

Ciel has blossomed into a decidedly feminine young lady, her giggles sounding all the more melodious for it. Despite being shorter than most, her bosom has begun to fill out and her entire frame exudes a newfound maturity. Her facial expressions, particularly the teasing smile she flashes in my direction, are remarkably sensuous for a mere ten-year-old. Strangely, though, I seem to recall glimpsing that same enigmatic smile sometime in the past.

I was still fine yesterday, but why am I feeling so nervous now? I hate my own cowardice. At the very least, I would have liked to talk with Ciel to relax myself. Unfortunately, I felt a nearing presence from my detection.

『It seems like he’s here.』
「How annoying. But I really shouldn’t say that, right?」
『If you’re just saying it, then feel free. After all, I understand the feeling.』
「After ignoring me all this time, he should’ve just forgotten about me, right?」

Ciel let out an exasperated sigh and shut her eyes in utter discontent. When she reopened them, any trace of emotion had vanished. Shortly thereafter, the door creaked open, and yesterday’s Duke Rispelgia returned to our presence. He strode into the room, clutching a thick, parchment-like object and sporting a grin that masked his true intentions. Had I encountered him with that same smile initially, I might have deemed him a decent chap. However, my previous experiences with him left me with a deep sense of distrust, rendering his smile all the more suspect. As a noble, I assumed he employed that very expression to conceal his true feelings.

「Today, your job is decided. I expect that you understand the meaning of what you have done so far?」
「Yes.」
「Pour your magic power in this paper. You do know how to do so, do you?」
「I do.」
「Very well, hurry up and go.」

From his majestic voice appeared words that instantly rubbed me off the wrong way. Is this man just purely talented at angering me? I’ve already lost count of how many times I’ve almost snapped. Moreover, as a finishing touch, he threw the paper to the ground to make Ciel pick it up. In this situation, I hate how little I can do. If only I could use combat sorcery, I would’ve already burnt him to a crisp.

With an inscrutable expression, Ciel picked up the object, cradling it delicately between both palms before infusing it with her magic. As her power coursed through the paper, it began to emit a soft glow that gradually coalesced into a floating mass of light. Slowly, the amorphous mass took on a discernible form until, at last, letters emerged from the effervescent illumination.

【Cielmer, Job: Dance Princess】

It was just a short string of letters, but it had a very big meaning for us. We won the gamble; I felt like I almost let out a grin. And as we expected, that man’s face turned grim.

「You’re absolutely useless.」
「My apologies.」
「You think an apology would resolve this? You were just playing these past few years. For what purpose did you even think I left you alive?」

As Ciel hung her head in silence, Duke Rispelgia’s emotions got the better of him, and he couldn’t hide his disapproval. He clicked his tongue audibly and turned his back on us. At that moment, I overheard him mutter, 「Her being something other than a “Song Princess” still leaves some use of her.」 I had hoped he would simply ask us to leave and kick us out of the mansion, but it appeared the situation was becoming more complex.

Anyway, it does seem that he’s lost further interest on Ciel so I’ll consider this good news. After his departure, and even after I ascertained that he had left my detection range, Ciel continued to stare at the paper. 『What’s wrong?』 I asked her. With eyes brimming with curiosity, she turned her gaze to me.

「Say, I wonder what would happen if Ain did it?」
『Won’t it just show the same results?』
「But Ain is different from me, right? You might even have a job too.」

When the time comes to flee, we must utilize all available resources. As I have nothing to lose, I see no harm in attempting it. Therefore, I asked Ciel to lend me her body and then direct my attention towards the thick sheet.

I presume that it is parchment, a material with which I am familiar. Although I have sensed its peculiar texture when Ciel held it, the illumination it had emitted has now faded, most likely due to the dissipation of her magical energy. Despite this, I endeavor to infuse the parchment with my own magical power, and once again, a dazzling display of light ensues, forming letters in the air.

【Ainsel, Job: Song Princess】

Seeing a different result from before, I took my eyes off of it for a moment and confirmed it once again.

The inscribed characters remain unaltered. Ciel appears self-assured, and I find myself without any response. I chuckle and remark, 『It was just as you said, Ciel.』 Upon returning her body to her, Ciel joyously exclaims, 「We’re Disappointing Princess buddies.」 with a wide smile. I was confused with her words but since she’s so happy about it, I just replied 『That’s right.』

In all honesty, it was a fortuitous stroke of luck that Ciel successfully became a Misfortune Princess, and furthermore, was able to acquire the target job of Dance Princess. The role of a Dance Princess enables one to perform a wide variety of dances, including not only entertainment dances, but also sacred dances that can accomplish feats such as summoning rain through a rain dance. As a result, it is not subject to the same level of discrimination as the Song Princess. Moreover, there are also combat-oriented dances such as the sword dance, which utilizes weapons and renders the practitioner less vulnerable in battle.

However, to pull out the dance princess’ full potential, a suitable stage needs to be set. Particularly, they absolutely need music. When fighting monsters, as long as there is music, they have the potential to exhibit equal or even more fighting capacity than the combat jobs. Still, to begin with, you can’t bring musicians and instruments to a battle. And even on summoning rain, since a Water Sorcerer and the like can resolve a drought with only sorcery, there aren’t many particular reasons to gather people and prepare a stage.

The Dance Princess profession has gained a reputation as a disappointment for the aforementioned reasons. Nevertheless, it was precisely the job we were targeting. Even if we cannot utilize it to its full potential, it does have some value in battle. Additionally, its unfavorable reputation should be enough to dissuade that man from pursuing us any further. Most importantly, I am confident that Ciel had a high likelihood of becoming a Dance Princess. She has been dancing to my songs since infancy, and her graceful movements sometimes distract me from my own singing. I never imagined that our daily routine since her birth would prove useful in this way. Thanks to it, Ciel is now a Dance Princess with the ability to wield magic.

The revelation of me being a song princess was an unforeseen development, but it is not a hindrance to our plans. In fact, it might even come in handy for our escape. However, our priority at the moment is to gather information on Duke Rispelgia’s next move. We also contemplated keeping the job identification paper as a valuable item to sell after our escape. Unfortunately, the masked butler took it away before we could do so.

◇◇◇

A few days later, Duke Rispelgia came before Ciel. The duke brought with him an untidy pig-like man. He isn’t any shorter than the duke, but his body is almost twice as wide and his round face was drenched in grease. Even when I was still in Japan, it was the look of a person that I don’t want to deal with; and now, I don’t even want to see him in my sights. Is this what people mean by being physically repulsive? The fact that the pig man was looking at Ciel’s body with a sleazy gaze only added to my disgust.

「Is this girl the “Dance Princess”?」
「It is. I took her in, but she can barely use sorcery. With that, I don’t have any use of her.」
「So you would like to sell her to me?」
「You have money on you, don’t you?」

The pig man was clearly buttering up the duke, as he said, 「Well, I certainly do. However, with her being of this caliber, I’m uncertain if it would suffice…」 He then stretched out three fingers and quickly examined the duke’s face. The duke let out an audible snort and scowled at the pig man.

「You have brought twice the amount, have you not? I will accept that price,」 he said.
「In that case, isn’t twice the standard rate a bit too much?」 the pig man questioned.
「The remainder will be for my silence. You wouldn’t deny me that, would you?」 the duke retorted.

The duke took out a sheet of paper. Since I can faintly feel magic power from the letters written on it, I assume that it was written using a special ink. The duke then added something to its contents and handed it to the pig man. I’m really glad that they think we can’t use much sorcery. Usually, nobody would think that someone who became a dance princess would actually be well-versed in sorcery.

After receiving the sheet of paper, the man quickly skimmed its contents. And like the duke, he wrote something on it with a wide smile. Once finished, they placed the paper upon the nearby side table before producing sharp knives and slicing open their own fingers. As blood dripped onto the parchment, the letters upon it flickered to life and raced towards the pair. This might be some form of magic. Using a special ink and paper, they offered magic power and blood to create an unbreakable contract.

「With this, the transaction is complete. Hurry up and take this away.」
「Then, I shall excuse myself.」

The pig-like man bowed his head and departed the room, only to be replaced by the masked butler who received an imperious gesture from his master. The butler promptly strode towards Ciel and, with the same care as one might handle a weighty load, hoisted her over his shoulder and carried her out of the chamber. Once outside the estate, he deposited her onto the bed of a wagon belonging to the pig man, securing her limbs with shackles.

I immediately felt nostalgia from the touch of the shackles, but it’s not the time for this nonsense. This whole situation was unexpected; but in short, the Rispelgia household sold Ciel to this pig man. The duke’s goal is most likely money. After all, he needs funds for his experiments, so he’s probably using Ciel to compensate for the money he lost on her. Then, what is this man’s goal? I can think of quite a lot. Will he be reselling her as a slave, using her as a maidservant, or perhaps as a toy?

Nevertheless, it appears that he doesn’t wield as much influence as the Duke’s household, making it more feasible for us to escape. This could be our chance. Depending on the strength of the escorts, we may be in an ideal position to carry out one of the plans I’ve devised. However, it comes with a considerable amount of risk.

『Ciel, can you do something about the restraints?』
「It’ll take some time, but it’s not a problem. After all, it doesn’t seem to be the type that seals magic power. They’ve underestimated us just because I became a dance princess, right?」

Just as Ain planned, Ciel praised me so; but it would have been quite bad if it were the magic sealing ones. Nonetheless, it turned out well for us. With this, we’ve broken through our first barrier to freedom.

『I have a plan that could potentially lead us to a smooth escape, but I’m not sure how we should proceed. It’s very risky and could even end up killing us in the worst-case scenario…』
「If Ain doesn’t tell me what it is, I can’t really answer, you know?」
『That’s true……』

So after hearing my escape plan, Ciel ponders for a bit and gave my plan a go, replying 「Let’s try it out.」

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