F-Rank Puppeteer!! But I'll be Queen, and I'm not a narcissist!!!!!-Chapter 222: Progress of the World

About two months have passed. I trained a lot with Esther, and I even learned perfectly how to see the Hikishin on purpose without needing help, and with that, my magic use increased tremendously.

I created many Standard Model Marionettes, ending up with 30,000 of them, which is already a good number of troops I can use. Besides, something good happened recently.

Marie and Grace got married. I think that’s good because it shows that the "otome protagonist" and her "romantic target" got a "good" ending, and it’s great to see at least someone get out of this damn chaotic hellhole that is the demons.

Marie seemed really happy, and I went to the wedding. Even though she’s a huge Tsundere, her joy was obvious. She even came to talk to me with a smile—a true rarity.

Since we’re both married now, I think it makes her feel we’re closer for having something in common, and Grace’s relationship with her is much less rigid.

Unlike me, where I have zero power and all the power belongs to Esther as the matriarch, Grace, being the Heroine, has practically the same power as Marie in the marriage, which prevents the same inequality that exists between me and Esther.

Of course, not everything is roses. Marie has already returned to the war, and since Grace got married, human aid became a guarantee, which maximized ship production and accelerated the war.

And the [Bridge] between the demon continent and the angel continent started being reactivated. In other words, a large-scale war is about to happen soon. At most, four months until everything turns into a chaotic war hell.

Which is weird, since these events should have occurred far in the future, like in three years. But me, Esther, and Grace all had our destinies sped up, so to speak.

Since Grace consolidating a romance would take much longer than just one year of attempts, maybe it’s because this is no longer a game; reality works faster and more chaotically.

Anyway, since war matters increased, Esther was sent to the front about three days ago, so I’m "alone" in the mansion.

But being alone gives me a strange feeling. It doesn’t necessarily have to do with a dragon’s instinct seeking affection, but rather a feeling that something terrible is going to happen.

"Evelyn-sama, you seem tense?" Eve says as I’m sipping a cup of chocolate, caramel, and honey under the golden apple tree.

"I... just feel strange... Like something really bad is going to happen..." Esther had been acting strange. Ever since I received that dangerous stone, Esther has been investigating. She seemed to have discovered some things but ran out of time after being sent to the battlefield.

"Don’t worry, Evelyn-sama! I’ll protect you from everything! Besides, even though that woman isn’t here, her servants are still around, and as much as it pains me to admit it, they are quite powerful," Eve says confidently.

"I think... you’re right... but I don’t know... things seem tense... Ever since Esther left, I feel like I’ve lost what was holding back something bad from happening..."

"..." Eve falls silent. There’s not much to say when it’s just a feeling.

"Maybe I should invite Grace to talk with me?" I murmur, thinking of having the Heroine as a lucky shield. With her nearby, I’d feel safer. Marie went to war, but the Heroine still can’t actively participate in the war due to diplomatic issues, so Grace is living in the castle.

"But Evelyn-sama, I have a question. What did you talk about with the Demon King two days ago?" Eve asks curiously. Two days ago, I was summoned alone to the castle.

"Ah, actually nothing. Because strangely, the Demon King didn’t say much. He just stared at me for a while as if he was thinking about something, then gave me some papers about the war and told me to go back home." It was kinda weird.

"Anyway, let’s move on to something more interesting! Eve, you’ve gotten really strong! You’ve been training hard, and I see the results!" I praise, seeing how strong she is now. Eve has become a Rank SS marionette.

’I think she can even fight Esther and make Esther use her blessing... but... no chance of winning...’ Esther has a monstrous growth curve. In months of training, she’s already reached an absurd level of power even without using the blessing.

"Thank you for the compliment, Evelyn-sama. I’ve been training non-stop since you got married!" she says proudly, and she really deserves to show off, since I barely fortified her with materials. In other words, it’s power she earned through her own effort.

Unfortunately, my growth curve is low. I got stronger, but nowhere near Eve and Esther in terms of how much power I gained. What changed is that my material refinement became much greater, and the cost of using my powers became much lower.

"Hmmmm..." I place my tail on my lap. It moves a lot with my emotions, so I sometimes put it on my lap to keep it from moving too much.

"Eve, how about I strengthen you? I’ve been getting a lot of materials from Esther recently, and there’s plenty to spare!" I say with a smile.

"That sounds great, Evelyn-sama! Are you just going to try to fortify my body? Or are we going to try to give me a new ability?" She asks a good question, because it depends on the material.

"Let’s see!" I take her by the hand and start pulling her to come with me. I’m excited to try to increase Eve’s strength. I’ve seen her training, and she’s amazing, but I want to make her even more incredible, since Eve was created to defend me.

And she’s kind of my biggest trump card of all. Besides, her ability to use plasma is an immense rarity. Her plasma strikes are super powerful, and depending on how strong she gets, it’ll be incredible to see her moves performed.

"Evelyn-sama, what are you thinking about? You look excited," Eve says as we reach my workshop. I close the door and head to a box, having a great idea.

"Eve, I have a great idea. Strengthening you physically is great and all, but I think an ability is better. However, I don’t have much control over what ability you’ll gain."

"But I can guide you... Look." I pick up a claw. They are the fangs of a [Chitinous Assassin], a type of monster that’s part mantis, part bear, which has a natural ability that comes with all of its race.

And that ability is [Critical Strike]. But it’s not a mere power increase, no! It’s an ability that forces a skill’s critical strike, changing the entire composition of the magic.

An example of this already appeared in the game. Critical strikes in this world aren’t merely damage increases; they are an ability forced to a level it shouldn’t be. In the game, one of Grace’s enemies used the ability [Purgatory], which turns everything around them into flames.

But when he landed the critical, all the flames around turned black and directly consumed Grace’s HP bar, ignoring defense, armor, and buff spells. Critical strikes rarely happened, and when they did, everyone found it annoying to have the bad luck for it.

The [Chitinous Assassin] monster is the only one with an ability to force criticals, but it only delivers physical strikes, meaning the ability is wasted on it. But with Eve, it’s going to be absurd.

"Come here, Eve..." When Eve approaches, I start using the item, refining it along with Eve’s body. I watch anxiously, hoping it doesn’t fail. The chances of her gaining the ability are about 5 to 10%.

"What happened, Eve? Did you get something new?" I ask as Eve opens her eyes after the strengthening. If it failed, I won’t be able to try again, because there’s a time limit for attempting to overlap a try that reduces the percentage of her gaining something. So using more materials will only strengthen her without giving anything.

"Ohhh!! I got something! I’ll show you." She sends me the system, and I see what she gained.

[Explosive Critical Mass] An overload ability that makes each strike have a 50% chance of being critical, be it magic, physical strikes, or even weapon skills, at the cost of consuming 3 times more energy per strike. It is a passive that cannot be deactivated.

[Ability of the Fifth Layer, Rank A]

"Incredible!! A fifth-layer ability!! And it came as Rank A!!" I say, impressed. The chances were low but not impossible, so I’m excited it worked on the first try, since I only have three more of this material.

"Eve, we have to test it!... There! On that test dummy! I’ve been using it to test weapons. Punch it! But use plasma on your hand!" I say excitedly, despite the weakness that now absolutely all of Eve’s strikes cost more energy because it’s a passive that’s always active.

"Okay! I..."

Knock, knock, knock

Someone knocks on the door. I click my tongue and go to the door. I can’t believe they interrupted right at the best moment.

"Who is it..." I open the door, but what I see leaves me stunned. A man who, by his black clothing with a gold and red medallion on his chest, is directly part of the royal guard.

"May I... know who you are? And how did you get into the mansion?" I ask cautiously. No one would dare pretend to be from the royal guard; it’s a crime punishable by execution.

"Evelyn Ashcroft?" he questions.

"Y-Yes, I am..."

Click

"You’re under arrest." He handcuffs me while I look at him confused.

"I... Is this... some kind of joke?"

"You have the right to remain silent. You will be taken to the castle for a more... thorough investigation. I hope you do not resist. You should already know the procedure." As he speaks, Eve seems ready to attack him, but I stop her with a look.

"I-I think I do... Why am I being arrested? Y-You know I’m Esther’s wife, right?..."

"Your crime will be informed during the investigation. Please, could you accompany me in silence?"

"I-I..."

"That girl must come too, as a character witness." He says, looking at Eve. I gulp, confused and troubled, but take a deep breath.

"O-Of course we can go... But Eve will be along in a moment..."

"Eve, have someone send a letter to Esther telling her what happened here..." Esther will come as fast as possible once she sees this absurdity.

"..." The strange man starts walking while I follow him, looking at the handcuffs. It seems my bad feeling and restlessness were true.

’The royal handcuffs... I never thought I’d see them...’ They are a powerful containment artifact. Their restraining power is so high that in the game, not even Grace could break free after being cuffed with one of these by Lucien in one of the routes.