Reason

"I still can't get it out of my head..."

"Me neither."

All that was lingering in their minds was the story Leonel had told them in order to quell their boredom. They hadn't expected the story to leave such a weird impact on them as they pondered about how the story with no ending yet would find its conclusion.

The princesses who were supposedly held as hostages were chatting with one another without a care in the world as they fidgeted with the pillows that were given to them along with their 'prison cell'. This so-called prison cell could not live up to its name as it was clear that it seemed more like a guest room, even containing details such as individual beds for guests to sleep on and a bell they could ring whenever they were in need of service.

One of the princesses sighed as she rolled off her bed and roughly landed onto the floor. The loud thud caused the rest who were minding their own business, now landing their gazes at the princess who suddenly fell down.

She pouted as she raised her upper body upwards and flexed her neck side to side.

"If sir Leonel asks why one of us is missing, tell him that I left to use the bathroom."

"Hm? But Odette, haven't you already taken your daily bath this morning?"

"That's the idea~"

She smugly stood up as she brushed the dirt off of her dress and prompted her feet to walk to the door. The other princesses she was able to make friends with during their short time together couldn't help but wonder as to why she suddenly acted this way.

"Odette, where are you really going?"

"Yeah, we're your friends, right? Why don't you tell us too?"

Odette: "... Sorry, but it's something that I can't tell you guys!"

Contrary to her naive and fragile appearance, she was actually quite smart, as she knew that always telling the truth had the possibility of creating some sort of disaster in the aftermath.

What this peculiar little princess planned to do was to inform Overlord Z about the existence of the story in which Myrica had even warned them not to tell the overlord. Due to the curious nature that runs within the bloodline of her family, she couldn't help but take this sort of risk, and went so far as to conjure up a plan in order to dig out the truth without outside help.

Odette swiftly ran to the door and hurriedly turned the doorknob open. Just as it was halfway open, an ominous figure of a person standing perfectly still on the other side scared Odette to the point that she felt as if her soul had left her mortal husk of a body.

Being met with the sight of a girl who looked as if she was a kitten trembling in fear Leonel, who was on the other side, immediately apologized as he scratched his face.

Leonel: "My deepest apologies. It seems that I have accidentally given you quite the shock."

Odette's lips were too shaky to properly produce words that were understandable to the common language they shared as she mumbled out whatever crossed her mind.

Leonel: "Miss Odette, if I may be so bold as to question, where exactly are you heading?"

It was very unusual to see one of the princesses purposely trying to leave their 'prison cell' since they were rather comfortable enough as they were too lazy to get up unless they had to tend to their personal hygiene once in a while.

The princesses who were lying on their beds behind Odette, responded to Leonel's question as only half of them answered honestly.

"She's heading to the bathroom."

"She wants to go somewhere else."

"Bathroom."

"We weren't directly informed about it..."

The four princesses all exchanged glances that were neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Leonel raised one of his eyebrows as he found the situation to be bizarre meanwhile, Odette had finally reorganized herself to be able to speak normally again.

Odette: "... self..."

Leonel: "Pardon..? My hearing can't seem to pick up what you-"

Odette interrupted Leonel before he could finish his sentence as she spoke with a monotone voice and a emotionless face.

Odette: "I'm going to find the highest spot in the castle, jump off and kill myself."

The entire room was filled with silence immediately after Odette had calmly announced her suicide mission.

***

"Odette... is something bothering you? If you have any problems, you can talk to us whenever you feel like it. We'll be here for you no matter what."

"I never knew you were going through this kind of situation. As your friend, I am truly ashamed of myself."

"Killing yourself isn't the way to solve your problems!! We'll do our best to help you so please don't give up on your life!"

"Odette, would you like some oolong tea to calm your nerves?"

Odette shoved aside her friend's worries as she stepped back and sighed. Sure, it was quite heartwarming to see them worry about her, but all that worry was only being wasted on a person who didn't actually require the help of a therapist.

The reason why she had thoughtlessly blurted out a detailed plan to kill herself was due to the effect caused by Leonel scaring the living daylights out of her. Despite him not having any ulterior motive behind it, and only because they had coincidentally met each other at the door, Odette couldn't ignore the fear she felt after seeing his ominous face pop out of nowhere.

Odette's inner thoughts: 'What's done is done.'

Odette: "I'm fine, really. I was just a little surprised by Sir Leonel back there."

Her friends were able to rest their hearts at ease and they suddenly switched their attitudes as they pressured Odette to fill them in on the details related to her top secret plan.

Odette had another gene in particular, which countered her logical decisiveness. It was the gene she had received from her father's side, which loved to tattle and gossip. Hearing her friends together with their constant persistence to make her spill the beans eventually weakened her resolve and she leaned in to whisper.

Odette: "I'm planning to confront Z regarding the tale that Sir Leonel told us."

"Th-That one..? Are you sure about this..."

"That woman named Eureka or whatever definitely warned us not to mention this specific topic!"

"What will you do if what she said turns out to be true..?"

"Do it."

Among the reluctant voices one stood out in particular as she encouraged her reckless friend to gamble with her chances. She couldn't contain the same curiosity she shared with Odette as she began to convince the others one by one.

"Aren't you all interested about it? About why they act as if it's something to be avoided at all costs?"

"Of course, but warnings like these should not be taken too lightly! What if-"

"Thinking about it now... I kind of agree with your sentiment."

"Same here!"

"Besides, we'll probably die of old age and regret the fact that we never got to know the juicy truth that might be related to Z's past."

Her final sentence had won the lottery ticket as it successfully hypnotized the rest of her friends to support Odette's plan.

Concluding their debate, the sound of a door getting locked echoed throughout the room.

Click-

Odette: "Wasn't that the door..?"

The princesses all had their gazes focused on the now locked door and they felt their hearts drop.

Leonel, the man who had locked the door, possessed a keen hearing ability, thus allowing him to eavesdrop on their entire conversation. He knew what was best for all of them as he decided that locking them inside was the only way to prevent future events from turning into a chaotic mess.

The princesses desperately banged on the door as they made their attempts to change Leonel's mind.

Leonel's inner thoughts: 'I'm sorry, but I'd rather avoid more workload being handed out to me in the near future. You can curse me to death, but I still won't open this door.'

Sadly for Leonel, what was secretly happening on the other side was that only three of the princesses were banging on the door, thus creating a diversion for the remaining other to aid Odette as she sneakily escaped using the window.

They were extremely talented when it came to making ropes so they were able to create one that consisted each of the princesses individual blankets.

Odette mouthed the words 'thank you' to her friends before quickly climbing down.

***

Z could be seen alone by himself with no one by his side to accompany him as he nonchalantly strode through the outer hallway connected to the castle.

His attention was averted as his peripheral sight caught a glimpse of something. He slowly approached it and he reached his hand out to touch the blueish green flowers. They were slightly droopy and gradually lost its vibrant color over time due to the harsh and dry environment of Geheliriem.

Why were these flowers here and how did they thrive in such a place?

It was about nine years ago when Z had ordered his subordinates to find and bring back the best looking flowers that also sustained the oddly specific color 'turquoise'. His subordinates informed him that these plants had zero chance of survival due to the environmental conditions of their continent.

Yet this did not bother Z at all.

He poured his magic into these flowers whenever he had the spare time to do so. One could start a reasonable argument with him on how he kept unnecessarily wasting his power for such a useless life form that couldn't even bring any sort of benefit to his kingdom whatsoever.

Though Z was ready to accept this sort of criticism.

The reason was still unknown to this very day as to why he insisted on keeping these specifically colored plants.

Step step step step

The sound of light yet heavy shoes hurriedly running towards his direction grew more emphasized as they swiftly approached him. Z raised his defenses as he positioned for combat, but he was instead met with a familiar face whom he had just recently become acquaintances with a few days ago.

Odette panted as she called out to the man before her.

Odette: "Z..!"

Z: "Miss Odette. For what purpose did you come all the way out here just to see me?"

The moment Odette was meters away from him, she bent forward as he tried to stabilize her breathing pattern. Z was a bit nervous as to why she went through such an extent to look for him.

Suddenly it struck him.

Z's inner thoughts: 'That can't be the case... But if it is, then I must immediately reject her.'

Odette straightened her back as she thought of going through with her idea; meanwhile, Z's words overlapped with hers as they simultaneously spoke at the same time.

Odette: "I came to talk to you about the story..."

Z: "I'm sorry to break it to you, but what you are feeling at the moment is Stockholm Syndrome not true love."

They both exchanged bewildered glances, and Z quickly tried to excuse himself for one-sidedly assuming that he would receive a confession from her.

Odette: "What are you talking about..."

Z: "Ahem, It seems that I was too delusional to think rationally so I had come up with an assumption of my own, ahem..."

Odette: "No, why would I even like you to begin with? I have standards, at least remember that."

Z's body froze as he was petrified by Odette's straightforward and confident statement. Despite this, Odette didn't have the leisure time to care about his expression as she forced him to return to his senses.

Odette: "Shall we move on now? As I was saying, I would like to talk to you about a story Sir Leonel told us."

Z had regained his composure and he cleared his throat as he asked in response.

Z: "My butler told you story? Well, this is rather interesting. Mind telling me the details?"

Odette: "The summary consists of a villain who kidnaps princesses and a hero who rescues them over and over again."

Z: "That is... wait..."

Z's expression was frozen in place as he thought to himself 'why in the world does this sound so familiar'.

Odette gathered up her courage and bravely asked Z her long awaited question.

Odette: "By any chance, have you ever encountered a person like the hero in the story..?"

Odette saw him blink a couple of times before abruptly stopping, and the corners of his mouth moved up.

Z: "Yes I have, actually. Coincidentally so."

Odette: "Then... are the two of you close?"

Even Odette herself knew that this was quite a foolish question to ask. Who in their right mind would be sane enough to still be on good terms with the person who ruined their plans as they repeatedly kept saving the people whom they were supposed to use as hostages.

Z faintly wore a pitiful expression, but soon covered it with a fake smile.

Z: "He and I... He disappeared one day."

Odette: "He's dead!?"

Z: "Heavens, no, what in the world has gotten into you?? It's just that he one day decided that he was better off doing different things instead of chasing after princesses all day."

Odette: "Like what exactly?"

Z: "How should I know..? Like I said, he disappeared without a trace. I haven't heard any news of him since then."

Seeing how empty his eyes were and how broken his voice sounded caused Odette's heart to twist and tangle.

Was this truly the reason why she shouldn't have brought this up to him? If only Myrica and Leonel had used their words more thoroughly, then she wouldn't have asked if she had known that it was such a sensitive topic.

Odette: "I honestly have no right to say this, but why do you continue to kidnap princesses..?"

Throughout his whole life never had he ever heard or thought of such a question that caused him to pause and reflect on his actions. Yes, why does he do these things? For the fun of it? Because he can and he could? For once in his life, he genuinely asked himself the reason behind his odd behaviour.

He had his eyes closed shut as he deeply thought about it. Opening them once more, he faced Odette as he spoke.

Z: "Remember that man whom we've just talked about?"

Odette softly nodded.

Z: "He is my reason."

Odette: "Did he threaten you to kidnap princesses..?"

Z's inner thoughts: 'Why does it seem like you're the one who misunderstands the most in comparison to me...'

Z: "Not at all. He is the one who saves them from the likes of beings such as myself. Which is why I continue to do these things. Just about anyone could judge from my reason alone that it's horrible."

"But if it meant getting another chance to see him again... I'm willing to become that horrible person."

The strands of his hair fluttered due to the passing breeze. The pinkish color of his hair caused his purple eyes to stand out from the pastel warm hue.

Z: "My only wish is to meet him again."