The Price of Sanity

“I cannot possibly agree to their terms!”

“Can you not see Saranya suffering a fate worse than death during her episodes? Vireta, sometimes one simply must compromise!”

“No! At the very least… at the very least, it cannot be that scoundrel… Mother would never want us to hand her over to that man…”

“Aivy, what is your opinion on this? Everyone knows your assessment of that fellow holds more weight.”

“I… I don’t know…”

****

Saranya found herself unable to think, with only a profound sense of ‘comfort’ enveloping her. She felt as though she had been tucked into a vast, white cloud of swan feathers, every pore of her body reveling in the downy warmth and softness.

Her consciousness remained hazy, yet her brain persistently sent signals of pure joy.

‘Is this… a dream…?’

A faint smile played on her lips, her gaze involuntarily drifting as she savored the boundless, hallucinatory dreamscape.

‘Little Aya…’

She saw her, standing by her bedside: a petite and graceful maiden with ruby-like eyes and an impassive expression, drawing closer to her step by step.

‘Kaelan…’

Saranya whispered the name with a hoarse voice, her eyelashes fluttering like the wings of a dying butterfly.

In her unfocused pupils, the snow-white maiden was reflected. Trembling, she lifted an arm, reaching for the maiden’s moonlight-pale skin, her gaze sweeping past the other’s chest, where a faintly shimmering amethyst pendant rested. She watched it, mesmerized, for a moment before slowly raising her eyes to meet the maiden’s fervent red ones.

Her breathing began to quicken.

Kaelan blinked at her, the young witch’s wet eyelashes adorned with crystalline droplets that, paired with her captivating, beautiful eyes, resembled tiny diamonds suspended in rich red wine, awaiting Saranya’s delicate savoring.

Enthralled by the maiden’s ethereal beauty, Saranya desperately fought off her exhaustion, forcing her eyelids open, eager to maintain eye contact.

“Please… come a little closer…”

Truthfully, she would pay any price.

“Of course.”

The maiden licked her lips, flashing an evil, cunning smile, then strode boldly closer, seizing Saranya’s outstretched fingers and straddling her.

Treated with such roughness, Saranya’s cheeks flushed crimson, her body shuddering violently as she exhaled a sigh of pleasure:

“Hah… hah… Kaelan…”

“Saranya… my little she-wolf… I finally… finally have you—”

“Eh… eh…?!”

‘No, something is wrong! Kaelan would never act like this, nor would she call me that. This isn’t Kaelan!!!’

Amidst her alarm and doubt, Kaelan’s voice began to distort, deepening in pitch, gradually becoming neutral, and then morphing into a man’s voice. As Saranya’s vision cleared, discerning the other’s true face, she immediately screamed in despair.

“No—!!!”

The person was clad in an ostentatious noble’s robe, dressed with extravagant flair. Upon contact, Saranya felt nothing akin to the gentle touch between maidens…

Instead, it was the sensation of a hard, foreign object intruding, accompanied by an unfamiliar pain that made her pupils contract sharply—

“Ugh… no! Don’t touch… me… Wuwuwu… Go away… Get out!!!”

Saranya thrashed and kicked wildly, crying out in desperate sobs and screams. Her earlier longing for the maiden had transformed entirely into nausea and revulsion. She struggled frantically to sit up, desperate to force the other person away from her.

“Sister Saranya! It’s alright!!!”

“Ahhhhhhh—”

“It’s alright! You’re safe, I’m not a bad person…”

A small hand gently pressed against Saranya’s chest, coaxing her frantic struggles back down onto the bed. The arm felt soft, allowing Saranya to calm herself slightly and slowly open her eyes.

By the bedside stood a silver-haired maiden, her expression etched with concern.

‘Aquilis…’

The pain and discomfort she had just felt originated from the syringe in Aquilis’s hand. The other girl had inserted a thick needle into her skin, preparing to inject a large dose of highly concentrated laudanum into her bloodstream.

Seeing her quiet down, Aquilis breathed a sigh of relief. As she gently wiped the beads of sweat from Saranya’s forehead, she softly asked:

“How much medicine do you want this time, Sister?”

“A third… no… a quarter, perhaps… I want to… remain as clear-headed as possible…”

Aquilis nodded gently, said nothing, and proceeded to depress the plunger of the syringe.

Watching the mermaid maiden slowly inject the murky liquid into her body, Saranya’s sorrow grew immeasurable.

Cecilia was at a loss regarding her mental affliction. The only recourse doctors had was to administer large quantities of anesthetics, keeping her in a state of weak euphoria. At least this way, she would suffer less, and it would spare her companions a great deal of trouble.

“Aivy! You are the one who knows him best here! Yet you’ve never told us about his situation. We are all in the same boat, don’t you understand?!”

The room was quite boisterous, with Cecilia, Vireta, Aivy, and Phillo standing by Saranya’s bed, chattering incessantly, even managing to irritate the usually timid Aquilis:

“The patient needs rest—”

The mermaid puffed out her cheeks, about to interject, but Saranya tugged on her wrist, indicating she was fine and wanted to hear what her companions were arguing about.

Vireta was sharply questioning Aivy, who, leaning into Phillo’s embrace, remained silent with a somber expression, revealing a hint of sorrow.

Soon, she caught a name from Vireta’s words: Lucius Weinshield.

In that light, her recent nightmare made a disturbing amount of sense.

Indeed, Lucius was the very person who had extended an engagement proposal to her.

‘This…’

She was somewhat speechless.

Reflecting carefully, since her arrival in Vero, many people had taken a liking to her, Kaelan notwithstanding:

Paresha and her brother Westir had both fallen for her, the latter even being cruelly exploited by Mejga and transformed into a monster because of it. Paresha’s familiar, Freya, had also been smitten at first sight, attempting to abduct her publicly. Lenix, moreover, lusted after her body, using the guise of rescuing her at the Assembly of Truth to brainwash her. And now, Lucius, that philandering noble scion, had formally presented her with a marriage contract…

‘Good heavens, do I possess some kind of succubus bloodline that appeals to everyone?!’

‘Marrying a promiscuous noble like Lucius… the very thought was sickening. Not only would it be mentally abhorrent, but her physical health would likely be at risk…’

The problem was, if Lucius had merely submitted a simple marriage proposal, her companions present would surely have rejected it on her behalf, without even needing her personal input.

Lucius must have offered terms compelling enough to cause such a rift among her companions, making them argue at her bedside.

At this thought, Saranya broke out in a cold sweat.

“Could you… please tell me what’s happening first, Vireta? Starting with… where am I right now?”

Saranya offered a helpless, bitter smile, and with Aquilis’s assistance, turned over, surveying the opulent bedroom she found utterly unfamiliar.

“Mother… you are at the imperial-owned ‘Triumph’ Royal Hostel. Nazareth pulled some strings to settle you here. It’s too chaotic outside, and with imperial soldiers guarding this place, it will be safer…”

“Oh…”

‘Brother Naz is indeed reliable.’

“What exactly is this engagement you speak of?”

“Lucius’s terms… they are very difficult for us to refuse, but we can assure you that we all have your best interests at heart…”

Cecilia took a deep breath, her words leaving Saranya utterly bewildered.

“Saranya, I know Lucius might not be a good husband, but could you… could you just make this sacrifice, please…?”

‘?’

“Due to earlier collusions of interest, the Tidal Mirror Hall has sided with the City Council. Lenix, she’s the one who can restore you to normalcy, and Lucius can persuade her. After all, that wealthy young master wouldn’t want to marry a madwoman, would he?”

Cecilia’s stance was clear: she wanted Saranya to have a healthy mind and body. As for marrying a detestable noble man?

Such matters were perfectly normal in this era.

“No…”

“By forming a marital alliance with him, the Redwater Gang will push the gang alliance to make peace with the City Council, then turn their weapons against the Vero Liberation Front in the lower district… We will have a chance to become the ultimate victors, Saranya… and you will also be restored to your former self…”

“I…”

Saranya crossed her arms, hugging her body tightly.

‘Impossible. She would not agree.’

‘Restored to her former self? That was a cruel joke. Once she agreed to such a thing, she would never truly be restored!’