I was immediately confused by Carmine’s response. I had thought she might not answer. I had even considered receiving a response from the Demon King, having somehow interrupted the transmission. If that was the case, I was screwed. I had devised a few escape plans if things went bad, but there was no saying whether I would have made it out of there alive. It was a risk, putting my life on the line, all so that I could get into the castle ahead of time.
“I… don’t know who that is.” The response came a moment later. “How are you talking to me? Are you the one I feel drawing near? Are you my soulmate?”
I had to think things through after hearing her message. So, Carmine no longer remembered who she was. That meant that the miasma that had infected her heart had somehow successfully infected her entire soul. In her mind, she was the human princess and didn’t even remember being a Paladin at all.
Since I was the one who had rescued her, I had forged a place in her heart in place of Bernard. I wasn’t sure why the dungeon had designed it so that the princess fell in love with whoever saved her, and not simply the prince, but it worked in my favor. Had her heart belonged to him, I wasn’t sure I could have accepted it. It would have been extremely infuriating.
However, it almost seemed like she couldn’t remember me anymore, but rather the idea of me. The slave bond had turned into her soulmate who she could feel at a distance. She had been sitting in the castle, waiting for me to rescue her. Rather than trying to snap her out of it, I decided to play into the fantasy for the moment. I didn’t have the time to explain everything, and I couldn’t afford her accidentally notifying the others in her distress.
“Yes! I’m the knight who saved you. I’ve come to rescue you! That’s why you can hear me because our hearts are bound as one.” I decided to throw out a bunch of lines that made me blush.
“My hero has come? Oh! Wonderful! Please, save me!”
“First, are you doing okay? Has Bern- I mean the Demon Prince done anything to you?”
This was the thing I had been worried about the most. If she had been mistreated while I sought the means to attack the castle, I would lose it.
“It was awful!” She cried out, causing my worst fears to be realized.
“What did that bastard do?” My expression started to darken.
“It was the worst! First, he bought me a dress… but it wasn’t the color I liked! Then, he promised to buy me anything I wanted, but when I asked for a small island, he said he didn’t have any of those! Finally, every night, they feed me with a 4-star chef. Daddy always got me a 5-star chef! I mean, his food tastes the same, but it was the principle of the thing! Are you listening? This is important! I’m suffering here!”
I quickly grew tempted to turn off the Slave Communication. As for whether this was an aspect of the princess or Carmine… I honestly couldn’t tell. I realized that the pair kind of deserved each other.