#i didn't expect to finish it today while there were still last bits of daylight left so. you actually get photos of it today!!

[copper-skulls]

something a bit different but what still makes me happy - i just finished this queer chevron tag I'm gonna have hanging off my backpack now :) The button was a gift from a friend after I busted my previous rainbow pin, so it's a little bit special, ahah

[lunacyofdukevenomania]

Chapter 3-Gumina Glassred; Scene 5

The Lunacy of Duke Venomania, page 101-107

For Sateriasis, having relations with women was something that had become a very normal aspect of going through his everyday life, just like eating and breathing.

At present there were five women in his basement. About every night he would amuse himself with four among them (excluding IR) and indulge in pleasure.

That was of course to make sure that the demon dwelling within him did not weaken.

But if it was only for that, there would be no need to have several women for it. Though, it wasn't certain that there existed a woman in this world who could withstand Sateriasis' extraordinary lusts on her own.

It wasn't that he was ensnaring women at random. It was because Sateriasis genuinely and equally loved all four of them that he'd invited them to the mansion.

--Although Mikulia had partially been out of circumstance, to be accurate.

I love several women at the same time. Who decided that such a thing was immoral? Religion? Government? Or god?

At any rate, having made a contract with a demon, Sateriasis had no reason to follow along.

That day, having finished his liaison with Mirigan, Sateriasis left her room. Before him appeared a red cat.

"You have visitors, Duke," she said, pointing her nose to the ceiling.

"Visitors?"

"I saw them at the gate just now. It's that guy...your uncle. Though there are several others with him."

"Huh…That's perfect. I was just thinking that I needed to go meet with Marquis Glassred soon."

Sateriasis fixed up his appearance and headed upstairs.

Marquis Glassred was already lying in wait for Sateriasis in his foyer.

"I'm terribly sorry to keep you waiting, uncle."

"Oh, Lord Sateriasis! Forgive me for just barging in on my own. You see there are…no servants here in this mansion, yes?"

It might have been an excuse, or it might have been sarcasm. Sateriasis greeted him with a calm expression, not letting any slighted feelings show.

I still dislike him…this man.

He felt as though the kind of misconduct peculiar to a parvenu oozed from Marquis Glassred. Try as he might Sateriasis couldn't stand it.

"So then what's the matter today? …At this late hour."

"What do you mean? It's been so long since you've shown your face. I came to see how you were doing. …And I have several things I want to talk to you about."

In that case he didn't have to come in the middle of the night--Sateriasis' frustration with him grew, but then he too had some things he wanted to ask Marquis Glassred now. So he held himself back and decided to lead him further in.

"For now let's talk in the drawing room."

The drawing room was a room on an offshoot of the entrance hall to the right, on the ground floor. It had gone untouched after Lukana had cleaned it before she'd entered the harem, and so as Sateriasis had hardly ever gone in there since then, it was fairly well maintained and clean.

"Excuse us for the interruption...Gumina, you come along too."

"--!"

"Gumina"…?!

The name that Sateriasis had been planning to ask Marquis Glassred about had most certainly come from his own lips.

And then, peeking her head in from outside was--

"…It's been a while since we've spoken, Lord Sateriasis."

That white dress, and large decorative flower. That green hair.

It was the appearance of this "Gumina" that he had been searching for, that he had imagined inside his mind.

.

What Marquis Glassred wanted to talk about by visiting the mansion had been, in brief, a report regarding the serial disappearance of women going on in Asmodean.

Naturally, it was the case that Sateriasis was causing.

It appeared the marquis had no idea that Sateriasis was the culprit.

He had erased the memories of anyone involved in Lukana and Mikulia's cases due to the "ritual", and had since then gone ahead as carefully as possible so as to not be seen by anyone. So, while it was perfectly obvious, Sateriasis was a little relieved to be able to confirm it from the Marquis himself.

More than the discussion of the case, Sateriasis was captivated with Gumina, who the marquis had brought along with him.

So she'd been connected to the Glassred family after all. What was more, she was the daughter of the marquis, the family head.

She was so close by, and yet up until now I hadn't caught even a glimpse of her…

Seeming to have noticed Sateriasis' gaze, Marquis Glassred smirked and cut in, "Have your memories come back?"

"No…Not yet, not completely."

The marquis failed to hide his disappointed expression, that answer clearly not what he expected.

"…Then, regarding my daughter, regarding Gumina…"

"I remember her face. But anything more than that…Right up until we met face to face like this I had even forgotten the fact that she was your daughter."

"I see… But then, in that case it looks like I made the right call bringing her along." Marquis Glassred turned to Gumina sitting in the chair next to him and said, "Gumina. From this day forward you will live here with Lord Sateriasis."

"Huh!?"

"Huh!?"

Gumina and Sateriasis both voiced their surprise at the same time.

"There's nothing strange about that. You two are engaged, after all."

"En…gaged!?"

Does this mean Gumina was my…fiancée!?

That fact was surprising for Sateriasis, and at the same time it didn't make sense to him.

After he lost his memory, there was a conversation that he'd had with Gumina that would often play in his mind and then vanish.

In that conversation, she had looked down on Sateriasis with a cold expression and spoken to him abusively.

--If the two of them were engaged, then what in the world was that about?

During the whole dialogue between Sateriasis and Marquis Glassred, Gumina remained silently looking down with a listless expression.

Was that the figure of a woman sitting before her fiancé?

And why hadn't she come to see Sateriasis at all until just now? Wouldn't she have rushed over at once upon hearing that her fiancé, her family, was cooped up in his mansion all alone, having lost all of his memories?

Does this mean you didn't…love me, Gumina?

In that moment, welling up inside Sateriasis' heart was both an unbearable affection for Gumina and, as though running counter to that, hatred.

What was it…what happened…between Gumina and I!?

"What's wrong, Lord Sateriasis? Are you feeling alright?"

When Marquis Glassred addressed him, Sateriasis snapped back to reality.

"Uh…Ah, beg pardon."

"First thing tomorrow I will have Gumina's personal effects taken to this mansion."

"No…Please wait a little bit on that."

Sateriasis stopped the Marquis' suggestion, panicking on the inside. There were women in his basement. Once Gumina came she would surely find them, and then everything would be brought out into the daylight.

"I told you before, I want to live in this mansion alone for the time being."

"Bringing that up again…! I thought I'd heard that you'd been showing your face in public lately…"

"This and that are two different things. At any rate I just need…a little more time."

"You are being so unreasonable...Lord Sateriasis, you are the man who will govern Asmodean! Surely even you must see that this type of conduct is unsightly!" Marquis Glassred stood and shouted angrily at Sateriasis.

For a short period, silence fell on the area.

Unable to bear the awkward atmosphere, Gumina opened her mouth for the first time.

"Father…The mental anguish Lord Sateriasis sustained seems much deeper than we'd thought. We shouldn't force the conversation alo--"

"You will be silent!"

Indignant at his daughter's advice, Marquis Glassred turned the brunt of his anger on Gumina.

But he let out a long, slow sigh, as though having calmed down a little by yelling at her, and sat down once more with a loud thud.

"…Well, alright. But Lord Sateriasis. Please meet with Gumina from time to time. You and my daughter have known each other since you were little. Maybe talking to her will help trigger your memories coming back."

That did align with what Sateriasis wanted. And he had a lot of things he wanted to ask her.

"Would that…be alright with you, Gumina?"

Gumina nodded in agreement with her father's suggestion.

"Mhm…Well then, we'll take our leave. I will be working on government affairs from morning tomorrow. You should enjoy your spare time as much as you can now. What I'm doing now, someday you will have to do yourself, Lord Sateriasis--or rather, Duke Venomania."

After giving his last dry remark, Marquis Glassred left the mansion with his retainers and Gumina.

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