Kiss of the Vicious Rose Story

A short story about Ludmilla and her childhood maid, Clarice.

## Scene 1

"The sun in the sky...

Comes down from on high...

The dark shadows grow,

but where do they go?"

Clarice recalls that lullaby that told Ludmilla a long time ago, then wonders if Ludmilla still remembers.

A nobleman approaches two members of a mob to escape Clarice, but Clarice still kills him for double-crossing her master. The mob members try to steal the gems the nobleman stole, but Clarise kills them too.

Clarice reveals that it's been 10 years since she last saw Ludmilla.

TDLR; Clarice the assassin maid is introduced.

## Scene 2

Following Act 7 when Ludmilla orders Vesh to collapse the cliff while fighting Endless Rizette and falls to her supposed death, she talks with a voice about her fate.

Ludmilla wakes up, realizing that it was all just a dream. Ludmilla, Nagi, and Callen are currently hiding from the Bergarians, and have no idea about the status of Rizette, Theo, or any other Red Dragon Knights who may have been captured. Nagi discovers that Astrid has supposedly defected to the Bergarian Empire and has placed a bounty on any surviving Red Dragon Knights, but Ludmilla insists that she did so to push them to escape. Callen casts a spell on them to disguise them, and they head to the Capital to rescue Astrid.

Nagi rambles about meeting lots of maidens. Callen puts a ghost costume on Nagi and puts on an imp costume. Ludmilla wears a butler suit.

TDLR; Ludmilla and gang embrace the Halloween spirit and head to the capital of Rigland to save Astrid.

## Scene 3

Nagi expresses his sadness for not being able to flirt in his costume. Ludmilla and gang trick a guard to enter the Halloween Festival.

They discover lots of rubble, aftermath of the Pandemonium. Timia bumps into Ludmilla, then asks them to help them rebuild the city as volunteers. Ludmilla points out the hypocrisy of the Empire to rebuild the damage they caused themselves, but then notices a shadow girl's killing intent around her. Nagi notices too and removes his costume, shattering the disguise spell. Timia recognizes them as the Red Dragon Knights and calls for their arrest.

TDLR; Ludmilla and gang sneak into the capital of Rigland but have their identities exposed by Timia (who becomes irrelevant).

## Scene 4

Ludmilla is already weak from her previous battle, so Nagi offers to stall for her and Callen. Callen blinds everyone and the gang escapes to an inn.

Gang asks people in the inn to collect info on Astrid and find out that her actions definitely prove her defection to the Bergarian Empire. Ludmilla then hears the shadow girl's voice telling her to follow her out, and she does so to avoid bringing danger to everyone else in the inn.

The shadow girl reveals herself as Clarice and criticizes Ludmilla for lying in her discussion moments ago, claiming that she betrayed her when they were master and maid. Ludmilla claims they were best friends and that Clarice was the one who betrayed her.

TLDR; Ludmilla and gang escape the festival. Clarice finds and criticizes Ludmilla but Ludmilla pulls out the Uno Reverse Card (no u).

## Scene 5

Flashback to 17 years ago - 10-year old Ludmilla finishes training and meets Clarice, the new maid assigned to her to teach her ladylike manners.

Clarice is initially timid, but she bonds with Ludmilla over time. Ludmilla convinces Clarice to let her train to join the Red Dragon Knights, then comes back to find an asleep Clarice holding a book of fairy tails, containing the lullaby from Scene 1. Later, Ludmilla tells Clarice to read the book to her before she falls asleep, as a friend. She reads about a princess who was stuck in a tower and encountered a prince...

TLDR; Flashback to when baby Ludmilla became besties with baby maid Clarice.

## Scene 6

Back to present time, Clarice invites Ludmilla to Alastor's mansion, the home of her new master. Ludmilla agrees to protect Nagi and Callen.

In the carriage, Clarice tries to be nostalgic, but Ludmilla maintains her hostility. Ludmilla falls asleep due to the perfume.

TLDR; Clarice beats the sense out of Ludmilla and stuffs her into her "Free Soul Stones" truck.

## Scene 7

Ludmilla wakes up in Alastor's mansion and Clarice reads "The Princess in the Tower", the same book they read in Scene 5, but changes the ending to make it realistic.

Ludmilla is weakened after being asleep for days, and Clarice displays her devotion to Alastor before escorting Ludmilla to meet Alastor.

TLDR; Ludmilla wakes up from her hibernation and is read a motivating story by Clarice before being escorted to Alastor.

## Scene 8

Ludmilla meets the mage Alastor, who is intrigued that Ludmilla survived despite the rumors. He wants to know why she fled, but she refuses to tell the truth.

Alastor orders Clarice to stab herself, but a power within Ludmilla stops her. Alastor is intrigued and lets them off to lunch.

Clarice tells Ludmilla about how Alastor took her into his care after Ludmilla left, and reveals the runic curse that kills both herself and Alastor if they are separated for too long. When asking whether Clarice would kill her, Ludmilla notices a small remnant of the old, timid Clarice.

TLDR; Ludmilla meets Alastor and sees Clarice's trippy nature when Clarice is ordered to commit seppuku. Some deus ex machina arises from the depths of Ludmilla, and Ludmilla sees a glimpse of her old bestie.

## Scene 9

Clarice spends a whole day feeding Ludmilla. The two reminisce about their previous cooking endeavors.

When Clarice leaves, an unknown voice within her tells her that "there is a way out of here".

## Scene 10

The unknown voice tells Ludmilla that she has allies to assist her if she asks, and that there is a way out of her confinement in Alastor's mansion. It then shows Ludmilla a map of her current location relative to Rigland, and reveals its identity as Erden. Erden quickly references mana, then hints that it wants Ludmilla as its new protector.

Clarice leads Ludmilla to Alastor, who binds Ludmilla and reveals his status as an Ex-Bergarian Magic Corps leader. He reveals he is interested in how mana (magic) can create miracles in the battlefield, and hypothesizes that Ludmilla did not die in the battle in Act 7, but rather became an Avatar. Therefore, she would be the perfect subject to experiment on to learn about creating miracles.

Alastor orders Clarice to carve the runes of binding onto Ludmilla, and Clarice hesitates.

## Scene 11

Clarice states that she's been dependent on someone else her entire life, but she still doesn't want to be alone or free.

Alastor shoves Clarice aside and casts magic on Ludmilla, who sees Alastor and Clarice in the real world despite being unconscious. Clarice sobs, crying that she hates seeing Ludmilla suffering and begs Alastor to stop. Alastor says that he wants to obtain the Primordial's power to get revenge on the people who threw him away when he was a soldier. Ludmilla senses that the old Clarice is surfacing again, then sees a flashback of Clarice being abandoned by her mother as a child.

## Scene 12

Young Clarice is taken in by a Lord, the same nobleman in Scene 1. Over the course of three years, he abuses her for her mistakes, which led to her timid personality. A merchant later buys Clarice and sells her to the house of Aldyne as Ludmilla's personal handmaid.

Time skips to when young Clarice is reading a book to young Ludmilla. The two jump on the bed together late at night.

Seven years later, Ludmilla tells Clarice that she would rather join the Red Dragon Knights than marry a nobleman. Clarice eventually realizes she would be abandoned if Ludmilla left. She poisons her tea to stop Ludmilla to leave, but she figures it out. Ludmilla argues that Clarice stole her dream of joining the Red Dragon Knights from her, and Clarice counters that she gave her a dream of being best friends with her, only to tear it away. Ludmilla says Clarice is no longer her friend. Clarice chases after Ludmilla and is eventually rescued by Alastor.

Ludmilla sees all of this, and her flashback ends.

## Scene 13

Alastor successfully carves the runes into Ludmilla, then leaves.

Clarice apologizes to Ludmilla, unaware that so much torture was involved in the ritual. Clarice reveals that she wants to protect Ludmilla from doing dirty work. Ludmilla tells her the story "The Princess in the Tower" with a happy ending, encouraging her to break free to create her own happy ending. Both apologize for their actions, and Clarice offers to go to Rigland to get backup to help Ludmilla escape.

Clarice poisons Alastor and knocks him unconscious.

## Scene 14

Alastor wakes up and attacks Ludmilla with an incantation, who calls upon Erden's power to deflect it. Astrid and Bergarian troops appear seize Alastor Velarius. A medic heals Ludmilla, proving that general Bergarian soldiers are unable to see her identity due to Callan's disguise magic from before.

Astrid can see Ludmilla's true identity and says she will be waiting for the day when Ludmilla joins them, mimicking her speech from before, in the underground library at the Red Dragon Knights HQ. Ludmilla realizes Astrid never betrayed the Red Dragon Knights or Rigland.

Clarice bursts into the scene, barely conscious.

## Scene 15

Clarice bids farewell to Ludmilla. As per Clarice's final request before passing away, Ludmilla says that they were friends.

Later, Ludmilla reunites with Callen and Nagi, bringing along with her a loyal Clarice.

Flashback to Clarice's death, Ludmilla uses Erden's power to revive Clarice, and encourages her to once again find her happy ending. Clarice asks Ludmilla if she can take care of her, which she agrees.

Ludmilla reflects on her Halloween, and begs everyone to not lose hope. She reflects that she still remembers the old lullaby, and wonders if it was related to finding Clarice again. She recalls the lullaby one final time...

"The sun in the sky...

Comes down from on high...

The dark shadows grow,

but where do they go?

"Farewell, my friend,

I'll see you again...

When morning comes...

Our long night will end."