Shinji Matou at Your Service

"Alright."

Merem agreed readily but quickly sensed something was off.

"We?"

What "we"? Where did "we" come from? Isn't he alone here? Is he planning to bring Ciel or Caren along? Impossible. Even if he wanted to, would they agree to go with him?

The ancient Dead Apostle was filled with confusion, which was quickly followed by more anticipation.

That young knight had already surprised and amazed him countless times. For a Dead Apostle with endless time and growing boredom, this was an invaluable experience.

Now, he was even more eager to see what else this human, favored by the princess, could bring.

That anticipation soon turned into reality.

Shinji returned from the tower's lookout, accompanied by the overstuffed Caren and Ciel.

The first thing he said to Merem was, "Open the door. It's time for me to go into battle."

"That's not a problem—open the door!"

Merem ordered casually, then asked, "But isn't there a skylight in the tower? It's a bit narrow, but your size should fit through."

"If it were just me, it wouldn't matter whether it's the skylight or the door. But I'm not the only one going into battle. If I made her go through the skylight, you might get angry."

"Angry?"

Shinji's reply made Merem pause slightly, quickly leading to a look of disbelief as if realizing something.

"Could it be—her?"

"Yes, it's her."

Nodding, Shinji opened his backpack fully, took out a small coffin wrapped inside, and infused it with magical power.

With a "click," the coffin lid flipped open on both sides.

In an instant, pure white spread out.

The world was replaced—or rather, it was changed.

White, a purity without a single blemish, spread everywhere.

The surroundings—the floor, furniture, and even the entire room—were dyed in this pure white.

At the center of this pure white world, there was a different color.

Dazzling gold, icy silver, and a subtle hint of black.

The gold was the color of the hair.

It belonged to a princess in a pure white, floor-length gown—the color of the hair of the pure white princess. Although she was the Moon Princess, her hair was more radiant than the sun.

Seeing this golden color, Ciel's expression was complex, filled with both resentment and sorrow.

Merem instinctively dropped to one knee, his face full of excitement, and his red eyes showed deep fascination.

He murmured, "Princess."

The silver came from chains.

They tightly bound the pure white princess, suppressing her power and sealing her consciousness.

The pure white princess sat quietly on a throne of unknown material in this pure white world, her eyes closed, in peaceful slumber amidst the dense, cold chains.

Finally, there was the black—subtle, barely noticeable compared to the dazzling gold and dense silver.

If not for the contrast of the pure white world, this color might easily be overlooked.

It was a small black cat, lying on the princess's lap, asleep alongside the pure white princess.

The princess's guardian and only knight silently approached the throne, cradling the black cat after navigating the only gap in the chains.

The black cat, with its instinctual intelligence, opened its eyes and skillfully climbed onto Shinji's head as if it had done this many times before.

But this time, Shinji shook his head, took the black cat down from his head, and handed it to Merem.

"She is my link to the princess. Please take care of her for a while."

After saying this, Shinji reached out, grasped the chains binding Arcueid, and gave them a firm pull.

With a series of "clack, clack, clack" sounds, the chains seemingly came alive, detaching from her body and gathering into Shinji's hand before vanishing.

The now unsupported princess slumped forward but was caught by the prepared Shinji.

The knight softly whispered in the princess's ear.

"Wake up, Princess."

"..."

The princess's eyelids fluttered but showed no sign of opening.

"Wake up, Princess," the knight called again.

"Mm..."

The princess's lips moved, but she still didn't open her eyes.

The knight's expression twitched, and with his free hand, he flicked the princess's smooth forehead hard.

"Get up, you lazy bones!"

"Ow!"

The startled princess immediately opened her eyes, clutching her forehead with both hands, complaining, "I'm not lazy; you're just waking me up the wrong way."

Shinji replied with a blank expression, "Then tell me, what's the right way to wake you up?"

"Pout~"

Arcueid pouted her lips.

"Speak properly," Shinji said, giving her another flick.

"Ouch, with a kiss, you big idiot," Arcueid grumbled, still pouting.

"That's how they do it on TV—the knight awakens the sleeping princess with a kiss."

Shinji turned his head to the black cat perched on Merem's shoulder. "Len, what have you been showing her?"

The black cat was, of course, Len, the one who had once saved Shinji from losing an arm and was later taken in by the Matou family. She might be the last remaining Nightmare Demon.

Since her diet consisted of human dreams and life energy, her schedule was nearly opposite to that of humans, and she preferred staying in Shinji's room. As a result, her presence often went unnoticed by the family.

It wasn't until Arcueid could no longer suppress her vampiric urges and had to seal herself that Shinji brought Len out of the house, placing her by Arcueid's side to weave dreams for the sleeping princess.

Arcueid's favorite dreams were of two kinds. One was created by herself, where she played and laughed with Shinji and the Matou family. The other was entertainment made by humans, like movies, TV shows, anime, and games.

Recently, Len had been showing Arcueid an old knightly adventure series—something Shinji's stepmother, Elsa, enjoyed watching, often with Len, giving Arcueid a steady supply of entertainment in her dreams.

Of course, a dream is just a dream, no matter what. It can't compare to reality, so Arcueid had always hoped Shinji would make her "sweet dreams come true."

Receiving the information Len relayed through their contract, Shinji sighed helplessly.

"The Sleeping Beauty scene... No wonder it felt so familiar."

"Hehehe, so you do know. Don't mess up the way you wake me up next time, okay?"

The princess laughed naturally, but unfortunately for her, Shinji had developed a strong immunity to that smile. He replied curtly.

"Yeah, can't afford to mess it up. I should have been rougher, like with a punch."

"Why, you big idiot, Shinji!"

"And you have the nerve to ask why? Use your brain. Do you think I'd wake you up for no reason? Look at the situation. Is this the time for fooling around?"

"Ah—"

It was only then that Arcueid realized there were others present.

Two familiar faces.