Prologue: Hallucinations and a Disquieting Feeling (Mihail)

“No! I don’t want to give birth! Please kill me, Lady Sriarde! Kill me before I give birth to this child!” A woman’s sudden, desperate plea pierced the air.

Instinctively, I glanced toward the wall. Normally, it would be a plain, whitewashed wall, but what appeared before me instead, like a mirage, was a suffering woman clutching her swollen belly as she writhed on a simple bed. Sweaty strands of white peach-colored hair clung to her face. Her eyes were the same violet color as mine.

The name she’d cried out gave me pause. I frowned. Wasn’t that the name of a queen from two generations ago?

Of all the queens throughout history, Queen Sriarde was particularly well-known for her many great accomplishments. Among her most famous achievements was founding an academy separate from the Royal Academy, one exclusively for commoners. And when a deadly epidemic broke out in a neighboring country, she and her biological son—the previous king’s child, the crown prince—provided financial aid from their own personal wealth.

Despite the renown of this queen’s name, I, the heir apparent of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, didn’t immediately recognize it. The reason? Queen Sriarde herself had chosen to erase her own name from public memory. She was the one who had raised the infamous Princess Beljeanne, a woman of no blood relation to herself; after the princess had made her mark as a notorious villainess, the queen had wished to take responsibility. Even among nobles, very few could readily utter her name.

“Rest assured,” a delighted voice echoed around the room and a figure appeared beside the bed, wearing a twisted smile. “His Majesty has declared that the child born of his illicit affair shall be considered nonexistent.”

The red hair and reddish-purple eyes made me half certain that this was Queen Sriarde.

“Illicit...? No! That’s not right! That man forced me— Ugh!” The woman broke off with a groan of pain. But her desperate protests only earned a look of hatred from the purple-eyed woman. It was an expression utterly unlike the compassionate, accomplished queen of record.

“It must be agonizing to bear the illicit child of a man you never wanted, Miss Cherria. Ah, but you are no longer of that house, are you?”

Cherria?! But that was my grandmother’s birth family!

“Aaaah! What... It hurts! It hurts! I don’t want to give birth!”

The woman laughed. “Regardless of the truth, it’s your own fault for letting your guard down! Now I am queen consort—I am the lawful wife of your former fiancé! You have fallen to commoner status, kept by His Majesty—my husband—out of pity. Not even a concubine, but a mere mistress! How utterly pathetic, how utterly satisfying!”

My doubts vanished into thin air in the face of the sheer, horrifying ugliness of Queen Sriarde.

As I stared blankly, a sudden sharp pain shot through my eye. I groaned involuntarily, pressing my hand to my eye. When I looked again, the scene from moments before had vanished without a trace.

“What the hell was that?” I muttered, frowning again.

Ever since the recent incident with my former adoptive sister, Sienna, and the demonic magic curse she unleashed, strange things had been happening with my eyes. But it was usually just a fleeting, hazy light—likely residual magic. I’d never seen a hallucination like this before.

I stared at the wall for a while, wondering if the vision would appear again.

“Mihail Robur.” Someone tapped my shoulder from behind. I almost reflexively swatted the hand away, but managed to restrain myself.

“It’s been a while, Your Highness,” I said.

I turned slowly; as expected, a middle-aged man was smiling gently at me. This was the current king’s younger half brother. His silver hair, tinged with a peculiar greenish hue, came from the previous king, while his greenish-gray eyes were inherited from the former queen, one of the Nilty family.

“It has been a while,” he agreed. “What were you staring at the wall for?” It was no wonder the grand duke was curious—but I could hardly tell him that the wall had become transparent, revealing a room beyond.

“Nothing,” I answered curtly, trying to end the conversation as quickly as possible. And I absolutely would not ask what he, the director of the research institute attached to the forced labor facility in the north, was doing here.

Given my position, I’d had many opportunities to visit the castle over the years, and whenever I encountered the grand duke, he would inexplicably pick a fight with me. Honestly, I could say with certainty that getting involved with this man never led to anything good. I had to get out of here.

But the grand duke, with flawless precision, thrust one hand right beside my face. I could sense his intent to block my escape—but spare me the kabedon pose! Was he trying to appeal to street girls and certain shameless novelists? “Did you know?” he said calmly as he leaned closer. “Beyond this wall, you see, there was once a secret detention chamber, built long ago by His Majesty the King.”

Whether he knew my thoughts or not, a chill ran down my spine that told me I had to get away. Even though I’d been coming in and out of the castle for years, I couldn’t possibly know its entire layout.

I thought I recalled that major renovations had been done after Princess Beljeanne’s death. Only a select few knew the layout of the entire castle, past and present—those who did included the captain of the Knight Corps and captain of the Mage Corps tasked with protecting it.

Also among that select few was the grand duke, the man who was now leaning in close, locking eyes with me.

“Is that so?” I said.

“But you’ve had your share of misfortune too. For your step sister to do such a thing.”

“Sienna...” Damn. I’d reacted involuntarily—she’d been weighing on my mind all this time.

“You understand, of course? Those deemed unfit for labor in the work facilities are sent to our research institute. Unfortunately, you have neither the need to know what happens there nor the authority to question it.”

“Yes, of course.”

Sienna’s history had been erased, going back to her enrollment at the Academy. Her status as an adopted child of the Duke of Robur’s family had been wiped clean.

In a way, it couldn’t be helped. She’d conspired with a demon to transfer students, including her sister Laviange, into the Poison Box Garden, causing multiple casualties. And after that, she’d willingly become a magical curse herself.

Sienna had incited many students, including Joshua, the second prince, and my sister’s fiancé at the time, with lies solely to discredit my sister. Furthermore, she’d openly revealed her own murderous intent toward my sister and committed a heinous act.

After that, there was no way Sienna could have possibly remained my sister, let alone a part of House Robur.

But for now, I had to change the subject. The grand duke had always meddled with me, using me as a test subject for his dubious potions and magical devices. I wanted to physically distance myself from this man who treated me like a lab rat. “Why are you here?” I asked.

“I have something I must report. That’s why you were summoned here today.”

“Then, we’ll discuss it properly at that time...”

“The criminal, Sienna, has died.”

“What...” I started to ask why, but the grand duke’s earlier words and his position as the laboratory director made me realize a possibility. “Was it due to an experiment?”

“I wish you’d call them clinical trials. But no, it wasn’t that.” Those green-gray eyes and his light, almost carefree tone vaguely reminded me of the next head of the Nilty family, who I knew well. It was quietly irritating. Of course, I kept my composure.

“The criminal somehow escaped from the heavily guarded research facility. Apparently, she met with an accident before she could get far.” The grand duke paused and leaned close to my ear. “When they found her...for some reason, her head had been severed. They were not able to find it.”

The shocking words were so at odds with the grand duke’s soft tone that it took me some time to process them.

1: (Before the Incident) It All Starts in the Salt-Damaged Lands

“Ahh! I smell fresh grass!” Dia, wearing my handmade scrunchie on her right front leg, leaped down from atop my head. With that comical scurrying gait unique to armadillos, she dashed down the slope.

The slope wasn’t quite sixty degrees, and I wouldn’t be rude enough to suggest rolling down curled up might be faster.

This place was a week’s ride on horseback from the Academy, but the Transfer Station, a public teleportation service, could get you here in just a few hours. So here we were, at the salt-damaged lands our class group had chosen as the theme for our graduation research project on restoration.

Up until yesterday, we’d been on a two-night, three-day field visit to a nearby orphanage. The trip had combined collecting research data with community service for the Academy. That part had been with my usual teammates, and we’d stayed in the orphanage. After enjoying breakfast with the orphans this morning, I was now on a leisurely stroll through the mountains with Dia.

My teammates, Kartika and Lauren, had returned to the capital with Prince Regulus, who’d been supervising us. They were probably both at their part-time jobs by now. Team Leader Ralph was probably having lunch at his family home, as they served as lords of the neighboring domain.

“Be careful over there! The slope drops off into a cliff!” I called out to Dia, just in case—though her shell should protect her in the event of a fall, as long as she curled up. Some said an armadillo’s shell could even deflect bullets... That was knowledge from my past life, though.

When she’d been a magical beast, Dia’s body had been white gray, but now that had changed to pale vermilion fur and a red shell with an iridescent sheen to it. That was the effect of inheriting power from the sacred beast Vamillia, who had looked like an illustration of a legendary phoenix I’d seen online in my past life. Those colors sure made for a super flashy armadillo. Thanks to that, though, I doubted I’d lose sight of her.

I believed Vamillia—Lia—would return and appear before me someday, just as she’d promised. I’d recently heard rumors about a certain volcano in this country becoming active, and I couldn’t help but hope this might hasten Lia’s revival. She was a phoenix, after all.

Dreaming of that day, I’d been diligently creating 18+ novels that Lia would love. Under the guidance of the royal family’s shadow, I trained my little Doggie, who’d formerly been a knight apprentice, to achieve even greater perfection. Not in swordsmanship, of course, but in artistic skill. He’d undergone a splendid transformation into a rising star illustrator that left me deeply moved.

It was all thanks to the experienced spy. He’d even started drawing splendid 18+ illustrations.

“Mom, over here!”

As I descended the slope, lost in thoughts of Lia and 18+ illustrations, Dia had turned around and called me “mom”! How utterly adorable! She was still so young, yet she cared about me as I trailed behind her. Was she an angel?!

Lately, she seemed to be getting used to speaking human words. Little by little, her stammer was fading. Watching this angel grow day by day was truly heartwarming. I could only wish for her continued healthy growth.

The angel looked at me impatiently with those round, indigo-colored eyes speckled with gold as she urged me on. “Look, over there!”

I stood right behind Dia and followed her gaze, confirming today’s target. “Hee hee hee, you’re right.”

“I knew it!” Dia burst into a delighted run at once. How adorable that little scurry was! The fluffy belly fur peeking out from the edge of her shell was irresistible! Someday I’d definitely get to stick my face into that belly fur of hers, and that of certain little white foxes with their ironclad guard!

I followed Dia, keeping my fighting spirit inside. I observed intently as we approached the circular cluster of green.

Yes, yes! This was it! This was the plant I was seeking! My face slackened with relief.

“Captain Dread told us a new species would likely appear around here soon, didn’t he?” Dia said.

“Yeah, the captain was right!”

Captain Dread’s sacred beast name was Drogolena. His magic power included the earth attribute. Because of that, he sometimes guided Dia on how to use her power, and Dia had grown quite attached to the captain.

Dia nibbled on the clustered leaves and her eyes widened in delight as she munched away. “Mmm, it’s salty and yummy!”

I plucked a leaf covered in tiny transparent droplets and took my first bite. Against the quiet backdrop of waves, I enjoyed snack time with an angel.

“Mom, this is delicious!”

“Yes. It’s been ages since my past life, but this saltiness and the underlying sweetness are addictive. The crisp texture is wonderful too. This is an ice plant.”

We ate one more leaf, and then another...and ended up finishing the entire plant between the two of us.

Ice plant was a salt-tolerant succulent. In my past life, as I’d approached middle age, both my husband and I had started gaining weight easily, so I’d surfed the net and discovered this plant. What a fascinating food for preventing lifestyle diseases! It seemed to lower blood sugar, and had antioxidant and antiaging effects too! Some substance in it even had slimming effects, they said! The name of that substance...? I couldn’t remember!

Plus, it was rich in minerals. Since it had a powerful ability to absorb minerals from the soil along with salt, it apparently stored lots of potassium, magnesium, and so on in its leaves.

“Even if it’s not fabric, it can absorb...yeah, absorb, salt from the ground, huh?” said Dia.

“You’ve learned some difficult words,” I praised her. “Impressive. Isn’t it wonderful that it can remove salt and be a delicious, healthy ingredient?”

“Yeah! Wonderful!”

Ah, an angel shot straight through my heart. My knees felt like they might buckle to the ground, but I forced myself to focus on the graduation research, using the salt removal as an excuse, and scolded myself.

My class’s graduation research had started not long after we entered the Academy. It was a joint project with last year’s graduating class, 4D. Looking back now, I was amazed at how quickly time had passed since then.

The research theme was regional revitalization. This stemmed from a once-in-a-century supersized hurricane that had struck about a year and a half ago, damaging several coastal territories, including the one we were in now.

The graduates had initially planned to present data on desalinating small coastal plots provided to them using magic. However, the extent of the salt damage caused by the hurricane-spilled seawater had exceeded our expectations. Furthermore, as monster attacks began increasing, the lords who were supposed to cooperate had withdrawn their support.

Unlike the world of my past life, there was a peculiar phenomenon in this one where magical beasts proliferated in lands struck by disasters. While this caused damage, it could be resolved by magically purifying the land.

The problem here, however, was that purification wasn’t a kind of magic that just anyone could perform. Due to tradition, the majority of people capable of using purification-type magic belonged to the largest church in this country: the Hythyian church, which practiced Hythyism, the state religion of the former Kingdom of Rovenia in my previous life.

The lords made donations to the church to ensure they could rely on them for purification when needed. Traditionally, priests from the church would be the first to arrive at disaster sites, not only purifying the land but also providing relief supplies.

During this disaster, however, the church’s response had been delayed, leading to numerous monster attacks. Honestly, in a way, it felt like a man-made disaster—the actual purification didn’t happen until a full year after the hurricane.

“If ice plants grow everywhere, will lots of people come?” The angel’s innocent question purified my wizened grandma’s heart, which had been harboring such cynical thoughts about this being a man-made disaster.

“If that happens, the research will have been a huge success!”

“Huge success!” Cheered by my words, Dia hopped up happily. For an angel, this must be the moment success was guaranteed.

But knowing from years of experience that it wouldn’t be easy, this old crone could only manage a smile.

These mountains had originally supported salt-tolerant trees. Still, perhaps due to the constant sea breeze, crops struggled to grow here. And while the sea was close, it unfortunately didn’t yield a great deal of seafood either. With no notable local products, the flow of people and goods here was considerably lower than the areas near the royal capital.

By the time last year’s graduates presented their work, the depopulation problem had accelerated, supply chains stalled, and the lords were at their wits’ end. Many sons and daughters of such lords belonged to the then fourth-year and first-year Class D groups. With siblings often spread across both classes, they formed connections across grade levels through their graduation research.

Their first major project was tackling salt damage across multiple territories. Of course, they didn’t attempt anything reckless, like using magic to remove the salt. That would have drained every last bit of magic from the students and been completely impossible for them to manage.

The fourth-years, now working on a joint research project, could entrust their findings to the first-years, and the research passed on from their seniors. This led the younger students to accept the approach of making use of nature’s self-purification to remove the salt. So we immediately began cultivating cotton, which was effective for desalination. Cotton cultivation and desalination seemed to be quite compatible in this world. Last year, there’d been hardly any weeds in the fields, but this year a few had started sprouting up here and there.

“Mom, did you say desalination through cotton?”

“Moonshadow wanted cotton for rubber production, so I proposed it through the Lyonoble Trading Company. Thanks to that, even the lords who had refused to assist with the research agreed to lend a hand again.”

“Moonshadow?”

“Ah...tilting your head like that...utterly adorable...” I instinctively wiggled my hands, taking a step toward the little angel, only for her to step back from me. Why on earth?

“M-Mom...your face...”

“Oh dear, I got carried away. Well, yes, Moonshadow is me.”

Moonshadow was the pseudonym I used for my designer activities, to conceal the fact that I was Lady Robur. That way I could also belong to the country’s renowned Lyonoble Trading Company.

Actually, in this world, rubber—something I’d been so familiar with in my past life—didn’t exist. Coming fresh off that past life, though, this inconvenience was unbearable. In truth, I’d been trying to develop rubber for about five years before I entered the Academy.

In fact, rubber trees didn’t exist in this world either. On top of that, my past self had had a latex allergy, so I’d experimented endlessly to create rubber using this world’s alternative materials. It was around the time the hurricane struck that I’d finally succeeded in synthesizing rubber from three materials.

I’d asked Yust, my superior at the trading company, to cultivate cotton, one of the materials in question, so that I could secure a supply route for it. Through Yust, I then proposed the idea to students working on their graduation research. When the students negotiated with the lords, Yust had accompanied them, carrying the commercial development materials I, Moonshadow, had provided.

I was part of the research team too, so it was a bit of a roundabout way of doing things, wasn’t it? But I was still the daughter of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, even if I’d fallen from grace. Making these moves openly would have stirred up the complications of high nobility. And if the selection of craftsmen was disturbed or the selling price was inflated, it’d disrupt the production and distribution of rubber goods.

By the way, the rubber scrunchies our Class D sold at our first cultural festival? They were a huge hit. After the festival, the Lyonoble Trading Company had taken over sales, and I’d heard they were selling well to both commoners and nobles alike. All the sacred beasts under contract had received handmade scrunchies from me, each enchanted with protective magic. The one Dia wore on her leg was one of those. It was pink with some indigo fabric bits and lots of lace.

As I reflected on the past year, Dia’s cheerful voice caught my attention. “There’s an amoeba! Hmm, the current’s fast... Too bad!” An amoeba the size of a Japanese floor cushion was drifting near the riverbank. Dia ran over, but perhaps because she’d fallen into the river right after birth and nearly been used as a substitute for a magic curse, she instinctively avoided the water and gave up chasing it. Becoming a sacred beast had greatly boosted her magic power, and she was getting the hang of spells. Still, pushing too hard was forbidden.

“Right,” I told her. “It’d be terrible if you fell in, so let’s just leave it be.”

“Okay!” Ah, her angelic reply made my heart flutter! Oh, to push up against that belly fur... “Mom, your face is...”

“Oh dear, I just couldn’t help myself!” The angel retreated again the moment she saw my face. To avoid frightening her, I focused all my consciousness on the amoeba this time! Unlike the other sacred beasts, who hated perverts, my angel was kind and didn’t want to reject me outright!

Amoebas were colorless, transparent creatures. They had a sticky, jellylike consistency and slowly grew larger by absorbing debris and other particles that stuck to their bodies. If a nucleus—more accurately called a magic stone nucleus—began to form, the amoeba would swell, become translucent, and lose its sticky texture.

While the presence of a magic stone nucleus would unquestionably classify it as a magic beast, amoebas lacked both the magic stone nucleus and magic power, and they didn’t feed. Therefore, it wasn’t a magic beast. On the other hand, since it could form a magic stone nucleus, it was a magic beast. That was the core of the amoeba magic beast debate, a point where even experts disagreed.

But when amoebas changed color and became slimes, they started moving on their own and feeding. Wouldn’t it be a magic beast then?

Amoebas lived in forests, rivers, and town waterways, moving slowly and unobtrusively. They were mysterious creatures that appeared out of nowhere. They didn’t attack anything. Floating amoebas sometimes accumulated and clogged waterways, but even children could deal with them, and they were treated as minor pests.

“I found a green spider’s nest! Oh, it hasn’t moved out yet! Too bad!”

The amoeba and the green spider nest that Dia had just found were the last two ingredients for making rubber. Of course, in order not to disrupt the ecosystem, we used empty nests, not occupied homes, for the process.

Green spiders were herbivorous monsters with a gentle temperament. They made nests, slightly larger than themselves, out of thread and attached them to the bases of tree branches. The nests were slightly sticky, so they rarely fell from the trees, and the green spiders usually moved out after a few weeks. Sometimes small birds would then line them with fallen leaves and recycle them into their own nests. Green spider nests that were no longer used by anyone turned brown in a few weeks, crumbled into pieces and became an eco-friendly fertilizer.

The amoebas and green spider nests needed to be preprocessed to remove impurities. In exchange for food donations, we asked the orphans in each salt-damaged area to help us with this. The two preprocessed materials were placed in a pot in a certain ratio and simmered slowly over low heat for a whole day to gel. While that was still hot, the final ingredient, cotton, was added, and then the whole concoction was spread out into a thin layer, allowed to cool, and then cut to the required width. The details of the preprocessing and rubber manufacturing methods were trade secrets.

Currently, largely due to the strong wishes of the project proposer, Moonshadow, we primarily employed orphans from salt-damaged areas for this work. This was part of the regional revitalization efforts and served to secure human resources. Since children in this world started working as young as ten, it also acted as vocational training for their futures.

The academy didn’t normally permit limiting service to specific regions or particular orphanages, but our class, 2D, had secured the appropriate permissions to focus on that specific area precisely because we’d chosen the restoration of salt-damaged land as our graduation research theme.

Since the rubber was produced solely by our class and the merchants cooperating with our graduation research, we could cut costs significantly. This allowed us to sell at a steep profit margin. However, both the cotton purchase and the rubber subcontracting requests were limited-time preferential measures, valid only until our class presented our graduation research. That was precisely why we needed as many cards up our sleeves for the regional recovery as possible—like promoting new local specialty products.

I crouched down and stroked Dia’s head as she resumed her munching. She hadn’t noticed yet, but an unfamiliar presence was approaching, and I’d casually cast an illusion spell over her. A local, perhaps?

“Now then, Dia. Can you move the ice plants Captain Dread developed to the requested locations?” I asked her.

Yes, these ice plant seedlings had been provided courtesy of Captain Dread. He was skilled at plant breeding and development. All I’d had to do was describe the ice plant’s characteristics to him. He said his process involved crossing plants with similar traits, speeding up their growth, crossing them again, and repeating the process. Usually it only took about a year or two to complete—truly the work of a sacred beast!

When we wanted plants with specific traits, Captain Dread had used to order them for us. But from now on, Dia would be ordering them for us! My angel was just too kind!

“The garden at home and the vacant lot near the sea?” she said.

“Yes. For the garden, shall we put them in the flower bed we made together? We’ll be able to eat fresh leaves every day.”

“Yeah! Can’t wait!”

Damn. That enchanting angel was piercing my heart with multiple shots, zing, zing! I’d even stroked her jawline!

“And the vacant lot along the coast is the one where I planted the rosemary and lavender,” I added. “Understand?”

“Yeah! We looked at it together on vacation! I saw it today too!”

“Could you scatter some next to that, make it look like they’re growing wild? Not many people go there, so you could just say they sprouted on their own. They should keep growing after that. Can you do it?”

“Yeah! Dia’s got this!” Dia flipped her motivation switch on, approached, tapped each plant with her nose, and teleported them, roots and all. Those were the ones for the flower bed. Next, she gathered the magic within herself. She channeled it through her front paws into the ground, enveloping every plant. In an instant, the mass of foliage vanished, leaving the ground gouged out.

“Success. Well done, Dia. Your magic has improved tremendously.”

“Eh heh heh, is it amazing? Are you happy, mom?”

“It’s incredibly amazing, and of course I’m happy. Thank you, Dia.” I picked her up and stroked her all over as I praised her lavishly. Those proud eyes... Ahh, I couldn’t resist.

While I was petting her, I interfered with the ground, piling up the soil as if nothing had happened and hardening the surface.

“Aah, but Dia could do it!” she protested.

“Oh dear, I just couldn’t help myself... I’ll leave it to you next time, okay?”

“Okay!”

She was just so cute I wanted to be helpful and do things for her first. It’d been the same in my past life; when my daughter had been in elementary school, she’d always scolded me for accidentally giving her too much step-by-step help with her homework. My twin sons, on the other hand, had been actually delighted.

My dependable daughter... By the time I’d reached this lifetime, she would be a grandmother blessed with grandchildren. Time sure flew. I didn’t know how much time had passed in the other world from my past life, but maybe that girl even had great-grandchildren now.

“Are you going to grow them in the field?”

“No, in the cotton fields. The cotton harvest should just be wrapping up now. This season is perfect for planting ice plants, so I was thinking we could plant them in the offseason. Of course, I’ll need to discuss it with my classmates first.”

Growing this plant from seeds was quite challenging. It might be better to propagate the plants and market them as a miraculous health vegetable unique to this area. That meant I’d need to consult with the local lords too. If we planned to market it as a specialty product in the future, perhaps we should prepare donations to the church, mentioning that it would be used for research presentations. It was always wise to have insurance in place for purifying the land after disasters.

The next time something like this happened, I wanted them to respond swiftly. I wanted to believe the reason purification had been delayed last time wasn’t that donations from the disaster area were lower than other domains... But it was true that the church’s support had come after Class 4D had presented their research findings and made a donation to the church in the Academy’s name.

I’d heard that when the pope changed, the new—current—pope had strongly pushed for it to be removed as the state religion. The country had abolished the state religion system at that time, but the church still had many believers and its authority remained strong. Perhaps because of this, it seemed that people specialized in land purification magic ended up converting to the church almost out of custom. Dissolving the church and incorporating its mages as state mages seemed like a difficult prospect, since most citizens retained their faith and the organization wasn’t sufficiently established.

This was probably why the pope was still invited to the entrance and graduation ceremonies at the Academy.

The pope was a man, by the way. I’d happened to run into him once after an entrance ceremony. He’d been hiding his appearance with magic, so I didn’t speak to him. His age? Late fifties, I thought? But he was a beautiful man with a face that looked only thirty. Seeing the pope had reminded me of the small maid who’d looked after me during my time as Beljeanne. She’d had the same striking white hair and dark eyes as the pope, and she’d been a very beautiful girl. I didn’t know her actual age either. She’d probably been around five when we’d met—I’d found her on the roadside, nearly starved to death. I’d named her Lily, and I’d always wondered what’d become of her after I’d died.

I’d tried investigating her whereabouts in this lifetime, but ultimately found nothing. It had been so long ago, and the contract-bound Cas and Lag had been holed up in the mountains and forests for about ten years, leaving us at a dead end.

She was a capable child with magical talent, so I’d taught her enough magic to manage on her own if anything happened to me as Beljeanne. I believed she’d been resilient enough to live. Especially in those harsh times, knowing she could use magic meant she could find work, even as a child. She must’ve been older than ten when we parted ways.

I was lost in my thoughts when a voice came from behind me. “Hello, Lady Robur.”

Turning, I saw a young man with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, which looked unamused. Flaxen hair, sapphire eyes, and attire ill-suited for hiking—the very priestly robes I’d been pondering just moments ago. Not in the standard black, though, but cream-colored. The standing collar with a single purple stripe marked him as one of the church’s ten high priests.

So my identity’d been discovered? This didn’t bode well. Should I run?

“Pleased to meet you,” he said. “I am one of the high priests of the Hythyian church. Call me Nax.”

“Pleased to meet you,” I replied politely. “Did you come to forage for wild vegetables too?” I reconsidered and decided it was better not to ignore him. Of course, I switched to a lady’s smile, avoiding any mention of my own identity or the priest’s name.

“Wild vegetables? No, surely not. Um...foraging?”

“Of course.”

“Ice plants are wild vegetables too!” Dia whispered to me.

I nodded slightly to the angel who’d moved above my head. If it grew in the mountains, it was a wild vegetable.

“Lady Robur, correct?” said the priest.

I giggled. “Most ladies don’t go gathering wild vegetables, do they?” Not at all. I did, though.

“Oh... I’m terribly sorry. I must have mistaken you for someone else...” Oh, come now. And here I’d thought he’d leave easily. He was staring at me rather intently again. “No, you have the same eyes and hair color as the former Duchess of Robur. You can’t fool me, Lady Robur.”

“Oh dear, how unfortunate. If you know who I am, is it wise to approach me here?”

“Forgive my rudeness. Your wariness is understandable. But I am a high priest of the esteemed church. I swear by God I mean you no harm, my lady.” With that, he activated magic and bound himself to the oath.

It wasn’t that I didn’t think it was necessary to go that far, but I was still the daughter of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses. Normally, even a high priest wouldn’t dare approach someone of my standing like this.

“Very well. And what business do you have?”

“I imagine you’ve endured considerable distress.”

Huh? Distress? I didn’t understand what this was about—why was he giving me that sympathetic look?

“There’s no need to hide your true feelings. I overheard that you visited an orphanage nearby for fieldwork the day before yesterday, and I came hoping to hear about your current pain and sorrow.”

My pain and sorrow? This story just kept getting more mysterious. I couldn’t help but tilt my head in confusion.

“However, seeing His Royal Highness the First Prince there with you, I decided to come back another time. To be monitored by royalty even outside the Academy... How unfortunate for you.”

Monitored? Well, I did hear that for this orphanage visit, His Highness the First Prince, as head supervisor, had been personally checking each student’s graduation research progress and contribution to the Academy. Usually, homeroom teachers or the head instructor for second year lead these visits, but His Highness had been assigned to the Academy specifically to correct its disordered discipline. Calling it surveillance wasn’t entirely wrong.

I hummed and nodded in agreement.

“Ah, I knew it! You were already feeling marginalized in Class D, and now you’re under surveillance too. While engaged to the second prince, you were openly betrayed by someone who happened to be your adoptive sister and treated terribly. I also know you were deliberately slandered and even suffered a suspicious injury. How deeply the gentle lady must have suffered. And to be treated so harshly even by blood relatives—it’s an outrageous injustice for a lady of the noble lineage of the Four Great Ducal Houses! I came here today to hear your true feelings, without pretense.”

What the priest said was true... Except for my feelings.

“The second prince is the worst! Gonna bonk him!” Dia whispered. Just to me so the priest didn’t notice—was she some kind of considerate angel?! A physical attack like bonking the second prince with tennis ball-sized hailstones? That was so unlike her!

“It was despicable, but it’s already been settled with money disguised as compensation,” I explained. “My engagement to the second prince was dissolved long ago, and he’s currently convalescing, both physically and mentally. Let’s not bonk him.”

“You may not trust the royal family or your own kin, but you can trust us at the church,” he assured me. “But this isn’t the place to discuss it. Please come to the church sometime. If you wish, the church will certainly take responsibility for your protection.”

My, my, could this be some new kind of pickup line? True, with that handsome face stirring up Boys’ Love fantasies, his success rate must be high. But assuming I’d go as a matter of course, full of confidence like that...it made me wonder. Once I was inside the church, he’d likely try to get something from me, completely ignoring my own free will.

That said, he was a high priest permitted to attend the pope—the supreme authority within this nation’s largest church. In other words, society viewed him as holding considerable power here. Not that that meant I’d take his words at face value. The pros of me going to the church were...not many. To the world, I was a talentless lady with little magic. I doubted there were any benefits in it for me.

“It’s a kind offer, but I must decline.” I’d just refuse him flat out. I wasn’t idle enough to entertain a young man’s advances. Oh dear, I supposed I was actually younger than he was now...

“There’s no need to worry...”

“I’m not worrying about anything,” I insisted. “It’s just that my current life seems more enjoyable than life in the church.”

“Enjoyable?!” he repeated. “Even though you’re being framed?!”

“Low magic power, utterly incompetent... A villainess who runs from anything unpleasant and enjoys bullying her sister. Is that what you mean?”

“That’s right! Ah, no, about the magic power...well...” He stammered awkwardly. After all, high magic power was a kind of status symbol even in the church.

“Half of it is accurate, though, right?”

“What do you think would be the problem?! I can show you the life of a lady at the church! Even if you have magic power on par with commoners, with proper guidance...”

“What? No way.” I couldn’t help but recoil. To begin with, the typical life of a lady cost a fortune, yet he was being stingy. Of course, at my current standard of living... Come to think of it, I was self-sufficient, but weren’t the monster materials I gathered for my covert activities quite expensive?

“Wh-Why that look on your face...”

“Don’t mind it. I just forgot to hide my expression.”

“Hide it...”

I didn’t get why his face slackened in shock. I was the one who had questions I wanted to ask. I composed myself and continued. “Ahem. I don’t feel any particular need to make an effort, and I don’t want to exert myself over trivial matters.”

“Trivial matters...”

“I’m living a much happier life than you imagine. Besides, though you seem unaware, my brother hired proper tutors for me all throughout my childhood. He pursued my education with an almost obsessive fervor, chasing me around to make sure I received it.”

“Obsessive... Chasing you around...”

“My life now is so enjoyable that if you tried to take me to church, I’d escape within minutes.”

“Escape...”

“And though I’m called talentless and incompetent, I’ve managed to evade ninety-nine point nine percent of the Duke of Robur’s demands for his heir’s education.”

“Ninety-nine point nine percent...”

“I’m exceptionally talented in that particular area, so even if it’s the church, I’m confident I could barefoot sprint away and make a complete escape!”

The priest stopped his interjections, his eyes widening in utter shock as I made my proud declaration.

Ha! So this was the legendary “serves you right” moment! He’d just got his comeuppance!

“Mom, I smell the captain!” Dia yelled from atop my head, just as I was rubbing it in with an even more confident statement. Of course, the priest couldn’t hear her.

I instantly launched a search with my magical senses. Naturally, I avoided the priest right in front of me. A high priest like him would have considerable magic power and magical prowess. If he, by any chance, noticed what I was doing, it’d be a pain.

Oh dear, someone had encountered a medium-sized magical beast. They had more magic power than a commoner would, so perhaps it was a noble? But since it was a magic power I didn’t recognize at all, they probably weren’t a Royal Academy student. Not that I remembered every single student enrolled, of course.

Still, this was troublesome. They were charging full speed this way.

“The captain and someone else are coming this way!” Dia gasped. “Hmm, who could it be?”

“Distinguishing someone at a distance just by scent? You’re a genius!”

“Eh heh heh, mom praised me.” That blushing angel was irresistible!

But more importantly...a chase involving a stranger, the captain, and a magical beast? What was the captain doing?

I grumbled to myself as I tried to figure out the situation.

The magical beast was a C-rank danger class. Right, so they had to just be playing around. The captain was, anyway. This way, whoever was leading wouldn’t get seriously injured, and, magically speaking, the front person could handle hunting it themselves.

Judging by its speed, the beast was using some kind of body enhancement or tailwind effect. It’d reach us here in about ten minutes.

“Looks like they’re enjoying a game of chase,” I said. “Should we just leave them be?”

“Chase! Dia wants to play too!”

“All right. If it’s a monster you can eat, will you hunt it for us? If it gets dangerous, call for the captain’s help, okay?”

“Yeeesss! Dia will try hard and bring mom some delicious dinner!”

My child’s filial piety was bursting forth! Though it was a shame the cozy fur on top of my head had vanished in an instant. Of course, Dia’s skill level posed no problem. If anything happened, she could just curl up and roll away—a monster like this could never hurt her.

“My lady? Um, are you listening?”

Come to think of it, this priest had been talking nonstop, hadn’t he?

“Oh my, I completely forgot to answer,” I said. “I have somewhere to go, so I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Huh? Wait a sec...”

I simply turned and headed back up the slope. I needed to get out of here fast or I’d get caught up in the chaos. The priest scrambled to follow behind me, but just what did he think he was doing? I hurriedly climbed the slope, which had now become an ascent.

“S-Such a steep incline, and you’re so fast?! Are you using some sort of body enhancement?!”

What was he talking about? This slope wasn’t even sixty degrees—nothing unusual by this world’s outdoorsmanship standards. Even without body enhancement, I could have climbed it without trouble using the branches of the surrounding trees.

“I’m just using my body normally, you know!” I told him.

“Um, please wait a moment. I’ll step forward...haa, haa...and offer my hand...”

“No need. You’re out of breath, after all. Wouldn’t it be better if you strengthened your body instead?”

“No, a lady like you...haa...is climbing normally... Haa, haa... Huff... As a man... I can’t...let...that...haa...”

Why on earth was this priest so stubborn? Oh dear, he was so out of breath he was choking.

“I suppose it’s no wonder you’ve gotten out of shape if you’ve served as a priest for so long,” I mused.

It was rare for a high priest to step outside the church, and this church was the type to nitpick over the amount of offerings and choose not to come out at all. I hadn’t forgotten how they’d used the severe hurricane damage in this area as an excuse not to come.

“Haa, haa, yes... My apologies.”

Did he just give up? I should stop being so mean. I didn’t enjoy tormenting young people.

“Come on, just a little farther,” I told him. “Keep pushing until the end, don’t slack off.”

“Y-Yes...huff, huff...”

If I eased up the pace a bit as we climbed, we’d reach the mountain path where I was with Dia at the start. Though it was hardly a well-maintained trail.

“Now then, let’s head straight down this way.”

More time had passed than I had expected? Maybe it was because of the rough path?

I could faintly hear the sound of distant screaming.

“Did you...haa haa...say something...haa haa...just now?” the priest said awkwardly, pausing to pant between every few words. There was no way he’d be able to get out of here quickly.

“Oh? Could it be you’re so exhausted you’re hearing things?”

I heard the scream again, followed by a woman’s pleading voice, promising that she wouldn’t do it again...

Oh dear, now I knew the voice belonged to a woman.

“N-No, it’s definitely getting closer...” The priest looked puzzled. He had clearly noticed it too. Taking a moment to catch his breath, he cast a detection spell.

“Dia, Captain Dread, the priest over here is using detection magic. Time to stop playing around.” I sent a telepathic message to the sacred beasts, who were surely enjoying themselves. The captain would be fine. But if Dia got too caught up in playing and accidentally got caught by the priest’s magic, that would be troublesome.

“Mom! Chasing is fun!”

“Dee’s getting special training too! Hide-and-seek chase!”

No good. Neither of them would stop. But the captain, who called Dia “Dee” and doted on her, seemed to understand. If that was how they were going to play it, the detection magic should be fine.

“A human...and a beast?! My lady, please hide! It seems a human is being chased by a beast!”

“Sure, all right. If you don’t mind.” I was about to tell them we were heading down when Dia’s next words made me freeze.

“Captain! There’s a bunch of vines coming out of the sheep’s belly! So cool!”

“That’s right, that’s right! Self-propelled barometz, it’s a breed improvement!!!”

What on earth were my kids doing?

The barometz was a legendary plant—or was it an animal?—from medieval European folklore, appearing in fairy tales from ages past. I was pretty sure China had similar legends too...or maybe not? Too bad I couldn’t surf the net now to check.

Anyway, it was a plant, or an animal, born from tree fruit. Apparently, when the fruit ripened on a very sturdy, flexible tree, a sheep would be born. The lamb’s belly was connected to the tree, you see. Its other name in that world was the Scythian Lamb. The Scythians were supposed to have used this lamb’s wool for hat linings or something like that.

The wool was apparently highly prized, and what’s more, the lamb’s meat supposedly tasted like crab! Crab, if you could believe it! It rather reminded me of that centipede-type monster from a while back...

The sheep born from this fruit apparently lived connected by their belly to the tree’s stem...or trunk? They grazed on the surrounding grass until they starved to death, and then the main body...the main body? Anyway, it seemed to wither away.

Either way, I wasn’t sure about the tree part, but the sheep itself—from the tip of its head to the very end of its tail—not a single bit of it went to waste. It was a wonderful resource! Oh, and of course, it didn’t move on its own naturally. It was basically harmless to humans and animals.

But this one was moving on its own? And...was that...selective breeding?

“Help! Is anyone there?! I won’t follow you anymore, please forgive me!”

Well, well, it had finally gotten close enough that it couldn’t be my imagination. The running woman had grown from sesame seed sized to pea sized, and now even bigger.

Her long, dark brown hair, tinged blue in the sunlight, was tousled as she ran, driven by terror. She had sky blue eyes that I was sure I’d seen somewhere before. Could she be a distant relative of the Asche family?

The priest caught his breath, and this time he used his body-enhancing magic to dash toward her. “Over here! Hide with this lady!”

Oh dear, we’d ended up getting caught up in the accident after all.

“Oh, thank you so much!” She ran toward me. “Haa, haa, ah, um, um...”

“Calm down. Why not catch your breath first?” I tried to soothe her as she gasped for air. She took deep breaths, in and out, in and out.

“Thank you,” she said. “You really saved me. I’m so grateful, um...um... WH-WHAT?!”

What now? She suddenly got completely shocked in the middle of thanking me?

“Wh-Why is Lady Robur here...?” She was flustered. If my memory served, she was definitely a member of one of the branch families of the Asche House. She was a count’s daughter four years my senior, so we wouldn’t have crossed paths at the Academy or anywhere else. How did she recognize me?

The only reason I knew this young lady was because the captain who contracted with me had bestowed his protection. Of course, the sacred beasts still hadn’t shown themselves to anyone, even people under that protection. Apparently he hadn’t allowed that yet.

Had she followed the captain? Was that why he got angry and sent the beasts after her? The captain’s blessing sharpened the senses. It wouldn’t be impossible to use it to follow a presence.

“Is this some new type of demon beast?” The priest, regaining some composure, abruptly interrupted my thoughts.

Following his gaze, I saw Dia. She was concealed by magic, but, of course, I could see her clearly. Our eyes met, and she teleported onto my head.

“Mom, that was fun!” she told me telepathically.

“I’m glad to hear it,” I replied.

To think she could maintain stealthy, covert actions while under the awareness of two outsiders—she was brilliant! Her healthy growth made me so emotional. Combined with the soft belly fur I felt on my head, my passion threatened to overflow, making me writhe with delight. A subtle, fruity floral scent drifted from my little angel.

Oh? The young lady froze completely, sniffing sharply. Her eyes began darting around nervously. She seemed wary all of a sudden. What could be the matter?

More importantly, where was the source of that scent... Ah, she’d burrowed into the ground.

“Bwaaaaah!”

Oh dear, the magical beast that was chasing us had a rather gravelly voice. The dissonance was assaulting my ears. I transferred my handmade earplugs from my pocket dimension to my pocket and swiftly put them in. These were quite handy, you know. They picked up normal ambient sounds and automatically adjusted the volume and converted unpleasant noises into ones suited to the situation. It was a wonderful magical device. Back in my previous life, when my hearing had started failing due to old age, this was one item I’d particularly wanted.

They were completely waterproof, so they accurately picked up voices even underwater—they were a real gem.

A few months ago, when Sienna and Dia had merged, I’d worn them because the screams were just too awful. Judging by the reactions of my brother and the first prince back then, the discomfort level must have been pretty high.

“Baa! Baa!”

The young lady let out a little shriek and covered her ears, and the priest stiffened as if he were enduring something terrible. However the bleating I heard as I glanced at them was utterly adorable. Heh heh heh, it was such a lamb’s bleat, so unlike the beast’s appearance.

“Earplugs, so fun!” Judging by the vibrations on my head and that innocent voice, Dia had started playing with the earplugs, putting them in and taking them out.

Children were so talented when it came to turning anything they got their hands on into a toy. My grandchildren in my last life, when they were little, used to bend the earpieces of my and my husband’s reading glasses and hearing aids in all sorts of directions, or just toss them around. In the end, we’d gathered all the parts and learned to repair and replace them ourselves. We never told the grandchildren how tough that work was on our aging eyes. Online shops were so convenient. You could get things you’d never normally be able to find.

“Wh-Why are you looking at me like that?” the girl quavered. “I-I’m sorry!”

Now, now, girl, gather yourself and flash that default ladylike smile. Whatever was the matter? She was mid-conversation, yet her sky blue eyes flashed with fear as she apologized?

“My lady, have you seen that magical beast before?” the priest asked.

Hmm... From our conversation so far, it was clear he was investigating me. He knew I was somewhat knowledgeable about magical beasts.

“I suppose so...”

I took another look at the barometz, which bore the unmistakable hallmarks of having been bred by Captain Dread. It bleated like a little lamb, yet its body was muscular and bulky. It stood about two meters tall. The parts covered in fluffy white fur won it major cuteness points, though. Its face? Well, it looked like something straight out of one of the Showa-era sports manga from my past life—impressive bushy eyebrows and a sheep face with pronounced features. That counted for cuteness points too.

Otherwise, it looked like a proper magical beast. Where hooves should have been, thick, sharp thorns protruded. Twisting, thorny vines emerged from its belly, suspending the sheep midair. The vines twisted together so densely that from a distance they looked like a single stem.

And below that was a round purple eggplant... Why an eggplant? Just as the question formed in my mind, I received a telepathic message from the captain.

“Lavi, it’s your favorite, eggplant! The sheep tastes like shrimp!”

The barometz’s movements stopped completely. The captain must have ordered it.

“Did you breed barometzes just for me?” I asked.

“That’s right! I made the barometz that Lavi talked about! I wanted to eat miso-grilled eggplant! Since we already have land crabs, I made land shrimp instead! It’s plump and delicious!”

Wasn’t that what the captain had wanted to eat? I remembered a few months ago, while we were eating centipede tempura, the captain had said he’d wanted shrimp tempura too.

I took another look at the genetically modified barometz and cast an appraisal spell, discreetly enough not to be noticed. Ah, now it made sense. It had originally been an alraune, a plant-type magical beast. It looked like the captain crossbred it with various things to modify it.

Alraune even appeared in ancient tales from my past life. They were supposed to have a sweet nectar scent and hallucinogenic pollen, and used their upper body to lure in their prey before strangling them with vines and devouring them.

This world’s alraune also buried its lower body within a flower, but its upper body changed form depending on the situation. Most often, it took the shape of something it had eaten before. If a female form yielded higher capture rates, it could learn and choose a female upper body, so it seemed likely it was able to take different forms like those in my past life’s stories.

Except for a few exceptions involving sacred beasts, they weren’t particularly intelligent and only moved within the range their roots extend. They were like carnivorous plants, these magical beasts. Their flavor also mimicked whatever they’d learned, so you never knew what you’d be getting.

But this barometz was, from top to bottom: sheep, thorny vine stems, round eggplant. That alone wouldn’t be so bad, but further beneath that, more thorny vines writhed. It used these vines to move around on its own, and its attack power seemed pretty high, huh?

Creating a new magical beast just to satisfy his own appetite? What a sinful captain he was!

“Are you mass-producing it?” I asked him.

“Not yet! I sent it out as punishment for that nosy girl—my special plant creation!”

So it was punishment for the young lady who he granted divine protection to, after all.

Anyway, I felt we should keep this breed improvement limited to just this one. It’d be disastrous if it attacked a nearby village.

“My lady!” The priest, unaware I was communicating telepathically, had become impatient at my lack of response.

“Baa!”

“Gah, a sheep?!”

The stationary barometz moved without warning. The thorny vines sprouting from its belly whipped out, and the sheep delivered a thudding kick to the priest with the spikes on its hooves. The priest instantly countered with a barrier spell. Being a high priest, he had to be skilled in protective magic.

The sheep deftly used the thorns on its belly to hop lightly away, moving with nimble agility.

“Baa.” You think that’s okay? If you keep looking away, my thorns will burst into flames, aha?

Had my earplugs malfunctioned? That Showa-era face radiated such retro ennui it almost made me think I’d heard a voice-over.

“Gah... For some reason, it pisses me off...” I muttered. I could almost describe the look on its face as mocking. And it was bouncing around.

“Dia wants to bounce too!”

Hee hee hee, seeing Dia so happy was the best... That was it! Inspiration struck!

“Priest Nax!” I called out. “Use water magic to cut through the vine twisting below, right above where it bears fruit!”

“But the sheep is in the way,” he argued. “Might as well chop it up.”

“We don’t know what might spurt out! That’s out of the question!”

“Hah, you’re right!”

That was a big lie. Since it was one of a kind, I craved tasting it.

Oh dear, a haiku had slipped out! In my past life, I’d composed haiku and senryu at the senior citizens’ club. It must have been a habit.

The priest, seemingly unaccustomed to combat, nodded solemnly. That would do.

“You can use earth magic, can’t you?” I asked the young lady.

She jumped, startled, as if I’d caught her off guard. “Eek?! Um, y-yes. But... I...” She quickly looked down, her confidence fading. Had the captain’s punishment hit too hard?

“Then, when the sheep lands and its spiked hooves pierce the ground, could you harden the soil beneath its feet?” I said. “You don’t need to approach it—your magical power is sufficient, and there’s no rush. Just take your time and aim carefully, all right?”

“Eh, um, if that’s all...”

“Yes.” I turned to the priest. “Priest Nax. This lady will stop the sheep, so you can gracefully dodge its kick and stand by.”

“Gracefully dodge the sheep’s kick... Understood!”

And so, with the captain immobilizing the barometz itself, the young lady pinning the sheep in place, and the priest severing the vine writhing beneath the round eggplant, we completed a mission of remarkably low difficulty.

※※※※

“Hi-yo, Silver, away!”

“Baa!”

“Kyaa!”

I bounced up and down on the sheep, shouting the classic command from my past life’s plays and TV shows as if I were urging on a beloved steed. My lower body was secured to the sheep’s back with a rope, and I held on to its wool with an eagle-like grip. It was a cool way to stay on. I was glad I’d worn pants—they were easy to move in.

Dia was balanced skillfully right in front of me, frolicking with obvious delight. I’d subtly used magic to connect the sheep’s wool to her, so the little angel was safely secured.

To an outside observer from that other world, it would have looked like a rodeo rider atop a wild horse or bull.

I remembered my husband trying that on our honeymoon, getting thrown off, and unexpectedly spraining his ankle. Remembering how he’d hopped around on one foot for the rest of the trip made me nostalgic for those younger days...

The other two watched me, practically biting their nails, even though I was physically strong enough to handle being thrown off.

The rope had been made from one of the thorny vines. You know, the ones that’d been growing from under the round eggplant. When the base had been cleanly sliced by a water blade conjured by the priest’s magic, it’d writhed right there for a while before stopping dead. The way it’d twisted had been just like an octopus. I’d keep it a secret that I’d almost salted it and tried eating it.

After it stopped, I’d checked the cross section—it looked like the base of an asparagus spear I’d once left in the fridge. But the material seemed sturdy enough for rope. I scraped the surface, which felt like an eggplant stem, vertically with a dagger like peeling asparagus skin. The thorns came off cleanly.

The dagger belonged to the young lady—Miss Mirandalinda Faltan. She’d had it tucked at her waist, so I’d borrowed it. She was, exactly as I’d thought, a distant relative of the Asche family. She was a twenty-one-year-old countess. We’d never met before, after all. Right now she was watching me nervously, but before the rodeo she’d kept her eyes downcast. Shy, perhaps? She had long, heavy bangs, but underneath them her features were cute.

“My lady! That’s dangerous...”

“Mom, this is fun!”

“Hee hee hee, isn’t it? Hi-yo, hi-yo!”

“Baa, baa!”

The priest was saying something, but I was ignoring him. I felt a bit sorry for the sheep, which was starting to look exhausted. Though I still couldn’t tell if it was an animal or a plant, so just one more push...! If I kicked the sheep’s torso between my legs, it would make a cute little bleat as it bounced into the air. The vine inside the sheep’s belly was attached to the stem of the round eggplant, so it wouldn’t actually fly away. The bottom of the round eggplant had been cut flat by the water blade, giving it stability.

“Breeding improvements paid off, huh?” said Captain Dread via telepathy. “Time for me to go!”

“Captain, thanks for playing with me!” Dia chimed in. “See ya!”

“I’ll call you when I make miso-grilled eggplant and shrimp tempura!” I replied. “But no mass production!”

“Okaaay!”

With that, the captain’s presence vanished.

“Hi-yo!” Thinking I could enjoy it a bit longer, I kicked again. With one last burst of strength, it leaped higher than ever before.

“Baa...aah...” But midair, the sheep went limp and began to rapidly deflate. Oh dear. The round eggplant was swaying dangerously.

“My lady?!”

“Mom?!”

No sooner had I noticed it starting to sway than the sheep wilted and the rope slackened. Unlike Dia, who was secured by the sheep’s wool, I was simply flung off. At the edge of my vision, the priest’s figure scrambled to chase after me.

But for times like this, I had full-body reinforcement magic! Even if he failed the catch, it’d only end in a scratch. I deliberately squeezed my eyes shut tight, bracing for impact. See, my character was supposed to be talentless, incompetent, and low on magic power—only capable of basic household magic. I couldn’t pull off any fancy tricks.

Thud.

There was the sense of being caught, but at a slightly different timing than I’d expected? I sensed a calmness that didn’t seem like it came from a panicked priest.

“Laviange! As usual, I have absolutely no idea what was going on before this! Why did you wrap yourself in rope and go flying like that?!”

Now, this lovely voice belonged to my brother, Mihail Robur. I opened my eyes to the expected, beautiful face. His entrance showed glimpses of true hero potential.

“Hee hee hee, I was enjoying myself,” I said. “I tied our waists firmly together, but once it wilted, I came loose. Look.” I pointed at the sheep right behind the priest who had been chasing us, and...my brother glared at the priest with a stern expression? The priest must have thought I was pointing at him, because he swiftly moved out of the path of my finger.

“Each other’s waists?” My brother’s voice sounded terribly displeased. Was it getting close to lunchtime? Was he hungry?

“My lady, are you all right?” Ralf appeared behind my brother, looking a bit stern. Wasn’t he supposed to be back at his family home?

“I heard you were returning home today too, so I thought I’d come along, but it seems that was unnecessary.” He glanced at my brother, but he seemed to have mistakenly assumed that my brother’d come to escort me.

“That’s not true. I was planning to go home alone anyway,” I told him.

“Dia’s going with you, right?” Dia asked—she’d teleported onto my head without me noticing! Was she copying me, perhaps? Did she want to make my heart flutter that badly?! I desperately held back the urge to start petting her fur madly.

“The first prince, who was supervising the training, told me a priest visited you during the exercises. I was concerned.” My brother gave the priest a cold glance. Even that expression seemed strangely beautiful, like there were roses blooming behind him.

Though startled, the beautiful priest smiled back at my brother, refusing to be outdone... Hmm? Could this be an unexpected BL encounter? Oh dear, their gazes were somehow quite intense. Looking around, I spotted Miss Faltan skillfully retreating backward into the shade, her presence now faint. Her eyes were glistening, and her cheeks flushed—how utterly fangirl of her!

Miss Faltan, you’re a BL fangirl, aren’t you? Our eyes locked, so I gave her a sharp nod, radiating fangirl energy back at her. With such wonderful boys gathered here, I understood!

But my fellow fangirl let out a tiny scream and backed away. What?

“Where are you looking?” said Mihail sternly. “You’re a lady of the Robur family. Staying at the orphanage and then returning home alone? Ralf’s judgment as leader is correct. Since we’re here anyway, let’s all three of us go home together.”

“Oh dear...”

Hadn’t my brother noticed his fangirl?

Ah, right. The fangirl was under the protection of the captain, a sacred beast, so her senses should be heightened. I’d forgotten, but the captain had once grumbled that precisely because the senses were heightened, his aura control had reached stealth-level proficiency. Since my brother hadn’t noticed Miss Faltan even from this distance, it had to be true.

Still, it was unfortunate my brother had ended up like this. Back when we used to disband after training, he’d sometimes make detours or even camp out overnight...

Ralf and the other team members hung out together if they didn’t have part-time jobs or errands, or sometimes they’d just go home like Ralf did. It was fun, like the student friendships I’d experienced in my past life.

Just a little rebellion in my heart, and inspiration struck!

“Ralf, big brother! You’re just in time!” Gleefully jumping down from my brother’s arm, I pointed sharply at the sheep and round eggplant that had been one single creature, along with the twisting vine. “Today’s lunch is stir-fried eggplant and shrimp in chili sauce! Come on, come on, Priest Nax, help out! Three boys carrying it will be quick, you know! Fangirl—ahem, Miss Faltan, you come along too! Come on, come on, come on, come on!”

Leaving the three dumbfounded boys behind, I swept up to the fangirl and wrapped my arms around her slender ones.

“Wh-What?!” she sputtered. “I-I’m going home now! Let go... Wha-What strength! Wha— Is this body enhancement?!”

“Oh my, it’s rude to call a younger, delicate girl strong! I wouldn’t waste my magic on body enhancement! You must just be weak! I’m only capturing you for food, and on the way back, we’ll have a lively discussion about our passionate fangirl hearts!”

“Passionate fangirl...?! N-No, that’s not it! I’m definitely not that kind of person...” Her voice was overcome with emotion. To someone unaware, it could have easily been mistaken for anguish!

I understood! A fangirl’s heart was a rose! Perhaps because the practice of fangirling hadn’t fully permeated society yet, nobles tended to hide the roses blooming in their hearts and the obsession rising and sinking within.

Especially Miss Faltan—according to the captain’s intel, she’d been on leave from the Academy since her third year. With so few people to talk to, the joy she felt upon finding someone to share her thoughts with must have been beyond my imagination!

“Hee hee hee, a great discussion!” I hummed. “Happy yet embarrassing discussions!”

“Discussions, discussions!” Dia sang along. What a thoughtful angel!

“H-Hear me out, please! I beg you, stop that humming! I’m not a suspicious person...”

Leaving the boys to work silently behind us, displaying such intense focus they never looked my way, I descended the mountain with my fellow fangirl, who had begun weeping tears of joy.

※※Aside: Graduation Thesis Disgrace (Pope)※※

“Eggplant and shrimp...”

“Yes,” Nax said apologetically. “I foolishly transported the magical beast, helped the orphans prepare it, and ate it with them. It was delicious.”

Since taking the special position of high priest at the church, Nax should never have cooked. Yet now he was reporting this to me, the pope, his expression tinged with reluctance.

Nax, with his striking sapphire eyes and lustrous flaxen hair, was immensely popular among female believers. Was his pallor due to his failure to protect Lady Laviange Robur?

As I was now, expressions were one thing, but complexions were entirely beyond my grasp. Ever since I lost the princess who’d mattered more to me than anyone, I’d lived for decades in a world composed solely of black and white.

“Her elder brother and the team leader overseeing the lady at the Academy were monitoring her,” I said. “It couldn’t be helped. Still, the lady possessed a talent for cooking, didn’t she?”

“Yes. Despite her high status as a noblewoman, she willingly cooked it herself and was beloved by the orphans. Her magical power was as rumored—she could use domestic magic to a certain extent. Her personality was a bit—no, very unique...er, original? But it was a long way from the rumors painting her as a wicked, cruel woman who tormented her former sister after her banishment. It must have been the second princ—her former fiancée—and her former sister who deliberately spread those rumors to discredit the princess.”

“I see. Well, at least we’ve gained some insight from that.” I wasn’t entirely unconcerned over Nax’s remarks about her being “unique” and “original.” But recalling the shocking strangeness—no, her true nature—when I’d first seen the lady, I deliberately avoided the topic and offered my congratulations instead.

“But did the lady truly take an active role in the graduation research and the scrunchie sales?” Nax asked hesitantly. He was talking about the project presented by last year’s Class 4D and taken over by the lady’s class. It focused on countermeasures and recovery efforts against salt damage that had been caused by a once-in-a-century supersized hurricane. The scrunchie sales also tied into that thesis.

“Besides, at the presentation where His Majesty the King was invited, they indirectly pointed out the church’s lack of support...”

“But Class 4D surely had no intention of making such accusations at the time?”

“Well, that’s...”

“And neither the students attending that presentation nor the guests, including His Majesty the King, would have interpreted it as the church maliciously withholding support. There’s no need for concern.” I chose carefully neutral words and smiled gently at the dissatisfied Nax.

Students entering Class D, aside from Lady Robur, were mostly lower nobility and wealthy commoners. Especially young students. Their political maneuvering skills were limited. Yes, except for that lady from one of the Four Great Ducal Houses.

But Nax still seemed to be in a sour mood.

“The disaster area is in the remote countryside,” I told him. I had to consider my position as the pope. “Dispatching priests to purify that land incurs significant costs, and the church is no longer the state religion it once was. Its position prevents it from pursuing profit. Even widely publicizing the limitations of long-term stays in regions with low donations, where funds are returned as relief meals, is insufficient. And the research isn’t just about growing cotton to remove salt from the disaster area. It involves having the orphans take the lead in securing materials from magical beasts, while Class D students provide and maintain magical tools, and supply the orphans with beast repellents and edible ingredients they’ve foraged. When necessary, the orphans are also taught hunting and magical tool repair methods to foster self-reliance in the disaster area. As Class D has the highest number of students receiving tuition reductions, this initiative is recognized by the Academy and considered part of their contribution to the institution.”

“Your Eminence, you mentioned that such thinking represents the ideology of the privileged class, those who command laborers, even among the nobility.”

“Yes. The rubber was developed by the designer Moonshadow of the Lyonoble Trading Company. This new material, made using cotton and magical beast parts gathered by the orphans, was used in the hair accessories sold by Lady Robur’s class at the cultural festival. They set two price points, and both sold out completely. Not just the three-copper-coin version for commoners, but even the one-gold-coin version—which was expensive, even considering it doubled as a donation for the disaster area. That’s because they were branded as being designed by Moonshadow.”

“Certainly, some nobles among the church believers said Lady Robur was the one who connected Class D and Moonshadow,” said Nax. “But isn’t that suspicious? I actually spoke with her, and she didn’t seem connected to Moonshadow at all...”

“The investigation into the lady’s background mentioned she had connections to the president of the Lyonoble Trading Company,” I mused. “It’s possible the lady requested assistance for both the graduation research and the cultural festival, and the president lent his support.”

If that presentation had merely implied the church’s shortcomings, we would have protested to the Academy and crushed the graduates. However, before the presentation, the students had donated the hair ties to the church, claiming them as research results. Then, using profits from the hair accessories sold by the Lyonoble Trading Company, they made another large donation—this time in the Academy’s name.

The donated hair ties had proven remarkably convenient; church officials were captivated by them. Amid all this, upon learning about Class 4D’s planned graduation research presentation the following month, the priests hurriedly dispatched personnel to the disaster area.

If this was someone’s scheme, the church had been skillfully manipulated.

“But...”

“Good work,” I said. “You may withdraw.”

Nax had once been a commoner. He had no experience dealing with the ruling class—royalty or the Four Great Ducal Houses. No matter how much I explained, my intuition, born of experience, would be lost on him.

Having reached that conclusion, I blended the enhanced Charm spell I’d gained from a certain demonic pact into my own magic and released it.

“Yes, excuse me.” The moment he was bathed in the Charm spell, Nax withdrew obediently, his face flushed as if with fever.

I watched his retreating back. Then I ceased the release of that magic and leaned back deeply in my chair. Closing my eyes, I reflected on the day I’d first met the lady—that single moment when the black-and-white world had gained color.

※※Aside: Separation from Mother (Mihail)※※

“I’m going to take a break.”

“Very good, sir. Please give this to the lady in return for the pen she gave me.”

Whenever I mentioned taking a break, it had become a habit to head to the annex where my sister lived.

John was the elderly butler who had served our household since my father’s time. He’d handed me a small package—from the feel and sound, it was likely tea leaves and sweets. He seemed to have this kind of thing prepared so he could give it to me at any time.

Suddenly, a rumor the Academy girls had been discussing flashed through my mind. Recently, a certain famous shop had received a shipment of rare tea leaves imported from the eastern provinces, hadn’t it? Could this package possibly contain those very leaves? I’d only learned about this after my sister and I had gradually begun spending more time together, but surprisingly, John was quite adept at understanding women’s tastes. About seventy percent of the gifts I brought for my sister were chosen based on John’s advice.

John’s hair, once dark brown, was now half streaked with white. His eyes, a soft greenish blue, seemed to grow gentler with age. Until recently, John had served as my personal secretary and butler, managing only matters concerning me, including this wing. Several months ago, however, I’d dismissed most of the servants my mother had hired, citing embezzlement and dereliction of duty. Consequently, John now served as the chief secretary and butler managing the entire Robur estate.

This situation had begun when my father entrusted me with managing the estate and I’d started reviewing its accounts. This had been the result.

Regardless of my mother’s incompetent management, it became clear that she and her former foster daughter, Sienna, and even the servants she’d hired, had committed numerous acts of harm against my blood-related younger sister. I felt deeply sorry for my sister.

My father had transferred my mother’s management authority to me, but it seemed he didn’t intend to leave it at that. A few days ago, father had notified me that mother would soon be relocated to the townhouse farthest from the royal capital.

Upon hearing the news, I couldn’t help but think of my sister. She had undoubtedly cut our mother out of her life, but perhaps something might stir within her nonetheless.

Perhaps because my thoughts were on my sister, the image of her flying through the air with ropes wrapped around her lower body flashed into my mind. It had been an utterly shocking sight. My sister was supposed to be a lady, after all...

The day before that incident, Regulus, the head instructor who had been leading my sister’s team, had visited the mansion on his way home. He’d come to tell me that a high priest from the church had gone out of his way to visit my sister at her training site. With that worry in mind, I’d gone to pick her up yesterday. I’d never heard of a lady casually staying overnight at an orphanage...but, well, I was used to it by now.

But still, why on earth was she playing so happily with the church’s high priest and that other young lady who clearly had her own issues? She should have at least stuck with Team Peckish’s leader.

Her team leader would probably make sure my sister wouldn’t return alone from the frontier. He’d been forced into the “Lavi Protection Squad,” after all. Poor thing. There were A-rank adventurers among its ranks. For a team leader active as an adventurer, refusing was not an option.

Honestly, I didn’t fully understand the circumstances surrounding my sister. But the reason she was where she was now was because the commoners in the castle town had doted on her when she was young and continued to look after her.

Abused by our mother, she’d been looked down upon by the household servants year after year, eventually neglected even for meals. When I learned she’d been sneaking out of the mansion to barter and take odd jobs in the town to survive, I’d felt dizzy with shame as her brother. I was profoundly grateful for the kindness of those townspeople.

Despite how overdue my attempts at redemption were, my sister had chosen to stay by my side. Now she treated me to meals and had even given me a pen before John did. It was actually a set of two pens, each with superior features: one for correcting messy writing and another for erasing.

She’d also given me a short sword that cut easily—though it did have a tendency to misfire, putting my life at risk.

“Ah, I’ll pass it along,” I told John. “I’m heading out.”

“Have a good time, sir,” he replied.

I headed toward the annex where my sister lived, and the sight of the cute little gate in the distance made the corners of my mouth relax.

“Laviange!” But then a shrill scream pierced the air, and in an instant, wrinkles gathered between my eyebrows. The source of the angry voice was our mother.

The sound of clanging metal echoed again and again, and I felt the protective magic I’d placed on the fence surrounding the annex activate. I ran toward it.

“You good-for-nothing! You dare mock me! I won’t forgive you!” Her ugly form hurled curses and gibberish, throwing stones at the fence.

Rage welled up inside me. “What on earth are you doing?!”

“Mihail!” My mother paid no attention to the fact that I was glaring. She approached with a delighted expression and swiftly took my hand. “You locked that failure in this cage for your mother, didn’t you! How wonderful, my son! Of course you did! My dear Sienna was driven out because of that failure! And yet that good-for-nothing has the nerve to do as she pleases! I want to punish her myself! Let me into that cage!”

Locked up in a cage?! What was she talking about?!

Putting up the fence had been a decision I’d made after discussing it with my sister. She’d said she wanted to expand the fields, but wild dogs kept coming and destroying them. The point about a lady tending fields was brilliantly ignored, but that didn’t matter now.

Of course, I knew perfectly well that no real wild dogs would ever enter the estate grounds. The fence was designed so that no one, not even I, could enter unless my sister personally granted permission.

“You just couldn’t stand seeing that failure wandering around the estate, could you? But your intellect remains as low as ever. The moment you look away, she’s digging in the dirt like a commoner. What a vulgar imitation.”

I felt my expression harden at the unexpected interpretation from my wild dog mother, who clearly hadn’t been granted permission. “What do you mean, ‘failure’?”

“Of course I mean Laviange! Connected only by blood! Mihail, you’re the only beloved child I have left now. The very thought of having given birth to that thing is revolting—”

“Don’t you dare!” I cut off my mother—no, I couldn’t even call her that anymore. This woman. I couldn’t bear to listen to her. “Why did it turn out this way?! Laviange is your child too!”

“Mihail, what are you saying? That thing is my child? I refuse to acknowledge such a failure. You’re the only one I can call my beloved child. So I want you to speak to your father and have him return authority over the estate to me. Surely you don’t want your mother to suffer, Mihail?”

Everything about this woman, cooing with her wheedling voice to get close to me, was disgusting. She never gave either of us siblings any affection, let alone ever felt any herself.

“I’m sorry, but I no longer consider you my mother.” My feelings toward this woman were turning cold.

“What? What are you talking about? I told you I loved you!”

“What you love is yourself. And if my hair and eyes were the same as Laviange’s—no, the same as grandmother’s—could you still say that?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Why bring her into this?! Never mention those cursed hair and eyes again! Be thankful you didn’t inherit that color like some failed experiment!”

“Didn’t my uncle, the next head of the house, have the same color too?”

“Don’t talk about that man who betrayed us after being seduced by that vulgar common woman!” It was the shrillest scream I’d ever heard. I’d apparently stepped on a land mine.

“As the next head of the house and the estate manager, I have determined you bring nothing but harm to the House of Robur,” I told her coldly. “You are forbidden from ever coming here again or claiming to be our mother. Your past abuses against Lady Robur are intolerable. Furthermore, your oversight and management of the estate have been woefully inadequate. All decisions will be communicated by the current head in due course. For now, return to your room immediately.”

For the first time in my life, I released killing intent toward this woman. She froze, her face turning deathly pale. Only after a moment, when I finally eased the killing intent, did she stagger away.

I watched, waiting bitterly for her to disappear. Then I hurried toward my sister, who had been on my mind.

Entering through the cute little gate, I felt relieved at first. I’d been harsh toward my sister for a long time too. Honestly, I didn’t know if she’d talked to that woman. By the time I got here, though, she’d been screaming. Even inside the shed, Lavi must’ve heard that voice. Frankly, I was on edge about the possibility that my sister might reject me and revoke my permission to pass through the gate.

I locked the gate properly and knocked on the shed door. I waited a moment, then knocked again. No answer.

I’d heard she was staying in the shed all day today. Was she not there?

Thinking that might actually be for the best, I twisted the doorknob to leave the package. My sister had told me that if there were deliveries, I should open the door myself and place them on the shelf right in front of me. Touching the knob triggered a magic authentication system that automatically unlocked and locked it. Apparently, I was the only one authorized besides my sister. As her brother, that made me a little happy.

There was also a mailbox outside, but unless I pointed it out, my sister wouldn’t bother checking it for weeks. Food I’d put in there as a treat had gone bad more than once. Since then, we’d switched to this system, though I secretly worried every time if this was really okay for a lady.

“Oh my, big brother?” As I opened the door, my sister’s cheerful voice came from inside.

“You were here? I knocked on the door a few times...”

My sister emerged from the back, holding earplugs I recognized from somewhere. “I was engaged in a little writing activity.”

“I see...”

That was definitely code for some R-rated something or another, meant to be offered up to some indecent bird somewhere, right?!

Even a brother like me was gradually learning about my sister’s habits. If it was a novel of a level of dubiousness that could actually be published, she might offer a ladylike smile, though the corners of her mouth might droop slightly. But recently, I’d noticed that when she was writing those obscene stories to be stored in her subspace and offered to the obscene bird, she’d blush faintly and give a shy smile. It was an adorable reaction, typical for a girl her age and the kind of thing she wouldn’t show to men like Regulus, that first-love fool. But the timing... What was up with that? She often used earplugs too, supposedly to boost concentration.

This time, thanks to that, she’d probably avoided hearing any of her mother’s ugliness. I was glad, but...what was up with that?

After handing my sister the package from John, I checked to see if that woman had properly returned to her room. But it turned out she hadn’t returned to the mansion at all—she had vanished without a trace.

2: (Before the Incident) It All Starts with a Quest

“Mom.” Dia suddenly appeared while I was mixing potions in the Academy’s secret little room after school.

“Huh?! Oh, Dia!”

“Hee hee hee, Big Brother Cas is here! Also, the captain wanted me to ask you if you’re almost done. And he found something great too. He said it’s a quest for you, mom.”

Cas was slumped over my head, completely sprawled out. Dia suddenly climbed up there, too, to perch on top of him, which startled me even more. It was like a baby turtle on top of a parent turtle—my head was jam-packed with magical beasts. Of course, both of them were manipulating gravity for me, so they weren’t heavy.

“Welcome back, Dia,” I said. “If it’s the item the captain asked for, it’s already done. As long as this thread maintains the elasticity and strength of the nylon from my past life, it’s just a matter of assembling the premade parts.”

Dia had been on an expedition with Captain Dread from early yesterday morning until this morning, which also served as training. This angel had grown so much, being able to deliver messages properly like this—I was completely smitten!

Cas had also come back late last night. Thanks to that, I’d made quite a bit of progress with my R18 novel writing.

But was it really okay for a little kid to stay up so late? Though small, he was a sacred beast. Applying human common sense to him was tricky.

“Come on, Dia,” Cas told her. “I always tell you to check before climbing onto Lavi’s head.”

“Aw, sorry. But your back is so warm and soft, Cas, I love it!”

“Mm. Well, liking it is fine, but...”

Cas was a softhearted big brother to his youngest sibling. He had to be burying his face in that white fur, utterly content—Dia was an angelic natural charmer in full bloom. The little fox going all gooey was unbearable.

I wanted to dive onto Cas’s back too, and fluff fluff...and maybe breathe in his belly fur too...

“Lavi, your hands stopped. I hate perverts.”

“R-Right...” That was weird. How did he catch me? And I wasn’t a pervert. It was instinct...

“Mom, focus on your work!”

“R-Right. Thank you, Dia.” The angel was right. I refocused on my work.

I was sitting on the sofa, facing the table, upon which stood a scientific experiment set reminiscent of my last life. There was an alcohol lamp with a flame, a tripod stand, and a beaker on top of that. All commercially available equipment, by the way. Inside the beaker was a clear liquid. It was an old friend of mine from rubber making—dissolved amoeba.

In my left hand, I held a strand of translucent green spider silk. This wasn’t something I’d pulled from one of the empty nests. I was trying to imitate the way silkworms had been used in my last life and see if I could raise my own green spiders. If rubber production became widespread, after all, there would surely be a shortage of empty nests. Perhaps it was the nature of green spiders, but when I hung a round wooden frame for them, they spun their silk in it.

I’d noticed this when I hung my homemade hula hoop on a tree branch. I’d taken a nap after I’d been playing with the hula hoop with Dia, and when I woke up, a large dream catcher was sparkling in the sunlight.

Now, I would untangle the dream catcher, remove the stickiness by boiling it in hot water, and then dry the thread. I felt like a silkworm farmer. Right now, I was about to coat this thread with amoeba liquid. If I dunked the whole thing in, though, it would dissolve faster than an empty nest, so I had to be careful to keep the threads from sticking together. I looped the loosely wound thread around my left finger, and with my right hand I used a pair of tweezers to dip the end into the liquid. I tried preparing five, ten, and fifteen strands, varying the thickness by twisting them together.

I had started with the thinnest thread and was now working on the thickest one. The others were floating up in the air—those were the ones I’d made earlier. Cas was keeping them suspended for me while they dried. His drying ability was incredibly handy.

When I used my tweezers to dip the tip of the thread into the beaker’s liquid and lifted it out, the end started bobbing up into the air. Cas’s timing was absolutely perfect. To prevent the threads from sticking together, I coated them one by one using the tweezers in my right hand and movements of my left hand. It looked like a bunch of long, thin, translucent tubifex worms were escaping the beaker.

“Wow, it looks like cotton candy floating around!”

I couldn’t help but tip my hat to Dia’s choice of metaphor. I’d have to stop using that tubifex worm comparison from now on.

As a writer, I wondered if it was okay to just steal it? I’d ask my little angel for permission later.

As I was thinking this over, the work finished.

“All right then, let’s assess the strength and consider recoating it.” I began checking the threads I’d coated first.

The process of verifying the experiment was tedious and boring for my angel. Before everything was finished, she fell asleep right on the little fox’s back.

By the time the cleanup ended, it was already late into the night. I postponed the captain’s quest until the next day and went to bed too. The next morning, I got the exact location from Dia and teleported over right away; I thought it would be better to act quickly.

The place definitely lived up to the captain calling it a quest, but this time I understood his intent—I was going to have to manage it myself without borrowing any power from the sacred beasts at all.

※※※※

“Come on, come on, Heinz! Please accompany me for a little walk over there.”

After checking out my quest, I wrapped up today’s half-day classes like a proper student. I captured...no, located my Doggie. Though, really, I’d just been hiding in the shadows of the boys’ dorm, keeping watch.

Right now, Doggie and the other fourth-years had half-day classes as usual before their graduation research presentations. I’d already confirmed that some aspect of the graduation research he was supervising was out of his hands, due to the need to coordinate illustration work. I’d also learned that he was extremely busy right now.

As expected, I didn’t even have to wait a full hour before he—currently on a friend reduction campaign—came nonchalantly, no, suddenly, back, without any particular detours.

He stiffened suddenly at my request, then stared at my face with a terrified look. After a moment of silence, he muttered something so softly I couldn’t quite make it out: “Nah.”

Huh? “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that. What did you say?”

He fixed those frightened eyes on me once more. Why on earth...? “I said I don’t want to! That’s definitely the face you make when you’re scheming something terrible! You’re up to no good!”

“Oh my, scheming? Your adorable junior is just inviting her senior out for a little something, that’s all.”

“That blank expression is the one you make when you come asking for something utterly insane!”

Hey, Doggie, don’t point at people. “Now, now, that’s not—”

Suddenly, a deep, pleasant voice came from behind me. “I’d very much like to hear more about that.”

Behind me was the boys’ dorm. I’d been blocking Doggie from entering, but could it be that the first prince, the Academy’s head supervisor, had somehow teleported here? Or had he been staking it out like me? Should I have brought him some bread and milk?

Oh dear, Doggie just flinched again. Then he awkwardly took two steps back. His movements were so jerky it was like he was doing some terrible robot dance.

“It’s nothing that should trouble the busy head supervisor. As a junior, I was simply inviting my senior for a little stroll.” Of course, I turned around with a proper ladylike smile, but why was my Doggie throwing me such a gloomy stare? Could it be that the stakeout was actually to keep an eye on him?

“What have you done now?” the first prince demanded.

“Don’t look at me like I’m the one who did something,” Doggie protested. “Your target was definitely—no, never mind. If anything, my lady, you should rely on him instead of me. Right? Ask him. Yeah?”

Doggie, why are you pleading with me with such a desperate look? When I glanced at the prince, though, his eyes seemed to be sparkling? Why was that?

Hah! Could it be he wanted to experience the feeling of being relied upon by students?! Well, yes, given his position as this country’s first prince, it wasn’t easy for students to casually rely on him. From my perspective from my first life, though, he was my grandson! Grandma will be the student relying on you!

“Fine! With the two of you, I won’t have to do anything!” I wrapped my arm tightly around Doggie’s.

“Why does it have to be like that?!”

“Tch.” Hee hee hee, my grandson came rushing over, clicking his tongue in frustration. Of course I wouldn’t forget him! His face froze in surprise when I wrapped my arm around his.

“Let’s go!” Ignoring his expression, I teleported us to the spot I’d checked that morning. Then, I pulled a rope from my subspace storage. Doggie immediately tried to back away and escape, so I had my grandson pin him down while I tied him up. This was my recently perfected turtle-shell binding technique.

Finally, to the knot tied around Doggy’s back, I attached an elastic rope—one I’d made by splitting and reweaving the vine that’d grown from the barometz’s belly. I’d then wrapped it twice around my grandson’s waist to complete the connection.

“Three, two, one, GO! Bungee!” I pointed straight down and gave them a thumbs-up.

“No way, no way, no way! I’ll die before I even get there! This place is magic resistant, you know!” Doggie clung to the spot, his face desperate. In his hands were the gloves I’d lent him, woven from Lag’s shed mane. Around his waist hung a pouch made from fire lizard skin. A cord was tied to the pouch, and I held the end firmly in my grasp.

“Now, now, Head Supervisor...”

My grandson cut me off with a stern look. “Outside school, it’s Regulus.” That seemed like an unnecessary order.

“His Highness Prince Regulus will remain standing. Probably?”

“Probably?!”

“Well, some days are like that. True to his knight-in-training roots, he charges ahead with sheer guts! Heh!” With a thud, I delivered a full-body kick to Doggie’s rear end. Bound by the ropes, he fell over the edge.

“What kind of day is this, I ask youuu?!” Doggie’s voice echoed clearly up here at the mountaintop. How peaceful.

Actually, though calling it a mountaintop was a stretch—we were actually above a volcanic crater. Still, there was proper footing here. It was probably spatter, I supposed—the stuff that piled up and solidified in the crater and then ended up being ejected by a volcanic eruption, when the force of the erupting lava was too weak to propel it far. One of the sons I’d given birth to in my last life had had his wedding ceremony in Hawaii. I thought I’d overheard a local back then talking about it, but that was all, so I couldn’t be certain.

I couldn’t help thinking of my last life, when we’d done a bungee jump from the ceiling straight down toward the center of the baseball stadium from the familiar half-open ceiling dome.

My grandson had the elastic rope connecting him to Doggie wrapped around his waist. It reminded me of my husband holding his ground at the very back of the tug-of-war at the sports festival. Somehow, it felt very nostalgic.

The gravity manipulation spell my grandson had cast on himself must have been well suited to this land. It wasn’t exactly going easily, but somehow it seemed to be working, unlike other spells. Since he was holding his ground properly, it didn’t seem like he’d fall in after Doggie.

Lava gushed forth below us. Well, not exactly—it was a thin, trickling lava flow. It streamed from the dome’s base and its sides toward the opposite edge, while Doggie was aiming for the crimson magic stone floating dead center.

“Got it! Yesss!” Doggie’s triumphant shout echoed from below. I was glad it was going well. Looking down, I saw Doggie stuffing the magic stone into the leather pouch as he bounced around with the energy of someone who’d just bungee jumped. “Whoooaaa, I’m aliveeee! I thought I was gonna dieee!”

His shouts kept cutting out—probably because of all the bouncing. Don’t bite your tongue...

“Guh!”

Ah, he’d bitten it.

“Use the rope’s momentum or something and climb up quickly,” I called down. “If you don’t hurry, it might erupt.” Sensing the rumbling ground subtly, I started swiftly reeling in the rope to retrieve the leather pouch.

The sensation of the air pressure that had been hindering magic began to ease.

“Huh?! Y-You’re lying, right?!”

Oh, another roar. Looking up, I saw the slowly flowing lava stream growing larger and beginning to sputter upward.

“Heinz, hold on tight to that rope!” my grandson yelled.

“O-Okay!” Doggie, who’d been struggling to climb the rope, gripped it tightly with both hands.

Strengthening his body with magic, my grandson slammed the rope he held in both hands down onto the ground once. Then, using the rebound from the bounce, he yanked the rope upward. Doggy was hauled up like a tuna on a fishing line, dancing through the air.

Just as crimson magma spatter followed in pursuit, I teleported us back to his dorm room with my magic.

It definitely wasn’t my fault he hit the ceiling and passed out.

※※Aside: The Sin of the Asche Family (Dario)※※

“It erupted?! What’s the damage?!”

My subordinate’s report on the volcanic eruption came sooner than predicted. As the Knight Commander, I tightened my resolve.

Half of our nation’s territory faced the sea, while the rest bordered several other countries, and in several places the volcanic belt was what marked the borders. If the damage from this eruption was severe, we’d need to launch joint relief efforts with those neighboring nations.

“Sir! Residents in the surrounding areas, including neighboring countries, have already completed evacuations. There are no issues.”

“That entire area, from the foothills up, is residential. Did the neighboring country guide them out first?”

“Well...”

I frowned at my subordinate’s hesitation. When it came to an eruption, speed was essential for every response. That mountain had erupted several times in our nation’s history. Each time, it was said a sacred beast had gone forth to calm it, averting disaster.

However, for certain reasons, we couldn’t expect aid from sacred beasts this time. We, the Four Great Ducal Houses, had divided the task of identifying and managing matters previously handled with the assistance of the sacred beasts.

This volcano was one such matter. Reports of small earthquakes and shaking ground had been gradually increasing over the past few years. We’d gathered experts and monitored it together with our neighboring country.

Naturally, we couldn’t predict when it would erupt. We had instructed the residents that if they noticed any abnormalities, they should evacuate immediately and report to the soldiers’ command posts set up nearby.

“What is it?” I demanded. “Speak up, I say.”

“Yes. It seems that several nights prior, strange cries were heard coming from the mountain. Near the summit, unseasonal hail fell, emitting a red glow. The residents interpreted it as a sign of impending disaster and evacuated voluntarily...”

“What? Not earthquakes or rumbling? What were these cries?”

“Well...” My subordinate hesitated again. It was fortunate that no residents had been harmed, but the situation itself couldn’t be good. That was obvious. I couldn’t think of any reason for my subordinate’s hesitation.

“What? Just say it.”

“Sir. ‘Oh yeah, oh yeah, mortis, mortis, hell is burning hot, baby,’ or similar...”

“Or similar?” Huh? What the hell was he talking about now? What was “mortis”?

“‘Wow! So cool! Mortis!’” my subordinate recited. “It sounded like the voices of a woman and child cheering for something. It was so threatening that instead of evacuating...maybe the residents were...fleeing, sir?”

I could understand hesitating to report it to superiors. But what the hell was this “mortis”? I was speechless for a moment, but I had to ask about something that bothered me. A report from days ago just coming now? That was late. “Why the hell wasn’t this reported sooner?”

“Before we could report it, the screams apparently incited an extraordinary sense of crisis, and nearby residents panicked, thinking they had to flee immediately. They only came to their senses and headed to the soldiers’ station just before the eruption occurred. By the time the soldiers at the post tried to contact us after hearing the report, the eruption had already begun. After that, they confirmed the current situation—whether any residents were left behind, the extent of the eruption damage, and any magical beast-related casualties—which is why it took until now, sir.”

In the event of a natural disaster, strict orders mandated prioritizing the safety of local residents above all else. The speed of response after the soldiers received the alert hadn’t been bad.

“What about the magical beast damage?” I asked.

“Sir, apparently, the magical beasts were the first to disappear. Which only made the residents...”

Indeed, it made sense that panic would ensue if magical beasts, instinctively sensing danger in an already unsettling situation, fled. Even with some training, it must have been difficult for the residents to maintain their composure.

“I see... What about the scale of the eruption?”

“Yes. Fortunately, it was a small-scale event of the sort rarely seen in the past. The lava remained confined near the summit crater, and while pieces of debris did fly shortly after the eruption, only a few were confirmed, and they were all in the sparsely populated mountainous area. According to the experts, if nothing happens over the next few days, it should subside completely.”

“Understood. Continue maintaining vigilance.”

“Yes, sir!”

After the knight who came to report left the room, I pondered for a moment.

“A sacred beast?” The thought that had come to mind just slipped out. The unnatural panic among the residents... If the incomprehensible shouts heard from the mountain had influenced them, then those cries would have effectively forced the residents to evacuate. I had never heard of a magical beast capable of affecting residents over such a large area with just its cries alone.

Lady Robur held a contract with a sacred beast, and some were still protected by the sacred beasts that still existed. Therefore, sacred beasts had to still remain in our country, offering some degree of protection.

The young lady of the Faltan family, a branch of the Asche family, had gained a sacred beast’s protection some years ago. Originally, perhaps due to being raised in pampered luxury, she had been arrogant and conceited, though she’d had a lively personality. However, after receiving the blessing, she’d begun to claim she could hear the ill will of people around her. She lost her confidence and became constantly fearful. I sensed a similarity in the negative impact on her emotions.

This lady was the former fiancée of my foolish son, Heinz. It had been quite some time since she’d withdrawn from the Academy, and as the main family, we’d been providing aid to her household. I decided I would summon her to report on her current situation.

※※※※

“It has been some time, but you seem unchanged.”

“Y-Yes.”

The one I summoned to the mansion was Countess Mirandalinda Faltan. She was twenty-one years old, two years older than Heinz.

Miss Faltan, who tended to keep her head bowed during conversation, had long, dark brown hair that took on a bluish tint in sunlight. Her sky blue eyes, hidden behind long bangs like the ones Heinz sported, glanced restlessly toward me, though she avoided direct eye contact. Dark circles were visible beneath her eyes.

Miss Faltan had received the blessing of the sacred beast Drogolena around the age of nine. While the sacred beast Drogolena was the only one to have bestowed blessings upon the Asche family’s relatives, like all those before her, Miss Faltan had apparently never gotten to see the beast’s form.

Every single person blessed by this sacred beast had originally possessed an arrogant and aggressive personality, but after receiving the blessing, they tended to become introverted and withdraw from society. Then the blessing faded, and the next person was blessed.

The reason was obvious, even without wondering why only those connected to the Asche family were affected: It stemmed from the former queen consort, Sriarde, who had brought down Princess Beljeanne with her own son.

A righteous crown prince and a compassionate queen consort? That was laughable. Every one of their lauded achievements were in actuality Princess Beljeanne’s. Few outside the royal family and the heads of the Four Great Ducal Houses knew that their fame was stolen from another’s achievements.

Originally a daughter of the Asche family, Sriarde had exploited the previous king’s indifference toward his own daughter, the princess, to wield power behind the scenes. She had eventually even incited her father, the then head of the Asche family, to plot her husband’s murder.

It seemed my great-grandfather, then head of the Asche family, had intended to place his grandson on the throne and, as the king’s maternal uncle, rule the kingdom through him. When I’d learned this truth, upon assuming leadership of the family, the sheer gravity of the sin had drained the blood from my face.

To make matters worse, the crown prince during the previous king’s reign, consumed by years of jealousy and envy toward Princess Beljeanne—a true genius mage and his half sister—had summoned a demon. It was none other than Princess Beljeanne herself who had protected the Kingdom of Rovenia at the cost of her own life.

All this tragedy and sin stemmed from the Asche family. If our descendants remained arrogant, it was understandable that a sacred beast would seek to crush them. Even so, the fact that this sacred beast still granted protection likely stemmed from its love and devotion to Princess Beljeanne.

Miss Faltan was no exception; she had gradually become more withdrawn. By the time she reached her third year at the Royal Academy, she finally took a leave of absence. If this continued for a few more years, she would be considered withdrawn from the Academy according to its regulations.

Our nation’s policy was that, to maintain the reputation of those who had received divine protection, it was required that they should graduate. As such, those granted divine protection could receive some form of assistance from the nation if they wished. In return, they were encouraged to contribute to the nation within the limits permitted by their sacred beast.

Since Miss Faltan and her birth family were already receiving aid, the main branch, the Asche family, had also notified them that they had to fulfill their obligations. Beyond financial support, though it had since been dissolved, becoming the fiancée of my former son at age ten had been at Miss Faltan’s own insistence.

Heinz... Well, he had been quite reluctant. He couldn’t tolerate the youthful arrogance of Miss Faltan, two years his senior, even if it was age appropriate. Especially in the years immediately before receiving the sacred beast’s blessing, her personality was anything but introverted; she was aggressive and arrogant.

Frankly, as head of the Asche family, I had judged her character so severely that I couldn’t allow her to bear the Asche name if her attitude remained unchanged. Naturally, I conveyed this through her father, Count Faltan. Such a young lady and my former son were never meant to get along, and back then, their strong-willed natures often led to heated arguments.

Then one day, an incident of violence she caused at a tea party she was invited to triggered a change in her personality. She lost all confidence and became withdrawn, spending so much time in her room that her enrollment in the Academy was in jeopardy.

Still, her parents must have been insistent. Though she often skipped classes, she’d managed to advance to third year. That was only possible because of Heinz’s efforts. Even before he reached school age himself, Heinz had been escorting Miss Faltan to and from the Academy whenever possible. Naturally, he continued doing so after he enrolled.

By this time, Miss Faltan’s personality had mellowed. Heinz’s perception of her shifted from an incompatible fiancée to someone he comforted during depressing arguments or encouraged like a friend. This change likely improved their engagement. But then, sometime after Heinz met the former foster daughter of the Duke of Robur at a tea party, the relationship between the two engaged partners had crumbled. Miss Faltan had proposed breaking off the engagement.

From what I could gather using the Asche family’s connections, Heinz himself seemed to have fulfilled his duty toward Miss Faltan, who’d been intended for a political marriage. But this engagement was one that could only have been made possible by the blessing of the sacred beast, and Miss Faltan’s own resolve had played a significant role too. As a woman, too, perhaps it grew more painful for her with each passing year.

“Before we confirm your obligations,” I said to Miss Faltan, “tell me about this nightmare you keep having.”

“Okay...” Her voice was as faint as the buzz of a mosquito. It had been years since we last met. Seeing her once again wrapped in this dark, stagnant air made me realize that the protection of the sacred beast Drogolena must be quite extreme.

Since Princess Beljeanne’s passing, the only one to contract with a sacred beast had been Lady Robur. It could be considered a joyous occasion, yet His Majesty forbade any discussion of it.

The reason had never been explained. Even so, after the incident with the magic curse in the Academy’s boys’ dormitory, and the conversation with the lady in the captain’s room, I instinctively felt it best not to pursue her further.

Then there was Heinz’s notebook, which the lady somehow possessed. The first illustrations drawn for a novel had been released several months ago... I caught myself unconsciously wondering what kind of illustrations I would have drawn, then stopped. It was because I felt an inexplicable dread, a sense that something unknown was closing in on me, causing me to tremble without reason.

“There’s screams—high-pitched and low-pitched, indistinguishable as male or female—that I hear quite frequently when I sleep,” Miss Faltan replied in a thin voice, trembling as she spoke. She seemed to be gripped by terror just recalling it. “There are voices that make me feel every ounce of malice, voices that drive me to flee, voices that fill me with such agony...” She trailed off, bowing her head and pressing her lips together.

“I see. Tell me what they’re screaming. Could it be curses?” Considering the crimes committed by the royal family and the Four Dukes, it was a possibility. But if they were screaming specific curses, I would have to silence the young lady.

“No, nothing specific... Just ‘oh yeah’ or ‘baby’—utterly incomprehensible things, mostly ‘mortis’ or something.”

“I see.” Though meaningless, hearing the content of this nightmare confirmed that the sacred beast Drogolena had protected the villagers from the volcanic eruption.

Miss Faltan suddenly spoke up then. “Um, was Lord Heinz truly disinherited? I heard...well, that Lady Robur caused Lord Heinz to be removed from the family registry. Is it true? Lord Heinz is so kind and he’s always had such a strong sense of justice. So, um...I just can’t believe it. And everybody knows the rumors about Lady Robur, so...”

Her voice was timid. Of all people, she had to ask about Lady Robur.

“Stop letting yourself be swayed by rumors that belittle a lady of the Four Great Ducal Houses just because you have the protection of the sacred beast,” I told her. “That boy was the same. He lacked the awareness required of someone aspiring to be a knight. He grew arrogant, unaware of the privileges granted solely by his bloodline, and spent years belittling the lady and harming those around him. It was only natural.” I deliberately avoided using names, as a warning. While it was true Lady Robur had been involved in Heinz’s expulsion, there was no need to reveal everything.

“Well...would you consider betrothing me once more...and revoking Lord Heinz’s removal from the family registry?” Of all the things I expected her to say, to have such an outrageous request was...

“Miss Faltan.” I cut her off with a voice and gaze that demanded she remember her place, and Miss Faltan stiffened. “That boy will never bear the name Asche again. And you, even if only by blood, are of the Asche family’s collateral line. Your birth family holds only a count’s title. Do you still fail to grasp that even then, it wasn’t our wish, and that the disparity in status meant we should never have been united? Yet we conceded to your every whim, from the engagement to its dissolution. Merely possessing the sacred beast’s blessing doesn’t mean any wish you make will come true. To begin with, it is problematic for a young lady like you—one crushed by that blessing and confined to your chambers—to even speak of overturning the decision of another house’s head. Have you forgotten that the Faltan family considers the Asche house the main branch? Not to mention, at your age you should have graduated from the Academy and entered society. As a noble, refrain from making remarks that show contempt for your house henceforth.”

She trembled, bowing her head. “I’m sorry.”

Though I felt some pity for the young lady, I sensed an arrogance in her that still failed to grasp her proper place.

※※Aside: The Sacred Beasts’ Divine Protection (Mirandalinda)※※

“And then, um, I’m sorry...”

“Yes, please take care. The Asche family is, I’m sure, also looking forward to your return to the Academy next year.”

I understood the meaning implicit in the offer: I was being told to fulfill my duty. Though inwardly trembling, I managed to reply, “Yes...”

I was then escorted by a knight’s rough hands into a carriage.

After the carriage had traveled a short distance, I spoke up. “Don’t return to the estate. Stop by the church instead.”

“Understood. Another prayer session, I see. You’re quite devout.”

At first, having nothing to do while on leave from the Academy, I’d visited frequently, wanting to repent for my past actions. Now, whenever I felt uneasy, I clung to worship like a lifeline. When calm returned, I’d watch the priests. I knew I was a sinful believer, as I fantasized about fan fiction for my beloved novels about love between men, yet I couldn’t stop.

“We’re here.”

“Thank you. This will take a while, so arrange for the church carriage to pick me up later.”

Glancing sideways at the nodding coachman, I headed to my usual chapel. I sat down on one of the lined-up chairs and clasped my hands toward the goddess statue. As always, I closed my eyes and faded into the background. This way, no one would notice me.

The head of the Asche family hadn’t invited me to his residence solely out of concern for me. He wanted to know about the sacred beast, Drogolena. Since the Faltan family was a branch of the Asche house and received their support, it seemed it was easier for him to ask directly.

Perhaps he’d sensed the sacred beast’s involvement in the recent volcanic eruption.

Because of that infamous villainess, the sacred beast had never openly aided the nation before. He surely wanted to confirm the connection. If the sacred beast had given its protection, it might thaw the long-standing conflict.

But asking someone like me was a mistake.

Because even I felt ashamed when I looked back on my past. I was an arrogant, selfish person. Drogolena had chosen me solely to make me realize that and regret it.

One day, I’d suddenly received divine protection. But that didn’t mean any kind of eye-popping ability had suddenly manifested. It just meant I occasionally saw spirit-like figures straight out of fairy tales, and I could sense it if another person blessed by a sacred beast was nearby. Once it was acknowledged that I’d received divine protection, though, everyone around me fawned over me to an astonishing degree. It was probably because after the death of Princess Beljeanne, famed as a legendary villainess, not a single person in this country had been able to make a contract with a sacred beast. My parents told me that the very fact someone in this country had received divine protection was what really mattered.

Without anyone ever calling me out on my arrogance, I kept acting and speaking as if I were some kind of flawless human being. Back then, I was the very embodiment of the villainous noblewoman from popular novels.

But then, one day, I started hearing that inexplicable scream—the same one I’d told the head of the Asche family about.

At first, it was only at night while I slept. Soon, I heard it even during daytime naps. Gradually, I became constantly wary of my surroundings, feeling irritation not just toward others, but even toward my kind parents.

That’s when it happened. A young lady I thought was a friend...no, someone I looked down on as part of my entourage, hosted a tea party for other children. She merely showed concern for me, as I was the silent one, and spoke to me as the hostess. In my irritation, I’d hurled my emotions—and the glass I held—at her, inflicting a nasty wound on her face.

No one would believe me if I’d said I hadn’t meant to hit her face. The young lady, pushed past her breaking point, asked me if I knew the temperament of those blessed by the sacred beast, Drogolena.

I didn’t know then. I left without apologizing, went home, and asked my parents... Only then did I truly reflect on myself. But it was too late.

From there, it was like tumbling down a slope, days of steadily losing confidence. I stopped leaving my room, partly because that scream became a constant, whether I was sleeping or eating.

I hadn’t seen the young lady I’d injured since then. I sent her a letter, but there was no reply. Not that that was a surprise.

Though my parents never told me anything, both they and Lord Heinz—who I was sure must have argued with them constantly—came to see me whenever they could.

Poor Heinz, who’d ended up engaged to someone like me. My guilt grew heavier in my chest, knowing I forced this engagement on him with my unworthy, selfish whims. Did he actually like me? Impossible.

Even so, I just couldn’t bring myself to tell him I wanted to break off the engagement.

“Good morning, Mira. I’ll be enrolling soon too. Then I’ll walk you all the way into the classroom,” he’d say. Even though Heinz hadn’t enrolled in the Academy yet, he’d kept seeing me off to school, even though I’d enrolled two years before him.

“Just one more year!” became “Just half a year left!” and then finally, “Soon now!”

By that time, Heinz had been striving hard in his studies and swordsmanship, aiming to become the second prince’s guard in the future. Yet he still saw me off every morning. Even on days when I was overcome by exhaustion and couldn’t go to school. That was why, somewhere deep down, I’d hoped he might see me favorably as a woman.

Then he enrolled into Class A. I somehow managed to advance to Class B in my third year.

Ever since entering school, Heinz had escorted me to class every morning, accompanying me all the way to my different-grade classroom. I was grateful and truly delighted. Still clinging to my arrogant ways, I even harbored a faint hope that someday we might become a couple who shared mutual feelings. But...

One day I’d felt unwell in the carriage we shared for the commute, and he took me to the infirmary.

The screams had been especially terrible the night before, and I was sleep-deprived. What did that occasional “mortis” I’d heard mean? Honestly, I still didn’t know. I felt better after I got some sleep in the infirmary, though, so I’d headed to my classroom to join the lesson partway through.

Then, suddenly, sensing movement in an empty classroom, I’d stopped. From inside, I heard my fiancé’s nickname.

“Heinz, I intend to ask His Majesty to replace that incompetent fiancée of mine with the brilliant Lady Sienna. But first, I want to see what your feelings for Sienna were.”

“Th-That... Ha ha! What are you talking about?! Sienna’s like a little sister to me! She’s far more suited to you, Shua, than that incompetent, evil woman! I’m sure Sienna likes you too! I’m rooting for you!”

The influence granted by the sacred beast’s blessing varied from person to person. For my part, I excelled at concealing my presence, and my hearing became particularly acute. Even if I entered someone’s field of vision, as long as I held my breath and remained still, I was rarely detected.

Heinz’s voice was clearly agitated. The other person was Joshua, the second prince.

The Sienna they were discussing was a name Heinz had started mentioning often recently. I recalled she was the younger sister of the second prince’s fiancée, and they were cousins by blood. Unlike the first lady, she was eager to pursue her education and very talented. Plus, Heinz praised her for always standing up for her foster sister even though she bullied her...

Unpleasant sweat trickled down my back. Though I was aware of my heart’s anguish, I couldn’t stop straining to listen.

“Besides, I already have a fiancée. She possesses the blessing of a sacred beast, so I must cherish her. That is also my duty as a lord of the Asche house.”

Must cherish her... Duty...

“But she possesses the blessing of that sacred beast, doesn’t she? Because of her, the young lady in our group suffered an injury to the face, didn’t she? It was only because the royal family sent a mage who healed her without leaving scars that both the other family and the young lady kept quiet, and still avoid any involvement. Yet, to this day, there hasn’t been a proper apology. You know that too, don’t you? You aim to become my personal knight in the future, and yet that would be a scar for you...”

It was the second prince’s words that made me realize it for the first time.

The young lady I’d hurt—she was in Class A1 with Heinz. We were in different grades, and I always kept my head down, hiding my face behind my long bangs. I even walked along the edges of the hallways, so I’d never encountered that young lady before. I’d been mistaken all along.

My chest ached so badly it felt like it would split open, and I didn’t remember anything after that. When I came to, the second prince was gone.

Heinz was still there. I’d hesitated, wondering if I should say something, but in the end, I couldn’t speak.

“Sienna... Your dream of marrying the prince and supporting each other...I’ll protect it for you,” I heard him murmur. “So...please just let me keep my feelings hidden.”

I’d instinctively known that voice was strained with longing, and I collapsed on the spot. All I could do was sob silently.

And so, I freed Heinz from his engagement duties...and fled the Academy.

When I’d requested the annulment, the kind Heinz confirmed with me. “Mira... Are you truly sure?”

I’d paused, then said, “Yes.”

“I see. Thank you for everything.”

But Heinz never asked why, never tried to persuade me to reconsider. I would be lying if I claimed I didn’t feel lonely.

After that, contact with Heinz had ceased. Yet, using my ability to conceal my presence and my heightened hearing—honed by the sacred beast’s blessing—I’d gathered as much information about him as possible. Watching over him was all I could do.

That was how I’d learned, through the schemes of that ill-tempered lady, that Heinz had fallen from grace to commoner status. That he frequently met the lady at her villa on the outskirts of the city. That it was called her atelier, and that whenever he emerged, his face looked utterly drained... What on earth was that lady doing to him?!

Driven solely by the desire to free Heinz from the lady, I’d searched for the sacred beast Drogolena. If it bestowed its blessing, perhaps I could even become a pact-bearer!

Since the demise of Princess Beljeanne, that unparalleled villainess, no one had become a sacred beast’s pact-bearer. If I could become one, I would surely be granted an audience with His Majesty the King. If the pact-bearer made the request, Heinz’s status could surely be restored!

It was precisely because I had gained the protection of the sacred beast Drogolena that I was able to track and pursue the thickening aura immediately after the nightmare. I never expected that at the very moment I feared Drogolena might have provoked the attack, I would be assaulted by a magical beast and meet the lady in question...

The lady had been laughing happily with the orphans at an orphanage—she didn’t seem like the wicked person the rumors described. She was definitely in Class D, so her magic reserves and academic ability were undoubtedly low.

Come to think of it, there was Priest Nax, Prince Regulus, and a boy who was the lady’s classmate there with her. Watching the three of them, I was secretly swooning, thinking it looked like one of those popular novels about male romance that were going around.

Before I knew it, the lady was staring intently at me. Why? Could it be that the lady also...? No, she was a lady from one of the Four Great Ducal Houses. To think I’d felt kinship with her? How rude of me.

Anyway, the lady’s character as I’d directly experienced it was quite different from the rumors. I became certain that the punishment Duke Asche had imposed on Heinz must have been an overreaction born of misunderstanding or miscommunication. If that was the case, perhaps if I asked that seemingly approachable lady again...

Just as I thought of a way to restore Heinz’s status, the chapel door opened.

“Since I made a donation when registering our marriage here, you ought to provide commensurate assistance. Please intercede with Laiyevist Robur to restore my authority within the House of Robur.”

What?! Duchess Robur?! The lady’s mother?!

Keeping my presence hidden as I turned around, I caught sight of the sullen-looking black-haired duchess and Priest Nax, whose face bore a forced smile.

“Indeed, you did have your marriage certificate issued by the church,” said the priest. “Formally, marriages within the Four Great Ducal Houses—including annulments—require church registration to prevent the parties themselves from treating them lightly. However, this church does not meddle in such family matters.”

“I beg your pardon?!” the duchess exploded. “Then return my donation immediately!”

“This is a difficult situation. You are the first noble to demand the return of a donation.”

“That’s irrelevant! I’m leaving the residence in the royal capital for a while, so I need cash on hand!”

“Then how about this? If you bring your daughter, Lady Laviange Robur, with you, we can arrange for you to stay at the church for a time.”

“Excuse me?! Why Laviange?!”

“With all due respect, I understand your daughter also faces a difficult position within the Robur household. From what you’ve shared, it seems Lord Mihail Robur, the heir apparent, is wielding his future authority as head of the house to act as he pleases.”

“But why me?!”

“With all due respect, according to you, there are also rumors of abuse toward Lady Laviange. Given the Church’s position, it is fundamentally unacceptable for her to remain where she is.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! It’s not me... It’s Mihail! Mihail is the one doing it!”

“Yes, naturally. But it’s undeniable that there are rumors. Therefore, it would preserve the Church’s dignity for both the lady and the duchess to leave the residence. If that proves difficult, we have no choice but to see you off.”

“You’re taking advantage of my situation... Fine! I’ll just bring Laviange with me, then!”

“Yes, absolutely.”

She sounded very impatient. I seized the chance to speak up and make my presence known. “Oh, excuse me!”

“Who’s there?! Eavesdropping? How terribly ill-mannered!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry! But I wasn’t hiding...”

“Miss Faltan? When did you... No, why are you here?” Though his expression remained unchanged, it was no wonder Priest Nax seemed puzzled. He was a high priest, after all. There had never been a single instance in the past where he, a high priest, had met me, a common believer, in this publicly accessible chapel.

“Ah, um... I’m a follower of the church...so, so I came to pray and repent. Um, well... So... Please let me help too! I beg you!” I bowed my head sharply.

“Excuse me?” said the duchess. “Why should I?”

“Um, well... I have something I need to ask Lady Robur, so...”

“Calm down. Could you tell me your reason?” Priest Nax asked gently. But unlike the time we’d first met, his eyes held no discernible will.

“Actually...” I felt a faint chill, but knew that if I missed this chance, there wouldn’t be another. I steeled myself and explained to the two of them how Heinz had become a commoner, and that there was a possibility that Lady Robur had been involved.

“Very well,” said Priest Nax. “Duchess, could you take Miss Faltan with you?”

“Taking that child with me...”

“You can’t use magic, can you?”

“Well...” The duchess stiffened visibly. I’d heard she’d once accidentally injured Lady Robur with magic and, tormented by guilt, deliberately rendered herself unable to use it again. I’d heard she’d spoken of it tearfully.

“The young lady, on the other hand, can use everyday magic. If you encounter any resistance, Miss Faltan, blessed with the protection of a sacred beast, could be of assistance. And, thanks to that blessing, she seems quite skilled at concealing her presence.”

“Ah, is that it? Well, I can’t use magic myself, so it can’t be helped...but you, a high priest, failed to notice a seemingly ordinary young lady hiding?”

Ordinary I wouldn’t deny it...but wasn’t Duchess Robur being just a bit harsh?

As I inwardly hesitated, Priest Nax took a ring from his pocket and handed it to the duchess. “But just in case, you may take this, Duchess.”

“This? The color is sienna... Ah, it’s like my former foster daughter’s hair color.” The ring was a peachy brown shade, seemingly wooden, and so it seemed a bit cheap for a duchess to wear.

“It’s a ring-shaped magical device I received earlier from the pope. Wearing this should temporarily allow you to use magic. The rules are that you must not intentionally use magic to attempt to take someone’s life. Continuous use is limited to one minute, and you are limited to spells at the level of Wind Blade and Fireball—which were your specialties.”

“The duration is too short, and it’s only basic magic.”

“That’s because the sealing power placed on you is so strong. If you dislike it, you may refuse,” Priest Nax replied, smiling coolly at the duchess’s displeasure. He reached out to take it back from her, but the duchess hastily snatched it away.

“Hey! I didn’t say I disliked it! It doesn’t cost me anything!” she protested, slipping it onto her left middle finger. “Is it safe to use magic now?”

“Yes. Are you going to cast an attack spell at me?” Ever the high priest. No sooner had he spoken than she deployed a barrier spell around herself.

“In that case...” The lady closed her eyes, and I could sense her gathering magic power within her body. When she snapped her eyes open again, a wind blade shot from her left hand. The blade was blocked by the barrier magic and dissipated into mist.

“How about that?” Priest Nax asked.

“Well, I suppose I should thank you.” The duchess beamed with delight. It made me question the rumors that she had sealed herself away due to worry.

“So, you also wish to speak with Laviange, hm? Unfortunately, my son just told me to stay away from her. Do you have any better ideas?”

“Well, um... If you want to speak with the lady somewhere private, surely if you wait there...” I mentioned the place Heinz sometimes met with the lady—her atelier. “My family owns a villa nearby... Ah, well, it’s just a humble count’s villa, and there are no servants...”

“Hmm, I see. Can you prepare meals? You learned that during your Academy training, right?”

“I... I’m on leave, but simple things I can...”

“Then I’ll have the church provide you with some provisions,” Priest Nax said.

“Thank you!”

Thus, I boarded the reluctant Duchess Robur’s carriage and headed for the villa near the atelier.

※※Aside: My Sister’s Atelier (Mihail)※※

“Have you found your mother?”

I was handling student council duties alone after school when Regulus entered the room and asked the question point-blank. I was speechless. Following my father’s orders, I hadn’t searched for that woman for two days. What on earth was my father thinking?

“I don’t recall giving the Academy detailed information about that,” I replied.

“The day before yesterday, I took Lady Robur and Heinz out for a slightly personal extracurricular activity.”

What did “slightly personal” even mean? I had to hold back the urge to demand a concrete explanation of what “slightly” actually meant.

“That’s where the lady made plans with Heinz to head to her atelier this weekend,” he added. “And I’m the head supervisor, yet I’m left out in the cold. What if improper relations ensue?”

I wished he’d stop glaring at me with those bloodshot eyes and radiating that dark, ominous aura. “Don’t let your jealousy run wild,” I told him. “And don’t abuse your authority, while you’re at it. So you investigated?”

“I searched for the atelier’s location the moment I heard. I used every bit of my authority. Then, coincidentally, a report came in that Duchess Robur and a lady blessed by the sacred beast Drogolena were spending time together amicably at a certain noble’s villa.”

“What kind of coincidence does your jealousy induce? Does my father know about this?”

“I did report it, more or less.”

Finally, I understood why father had ordered the search for that woman called off. I couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh. I wish he’d at least told me about it sooner.

Under normal circumstances, I’d want to confront him about how such a coincidence could happen—probably because he had Duke Robur’s household under constant surveillance. But Regulus was likely telling the truth. It was a waste of the prince’s authority.

Faced with the former duchess’s dangerous temperament, I ought to be worrying about my sister’s safety. But my brotherly heart was also torn by the information about her holed up in that place she called the atelier with Heinz. And I wanted to ask Regulus what he expected me to do about it.

When I asked about the atelier’s location, it turned out to be in a noble villa district adjacent to some fairly impressive mansions. It was apparently a bit more run-down than it used to be, but she’d set up this atelier in a place like that?

Sis, I really don’t know what to do with you, I thought. With graduation research meetings leaving me no time to tend to my sister, why did the Robur family have to be like this? For the past three days, I’d been holed up in the Class 4A research lab, barely squeezing in time to handle the mounting student council president duties. And, for the record, I was the vice president, not the president.

Honestly, was it okay to lament that this was happening now? But since I’d taken on the role of compiling all the data, I absolutely couldn’t back out. And the student council president’s duties weren’t the kind of thing I could just hand off to somebody else.

I was worried about my sister, especially since it involved that woman, but now, with Regulus looking this dangerous right in front of me, and Heinz suddenly becoming suspicious, I was so confused about what exactly I was worried about that I felt dizzy and lightheaded.

I’d asked my butler, John, to ensure nothing happened within the mansion, but my sister wasn’t like other noble ladies. She truly soared in the outside world... What should I do? This was beyond my control.

Why were that woman and Miss Faltan involved in the first place? Even the church had its eye on my sister. It was all a mystery to me.

The only saving grace was that Heinz had changed his attitude toward my sister. Come to think of it, I’d seen them talking a lot lately, and Heinz was, after all, in the knight course. If they were together, she probably wouldn’t be falling behind. If anything, my sister would be the one bossing him around. It would be fine...right?

“Right now, as royalty and head supervisor, I wouldn’t mind discreetly handling the student council president’s duties,” Regulus said. “The burden on a single student is heavy, and as the older half brother of the one who suddenly took a leave of absence, I feel responsible. This weekend, perhaps I could personally escort you to that particular atelier?”

Anxiety began to gnaw at me again at this whisper from the devil...

※※Aside: Concealment (Luciana)※※

“Um, Duchess?”

“What is it?”

I was sitting at the table sipping the cheap tea that had been served, with a young girl with an unusual hair color across from me. She addressed me hesitantly, and she never once met my sky blue eyes. The rumor that those blessed by the sacred beast always became gloomy seemed to be true after all.

The girl’s name was Mirandalinda Faltan. Compared to the household of Duke Robur, she was a count’s daughter of such low standing that she should have hesitated even to speak. Yet, for reasons of her own, she was now staying at the Faltan family’s modest villa. Unlike the Robur estate, this villa was only used occasionally and had no permanent servants.

Honestly, it was inconvenient. I was being forced to stay for several days, but it was quite unpleasant.

This was all my husband’s fault! It truly infuriated me! I was the lady of the Robur family, recognized by both the state and the church! I’d married him out of sheer necessity! Yet he never once showed me any consideration. Between the former fiancé, who’d been seduced by a commoner and eloped, and his brother—they’d all treated me like a fool!

I’d have that good-for-nothing caught and dragged before the church... No, before that, I’d use this ring’s power to unleash magic and make that good-for-nothing suffer!

Just as my rage was about to erupt, the ring suddenly felt hot around my finger. Instantly, my frustration turned to excitement.

Truly, they were useless tools. Useless tools should be destroyed. I had been far too lenient, just because he was my son and she was my daughter. Even then, I’d held back from killing that good-for-nothing.

That day, when that good-for-nothing got a wonderful fiancé—the second prince, a man far beyond her station——but couldn’t even manage the simple task of meeting him face-to-face for the first time, it confirmed once more what a failure she was. I’d ripped open that failure’s belly with my signature magic. But I didn’t kill her. I left my son, who was learning healing magic, by her worthless side.

That was right! I’d always been magnanimous!

Yet the next day, a small black magic circle had appeared right in the center of my face. I knew the incantation used was for criminals, but I couldn’t remove it myself. More circles appeared over time, covering my entire body in black within half a day. That hideous appearance and the criminal’s incantation—I was too ashamed to show myself to anyone.

Just as I was despairing that I could never attend tea parties or evening gatherings again, the magic circles vanished without warning.

But my joy was short-lived. To this day, I’d never forget the shock of realizing I could no longer use any magic at all.

I instinctively knew my husband was behind it. Disgusted by his thoroughly despicable character, I’d maintained my silent protest. Of course, I blamed everything on my own failure, boasting that I’d sealed it myself to protect my position.

“You really will arrange a meeting with Lady Robur, won’t you?” The girl’s childish voice snapped me out of my reverie. I’d forgotten she was still standing right in front of me.

“Yes. My daughter’s selfishness must have caused your young man trouble, yes? As her mother, I must set her straight.”

“Ah... Thank you so much!”

I was getting weary of her relentless questions, but the foolish little girl bowed her head happily at my answer.

Just because she’d received the sacred beast’s blessing, she thought she could overturn the Four Dukes’ decision? How presumptuous. Did she really think the decision to expel the young man had been made lightly? That useless girl couldn’t have achieved that merely by wishing. There had to be other factors at play. The other party was the head of the Asche family, after all. He was the most inflexible man among the Four Dukes. And she wanted him to restore the former young master’s status? Hah, it was laughable. It was impossible, no matter how that useless girl wished for it.

Glancing sideways, I saw the girl was still trembling nervously, avoiding my gaze entirely. That would be why she couldn’t determine who to trust.

“Girl.”

“Y-Yes!”

“Even someone like you, who’s been granted divine favor, can’t meet the sacred beast?” I wanted to ask why it couldn’t have been granted to me, if it had been granted to a girl like this.

“Um, yes. As I mentioned, I tried searching for the sacred beast to make a contract a little while ago. If I could make the contract, then, no matter who interfered, I could restore Heinz’s status on my own authority. And if not—” Miss Faltan suddenly cut herself off, her cheeks flushing bright red. What was that about? “If he’d just married me in name only, he could enter the nobility.”

“Well, it is true that a sacred beast pact-bearer might be free to choose their marriage partner.”

After the demise of that singular villainess, there had been no sacred beast pact-bearers. Becoming such a person’s spouse would draw all manner of conflicting interests. But a troublesome figure like a former noble who’d fallen to commoner status? Before any marriage registration could take place, some powerful figure would eliminate them. More people than when I’d tried to eliminate that runaway former fiancé and his elopement partner.

“Of course, Heinz would surely dislike someone like me as a spouse,” she said. “But it should be far better than a commoner’s life. That’s why I chased after the sacred beast when I sensed its presence intensifying. That’s when I met Lady Robur...but she was so...shocking...I couldn’t communicate with her at all. She was all bouncy-bouncy and showed zero interest in me...”

What did “bouncy-bouncy” mean? Her thought process had been bizarre since earlier. Was this girl all right?

“Well, that incident... Ahem.” I cleared my throat. “Since my daughter never listens to anyone, you made the right choice in relying on me. She does meet with the former young master outside sometimes, doesn’t she?”

“Yes. I’ve seen her enter a mansion nearby...”

“Use your abilities to ambush her. Take her by surprise and drag her into a carriage.”

That good-for-nothing could only use household magic. I’d smash her with every ounce of magic the ring’s power could muster.

3: (Before the Incident) It All Starts with Cross Cultural Exchange that Irritates the Parent-Child Relationship

“18+... Pervert... Employer...” Doggie muttered as he collapsed... Or so it seemed. He fell face-first onto the desk by the wall, and the brush rolled out of his hand with a thud.

“Heh heh heh, ah, wonderful. At last...at last, an offering for the love and peace 18+-exclusive subspace...” Overcome with emotion, I hugged the freshly completed white cloth. This cloth bore the painting that had just been finished moments ago. I’d dried it with magic in an instant, then used magic to clean the desk and the brush that had clattered onto it.

“Oh my, so this is where you were.”

I must have been so focused on the cloth I was hugging that I missed the knock on the door. Turning at the voices behind me, I found my patrons standing there.

“Galfi and Yust!” I exclaimed.

Doggie was less enthusiastic. “S-Sirs...”

On weekends, they sometimes dropped by the studio to check on me like this. But now that Doggie was getting used to illustration work, they mostly seemed to come here for monthly meetings. My novel was on hold for now, waiting for the illustrations, so I didn’t come here unless there was business to attend to, like today.

Oh, yes, the publishing house and Yust’s trading company were separate entities. It was only natural, since their sales channels and industries differed. However, both Doggie and the publishing house were involved with the paper fans and megaphones currently sold by Yust’s trading company.

More importantly, the alluring lady—or rather, the alluring Galfi—turned around and saw us the instant he looked back, and his expression suddenly became suspicious. His dark gray eyes were framed by long, wavy ash-brown bangs with a soft sheen. Those mesmerizing eyes seemed to silently ask what the hell the two of us were doing.

More importantly, why was Doggie sending me that clingy, pleading look? I didn’t get it.

“So, you look like you’re at the end of your rope, boy,” said Yust as he crept closer to Doggie. He was an intimidating-looking man, with short reddish-brown hair, a scar over his left eye, and a powerful build. “Why are your eyes begging for mercy like that? And Lavi’s got an ominous look on her face—cheeks flushed, eyes burning. Hey, boy, you didn’t do anything to my kid, did you?”

Doggie, feeling the pressure, whimpered and whined fearfully. “Why are you blaming me when you know I’m the one who got something done to me?!”

But Yust absolutely adored children, and Doggie was now an illustrator providing hot-selling merchandise. He’s just worried because you look so worn out, Doggie!

“Oh, come on. Do you really think you can stop Lavi? It’s not about punishing you. It’s easier to train your twisted nature to Lavi’s pure masochistic disposition, obviously. Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle-hard.”

“I don’t get what you mean with that rephrasing!” Doggie sputtered. “‘Gentle-hard’ is a contradiction in terms, isn’t it?!”

“It’s fine,” said Yust. “You’re important merchandise—no, a sucker. I’ll make sure Galfi goes easy on you too.”

“That’s why I asked what you meant by rephrasing it! Eek!”

Oh dear, poor Doggie. The moment he stood up, Galfi cornered him against the wall. Followed by a wall slam. Then he twisted his toned, enchanting leg—peeking out from the slit in his skirt—between Doggie’s legs! This was such an artistic scene!

Both of them had great figures. Doggie was broader than Galfi, but their heights and the lengths of their legs were about the same, and that alone made something boil up inside me.

“Well, well, you two certainly are close!” I remarked. “Well then, I’ll be off!”

“H-Hey! You’re leaving me like this?! You’re a monster! Eeek!!!”

My two patrons exchanged a quick glance, so Doggie was ignored. I wanted to embroider this scene onto fabric immediately!

Stepping outside, I saw the sun was already high in the sky. Getting up early had definitely been the right call!

“L-Lady Robur!”

Oh dear, she’d been hiding in the bushes since morning, barely noticeable. Was she really okay? She stood blocking my path and didn’t utter a single word more, so I decided to speak first. Of course, I never let my usual smile fade. “It’s been a while, Lady Faltan.”

“Yes.” Her dark brown hair glistened blue in the sunlight. Her gaze remained fixed downward as ever. Her long bangs hid her sky blue eyes and adorable features—such a waste. Her voice was incredibly soft, and her lack of confidence palpable, which was rather disappointing.

But she reminded me so much of my daughter from my past life, it was nostalgic. Before the twin boys grew up and became rowdy teens, she always used to fidget like this around anyone outside the family. Her speaking voice had been like a whisper. After getting dragged into her brothers’ activities and being forced to help with their mischief more often, though, she started asserting herself more firmly.

Still, Lady Faltan had stopped me to try to speak to me about something, right?

She was silent.

Yeah, yeah. Being unable to speak when it counted was another trait of our fidgety one. Come on, give it your best shot! I cheered her on silently.

She stayed silent.

What should I do? Did she really call me over for something? She was something else, making me feel pained at having to keep the smile on my face.

Her silence continued.

I should probably be heading home soon. If she had something to say, she should call out to me again.

I took a step forward, trying to slip around the obstacle in my way. The obstacle took a step back. Looking at her cautiously, I took another step forward, and she took another step back. I tried two steps forward—she took two steps back.

She stayed silent the whole time.

Right, this was a game! The rule was to advance and retreat in silence, maintaining equal intervals! Next, I tried two steps back. The other party looked up for just an instant, startled, then took two steps forward.

See? I knew it!

But repeating this all the way to the street ahead sounded exhausting. If I’d known, I would’ve ridden back on Latte, the horse I’d ridden here with Doggie. I’d planned to teleport back, so I’d left Latte tied up in the studio’s stable to spare Doggie the trouble.

By the way, this studio Yust owned was located in the suburbs, a few hours’ horseback ride from the capital. Around the time I was born, there’d apparently been a boom in aristocratic villas, and this place was one of the ones built then.

There’d been a noble who got into a dispute with the Lyonoble Trading Company, where Yust served as chairman, and he’d ended up settling it in court. This place had been handed over as part of the settlement, along with a sum of money. The noble himself seemed to have completely forgotten about it, though.

Being a slightly run-down suburb, it took quite a walk to get to the main road. If we were playing games, it’d probably take even longer. Maybe I’d have joined if I had free time? Honestly, though, I’d have rather done things like braid hair or dress her up, like I did with my daughters and granddaughters in my past life.

Some of those girls had recorded it, uploaded it to social media, and earned ad revenue off it. Since they’d dabbled in other arts too, it helped them earn pocket money, and as grandma I’d been over the moon about that. A little laugh slipped out at the fond memory.

Lady Faltan flinched, startled. Well, well—she looked a bit bewildered, and then her cheeks flushed? I didn’t quite get it.

“If you have no business with me, I should be going...” I said, trying to shift her focus and leave the scene...but just then, a certain shrill scream I hadn’t heard in ages suddenly pierced the air from somewhere nearby.

“Laviange!”

“Oh my?” As I turned at the sound of that sudden, strident voice, I sensed a surge of magic power from where Miss Faltan was hiding.

But for the sake of Doggie’s illustration sketches, I’d stashed a special something in my pocket! I’d thought it wouldn’t end up getting used, but its time had come! All that effort over the past week, sacrificing sleep to craft props and hone my skills, had finally paid off!

“Secret Technique: Substitution!” I plunged my hand into my pocket, grabbed the concealed grip, channeled magic into it, and flicked my wrist sharply, swinging it toward Miss Faltan.

“Aaah?!”

Purple-blue ropes shot out from the grip, coiling around her waist. Ignoring her startled cry, I pulled the grip back to use her as a shield.

“Eeek!” Miss Faltan screamed, but she summoned an earthen wall shield to block the incoming Wind Blade. Once the expected scene had played out in front of me, I flicked my wrist gripping the handle to release the rope.

Yes, this was a magical tool—the Whip! Made from freshly procured barometz vine, the handle was thorns from the sheep! Naturally, the thorn tips were properly processed, ensuring a safe design that wouldn’t prick its owner. A magical tool crafted with soul and spirit was absolutely essential for certain S&M endeavors!

Remember that dream the magic spell had shown me? The one where I witnessed that magnificent whip handling? I had studied and practiced diligently.

If Miss Faltan’s earth wall or my whip failed, I’d intended to defend properly with magic—but the result was as I’d expected. I’d already gauged Miss Faltan’s strength during the barometz hunt.

“Perfect formation, Miss Faltan.” I gave her a thumbs-up and threw in a wink too.

“It hit...shield...that...”

“It’s fine! I believed you could block it!”

So she was relieved, huh? Though I didn’t understand that shocked look on her face, she turned back and flopped down. If she hadn’t had the skill to block it, I wouldn’t have used the substitution spell. She ought to have had more confidence.

“Laviange! Using a young lady as a shield? That’s despicable!”

“Oh dear.” Wasn’t the one who played pranks on Miss Faltan and shot wind blades at her daughter just as despicable? I almost said as much, but I held back. I’d never done anything familial with my own mother since birth. Besides, her mother—my maternal grandmother—had never taught her how to have loving mother-daughter interactions. It was no wonder she didn’t know how much playfulness was appropriate.

“What on earth is that creepy, lukewarm stare on your face?!” sputtered my mother. “It’s disgusting!”

“Oh dear? I just...forgot myself.” What was that? Why did she take a step back? Should I step forward?

“That’s...that’s awful... But... I’m sorry... For this...”

Oh dear, Miss Faltan had gotten startled and started crying. Well, of course, for a young lady raised with proper affection, a mother who attacked her daughter with magic upon meeting must have been quite unusual to see.

I patted her shoulder and peered into her sky blue eyes, partially hidden by her bangs. “It’s fine,” I assured her. “You just don’t know the limits yet. It’s a cultural exchange where parental love got twisted.”

“Parental love... Different cultures... Ah...” She started muttering and her eyes rolled back, so I gently smiled and told her to calm down. Then, in an instant, she turned the color of a boiled octopus. Had her brain’s information processing spark?

I always thought she just kept her head down, but now she was staring straight at my face and frozen solid? Could it be a petrification curse?

“Don’t talk nonsense, girl!” my mother sputtered. “Parental love?! That’s disgusting! If you don’t want to die, follow...”

“Found you.”

Just then, the voices of two dandies came from behind my mother. Oh dear. I just wanted to go home...

“You’re the same as always, Duchess Robur.”

My mother turned around, glaring. “Your...Highness?” she muttered, her expression turning utterly dumbfounded as she stumbled backward.

Behind mother lay a steep, steep slope. She should be careful; if she went any farther, she might accidentally tumble down.

The first prince looked terribly displeased. Even with his face scowling and his tone cold, his sharp, beautiful features were lovely. “You would go to such lengths for Laviange...”

My brother looked terribly gloomy. What was wrong? But this somehow felt... Yes, like a real yandere situation! Something was whispering to me: “Install yandere mode in the next novel!”

“Mihail!” mother howled, her face twisted. It was business as usual.

Next, I would make it a Japanese-style boy’s love story where a man, taken prisoner and held captive in a Western dungeon created by a female lord, accepted both pleasure and hardship in every sense until he became known as the Night King!

“Let’s hear the story from the two of you, including why Lady Faltan is here.”

“Oh...but...” Lady Faltan stuttered.

“What are you doing here?!” my mother demanded. “I’m speaking with my daughter! What right do you have to intrude between a mother and daughter?!”

The first prince made no effort to hide his irritation. Lady Faltan trembled, and this in itself was such pitiful cuteness that it stirred a desire to protect her. Oh dear, I’d suddenly come up with a sadistic pure love story too! A Boys’ Love and a sadistic pure love prison fantasy! My nostrils flared with my heavy breathing, and I couldn’t stop grinning.

“Eek!” Miss Faltan gasped from where she was still slumped over. Ah, I’d startled her—maybe I’d gripped the handle of my whip too tightly in my excitement, making her think I was going to use it again. Now was not the time to activate the substitution spell.

“My lady!”

“Laviange!”

Everyone was all talking at once, how annoying. The prince looked kind of resigned, and my brother...had a headache? If it was a migraine, tying a headband or tie around his temples would help temporarily. But I’d teach him that another time! On top of my original tasks, I’d gotten this new mission to put this passion into words! I would leave the troublesome mom stuff to my reliable boys!

“Well then, everyone, take care!” I said with a smile. “Older brothers, I’ll leave the rest to you!”

“Huh?!”

Following my passion, I used magic to strengthen my body, then dashed through the path Miss Faltan had been blocking. At times like this, the initial sprint was everything.

As I passed, Miss Faltan flushed and glared at me.

I would ignore the shrill screams, cries, and shouts of protest coming from behind! Even sensing the heightened magical energy around me, I completely ignored it! I confirmed no one was around with a detection spell, and then teleported! Granny’s going straight to fluffy log cabin paradise!

※※Aside: Rumors and the Entirely Different Reality (Mirandalinda)※※

“The lady remains unchanged, it seems.” His Royal Highness the First Prince watched Lady Robur depart with a gentle expression. The last time I’d seen him had been years ago at the Academy. I’d always thought of him as a man with a cold gaze and an expressionless face, but it seemed he was capable of looking tender after all.

“A master of escape... A flawless, decisive swing toward flight. It’s almost refreshingly clean, right off the starting block.” Young Lord Robur sighed with an air of exhaustion. Rumor had it he was lenient toward his talented former step sister, yet harsh toward his own wicked, incompetent, low-magic biological sister. It didn’t really seem to be true.

The rumors about the lady had to be the same. Seeing them together twice proved the truth was different.

“Let go, Mihail! I have to chase that worthless girl!” Was Duchess Robur possessed by a demon? She struggled and tried to attack with magic, glaring at her son with a terrifying expression.

When the duchess showed signs of using magic, the prince and the young nobleman had conjured wind and water around them. Perhaps sensing their counter-magic stance, the duchess tried to suppress her uncontrollable rage, huffing and puffing to disperse her magic power. The rumors about her were completely wrong too.

Her husband was the head of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses and one of the most powerful figures among all the successive generations of captains of the Royal Mage Corps. Her son possessed a brilliant intellect and had displayed magical talent since childhood. Blessed with such an exceptional family, the duchess was the belle of society. Or that was what I’d believed long ago, before I’d received the sacred beast’s blessing.

Even then, Laviange Robur’s incompetence had already been the subject of rumor. People talked about how, a number of years ago, upon first meeting her former fiancé, the second prince, she’d behaved quite rudely. The duchess had reprimanded her, and in that moment had accidentally injured the rebellious lady with magic. The story of how she then voluntarily banned herself from using magic had reached even my ears, though I was already largely withdrawn.

I’d heard many people were sympathetic to the duchess—believing that such harshness toward herself was unwarranted for the sake of an incompetent daughter who had been rude to royalty.

But now I couldn’t help but wonder how much of that was actually true. I had my own motives for accompanying the lady, but the personality she’d shown me so far was completely different—violent and terrifying.

“Duchess Robur.” The young lord addressed his own mother by her title. His voice was so freezing cold it made me tense up.

“Mihail, you...” Duchess Robur sounded like she was practically wringing her voice from her throat, and I could feel the rage in her voice. Their eyes were the same color, and yet one gaze was cold and the other was boiling with rage. I could practically feel the temperature difference between them. Yet one thing was the same: Neither showed any trace of familial affection. These two looked so unlike the young lady who had just been smiling with such tender affection moments ago that one might doubt they were truly blood related.

The young lady possessed such warmth and loveliness, and at parting, she had even flashed a sparkling smile befitting her age. That was a side of the lady that was different from the rumors. Could that be the “cuteness differential” described in those popular novels circulating in the streets?

I’d sent my own fan fiction to publishers before. I’d be so happy if the author saw it. That was the feeling I had. The reply to my work had been written in the acknowledgments section of a later published book. Seeing it had felt like floating on air—and since it started with “To all of you,” I learned then that there were other readers like me.

Truthfully, I’d started getting interested in writing original novels too. Seeing the illustrator featured in a recent new release I’d bought made me harbor ambitions that someday my novel might be illustrated too.

Just like with novels, people who drew pictures based on the illustrations would appear. In fact, I’d started practicing drawing a little myself. I was sure more kindred spirits would join us, so someday we could gather...though that might just be wishful thinking.

“No more delays. As the next head of the household, I am taking you to the manor’s dungeon. The current head’s decree will follow shortly.”

At the sound of Mihail’s icy voice, my body jerked, and I snapped back to reality. I should have told them I’d made a deal with the priest... Oh! I’d forgotten to ask the lady about Heinz!

“A decree?! Don’t be ridiculous! I haven’t done anything! Besides, I’m the duchess! I’m your mother!”

While I’d been flustered, the tension between mother and son had only grown worse, until finally the duchess cast a Fireball spell. But the fireballs dissolved into mist one after another.

“I don’t know what you did, but I can handle any basic magic,” Mihail said.

The duchess flew into a rage at her son’s words. Wait, something terribly unpleasant was emanating from her. That ring on her left middle finger? Looking closer, I could see a peach-brown ring there, with a black mist clinging to it.

“What...is that?” I gasped. It was so sinister—yet no one else had seemed to notice the ring at all.

“It’s all that worthless girl’s fault! No, if you trace it back, it’s auntie’s fault! Yes, auntie is the one who should be punished!” The unpleasant aura swelled, and the black mist coiled around the lady.

“Auntie?” the first prince asked.

“You mean grandmother. But why?” said Mihail. He and the prince exchanged subtle glances, looking puzzled, and their eyebrows and eyes were both exquisite and beautiful. I gasped.

This was... Yes! This was the real-life version of that male-male romance novel series that had driven some readers wild! There was a lily series too. In fact, it was that author who’d popularized the idea that “lilies” meant lesbian relationships in the first place.

“Roses” had begun to appear lately as well, and this, too, originated from that author! I’d been curious about that kind of thing in literature, romance between two men, but seeing these two made me understand. Long live roses!

“Something’s wrong with her eyes,” Mihail observed. “She bears an unsettling resemblance to my sister.”

“Could it be...depravity?”

What on earth? I wondered. Even from my somewhat distant position, the roses seemed to pull back another step.

The prince whispered something inaudible even to the young nobleman beside him. What language was that? With divine protection, even the faintest whispers reach me, which often left me bewildered.

“Besides, my father-in-law and your grandfather won’t stay silent!”

Everyone turned to look at the duchess again. I’d forgotten she was there for a moment. I sensed a dissonance in her heart—she’d called the former head of the house her father-in-law and the former head’s wife her aunt.

But I trembled in fear as the black mist swelled up behind her, engulfing her and everything else.

“Grandfather is no longer the head,” Mihail told her. “He is forbidden to intervene in the affairs of the current generation.”

“No! My father-in-law desired my union with the Robur family! Yes, he wanted me as his daughter! This time, I will punish all of you! Auntie, that worthless girl, all of you!”

As if echoing the lady, the black mist tightened and coiled into a smaller form. Its darkness deepened, its shape...

“Why...” the young noble murmured in a daze, the moment it transformed into a pitch-black human form. Had others finally seen it too? Its entire body was pitch black, its face unrecognizable. The silhouette resembled a girl with long hair. It clung to the lady from behind, like it was embracing her.

The prince remained silent, his expression more grim than I’d ever seen before. Just as I was wondering if he and Mihail had seen the shadowy girl too, a shaky voice began to laugh.

“Aha ha ha ha! That’s right! She deserves punishment!” the duchess shouted in unison with the shadow-girl, her face contorted with delight.

A chill ran down my spine. Instinctively, I covered my face with my arms and rolled away from the spot. I sensed water splashing where I had been, and simultaneously heard the sizzling sound of something burning and melting. There was the echoing sound of feet stomping on the ground, and a crowing sound like that of a chicken came toward me.

“Is that a basilisk?!” shouted the young lord, hurling a water orb toward the approaching footsteps behind me before dashing toward me.

Terrified and lying flat on the ground, I could only sense what was happening through sound and movement. Whatever it was seemed to flinch from the attack and retreat. A basilisk? Not a basilisk?

The prince rushed over silently, deploying a cube-shaped barrier spell—something more difficult to create than a magical shield. The basilisk, still letting out that chicken-like cry as it approached, leaped over the cube just before it would’ve run into it, passing right over us. I sensed it by the sound and vibration.

When I felt my safety was secured and looked up, I found myself sandwiched between the two roses! It was truly inappropriate to feel my heart skip a beat at a time like this. But then I noticed the weeds where I’d been standing only moments ago had melted and scorched. I shuddered. If my instinctive perception abilities hadn’t been heightened by divine protection, then I would’ve...

Outside the unshakable transparent wall, the two women were still laughing. And then a long-tailed, long-toed creature with a cockscomb appeared... Was that a green lizard? A lizard, really?! I didn’t know much about magical beasts, but the one that spat acid at me was definitely a green lizard.

“Aha ha ha! Now, let’s go!” the two women cried. The green lizard, easily twice a human’s size, grabbed the lady in an eagle-like grasp. Its front legs were massive, but its hind legs were even larger.

It leaped forward, darted farther back, then leaped down... No, wait. It looked like that was what had happened, but I was sure that slope was steep and led straight down to the coast.

“Wait!” the young lord shouted, dashing out of the barrier. I felt a chill of killing intent brush my neck.

“Wait!” I cried. I had a bad feeling. But just as the word left my mouth, something lunged at him. Startled by the deep, booming roar of a beast, I instinctively covered my ears with my hands and let out a scream.

The beast that had tried to tear the young lord apart with its thick, sharp claws was built like a bear. Though it had a rabbit’s face, its red eyes blazed fiercely as it bared its fangs—it was terrifying. This time, I recognized the name, appearance, and traits of the demon beast.

“You’re within the barrier,” the prince said expressionlessly from where he was standing beside me. “Besides, a bear-rabbit doesn’t stand a chance.” He was looking out for me.

I nervously glanced at the young lord. He was blocking its claws with his magical shield. Why wasn’t he counterattacking? The bear-rabbit kept attacking the barrier protecting us with a force that would normally send us flying, but the young lord didn’t counterattack—it was like he was deep in thought. The barrier didn’t budge at all, so it must be fine, but why?

“...Stew,” the prince muttered beside me. Was he lost in thought too? Stew? Was he hungry?

Just as I was puzzling over it, I suddenly felt a killing intent like needles pricking at my whole body, making me flinch reflexively. The next moment, three black wolves with bat wings flew in at once and howled at the barrier. Though they were clearly wolves, they had upturned noses like those of bats. As they howled, fangs bared, they emitted a visible, wavelike fluctuation from their mouths. Outside the barrier, the shrub right beside me trembled, then burst apart.

“Sonic wolves... What a nuisance,” the prince murmured, gazing at the young lord. Sonic wolves’ attacks didn’t affect the barrier, but would they affect the shield?

It was my first time seeing a sonic wolf, but I recalled hearing about them long ago from Lord Heinz. When someone was hit by the shock wave from their roar, it caused an immense resonance within the body that could damage internal organs. Perhaps because I was safely out of range, though, it just felt incredibly noisy. Why had such a powerful-looking magical beast suddenly appeared?

It bothered me a little that the prince and the young lord, both possessing impeccable magical talent and power, were solely on the defensive.

Just then, a sudden interruption from a new voice—a husky, unmistakable voice—made my thoughts freeze. “Hey, stop it! I came out because it was noisy, and now this? What the hell is going on?!”

“Wait, Master! Don’t just... Wait, Prince Regulus?! Mihail?! Huh? Wait... Mira...” Red hair and sky blue eyes identical to my own appeared beyond the barrier.

“Lord Heinz...”

Lord Heinz, whose presence still stirred my heart. Seeing him face-to-face for the first time in years...

“Hey, stop spacing out!”

“Guh!” After getting his butt kicked by a tall, slender beauty, Heinz rolled across the ground. “Damn it.”

Where Heinz had been standing, a white rabbit with a single horn on its head charged in. Even I was capable of recognizing a unicony. If the beauty hadn’t kicked him in the butt, that horn would’ve definitely stabbed into Heinz.

The beasts roared again, and their attacks kept coming. But wasn’t it strange for them to be this aggressive from the start? I’d understand if we’d done something to disturb them, but this was still a place where people passed through, even if it was the outskirts. That lizard too—multiple different types of magical beasts attacking simultaneously? It was simply bizarre. And both the sonic wolf and the bear-rabbit, once they’d locked onto a target, focused so intensely they ignored everything else. It felt abnormal.

“No! It’s not a bear-rabbit!” cried the beauty excitedly. She was repeatedly charged by the unicorn rabbit, but she looked totally calm, and she dodged with ease each time. Reaching into the slit of her skirt, she drew out a dagger and pulled it free.

The fact that a glimpse of her slender, toned leg, radiating mature allure, had everyone’s gaze glued to it until she swiftly threw the dagger at the bear-rabbit would be best kept secret.

The dagger sank cleanly into the bear-rabbit’s long ear and it let out a yelp of surprise.

“No, that wasn’t me!” Mihail protested.

I couldn’t tell what it was thinking, but the bear-rabbit growled at the young lord, its attacks growing faster. But as expected of a son of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, he still calmly parried and countered, even though he was still deep in thought.

“Tch, wasn’t that enough? Hey, how long are you gonna lie there?!” The beauty clicked her tongue, grabbed the unicony’s horn mid-leap, and tossed the whole beast...at Heinz?!

“Whoa!” Heinz looked startled, but caught the rabbit with a water sphere conjured by magic. Trapped inside the sphere, the rabbit struggled pitifully, but it had been the rabbit who’d attacked first.

As soon as the rabbit stopped moving, the beauty immediately turned to Heinz. “Now, hurry up and be the decoy!”

“Gah, seriously?! Dammit!” Heinz cursed and scrambled to his feet. Both of them ignored me—I was busy inwardly scolding the woman that all of that had been incredibly dangerous.

Then suddenly, the young lord’s face snapped into alertness. “Wait! Don’t make a clumsy attack!” He was thinking of something after all. “You’ll ruin the meat!”

Huh? Wait, meat?! What were they talking about?! That monster’s meat was tough and didn’t even taste good!

“Oh, you know exactly what I mean,” the beauty said, kicking Heinz in the rear as soon as he stood up. “Now, hurry up and distract it!”

“That’s cruel!” I cried. But that sight touched some bubbling chord within me, and I was surprised by my own reaction.

Just then, one of the sonic wolves, which should have been focused on us, tried to fly toward Heinz—even though all the sonic wolves had been all concentrated on one point up until now.

Using wind and earth magic, I gathered the dust and dirt that had been kicked up when the shrubs beside the barrier exploded, then aimed it precisely at three pairs of red eyes simultaneously.

Good! I could attack them even from inside the barrier!

The sonic wolves let out a cry. It didn’t blind them, but it seemed to inflict pain. They flapped their wings wildly, writhing and twisting in the air.

But the moment was fleeting, and the three wolves focused their fierce attacks on us once more. Of course, the barrier the silent prince had erected remained unshaken. That was good.

Looking back at Heinz, I saw he stood between the bear-rabbit and the prince, drawing the beast’s attention to himself. He seemed to be slowly moving, inch by inch, closer to the beauty.

When had the beauty gotten a new dagger? She threw it at the bear-rabbit again. The dagger sliced cleanly into the space between the bear-rabbit’s eyebrows, as it had been focused on Heinz. Wasn’t that dagger a bit too sharp?

Boom!

What?! The bear-rabbit’s head had exploded?!

“Yes, yes, that’s it. Looks like a hit.”

What kind of hit?! Exploding it?!

“That dagger...” the prince and the young lord both muttered at once. They seemed to recognize the blade.

A third voice overlapped with their voices. “Come on, hurry up and hang it to bleed out!”

“Wait, the sonic wolf is still—” Heinz was flustered by the beautiful woman pointing sharply at the fallen bear-rabbit and barking orders. His manly image seemed to be fading.

The young lord, having removed the barrier, pulled a rope from the bag he’d been carrying and handed it to Heinz.

“You mean...we’re eating that too?” the young lord asked, turning back to the beauty. Why ask about eating it?

“Of course! Those wings are delicious, you know!” the beauty answered enthusiastically. But they weren’t talking about the meat of the sonic wolf, but its wings?!

“Hmm, wings. I suppose it was wise not to kill it first. Will the lady handle the cooking?”

“Huh, you just casually ask like that?” said the beauty in a low voice—I was sure only I heard her. What did she mean by “casually”? “Yes, if you leave it to the lady, it’ll turn into something delicious.”

“Do you know this woman?” Mihail asked. “Is she an acquaintance of my sister?”

“Ah...well, sort of?” Heinz replied evasively. “Master, ah, no, ah, well, you know how it is?”

I felt the same confusion as the young lord did, but I kept my curiosity about that, and his relationship with the beauty, to myself. I had no right to pry into such matters now.

“Let’s talk about it later,” the beauty said. She turned to face me, slipping her hand back into the slit of her dress. “I’m also curious why everyone’s gathered here like this.”

What she was gripping...? No way?! That grip... I couldn’t believe it...

“Call me big sister!” she shouted, completely without shame. What was this all of a sudden? Big sister? It definitely seemed like it meant something else.

A satisfying crack echoed from the supple, purplish blue slapping the ground. So it was a whip, after all!

“Yust!”

“Hah... You called? That guy’s hobby is in full swing, huh? Well, whatever. Here.” A huge man suddenly appeared behind the beauty. He had short, reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes. There was a scar by his left eye that looked like it’d been made by four claws. How terrifying! Was he a bandit?!

“That guy...” murmured the prince and the young lord. But the giant man ignored them, and Heinz’s grimace. But who was “that guy”? Did the prince and the young nobleman know?

The giant knelt on one knee, then clasped his hands together and thrust them forward and downward.

“Go on, do it.”

Do what?! I thought, but the face that would make you cry if you met it on a street corner twisted into a delighted grin, and my first thought vanished instantly. Could he be a murderer?!

But, actually, saying that while he was kneeling before this beautiful woman flexing her whip... Somehow it felt like a different door was about to open?!

“Prepare yourself!”

For what?! Before I could mentally protest, the beauty cracked the whip again. She gathered the slack into a loose loop at her wrist, then dashed toward the man. She planted her high-heeled shoe firmly on his clasped hands and crouched low.

Something about that sight was just...good.

“Ooph!” With a shout of determination, the man raised his hands with the woman’s feet in it and stood up straight. The beauty kicked up off the man’s palm just before her body was thrown forward. She leaped high into the air, soaring over the barrier, and swiftly swung her whip above the head of one of the sonic wolves.

The surprise attack from above severed one wolf’s wing at the root. It thudded to the ground.

“Yah!” The huge man moved beneath the falling wolf. Metal devices—definitely brass knuckles—clamped around his fists. As the wolf landed in front of him, he drove a straight punch into its snout. The wolf collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

The beauty flicked the wing of one wolf still in midair with her whip before kicking it down. The ground-bound sonic wolf, whether horrified by its comrade’s fate or terrified by the giant’s demonic presence, rose, but curled its tail between its legs. The giant let out a snort, his fist exploding against the sonic wolf’s skull. It sank into the ground.

As I returned my gaze to the beauty, she straddled the last wolf still suspended in the air, gripping the scruff of its neck.

“Call me queen!” she shouted, still completely without shame. Wait, queen?! There was a real prince right here, was it okay to say that?! I’d swear I’d just witnessed the real-life equivalent of what novels called a “striking a pose”—it felt incredibly intense!

Unfazed by the wolf trying to shake her off, the beauty transformed the long, supple whip in her hands. It changed into one with a tassel-like tip, striking the sonic wolf’s lower back, near its hips, from behind.

SMACK!

The wolf let out a cry.

But this, this different whip scene, it was good!

“I’ll teach you a lesson!” Those dark gray eyes, looking down with such dominance! The legs peeking through the slit of her skirt as she straddled the beast! Everything radiated absolute sensuality, an irresistible allure! It was good!!!

SMACK!

“Now, now, I’m your master!”

Master! Ah...what a powerful word!!!

But if...if only, just if...the beast were Heinz...being whipped on all fours... I could barely contain myself. I instinctively covered my face with both hands, but I couldn’t help peeking at him through my fingers.

As instructed by the beautiful woman he called Master, Heinz—now physically enhanced—tied the rope he’d received from the young lord to the headless beast and dragged it along. He must be taking it to the atelier.

Along the way, Heinz glanced at the beautiful woman, his eyes flickering with fear. Yet a faint, dark envy flickered in his gaze too, tinged with just a hint of jealousy. The beauty definitely had his attention.

If only that beauty were me... If only he looked at me...like that...hmm...it would be unbearably pleasurable... Oh?

The prince released the barrier and, keeping his body facing me, quickly backed away with a rustling sound.

Did I do something? Why did the prince’s face seem to be twitching? On a closer look, the young lord too—he had started walking toward me, but the moment our eyes had met, he had abruptly looked away and stopped?

The beauty struck the wolf’s head with her whip, knocking it unconscious.

“Hey,” the giant man said to her, looking at me, “is that...”

His right hand gripped a short dagger. The wolf over there had stopped breathing, so he must have finished it off. No blood splatter either—he was clearly skilled at this. He really was a bizarre murderer...

“We’re the same, aren’t we?” he whispered softly to the beauty. Of course, I could hear everything.

The same? They wanted me to agree with them, didn’t they? They were looking right at me.

“Ah, well, whatever,” the killer said to the beautiful woman. “For now, just guide everyone here. Once I’m done with this...”

“I apologize for interrupting, but something has come up that requires my immediate attention,” Lord Robur cut in. “You are acquaintances of my sister, correct? Are you perhaps planning to have her cook that meat later?”

But... Cook the meat? Ask the lady? That meat couldn’t be tasty, and those wings looked like they’d only be good as raw resources.

“I was planning to ask the lady later...but would that be considered rude?”

Right, asking the lady would, indeed, be rude. I could understand why the young lord couldn’t overlook it, being he was of the same elite family. Even if the man was a murderer, surely he was just a commoner. Asking the lady something like that would be disrespectful...

“No,” said the young lord. “I want to ask you to pass on a message that I’d like some of it too. And if they’re going to be used as ingredients, then the wings as well.”

What?! A nobleman and the next official head of a ducal family?! And the way his cheeks were flushing... Ah, roses!

“I want mine too.” And now the prince joined in as well?! He’d been expressionless this whole time, yet now his eyes were softening!

Two handsome men lined up like this truly were blooming roses! The psychopathic killers facing them added just the right accent. What on earth was this situation?!

“Understood.” The killer gave an indescribable look of consent, and the roses immediately turned on their heels and left.

※※Aside: Me, Now (Heinz)※※

“This girl here—she’s your former fiancée, right? You better listen to what she has to say.”

How the hell did my master, a commoner, even know about my ex-fiancée? Before I could even get a word in, though, the master shoved me and Mira—no, Countess Faltan—into the workshop room of the atelier and stormed out.

After Mihail and First Prince Regulus left, we’d been avoiding each other’s gaze the whole time, both feeling awkward. Maybe the master sensed something too. An awkward silence hung in the air, but I pointed to the chair the master and that shameless writer always used. “Please sit.” I sat down in the seat opposite. “Why are you here, Countess Faltan?”

“Um...if it’s not too much trouble, could you just call me ‘Mira’ like before?”

“I’m a commoner now. But if that’s what you want, it’s easier for me too. So, why are you here, Mira?”

Mira sat down, looking relieved. But before I could finish speaking, she lowered her face again. She still seemed to lack confidence in herself.

“Actually...”

After a moment of silence, I asked why she’d been there. Her response left me utterly stunned.

After our engagement had been broken off, I hadn’t even contacted Mira for about three years. The thing was, after she took a leave of absence from school, my feelings had become completely consumed by Sienna. I’d even completely forgotten we’d ever been engaged. I’d never imagined Mira would conspire with the church and Duchess Robur to try to restore my status as a noble.

But why? Sure, our engagement had lasted a long time, and, facing her like this, I still felt affection for her...but she was the one who’d broken it off.

Though of course, back then I’d been a fool, completely swept up in my first love, Sienna.

My feelings for Mira hadn’t been love. But after so long together, there was affection—a sense of duty, like I had to protect her. I’d decided my priority wasn’t Sienna, but my fiancée, Mira.

When she told me she was breaking it off, I hadn’t been happy. I felt a sense of liberation, but also emptiness...

“Ah, um! I-I...” Even now, panicking, Mira couldn’t seem to speak properly.

My face relaxed with nostalgia. “Calm down and talk to me. I’ll listen.”

“Please marry me!”

“Huh?”

Huh? What? Marriage?! That completely out-of-the-blue request made my eyes go wide in shock.

“No, wait, um, no, it’s not that, I mean, it is, but...” Mira’s eyebrows knit together until they almost touched in the middle.

Ah, this was probably our long engagement fostering feelings that were spinning out of control, making her feel some weird sense of responsibility, right? Probably the same kind of feelings I’d had for her back then. It genuinely made me happy, pure and simple, knowing someone still genuinely cared about a guy like me. A smile spread across my face.

“Thanks, Mira. Hearing you say that makes me really happy. And of course, I wouldn’t mistake your feelings for love for me or anything.”

“Huh? M-Mistake?”

“Look, I believed that if anything happened to me, Shua—no, the second prince—would save me, as his subject. I believed he’d never abandon me or run to save himself, no matter what. That’s why I pledged my sword to him. The second prince was praised as a righteous crown prince, just like the late king back then. I believed he’d become a great king, following in the footsteps of that crown prince, overflowing with loyalty. I believed it completely. And then, my loyalty was spectacularly trampled on.”

“By the second prince? Then it really wasn’t Lady Robur’s fault after all...”

“Mira, you took a leave of absence from the Academy, and yet you noticed it. I didn’t even pick up on something so obvious. How embarrassing. Of course my becoming a commoner has nothing to do with the lady. Her bad reputation isn’t just about magic power or magic this and that... Well, actually, the whole ‘evil incarnate’ thing is a lie. It was the second prince’s faction, me included, who spread those rumors. The second prince took a leave of absence from the Academy under the pretext of recuperating his mind and body, and he’s been running from responsibility ever since. As a result, cleaning up after him has fallen entirely to us, the student council officers. Of course, most of us followed his example, abusing our positions and acting without restraint. Since most officers are high-ranking nobles, when student council members—symbols of discipline—act like that, the influence is huge. We, the ones who influenced others, and the students we influenced were at fault. I get it now that it’s only natural for us to be criticized, but still... I can’t stop feeling like the second prince betrayed us.”

“But...then why is Lady Robur with you now?”

“The lady showed me the path of an artist. If not for that... I’d probably have become nothing but a worthless piece of trash, thinking only of myself—clinging to your feelings just to get back into the nobility.” My thoughts drifted to the confinement training that had begun just before the second semester. Honestly, even now... Truly, in so many ways, I’d felt my life was in danger during the training. Days so packed I didn’t even have the luxury of being distracted by stray thoughts. My schedule was packed solid from here on out.

Thanks to that, even when the official disownment certificate had arrived from my former family, the ducal Asche family... Well, I really didn’t have the time to be depressed, even though I was just a commoner now. All that gloomy, resentful blame from others? It just didn’t matter anymore.

I hated to admit it, but it was thanks to being dragged along by that lady’s...no, that shameless writer’s shameless tastes. The only reason I could manage to live at all was because of the income from the jobs that shameless writer arranged.

I was truly, deeply grateful. But that shameless writer was a shameless demon! Too faithful to her tastes that made her a true demon! Especially those 18+ novel illustrations she commissioned, demanding they be kept secret even from her master. The look on her face when she checked that work was utterly...no, shamelessly depraved; a slack-jawed, sickening expression. And yet, she showed no mercy.

But this was my own fault. I was the one who’d kept running away, the one who’d kept hurling abuse and insults at a lady of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses for so long.

Well, the actual lady I’d kept mocking and looking down on was multitalented and incredibly sharp. She was a genius mage who’d inherited her father’s talent, building wealth and connections solely through her own power. She simply ignored the evaluations and malice from everyone around her because she didn’t care. She was a wildly free spirit who poured all her talent into whatever interested her.

I wished she’d rein in that shamelessness just a little, to allow my sense of guilt to fade. But of course, I kept that thought buried and faithfully continued fulfilling her shameless orders.

I’d never truly considered any path other than knighthood—and yet it seemed the work of an artist suited me well.

Of course, the lady I was supposed to atone to and receive punishment from was genuinely delighted. But beyond that, the letters of goodwill I received—not love letters, but fan mail of sorts—brought me more joy than I ever could have imagined. They gave me a sense of purpose. And while I’d signed the standard confidentiality agreement an artist should have, no binding magic had been used on it. The oath mark on my right shoulder wouldn’t activate unless I deliberately used magic or physical force to commit violence.

Given all the rude, condescending things I’d done to the lady, she probably trusted me about as much as a snake trusted another snake. Or maybe those two guardians she’d been assigned were the only people who truly mattered to her.

When I was first dragged into that training room, I’d refused to accept becoming a commoner. I’d been pretty defiant, I thought—I’d even tried to punch Yust several times. Each time, though, I got punched in the gut before I could land a blow. Or he’d put me in a headlock from behind and knock me out cold.

Whenever I woke up and only Lady Robur was there, I was almost always trussed up like a turkey. I was made to stand in front of a mirror to memorize how I looked, but I didn’t understand the point. I did manage to learn how to draw, though.

“An artist?” Mira’s puzzled voice startled me. Right, I’d kept that a secret... Ah well, I’d already said it now. Couldn’t be helped. I’d worried Mira, but I decided to keep the part about the lady being a writer hidden for now.

“Ah, I’d prefer you keep this quiet, but actually, this studio was arranged for me by Lady Robur using her connections. It’s my workroom. Right now, I’m making a living by drawing illustrations for novels and stuff like that...” I showed her the file containing the bound illustrations, and Mira jumped to her feet.

“Th-This, this, this, this drawing?! No way, Heinz, you—you’re the artist?!” The bag she’d been holding on her lap fell to the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

“Whoa, you’re overreacting. Guess this novel really is famous, huh?” As I reached to gather the scattered notebooks, my hand froze.

Huh? This jumble of words... Was this some fanfic of a novel written by that scandalous author? And it had that rose-themed obsessive vibe... The kind that reeked of rot...

“Eek! D-Don’t look... D-Did you see anything?!”

I gently picked up the notebook, snapped it shut, and swiftly handed it back to Mira. “Nah, didn’t see a thing. Don’t worry about it, I didn’t see anything.”

“I-Is that so?”

Seeing Mira visibly relieved, I firmly vowed to myself I wouldn’t pry any further...

“Um, can I meet Lady Robur?” she asked.

“Wh-Why?!”

She wanted me to introduce her to that writer? The one devoted to spreading the gospel of...well, not specifically the cult of roses, but every indecent genre under the sun?!

“I want to tell the lady about the matter of the church,” she said, “and also... I caused a lot of misunderstandings and was rude... I want to apologize...”

Oh, that was why! Well, in that case...

“Also... I kind of feel like I could relate to the lady, and if we talked, we might become better friends...”

Wasn’t that just dragging the indecent writer into an inescapable swamp of indecent rottenness?! I absolutely wouldn’t say that out loud, though.

“Oh!” my master’s voice suddenly cut in. “Well then, I’m taking supplies to Lady Robur in two days. Let’s go together!”

“M-Master?!”

He burst into the room all excited. He’d definitely been eavesdropping outside the door, hadn’t he?!

“Ah, yes! I look forward to it! Um...big sister?”

Don’t go blushing like that, Mira! My master is the older sister here! I thought.

“Oh, how delightful! I look forward to working with you!” my master said with a wink. I knew it was already too late...

Little did I know back then that years later, while illustrating a novel by some up-and-coming rose-themed novelist, I’d find myself reflecting wistfully: “That moment was the start of it all.”

※※Aside: My Cute Step-Daughter (Luciana)※※

“Ah ha ha ha ha ha!”

A giant green lizard-like creature clutched me in its massive forelegs as it raced across the sea. The squishy feeling was disgusting, but I was so exhilarated I didn’t care—I was laughing hysterically. I even found the sea breeze on my cheeks refreshing.

“I’ve finally regained my strength!”

I’ve finally gained a new body!

As I shouted whatever my heart desired, someone behind me shouted too.

When I’d faced my traitorous son, I’d summoned the beasts as if driven by instinct. Whether it was me, or the power of the pitch-black figure clinging to my neck from behind, I couldn’t tell.

After the giant lizard had grabbed me, it’d charged down a steep slope and suddenly headed for the sea. I’d been shocked when it plunged from the sandy shore into the ocean—I’d never imagined it could run on water. Thanks to that, we escaped.

“I feel like I could do anything now!”

That voice, echoing as if inside my head—was it my own emotion, or someone else’s thought?

“I’ll kill you!” Yet what I heard was my own clear voice, along with something like a distorted echo under it. “My aunt was the root of all this!”

My grandfather, who never acknowledged me!

So, the shadow behind me was targeting my father-in-law. I murmured this to myself, but my voice didn’t echo.

I could feel that the figure was drenched in hatred and murderous intent. Yet I felt no fear, nor any desire to tear it away. Because I didn’t hate it. Actually, I found it rather pleasant.

It must have been because my heart had been stained with hatred by betrayal after betrayal from my children. Even now, my hatred grew—for the children who’d betrayed me after I bore them in pain, for my legal husband, for my aunt.

Still, was it just my imagination that the more I hated them, the greater the power the ring supplied became?

As I gazed dreamily at the familiar peach-brown ring, the surge of emotion welled up again. Could this be a farewell gift from that girl, Sienna? Her hair had been the color of this ring...

I touched the black arm at my neck, and the shadow’s grip loosened. Glancing behind me, I saw the silhouette was indeed Sienna’s.

“Hey, Sienna?”

“Yes, mother?”

“Ah, it really is you, Sienna!”

“Yes. Hey, mother. Can I kill my foster sister later too?”

That was the same tone she’d always used when begging insistently for something—it had used to annoy me sometimes. How strange that now I found it endearing.

“Of course!” I told her. “That worthless girl deserves to die!”

“I’m so happy! You love me, don’t you, mother?”

“Of course! You’re my only daughter, Sienna!”

“Hee hee hee, I’m glad. You’re happy I’m here beside you, aren’t you? Mother, will you stay with me forever?”

“Of course I’m happy! We’ll always be together!”

Her black lips curled into a twisted grin.

It’s a promise.

Those words seemed to echo loudly in my head. Then Sienna’s outline faded, and she slipped into the ring with a soft whoosh.

“Ouch!” At that moment the ring seemed to tighten, and the sharp sting made me cry out involuntarily.

Half unconsciously, I touched my left middle finger and the ring. I tried twisting it around, but nothing changed. For a second, I considered taking it off, but then I remembered I was in the giant lizard’s grasp.

If I removed it, the magic might break and I could be attacked. I might even sink into the sea.

“I’m sure the land beyond this sea is the domain where auntie and uncle reside,” I murmured. “First, I’ll let this beast attack them... Ah, I’ll set other beasts upon them too.” Imagining auntie’s distorted face, twisted with terror, made my mood soar higher and higher.

If only I could use teleportation—but bringing a beast along would have been simply impossible. While it was wonderful that I could use magic now, the fact that my magic was so weak was a problem.

“That’s right! Hate more and more!”

Every time I felt hatred, the power flowing from the ring into my body increased. The power circulating through my body stirred up my loathing, urging me to hate even more. What was this power, similar to magic yet somehow different?

No, it didn’t matter. Now, I might even be able to use magic beyond the basic level. There was still time before I reached my destination.

Until then, the ring grew hotter and hotter, as if Sienna was cheering me on.

※※Aside: The Diary of Past Kings (The King)※※

“Father, please contact grandfather immediately.”

“There’s no need. They’ll handle it over there.”

Even after he heard his son’s report and learned that the last generation’s heads of the Robur household—his parents—were in danger, the man’s response was curt.

I had come here under the pretext of reconsidering a previously submitted application, but the way things had turned out was quite interesting. His son surely must never have imagined I was listening alongside his father.

The communication device sat between us. It was a circular plate set with a round magic stone, but the stone itself was as large as an infant’s head, making the device rather hefty. A generation ago it would have been even larger, the size of a toddler’s head, so this had been a considerable improvement. Still, it remained inconvenient to carry.

Magic stones of this size were precious, and when fashioned into a device like this, the cost became exorbitant. Even among high nobility, few possessed one. Consequently, though the Academy provided a few for public communication, users remained limited.

“But that woman—I mean, Duchess Robur—harbors a clear intent to kill grandmother! Admittedly only at a basic level, but she can now wield magic and even control beasts. She’s dangerous!”

“That woman,” eh. It seemed the former Duchess Robur had been abandoned by her son.

I glanced at the document bearing my signature and seal, which had just become today’s official stance.

“There is no need for any concern over your grandmother. If your mother tries to harm her, she’ll get her comeuppance.”

“But...”

“Enough. Leave her be.”

“Father...”

With that, the nation’s most powerful mage, Laiyevist Robur, severed the magical power supply to the communication device. The private office of the captain of the Royal Mage Corps fell silent.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Sure about what?” Laiyevist said with utter indifference. “If you’re done here, shouldn’t you return to your duties as king?”

He remained as devoid of emotion as ever. His tone didn’t bother me, though. We weren’t in public, and he was the younger brother of my late friend—someone I’d known before I ascended the throne.

Both children of the Robur family seemed to have inherited their grandmother’s spirit, surpassing even their parents... No, that wasn’t quite right. The girl’s ideas and actions were far too eccentric; far beyond anything any of her relatives had ever done. The only way in which she resembled her grandmother was her appearance—she had that in common with my late friend.

“Your mother is being targeted,” I pointed out. “Is she not in danger?”

“Why would that be?” His expression suggested he genuinely couldn’t grasp the meaning of my question. He was probably right. As he’d told his son earlier, even if the previous Lady Robur were targeted, he was absolutely certain she would remain unharmed.

It wasn’t merely that the previous Robur head could protect his wife. The absolute protection bestowed upon that lady by Princess Beljeanne during her lifetime still functioned to this day.

Even so, I stared intently at Laiyevist’s face. He looked younger than his actual age. That consistent attitude since childhood, showing no interest in anything but magic. Couldn’t something be done about it? The only glimmer of interest was toward his mother and brother, but even that had faded as he grew older.

I was close in age to Laiyevist’s late brother. At first, it was the elder brother who had come to the castle as a friend and potential confidant, deepening ties with the young lords of other houses. But perhaps he’d been concerned about his emotionally detached younger brother; at some point, he’d begun bringing his brother to court with him.

“Heh.” Oops. I’d just recalled that time—the diminutive, adorable Laiyevist, walking along hand in hand with his brother. But I knew very well that even if I accidentally laughed, he’d still show no reaction whatsoever. Unless magic was involved, he showed little interest even in family. His utter inability to direct interest or concern toward anything beyond his own passions truly marked him as one who’d inherited the Robur temperament.

Yet, having known him for so long, I understood. Although his interest was far thinner than that of the average noble parent, to say he had no affection for his own children would be untrue. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have personally taught healing magic to his son at such a young age.

Honestly, teaching healing magic—which demanded concentration and imagination—to a child with limited magical knowledge was quite troublesome. A child’s magic control was still immature, so attempting to thread magic through such fine points often led to magical mishaps.

That aside... Even if the previous lady had insisted the previous head of the household enforce it, having the entire household gather for dinner once a month? Knowing this man, I was surprised it’d lasted this long. And for Laiyevist himself to suggest breaking off his daughter’s engagement? I never saw that coming. I’d assumed it would be his son, the next head, if anyone.

“Shall I hand over the documents?” I asked.

“Please report if there are any developments.”

Thinking there was nothing more interesting to be gained by pressing Laiyevist further, I obediently handed over the documents in my hands. Unconcerned by the usual lack of response, I left the room and returned to my quarters.

With impressive timing, a wind carrying a hint of magic blew through the room, followed seconds later by a voice calling my name. I recognized it as one of my sons by both the magic and the tone.

“What is it, Regulus?” I asked. Few would dare teleport into my private chambers without permission. Naturally, this room was protected by a barrier spell that denied entry to all save those I authorized. That was the point.

“You know something about the Robur family head and his wife, don’t you?” my son asked.

“I know about some things and know nothing about others. What are you getting at?”

As always, when that lady was involved, my son threw all his abilities into action. Was this what they called a first-love fool?

I had been raised from birth to be king. Therefore, I was unfamiliar with the subtleties of such emotions. Given my position, I offered appropriate praise and consideration to the queen and consorts for their respective roles, but I did not understand ordinary love or affection. Thanks to my children, however, I’d come to understand family love to some degree. Yet I often judged them through the lens of a king.

“I was with Mihail Robur,” Regulus told me.

I chuckled inwardly—he was accounting for the possibility I might have overheard the Robur heir’s report to his father. As an heir to the throne, it was only prudent for him to be wary of me as king.

“I see.”

I absolutely did not believe my royal bloodline was somehow noble. My father, the previous king, had completely secluded himself in a building called the Palace Retreat by the time I’d become aware of my surroundings. The building was about the size of a small villa, the sort nobles occasionally built as what they called an “atelier.”

My coronation ceremony had taken place in the early spring of my nineteenth year. At that time, I’d seen the previous king seated for the ceremony, flanked by the then Duke Robur behind him and his two queens on either side. That was the last time I’d seen my father. He’d appeared terribly haggard and emaciated, casting frightened glances around him and trembling slightly. He’d looked far older than his years.

I couldn’t say how my two half brothers had felt, but for me, the eldest son, no emotion had stirred. More than my father, it was the then Duke Robur who’d caught my attention then. His cold, emerald-green eyes had held what could only be called a quiet murderous intent. He’d been directing that gaze, however vaguely, toward the king. At the time, I hadn’t understood why.

Barely months after my coronation, my grandfather, who had been king before my father, secluded himself within a palace built beside my father’s retreat at the edge of the royal castle. For a long time, he had kept the late king formally in the public eye while effectively ruling behind the scenes with his son’s two wives, the previous queens. For someone who’d wielded such power, his departure was remarkably abrupt.

The night before my grandfather’s seclusion, I’d been summoned to his villa. He’d wished to tell me personally the truth about the late princess, who was infamous as a villainess.

As he’d recounted the tale of the princess, I’d learned of the sacrifice made by the previous Lord and Lady Robur—the couple blessed by all as destined lovers who’d become husband and wife. Only then did I understand the reason behind the murderous intent that had dwelled within those golden-green eyes.

Yet what my grandfather spoke of that day was not the whole story. At the time, I’d had no way of knowing. But the truth was so shocking that even now I could not recall how I’d returned to my room in the main castle afterward. As I’d left the palace, though, I had caught sight of my father’s building next door through the window; it was then that I’d realized.

My father had long been confined to a building with no windows and only a single entrance. And my grandfather’s palace was a place for him to personally monitor his son and quietly suppress his son’s feelings for his daughter.

Less than two years later, on a winter morning, both my grandfather and father had passed away. The funeral, led by my mother, the queen mother, had been attended only by the royal family. Though it was said to be the deceased’s wish, it had been a wretchedly bleak ceremony.

Standing close together, two frail figures gazed at the coffins sinking into the earth.

“You chose that anniversary of passing, didn’t you?” said a former consort of my father’s.

The queen mother, who had also been a consort, nodded in agreement. “Yes.”

Only my queen and I understood whose anniversary it was. But at that moment, I did not grasp why both women fixed their gazes—those emerald eyes flickering with murderous intent—upon the coffins.

I learned the full truth, including the secret of the princess’s birth, only much later.

I had learned about it when a diary was found in the detached palace where my grandfather had been temporarily confined, not long before Regulus became cursed. My grandfather, burdened by something akin to his own sins, had not told me everything.

Perhaps someday, Regulus, too, would read the diary I’d hidden once more. Although that thought crossed my mind, the words I spoke aloud to him were something entirely different.

“The divorce requested by Duke Robur has been finalized.”

But the perceptive Regulus pressed further: “Only under national law, I presume?”

※※Aside: My Aunt’s Protective Magic (Luciana)※※

He’ll be heading out soon, Sienna informed me as she twined around me from behind.

We’d come ashore from the sea now; I’d followed Sienna’s lead into the mountain path, where we’d climbed a tree. Below us lay a single, well-maintained road. Following the mountain path upward, there was only one residence—the mansion where my aunt and uncle lived.

Meaning only my aunt and uncle, and those connected to them, passed through here. It was a secluded spot within the estate, utterly deserted.

“Ah, this day has finally come.” Just thinking about how I’d kill my aunt made me feel exhilarated. For the sake of my mother, who was killed by her sister, I wanted to give her a miserable death.

After giving birth to that failure of a daughter, Laviange, I’d been scolded by my birth mother. It was only natural: She had wanted a son with my uncle’s—well, my father-in-law’s hair and eyes. But it was all my husband’s fault for failing to grant that wish. It infuriated me just seeing Mihail grow more like him each year. I couldn’t stand my husband, and he paid me no attention whatsoever.

By contrast, Sienna’s real father—my former fiancé—had always put me first. Until he’d been seduced by that lowly woman and eloped with her.

“You really had her attacked by thugs?” he’d told me. “I’ll continue interacting with her as a servant working at the estate, and I’ll let go of my feelings for her so I can marry you next year. I’ve already removed her from my personal staff. After I succeed as head of the household, I’ll keep her away from the main residence too. That’s why I told you not to do anything.”

Yes, my former fiancé had never laid a finger on that woman—Sienna’s mother—until they eloped. Though they’d grown closer for a time, after I warned them both, they’d maintained their distance as the next head of the house and a servant.

I knew all that...and yet seeing that woman working as a Robur household servant was unbearably irritating.

Even when I’d pleaded with my uncle, he’d made it crystal clear: Personnel decisions at the estate were my aunt’s prerogative; no other family had any say during the engagement period; and if I dared to take the life of a Robur household servant, even a commoner, I’d better be prepared for the consequences. And my mother had strictly ordered me to avoid any missteps with my uncle, so I couldn’t speak up.

I’d kept thinking that that woman might grow close to my fiancé again, and it had made me lose sleep. Even when he was with me, I’d felt like he was always thinking about her, and she became more and more unbearable day by day.

So I had some thugs attack her and beat her to a pulp. That should have taken away any desire to do her work, right? Of course, I’d obeyed my uncle’s orders: I made sure to tell them not to take her life.

She was just a commoner. She’d had no sense of her place and incurred the wrath of a noble. It couldn’t be helped.

Besides, a commoner couldn’t become a mistress. I wasn’t the only one; neither the branch family nor the other Four Ducal Houses would tolerate the Robur bloodline being sullied by a commoner. At worst, both that woman and my former fiancé would have their very lives destroyed. I’d thought she should be grateful I’d warned her early.

But then he’d eloped with that woman?! And worse, my uncle had given the position of the next head of the household to that man’s brother, the man who was now my current husband! It was unbelievable!

But mother had actually been pleased. My husband had colder, more aristocratic features, more fitting for House Robur.

After that, I’d understood my mother’s feelings—her aversion to her sister’s features and complexion. Every time I saw my aunt, I recalled the indigo eyes my former fiancé had fixed on me at the end, eyes filled with cold, murderous intent.

But I still hadn’t felt murderous toward my aunt. That began only after I bore that failure of a child.

My aunt had driven my mother away from me. She’d had father confine mother to the frontier and mistreat her. Mother had died several years later. I’d only learned of it after the funeral. I could never forgive my aunt.

I’d reclaimed my magic, and my father-in-law’s position was now weaker than my husband’s. Surely now was the time to kill my aunt, wasn’t it?

Look, over there. Just as my resolve to act on my murderous intent toward my aunt solidified, Sienna pointed. A carriage could be seen entering the mountain path from the other direction.

“Heh heh heh, this should be fun, Sienna. My uncle is at the manor, right?”

Yes. After we kill grandmother, grandfather is next. That’s the order, mother.

Honestly, I had no interest in my father-in-law. With my magic as it was now, I couldn’t defeat him anyway.

But after Sienna had emerged from the ring again, the magic I tested felt stronger. Above all, the power to command beasts was astonishing. With this, I could at least set the beasts upon him and watch from a distance. If he proved stronger than expected, I’d just flee before I could be discovered.

“Of course. Look, she’s here! Go!” I called out toward the base of the tree, and the giant green lizard replied with a cry. After it’d brought me here, I’d had it wait inconspicuously in the shade of the trees.

The green colossus leaped out right beside the carriage that was just about to pass by. The giant lizard first spat liquid at the driver holding the horse’s reins. But without a moment’s delay, a magical barrier appeared to block the attack, sizzling and scorching the weeds at our sides.

The driver, who immediately halted the horse and drew his sword, flashed a sharp, icy glare from beneath his golden-brown hair.

Even if she was the retired matriarch of the household, living in the countryside, it seemed odd she wasn’t more heavily guarded. But the driver seemed to double as her escort—and a skilled one at that. Troublesome, but if that was the case...

“Sienna.”

Coming.

At my call, first one black magic bird gathered at eye level, then another, and another, forming a black mass. As the dozens of birds began screeching, the horses pulling the carriage grew terrified, whinnying and pawing the ground in place.

The demon birds were palm-sized. But with fangs visible beneath their beaks, they were clearly predators. They hunted prey in flocks. Their magical beast-like red eyes glowed fiercely, and their excited cries echoed through the trees.

The driver parried the giant lizard’s sharp claws with his sword while severing the harness connecting the carriage to the horses. Seizing the moment the lizard reacted to the fleeing horses, the driver summoned a sharp, pointed rock from the ground between them and propelled it skyward. It served not only as a shield against claws and corrosive fluid, but was also aimed to impale the giant lizard.

“Break through that carriage window and devour the humans inside alive!” I commanded, and the demon birds charged forward like a black ribbon, swarming into the carriage.

“Oh, no! Madam! Please stay inside!” The coachman’s voice sounded like it belonged to someone younger than expected. But his plea was futile. The door swung open of its own accord.

“But it’s overflowing with birds, and it’s quite cramped in here. Oh, don’t mind me—look, go ahead and deal with that lizard first... Well, that child is being controlled too, I suppose.”

Her voice was slightly more hoarse and wrinkled than I remembered, and her hair had turned a much paler peach gold. But the face was unmistakably my aunt’s.

How was she unharmed?!

As if sensing my thoughts, the giant lizard shifted its target to my aunt and charged toward her. It spat corrosive fluid at her and launched a claw attack.

“What are you doing?! Get back in the carriage!” the coachman said, surprisingly casually, as he hurried over—but it was too late.

I didn’t know what had happened to the demon bird swarm—they never came back out—but this time, my aunt was definitely dead!

But first came a sharp crack, like a long nail breaking, followed by a splashing noise. The giant lizard let out a panicked cry.

“Ugh!” The guard groaned in pain, his face contorting in what looked like agony. But then he turned on his heel and fled, abandoning my aunt.

Of course the lizard panicked! Before its venom could hit my aunt, the corrosive fluid somehow reversed direction with an unnatural movement?! It hadn’t hit just the giant lizard either—the coachman who’d been behind the lizard had been caught in the cross fire!

“Gah! This is why I told you to stay in the carriage!” the coachman said.

The giant lizard had been exposed to the venom head-on, and now it was screaming and thrashing about on the ground. The coachman narrowly escaped the worst of the damage.

“N-No secondhand damage allowed!” he cried, panting heavily.

“Well, it’s been a while since we were properly attacked, so I didn’t expect it to come to this,” my unharmed aunt replied to him softly.

What did that mean?! Sienna leaned forward from behind me, staring intently at the situation.

“This is exactly why I can’t find a guard with a proper escape instinct!”

What the hell was a guard with a proper escape instinct?! Just as that thought crossed my mind, a sword flashed through the giant lizard’s neck. The next second, my eyes met the coachman’s.

Mother! Sienna suddenly yanked my body backward. I could feel the whoosh of air from the blade as it lightly grazed my bangs. I lost my balance and fell with a thud, no time even to scream. Wait, the ground was soft?

“Huh?! Why is there a slime here?!” the coachman exclaimed. “And it’s gray and huge!”

Opening my eyes at the sound of his utterly bewildered voice, I found myself lying on top of a dull gray, semitransparent slime. It was about the size of my bed, so no wonder the guard was shocked. Sienna must have summoned it.

Just then, Sienna silently slipped back into her ring as if she were being sucked in. Was she tired already?

The driver thrust a sharp rock out again from directly beneath the slime. Did he plan to skewer me too?! The slime was translucent, so I panicked when I saw the rock, but the slime remained motionless. The rock bounced off it and was crushed into bits. The coachman flinched at the unexpected defensive capability of this weakest of beasts.

This slime could crush my aunt beneath it! This time I’d kill her for sure!

Like the giant lizard, the slime must have sensed my intent. Part of it adhered to me to prevent falling, and then it leaped and crushed my aunt from above. Or so I thought...

“Hey! What was that absurd reaction?!”

My aunt had impaled the slime with her own body, like she was a stake?! The slime’s magic stone core was directly above her and her head had pushed it out like a ram?! How was this even possible?!

“Oh, Luciana!” she said. “You came to see me. How lovely! I was just about to go out. Shall we go together?”

“Who the hell are you?!” the coachman demanded of me. Then he turned to my aunt. “And you, madam?! Inviting people out in that state?! Are you out of your mind?! Step back! That woman brought some weird thing with her, and it’s radiating pure murderous intent!”

That was rude for him to say to a duchess like me, but I did feel his point was valid. My aunt’s lack of common sense was outrageous! I was utterly appalled.

“Well, she’s my son’s wife, my niece, you know?”

“No, no! Just now, she clearly had something sinister clinging to her back, dripping with murderous intent, and she jumped at you riding a slime and tried to kill you! Plus, we’ve been under constant attack by monsters since we arrived! No matter how you look at it, she’s controlling them! Just because you can deflect most attacks, don’t you dare leave me in danger! She absolutely came here intending to kill you!”

“That’s impossible. Right, Luciana... Luciana?”

Ah, how despicable. This woman who resembled that failure, this woman who killed my mother, this woman who showed me no mercy whatsoever—I simply hated her. Right now, my aunt was impaled through the slime, only her shoulders and head visible, unable to move.

“Die!” I channeled every ounce of power from the ring into a blast of fire aimed straight at the part of my aunt that was sticking out.

“Luciana?! Stop that! Luciana!”

Ignoring her pleas, I unleashed the flame. The power drawn from the ring surged through my body. Raging hatred heightened my senses, and I fired a long, sustained blast, aiming to reduce her to ashes. Reflected flames assailed me, but I was skilled with magic. Besides, it was my own magic.

I manipulated it so I could dodge, layering it onto the flames I continued to unleash while keeping my gaze fixed on my aunt. That was when I noticed three spells constantly present within her protective magic.

The first was defense. It formed a thin barrier around her.

The second was status condition recovery. Neither injuries nor poison, nor any form of suggestion, could affect her.

The third was reflection. Any attack directed at her would rebound upon the caster.

All three were extremely advanced spells. These magics had permeated my aunt’s body, becoming second nature to her. There was no rejection by her body, and my aunt’s mana wasn’t being consumed.

Who could have done this, and how...? It was obvious. It could only be my aunt’s husband, my father-in-law.

Gritting my teeth, I concentrated. Since my magic had been sealed, I had analyzed the sealing power over and over. Thanks to that, I was able to find tiny cracks in the three different spells. Cracks each as small as the eye of a needle! I channeled my own magic through the cracks, attempting to destroy them from within.

“Luciana! No! That’s his trap—” Before my aunt could finish speaking, I felt heat, and an impact on my forehead. What had just happened?

Lightning arrows formed around my aunt, targeting me by tracing the magic I had channeled through her.

Thud, thud, thud—a piercing heat seared through my body. Was it pain? Heat? Numbness? I couldn’t tell.

The lightning arrows also struck the slime, liquefying it. My staggering feet slipped, and I fell backward.

Mother, shall we take revenge? If you give me your body, I’ll do it in your stead. The voice speaking directly into my head was Sienna’s.

Really? I answered.

Of course. She hurt the body of my beloved mother, saturated with my power. I won’t forgive her. So...won’t you let me?

Looking back later, I should have realized it was truly the whisper of a demon.

I understand. Please, my dearest daughter.

The ring dug into my finger with a sharp click. I was bewildered by the sensation of its power—it had been within my body, and now it was raging.

In the moment I felt it was concentrating on my neck, it felt like my neck snapped.

My memory after that was broken... Each time consciousness resurfaced, I was tormented by a feeling of hunger.

Ah, I was so hungry...

※※Aside: My Sister’s Visit to Church (Mihail)※※

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and I sat alone in the student council room, finalizing the research data I’d received from a classmate. Yet I couldn’t concentrate, and in frustration, I let out a sharp click of my tongue.

It was because that woman’s trail had gone cold. After she’d vanished near the sea, carried off by a basilisk running across the water, tracking her had become extremely difficult.

I had immediately used Regulus’s teleportation magic to return to the mansion and contacted my father. It was obvious she was headed to grandmother’s house. But father had insisted I leave it alone. What was he thinking?! Didn’t he worry about grandmother?! If that woman tried to harm her, she’d get her comeuppance?! What the hell did that even mean!

A week later, during dinner, Regulus, disguised as my father’s messenger, had delivered my parents’ divorce papers to my sister. Since my parents had also registered the marriage with the church, my sister had apparently been instructed to submit the papers there. Although it lacked the force of national law, society would still consider them husband and wife unless the church registration was annulled.

Hythyism was no longer the state religion, and the royal family and the Four Great Ducal Houses kept their distance from the church in official matters. Yet the church still had many followers. If they’d wanted the support of their subjects for their marriage, it would have been better to abide by the registration practice and submit their documents to the church.

Especially since my parents’ marriage had likely been taken poorly by the general public, given my uncle’s elopement. They’d married about twenty years ago, so the church’s influence must have been greater then than it was now.

The country needed priests to purify the land if disaster struck. Nobles, precisely because they were nobles, couldn’t afford to disregard the church. Consequently, they tended to donate large sums and register their marriages with the church.

I’d heard that the annulment of a church marriage normally took several months to process.

But why had they singled out my sister? Both father and the church...

Just as my irritation peaked, the door clicked open and Heinz appeared.

“You’re here,” he said. “You might have heard, but I delivered the ingredients to Lady Robur five days ago. The sonic wolf wings were included too.”

“Wings... Seriously... No, I see.” I’d heard about the ingredients, but that really included the wings? Were those bat-style wings even tasty?

But my sister was a great cook. Last night, we’d had tonkotsu ramen for dinner with Miss Faltan, who’d become my sister’s friend; that and the salad, using this new ingredient called ice plant, had both been delicious. I’d heard the ramen broth was made by simmering the bones of the sonic wolves. My instincts were yelling at me that dishes made from the wings must be delicious too.

“So...did you find them?” Heinz didn’t specify who. He seemed aware of his commoner status. If he was caught up in a high-ranking noble’s family feud, he had no means to protect himself.

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

At the end of summer, Heinz had been afflicted with a tangled, wicked curse. It had been miraculously broken by a crude magical device crafted by my sister. Back then, Sienna had willingly become that magic curse. She later returned to human form, but at that point had been transformed into a hideous old woman.

The resemblance between Sienna, when she’d become a black mass of cursed energy on the boys’ dorm rooftop, and the silhouette of the black doll that had clung to that woman’s back, was deeply unsettling. Sienna’s death had been confirmed, but could it be another magical curse? I couldn’t be sure.

But I knew thinking about that woman wouldn’t yield answers, so I shifted my focus. “Speaking of which, I hear you’ve been spending a lot of time with my sister lately.”

“Huh?! Ah, no... That’s...” Heinz was visibly flustered. Suspicious?

“You seem quite close, spending all that time alone together in that place you call your atelier?”

Heinz took a fearful step back as I rose and advanced on him. Step by step, I cornered him against the wall, then slammed my hand down beside his face, leaning in close. I was putting into practice what my father, the duke, had taught me.

“My sister may be shameless, but she’s a pure child,” I told him.

“You admit she’s shameless?! That’s not pure anymore, then, is it?!”

“If you lay a hand on her, I’ll crush you.”

“Crush what?! W-Wait, more importantly, on the day Miss Faltan took the ingredients, she hit it off with Lady Robur and made plans to stay over. She actually stayed last night, right?! She didn’t become prey, did she?!”

Was it because she was his former fiancée? He seemed concerned about Miss Faltan, but what did “prey” even mean?

“They hit it off energetically and went to the church.”

“Huh?! Just the two of them?!”

I gritted my teeth. “The head supervisor went along too.”

“Wh-What? Seriously, why?” At first, he had probably simply been concerned over Miss Faltan going to that suspicious church. But learning midway that Regulus, the first prince—a figure of special, exalted status—had gone with them, left him utterly stunned.

“Last night, he visited with my parents’ divorce papers in hand,” I replied. “He said he’d be leading the group as head supervisor.”

“Abuse of authority... No, but why did Miss Faltan go too?”

“Don’t ask. Miss Faltan shares her fangirl tendencies... My sister happily invited her along as a friend. And Miss Faltan didn’t seem entirely opposed; she said the church was full of...roses?”

“Fangirl... Full of roses...”

They were words I hadn’t been able to comprehend, but Heinz seemed to understand them.

He stared intently at my face, and then...flushed? Then he suddenly turned pale. His face twitching, he backed away from the wall, slowly distancing himself from me before taking his leave. He was utterly silent. I watched him go, still not understanding a thing.

Suddenly, I recalled this morning’s meal.

“Miss Linda and I became friends through our shared interests! I even read the autobiographical novel she wrote! Other people’s novels really are the best!”

“Uh, um, good evening, my lord. I accompanied Galfi to deliver ingredients to Lady Robur. I apologized to her, and, um, we made a plan, and today, I’m staying over...um, at the lady’s invitation...”

“Hee hee hee, I happened to see a dropped memo and discovered this unexpectedly wonderful novel. Tonight we’ll have an all-night fangirl discussion!”

The scandalous novelist had smiled dreamily, her face radiant. What on earth was an “all-night fangirl discussion”?

I had already heard from our butler John about Miss Faltan’s stay, but this was undoubtedly my sister’s request.

“Me too! I never imagined that you could be that esteemed author I admired so much!” Miss Faltan was overcome with emotion. Apparently, she was a devoted fan of the scandalous writer.

The two girls, cheeks flushed, had held hands and gazed at each other. It was like a scene straight out of a romance novel. I’d been bewildered by what I’d witnessed...and then suddenly I’d snapped back to reality.

Wait a minute! Had I been poisoned by my sister’s novels too?!

Just as I’d come to my senses, Regulus had arrived bearing the divorce papers, sent by my father.

He must have snatched the papers from my father and schemed this date under the guise of protecting my sister. Our nation’s prince running errands for a subject... Was that really acceptable, Regulus, you lovestruck fool?

Apparently, the church had contacted my father, saying if my sister came to process the divorce, they could complete a procedure that normally took months in just one day. If it weren’t for that woman who was bound to cause trouble, I could have happily waited months, since the divorce had already been legally finalized under our country’s laws.

Miss Faltan had had trouble with the church before, and she showed signs of refusing, but my younger sister wasn’t having it.

“The church! It’s a paradise of roses, isn’t it! Miss Linda, let’s go! No, as Lady Robur, I’ll take you even if you refuse!”

Her use of status was crude and far too personal, I thought—but I supposed it was her first time using it to her advantage. Watching as the first-love fool slurping tonkotsu ramen radiated a dark aura, I silently rooted for my sister. The first-love fool probably realized his date was being disrupted, but that was the right decision.

4: (The Incident) It All Starts with a Divorce Picnic

“Welcome. We’ve been expecting you.”

Arriving at the church, I opened the carriage door. There to greet me was High Priest Nax, whom I hadn’t seen in quite some time. He extended a hand to escort me, so I reached out to take it.

“Thank you.” For some reason, the first prince—father’s errand boy and the head supervisor—took the priest’s hand instead and stepped down from the carriage.

“My lady, this is...”

“Yes, a rose to escort us.”

It was my fellow obsessor who lectured on what yaoi was and enjoyed rose-themed discussions with me. Well, Miss Linda loved roses, so she was a true believer. I understood how her yaoi sensor reacted!

I wished I could show this scene to Dia, who had just started learning letters and was now sleeping on my head! Of course, given the location, I had cast a magic spell to conceal the sleeping Dia.

“A black and silver prince and a flaxen priest! I can’t take it!”

“I know! Let’s fully savor the selection!”

Ah, thank goodness Miss Linda wasn’t one of those fans who shunned fellow shippers! Now I had a friend here too!

“My lady.” As we sneakily wallowed in our fandom huddle, the black and silver prince extended his hand as naturally as a prince should. Ah, he really was a prince.

But I sensed something when the flaxen priest looked at me with an indescribable expression.

“Oh dear, don’t mind me.” I flashed a ladylike smile and stepped down on my own. Of course, it was to dodge the priest’s jealousy.

“Oh, aloof beauties are wonderful too...”

Was something wrong? Miss Linda, her face flushed, had muttered something so softly I couldn’t make it out. Her eyebrows drooped into a frown, her eyes were glistening... Could it be that she desired to be escorted by the black and silver prince?

“F-Fine! I’ll get down myself! It’s good for my legs!” Miss Linda glanced toward the prince, froze for an instant, then hurriedly stepped down.

Well, yes, legs and hips were important. And since she was dressed lightly, there was no worry of tripping over something in the carriage. One shouldn’t miss a single chance to use your legs and hips! Though we were still young, this was crucial for the elderly!

“My lady, the documents for the priest, if you would. We’ve come to process the cancellation of the marriage registration, as stipulated by the church. We request the priest handle this promptly.”

“Certainly,” said Priest Nax. “But why is His Royal Highness the First Prince accompanying Lady Robur?”

It was only natural he looked puzzled. I didn’t really need the first prince’s escort either. But I’d been told that if he, as head supervisor, went along, today’s class would count as attended. For the sake of the Triple-S Special, I absolutely didn’t want to be marked absent. That said, these two weren’t merely escorts.

“They’re my picnic companions, of course! I even made lunch. Dishes featuring rabbit, bear, and wolf meat—my pride and joy. Would you like some, Priest Nax?” Today’s main event was a picnic! Since it was a big church, there should be trees and flowers, and if Dia could run around and get inspired by nature, it would be even better!

“No, as the senior priest, I’ll be handling matters today,” Nax replied, glaring at the picnic gear the prince was pulling out from the carriage’s cargo compartment. “More importantly, please refrain from eating or drinking inside the church. And a picnic with lunch boxes? What exactly are you here for?”

“It’s a divorce picnic, you know.” It was a name that instantly revealed today’s purpose—combining a picnic with divorce proceedings!

“My lady, that name makes it sound like we’re the ones getting divorced,” said Regulus.

“How exactly are you involved in this? Besides, your whole perspective is off—isn’t the main theme leaning mostly toward a picnic?”

“Mom, when did you start dating the prince?! The Unexpected Marriage series is out of the question! Dia’s gonna smack him!”

Oh dear, was the sleepy angel feeling unsettled by my conversation with the priest? And had she somehow seen the stage script I’d written and hidden? It was one one I’d written recently, inspired by the soap operas I’d seen in my last life—full of messy love and hate, the kind that might appeal to certain ladies via my publisher!

“No, Dia. My parents are the ones getting divorced. Rest assured, there haven’t been any additions or deletions to my household register in this lifetime. Besides, if you hit Miss Linda during your smacking, it could be dangerous. Let’s hold off for now.”

“Oh! Right! I have to protect my fan friend!”

“Yes, that’s right.” Good girl. I gently stroked Dia, secretly infusing her with my magic so no one else could tell.

Within this child, affection was slowly blossoming, and the power of the sacred beast I’d hastily prepared for her was growing stronger. I couldn’t help but smile as I thought about how the power inherited from Lia was firmly taking root in Dia.

“Mmmph, mom’s magic... So warm...” Oh dear, Dia had fallen asleep again, and she was snoring slightly.

Lately, I’d often seen Dia pouring her magic into an egg-shaped magic stone, like a multifaceted gem, that she’d acquired from the volcano. Granting magic to someone or something required skill, and she seemed quite tired out by the process. Sometimes I demonstrated by infusing magic into it myself. Maybe that was why? The magic stone had started swelling, and I was secretly worried it might explode.

Lifting my face again, I couldn’t help tilting my head when I saw that all three of them were staring at me blankly. What was wrong? Could it be that even inside the church, the still image curse had activated after so long?

“Priest Nax?” I tried addressing him, even if he seemed to still be under the still image curse. “Here are the documents. Would you mind handling them?” Taking the sealed papers from my waist pouch-style bag, I presented them to him. He accepted them with slow, deliberate movements. Seemed like the curse had broken.

“Ah, yes, of course. Well, I was admiring... No, indeed, these are the official documents of House Robur...” Why was it that just when I thought the priest’s curse was broken, now he was blushing and subtly averting his gaze? His voice was incredibly quiet. Muttering something under his breath, he broke the seal and checked the contents.

“My lady, there’s no point standing around chatting forever. Let’s use the waiting time for a picnic as planned.” The expressionless prince, apparently free of the curse as well, shoved his way forward and wedged himself between me and the priest. A wall suddenly loomed before me. “Shouldn’t you hurry with the processing? Finishing a task that takes weeks in a single day? You must be busy.”

“Uh, no, I wanted to spend a little more time with the lady...”

“Why don’t we pass the time with a picnic?” The prince cut off the priest’s words before he could finish, urging us on to the picnic.

It didn’t really matter, but I couldn’t see the priest at all—not even his face, just a wall of body. Was the priest saying something to me? Prince, you’re a bit in the way. Huh? Wait. This was...

“Roses, right?” said Miss Linda, who had been freed from the curse without me noticing. I realized it was the moment we both understood each other’s intentions.

“Yes, how splendid. The forbidden...” Of course, we turned to nod in agreement together. Oh dear, the priest and prince were...

“No,” said Regulus sharply.

“Huh?” Miss Linda gasped softly and took a step back.

Wondering why, I twisted my neck to look up and found myself face-to-face with his usual expressionless, perfectly chiseled features. I realized Miss Linda must have concluded that from her perspective, Prince Regulus’s face was simply too flawless. And given his royal status, it was only natural for her to be startled if their eyes met. Especially since she was a count’s daughter. On top of that, she was currently on leave from school and quite shy around people.

Oh, right! This was just a typical, clichéd, heart-fluttering encounter scene between a prince and a count’s daughter, straight out of a normal romance novel...

“My lady, no. I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely not what you’re thinking.” How did the prince know that I was suddenly feeling the urge to write a normal, youthful romance novel again?

“I see. Then, Priest Nax, is the garden at the back of the church still there?” I asked.

“Why do you ask? Well, it is there, but that place...” For some reason, the priest was starting to look flustered?

“Then, let’s have a picnic there,” said Prince Regulus. “Since I’m royalty, it shouldn’t be a problem. The maintenance costs for that garden are covered by donations from the royal family.”

“Well... Yes, that’s true...” Priest Nax said. The priest seemed both dissatisfied and perplexed.

Why should the presence of royalty matter?

That garden had been created during my first life, when I was Beljeanne. It had begun with a contagious epidemic brought by refugees from a neighboring country. To isolate the refugees, whose status had been deteriorating, and the infectious disease, I’d appealed to the pope at the time. I’d used money I’d secretly saved as rent in order to secure an untouched, awkward empty space within the church grounds.

When it was all over, the actions I’d taken had ended up being attributed to my half brother, the crown prince at the time. That space having later become the church’s memorial garden was definitely his suggestion.

Back then, it had been open to anyone who wanted to enter, at any time. Was it different now? Perhaps I should have checked beforehand. I’d have to ask my brother when I got back to the mansion.

“Let’s go.” Well, well! So saying, the prince took my hand, gave Miss Linda a meaningful glance, and started walking.

I’d been planning to sneak in and take a stealthy tour looking through the door cracks of that ascetic garden called the church. Too bad.

Upon reaching the garden, we took a stroll first. It was well maintained, with seasonal flowers in bloom. Miss Linda seemed struck by inspiration. She sat on a mat until lunchtime, scribbling something in the notebook she’d brought.

“Mom, a glass room!”

Describing the greenhouse as a glass room! So young, yet already showing literary talent!

Dia, who’d spotted the greenhouse shrouded in illusion magic ahead, was pure curiosity incarnate. She leaped off my head and dashed off in her comical armadillo-like run, breaking through the illusion magic with sheer momentum.

Wondering if breaking it was a mistake, I naturally chased after Dia too. Is the prince in there? I wondered. I grumbled a bit, but followed right behind.

He must have noticed Dia by now, right? He occasionally locked eyes with me, exuding an expressionless yet intense aura. Inside, he was surely gushing over my angel.

I glanced at Dia, who had entered first, as she looked around curiously inside and then turned back at me. Was something wrong? I hurried inside a little faster.

“My lady?!”

“Oh?!” Suddenly a spell activated, instantly enveloping the greenhouse in a barrier. Yet, I sensed no malice in the magic circle that appeared. I teleported Dia to my arm first, then let things unfold as I watched the prince frantically try to interfere with the barrier.

Based on my magical analysis, it seemed like some kind of amusement park attraction. I was intrigued...!

But no sooner had the thought crossed my mind than I found us trapped in a completely white, empty space. How exciting, Dia!

※※Aside: The Search for Roses (Mirandalinda)※※

As the young lady and prince strolled deep into the garden, I suddenly sensed a distortion in the atmosphere.

When I went to investigate, I found a greenhouse. The prince stood in front of it, looking utterly stunned. “She...disappeared?” he muttered. I didn’t understand what had happened, but Lady Robur was nowhere to be seen. Could she have vanished?

Although he was clearly confused, the prince briefly explained the situation and told me to search for Lady Robur. But I was too shaken by the fact that she’d vanished in the church to nod immediately.

“Miss Faltan, the secrets of roses lurk and deepen, especially in shadows and deserted places,” Prince Regulus added. “In darkness, secrets from ancient times...bloom.”

What a splendid turn of phrase! Words that struck a chord, like opening a rosebud within my heart, yet threatening to sink me into obsession! They made me tremble with joy!

“Just in case, I shall cast an obfuscation spell upon you,” he told me. “Though you won’t be able to track Lady Robur’s magic, you should be able to follow the fading remnants of magic leaving this greenhouse. When you find her, use this.”

“A telescopic walking stick? Is that what that is?” I took the offered staff. It wasn’t a staff used for defense, but I sensed some magic had been imbued within it.

“Its origin is a secret, but it holds a onetime teleportation spell. If all goes well, you and Lady Robur will simply walk out of the church together. But strange behavior, including hers, sometimes defy my predictions. If you find yourself in any kind of trouble after you find Lady Robur, activate it at once. I promise I will save you. As long as you’re alone, though, try your best not to activate it: The chances of you facing a crisis on your own are low.”

I nodded at the prince’s words. I was confident only in my own inconspicuousness. Still... “You understand roses and fangirling, don’t you?”

“I’ve studied them thoroughly,” he replied. “You possess a fragment of that understanding too, but Lady Robur’s grasp is very refined. I’ve come to understand that it’s beyond the comprehension of an amateur like me.”

He’d studied roses and fangirling?! The first prince of the nation, the one whispered to be next in line to the throne?!

“So you really... Wait, but wasn’t Lady Robur supposed to be a candidate for engagement?” The image of the lady’s former fiancé lavishly praising the former foster daughter of the Robur family alongside Lord Heinz flashed through my mind. “Um... I know this is terribly rude... But... I mean, I hold Lady Robur in the highest regard! So, um...I wouldn’t do anything like her former fiancé did...”

“Do not misunderstand. I hold the lady in higher esteem than you do. I won’t tolerate being underestimated—do not imagine you could surpass my feelings for her.”

“H-How... How sorry I am!” My body stiffened at the murderous intent radiating from the prince. But wasn’t he missing the point? We weren’t really discussing who held Lady Robur in higher esteem, right?

“Hmph, my apologies,” he huffed. “That was childish. You needn’t concern yourself with prospective fiancés. Once you find Lady Robur, your first priority is to escape with her. Until then, feel free to explore the innermost depths of the church to your heart’s content.”

“But if we don’t hurry, she might feel... Well, not exactly lonely, but she could be in danger.”

“No, that’s unlikely. Whoever rigged that greenhouse... No, never mind.” The prince faltered. He seemed to have some kind of hunch about who the abductor was, but he didn’t reveal who he thought it was. “At the very least, it’s unlikely they’d kill her immediately. If they truly sought to cover their tracks completely, they wouldn’t have used teleportation. They would have devised some other mechanism to end the target’s life the instant they fell into the trap. I tracked the magic as far as I could, but I detected not a single trace of that sort of spell. Even with your heightened intuition, sharpened by the protection of the sacred beast, you sense nothing of the sort, do you?”

“That’s...correct. But how could you know such a thing?”

“You show it immediately in your demeanor. So far, I sense no panic from you.”

My word, his insight was sharp indeed. True, I sensed a twisted aura, but I didn’t perceive any danger. And so, I parted ways with the prince.

Now, thanks to my own naturally faint aura and the prince’s obfuscation spell, I was currently being treated to a BL paradise! Roses were blooming everywhere I looked!

“See, just hold your hand like this...”

“Ah...amazing...”

“Now you try it, Muzika.”

“Um...like this?” The boy called Muzika seemed a bit younger than Lady Robur. He must have been aiming to become a priest.

In the dimly lit room, not quite bright enough for the light to be coming from lamps, was a young man in his twenties. There was a blue stripe on the collar of the young man’s overcoat, which indicated a mid-level priest. He gazed at the backs of the various figures lined up before the altar with a dreamy, intense look in his eyes. Hidden in a corner of the cramped room, I silently offered my deepest gratitude to the divine protection of the sacred beast, Drogolena!

The priest had light brown hair tied back simply with a black hair elastic. The way he was teaching a boy with the same hair color, cut into a bob, looked incredibly intimate!

“Hmm...not quite. Relax your body more. Yes, try leaning lightly against my body as you stand. Let go of the tension in your shoulders...” The priest leaned over from behind the boy named Muzika... Oh no, a back hug!

“Like this? Am I relaxed?”

“Yes, that’s good. Now... I’ll put it in like this.”

“Ah... Wait, slowly...”

“Yes, it’s okay. I won’t push you. Can you feel it going in slowly?”

“Yeah... It’s warm...but a little...mm, hot...”

The priest placed his hand over the boy’s. My heart was racing!

“All right, now let’s take that heat circulating inside... See, like this, let’s bring it out...” Ahh, the priest’s gentle voice was so nice! But surely it would be time to return to reality soon.

“Like this...”

“Yes, from there, push it out strongly...”

Their voices had grown heated.

“We did it! We did it, we succeeded! Brother, we purified it!”

“That’s good. It looks like you’ve got the hang of it!”

Ah, reality...it’d been a while. The two clasped hands in joy. Congratulations, young Muzika.

They really were brothers, weren’t they? It wasn’t just hair color they shared; now that I could see their features, those were similar too.

On the table, a fist-sized stone lay on top of paper. Just moments ago, it had been unpurified, appearing to my eyes as if it emitted a faint black haze. The stone had been corrupted by magic essence, but I didn’t think the brothers could see it. The paper had had a magic circle drawn on it to seal the miasma within, but it was gone now—it was designed to disappear once purified, and the two of them were practicing purification.

It was common knowledge that the closer the blood relation, the higher the affinity for magic. For children who struggled to master the circulation and release of magic within their bodies, like the young boy here, parents or siblings had to press close, channeling their own magic into the child’s body to teach them how it worked.

It was the quickest method, and the safest way to prevent magic from running wild.

Still, just as the lady and prince had said, the church was in full bloom! A secret garden! A sanctuary where inspiration descended! Ah, Sacred Beast Drogolena, thank you so very much! I never dreamed a day like this would come! Lady Robur, I’ll follow you anywhere! My favorite deity is you, my lady! And the lady was also that popular author...it was too much!

That was right. For that very reason, I had to find Lady Robur!

But as I snapped back to my original purpose, I saw the friendly brothers were already gone.

“Ahh... That was quite a sight. I don’t know where Lady Robur is, but I’m sure she’s somewhere in this church. I’ve got to follow her aura.”

I pulled a notebook from the bag slung over my shoulder and began transcribing the inspiration that had just struck me. I’d faithfully carry out the lady’s advice! As I finished and glanced back over the pages, my eyes fell on the inspiration I’d written down earlier. That passage I’d jotted down in my notebook just before Lady Robur had vanished. Prince Regulus’s scary vibe usually only ever showed when I was arm in arm with Lady Robur, or when we were getting excited talking about roses or our fangirl obsessions. It was definitely jealousy.

Shuddering at the memory of the prince’s intimidating aura—the one he radiated whenever anyone clearly gave Lady Robur special treatment—I tucked the notebook back into my bag and turned the doorknob.

Lost in thought, I carelessly opened the door—only to find the female priest who’d passed by the room earlier standing right there. I had to cover my mouth with both hands to keep from screaming. But she hadn’t noticed me at all, thanks in part to my original protection spell, but also to the obfuscation spell Prince Regulus had cast.

I quietly followed her, and in the church’s shadows, a small moment of respite began. Two overlapping shadows... Ahh, thrilling. I instinctively hid my face with both hands, but secretly peeked through the gaps between my fingers.

Before long, I spotted Priest Nax, with his flaxen hair, and several senior priests who seemed to be his colleagues entering a room somewhere from a distance.

Come to think of it, Priest Nax hadn’t had that artificial smile on his face today, like he had in the chapel. I could actually sense will in his emerald green eyes. What had that been about, back then?

I was about to follow them inside when suddenly, somewhere, I heard a sound like leaves rustling. I stopped. Because I was indoors, right? But I was hearing leaves rustling? That was weird. In that same moment, the protective power dwelling within me reacted, and I felt a strange warmth deep in my chest. Could it be the sacred beast, Drogolena?

Following the sound, I found a door leading underground. I never would have imagined the wall at the far end of that narrow space, used as a cleaning supplies closet, would open with a magic authentication. It was a simple one, so I was able to open it without breaking it.

The moment I entered the room, Lady Robur noticed me—startlingly quickly. I’d heard rumors that she was top-notch when it came to escape skills. She must have terrifyingly sharp intuition.

She raised her left hand, index finger extended, to her lips, gesturing for silence. She was patting her lap as if soothing a child asleep there. No doubt she was lost in thought about what to write in the new art book. The art book, presumably drawn by Lord Heinz, had been so provocative I hadn’t been able to look directly at it. A woman bound by ropes tied into hexagon shapes, throwing every contour of her body into stark relief...

I-I wasn’t thinking about it!

※※Aside: A Greenhouse? (Nax)※※

“Just what exactly is your plan?” the prince demanded. “What were you scheming?”

“What do you mean?”

He had stormed back into the room with terrifying intensity just as I was finalizing the Robur family’s divorce proceedings.

There was no doubt the prince harbored special feelings for Lady Robur. Shouldn’t he have been enjoying a private picnic with her right about now?

I, for one, was concentrating on finishing in a single day a task that normally required months of processing time and took several days to actually complete.

Lady Robur’s appearance alone befitted a high noble, with such stunning beauty it could make one flinch. But inside, she was a beast. She hid fierce arrogance and audacity beneath that flawless appearance. And he’d just gone and taken her away by the hand? What was he talking about now?

I’d mobilized several administrative priests to retrieve the stack of documents containing the Robur couple’s marriage registration. I’d channeled magic through the lock and keyhole to unlock it. I’d extracted the target document and begun drafting the formal divorce papers. This alone demanded considerable magic, requiring several administrators to mediate. Returning the paperwork to its place would be no different.

From there, drafting the documents usually took several more days. For a divorce, the marriage records had to be destroyed, and new entries regarding the divorce acceptance needed to be written onto special paper infused with magic. A preservation spell would then be cast over the written text. Even a single mistake would mean rewriting the entire document. And the task of drawing intricate, minuscule magical arrays filled with symbols—and having to draw them in all four corners—was both tedious and grueling. The mid-level priests who usually handled this often risked running out of magic midway through.

Though all this was troublesome, marriage and divorce were crucial matters for a household; they must not be taken lightly or mishandled. It was precisely because we understand this that the church handled everything with the utmost rigor.

That said, I was a high priest. I possessed a great deal of innate magical power, which meant I could handle it in a single day.

Yes, summoning the lady to the church under that pretext had all been at the instruction of His Holiness the Pope.

I believed His Holiness had known from the moment Duchess Robur came to the church last week. That her difficult behavior had brought her marriage to the brink of divorce. Had he struck while the iron was hot in order to hasten it?

Why was His Holiness so fixated on Lady Robur, a girl whose magic was weak and who could barely use spells? Children abused by their parents were, regrettably, numerous. Why this obsession with Lady Laviange Robur?

That peach-brown ring troubled me too; it had sent a chill through me when I’d touched it. His Holiness had said it was a gift from a friend. My memory of the time I’d tried to ask for details was hazy. Honestly, though, the duchess wasn’t someone I particularly liked, but was it really okay to give her that ring? And why had I handed it over so readily in the first place?

No. It didn’t matter. I could never question His Holiness, a man I deeply respected and admired. He possessed such charm. It was specifically because His Holiness trusted my devotion that he’d instructed me personally to deal with Duchess Robur at that time. I’d initially hesitated, but as I spoke with His Holiness I’d found myself agreeing without meaning to.

I had promised the duchess the protection she had asked for on the condition she come to the church with Lady Robur, as His Holiness had directed. That way, the duchess would make some incriminating move against her daughter, making it easier for us to protect Lady Robur.

I assumed His Holiness had been thinking along those lines, but to think he had discerned she was on the verge of divorce... It was truly remarkable.

“Are you listening, Priest Nax?”

I was snapped out of my reverie, diligently praising His Holiness, by Prince Regulus’s voice, cold as an icy chill.

Wait, his vermilion eyes were bloodshot?! What was going on?! What had happened?! Had something happened with Lady Robur, and now he was taking it out on me?

“What are you hiding in the greenhouse?” he asked me.

Did he say greenhouse? A bad feeling washed over me, and my eyebrows instinctively furrowed. “There was...a greenhouse?”

“Yes. Lady Robur went in and vanished.”

Huh?! She went in and vanished?! What was she doing?! Ordinarily, if this happened to a lady, one would simply assume she’d been caught up in something through no fault of her own...but we weren’t talking about any lady, here. This was Lady Robur. She absolutely must have done something!

At first I didn’t even realize I’d dropped the documents I was holding on to the desk. I frantically grabbed the ink bottle before the papers could knock it over. This ink was custom-made, used for official documents, and even magic couldn’t remove the stains. If it had spilled on these papers, I’d have had to rewrite them.

“So, where did you take Lady Robur?” Prince Regulus pressed.

“That sounds rather harsh.” Of course, even if the other party was a prince brimming with murderous intent, as a high priest, I couldn’t let that phrasing slide. “It is my understanding that the greenhouse was originally enclosed by a conditional barrier spell, invisible to all,” I told him. “I myself have never seen it. You seem unaware, since it was your first visit to that garden, but other royals can confirm as much.” Indeed, within the church, His Holiness was the only one who could see that greenhouse. “I haven’t heard any mention of any spell activating there either.”

I understood that that garden had originally been built to commemorate His Holiness the Pope and the late king’s righteous crown prince successfully ending an epidemic that had once spread throughout the capital, brought by a group of refugees.

The royal house and the church, often at odds, had joined hands to achieve one a rare, great feat. When that dreaded epidemic threatened to rage, those two had acted swiftly to prevent its spread. Not only that, they’d invited both the stricken populace and displaced refugees—all on the brink of death—into the gardens, nursing them back to health until the plague subsided.

The righteous crown prince had collaborated with the pope of the time to develop a specific cure for the disease. They’d even established preventive measures and disseminated both the cure and the methods to other nations. It was only natural that this country and its church were now held in high regard by other nations.

As an aside, I’d heard that incredibly evil woman never left her castle once during the epidemic, as if the lives of her subjects meant nothing to her... When I’d asked His Holiness about the truth, though, he’d dismissed that as mere rumor.

Either way, the crown prince, who had been able to act justly in the name of righteousness despite being connected by even half a drop of blood to that evil woman, must have been a man of exceptional character.

“But Lady Robur was indeed trapped by the barrier and vanished from the scene.” The prince’s bloodshot crimson eyes were fixed on me, overflowing with an overwhelming murderous intent that froze my thoughts. I wished he’d stop.

As befitted royalty, Prince Regulus possessed immense magical power. Such individuals unconsciously emitted minute, impossible-to-detect traces of magic when their emotions stirred. When that happened, surrounding creatures would feel an oppressive pressure, freezing in place like small animals stared down by a dangerous beast. I possessed considerable magic power myself, so I rarely sensed this kind of pressure.

Now, however, I felt sweat trickling down my back.

We’d met many times in our respective roles as high priest and member of the royal family, but until recently, we’d never spoken in private. As far as I knew, the first prince always seemed emotionally calm, no matter the situation.

The young first princess and the third prince, who was scheduled to enter the Royal Academy next year, both acted like royalty, showing more composure than one would expect of children their age. Even so, they did still seem like ordinary children sometimes—they still flashed bright, lively smiles, or showed flustered panic when they made some sort of mistake.

The second prince, currently convalescing from illness, had always worn a deliberately refreshing smile.

But the first prince before me had never once shown such expressions. On the contrary, as royalty, he must have been taught to suppress negative emotions completely. Yet here was the prince closest to inheriting the throne, openly displaying such intense feelings for that eccentric lady. Was it because he cared for her so deeply, or because he had no room left for other feelings?

“Find Lady Robur immediately,” he ordered. “She must be somewhere inside this church, at least.”

“Understood. I’ll start by checking the greenhouse in the garden...”

“She’s not there. The residual magic and traces of spells left behind have already been analyzed.”

“But I should also make a direct check...”

“Priest Nax. I said she’s somewhere inside this church. I’ll report to the Robur family.”

Ah. So he wanted us to search the church immediately...

“Damn. Everyone’s interfering with my precious time to win her over... I could stab them all and still not feel satisfied.”

I could understand contacting the lady’s family, but muttering curses under his breath?! Win her over?! Stab who?! Shouldn’t the church hide her if we found her?! This reeked of dangerous criminal intent—like the prince might imprison her?!

Unable to sense my confusion, the prince strode off with a flourish.

※※Aside: All the Pieces Together (The Pope)※※

“I apologize for troubling you. To have Your Holiness personally handle the paperwork...”

“It was nearly time for supper, after all. We have our own schedule to keep, and I saw no need to accommodate outsiders’ timing.”

I had personally finalized the divorce proceedings. Yes, I was the pope, but it had caused me no hardship. Besides, I couldn’t wait to see Lady Robur with my own eyes. I’d never imagined she’d leap right into my hands like this.

What interested me was one half of the bloodlines that lady possessed. Although that family line was very much in evidence in her outward appearance, she possessed low magical power and couldn’t wield any significant magic. What a conveniently powerless girl.

“Have you found the lady?”

“No, I haven’t found her...” Nax, who’d immediately reported to me that the first prince had left the church, had left the divorce proceedings to me as I’d instructed and had been searching the church grounds alone.

A lady of noble birth had vanished without a trace. Yet Nax, who looked somewhat dazed, didn’t seem to question my inefficient order for him to search the church alone.

“The first prince seems to have left quietly. I’m sure the royal family feels no need to concern themselves with a talentless, incompetent lady of low magical power. Nax, you, too, should return to your quarters. Thank you for your efforts.”

I mixed the power of enchantment into my magic and released it all at once toward Nax, urging him to leave promptly.

“Yes...”

I watched his back as he quietly exited, then stopped releasing my magic. After a night’s sleep, he’d return to normal.

So. The son of that renowned couple, those famously fated lovers, was getting divorced. The thought of handling this procedure with my own hands had filled me with deep emotion.

For Soviesch Robur, the former princess’s former fiancé, it must have been a terrible disgrace.

Sharona Cherria, who’d loved sweet, playful nonsense that had brought nothing but harm to the princess. Now she was a Robur.

When she learned that the relationship between her son and her niece had been shattered, and that the protective magic the princess had cast had not only killed her niece’s body but would now force her to face an even more cruel reality, she would undoubtedly blame herself.

The royal family, the Four Dukes, and those destined lovers... Those who’d taken the princess from me. Not only in life, but even in death, they’d forced her to bear unjust sins alone, and still treated her with utter contempt. This country... It would be better if it simply perished.

Zap!

A sound like an electrical discharge snapped me back to my senses. “Ah, that won’t do,” I muttered to myself.

I suppressed the magic power that was threatening to run wild. This magic power had been heightened through forbidden arts and a pact with a demon. Perhaps that was why it tended to run amok when my emotions surged. Of course, I still had more magical control than a child would—and more that had been evident in the magic eruptions that had occurred frequently at the Academy not long ago.

It had happened after the princess had passed away; after Sriarde, one of the ones who drove the princess to her death, had attempted to revive the demon that should have vanished along with the princess.

It was I who had charmed my way into Sriarde’s favor and manipulated her into vanishing along with her soul.

Using a lock of hair Sriarde had cut from the princess while she had still lived, the consciousness of the demon, who had managed to avoid disappearing, had proposed a deal: It would return the princess to life. The demon had demanded payment up front, amplifying the mesmerizing powers I had always possessed.

Many years had passed since then.

The suffocating stares that my heightened allure drew were bothersome indeed. And yet it was thanks to that very skill that I’d charmed the previous pope—a man who made my skin crawl—and claimed the many forbidden arts slumbering within the church as my own. Of course, after the previous pope became useless, I made it look like he’d died of illness, buried him publicly, and then put him to good use.

He’d taken credit for the princess’s good deeds toward the refugees and plague victims as if they were his own. Worse still, he’d spread rumors about her—that she was a cowardly woman, afraid of disease, who never left the castle—all to discredit her. Seeing him only brought endless whining and depressing tedium, yet no matter how many times I killed him, it was never enough.

“Soon, Princess.” The final piece was in place. Even if she didn’t possess the same golden ring around her pupils as the princess did, the indigo hue of their eyes was identical.

I still recalled the day indigo had colored my usually black-and-white world.

That day had been her entrance ceremony, and I had been invited as a guest of honor. Though I found it a bother every year, the thought of the granddaughter rumored to resemble Sharona Robur entering the Academy lightened my step.

Her peach-gold hair color aside, her blue eyes and her features were said to resemble her grandmother in her youth. At the time, I’d regretted my inability to distinguish colors, yet somewhere deep down, I’d harbored hope.

The ceremony had begun. Names were called from Class 1A, and new students stood. But even when Class B was called, then Class C, the lady’s name was never called.

I’d occasionally heard rumors that Lady Robur had little magical power, was untalented and incompetent, and fled from all responsibility. But I’d never imagined she’d be in Class D. More than that, I’d been shocked to find she wasn’t even present.

I’d encountered her only later, after the ceremony, when I’d been heading back to the carriage in private disappointment, accompanied by Nax and several other high priests. It had happened just beyond a deserted passageway where someone was making a commotion.

“Laviange Robur! How dare you walk around campus after skipping the entrance ceremony without permission!”

“Oh my. It’s been an age, Your Highness Second Prince Joshua. Heh heh heh, your voice sounds just as lively as it did when you were twelve! How reassuring.”

“Hah! Still the same as ever! You worthless, incompetent fool, utterly inferior to your adopted sister, Sienna! Do you dare mock me, a member of the royal family, once more?!”

As I listened, I realized the female student whose back was turned was the very young lady I’d been expecting.

Even now, I could picture the ugly spectacle: the second prince making a scene before Lady Robur, and behind him, the male student glaring at her silently but fiercely.

Was that boy the third son of the Asche family? I believed he aspired to be a knight. While it was unacceptable for him to glare at the girl without stopping the prince’s outburst, surely he would intervene if the prince threatened violence. Or perhaps it would be better if I stepped in to stop him, creating an opportunity for myself to speak with the young lady...

I’d sent the priests accompanying me ahead and remained behind, quietly. Just in case, I’d concealed my own magical presence and used illusions to make myself invisible.

“Ah, don’t you have any more of those condescending words for me?” Lady Robur remarked. “A bit disappointing, really.”

“What?! It’s because you burst out laughing!” The prince, a member of the royal family, shouting at a woman in such an unsightly manner... Truly, this was the grandson of that righteous crown prince.

“Oh my, don’t misunderstand! I was saying that your attitude at our first meeting was utterly charming, you know?”

“What about it was charming?!”

“Of course, that childishly adorable twelve-year-old charm is only forgivable for a limited time because of your age. Even now, thinking back, it’s so endearing... Ah, how nostalgic.” Unfazed by the mounting fury and angry shouts directed at her by one of the royal family—especially her fiancé—Lady Robur placed a hand on her cheek and let out a soft sigh. If she’d just enrolled, she couldn’t be more than fifteen years old. Yet there was a certain allure to her mannerisms...

“Huh? Cute...? What... Don’t make that face...”

The sudden change in the prince’s demeanor made me inwardly tilt my head in confusion. The face of the third son of the Asche family had also changed. Both men were blushing, now, and looked flustered?

“Enough already! Mihail was looking for you too! Go get scolded! Heinz, let’s go!”

“Hah... Ah, yes, sir.”

With that half-hearted excuse, the two hurriedly slipped past Lady Robur.

As she turned her gaze in my direction, following their departure, I gasped. It was surely just a trick of the light...and yet, there, in her eyes—a deep blue that seemed to hold a ring of gold.

As her entire form gradually began to radiate color, starting from those eyes, I saw the gentle smile the princess had occasionally reserved for one person alone.

Before I knew it, tears were overflowing from my eyes. I’d desperately wanted to speak with her, almost releasing the aura I’d been hiding. That was when...

“I was cleaning the secret room, and seeing the tools I left behind made me nostalgic. I ended up skipping the ceremony, but it was worth it, wasn’t it?”

As the lady spoke, my tears dried up at once, and my expression snapped back into place.

“They’re going through their rebellious phase, but those kids... Well, regardless of their personalities, they certainly have pretty faces. From normal school stories to outrageous forbidden tales... Ahh, how irresistible...”

As her words flowed, her expression grew unladylike, almost ecstatic. How long had it been since I’d felt such a faint chill run down my spine? It felt like if she found me, she’d devour me. I didn’t know what it was, but that thing was dangerous.

At the time, I’d been inwardly bewildered to realize I’d instinctively amplified my magic. But now, a year later, as I considered the ramblings about her personality in Nax’s report, that decision must have been the right one.

The only splash of color in my black-and-white world was the young lady’s face... It was strange... No, never mind.

“Now then, I’ll head to Class D for now. Perhaps the faculty room first? Seems like a treat for the eyes. This academy is paradise!” She had shown no shame whatsoever about being in Class D, which should have been disgraceful for a lady, nor about skipping the entrance ceremony. With a light step and cheerful voice, she walked off in the opposite direction. For a moment, I thought our eyes met...but it must have been my imagination.

Unable to forgive myself for equating the one and only beautiful princess with this lady, and simultaneously overwhelmed by an immense sense of futility, I silently watched her gorgeous, extravagant back disappear.

The reason I’d ordered her brought to the church under the pretext of saving her from abuse had nothing to do with any pity I held for her upbringing or the way she appeared more vibrant in my world. It was purely for the sake of her appearance and eye color—not some perverted aberration. My goal was the pieces of Princess Beljeanne, the woman I’d waited decades and sold my soul to a demon for.

As I thought about it, a surge of excitement welled up inside me at the thought of possessing the princess’s pieces...

The lady’s chillingly perverted, dangerous face and the words she’d murmured back then, which I’d deliberately avoided recalling until now, flashed through my mind. I couldn’t shake the feeling that she had casually placed some pointless yet inexorable curse upon me. I didn’t know what kind of curse it was.

“Ahem. It seems rather pitiful to keep her waiting alone for so long,” I muttered somewhat absentmindedly to no one in particular. Then I teleported down to the underground chamber where Lady Robur waited.

This was the place where I’d secretly studied and experimented with forbidden arts. A teleportation array had been set up here, connecting directly from the greenhouse hidden within that garden. It existed solely for my own convenience.

Between my duties as pope and studying forbidden arts, this greenhouse also served to collect and cultivate rare, hard-to-obtain, and supposedly extinct plants that the princess had once shown interest in. The prevalence of poisonous or ominous-looking plants was purely coincidental. Of course, these beautiful flowers and plants were tended by priests dedicated to the princess, their true mistress. All for the time when I reclaimed the princess. I worried she might return with a heart full of despair, so I hoped these plants might offer her some solace.

For these reasons, I’d concealed the greenhouse itself with an illusion spell. Should anyone stumble in, I had set a trap: If anyone but me used magic to attack the greenhouse, it would become a cage, surrounding and nullifying the attack within an empty space.

However, this time there had been a malfunction, and Lady Robur had been transferred underground. The magic set up to detect intruders underground had alerted me immediately. I suspected it was the prince’s fault—he’d caused the malfunction by forcibly interfering with the greenhouse’s magic.

For me, who sought the princess’s indigo eyes, this fortunate malfunction made me hope heaven was about to finally return the princess to me.

I took a deep breath and exhaled. How long had it been? How long since my emotions had been this stirred, since they had trembled with such joy?

I touched the small magic circle drawn on the rock at eye level and opened the large, heavy door.

“Now, now, who might you be?” the girl asked.

Inside the room, brightly lit by magic, she sat on my bed, looking at me with those familiar indigo eyes. A bag lay carelessly at her feet—had it come here with her? And from it, she seemed to have taken an erotic woodblock print...? It resembled the illustrations in that novel one of the priests had had the other day...

“You are Lady Laviange Robur, correct?”

She tilted her head stiffly, as if she was wondering why I was asking. “You are correct.”

Why was she so calm? Shouldn’t she have been the one panicking?

Snapping back to reality, I frowned at the erotic painting the princess held. “How utterly...shameless,” I spat. I hoped she wasn’t about to start commenting on it in red pen.

“Oh dear. It’s a kind of pure literature, born of instinct and for instinct,” she explained calmly. It only made me more irritated. How scandalous for a girl of her age! She was far too corrupted.

Because I had been born with this face and the magic of enchantment, I’d always been subjected to vulgar stares from both men and women. Many of them had attempted to touch me, regardless of my disgust.

Lady Robur didn’t look at me that way at all, but perhaps because I saw parts of myself in her noble, solitary demeanor, I felt intense anger and disappointment. That the two grandchildren of one of the Four Ducal Houses, saved by the princess and indebted to her above all else, should be such lowly creatures...

My anger boiled, but I forced myself to calm down. It wasn’t entirely a bad thing that the slight guilt I’d felt about extracting parts from the young lady had dissipated.

“My apologies,” I said with a gentle smile, regaining my composure. “By the way, my lady, do you know why you were transferred here?”

Lady Robur returned a cool smile and tucked the erotic painting into her bag. “No, not at all.”

“I see. I’ll open the door leading farther in. Would you care to accompany me? There’s just something I need your help with—no need for caution. Once that’s taken care of, I’ll send you straight back to the mansion.” I extended my hand to the young lady, showering her with the power of enchantment mixed with magic.

“Very well.” As expected, the incompetent girl took my hand without a hint of caution and stood up.

Standing beside her now, I was surprised at how petite and slender she was. She had seemed much larger when we faced each other. “At a time like this...”

An indescribable discomfort welled up inside me. Why did she feel like the princess even in such trivial matters?

From a young age, the princess had been denied proper meals and subjected to violence by those royals. Her magic and honor had been exploited for years, and she’d been worked to the bone. That was why she’d been small and frail, like a starved commoner. Yet at first glance, the princess’s build had seemed age appropriate, even tall. This was because the sheer presence of such a powerful individual, even while that immense magic was concealed, had subconsciously misled others.

I doubted that to be the case here, however. I touched the lady’s hand and channeled my own magic into it.

“Hmph...” I couldn’t help but smile wryly. Indeed, this lady possessed only average—no, below-average magic. What had I been expecting?

That was when it happened: The delicate hand that had merely been resting there a moment ago suddenly tightened slightly.

“My lady? Ah, did that offend you? I was just chuckling to myself a little...”

“You...”

“Yes?” I was taken aback by the indigo eyes staring intently at my face, as if she’d been startled by something. Was the charm not working? Even though we’d been face-to-face since I stepped into the chamber, it felt like we were locking eyes for the very first time.

“Oh, I see. Ha ha ha, I’ve been misunderstanding things, haven’t I? But that’s all right.” Her expression shifted completely—a soft, somehow reassuring smile that looked right at home on the face of a girl her age and made my heart skip a beat. Was it those indigo blue eyes that made it seem that way?

It was exactly the way the princess had occasionally looked at Sharona, who’d only ever needed protecting. Without thinking, I placed my free hand on the lady’s cheek and stared intently. Her indigo eyes gazed back softly.

“Such a lovely atmosphere.” After a moment, a voice, well-mannered yet distant, interrupted us. “Did I interrupt something?”

“What brings you here? It’s unusual for you to come here directly.” I didn’t know why I did it, but I tugged the lady’s hand I’d been holding and hid it behind my back.

“Hmm... Did you grow attached in such a short time?” the woman said from under the hood of her robe, pulled low over her eyes. “You were the one who chose her, though, weren’t you?”

I felt inwardly unsettled by Jabi’s words, but I forced a smile. “Yes. But regarding that matter, and your coming here... I don’t think it needed to be now.”

“Oh dear. I even gave you a peach-colored ring made from a piece of my best friend to help you, yet you’re so ungrateful. Did you come early just because you acquired my next body? After all, you found a piece you could accept, didn’t you? Tell me, Lady Laviange Robur, do you know what will happen to you now?”

“My lady.” Before the princess could utter a word, I drew her attention to myself. “There is something I wish to show you.”

Resolved not to give up on Lady Robur, I peered into her indigo eyes. As I spoke, I heightened my magic, determined to charm her this time... But...

“Indeed! Will you show me?” It wasn’t her usual ladylike smile—were her eyes sparkling with curiosity? “What’s the matter? Let’s infiltrate! Heh heh heh, I sense something that’s been stuck at the entrance to the mystery genre is about to start moving!”

Why was the lady so excited, practically pulling my hand and leading the way?

“Eh?” said Jabi. “Business as usual in this situation? Isn’t she a bit too thick-skinned?”

What did she say? Could this really be normal for Lady Robur? Wait, maybe I hadn’t charmed her after all... Ah, we’d just hit the entrance to the back room.

“Come on, come on,” Lady Robur said. “Hurry up. I’m not interested in you over there.”

“I beg your pardon?” said Jabi. “Wait, shouldn’t you be a little more interested in me too...”

“Now, now. If you think you’ll always be the center of attention, you’re sorely mistaken. You wouldn’t want to be lumped in the same category as that self-obsessed manic pixie dream girl, your so-called best friend, would you?”

“Ah—yes, well, that...”

What exactly was a manic pixie dream girl?

But that Jabi, somehow letting her gaze wander aimlessly beneath her hood, was giving off a slightly displeased vibe?! Manic...pixie dream girl? Was I saying that right? Either way, it couldn’t be a compliment. Still, I couldn’t help but feel Lady Robur possessed a strange and pointless talent for drawing Jabi into her own rhythm.

“Hey, Pope. This is the spot, right?” she said, pointing at a rock that, at first glance, seemed perfectly ordinary. “Something must be hidden beyond this rock wall, right? Forcing our way through would trigger an explosion inside to destroy evidence, which would be troublesome. I’ve been waiting here, hoping someone would appear. It’s a shame I’m better at solving mysteries with physics than with intellectual puzzles. Is it a password? Like ‘Open Sesame’ or something? Could I open it myself?”

She was supposed to be utterly incompetent, yet she knew about the traps I’d set at the entrance and inside?!

“How do you know that?” I sputtered.

“Oh my, so it was you after all! Well, a faint breeze is gently wafting from that rock wall, and there was that spell cast on that greenhouse in the inner courtyard... I judged you to be a meticulous, scheming, trap-loving mastermind, and it seems my assessment was spot-on!”

Meticulous, I got. Scheming and plotting too—well, devising schemes did make one scheming, I supposed. But a trap-loving mastermind? No, not really?

“Heh heh heh, look at these bare, dimly lit rock walls! This should be quite the dungeon adventure! So, what’s the password? If you tell me, I’ll recite it for you!”

No, she just absolutely wanted to recite it herself...

“No, there isn’t a password to begin with,” I told her. This was the type that opened when it recognized my magic.

“I see. A bit disappointing.”

If seeing her looking somewhat disheartened made me consider creating a password for it right now, that was my own secret to keep...

※※Aside: The Hidden Side of the Pope (Mirandalinda)※※

“Shall we go, then, my lady?” the pope said.

“The magic investiture ritual... To think it would be so easy to destroy...” Lady Robur’s voice was so soft, the pope probably didn’t hear it. The eager expression she’d worn as she anticipated the mastermind behind this transfer had shifted back to her usual ladylike smile.

But what did she mean, “so easy to destroy”? Surely she couldn’t actually destroy it. With my senses heightened by the sacred beast’s blessing, though, I might have been able to channel magic through the magic circle and destroy it—though failure could have sealed it shut forever.

I crawled out from beneath the simple bed where Lady Robur had been sitting. Feeling a vague discomfort in my head, I walked silently behind the three, keeping a slight distance.

The pope and Lady Robur walked side by side. Behind them, and ahead of me, was the woman in the robe. The pope’s pace seemed slightly slower. Or rather, Lady Robur was striding ahead, almost cheerfully, pulling the pope along by the hand.

A faint light leaked from the place we were about to enter, but it looked fairly dim. An unpleasant atmosphere hung in the air. My intuition sounded a warning: Don’t go in.

Yet, the occasional glimpse of Lady Robur’s profile caught my eye. She looked like a child whose curiosity had been piqued. She showed absolutely no sign of caution or apprehension.

Ah, the two in front had finally gone inside. Terrifying... My legs froze, leaving me lagging behind the others. Suddenly remembering my walking stick, I frantically pulled it out of my bag. Prince Regulus, I believe in you!

Just as I took a step forward, though, Lady Robur’s voice suddenly reached my ears.

“Chimera...” Her tone was different from before. Gripping my staff tightly with both hands, I steeled myself and marched forward.

I was perhaps ten paces from Lady Robur when my eyes adjusted. The scene illuminated by the faint light left me speechless.

“My lady, it seems you were frightened after all.”

Lady Robur released the pope’s hand and took several steps forward, confronting one of the bizarre sights head-on.

From where I stood, I could only see her back. The same went for the pope. The woman in the robe stood off to the side, her back pressed against the rock wall, staring intently not at Lady Robur, but at the pope.

So no one could see Lady Robur’s expression. Was she frightened, as the pope had said? Yes, she had to be. Below her feet, the space was dotted with dozens of magic seals. Their dully glowing shapes formed circles, squares, pentagons, and countless other patterns. Each was large enough for a person to lie sprawled out inside it.

And at the center of every magic circle, a creature of clearly unnatural appearance stood, asleep.

Were these creatures called chimeras? They looked unnatural, as if parts from several different creatures had been stitched together into a single being. It was uncanny; sickening. Weren’t creatures like these taboo, designated as forbidden magic?

“Would you mind telling me why you did this?” Lady Robur asked suddenly. Her voice contained no fear. My intuition, sharper than any ordinary person’s, told me so. There was no fear or tension in her, only something cold. A sense of pressure I’d never felt from Lady Robur before—for some reason, it made me feel tense instead.

“Mom...”

Huh? Where had that whisper just come from? Was it a hallucination? It sounded like a young child worrying about their mother... No one else was reacting, so it must have been an auditory hallucination, right? Eh, no, this was scary. It was like it had come down from above my head... Yes, it had to just be my imagination. It was the scene in front of me inducing fear, I was sure. It wasn’t like those rumors I’d heard before I took my leave of absence—the Seven Mysteries of the Academy or whatever it was... I mean, it was definitely not a ghost!

“It’s an experiment,” the pope said quietly.

“An experiment?” repeated Lady Robur.

“Yes. There’s someone I absolutely must get back.”

“Get back? May I ask who it is?”

“Of course. You have the right to know.”

I sensed a certain loneliness and confusion from the pope. Thinking too of that earlier awkwardness in his stride, I wondered if perhaps he was being swayed by Lady Robur?

“Why do I have a right?” she asked.

“Your eyes,” said the pope. “I want those indigo eyes of yours. If I could be so bold, I’d wish for gold in the iris...golden ring...but I suppose that’s asking too much.”

A faint, mocking chuckle escaped the robed woman. When I glanced at her, I saw the few visible parts of her face twisted in delight.

“A real psycho,” Lady Robur muttered again in a voice only I could hear, though I didn’t understand the meaning. There was a hint of exasperation in her voice, but even at a time like this...was she having a fangirl moment?

As I felt the oppressive feeling from her easing, I slowly edged closer to Lady Robur.

“I think I can guess the reason, but could you explain it to me in full?” she asked the pope.

“It happened long before you were born, my lady,” he replied. “It’s impossible to fathom. The one I wish to reclaim is one who was assaulted by your grandparents—the previous head of the Four Great Ducal Houses—and the royal family, who was framed for a crime she didn’t commit. Even in death, she continues to be slandered as a villainess.”

“So...you want Beljeanne.” Lady Robur uttered the name of the legendary villainess as if she had anticipated it.

My mind was in turmoil. Though I could reach out and touch Lady Robur, I couldn’t move. Was the pope possessed by delusions? It was common knowledge that Beljeanne was a notorious villainess, wasn’t it?! What did he mean, framed?!

No—more importantly, Lady Robur seemed strangely calm, as if she’d known this all along. Why?

“Ah, did you know about this already, perhaps?” the pope said. “I heard it from Jabi over there. It seems you had some connection to the sacred beast Vamillia? The incident that was caused by the adopted daughter of the Robur family, that was handled discreetly a little while ago... They say you were on the rooftop then, and Vamillia manifested and took you away.”

“Yes, Jabi was watching from somewhere back then,” said Lady Robur. “Vamillia is such a dedicated reader.”

Taken away by the sacred beast Vamillia?! I was surprised that anyone in this country had even seen a sacred beast in full, but a lady from one of the Four Great Ducal Houses? That was beyond shocking.

I, who’d received divine protection, might sense a sacred beast’s presence, but I’d never seen one. I’d never heard of anyone else who’d received divine protection actually laying eyes on a sacred beast either. Granted, I was a shut-in, so I hardly interacted with anyone...

And, hold on, did she just say “reader”?! Did she mean that kind of relationship?! Wasn’t Vamillia the oldest sacred beast in the country?! What genre did she prefer?!

“Reader?” the pope repeated. “Ah, no, that doesn’t matter right now. Yes. It was Princess Beljeanne who saved this country through her noble sacrifice that day. Yet, just as before, the entire nation stole the princess’s achievements and credited them to that filthy thief, the root of all evil, the crown prince. Even in death, they pinned the crown prince’s crimes on her.” He spoke matter-of-factly. It sent a chill down my spine. He radiated hatred from every pore, yet his tone and expression remained calm. It was terrifying.

“Therefore,” he continued, “I wish to resurrect the princess—and, this time, I’ll ensure she occupies a position truly befitting her achievements...”

“Oh? I don’t want that,” Lady Robur interrupted, as if involuntarily, her voice dripping with genuine distaste. The conversation halted. What was wrong?

“What?” the pope asked. The robed woman also tilted her head to the side.

“No, it’s nothing,” Lady Robur insisted. “Please, continue?”

“Ah, yes. Of course, I didn’t plan her resurrection from the start. Princess Beljeanne had had her hair cut shortly before her death. Everything about her turned to ash when she died, and even that ash vanished. I wanted to mourn what remained—her hair—and see her off, at least in my own way. This was the result. Even if it was by chance that I arrived at this method, I suppose I was truly fortunate.”

The pope had cherished that infamous villainess—no, surely he cherished Princess Beljeanne. Had he not found that method, had he merely mourned her... I almost felt he might have followed her in death.

“Is that what Beljeanne would have wanted?” said Lady Robur.

A wounded expression flashed across the pope’s face for just an instant. “That...yes, it is...something Her Highness must decide, I suppose.” His gaze wandered, his expression somehow unsettled. His wandering eyes eventually fell downward at an angle. But he quickly turned a twisted smile, as if remembering his hatred, toward Lady Robur’s back. “But I myself simply cannot forgive. Those who received the princess’s blessings yet never acknowledged her...and this country still seeks to disparage her. That is why I wish to resurrect her. If the princess hates this country as I do, then I wish to destroy it. Even if not, I wish for the princess to return...”

The pope paused, cutting himself off. It felt like he’d been about to articulate his true desire. He tightened his lips once before rephrasing. “I wish for her to manifest in this country and reveal her desires. That’s why I carefully selected and gathered parts so that her body could resemble the princess’s in life. To be honest, it was quite a struggle to select only those who had committed grave sins, to ensure the princess felt no emotion toward those who became the source of these parts. The beasts used for experimentation were all classified as vermin. It was truly backbreaking work...but somehow, I managed. I ended up with many failed creations, but I’ve kept them like this, as reserves for when the princess declares she wishes to destroy the nation. Ah yes, the face is crucial. The princess’s beautiful face and those indigo eyes. That alone I could not replicate.”

The pope gazed intently at the lady’s back as he spoke in a voice filled with earnestness. “When I first laid eyes on you at the Academy’s entrance ceremony, how I trembled with joy. Your features bear a certain resemblance, but the color of your eyes is truly the princess’s very own. Of course, the missing golden ring is unfortunate. It’s not something you come across every day. I’m not saying I haven’t considered swapping out your entire head, you know? But I also feel sympathy for you... Being called talentless and incompetent for so long—isn’t that pitiful? It was groundless, but the princess was called that too. To me, it feels like the same person and the same story. And then there’s that Sharona Robur, who was only ever protected by the princess...”

The smile vanished from the pope’s face. What was that? An expression almost as dark and foreboding as the one the first prince occasionally wore?

“I cannot tolerate the princess’s hair being the same color as Sharona’s,” he spat. “Therefore, I shall take your face and eyes. You will lose your sight, but there will be no pain. If you are cast out of the Robur family, I shall take you in as an apology.”

“I see,” said Lady Robur. “So you’ve already conducted human experiments?”

“Yes. I used the previous pope, who stole the princess’s achievements, for experiments. And the queen from two reigns ago too! It was most satisfying! Watching them slowly lose their selfhood, their bodies taken over, becoming vessels for demons! The looks of despair on their faces as they died! I wish I could have shown that to you, Princess!” His voice grew rough in his excitement, and his face twisted with delight.

“Did you help Sriarde summon that demon too?” Lady Robur asked. Sriarde? Who was that? I’d never heard that name before.

“Oh? Someone as uneducated as you knows the name of the queen who was erased two generations ago? Even though the last king, and the two queens before now, deliberately erased them from this country, ensuring they’d be as forgotten as possible?”

The pope’s words made me gasp in shock. How could the name of the queen before last be associated with those three, of all people?! They were the true rulers who’d weathered the chaotic era brought about by the compassionate queen and the infamous villainess!

“Even if uneducated, one’s position affords more opportunities to learn such things than most.” Lady Robur’s tone had changed again. A subtle shift, but it was undeniably different. The emotions I’d sensed before were completely gone? No, not gone... Void? Wait, why void? It was as if all joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure had vanished into nothingness. Was that even possible?

The pope frowned slightly too—he must have noticed the change. “Indeed. Your position is that of a lady. That is only natural, I suppose.”

“Did Sriarde take you in so easily?”

“Hm...yes.” He smiled at Lady Robur’s back. “What have you heard about Sriarde’s character? It would have been impossible to win her over in her youth. She was always a meticulous and cautious woman. But after the princess passed, her alleged retreat into seclusion was, of course, just a facade. In reality, she was confined and watched over by her husband, the late king, in the villa where the princess once resided. She had no choice but to rely on me—it was most fortunate.”

The pope seemed to be reminiscing about those times as he spoke, yet it felt like he was stalling for time. “Ah yes, it wasn’t just this face that proved useful, but this magic too. When Sriarde was imprisoned, her magic was sealed, and her magical tools were taken from her. She became utterly captivated by my magic, believing in me like a devotee. She immediately spilled the beans about where that woman had hidden the princess’s hair. Once I had the hair, I made a pact with the demon there, Jabi. I coaxed the cornered Sriarde into becoming a vessel, fed her body and soul to Jabi, and kept that fading existence bound to this world. Of course, during that time, I infiltrated the church and won over the previous pope as well.”

“I see.”

What?! The pope could see the woman in the robe, and he’d called her a demon... No, no way?! And the demon’s vessel was the queen from two reigns ago?! I couldn’t... I felt like I was going to pass out.

“Hang in there!”

That ghostly voice again?! And this sensation—something soft, like a small animal’s short, fluffy tail tapping lightly on the back of my head?!

My head felt icy cold, and my heart was frozen too... But, well, we were in a basement, after all. That voice was just an auditory hallucination. Maybe it was because my mind had wandered off, but my awareness had returned.

“You accepted the power of a demon and made a contract?” Lady Robur asked.

“Well, now, you seem quite knowledgeable about such matters. Could it be that your lack of talent and incompetence are merely camouflage? My magic was still immature back then, so I absolutely needed that demon’s power. But, thanks to you, the contract will be finalized soon.”

“I see...” Lady Robur said under her breath. “Not yet...” She spoke quietly, but I heard it. What did she mean by “not yet”?

“Hey, I’m getting bored,” the demon named Jabi cut in, her mouth twisted into a pleased grin. “Have you grown fond of the lady? Or are you giving up on reviving the princess?”

After a brief silence, the pope exhaled as if in self-mockery. “Yes, you’re right... Yes, I understand.” He took a slow step toward the lady, holding his right hand out toward her feet and concentrating his magic. A pattern resembling a magic circle appeared.

It was scary, but I wouldn’t let him! I steeled myself and grabbed Lady Robur’s hand, pulling her back. Honestly, even looking at her face right now was somehow terrifying!

“We’re escaping now, my lady!” I shouted, and as I ran away from the spot, the magic circle that had begun to appear at Lady Robur’s feet dissipated into mist.

Noticing my presence for the first time, the pope and the demon panicked.

“Wh-When did you...?!”

“Huh? Where was...?”

But the pope wouldn’t let us escape. He raised his hand toward us as we tried to slip past him. Several small magic circles appeared in the air, summoning beasts I’d never seen before—no, they were probably chimeras. We were cornered by the chimeras and back where we’d started.

“Wrong.” As the chimeras floated lightly through the air, closing in around us, Lady Robur showed intense agitation for the first time.

“M-My lady?” I stuttered.

“Hmph, it seems the young lady has finally grasped the situation and is terrified...or so it appears, eh?”

So the pope had noticed too—that Lady Robur was wearing a delighted smile. Why would she react like that?! I couldn’t fathom Lady Robur’s thought process at all! One chimera looked like the insides of a snail had grown feather-like things on its back and was flapping them to float?! And yet she was delighted?! I wanted to activate this staff right now and escape alone! Not that I would!

“No, that’s a misunderstanding! Miss Linda is certainly astonished, but she’s definitely not terrified!” Lady Robur declared. “She’s just surprised! She doesn’t understand the principle behind it, but this translucent chimera floating softly through the air has sparked her creative urge, and she’s just surprised by that reaction in herself! Right, Miss Linda?”

“Huh?!” A completely unfounded misunderstanding was going viral!

“I knew it! Because this chimera is the very embodiment of those ice fairies, the clione!”

I didn’t agree with that! And suddenly naming the chimera?! Why ice?! I didn’t get it!

“Hm, ice fairies? Clione? I’m terribly sorry you’ve given them such a cute name, but...” The pope was still the pope—he had absolutely none of my confusion! Smirking with smug composure... Wait, what was that sparkling expression full of expectation on Lady Robur’s face? “Will you still think that after seeing this?!”

Gyaaah! The clione’s head popped open! Something stretched out vertically from inside?! No way?! It cracked into six pieces!

“Eek! My lady, let’s run!” I squeaked.

“No, Miss Linda!” she told me. “What good would running away do?! Oh, right. You couldn’t have imagined this far. Relax! That’s a buccal cone! What a splendid metamorphosis!”

“Why on earth are you so excited?! What is a buccal cone?!” sputtered the pope. Even at a time like this, I had to agree with him! Why did he seem like the sane one here?!

“Yes, it’s wonderfully shocking!” Lady Robur said eagerly. “To unknowingly recreate a buccal cone! A perfect recreation of the naked sea butterfly clione! Mollusca, Gastropoda, Gymnosomata, Clionidae! And yet, the size has been upgraded to palm-sized! Impressive!” She gave him a thumbs-up, a huge smile, and a wink.

“Why are you making that face at me?! Wh-What the—?! What is all that even supposed to mean?!”

“It’s in the Clionidae family, a group of invertebrates in the animal kingdom, Mollusca phylum, Gastropoda class, Gymnosomata suborder! Naked sea butterflies!”

Wait, my lady! Such naked shamelessness even from you!

“Wh-What was that?! That last lewd, indecent attribute?! Please don’t sneak an indecent attribute onto my chimera in the confusion!” The pope’s face flushed red as he finally lost his temper. Only Lady Robur could make this man so angry.

“Heh heh heh, you’re still so childish no matter how big you get.”

“Wh-Why are you suddenly acting like a parent... No, more like an old granny...”

“It’s fine. That’s part of growing up too.”

“So why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hey, can we get serious now? I’m getting annoyed with your usual antics.” The demon spoke, and all the clione released their buccal cones, transforming themselves!

“Jabi! How did you interfere with them?!” the pope demanded.

Could the demon actually interfere with chimeras too?!

“Now, now, Miss Linda, calm down,” Lady Robur said into my ear as the transformed clione approached. “Could you put up a barrier wall?” Her demeanor had changed completely—she was utterly calm.

“Y-Yes!” I concentrated magic power at my feet and, as instructed, thrust up a barrier wall from below to block the chimeras.

“Huh?” Why had a thick wall of frozen earth appeared instead?! Was this unintended magic triggered by excessive mana?! I couldn’t help but let out a dumbfounded gasp.

“Oh dear! Hee hee, it seems we’ve been sealed away with the clione!” Lady Robur laughed. And we weren’t just within the clione’s space, but it was separating us from the pope and the demon!

“I-I’m sorry!” I cried. “No, why?!”

Lady Robur’s expression was like a grandmother watching over her grandchild—a gentle smile that seemed to say even my failure was endearing. It was agonizing! Because it wasn’t just the clione we were trapped with, but also the chimeras from the other magic circles.

“I’m sorry!” Unable to bear it, I apologized again. Was it the echo from the enclosed rock walls? My voice sounded double in my ears, but I couldn’t care less about that now. For a moment, I even thought about how childish my voice sounded as the echo bounced back to me.

“Oh dear, it’s all right,” said Lady Robur. “You just got a little too enthusiastic, didn’t you?”

She gazed at my face, completely composed. Wait, but our eyes weren’t meeting... I followed her gaze again. She was staring at my head—specifically the top of my head—smiling and nodding knowingly? The void I’d sensed from her just moments ago had now transformed into a gentle, grandmotherly aura.

“This is troublesome. However, the young lady who came to assist you seems both inexperienced in magic and lacking in situational judgment.” It was the pope’s voice—he was using magic to send it directly into the space we were in, perhaps because the rock wall separating us was too thick for us to hear him otherwise.

But I’m sorry to say, Your Holiness, you don’t seem the least bit troubled—and your judgment of the situation is correct! Because right now, I’m acutely aware that I’m frantically panicking!

The pope’s voice was still coming through via magic. “Hmm, it’s quite hard... Is this frozen ground? Trapping yourselves along with the chimeras is a rather poor move, you know.”

What I’d intended to do was shield myself with an earthen wall to block any magic attacks the pope or the demon might launch, then, suppressing my presence, wait for the right moment to break away from the wall! My scheme had been to make them think I was moving while maintaining the wall, but I’d actually take Lady Robur and completely bypass the two of them over there!

Could it be something about this place? There were numerous magic circles throughout the room, and this spot had to be magically engineered too... Either way, there was something mocking in the pope’s voice. It was completely different from the way he’d sounded at the Academy’s entrance and graduation ceremonies. There was no sign of that melancholy aura that had sometimes drifted from him.

Of course, I’d never personally spoken to him before. I knew I’d just arbitrarily built up this image of a gentle, benevolent pope. But this was far too big a difference! This hidden side of the pope was terrifying!

“His secret psycho side is really kicking into high gear,” Lady Robur said with a sigh. “Talk about gap appeal...”

Wait, Lady Robur?! Why on earth was she still smiling dreamily at the thing she’d called a clione...?! Wait, no! As someone who dreamed of publishing my own novel someday, I should learn from the lady’s attitude! This was what it meant to be a best selling novelist!

“Shall we let the chimera the young lady named ‘clione’ move freely now?”

“What a sudden, tense turn of events. He’s got guts,” Lady Robur said. The expression on her face was like a curious child’s...

Nope! I’m sorry! I can’t make a face like that at a time like this!

A bad feeling was making my spine lock up. I desperately clung to Lady Robur’s hand, still clasped in mine, clinging to its warmth to stave off the terror. Right now, it was just a drifting buccal cone. If those tentacle-like things started closing in... No way, no way, I couldn’t handle this anymore! S-Someone... Ah, right!

Just when I was almost considering deactivating the wall, I remembered the staff I’d been clutching like a lifeline.

“Oh my, what’s this?” Lady Robur held out her hand.

I understood her intent at once and handed it over. “The first prince gave it to me,” I said. “He told me to use it if anything happened while I was with you.”

“Is that so?”

Huh? It had felt for a moment as if the magic power stored in the staff had boiled up like water... I couldn’t see it, but I’d sensed it.

“Oh dear, oh dear,” Lady Robur tutted. “This won’t work, I’m afraid. The circuitry’s burned out.”

I couldn’t quite grasp the lady’s words, and a foolish sound slipped out. “Huh?”

“It seems the original circuitry was modified, so perhaps it shorted out naturally...?”

“Huh? U-Um... It won’t work?”

“It seems so.” The smile that spread across her face seemed somehow...knowing?

“Oh, um... Help is...” This wasn’t the time to be half-heartedly thinking about escape!

“It probably won’t come, will it?”

“No way... What should we do...?” I was stunned into a daze by how mercilessly Lady Robur had crushed my hope. Tears began streaming down my face uncontrollably.

“Now, now, don’t cry. First, wipe your tears, okay? Yes, yes, let’s take a slow, deep breath.” Lady Robur wiped my tears with a white handkerchief she pulled from her skirt pocket. A faint floral scent wafted from the handkerchief. My feelings calmed, and I took a deep breath like she told me to.

“Ah! Lady Robur!” The tentacle closest to us that had been slowly approaching touched her shoulder. I instinctively cried out and tried to pull her toward me, but my hand swung through empty air...

“Hup!” Lady Robur made an adorable little noise as she spun around, grabbed the tentacle, and flung it against the rock wall.

Boom!

For some reason it caused a small explosion?! What?!

“Just as I thought! The reviews said it tasted like gasoline!”

“What do you mean by that?!” Tasted?! Was clione even edible?! And I’d never even heard the word “gasoline” before!

“Oh my, so clione really is an unknown flavor! Don’t worry about gasoline! Now then, now that you’ve calmed down, let’s craft with it and reuse it!” Lady Robur turned back to me, this time with a mischievous grin—yes, exactly the kind of face described in novels as that of a troublemaker. “Come on, come on, hurry up and help me cover it with frozen soil.”

“I-Impossible...”

“It’ll be fine,” she assured me. “Right now, surely... Well, yes, surely the magic essence drifting in this space, influenced by that magic circle and the pope’s contraption, probably... Well, its instability will have cycled through and should powerfully assist your magic. Right?”

Right? I had absolutely no idea why she was smiling down at the top of my head right now... Just then the clione clunked down, frozen into a ball of earth. But I hadn’t even done anything?!

“Perfect, Di—ahem—Miss Linda. Not just an earth ball, lovely frozen earth ball. Now, just draw a magic circle on this, and—” Humming like an old lady playing in the sand with her grandchild, she pulled a magic tool pen from her bag and started turning the ball into a magic tool. This exceptional novelist was way too laid-back!

“Now then, let’s test it. Aim for that gouged-out spot and throw it in! The activation word is naked sea butterfly soup over rice!”

No way! The rice soup Lady Robur had served for breakfast this morning had just transformed into a scandalous dish!

“N-Naked...”

“Miss Linda, your voice is too soft.”

“Ahh! Naked sea butterfly soup over rice!” I infused the ball with magic and hurled the shameless, shameful lump at the wall.

BOOM!

“Success! The wall’s thick enough that the sound shouldn’t have reached the pope!” Lady Robur, delighted with the gouged wall, rolled a few frozen dirt dumplings toward the sleeping chimeras on the magic circles. She handed some to me and stuffed the rest into her bag.

“Now then, let’s seal off the sleeping chimeras with a wall of frozen earth!”

“Yes! Wait, what?” I hadn’t meant to say yes! In fact, I’d only just conjured frozen earth for the first time today. What was she saying now?

“I call it Operation Cover Up the Smelly Stuff!”

“Huh?! Dirt covers are one thing, but frozen earth...”

Covering up the smelly stuff meant exactly what it sounded like, right? The chimeras, in the state they were in, certainly seemed like they would give off a stench...

“Now, now. A simple earth cover would be too fragile and might get caught up in the explosion.” Explosion?! I was still scared of those makeshift explosive magic tools, and now she wanted to make more?! “Besides, look, it’s about time for the next...”

“Well then, shall we wake the sleeping chimera?” The pope’s voice echoed in the chamber, interrupting Lady Robur’s thoughts. “If you object, please remove the wall barrier promptly. Surely you haven’t fallen to the low-lethality clione?” He’d started calling the floating chimera a “clione” at some point, but the surprise of hearing it so suddenly made me squeak in surprise.

“Oh my, right here? So you do it too, Miss Linda...”

What? Why was she looking at me with such burning fighting spirit?! What did she even mean?! What did I do “too”? I couldn’t understand Lady Robur’s thought process at all! Could this possibly be some kind of rose-oriented fangirl training?!

“So this is the mind of a genius novelist...” I inadvertently muttered under my breath. Luckily Lady Robur didn’t seem to hear me.

That was when I noticed the hole spreading out below me, behind Lady Robur. Seeing the lights of the magic circles beneath the chimeras, which looked like they could vanish any moment, I hurriedly held up my hand.

“I’ll do it right away!” I wasn’t trying to cover up my own muttering at all! I was already overwhelmed by the sheer terror of this situation! If Lady Robur grilled me any further or revealed another concept I couldn’t comprehend, my head would explode from exhaustion!

To focus, I closed my eyes first. I released magic power from my hands, spreading it as if it were crawling through the air, connecting it to the rock on the side of the space like a lid.

Next, I amplified the magic by visualizing the rocks I’d connected, altering the soil, then activated it as a spell.

“Hang in there. It’ll be fine. You can do this.”

“Okay!” My voice seemed to echo again—I heard my own words doubled. Echoes really did make voices sound younger... A chill drifted from the top of my head and down my spine.

“Not yet,” Lady Robur instructed. “Keep solidifying it steadily without letting up until the material’s permafrost transformation is complete. Increase the magical power sealed within the soil... Yes, that’s it. Imagine the permafrost gradually eroding water into the soil, then envision large ice formations to alter the material. Then compress the density within the magically created earthen wall... Yes, very good. Just a little more... Almost there... Now solidify it there, refine the magic power, and complete the spell.” She really sounded like a seasoned mage.

“It’s done!”

“Excellent. Well then, shall we dissolve the wall on the pope’s side now?” She was smiling gently, but I was startled by her suggestion.

“Wh-What? But if we do that...”

“No need to worry. This has a separate function built in for when it breaks.” She waved the staff she held in her hand.

“Wh-What?! More importantly, how did you know that?!” Of course, I was stunned by what she was saying. I was clinging to the sudden, faint hope that I might be saved, but I was afraid of being disappointed. After all, rumor had it that Lady Robur was talentless and incompetent, with low magical power. Even if she possessed genius-level talent in certain areas, her lack of magical power was undeniable. Sure, the advice she’d just given me and her sense of magic made me feel she had some aptitude, but surely that was different from magical artifacts...right?

“Well, I am a second-year in the magic tool course, after all.” Her cheerful, matter-of-fact reply made me snap to attention.

“Ah... Right. I’m sorry for doubting you.”

Truthfully, magic tool course students were notoriously hard to come by. Most nobles assumed it was a path taken by wealthy commoners or lower nobility who lacked the magic power to become mages.

That was true in a way, but apparently just studying in the magic tools course didn’t guarantee that just anyone could become a magic tool craftsperson. I’d heard that regardless of how much magical power one possessed, only those skilled in manipulating magic and possessing exceptional manual dexterity could create advanced magical tools.

“That’s fine,” she said, smiling. “Many people misunderstand magic tool craftspeople, but you actually knew about it. I’m so happy.”

“What? Oh, um... Yes, I did a little research.” Seeing Lady Robur smile so naturally and happily made my heart skip a beat! Her genuine smile was so devastating it could make even a woman’s heart flutter, and I ended up giving a weird reply! How embarrassing!

“Now then, now then, how about quickly erasing this wall?” The pope’s voice rang out abruptly again. “The magical beast stored within that magic circle is strong enough that even Lady Robur or whoever is hiding over there couldn’t defeat it, surely.”

The frozen ground where the hole had been sealed showed no abnormalities. Maybe because my heart had been pounding wildly just a moment ago, I was still afraid, but the feeling was less intense than before.

“Then I’ll take him up on that and have you remove it,” Lady Robur said. “It’s unlikely the pope will do anything straight after it disappears, but just to be safe, you should erase your presence. Besides, look—we have this. Don’t worry.” Those kind indigo eyes, somehow reminiscent of my grandmother, still seemed fixed on the top of my head. Still, the words of this magical tools course student were reassuring and dependable.

“Okay.” When I replied, my voice echoed back to me again, trapped by the wall I’d erected. I no longer reacted to how young it sounded—and the chill drifting from the top of my head down my spine was surely because both walls were made of frozen earth.

“All right then, I’ll release it!”

“Good luck, Di... Mmm! Miss Linda!” Lady Robur stumbled over her words even though she usually spoke so smoothly, but well, that could happen to anyone! Maybe she was just a little nervous.

“Thank you!” And so, as I dispersed the magic power woven into the wall, it crumbled away in pieces, now just ordinary earth again.

The pope must have been standing right near the wall; he was standing there with a cool look on his face. He only caught sight of Lady Robur standing behind me, though—or rather, behind my concealed presence.

The demon stood slightly behind the pope, her mouth still twisted in a grimace.

“You’ve finally emerged,” the pope said. “Oh? And who might be the one who came to your aid?”

Whoosh. Something suddenly flew from behind me toward the pope.

“Hmph, throwing something like that...!” The pope dodged it casually, glanced at Lady Robur just as casually, and immediately gasped in surprise.

Well, of course he would. As soon as she’d thrown the staff, Lady Robur grabbed my shoulder and, with a shout of encouragement—“Heave-ho!”—shoved me hard, with terrifying force...straight into the pope!

“Huh?!”

“Wha—?! When did you—?!” Even the pope was startled—it was point-blank range and I’d been hiding my presence! Honestly, I never imagined I’d be charging headlong into danger like this, straight at the pope!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the lady sprinting off in that full-speed dash style of hers. Had I just been used as a decoy?!

“Secret Technique: The Whip!” shouted Lady Robur as she plunged her hand into her skirt pocket, grabbed the familiar handle she’d hidden there, and unleashed the whip.

“Again?!” I blurted out.

A purplish-blue rope sprang from the handle. I’d seen this before! Just like I remembered, the rope wrapped around my waist. Lady Robur pulled the handle, drawing me toward her. This was exactly what had happened last time.

“Using your stealthy shadow as bait? Nice move! But I won’t let you escape!” The pope raised his hand. Who was the stealthy shadow?! I was just an ordinary count’s daughter!

“Miss Linda,” Lady Robur called out, “throw the orbs!”

“Y-Yes?!?!” Screaming, I hurled the frozen earth orbs at the pope, triggering the indecent activation. “Naked sea butterfly soup over rice!”

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! They exploded midair.

As expected, I was pulled toward Lady Robur and used as a shield. Sensing the pope was about to retaliate, I immediately blocked his shock wave with a wall of frozen earth. If it had been a regular earth wall, it definitely wouldn’t have held!

“There you go!” With a carefree shout, the lady picked up the staff that had fallen unnoticed and flung it over the shield. For an instant, it felt like her magic flowed through the staff, and the whip at my waist was released.

“What now?!” scoffed the pope. It was supposed to be a surprise explosion, yet it barely seemed to affect him! He just sounded irritated!

The staff, tracing a gentle arc, fell toward his head only to be deflected by a simple hand strike. Though we couldn’t see it past the wall shield, we heard a clattering sound as it hit the ground and rolled away.

So the alternate function when the staff was broken meant physically throwing it? Really?

But my thoughts were interrupted as I sensed the activation of a magical device from beyond the shield. If I could feel it this clearly, that meant a major spell was definitely being cast...

Huh? A magic circle had appeared at our feet?! But now it was wavering. What was going on?!

“Of course you interrupted us.” Suddenly, Lady Robur’s voice came from behind me. It was cold and mocking, something I’d never heard from her since we met.

Then, two familiar male voices came from beyond the shield.

“Huh?!”

“So you finally activated it, huh?”

“I’ll leave the rest to you two!” Lady Robur’s voice had suddenly become cheerful.

“Leave it to us.”

“Don’t just leave it to us! At least explain the situation!”

Before the man could finish speaking to Lady Robur, the scenery shifted dramatically.

“Perfect formation, Miss Linda.” Lady Robur gave me a thumbs-up and winked... Ugh, she was so cute. She’d used me as a physical attack and as a shield...but that smile was just unfair. “I believed the two of you could do it!”

“Ha ha ha... Really?” I asked, gasping for breath. Her laid-back demeanor made my knees buckle, and I collapsed onto the wooden floor just like the first time I’d been used as a shield. Questions about what “the two of you” meant were shoved to the back of my mind.

“Yes... I’m saved... Ugh... Uuugh...” That was when my tear ducts gave out and I started crying... Well, I guess that was inevitable.

“Oh dear, you’re already crying without even drinking any alcohol!” Lady Robur started patting my head gently. Why bring alcohol into this? She really was a genius beyond the comprehension of ordinary people like me.

But...was there something wrong with my sense of touch? I could feel the vibrations in my head, but it was like I was wearing a hat—I couldn’t feel Lady Robur’s elegant, luxurious hands touching me.

“What on earth is going on?” said a familiar voice. “Why are you in my room...?”

“Now, now, Priest Nax. It’s been a few hours. Heh heh heh, I’m most relieved the curse was lifted without difficulty. To cover up the lingering effects and various other matters... A banquet... Ahem. No, to celebrate the divorce being finalized between Robur family head and his wife, we’re hosting a feast to honor the church officials who worked so hard!”

Hold on, Lady Robur! That wasn’t the kind of thing that should be celebrated! Even I knew that!

※※Aside: A Peerless Villainess (Mihail)※※

“She’s late.”

A significant amount of time had passed since the sun set. It was pitch black outside. I was alone with Regulus in the parlor of the Robur residence, a fact I found quite irritating. Perhaps because I’d relieved the stress about Heinz, the subsequent work had progressed quite smoothly, and I’d been able to set out for home by evening. Thinking my sister should be returning from church any moment, I’d taken a sip of the hojicha tea John had brewed me, and paused to take a breather. But Regulus was the only one who’d returned, riding back to the mansion alone.

What the hell was going on? Why had my sister gone missing at the church?! Was the church in the forest or the mountains?! Had Regulus left Miss Faltan behind?! What kind of situation was this?! I didn’t understand a thing.

“Calm down,” Regulus told me. “Miss Faltan is probably just enjoying the opportunity to fangirl a bit too much.”

Time to what? “Fangirl”?! My sister used that term sometimes too—in fact, she’d been giggling about it with Miss Faltan during dinner last night—but I wouldn’t ask! I had the feeling that asking would somehow mean losing something...

Still, I didn’t like the smug look that flashed across Regulus’s normally expressionless face. He couldn’t possibly have learned that expression somewhere... No, surely the first prince wouldn’t do such a thing.

“She’s Miss Faltan,” he said. “Someone who can passionately debate her fangirling with the lady. It’s no wonder she’s enjoying her detour.”

“But isn’t that a failure in her choice of companion?” I protested, but I knew it was no good. This guy was a first-love fool who’d twisted his feelings for my sister. His choice of companion alone showed he’d been poisoned by her.

“No, that’s not the case. No one is better suited for undercover work than Miss Faltan. Not only are her senses heightened by the sacred beast’s blessing, she can also make her presence nearly imperceptible. Above all, she holds Lady Robur in the highest regard and is utterly devoted to her. She will definitely find the lady a suitable conduit of fangirling.”

“Again... ‘Fangirling’...and a conduit no less...”

Regulus seemed to be evaluating her seriously, but I couldn’t tell if that was good or bad.

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat casually, regaining my composure. Engaging in first-love nonsense wouldn’t improve the situation. “The magical device you gave Miss Faltan...it works properly, right?”

“Yes. Unless immense magical power is compressed and released in an instant, the magic circuits shouldn’t break easily.”

“Hey, you didn’t make it just so my sister could casually summon you, did you?” Lately, I’d noticed a flutter in the expression of this emotionless first-love fool. I’d become especially aware of it after that magic spell incident on the rooftop. Was this related to my eye condition, or was it just an older brother’s intuition?

“I’ve modified an emergency evacuation magic device that’s normally issued to the Knights for use with VIPs. It’s definitely sturdy.”

Busted! Don’t look away like that! Don’t pretend you didn’t hear my question at this distance! I thought.

“Once it’s activated, this magic stone hidden in my pocket will resonate, teleporting us near to the staff Miss Faltan carries. After that, a magic circle will appear at the feet of whoever was holding the staff when it was activated, and anyone within that circle will be teleported to my private chambers in the castle.”

“If you’re giving that to my sister, make sure the destination is our mansion,” I snapped. “Still, I’m surprised such a magical device even exists. Even the Knights’ evacuation devices are the kind that activate at the cost of a knight’s life.”

“I made it. Using feathers from the sacred beast Vamillia.”

“You didn’t actually peel them from the harisen, though, surely?”

“Those harisen are the only place one could find sacred beast feathers, surely?”

The sheer audacity of a first-love fool was terrifying. The nerve to take the feathers of a national treasure-level creature—artifacts you’d never get your hands on again—just to satisfy some whim. How could he act like it was perfectly normal?

“How could you use such a precious sacred beast material...”

“Well, it is precious, but like other monster materials, it’s a consumable, right? The moment I peeled it off, though, it turned to ash.”

“Huh?”

“Honestly, I don’t know if it was because a magic circuit had been drawn on it beforehand, or because someone other than Lady Robur, its rightful owner, was trying to use the feather for another purpose without the sacred beast’s permission. The whole thing turned to ash. But the Knight Commander hid it before His Majesty the King could confiscate it. In the end I borrowed a feather by cutting the old newspaper off the end of the harisen with the feather still stuck to it. When I incorporated it into a magical device along with the newspaper, it worked.”

“You didn’t take it from the Knight Commander without permission, did you?”

“Do you think he’d just let me cut it up? I cut it off evenly, so I’m sure he won’t notice.”

“I heard nothing about this.” This was dangerous territory, and I didn’t want to wade any deeper into it. I had deliberately not mentioned the harisen either, but it looked like absolutely no one had reported the artifact’s existence to His Majesty the King. I couldn’t talk about it, but was it really okay for the commanders of the Mage Corps and the Knights to keep it a secret?

As I was inwardly grabbing my head in frustration, Regulus stood up without warning from where he was sitting across the table and grabbed my collar.

“Hey, what the—” Before I could finish speaking, my vision began to warp and distort. Could it be that I needed contact with Regulus, who held the paired magic stone, in order to teleport to my sister?! I privately scolded myself for not getting a proper explanation from him, then braced for an emergency or dangerous teleport.

“Of course you’d interrupt us.” Suddenly, I heard my sister’s voice from somewhere nearby. There was an unfamiliar coldness to it, tinged with something like mocking laughter.

“Huh?!” I gasped. I sounded rather stupid.

Meanwhile, the first-love fool stood there with a somewhat dazed expression. “So you finally activated it, huh?” he said deliberately and calmly, stating the obvious. What kind of performance was this?

The next thing I knew, the pope, with his long, pure white hair, stood before me. I could sense irritation in his expression. And behind him stood Jabi, clad in that familiar robe, the same figure I’d faced in the boys’ dormitory long ago. The only visible part of her, her mouth, was tightly pursed; her gaze seemed fixed intently on a wall made of frozen earth.

The position of that wall was far too unnatural. Someone—no, this magic residue belonged to Miss Faltan. The wall’s surface was slightly damp and gouged. It seemed to have been used as a shield against water-based magic attacks.

“Then I’ll leave the rest to you two!” Just as expected. From beyond the wall came my sister’s usual voice, the bold declaration of a master of escape.

“Leave it to us,” Regulus replied.

“Don’t just leave it to us!” I protested. “At least explain the situation!”

The first-love fool glanced at me and chuckled softly. He probably thought I was being petty!

Even as we argued, though, my sister’s presence vanished. Once she was gone, the first-love fool started scheming again—and I knew it couldn’t be anything good. I could sense it intuitively from the dark aura radiating off him: He was probably scheming to delay my sister’s teleport next time, so he could create his own moment to shine and drag me into it as his sidekick.

I subtly took a step back. My face twitched involuntarily. “I’m not getting dragged into your dirty tricks.”

“Why... No, I don’t understand what you mean, but sometimes giving up is the best choice.”

Wait, it seemed like he was trying to say he did understand... More importantly, was he only intent on dragging me in?

“Of course, I only have Lady Robur in mind,” he added.

“No, there’s more to it than that...”

“I’ll make sure your sister is happy, so you can rest assured and fade away.”

Hey! Don’t look away after you finish speaking. It’s obvious you accidentally let your true feelings slip at the end...

“Honestly,” I said, “I can’t feel the slightest bit at ease about my own situation...”

“I will definitely make your sister happy...” He cut in before I could finish with a meaningless declaration of happiness—his attempt to gloss over things.

Then Jabi cut him off. “Somehow, that’s a real letdown.” I really felt things were just getting pointlessly chaotic.

I looked over at Jabi to see she was shrouded in a faint, dark crimson haze. I couldn’t help but feel a distinct sense of horror. Was my vision acting up again at a time like this? The sinister magic curse I’d faced not long ago flashed through my mind.

“Indeed,” said the pope. “Who would have thought we’d attract such interference in this manner?” He wore the smile he always did at Academy events—or was it a wry smile? I sensed that something was off.

“For someone so troubled, you seem rather relieved,” Jabi remarked. It was true: The pope really did look relieved, or at least I thought so.

“Me? Ha! As if!” He laughed with a hint of self-mockery. I felt another prickle of unease, and I wondered if perhaps...

“Are you regretting that incompetent lady discovering your true purpose? But you understand, don’t you? You’ve already made a contract with me. Neither you nor I can sever it now. Unless you’re a sacred beast or its pact-bearer, even if the contract fails, even if you die, your soul remains bound to it. My power has permeated your body and soul—it’s fused with you.”

“That woman is a demon,” Regulus said. “Are you aware, Your Holiness, that you’ve made a contract with a demon?”

So basically, he’d colluded with a demon to target my sister?! Right after I’d teleported here, I’d heard my sister’s voice, and it had sounded different than usual! Had he inflicted some deep psychological wound on her?

“Of course I did,” the pope replied calmly.

“Why does a demon’s ally like you obsess over Lady Robur? I won’t tolerate any more followers!”

Hold on, hold on, first-love fool! He was completely missing the point. My sister had no followers—she wasn’t some cult leader. But...why did the faces of my sister’s team leader, Heinz, and Miss Faltan suddenly flash through my mind? From reading the first-love fool’s expressionless face a moment ago, to the faces popping into my head now...it really had to be a problem with my eyes...

“Damn... I won’t lose,” Regulus muttered.

It was no good. That lovestruck fool’s misguided remark was messing with my concentration. “What?” I asked.

“Nothing...” He was the first prince, after all. He couldn’t possibly speak his true thoughts...

“Heh, I don’t know what you two are trying to signal with your eye contact, but I’m certainly not letting my guard down against a member of the royal family and the direct heir of one of the Four Ducal Houses.”

I was sorry to interrupt the pope’s vigilance and his cheerful smile, but I’d completely forgotten he was even there...

“Besides,” he added, “I don’t recall becoming an ally of the demon.”

“Oh dear, how coldly you put it,” Jabi said.

“We’re not exactly on friendly terms, Jabi. We merely made a contract based on shared interests. My wish hasn’t even been granted yet—allies? Impossible. Ah, and I have no interest in Lady Robur herself. Rest assured. My interest lies solely in my beloved princess. I merely require the lady’s face and indigo eyes to resurrect Her Highness. In any case, the young lady has long been mistreated, including by you, her own brother.”

Hey, did he just declare he’d take my sister’s face and eyeballs? I struggled to suppress the rage that boiled up in me.

But wait—what was he saying? A princess? A royal from another country? Yet he intended to resurrect her? Was he seriously considering using some kind of resurrection magic? Even if it was forbidden magic, though, I’d never heard of a successful case of it being used. Not even in the documents stored in the Robur residence’s library—accessible only to the current head and the next heir—had I ever seen anything like it.

“It won’t hurt a bit, and I would ensure I took good care of her afterward.”

My anger flared instantly, but beside me, the first-love fool was radiating an even greater rage—no, it was outright murderous intent.

“What? What wouldn’t you hesitate to do?” His voice was thick with a menace he wasn’t even trying to conceal. Because of him, I couldn’t focus on my own anger.

“It’s unusual for the first prince to display his emotions so openly,” the pope remarked. “But in any case, both you and the other young man will keep this secret, won’t you?”

“Nonsense,” I snapped. “That’s impossible. I intend to pursue this matter to the fullest, including your attempt to kidnap my sister.”

“I hope you can manage that.” He seemed surprisingly calm. Even as my unease about the pope grew, my concentration was actually being sapped by the increasing chaos in my vision.

The dark red mist surrounding Jabi was growing denser, and the same kind of mist was beginning to rise from the pope himself. And wasn’t the pope firing particles of light at us? Why were they pink? Well, mainly pink, but mixed with dark red. It wasn’t mist, but light particles. Could the pope be casting magic on us? The color was different, but they resembled the light particles I saw sometimes when magic was used.

“Hmm. It seems the shoddy shadow attached to Lady Robur hasn’t appeared,” mused the pope. “That shadow, which was exceptionally skilled at concealing its presence, must have been teleported somewhere with the young lady. If so...”

Your Holiness, that was definitely not a trained spy. It was Miss Faltan, I thought. Just to be sure, I glanced sideways and locked eyes with Regulus’s vermilion pupils.

“You think I’d assign anyone but myself to guard Lady Robur?” he scoffed. “Don’t underestimate me.”

This first-love fool’s thought process was criminal. Could he be secretly spying on my sister? The Robur family’s spy had been told by father not to follow my sister, but could the prince have used his own influence?

The pope paid us no mind as he touched a nearby rock wall and channeled magic into it. By some spell, droplets appeared and began flowing over the left and right rock walls. Contrary to the ordinary course of things, they flowed upward, from bottom to top. The droplets rapidly increased in volume, forming multiple streams all flowing up the walls to the ceiling, where the streams converged into a waterfall flowing upward from the bottom to the top.

He was setting something up. Some part of my mind knew it, yet Regulus and I just stood there, watching. Distantly aware of my own sluggish thinking, I also noticed the particles the pope was emitting were increasing. Had he already set something in motion?

“Since I’ve been keeping it in the sea, I thought I’d teleport it directly here,” the pope stated calmly, wearing a cool smile. In that moment, countless magic circles appeared on the surface of the waterfall.

Even predicting that something vicious was being teleported over, we somehow didn’t move.

“Regulus, be careful,” I said. “I can’t shake the feeling that the target is something else entirely.”

“Ah, it’s not a subjugation spell either...” It seemed he hadn’t just been displaying his first-love foolishness beside me; he’d been thinking properly too.

The more I focused my awareness on the numerous magic circles, the more something within my mind tried to erode my thoughts, making me want to abandon them. It wasn’t a subjugation spell. I didn’t sense the will to forcibly compel obedience emanating from the magic. Had I not been alerted by those particles of light at first, I might have let my thoughts dull without even noticing the unease, and committed an irreversible blunder.

Noticing the magic circles’ glow intensifying, we stood back-to-back facing the waterfalls. Sandwiched between the waterfalls materializing on the walls, in the space that had now become a corridor of water, we shook our heads and stood firm, raising the magic power within our bodies in preparation for what came next.

Several of the magic circles flickered, and a swarm of fish suddenly surfaced, their upper bodies breaking the water. Sharp teeth peeked from their mouths... They looked familiar?

“It’s a new species of fish-type magical beast that spreads its fins like wings to fly through the deep sea and swim at high speeds,” the pope explained. “I found it while constructing a fish tank for certain creatures of the deep sea. It seemed useful for research, so I decided to keep it.”

“A new species?” Regardless of the pope’s magic, I felt faint.

“Mihail...?” Regulus asked, but his voice was growing distant and hazy, replaced by phantom sounds.

“Tonight’s dinner is courtesy of Lag! A sashimi platter of flying fish! If you dislike raw fish, please dip it in the broth in that pot over there and enjoy it with our special dressing, shabu-shabu style!” It was an auditory hallucination of something I’d heard during some dinner last week. I’d seen that fish in the dish my sister had served! That day, she’d invited me over, saying she’d gotten her hands on some rare monster meat. And next to the raw fish fillet, she’d placed the fish’s head and wings—this fish’s head and wings—as garnish. Honestly, I didn’t get the point of that part.

Whoever supplied my sister with that undiscovered monster as ingredients better show themselves! Though I must say, both the sashimi and the shabu-shabu were delicious! I felt my dulled thoughts snap back a little with the thought. What kind of synergy effect was this?!

“Now, attack!” commanded the pope. He was controlling them?! A swarm of slender bodies as long as an arm appeared at once. They spread their wings like locusts or cicadas and flew at high speed, moving between the magic circles on either side, and bared their sharp teeth, ready to bite and tear.

My sister had warned me about this fish’s mode of attack. I cast two earth-element spells parallel to the waterway, creating walls spanning the width and height of the waterfall. Earth magic wasn’t my specialty, but I could manage this much.

“Well, good judgment. And you deflected my charm?” The pope waved his hand, and particles glowing aqua blue shot from it, causing the walls to crumble away. Had he saturated them with water to weaken them?

As the walls collapsed, the dive-bombing flying fish scattered everywhere. If I’d conjured walls only in front of us, I knew these fish would have flown through the air, changed course, and attacked. Who could have known my sister’s intel would come in handy like this?

“Mihail, surely Lady Robur didn’t...” Regulus seemed to have realized what had happened: Laviange had deliciously consumed these fish.

“Exactly. My sister would love this.”

“Keeping it all to yourself, Mihail? I’ll remember that.”

I did have the selfish desire to eat them again, but I had told him out of a sense of goodwill, at least a little. It seemed I’d earned the grudge of a lovesick fool, but that was an inevitability.

“Wait, why is the prince stuffing them into his bag?!” the pope exclaimed.

“Interfere and I’ll kill you.”

“Sudden murderous intent?! I don’t understand!”

Ah, right. The pope had cast a charm spell on us. That explained it. But even knowing it was a rare charm that relied on an innate ability, the sheer shock at my sister’s nonsense made the wonder of it all fade.

The pope was bewildered by the sight of the enthusiasm, and the murderous intent, on the face of the country’s first prince, who had eagerly started stuffing as many fish as possible into his magic bag. I sympathized, but right now, I’d prefer he be left alone.

The magic bag was going to start stinking, but that first-love fool probably wouldn’t care.

But my wish was in vain—Jabi interrupted Regulus’s fish harvest.

“How boring,” she said, standing motionless as crimson-black particles were released toward the fish.

“Hey!” A low growl suddenly came from beside me. Looking over, I saw that the fish Regulus had been crouching to pick up was rotting.

Before the stench could spread, I set it ablaze with magic. I’d have preferred to reduce it to ash instantly, but magic was stubbornly difficult to wield here. Likely, some sort of spell had been cast over this entire space, hindering magic activation.

“Aren’t you going to get serious soon?” Jabi’s voice shifted to one of displeasure. The crimson-black mist that enveloped her drifted gently, moving toward the pope.

“There’s no need to rush,” the pope told her. “Ah, you unstable being—you couldn’t carelessly involve yourself with humans, could you? Perhaps because you were revived with the princess’s hair and Sriarde’s body, you especially wanted to keep your distance from royalty. Very well. I’ll bring out a special something just for you.” He chuckled softly before suddenly unleashing particles of deepening pink and crimson-black light at us all at once.

Though he couldn’t see it with his eyes, the lovestruck fool sensed something and tried to cast a barrier, but he failed. Even creating a shield was difficult here; a barrier seemed even harder. I shielded him from behind, taking a massive hit from the light particles.

“Mihail!” he cried.

“Calm down. I merely absorbed enchantment magic.” As my vision swayed and distorted, a fierce affection for the pope welled up inside me. I desperately fought to suppress it. The same enchantment magic was probably accumulating in Regulus’s body, clouding his judgment and robbing him of his composure.

“Regulus... Set up the smallest...barrier... Wait... What...?” As I struggled to hold myself up, shielding myself from the particles and somehow managing to speak, a colored yet translucent scene overlapped the dim, tangible reality before my eyes. Unconsciously, I let out a stunned, speechless gasp.

“Lily. Your name. It must be inconvenient not having one. My seal is a white lycoris. Your hair color resembles that flower, so how about Lily?” A girl appeared before my eyes, making an incongruous proposal. Her expression, framed by hair the color of a white peach tinged with silver, gave off a cold, inorganic air.

She was looking at the area around my knees as she spoke. Her eyes were an indigo blue I knew well. The difference was the iris. More precisely, there was a golden ring—said to have been possessed by ancient royalty—along the outer edge of her iris.

Could this girl be...

The name that flashed through my mind was the infamous Princess Beljeanne, an unmatched villainess. Though of royal blood, she had possessed little magical talent and a personality marked by arrogance and conceit. She had been notorious for summoning a demon in a fit of fierce jealousy over having her fiancé stolen from her.

Yet the girl before me was dressed in simple, worn clothes, like those of a commoner, a far cry from her infamous reputation.

And...white lycoris...?

“H-Hey, Mihail! Snap out of it!”

The sensation of being violently shaken jolted me awake. What was all that?

I looked around. The girl was gone. I was inside the barrier Regulus had set up, just as I’d advised.

“Oh dear, you weren’t completely charmed this time either,” the pope remarked. “But you’re gradually being corrupted. It’s only a matter of time.” As he spoke, the countless magic circles on the left waterfall fused together, forming one large array.

First to emerge were thick, writhing tentacle-like legs with suction cups. Their numbers grew, followed by a human torso, then a chest... Finally the entire upper body appeared, writhing as it came into view.

The lower half, I surmised, belonged to the creature my sister called an octopus. Months ago, she’d served it for breakfast, saying, “How about takoyaki for breakfast?” The octopus meat had been inside those odd, ball-shaped dough pieces. It had been delicious.

But the upper body looked nothing like the one my sister had set aside, saying that the octopus head would be cooked separately later.

No matter how I looked at it, that pale, water-bloated, armless upper body was human. It was soaked through, dripping what seemed like tears from its eyes, and shrouded in a billowing, dark red mist—an utterly nauseating sight.

“Ahh... Ugh... P-Please...forgive...me...” it begged the pope. Its voice was muffled, and it sounded as if it was struggling to form words.

The pope’s cool smile vanished instantly. Hatred boiled in his eyes. “If you want forgiveness,” he said coldly, “bring the princess back to life. If not... No, even if you did, I wouldn’t forgive you. You have no right to beg. Shut your filthy mouth and eat your leftovers.”

At these harsh words, the sucker-tipped foot moved, deftly picking up the decayed remains of the fish.

“No, stop... Ugh... Uuugh...” The arm forced the rotten fish into the mouth of the struggling, recoiling human form.

“Ha ha ha! Is this not the former pope who once behaved as if he were a god himself?! Why not cease this pitiful attempt to flee?” There was cruelty in the pope’s black eyes, his gentle, kind-seeming face twisted in delight. Who exactly was this man, the pope?

“You mean the previous pope?” said Regulus skeptically. “Didn’t he die of illness?” It seemed his first-love obsession had finally faded. Like me, he was dripping cold sweat, struggling against the lingering charm that still attacked him even with its power weakened by the barrier.

I truly felt relieved that my sister wasn’t here. Unlike me and Regulus, who’d long participated in the Mage Corps and Knight Corps’ monster hunts and witnessed countless horrific scenes, witnessing something like this would surely scar her soul...even if she did cling to her individualism with such determination that it made me want to ask if it was an ironclad rule she kept for herself.

“Yes,” the pope replied. “We made it appear as if he died of illness, ended his life once, and then resurrected him like this, as a chimera. Now then, don’t just stand there eating. Attack.” The pope flicked his wrist, and countless droplets of water sprayed toward us from the waterfalls on either side. Had they struck us directly, they would likely have pierced our bodies.

Regulus instantly focused his attention on maintaining the barrier.

As if blending into the spray, writhing, suction-cupped legs clung to the barrier, tightening to try and break it. Worse still, the face of the previous pope, twisted in bitter agony, rubbed against the barrier with his forehead, attempting to interfere and break it.

I recalled that, during my head-of-household training, one instructor had mentioned that the previous pope’s magical power had only been average among the popes. However, his skill in analyzing, breaking, or nullifying magic had been unparalleled.

The barrier surrounding us required far more concentration and mana than usual to maintain. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before it dissolved.

I raised my left knee and braced my right hand against the ground. Channeling holy-attribute mana, I interfered with the waterfall flowing outside the barrier to prevent any more chimeras from being summoned. But for some reason, I struggled to draw out the holy magic from within me. What was going on? I focused my awareness on the magic within my body...and froze in shock.

I didn’t naturally possess a particularly high proportion of holy magic. My healing spells primarily used water magic, with holy magic serving as a secondary component. Without my intention, dark magic power was now concentrating, and being consumed, within my pupils. Was this related to my dark-attribute aptitude increasing, while my holy-attribute aptitude—the opposite of dark—decreased?

All the while, the pope stood there with a smug smile. It irritated me to no end. I forced holy magic power through myself, and the light in the left magic circle wavered. Success. Now, summoning anything from that magic circle would be impossible.

Using the droplets wetting the barrier’s exterior, I mediated water magic to temper the holy magic, and poured holy magic into the clinging, monstrous form of the previous pope.

If this was the previous pope’s fate...what on earth had this man done to the current pope?

“Help...me...” The upper body had been mumbling this whole time, still pleading for help. The barrier-dissolving force it had been exerting began to slacken, though, and so did the strength of the countless clinging legs.

I thought the crimson-black mist might be demonic power. As I’d suspected, the holy magic seemed to be effective against the monstrous body. If I’d gotten that hint from the crude magical device my sister had used to counter the magic curse we’d faced last summer, that was a secret I intended to keep to myself.

Just as a ray of hope seemed to pierce through, Jabi clapped her hands together sharply, as if she’d timed it perfectly. “Come to think of it, I just remembered something.”

“What do you intend to do?” The pope looked at Jabi suspiciously, and she deepened the curve of her lips.

The countless magic circles on the right side began to glow a sickening, dull crimson black. They merged into one massive magic circle. Jabi had apparently interfered.

First to emerge from the magic circle were a pair of long green limbs with fingers and sharp claws extending from them. Several flying fish were impaled on the claws. As the hind legs stood and took a step forward, the front legs and torso followed. A basilisk?

After the tall body emerged, the head that had been tilted back at the very end suddenly jerked forward with force. Then, before I could react, it began devouring the impaled fish with single-minded ferocity.

The head was human. I was certain this was also a chimera. Long black hair hung over its face, obscuring its features, but the head itself was remarkably small. It resembled a woman’s head. Was its self-awareness dominated by appetite? This was truly gruesome. Wait... Through the parting of the hair, a face peered out for an instant.

“Mother...?” I gasped, forgetting I’d taken to calling her “that woman.”

“We should let it properly meet its family, don’t you think?” Jabi said. “It seems pitiful otherwise.”

I thought Regulus suddenly looked at me.

Mother slowly lifted her face from the fish she’d been gnawing on. She was covered in wounds—not surprising, since she’d bitten into a magical beast with her human mouth.

Even though I understood it intellectually, her utterly transformed appearance left me speechless, unable to contain my shock. The enchantment I’d resisted all this time overcame me, seeping into my very being in an instant.

“I’m hungry... I need...more food...” That voice, tinged with awkwardness, was still my mother’s...

“Mother...”

Forgetting to channel magic, I stood and took a step toward her, but Regulus grabbed my shoulder to stop me. “Mihail.”

“Jabi, don’t be selfish,” tutted the pope.

“You wouldn’t say something so pathetic as ‘I never meant for a son to see his mother like this,’ would you?” she smirked. “Besides, if she takes him, wouldn’t that be a mother’s greatest wish?”

“What about her body, anyway? I thought you’d find more use for the body of a high-ranking noble than that useless, lightweight head you have?”

The pope seemed aware Jabi had planned to do something to my mother. Yet his tone of reproach suggested he hadn’t anticipated her being transformed into this monstrous form. I assessed the situation with my cloudy mind.

“Ah, that had a separate purpose. I merely connected the useless head with the junk-bound body to grant both pieces of trash a pointless extension of life. If I’m just playing with corpses, I don’t have many restrictions. But look, it worked out to our advantage.”

My anger had been relatively small when I’d been confronted with the appearance of the previous pope—anger questioning what Jabi thought human dignity was. Now it surged. I felt the sensation of Regulus shaking my shoulder hard. “Tch, Mihail!”

Yet my body wouldn’t obey. It was a miracle I could even stand; no strength flowed through my limbs. Only my eyes burned unbearably. Simultaneously, magic surged through my body with heat, forcing the enchantment particles back out.

My vision distorted, afterimages blurred, the scenery shifting.

※※※※

“Dismiss your orders to us now, and undo that ridiculous magic! We’ve never been treated like royalty! Bel doesn’t have to bear any obligations! This country should just disappear! So...so...” The voice was coming from a nine-tailed fox cub, howling desperately as it floated in midair.

Smiling down at the little fox was a girl who seemed slightly older than when I had last seen her.

Her plain, unadorned clothes were torn and tattered, as if she had just fought a battle. The moment I saw her hair, unnaturally short on one side, and the bare skin that showed through the gaps in her torn clothing, I realized the situation was dire.

Ominous, scorched-looking dark red runes crawled across her still-gaunt body, burning into her flesh as if they were being branded on her. Following those marks, silver flames were overwriting them with another set of inscriptions. I didn’t recognize either set of runes. Were they ancient scripts that had vanished long ago?

The sight was agonizingly painful; it was clear at a glance that the trembling girl was enduring excruciating torment. How could she maintain such a serene expression? Her calm, still eyes showed no will to choose life for herself.

Still, there was no despair either... Yes, it was more like utter exhaustion...

“Sorry my first command is like this, Casquette. But it’s not because you’re royalty.”

I was startled to hear the words “Casquette” and “command.” Was this girl a pact-bearerpact-bearer?

I’d only been away from the princess for a short while. Yet her long hair had been cut, and somehow everything had ended up like this... A childish voice had drifted in from somewhere. Was this someone’s dream? This summer, when I’d nearly gotten caught in a magic curse at the Academy’s boys’ dorm, I’d peeked into Sienna’s dream like this.

Sunlight, pure and refreshing, streamed down from the sky that was revealed by the missing roof, bathing the girl in light.

Had he done it again?

In the corner of the room, a young man sat curled up, crying, his face swollen. He looked about my age, and his hair was a pale greenish silver. Through his swollen eyelids, his sky blue eyes were barely visible. That color matched the famous Prince of Justice, who’d defeated the legendary villainess and the demon she’d served...

Or was it someone else? Someone who’d insulted the princess, or just stood by and watched?

Other youths of the same age surrounded the boy. Among them were several with complexions which matched the legitimate sons and daughters of the Four Ducal Houses. Their expressions betrayed fear and regret. Among them, only one girl was different—a girl I almost mistook for my sister for a moment. Her face was full of earnest longing as she stared intently at the girl with silver-peach hair bathed in the morning sun.

Though confused by the situation, I realized the silver-peach girl was Princess Beljeanne, and the peach-gold girl was my grandmother.

Or had Sriarde done something again? The childish voice uttered the word “again.” It reminded me of the hallucination I’d seen in the royal palace long ago—Sriarde, her face twisted in pleasure.

“It’s because I’m the pact-bearerpact-bearer of these sacred beasts,” Princess Beljeanne was saying. “Being your master was my only pride, my only joy. It’s okay, we’ll meet again. I’ll definitely come back, so let me go now. Casquette, Laguondol...I love you.”

Their master?! Casquette and Laguondol?! Could it be...the unparalleled villainess, Princess Beljeanne, had contracted with two sacred beasts?!

Startled, I stared intently at Princess Beljeanne, who was smiling gently. For some reason, her face felt familiar, like my grandmother’s. Come to think of it, aside from the golden rings, even the color of her eyes...

“I’ll return to this country someday,” she went on. “When I do, find me. Next time, I want us to live together peacefully, unbound and unfettered, laughing for the rest of our lives. So until then, protect this place where we’ll meet again.” Princess Beljeanne surely understood she would die soon. How could her smile for her sacred beasts, her indigo eyes ringed with gold, remain so serene?

She wasn’t much younger than me—about the same age as my sister. Despite her serenity, she looked utterly exhausted. And yet even in that state, the air around her was pure and divine, radiating a beauty that defied any belief she could be a legendary villainess.

But that thought lasted only a moment. Her entire body burst into a brilliant silver light, blazing as if it had caught fire. Her form wavered...then, in an instant, she crumbled into a pile of white ash.

“Bel!” The white sacred beast flew toward the small heap of ash, tears spilling from its gold-flecked indigo eyes. “Oh... Bel... You idiot... Why did you... Wait! Bel! Beljeanne... No, no! Don’t leave me behind!” It spoke as though Princess Beljeanne were still there. Then, as if chasing something, it spun on its heel and vanished.

“Lady Beljeanne...” Slowly, feebly, my grandmother approached the ashes. Her face was crushed by despair, tears streaming down her cheeks.

You! You were protected by the princess all along! If it weren’t for you! cried a childish voice. It sounded as if the voice was venting anger, but the words it said shocked me.

Princess Beljeanne had been protecting my grandmother, even though they were rivals in love? As I stared at the scene in stunned silence, a silver-blue dragon appeared directly above the white ash. My grandmother stopped in her tracks.

It was Laguondol, the sacred beast I’d seen in the Poison Box Garden. A single tear rolled from its eyes, which were the same shade as Casquette’s had been. The falling tear formed a water droplet, enveloping the white ash. Together with Laguondol, it vanished abruptly.

This wasn’t just a dream. At the very least, it was somebody’s genuine memory—a memory of the owner of this childish voice.

“Princess Beljeanne!” Suddenly, a blond youth dashed from what seemed to be the collapsed entrance.

A young girl, who must have been pushed aside forcefully by the youth, caught my eye at the entrance, having landed on her bottom. She was about ten years old, with white hair and black eyes... Was this Lily? She was wearing a maid’s uniform, and she bore a resemblance to the pope.

Come to think of it, the pope had also called Beljeanne “Princess”... Could it be? Yes, the current pope’s actual age should be about the same as this child would be when grown.

But my thoughts crashed to a halt as I took in the sight of the young blond man who’d just rushed in. With a desperate, fierce expression, he grabbed my grandmother’s shoulders and shook her violently as she stood frozen in tears, clearly overwhelmed. “Princess Beljeanne?! What happened to Bel?! Is she safe?! Answer me quickly!”

“Lord Soviesch... I’m sorry... Princess Beljeanne...h-has passed away...”

So this man was my grandfather?! His features resembled my father’s and my own, and above all, those rare golden-green eyes were my grandfather’s color.

But my grandmother—no, the way he spoke and acted toward his fated lover was so violent it left me speechless. And above all, had I just heard him call Princess Beljeanne “Bel” as a nickname? Princess Beljeanne seemed to be his priority—his agitation even suggested he loved his fiancée.

“What are you saying... Why... This... Bel, it’s a lie... It’s a lie...” At first Soviesch was stunned, but soon he began scanning his surroundings as if searching for something invisible. His golden-green eyes seemed to sparkle, seeming clearer for an instant, only for the glint to fade. Gradually, those eyes filled with despair...and he collapsed, dropping weakly to his knees.

Then the scenery abruptly distorted, shifting into a world of black and white.

I realized my consciousness was trying to return to reality.

※※Aside: Cheers to the Battle (Regulus)※※

The shock of his mother’s transformation into a basilisk chimera had left Mihail vulnerable, and now he’d been seized by the pope’s enchantment. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him hard, but his eyes remained unfocused. More than that, though, his pupils seemed strangely transparent, lacking their usual sparkle. What was happening?

“Heh heh heh, he’s in a tight spot,” Jabi chuckled. “If he remains under this spell...ah, why not have him kill the first prince with his own hands? Then, once the spell is broken, he will surely show a face of utter despair.”

“You truly are a demon,” I spat. “That’s in bad taste.” Honestly, I wanted to avoid that outcome. My beloved would be heartbroken... I found myself jealous at the thought. It was almost unbearable to imagine that seeing her brother despair would hurt more than losing me.

“Well, I am a demon. But I can’t interfere any further. I’m leaving. It’s a shame I can’t involve myself more directly for long, even though this seems interesting. At least try not to fail.”

“Hmph,” the pope scoffed, looking vaguely displeased. “I don’t need advice from a demon.”

With that, Jabi’s form vanished like smoke. It was probably teleportation, but did demons use a different power than the magic humans wielded? Instinctively, I understood only that she vanished using a force distinct from any magic I knew.

When we’d first met on the rooftop, she had mentioned constraints on her manifestation. Earlier, the pope had also said something about Princess Beljeanne’s and Sriarde’s bodies. Learning that demons had their own rules was a boon.

“Well now, Prince Regulus,” the pope said smugly, “your endurance to the very end is truly commendable, but perhaps it’s time you ceased your futile struggles. It’s infuriating, but it seems the previous pope had some use for you after all.”

He was right: His predecessor was about to break through the barrier. The creature’s suction-cup feet had only barely penetrated inside, but the power to dissolve the magic began seeping in from the suckers.

In an instant the pope’s magic, which had been somewhat contained until now, assaulted me, scattering its charm power everywhere.

I couldn’t actually feel the charm at all when it was cast on me. It must have been a mental effect; it forcibly interfered with my conscious mind, forcing an unnatural goodwill toward the pope to well up with such intensity it was sickening. It wasn’t just a simple charm. Resisting the sensation that threatened to overwhelm me at any moment, I slipped my hand into the cuff of my jacket sleeve.

“Oh? Another futile action,” the pope said with a twisted smile.

Ignoring him for now, I thrust the hidden dagger—far smaller than my palm—into my right thigh. The pain, which should have been sharp, felt dull, as if it belonged to someone else. When I twisted it, it shifted to a numbing ache, and the forced, vicious kindness eased slightly. In that same motion, I grabbed the collar of the still silent and motionless Mihail and shook him.

“Mihail!” A sharp pain shot through my thigh, making me groan involuntarily. “Mih...”

“I must...save mother...” Mihail pulled the dagger from my thigh, shook off my hand, stood up, and slowly began to walk forward—toward where his mother, now a chimera, stood.

The chimera tilted its head slightly, its massive green body spreading its front legs and arms wide as if to welcome its son to it. I watched, swallowing hard, as Mihail stepped out of the barrier and advanced into its embrace.

“Food... Mine...” It had been complaining of hunger this whole time. The chimera’s fingers bore sharp claws. It moved as if to thrust them into Mihail, reaching out to grab him... But, without embracing him, the chimera let out a shrill scream and stumbled backward.

I glanced at it as the barrier dissolved, dodging the tentacles that reached for me. As the barrier vanished and the former pope’s face came toward me, I made full use of my enhanced physique magic and punched it hard. I followed up swiftly with a gust of wind magic that blew him toward the waterfall.

The wound on my thigh had already healed. As Mihail had pulled out the dagger, magic had healed it. Furthermore, he had also loosened the charm’s effect, using dark-attribute psychic magic with drastically increased precision.

As I glanced at Mihail, I saw the chimera, which had thrust the dagger I’d given him into its own forehead, blown away toward the edge of the crimson-black magic circle. Mihail, using body enhancement and wind magic like me, had apparently kicked the creature in the stomach.

At the edge of my vision, tentacles writhed. I wasted no time conjuring a pillar of fire with a mix of fire and holy magic, engulfing the octopus-pope in flames. He collapsed, writhing, his death throes swallowed by the flames. I roasted him until he was charred.

Meanwhile, the chimera let out a bestial scream from its human mouth. Light arrows forged from holy magic appeared in droves, piercing its body. Of course, the light arrows were fired by Mihail. But their power was weak: They wouldn’t be enough to take a life. The proportion of magical attributes within Mihail’s body was fluctuating, and, right now, his dark magic was strangely active.

Even so, the reason Mihail used this magic...

“What a truly heartrending display of familial love.” Though his tone was gentle, the contempt in the pope’s dark eyes was clear. “When did you manage to resist the enchantment?”

“It’s simply that dark magic is easier to wield now, and my resistance to it has grown stronger. Pope, what exactly are you so enraged about?” Mihail turned back to the pope quietly. His violet eyes held no intense emotion, but rather a hint of melancholy...?

“I cannot tolerate the royal family and the Four Dukes trampling upon the princess’s dignity and continue to wield their power,” the pope replied quietly...but as I looked closer, I thought I saw black smoke rising from his body.

“I see,” Mihail said. “Charm is naturally a holy spell. Why has it transformed so monstrously, gaining a subjugation attribute like darkness? That change was the reason I was able to break it.”

It was only a hypothesis, but... During the magic curse incident a few months ago, perhaps Mihail had unconsciously trained and heightened his dark magic powers. That was why he could break free from the charm’s hold on his own, and perhaps even read information from the magic itself.

A person’s magical power transforming, though? Not like in Mihail’s case, where the aptitude ratio changed...

Indeed, the pope’s charm carried something akin to subjugation. True charm enchantments opened another’s heart naturally, without discomfort, fostering goodwill. The pope’s enchantment carried an unnatural quality—inflating benevolent emotions with such force it could feel as if one’s will was being hijacked.

“Hmph... So it was precisely because your dark magic ratio is so high that you noticed?”

“Yes. Your magic is ominous, sharp and thorny. Yet simultaneously, it feels cold and painful.” There was clear sorrow in Mihail’s words, and in his eyes... What was going on? “Was that girl Princess Beljeanne?” he asked.

Princess Beljeanne? So Mihail had interfered with the pope’s magic after all. I’d received the report about him peering into Sienna’s memories during the magic curse incident. It would hardly be surprising if he’d glimpsed the pope’s memories too.

Those with high aptitude for dark magic could unconsciously interfere with an opponent’s magic and spirit when their own magic became unstable. Had his dark magic aptitude surged suddenly, causing instability as he forcibly resisted the altered charm spell?

From our conversation so far, I was certain the pope was connected to Princess Beljeanne. And he was clearly sympathetic toward her. As for Mihail, he seemed to have seen something unbelievable; something he accepted and yet could not fully comprehend. From the look on his face, I was certain he had caught a glimpse of the pope’s memories. What on earth had he seen?

The moment Mihail asked about the princess, the smile vanished from the pope’s face. The black smoke rising from his body grew even denser. That smoke... It could be interpreted as visible magical energy, but it wasn’t dark magic either.

“Hmph... The grandson of the man who, as her fiancé, knew the princess’s true form yet continued to stand by and watch...” Anger seeped into the pope’s voice. The black smoke was absorbed back into him, only to emerge again from his body even darker.

It was like... Yes, like Heinz several months ago near the boys’ dormitory, when Lady Robur had called him “Black Bodysuit,” as negative emotions had flowed in and out of the mass of his magic.

Incidentally, I’d never forget the way her dreamy indigo eyes looked then. I’d never forget them, and I’d never forget the pitch-black jealousy that welled up inside me when I’d realized they were directed at someone else, not me.

“I would prefer you not speak that name,” the pope went on. His anger swelling, he turned to the chimera, fixing the beast with a freezing stare. “Come now, that is your son, after all. How long will you remain held back by such a poor-quality light arrow?”

The black smoke flickered. Then, the several light arrows pinning the massive body to the ground vanished.

“Ah... Ah... I...”

Suddenly, the chimera—no, the former duchess—turned a despairing face toward her son, as if she had regained her self-awareness. The holy light arrows seemed to have healed her consciousness, restoring some memories.

“No... Not like this... Help... Ah... I’m hungry... No... Help... I have to escape...” Her self-awareness flickered back and forth in eyes the same violet as Mihail’s.

“A woman who abuses a helpless child for so long is nothing but a scourge, in any era,” the pope intoned. It sounded as if he was echoing someone else’s words—but whose? “Suffer before you die,” he declared, manifesting and launching a single light spear. It should have been a holy light spear, colored in golden light, but while the attribute remained unchanged, its color was a poisonous, dark red. Was this transformation of magical power?

“Tch.” Mihail clicked his tongue as the two of us each raised a barrier at once. Yet the spear pierced through the double barrier, stabbing the chimera in the chest from behind as it spun on its heel.

The former duchess let out a death cry, collapsing into the magic circle Jabi had interfered with, turning it crimson black, and vanishing. The barrier vanished as well, nullified by the spear that had pierced it.

“Well, well. Escaped by chance, did you?” The pope’s hand held yet another crimson-black spear. When had he...? “I suppose it’s time for us to show you what we’re truly capable of.”

The black smoke rising from the pope instantly retreated back into his body, and his skin darkened before our eyes to a reddish-black hue. His frame grew larger still, and through the white cassock embroidered with silver thread—the distinctive vestment of the clergy—one could get a sense of the sheer power of his physique.

As the pope bent forward, his back bulged beneath his robes. After a moment, he thrust his chest out forcefully, and wings burst through the fabric on his back. They were clad in crimson-black feathers, instantly recognizable as rigid and hard.

“Gah!” Mihail and I groaned in unison as we were violently assaulted by the mesmerizing power Mihail had been suppressing. An overwhelming, almost violent urge to worship surged from deep within my chest, uncontrollable—a sensation unlike anything before, making my head spin wildly.

“How utterly ridiculous.” The pope’s voice, tinged with contempt, was unbearably endearing... I wanted it... I wanted to be gazed upon...

Mihail and I collapsed, both of us dropping to our knees, nearly prostrating ourselves to the impulse.

“You still resist in this state? Despite your rotten blood...” His unspoken contempt seeped through, and I was seized by the impulse to die in apology.

“Indeed. The death of one prince descended from the previous king—the very source of that one’s demise—is no loss, First Prince Regulus.”

Oh, he called my name...

“Yes,” I gasped. Wrapped in bliss, I lifted my face. That expression, mingled with contempt and scorn, was precious to me.

“Kill yourself.”

“Of course.” I drew the small dagger hidden in the other sleeve of my coat, pressed it against my throat, and applied pressure.

At that moment, Mihail reached out and seized my wrist.

“No... Don’t... Regulus...” Then, some consciousness—no, will—returned, and Mihail’s plea entered my thoughts.

What was I trying to do?! The only one I would kneel before was Laviange Robur!

I flung the dagger away.

Mihail had weakened his own resistance by channeling magic into me. He groaned, placing both hands on the ground as if to kneel, yet he still struggled.

“Hmph, this is troublesome. I considered shattering his ego and turning him into a puppet with enchantment, but it seems there’s no other way but to have him die...”

Suddenly, a cheerfully bright voice sounded near us. “Well, well, well!”

“What on earth?” the pope muttered in utter astonishment. The calm smile on his face vanished completely.

“Whoa, what a surprise!” A sound like the rustling of leaves and the jingling of bells echoed as the voice spoke.

My gaze wandered, searching for the source of that voice. Right between the pope and us was...a plant seedling? When did that grow?

“What on earth... You...?”

You? An acquaintance? But that was clearly a plant...

The pope, perhaps out of shock, lost his focus on the charm spell. Mihail managed to lift his face, pulling his hands off the ground.

The plant was about knee-high to a child. Its stem was woody at the base, and both it and the branches were a bluish-purple green.

“Long time no see! Tremble with emotion!”

It was hardly the most important thing right now, but the jingling sound came from the plant’s branches and leaves rustling as it spoke.

It was clear the talking plant and the pope were indeed acquainted.

“Where have you been all this time... No, more importantly, what business do you have now... Surely not...” The pope’s expression changed, as if something had clicked into place. “Ha... You’ve come to stop me again, haven’t you?” He gave a dry laugh, a hint of helpless anger seeping through. This was likely the pope’s true, unguarded way of speaking. “But it’s too late now.” No sooner had the words left his mouth than the pope hurled the spear he held at the plant.

“Useless!” The plant’s branches swayed, leaves rustling as they struck the spear like a drum. The moment the branch hit the spear, white vapor rose from it and the spear vanished. Had it purified and erased the spear? I didn’t understand. It had happened so fast, maybe I’d seen wrong?

The pope was almost certainly already acquainted with the plant. “Hmph. Grown quite powerful for a mere beast, hm?” he said, with more emotion than ever before, Then, flapping his wings to rise into the air, he thrust his left hand forward. In the same motion, he flapped his wings violently toward the plant, kicking up a fierce wind. The glossy, dark red feathers—now clearly revealing razor-sharp points—attacked the plant along with the gust. A spear flew from his outstretched hand.

But the plant, unmoving from its spot, said easily and casually, “That’s not nearly enough!” Its branches moved swiftly, knocking both the spear and the feathers away. The pope, refusing to be bested this time, took another spear in hand and charged forward, attacking while cutting off several branches.

“Hmph! I worked hard!” the plant told him. “Ever since you made a contract with a demon to gain power, I’ve been searching for a way to stop you!”

“Ha! A mere magical beast spouting nonsense! I chose this power myself! Until the princess is revived, no demonic influence can make me relinquish it! What could you possibly do now? You who weren’t even granted a contract with the princess! You who were too weak to save her!” Black smoke rose again from the pope’s body and was absorbed back into him, making his frame grow larger and more robust.

“Jingling, jangling leaves, make some noise! Shall I neutralize the charm’s effect with sound?”

Until now, each time black smoke had risen from the pope’s body, the charm power residing in the magic grew stronger. I finally realized I wasn’t feeling its influence at all, and hadn’t for some time.

Was that plant truly a magical beast? I’d never heard of a magical beast neutralizing such a rare, innate ability—one that could be called an enchantment—especially one distorted and amplified by the influence of a demon contract.

“Hmph, I told you I’d try my best, didn’t I?” the plant retorted. “Besides, I’m making you break your contract with that demon, okay? Otherwise, I won’t be able to show my face! But we’ll both get scolded later!”

“Ha! Don’t make me laugh! The demon’s power has fused with my own magic! I can’t break the contract now! But unless the princess is revived, the contract won’t be fulfilled, and the demon won’t devour my soul along with my magic! If the princess is revived and regains her rightful position, then even if my soul is devoured and I suffer eternal torment, my heart’s desire would be fulfilled!”

“But she doesn’t want that in the first place! I guess I’ll just have to use force after all!”

“Stop making me laugh! If you think you can do it, go ahead!”

“You’re telling me! I’ll do it! Hey, come on! My Bible! Laaaviii!”

“Huh?” Mihail and I let out identical dumbfounded sounds.

Laaaviii? Laavii... Lavi...ange? No, surely not... Right?

I really needed to stop this habit of getting so infatuated that I immediately associated everything with my beloved. Mihail should do that too.

We looked at each other, shook our heads, and muttered, “No way.”

A white, glowing magic circle appeared before the plant...and in the center stood a figure I recognized all too well... Huh?

“Cheers again... Oh my?”

The lady I’d just let escape moments ago appeared with a light popping sound.

On her head was something that looked like some kind of turtle-mouse hybrid hidden by illusion magic. She clutched a large bottle in her left hand and held a mug high in her right.

Cheers? She was making a toast? Her pose clearly suggested she was in high spirits, about to start a drinking party...

Wait, “again”? How many times had she toasted? Had the feast already begun? What unforeseen chaos could the young lady have caused in such a short time?

“Laviange... After I went to all that trouble to let you escape...” Mihail’s irritated words were directed at the plant.

“Tch.” For some reason the pope clicked his tongue and distanced himself from both the plant and Lady Robur. Wasn’t he aiming for her beautiful face and indigo eyes?

“Laviange! Hey, give me a drink too!”

This plant was taking its sweet time. Every branch, including those that had been roughly pruned by the pope, began stretching out, becoming thinner and branching out again and again. Then, several branches overlapped, forming numerous braid-like bundles. Purple-green leaves rustled as they grew anew on the bundles.

As if begging for the contents of the bottle, the leaves bounced about, adding more rustling sounds... Whatever. From the sound of it, this one was male. I hadn’t even begun courting Lady Robur yet, and here was a plant whining to her like a spoiled child.

“Captain Dread, you sensed the banquet happening upstairs, didn’t you?” she said. “Your dreadlocks look great, as always.”

Captain Dread? So he did know the lady after all. Did this mean the plant had been cozying up to her behind my back this whole time?! Should I burn it?

As I watched, Lady Robur dumped half a stein’s worth of liquid onto the leaves. Smelled like wine to me. No idea how it was supposed to drink from the leaves, but it would be perfect for burning...

Suddenly, Mihail placed a hand on my shoulder. He looked at me with a horrified expression, shaking his head from side to side. Had he heard my inner thoughts?

“Heh heh heh, even the pope has dressed up for the feast! Indeed, it’s only proper for the top dog to lead the way in letting loose at a no-holds-barred party!”

“Huh?”

Lady Robur paid no mind whatsoever to our exchange. I didn’t understand what she meant, but I desperately wanted that sparkling smile directed at me. Should I burn the pope too?

“Even if you pretend to look clueless, you haven’t fooled anyone! That outfit! That’s right, it’s that costume party that becomes hugely popular in a certain country during a specific time of year! Trick or treat! Yes, that means it’s Halloween!”

“What are you talking about...” The pope’s expression had completely changed from before, looking like he’d just spotted some unidentified, creepy creature for the first time. There was no doubt that both Mihail and I shared the pope’s opinion. Of course, I’d always tip my hat to the lady’s brilliant ideas...

Mihail placed his hand on my shoulder again. That look of horror on his face was back, and he shook his head from side to side. Had he heard my thoughts again?

“Please, just calm down for now,” he murmured. Was there pain mingled within the sparkle of his violet eyes? What was wrong? Since the clarity in his eyes had changed, I could tell he was constantly troubled...

I suddenly recalled the special ability possessed by Mihail’s grandfather, Soviesch Robur. Like the charm inherent in the pope’s magic, it was supposed to be a unique power that occasionally manifested in the Robur family. I’d found mention of it in the diary I discovered at Princess Beljeanne’s villa, where I was transferred when I was first afflicted by the magic curse. I recalled it stated he should have been removed as the princess’s fiancé precisely because of that ability...

“Oh, come now! That glossy, dark crimson skin—you have to be plastered with makeup! Wings on your back, and those bulging muscles you were hiding are now on full display! I’d say the theme here is a mischievous, fallen angel macho cosplay!”

“Mischievous? Fallen angel... Macho? Hah... Huh?” The pope’s fighting spirit had completely vanished; he was visibly flustered by the utterly incomprehensible things Lady Robur was saying.

Of course, since my beloved looked incredibly delighted, I personally couldn’t care less about the meaning.

“You’re Halloween incarnate!” she declared. “Mwa ha ha, now even those church officials already teetering on the edge can roll down the path to damnation without a care!”

“Teetering? What?” the pope sputtered. “Wait, Lady Robur, what on earth did you do in this short time... Huh?”

Fall? The path to damnation? Hah! Could she have gained more corrupted believers again?! I absolutely could not approve of her gaining any more followers!

“Now then, Captain Dread! Go ahead and trick-or-treat to your heart’s content!”

“Trick! Or! Treat!”

“Of course, here’s a treat!”

She splashed the remaining wine all over the leaves, completely ignoring the pope. I still didn’t understand the meaning of “trick or treat,” or why anyone would splash alcohol around. As always though, my beloved had this chaotic atmosphere completely under control.

“Woo-hoo!” the plant cheered. “sonic wolf fin wine is my favorite! Okay! I’m pumped! Come on, ladies!”

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop! Five plantlike sprouts appeared, encircling the plant and Lady Robur. Then, with a sudden jolt, they shot up to knee height, and white buds appeared and blossomed. At the center of each flower was a human figure. The moment they bloomed, they gave off immense holy magic, glowing faintly. As I gazed at that light, the pitch-black jealousy nesting in my chest and the restless anxiety of feeling abandoned by my beloved began to ease. The pain in Mihail’s eyes relaxed, the transparency in his pupils fading.

“Could they be a sacred beast?” I asked.

“Huh?! But they look like alraunes, don’t they?!” Mihail said.

“True, their eyes are the characteristic red of a magical beast, and I don’t understand why there are five of them...” I used magic to appraise one: It was a magical beast. But my instincts told me these were something fundamentally different from the alraunes I knew.

More importantly, Lady Robur had set down the wine bottle and stein on the ground, then crouched down to high-five the alraunes...?! She knew them too?! I wanted to high-five her too!

“Trick or treat! Trick or treat! Trick or treat!” the alraunes shouted in unison. They showed her what looked like improvised steins, woven from the ivy and leaves sprouting from their bodies... Was this a demand?

Lady Robur pulled something out of her skirt pocket, wrapped in what looked like the plastic wrap she had created. That pocket sure was handy... Inside the wrap was a black, dried-out, crispy piece of wing, like that of a sonic wolf. Lady Robur conjured a small flame in her palm with magic and roasted it. Then, after deftly breaking it into just the right size pieces, she placed them in the plant-made steins, picked up a bottle, and poured some liquor into them.

“It’s a treat!”

“Yaaay! Cheers!”

The alraunes and the young lady had started an impromptu drinking party?!

“You! Sing! Sing! Sing!”

As they cheered him on, the purple-green plant jingled his braids like branches rustling in the wind, making a melodic sound. “Whatever you want, my beloved wives. Lavi, are you ready?”

“Let’s get on the Halloween stage!” Lady Robur said with a giggle. “The body and neck are made from the hardened, dried vines from a barometz’s belly! The plectrum is made from its hooves! The skin is made from a dragon’s shed skin! We used green spider and amoeba for strings that combine elasticity and durability, and it’s perfectly tuned! This is the shamisen!”

“Wow! The legendary shamisen!” the alraunes chimed in with their high-pitched voices.

“I’ve made a wide variety of instruments for the ladies too, and they’re already stored in the captain’s subspace storage!”

“Wonderful!”

“Okay! Pull me out!”

Without hesitation, the lady grabbed the plant’s roots with both hands and yanked...

“Lady Robur! Wait!” the pope cried. “That plant is...” Unable to process the situation fast enough, he gaped in shock and frantically tried to stop her. His wings flapped as if he were about to lunge at her.

But she was quicker, yanking the plant out with a satisfying pop as she shouted the signal. “It’s! On! Stage!” She flung the plant she held straight into the air. It was a long, rootlike vegetable, its bottom forked like legs.

“Yaaay! Ha ha ha! Halloween days!” There was a piercing, high-pitched sound at a deafening volume. The plant was screaming sonic waves.

5: (End of the Incident) It All Starts with a Traditional Japanese Band

The pope was heading this way, my brother and the prince close behind him. But...

“A...mandrake...” they groaned in unison, and all three of them collapsed on the spot.

It was their first rock festival ever. It must have been incredibly stimulating, for two handsome young men to lose consciousness like that.

“I didn’t even realize... I needed earplugs...” the pope lamented, “but...earplugs wouldn’t be enough... Gah!”

“They’re specially made with hair from my Casquette.”

The pope raised his head again at the mention of Casquette. He really was tough. But then he coughed up something black, like blood, choked, and bowed his head again. The black stuff dissipated into mist—perhaps it was reacting to the holy magic in the sound wave, unique to a sacred beast.

“Cas’s special magic is amazing!” On top of my head, Dia puffed out her chest cutely. Her angelic little body felt warm.

“Yeah! Mortis! Mortis! Mortis!” The captain spun once in midair and then landed, retrieving the long-awaited Lavi-brand shamisen from subspace. Skillfully plucking it with dreadlocked branches, he began to strum. To enhance the captain’s resistance to sound waves, Cas had helped craft the strings himself. It was a masterpiece, and I was deeply moved.

As the captain called out, he gave off the unique sound waves of a mandrake in peak condition. He had originally been a magical beast. A mandrake, of course—also called a mandragora, a kind of magical plant that’d often appeared in fantasy worlds like games and novels, even in my past lives. It looked like a brown, forked carrot head with dreadlocks made of branches and leaves.

We’d first met in my life before last. As Beljeanne, I had been growing a mandrake seed I’d found in front of a hut I’d built at the villa. My intent was to have it serve as a guard dog.

“Mortis! Mortis! Mortis!” Heh heh heh, the ladies were in top form too. They’d pulled out a shakuhachi, drums, wooden bells like the ones people used at shrine festivals in my past life, a transverse flute, and a koto from their subspaces, and now they were playing them freely with their fingers and vines. We’d used Lag’s shed skins and parts of the barometz to make these instruments.

It was fortunate I’d learned Japanese dance in my past life, and, thanks to a grandchild who’d played in a band, become proficient with traditional Japanese instruments.

While I’d been busy reincarnating, the captain had married an alraune, who was a sacred beast. He’d also cultivated the aptitude to become a sacred beast himself, and because both the captain and his sacred beast wife wished it, I’d formed a sacred beast contract with him in this life.

His wife had since withered and passed away of old age, but she’d left behind seeds that had sprouted into these five alraunes, who were essentially clones.

Incidentally, I recalled that in my past life I’d read that both the alraune and the mandrake—and the barometz too, actually—were nightshade plants. But was that actually true? Oh well, there was no way to verify it...

Alraunes had a shorter lifespan than other sacred beasts, but they had long used clones to maintain their sacred beast status. It was like a self-sustaining form of sacred beast succession. This succession apparently didn’t require a pact-bearer, so this was one of those facts known only to those in the know.

However, when I’d been reincarnated as Laviange and formed a contract with the captain, I’d transferred my sacred beast powers to him. So his new wives were no longer sacred beasts. The fact that these five possessed such abundant sacred attributes probably stemmed from the seeds planted by the previous generation, continuing into this one.

As for the sacred beast name, it was the captain’s wish, shared by both husband and wife, that he retain the name Drogolena.

The pope screamed and began writhing. Well, of course. It wasn’t just the captain’s voice and the unique magic power of a sacred beast. The magic power imbued with the holy attribute, united by all his wives, was also being carried on sound waves through the instruments. The barometz that the captain had created and the shed skin from Lag were also working wonderfully to amplify the purification. For a body corrupted by demonic power like the pope’s, the effect came at the cost of considerable pain.

I had to admit, without these earplugs, the sheer volume would have been unbearable for me too. They were properly fitted in Dia’s adorable little ears as well.

The sound waves and the sacred beast magic gradually grew stronger. The pope’s screams grew louder to match.

As the feathers fell out in greater and greater numbers, they were immediately purified and vanished by the sacred beasts’ sonic magic. The wings were gradually shrinking too—they’d probably recover without issue. The problem was the demonic power that had accumulated within the pope over his years as a pact-bearer. It wasn’t magic, but it shared similarities with it—like a curse. Similar yet distinct.

Perhaps because its density differed from magic power, the sonic waves from the sacred beasts could separate it from the magic power within the body.

It was a method I’d thought of after I’d contracted with the captain: something only I, and not the other sacred beasts, could do. The ultrasonic cleaner I’d used in the other world had also given me a hint... Somehow, it felt nostalgic remembering how my grandchildren’s and great-grandchildren’s reading glasses, caked with grime, had become sparkling clean through ultrasonic cleaning.

The separated, distinct demonic power was being forcibly expelled through sweat and blood, out from his pores and mouth. But because it had been absorbed over so many years, the separation process was likely to take time.

Still, it was precisely because the contract had never been finalized that this was possible at all. Had the contract been sealed, the pope’s magical energy would have transformed, becoming identical in nature to the demon’s power. That would have made separation virtually impossible.

“Such a handful, this child,” I murmured without thinking, a wry smile finding its way onto my face. Truly, no matter how old they got, they were still such a handful.

“Haa, haa, Lady Robur?” the pope panted. “Mmmph...”

And the captain was the captain. Keeping this child a secret all this time. He must have noticed I’d misunderstood the gender too. I’d have to lecture both of them later... After the demonic power was expelled from the pope’s body and the contract itself had been nullified, that was.

“Mom, will you give me my treasure?” my angel demanded suddenly. Dia’s body really did heat up when she got excited, it seemed. Yet she’d still managed to hide her form properly? She was so talented!

“Of course,” I replied telepathically. “Maybe it’s about time you learned subspace storage too.” I moved a multifaceted red magicite from my subspace storage to Dia’s hand, using it to channel my own magic while also letting it disperse. Dia had gotten quite skilled at controlling her magic too. It should be about time she had a space she could freely access herself.

“Wow! Captain! You’re so cool! Death!”

Lost in thoughts about Dia’s growth, I suddenly snapped back to reality in the wild excitement of Dia clutching the magic stone and the wives passionately cheering for their husband as they played their instruments.

I’d heard that not long ago, at the volcano on the border with the neighboring country where this magic stone had been found, the captain had held a live performance every day to commemorate the discovery of the treasure. After all, it was the captain who’d first noticed the magic stone’s existence.

Thanks to the magic stone absorbing the surrounding mana and converting it into magic power, the heat of the magma and lava had been somewhat reduced, and the eruption seemed to have been small-scale. It was good the damage was kept to a minimum. I’d felt terrible, though, when I’d heard residents and beasts from the surrounding area, including our neighbors, had fled from the mandrake captain’s solo rock festival. My sacred beasts had caused quite a disturbance.

Naturally, the only audience for the rock show were the captain’s wives and Dia. I hadn’t joined them because I’d been back at my log cabin, letting my imagination explode onto paper. In all the excitement of her first rock festival, Dia had apparently started glowing, igniting things, and had even summoned a hailstorm. I wondered if the surrounding area was okay?

“Ooh yeah, ooh yeah, mortis, mortis!” Hah! The captain slowly called for backup with that wonderfully hard-boiled voice!

“M-O-R-T-I-S!!!” I responded with the others, our voices rising with the captain’s enthusiasm.

“Wh-What...is that...?”

The captain wildly flailed his dreadlocked branches, headbanging furiously! The sound drowned out the pope’s voice entirely, so we could just ignore him, right?!

“Yeah! Hell is burning hot, baby!”

“Baby!”

The pope writhed, spewed, and delivered a retort, but it was overshadowed by the captain’s intensity! Anyway, it was a spell from that other world, so even if I’d said it, they wouldn’t understand. Everyone threw in more call-and-response with all their energy.

“Wow! So cool! Mortis!”

As Dia clutched the magic stone, the phantom magic that surrounded her wavered.

“On her head...a red...turtle? No, a mouse? Guhhh!” The pope ended up being tossed about by the surging sacred beast sound waves before he could decide if he was looking at a mouse or a turtle. Black smoke billowed up from his body all at once. His feathers fell out completely and his wings shrank and vanished. His body returned to its original size.

Oh dear, the disguise had been stripped away. But his skin was still a dark crimson, glossy and smooth... This was...ripe for fangirling.

But it was still early days; the real show was yet to come.

“Dia, can you encase the pope in a thin layer of smooth, frozen ground, like a plate? Imagine the ice content is twenty percent higher than usual. It’d be best to leave a gap in one direction so the pope can see Captain Dread’s onstage performance.”

“Got iiit!” What was this?! My angel’s reply was just too much! Unaware of how my pride was practically growing bigger on the spot, Dia deftly stood up on my head. “Come on, frozen soil! Yeeeah!”

No way! It was a rock angel’s chuunibyou summoning! I was buzzing!

Of course, she did exactly as I asked, opening the frozen ground in one direction only. Her voice had become so smooth and flowing... Mom was overwhelmed by her angel’s rapid growth! I might even cry!

“I’m getting into it, getting into it, getting into it!!!”

Just as I was about to cry tears of joy, flowers bloomed on the captain’s dreadlocks, which were now in top form. They were a deep indigo color speckled with gold, the same hue as the other sacred beasts’ eyes. The sound of the shamisen gained momentum, growing fiercer.

“Mortis!”

The wives enveloped us in a burst of fruity floral fragrance, scattering it all around as they played their instruments.

The pope writhed in agony, arching backward as he cried out, face upturned. Thanks to the frozen ground Dia had created, the amplified sacred beast sound waves reverberated behind him, multiplying their intensity exponentially.

“N-No...not yet...”

My, my, quite the tenacity. Where had that gentle look the pope always had on his face gone? He seemed to be glaring at me, his eyes fixed on me.

“Give up? No way—haaaaaaa!” Screaming, he rose with all his might. His internal magic was likely too chaotic to cast spells now. He lunged at me, aiming for my face—no, wait. He aimed for my eyeballs, stretching his arm out.

“Oh?”

Of course, the pope was covered in wounds. His movements were slow. He was no match for me.

“Ugh... Gah...”

I grabbed his collar, pulling his face—still bearing traces of his former life as a servant—toward mine to speak to him.

“No kissing Dia’s mother!” Oh dear, the angel had made a silly mistake. Magic power surged above us with a roar. Could it be the pope was giving off R-rated sensual vibes?! My hair seemed like it was about to catch fire!

“M-My lady... Your hair, no, your mouse is burning, gah... Huh, it went into a magic stone?!”

The pope, who I was still clutching by the collar, seemed busy. If it came to it, I could develop a hair growth tonic with the captain, so he should really just calm down... But Dia’s magic power was instantly absorbed by the magic stone.

It was the kind of magic stone that could maintain its shape even submerged in lava, absorbing magic essence by converting it back into magic power. It was a genuine treasure. It seemed to have excellent compatibility with the fire magic Dia had inherited from Lia, showing remarkable absorption power.

Just as I was thinking that, a magic stone plopped down from above. I let go of the pope to catch it.

“Dia? Hee hee hee, you got fussy and sleepy, didn’t you?”

Dia had fallen asleep on my head. It seemed like the typical pre-naptime fussiness babies got had made her lose control of her magic. Good thing there was a magic stone treasure. Good night, my sweet little one! I patted Dia’s shell gently, remembering how I used to put my grandchild to sleep in my past life. Oh, well...

“Skipping over the mother...to the grandmother... Why...?” The pope, who had fallen to the ground now that his collar was free, slumped over. But deep within his body, the power of the demon still lurked.

I looked down to stow the magic stone away in my subspace storage. Perhaps because it had stored so much of Dia’s magic, its color had changed to a vermilion that shimmered with five hues, depending on the light. And it hadn’t inflated—it had simply grown to the size of an adult’s head. A magic stone that grew? I’d never seen that before.

But then again, I’d never seen a sacred beast store magic into a magic stone either, so maybe this was how it worked.

“Dia?” I returned the stone to the subspace and gently took Dia down from my head to cradle her in both hands. And what a sight! Her angelic little body had shifted from its familiar crimson to a pale, icy blue white! The only remnant was the five-colored light visible under certain lighting.

From what I could observe, it seemed she’d transferred all the sacred beast power she’d inherited from Lia into the magic stone, solidifying the power she’d cultivated and nurtured herself. When I examined Dia again with magic, it made perfect sense. Only Dia, who became a sacred beast under such unique circumstances, could have done this.

Using Lia’s sacred beast power as a catalyst, I had awakened a new sacred beast power within myself. That was probably why I could perform opposing heat manipulations like Lia’s fire and Dia’s ice.

“You’ve been trying so hard all this time.” I hugged Dia. Her original color, close to white gray, was adorable too. “Now, shall we finish this?”

Using Dia’s magic, I conjured purifying snow to envelop the pope. This first joint spell with the white-blue Dia melted into the pope’s body, soaking in and softening the demonic power. His glossy, dark crimson skin turned sunburned, but at first glance, he looked like a snowman lying on its side.

Then the pope’s fingers twitched and he lifted his face.

“What... It’s cold. Lady Robur...”

As he looked around frantically for me, I revealed my true eyes and crouched down to meet his gaze. “I’m right here. More importantly—Lily. Do you still not know who I am?”

I called him by the name I’d given him in my previous life, when I’d thought he was a girl.

“Huh...”

“Come on, Sacred Beast Drogolena! Together, we’ll destroy the demon’s power!”

I handed over Dia, whom I’d been holding, to the vines that the wives had extended over at just the right moment. They instantly wove the vines into a baby bed. It was quite impressive!

I pulled out my shamisen from my own subspace—an instrument I’d grown familiar with in my past life.

What was it that had surprised Lily, who’d seemed convinced I was utterly talentless and incompetent? Was it the golden ring in my eyes? Or was it being called by a name no one should have known anymore? Perhaps it was because Beljeanne and Laviange were slowly linking together within Lily’s mind.

I felt the vow within me slowly manifesting its power, intent on hurting me.

Of course, I ignored it for now. I signaled to the captain with my eyes, and the familiar jingling sound came from beside me.

“We’re onstage!” we declared together, plucking the strings with our plectrums. “Hah!”

I strummed in perfect sync with the captain, weaving in the rallying cry as we played a rock-infused shamisen duet—a piece my grandson had composed in my past life.

Borrowing Dia’s magic power and weaving in her sacred beast magic, we summoned an ice wall to completely encase the two of us as one. (Incidentally, the frozen ground I’d asked Dia to create had collapsed when she fell asleep.)

“Hah!”

The captain and I shouted in time with our shamisen duet, unleashing the magic power of a sacred beast—capable of countering demonic forces—and high-purity holy magic power all at once. As we were contract partners, the captain exchanged his own sacred beast magic with mine, and my magic flowed to him. Together, we continuously unleashed the sacred beast shock wave—a unique technique we’d developed by combining magic and sound waves—at Lily.

Reflecting off the ice and inducing resonance, we lifted the stubborn impurities of power that clung stubbornly to Lily’s body, refusing to let go.

The image, of course, was the ultrasonic cleaner that had perfectly cleaned my glasses in my past life!

The demonic filth clinging to Lily’s body dissolved into his blood vessels under the shock wave’s force. As proof, he began to spew thick, viscous, pitch-black blood, mixed with his own, from his mouth in gurgling spurts.

“Hah!” We struck the strings, plucking them even more fiercely.

“Is reviving Beljeanne even the purpose of your contract with the demon?” I demanded. “Don’t you realize this fundamentally amounts to breach of contract?”

“Ah... No, that...”

“Reviving Beljeanne in the form you desire is impossible now. Even if you could resurrect the body, what would you put inside? A hollow shell, or a body filled with something else—is that truly the Beljeanne you desire? And seriously, did you truly believe she would crave the status and honor you spoke of? Don’t make me laugh.”

I could see the pope was utterly stunned as I shattered decades of his misguided efforts. His body was shaking harder now, but there was no need to worry—I’d heal his frostbite later.

“Th-That... That’s a lie...”

“A lie about what, exactly? About clinging to your own delusions about Beljeanne, conveniently twisting your own desires into hers, and trying to fulfill them?”

“No! I was trying to ease the princess’s regret...”

“Beljeanne felt no regrets whatsoever, even at death’s door. She delivered a fist to the face of her father, who couldn’t even properly fulfill the role of father she’d chosen for him, and to the mother of her half brother, who was possessed by misplaced jealousy and envy.”

“Huh?” It seemed he’d never imagined she’d beaten those two before dying. His bitter, tormented expression shifted to one of utter bewilderment.

“I beat the hell out of that disgusting half brother of mine, and honestly, it felt refreshingly satisfying.”

“Hell... Cough cough, I...I saw that, but...”

“Of course you did. You have to settle your own scores while you’re alive—anything else just isn’t fair.”

Lily looked startled. Had he only just realized something so obvious?

“So listen, Lily. Not once in my final moments, not once after fulfilling my next life, not even now as I sit here—not once did Beljeanne ever feel regret. Beljeanne Yevina Rovenia was incapable of caring for anyone beyond her own obsessions. You should have known that yourself, Lily. After beating them senseless with physics and setting up the mechanism to torment the royal family afterward, it should be obvious I’d lose all interest.”

Honestly, saying this myself, my past life was completely broken inside. The fact that the royal family still held me up as a legendary villainess for the trap I’d set proved they’d fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

“Do you seriously think Beljeanne ever placed any value on blood ties that were nothing but a formality?” I said.

“So you’re saying I was nothing to the princess either?! After all that time together, she left me no words! Nothing... Nothing at all!” Tears streamed down his face like a child. His skin color had finally returned to normal, and he’d shed the demon’s power except for its core. The pope looked so pitiful, so I decided I’d restore his stamina just enough that no one would notice. “You’re talking as if you were the princess herself... That’s it! You’re a fake pretending to be the princess!”

Oh dear, I’d made him bitter. I must have revived him too vigorously.

“Otherwise, why on earth would I have made a contract with a demon... I won’t accept that!” he howled. “I can’t accept it! Until the princess is revived, I won’t break my contract with the demon! There’s no way I could default on it!”

Well, well, maybe it was all the pent-up anger he’d been holding toward Beljeanne that’d made him stubborn. To be honest, I did want to tell him it wasn’t that I hadn’t had anything to say to Lily, it was just that things had happened so suddenly back then, there’d been no time to leave him any words.

Even if I hadn’t exactly wanted to live, I never imagined I’d die like that on that day. But now, because of that reason and the vow I’d made, I couldn’t tell Lily everything. It had all started when I’d died as Beljeanne—no, when I’d promised to return to Casquette once more. It was a test of endurance between me and the sacred beast who’d given me my blessing-name.

Even so, when I’d been reborn in this life and my body had grown strong enough to move, I’d searched for Lily right away.

But since I couldn’t tell him that, I’d have to use my last resort.

“Come forth, little library!” I just wanted to say it like that. I summoned three bookshelves from subspace, arranging the books inward to form a triangular prism around Lily.

“What is this?” he gasped.

Ignoring him, and still strumming on my shamisen, I called out to the captain. “Captain Dread!”

“Yes, ma’am...” he answered meekly, seemingly aware it was his turn to be scolded. Though he looked dejected, he didn’t stop strumming with his dreadlocks. The sight almost made me laugh...but no, no. Now was the time to scold.

“So you were expecting to be scolded, were you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Did you deliberately hide Lily from me because he had made a contract with a demon? Because you believed that unless you developed a purification spell using your unique sound waves, the moment the contract with the demon was broken, Lily wouldn’t just lose his life—it would be far worse?”

Did he really believe that as long as the contract wasn’t fulfilled, nothing would happen? Even though it was a contract with a demon? How foolish. There was no way such a lenient outcome awaited us. The demon had simply failed to accurately convey the true outcome should the contract go unfulfilled.

And it was unlikely the demon had ever promised to restore Beljeanne’s body and soul exactly as they were in life. If the promise was merely Beljeanne’s resurrection, it should have been fulfilled the moment Lily created the chimera. All the demon needed to do was to resurrect a body resembling hers.

Whether with the genetic engineering technology from my past life, or the captain’s wives in this life, cloning was feasible. As long as Beljeanne’s hair existed, it shouldn’t be impossible. But demons were despicable, cowardly, cunning creatures. Contracts with demons weren’t like contracts exchanged between companies in my past life; you had to spell out every detail or you’d get tripped up.

Really, though, the lesson was to avoid making contracts with troublesome entities altogether.

Besides, a demon wasn’t necessarily obligated to fulfill the contract. They could simply interfere with the magical power residing in the body using the demonic force they’d implanted, corrupting the soul until the person’s natural lifespan ended. When the body finally died, it left behind a soul ingredient twisted beyond recognition, reeking of decay—a delicacy of the highest order for demons. It was the spoils of a long-term battle, only available to demons who lived for ages.

“Okay, here...”

“Right. Then make sure this child hears just how joyfully I’m living now. Make him understand reality. Read that novel aloud clearly. By the way, a new edition with illustrations just came out recently. The title is The Turtle and the Tortoiseshell Whip Binding. That’s right. I made some revisions, but show him this rough sketch too.”

But there was no time to convey everything now. At least, not while Lily’s soul was on the verge of becoming so warped it couldn’t be freed from the demon’s core.

The captain’s wilted flower regained some of its freshness as I explained what I wanted. And when I pulled the rough sketch of bondage play from my bag and handed it over, the flower perked right back up.

“Yes... Yes! Ta-dah! Hyah-ha!” With a swift, almost invisible dash, Captain Dread entered the little library. Then, deftly using his dreadlocked branches to grab a new book, he began flipping through it, skillfully playing the shamisen all the while, and launched into a sung and read performance. Hidden behind the bookshelves, I could only judge by sound, but it was just like a Showa-era street kamishibai show.

As a mandrake, the captain excelled not only in earth magic but also in dark spells that affected the mind. Even in my past life there had been tales of people hearing a mandrake’s cry and suffering mental breakdowns, right? There were, weren’t there? I couldn’t say for sure since I didn’t have internet access here...

Either way, this shock therapy was bound to succeed, bringing great emotion and excitement to Lily’s heart.

“Wh-What indecency?! Lies, lies! The princess doing such a thing?! It’s all l-lies!” Lily’s shrieks spoke volumes of the captain’s mastery of mental magic. It seemed the captain was also replaying the search for Lily in his mind, burning novel illustrations directly into his eyes as he narrated the story.

“Though in real life, you’re head over heels for the illustrations, aren’t you? Especially this binding technique—it was Lavi’s brainchild...”

“S-Stop it! The princess will be hurt, defiled!” Suddenly, the pope noticed the captain’s wives on the other side of the ice starting to grin.

“The tortoiseshell-colored whip coiled around her body writhes and squirms like a turtle, digging in. It won’t come loose...” the captain continued.

I cast a soundproofing spell over the entire library. The captain’s emotionally charged narration and Lily’s screams were both abruptly muffled. The captain’s wives looked disappointed. I felt bad, but a child was sleeping.

The five alraunes’ red pupils glinted fiercely...

“Oh dear, off they go with a whoosh.”

I teleported outside the ice wall, closing my eyes, just as a whirlwind blew. Now the only ones remaining in this place were Dia, sleeping in the baby bed, my brother, who had completely lost his composure, the prince, and me.

“Oh... Princess...”

Was that faint, agonized auditory hallucination real? Or just my imagination? I’d cast soundproofing magic. Just my imagination, just my imagination.

More importantly, I glanced at the two transfer arrays. Both of those still connected to somewhere.

Borrowing Lag’s powerful water-attribute magic, I interfered with both transfer arrays. I sensed the moisture within every living being at the transfer destination distorting and evaporating into oblivion.

However, I left behind the one entity I sensed deep within the crimson-black magic circle—and the familiar magic power residing within it.

As for the chimeras that Dia and Miss Linda had sealed away behind a wall of frozen earth, I interfered with the magic circuits embedded within the frozen earth spheres they were sealed with, detonating them and destroying them.

I then deployed a search spell. I sought the body of the Beljeanne that Lily had created.

Beyond the rock wall I thought was a dead end, I found magic power similar to that of my past life. The pope had probably wanted to transplant my face and eyes there.

Lily’s symbol of regret and obsession was destroyed by my magic, the magic stone I’d stowed away in subspace, and Cas’s magic, which I used together to generate a fiery wind within the space.

After scanning the entire area with magic to confirm nothing else had been overlooked, I picked up Dia. Along with the two boys, who were still deeply asleep, I teleported to the large dining hall of the church where Linda and the others were.

Simultaneously, to ensure the underground could never be used again, I used Dia’s inherently potent earth magic to generate soil, applying pressure to solidify it. This would prevent ground subsidence, so no worries there.

Of course, I placed a protective barrier over everyone remaining underground to prevent them from being crushed for a while. Since it was based on an ice wall, they’d be safe until it completely melted.

Soon, the shock therapy would take effect on Lily, and he’d abandon his fixation on Beljeanne. He’d lose the core that drew and held the demonic power within his body—the excessive negative emotions like hatred and jealousy. Once that happened, the remaining impurities of demonic power within his body could be eliminated solely by the sacred beast Drogolena. Then the contract with the demon could be broken without any debt remaining.

Of course, only a sacred beast and its pact-bearer could do this. Since the core was formed from human emotions, magic manifested by human magical power could not erase the demonic power within. This similar yet different demonic power was extremely troublesome, which was why only a sacred beast that was similar yet distinct could counter it...

“Guh!” A sudden, searing pain made me let out a groan, my thoughts freezing. The oath had finally activated.

The familiar yet dreaded heat and agony distorted my vision, threatening to make me collapse. I was still holding Dia—to protect her from being hurt, I slammed my shoulder into the great hall’s door. A loud clang rang out, but I managed to steady myself just enough to avoid falling.

I slowly exhaled the breath that threatened to stop, enduring the pain.

This time, it seemed I’d truly violated the oath with the sacred beast who had bestowed my blessing-name. The silver sacred seal I’d seen at the end of my past-past life had appeared on the back of my hand.

※※Aside: The Unmatched Villainess (The King)※※

“I’m...hungry...”

It was dusk. At the center of what looked like the remains of a beast’s meal was a severed human head set atop a green lizard body. It spoke haltingly, in broken sentences. A closer look at the scarred head revealed it belonged to Luciana, the former Duchess Robur.

Standing a little ways from me was the one clearly tasked with observing this scene—the severed head’s former husband, Laiyevist Robur. I, of course, was hiding in the shadows to conceal my presence. Laiyevist remained as expressionless as ever. But wait, was there not a subtle glint in his eyes, as he watched on? That was undoubtedly the magic fool activating his powers.

It was clear that he felt neither pleasure nor displeasure; his emotions toward his ex-wife were undoubtedly nonexistent.

Stepping ahead of that magic fool, to come face-to-face with her transformed mother, was none other than his own daughter. Yes, as expected, Laiyevist showed no sign of concern for her either. That in itself was really something else.

“You seem to have eaten a lot, but you still aren’t satisfied, hm?” said Lady Laviange Robur, facing the massive, visibly tattered form of her mother, caked with dark, dried blood. The white robe that Lady Robur wore shimmered with silver; even at just a glance, this clearly a magical artifact with special properties.

An appraisal spell revealed holy magic that radiated inward from it. It seemed to serve both a protective role and a sealing role. What was most startling, however, was that this magic power was unlike anything human. Though mixed with demonic magic, it was clearly distinct from the magical spells that stemmed from human magic power.

Lady Robur was my second son’s former fiancée, and yet we had not properly met face-to-face or exchanged words until sometime after the engagement had been broken.

After the death of my aunt, Princess Beljeanne, there had been no more pact-bearers for sacred beasts. Yet for all these years, a new pact-bearer had indeed existed, hidden away. Or had for a time, at least, since Sacred Beast Vamillia was no longer among us. That pact-bearer was none other than the lady standing here.

I’d never dreamed that this lady, a direct descendant of the royal family and Four Great Ducal Houses, those institutions who had constantly disparaged Princess Beljeanne, would create a pact with a sacred beast.

The chancellor, upon receiving the report of the pact from the Knight Commander, had become so excited that he’d clung to me day and night, persistently and relentlessly, demanding an order for Lady Robur to visit the castle. Well, I couldn’t say I didn’t understand his feelings.

However, I knew the circumstances that had made Princess Beljeanne into an unmatched villainess, and the full truth of the matter. As such, I was reluctant, and I’d ordered that this information remain strictly confidential until I’d personally discussed it with Lady Robur and confirmed her wishes. It was the right call—though I’d later had to console the chancellor.

The pact had been forged because Sacred Beast Vamillia was a fan of that scandalous novel Sengoku Rendezvous, and even the chancellor judged that fact unfit for disclosure. Now that Sacred Beast Vamillia was gone, it would continue to remain confidential. If rumors started spreading, I wouldn’t know what path to take to quell them.

This event ranked among the top three I’d faced since ascending the throne as king—no, in my entire life—that I couldn’t make a decision on.

Even so, rumors about Lady Robur persisted: that she was talentless, incompetent, uncultured, and always running full tilt from responsibility...

I observed the lady once more. Even facing her utterly changed mother, she remained unshaken. She still wore that cool, aristocratic smile.

Rumors were unreliable things, after all. Contrarily, Lady Robur seemed to be hiding something.

Suddenly, her perfectly shaped lips murmured what seemed to be a nickname. “Cas.” A white nine-tailed fox appeared on the lady’s shoulder, wrapping its own magic around her body to make it look gorgeous and extravagant.

Could that be Casquette, the sacred beast that Lady Robur had a pact with?!

My eyes couldn’t help but widen at the sight. I reflexively looked at the color of the fox’s eyes, said to mimic the color of the pact-bearer’s pupils. Just as my mother had told me, and as recorded in the late king’s diary, those eyes were like lapis lazuli.

“No one...has satisfied me...yet...”

“I see. Is it your stomach that feels unsatisfied?”

“I’m hungry... Mother... Someone...”

“Very well. Come here, Lucy,” said Lady Robur, extending both hands toward her mother and addressing her by an affectionate nickname. In that moment, the young lady’s form wavered. She transformed into a strong-willed-looking girl with black hair and narrow, violet eyes like a cat’s. She appeared to be the same age as Lady Robur. An illusion spell, perhaps?

“Ah, mother. Oh, I’m sorry, I want to eat, I’m sorry, I want to eat, I want to eat...” Spitting out those hair-raising words in a clumsy voice, the massive bulk of the creature staggered toward the girl.

“Don’t apologize, Lucy,” the black-haired girl said, in a tone brimming with affection, as if to her own beloved child, and smiled. “I love you.”

“Mother... I was... I was so lonely...” Contrary to her words, however, the magical beast stood before the girl with its large, sharp claws poised to slash. Laiyevist was still standing nearby, and he would surely act if anything happened. I held back, watching from behind my cover.

Laiyevist, though clearly intrigued, remained utterly still—body and magic unmoving. His aid had been unnecessary from the start.

At the moment I realized this, a silver blade of wind imbued with holy magic suddenly appeared, severing the beast’s head in a single strike.

“I know that you were starved for love.”

“Mo...ther...”

“Good girl. I love you.”

“There... Mother...”

Lady Robur embraced the shrunken form of her mother that rolled toward her. She held her close, speaking words of love, not caring that the flowing black blood stained her white robe. She repeated the words gently until the broken, stumbling voice calling for her mother fell silent. Like a mother would a child, she stroked the black hair softly.

In front of Lady Robur a wind of purification, born of holy magic, swirled up. It enveloped the giant form collapsed in the pool of pitch-black blood. As if possessed of its own will, the black blood writhed through the air, trying to escape the wind. Yet the wind, stubbornly determined not to let it go, wrapped around it relentlessly.

A death cry rang out from somewhere. Then, both the black blood and the beast’s body crumbled into fine, crystalline dust and vanished with the wind.

By then the voice of her mother, cradled in her arms, had already faded.

Lady Robur held her mother with one arm, then produced a crimson magic stone so large it barely fit in her hands and radiated a five-colored brilliance, holding it in her other hand. The magic stone seemed to have been retrieved from what appeared to be some sort of pocket dimension.

Drawing magic power from the stone, Lady Robur wrapped it around herself.

“Next time, I hope you can live more like a child.” As she spoke, her slender arm raised the magic stone overhead. Warm crimson flames enveloped both the girl and her mother. Though holy in nature, this flame carried a distinct, purifying power.

Blood and black smoke rose from Luciana, trying to escape the flames. But the crimson fire, like the wind before, pursued and engulfed it all. A death cry rang out from nowhere again, vanishing along with the black smoke. As the flames and wind subsided, it left only a skull resting on Lady Robur’s arm.

Most would have found such a sight terrifying. Yet, perhaps due to the lingering residue of purification around the girl and the faint glow of her robe, I strangely didn’t feel that way.

The illusion wavered, her peach-gold hair swaying softly as she returned to her ordinary appearance.

Still, the image of the black-haired girl lingered in the back of my mind. From the words exchanged and respective reactions from both women, the illusion must have been of Lady Robur’s maternal grandmother, who was deceased. Yet, a question arose.

Lady Robur’s maternal grandmother. Shortly after Lady Robur’s birth, that woman had incurred the wrath of her own sister. The sister’s anger had never subsided, and Lady Robur’s grandmother had passed away, never again permitted to have anything to do with House Robur.

Why was it that Lady Robur knew her maternal grandmother not as an elderly woman, but as a girl her own age?

“Lavi!”

I startled at the tense voice, having been lost in thought for a moment. Looking up, I saw Lady Robur sitting there, breathing heavily.

“Phew, I’m fine. Seems I overused my magic a bit. It’s only been a few days since I used my power so dramatically at the church. It can’t be helped.” Lady Robur placed the skill and magic stone carelessly on her crossed legs, supporting herself with both hands to keep herself from falling backward. Her arms trembled. But still, she offered a warm smile to the sacred beast, Casquette. That smile overlapped with the image I had of Princess Beljeanne when she’d been alive. Among the few existing portraits of her, that smile was captured in just one of them.

“Now, don’t make that face,” she said. “I wanted to ease mother’s suffering quickly, so this is fine. With the magic my brother channeled through the light arrows into her body, we had to destroy the demonic power while at least some of her self-awareness remained. Otherwise, after death, her soul would have been devoured and obliterated. That would be a bit sad, wouldn’t it?” She spoke soothingly, as if to brush away Casquette’s worries. A slender wrist peeked out from the slightly rolled-up cuff of her sleeve. Something glimmered there, catching my eye for just a moment.

Faint silver letters... Could that be a holy seal? Was it obscured by the glimmering of her robe? Of course, I couldn’t be certain of what I’d seen at all. Yet I felt it somehow connected to the end of the princess I’d known.

Lady Robur bore Princess Beljeanne’s likeness, and had undoubtedly made a pact with a sacred beast, just like the princess had. Additionally, I knew about the princess’s final moments, and the promise she’d made to the sacred beasts at the very end. I couldn’t help but wonder—could it be that Beljeanne Yevina Rovenia had been reborn as Laviange Robur?

“Laviange, the bones,” Laiyevist suddenly spoke up. His tone was a little...

“Yes, father. Please give them to my brother as I requested.”

The nerve of my old friend, to casually refer to his ex-wife as “the bones” without a single care for his daughter sitting there. Did he show the slightest consideration after the young lady had discreetly caught her breath? Barely.

But she was ever herself. Her face betrayed nothing as she handed over the skull... No, she’d produced a small jar from her pocket dimension and handed that over instead! I knew full well that her outrageously indecent novels were stored in that pocket dimension, hence my relative lack of surprise, but what exactly was that jar?

Laiyevist’s brow furrowed. He pondered a moment before asking, “Is that an urn?”

An urn? Now that he mentioned it... But the design looked like a cursed artifact.

“I tried drawing a cute portrait of my mother.”

A portrait?! Laiyevist was silent.

Lady Robur, seemingly unconcerned with her silent father, lifted the urn’s lid.

I couldn’t help but be unsettled by the design—it looked like a swarm of black snakes tangled around a single dumpling, utterly intent on cursing someone to death. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed like a drawing filled with hatred toward an abusive parent. Yet the lady’s expression conveyed nothing but pure goodwill. What on earth was this?!

That was the moment I glimpsed the darkness within Lady Robur. But with that woman for a mother, it was to be expected. I had received reports from my spies during Lady Robur’s engagement to my second son: Luciana had tried to kill her own daughter in a fit of rage, and had abused her for years. Painting a malicious picture like that on an urn? It was rather endearing, wasn’t it? I revised my perception of Lady Robur’s behavior.

Lady Robur placed the skull atop the urn, pressed one hand against its crown, and magically pulverized it into dust. After gathering it all together in the urn, she handed it to her father. Was that truly an urn? Deep down, I’d doubted it until the very end.

Laiyevist understood perfectly, and I found myself strangely impressed. Should I consider him a father figure as well? Well, in any case, I’d have to tell him to swap the urn out for something else later...

After receiving the urn, Laiyevist suddenly cast a rather deliberately exaggerated glance my way. Lady Robur followed his gaze and turned to look at me as well.

“Shall we take that one back?” Laiyevist said brazenly, pointing at me. “It seems like he followed us.”

He was the one who’d summoned me to his office in the Mage’s Tower and left messy instructions on the back of a used piece of paper telling me to step into a makeshift teleportation circle! Not only had he abruptly summoned the king, but he’d given me orders on a scrap of paper?! What an irreverent and sloppy man he was.

“Oh dear, father. Was that on purpose?”

“You noticed?” From Laiyevist’s unconcerned demeanor, it seemed he’d fully anticipated being seen through by his daughter.

“Well now, it was quite obvious. But remember when I took over for Lia at the Academy? You shared your magic power with me at the last possible moment. This was my way of repaying that favor. Showing a magic fo—ahem, showing my father, since you love magic so much, the proper way to destroy demonic power. Cas agrees it was only fitting.”

Lady Robur had been on the verge of calling her father a magic fool just now. I wholeheartedly agreed.

“Still, I do dislike royalty,” Lady Robur added honestly.

The moment I emerged from behind my cover, Sacred Beast Casquette glared at me before vanishing. It seemed he still held a grunge against me over the matter of Princess Beljeanne.

“But what exactly did he trade?” Lady Robur asked her father.

I expected her to offer some sort of greeting to me, as the king, but she remained seated on the ground, showing no particular concern for my presence. I was certain she had been aware of me from the start. I hadn’t used magic to conceal my presence, yet the lady clearly had some trick up her sleeve. Moreover, she’d summoned a sacred beast and displayed its power, even though she’d known I was there. What possible intent could lie behind such actions?

Unconcerned with my pondering, Lady Robur gazed up at Laiyevist and went on, “To overlook the numerous problems caused by mother and Sienna? Or to expedite the divorce proceedings? Or, no, to arrange matters so that you could devote yourself entirely to magic...?” With a smile befitting an aristocrat, she probed her father while reading his unchanging expression—his was a face rich in cunning.

“Well, something like that,” Laiyevist responded.

The rumors of an incompetent lady were just that—rumors. Or rather, perhaps she used those rumors to conceal her true nature. I knew what my second son had done, but she must have faced considerable prejudice at the Academy. If she’d turned that against them, she was not only a strategist but also remarkably thick-skinned.

Having that man as her grandfather and this man as her father...well, it certainly showed.

“The exchange is information concerning the sacred beasts, then. Well, as head of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses, that’s only natural, isn’t it?” Lady Robur said with a cool, faint smile.

Laiyevist showed no particular reaction. Rather, within his impassive face, I discerned an expression that suggested he just wanted to leave already. He had finished observing the power of the sacred beast he sought and was likely already daydreaming about returning to pursue his magic studies. The magic fool was, always, in full magic fool mode. His paternal instincts were as extinct as ever.

It was the lady who broke at this sight, her expression softening into a wry smile. It felt like a mother giving in to a whining child, or perhaps a grandmother yielding to her grandchild. Why? Was my eyesight failing me?

“Please, do go home. You’ve seen the sacred beast’s true power. You love magic so much, father, you must be itching to return to your work.”

“You’re right about that,” Laiyevist said, humming in agreement. But did he realize his daughter had nearly called him a magic fool?

“When there’s no one like that former chancellor rushing ahead driven by immediate greed, I’ll have a proper talk with His Majesty the King at least once,” she added. “After all, aside from you, father, the king is the only one here who seems to know some truth about that unmatched villainess.”

Indeed, I knew more about the truth concerning Princess Beljeanne than anyone else, and certainly more than Laiyevist did. Since she said “some truth,” though, she must not have told Laiyevist everything. In fact, I felt she was implying she knew more of the truth than I did.

Lady Robur, who could forge pacts with sacred beasts, would never ignore the will of Sacred Beast Casquette, who had followed Princess Beljeanne until the very end. It was clear that Casquette had not forgiven either the royal family or the Robur family to which Lady Robur had been born. Therefore, unlike the chancellor, I had not the slightest intention of trying to mediate relations with the sacred beast.

However, when I’d first met Lady Robur, had any other ministers besides the chancellor been present? From my position as king, I might have made demands of her contrary to my true feelings. At the very least, I would not have stopped the chancellor from attempting to convey his message.

In the end, Laiyevist remained silent, staring at my face, before teleporting away without uttering another word.

Was he staring at me because I would be speaking with his daughter—a warning for me to handle her with care? Or something else? His expression had been too blank for me to tell. Laiyevist had died off in many ways, including his expressions.

“You may remain seated,” I said, stopping Lady Robur from rising as I approached her, and sat cross-legged on the ground myself. “That black smoke, is it demonic power?”

“Indeed it is.”

“Ah, you may speak plainly. Speak to me as an equal, you should be permitted that. Did you destroy the demonic power?”

Lady Robur gazed at my face for a moment before offering a cool, aristocratic smile in affirmation. “Yes.”

Only the power of a sacred beast could directly destroy demonic power. “So Sacred Beast Casquette has forged a pact with you?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“And you still don’t desire that?” I had to ask; I knew the truth about Princess Beljeanne.

“Of course not. I will never sit upon that throne.”

Hearing that answer, I became certain. Lady Robur truly was the reincarnation of the late princess. “I see. I shall respect that.”

Lady Robur stared intently at my face. “You know everything, don’t you?”

“Yes. Princess Beljeanne was indeed a tragic figure. Yet to us of the royal family, she was also a truly unmatched villainess.”

She froze for a moment, but after that pause, a smile bloomed on her face like a flower, overflowing with a radiance that suited a girl of her age. “Correct,” she said with a giggle. Observing this, I realized that even now, this cunning villainess, skilled in stratagems, might not have spoken the truth even to the sacred beast that was bound to her.

“Did Princess Beljeanne harbor resentment at the moment of her death?” I asked. “Was she lonely?”

“Well, now...”

“Your conjecture is fine,” I assured her. “Please, I’ve always wanted to know.” I knew the princess’s true story, unknown even to the heads of the Four Great Ducal Houses, and that shameful mistake committed by the royal family.

Whatever the truth of Princess Beljeanne might have been, the fact remained: She had borne all calamity alone, fought alone, chosen to become a villainess of her own volition, and then perished. All that was to guide everything toward the best possible outcome. And within that best possible outcome, for some reason—yes, for some reason—we, the last descendants of the royal house, had been included.

That was why I wanted to know why she would do that amid such harsh circumstances. Was it because of resentment? Because of loneliness? And above all, was she still lonely?

This emotion had to be close to longing. When I’d ascended the throne as king, I’d learned that the image of the unmatched villainess I’d taken for granted was an illusion, and her true form was painfully pitiable.

At some point, I’d begun to yearn to know what the princess—my aunt by blood—had been thinking.

“Princess Beljeanne never resented anyone in the first place,” Lady Robur replied with a wry smile, as if to imply I was being quite the troublemaker.

“What if I said I couldn’t believe that that easily?”

“Well, what if I said she didn’t feel enough affection for those around her to harbor resentment toward them?”

“That...” I stammered, realizing that might indeed be possible.

“As a person, well, she was flawed and immature. The fundamental emotions people possess were fundamentally broken within her. Whether the princess was broken from the start, broken because she was destined to be broken, or broken by others—well, I don’t know if it was one, some, or all of those. But do you think the princess ever received enough care or love from others to warrant such resentment?”

I could only nod as Lady Robur described the princess’s inner world. That was precisely why I’d harbored doubts all along. “But then why did she strive to guide everything toward the best possible outcome?”

“Because the first to give her love, the first to show her tender care, were the sacred beasts who had long protected this kingdom. While there were humans who had vented their emotions at the princess, there was not a single human who’d nurtured her by giving her a place for her emotions.”

“But without planting seeds of emotion, how could anything sprout?”

“Indeed. Perhaps it was because she was a child born without emotion, one who’d never cried.”

A child without emotion. Lady Robur’s words made me recall a passage from the late king’s diary.

A baby who never cries. An eerie infant. A cursed child born to one I loved. An infant who cursed its mother the moment it was born. Why did this happen... I cannot forgive that man, nor this child. I hate everything about this infant.

Had the color of its mother’s bloodline not been so strong, I would have killed it just as I did that man. I hate this child, whose very indigo eyes hold the color of the royal family... Yet because it bears the likeness of my beloved... I cannot kill it. Only my hatred grows deeper...

That excerpt came from the diary left behind by the late king, which had surfaced when Regulus fell under a curse and the late king had moved to the villa where he spent his final days. In its pages were written the late king’s feelings, directing his anger and hatred born of uncontrollable circumstances toward the princess who hadn’t been his own child.

From the context and background of the time, the king’s beloved and the princess’s mother were the same person, likely a concubine, and the infant was Princess Beljeanne.

Then who was “that man”? I’d read it all, but nowhere in the diary had it been explicitly stated. However, the princess’s hair color was unique to royalty, and the princess had inherited her bloodline not from the king but from another royal. When the late king had ascended the throne and the princess was born, the only royal male present was the king himself. Yet he’d ascended the throne immediately after learning of the concubine’s pregnancy. If it had been just before that, then two royal males would have been present.

Even after hearing from the late king and the two previous queens, it still hadn’t quite clicked. But in that instant, I realized the origin of the twisted relationship between the king and queen two generations ago, their successors, and my aunt, Princess Beljeanne.

“Without Casquette, even Sharona Cherria might not have become special to the princess. Or perhaps if the princess and Casquette had met several years later, after she’d developed a sense of self, the princess’s heart might have closed completely, and even the affection Casquette offered as a sacred beast might not have resonated within her. Then, rather than considering what’s best, I would’ve simply stood by and watched this country crumble.”

Princess Beljeanne had literally been abandoned in the Palace Retreat immediately after birth by order of her grandfather, the king. She’d spent the first three years of her life in complete isolation from others. As she was an infant, the few within the castle who’d known of her existence naturally assumed she’d died and forgot her, as recorded in the diary.

When the princess had been found, it seemed that Sacred Beast Casquette, who was found at her side, had raised her. Therefore, a gag order was imposed and the truth concealed. But, reading between the lines, did what Lady Robur had just said not imply that Casquette’s involvement and Princess Beljeanne’s survival were unrelated?

But I had no intention of interrupting the story now. Those were trivial matters of no consequence.

After the princess’s survival was confirmed, she had been subjected to severe abuse by the then queen Sriarde and her child—my grandmother and father—driven by jealousy toward the king and his concubine. Princess Beljeanne had been treated like a slave, her talents exploited as she grew up. That was the unalterable truth.

What became of a child whose seeds of emotion remained untended, raised only to endure extraordinary malice? And if that child possessed magical talent and cunning rivaling even the founding monarch, the first king of the royal house, then... No matter how one looked at it, every possible outcome would be catastrophic.

And yet the lady would have stood by as a spectator? What a delightfully charming way to describe the worst possible ending.

“Either way, until her death, the princess only ever classified those around her as either special or not,” Lady Robur went on. “Naturally, this included her fiancé Soviesch Robur. The vast majority were classified as not special.”

Soviesch Robur. That was a tale of star-crossed lovers spread by the late king and the heads of the Four Great Ducal Houses at the time.

Soviesch Robur, betrothed to the inherently wicked princess, met Sharona Cherria and found true love. Yet the young heir to the Robur house remained bound by duty to his betrothed.

However, when she learned of Miss Cherria’s existence, the princess was consumed by jealousy, and committed a heinous act. Though royalty, the princess possessed little magic and no talent. She sacrificed Miss Cherria as a live offering, summoning a demon to curse and destroy the entire kingdom. Truly a villainess without equal.

Fortunately, our great crown prince, though gravely wounded, defeated both the demon that possessed her and the unmatched villainess herself.

To Princess Beljeanne, the rumors were utterly baseless, but because these rumors spread, the royal family and the Four Great Ducal Houses parted ways with the sacred beasts once and for all.

After erasing my blessing-name, the princess declared that if I wished to preserve the Rovenia bloodline as royalty, I must take upon myself all future sins. She added that if I did so, I must never speak of it to anyone, not even the sacred beasts, and take it to my grave.

At first, it seemed like salvation for me to remain king. But it was all a mistake. The House of Rovenia was framed by the princess.

That might well have been true, though whether the princess had harbored any ill will remained unknown.

With the princess’s passing, the pact with the sacred beasts ended. Simultaneously, diplomatic relations with neighboring countries became unstable. If we’d continued to denigrate the princess as an unmatched villainess, the sacred beasts would have abandoned this country entirely. Even neighboring nations, who’d been saved from plague by the princess during her lifetime, might not be willing to hold back their invasion of our country indefinitely, even out of a desire to repay the princess’s kindness.

Moreover, the king, my father, had lost his mind and was useless. The House of Rovenia was a sinking ship, its fate uncertain. This fact had been unknown even to the sacred beasts. I myself hadn’t known of it until I saw the diary.

Even so, I had resolved to wipe away the rumors branding the princess as a peerless villainess. For this was the only true atonement for forcing the young princess to bear the brunt of the numerous sins committed by the royal family.

“Therefore, for the princess, there was no reason for her emotions to be stirred by anyone, including those who’d harmed her. Possessing immense magical power, incredible talent for magic, and insight beyond the ordinary, she found everyone around her insignificant. She felt neither pleasure nor displeasure.” Lady Robur fell silent for a moment as if in deep thought. “Yet on the day she died, for some reason, an intense anger welled up in her. With miraculous timing, passion had sprouted. Honestly, it was nothing short of a mystery.”

The day the princess had died was also the day she’d erased the king’s blessing-name and secretly become the true ruler of this land.

“It might have been typical adolescent behavior to lash out at those around her with that uncontrollable passion. That’s also why she struck her legal father and his wife for the first time in her life.”

Eh? Princess Beljeanne had struck Sriarde too? The diary hadn’t mentioned that... Such brainless—no, childish—defiance. That only made me more... I covered my mouth. “Hmph... Hah...”

“Don’t laugh. After all, the princess was just a child who’d only turned seventeen that day.” Lady Robur lowered her eyes bashfully, pouting her lips in embarrassment like any other girl her age. The sight was so endearing that the corners of my eyes crinkled. But then she muttered, “A tender smile from a cool guy... I see.”

What?! A chill ran down my spine. She sounded like a pervert enjoying voyeurism... No, that was far too disrespectful a thought for a young girl. Yet, against my will, I instinctively pulled back, overwhelmed, to put some distance between us.

“Hee hee, in a way, you’re my nephew,” she giggled. “I wouldn’t actually attack you.”

Her nephew in a way...? So Lady Robur was indeed Princess Beljeanne... The thought suppressed my flight instinct, allowing reason to take hold as I focused my awareness back on Lady Robur.

“Anyway,” she said, “if the princess were suddenly to experience passion for the first time, wouldn’t it be unsurprising if she were driven by emotion to strip her legal father, the king, of his royal qualifications? It would hardly be strange if the target of that passion extended to the whole of the royal family, and the Four Great Ducal Houses, even invalidating every pact-bearer bound to a sacred beast in this country at the time. After all, the princess had the magical power and talent, as well as the knowledge to do it.” She wore a cold smile. “But it would be simplistic to assume the princess harbored resentment toward the royal family or the Four Great Ducal Houses. To her, such thoughts themselves would be utterly presumptuous. For example, would you nurture hatred or resentment at a tiny insect like a mosquito for sucking your blood? Impossible. It’s the same principle.”

That comparison made several of my lingering questions about Princess Beljeanne suddenly make sense. For a princess overflowing with talent, it seemed nothing in the world had stirred her emotions enough to matter.

“Then why did the princess not conceal her gifts?” I asked. “Would it not have been easier to live like you do now, keeping her claws hidden?”

“It was simply because there were some special beings. She acted purely out of concern for them, solely to grant them true freedom. The result merely led to seeking the best for everyone. Any adult with long life experience would recognize the princess’s actions as misguided. Yet, in a world where no one teaches human hearts, it was a conclusion she reached on her own. So even if she later realized other, better paths, had existed, she harbored no regret for her choice.”

“Even if all her fame and achievements were stripped away, and she was vilified both in life and in death?”

“Indeed. The princess left behind many great achievements. Among the major ones were establishing a barrier around the Poison Box Garden, pacifying disaster-level magical beasts, suppressing epidemics, and maintaining harmony with neighboring nations whose relations were deteriorating.”

“There were many others too,” I said. “She laid the foundation for nurturing commoners, significantly contributing to our nation’s strength. She also developed fireworks and the copy pen, didn’t she? Everything the princess accomplished has become someone else’s achievement. Wasn’t that truly frustrating?”

“Does it really matter who brought about those achievements, or how the truth was distorted? What matters is how long it takes to accomplish them—or if they’re even accomplished at all.”

“Because of her devotion as royalty?”

“Devotion?” Lady Robur burst out laughing.

“What part of this conversation were you listening to?” I said. “You’re not just indifferent. Wouldn’t all that normally bother someone?”

She kept laughing for a moment before she responded. “Normally, yes. Most people possess at least some desire for self-expression. However, since she possessed so few of the emotional fluctuations one would naturally expect in a human being, the majority of ‘normal’ values simply were not present in the princess. If she claimed credit for herself, she’d have to deal with the queen consort and even the king himself getting in the way. It was more convenient to have it look like the queen’s own child, someone always shielded and protected, had done it, since that would be accepted more readily. She thought it was rationalism prioritizing practical gain, but perhaps she was already broken by the time she came to that conclusion. She felt absolutely no regret about it. Above all, she was so busy she never had time to question it, and before she knew it she died, just like that.”

“Just like that?” I couldn’t help but repeat her words, taken aback by how lightly she treated her own death.

Lady Robur cast a soundproofing spell to ensure absolutely no one could eavesdrop, likely worried that even the sacred beasts might overhear. “That’s how little her own life meant to the princess,” she said. “And those who were special to her? She always protected them, ensuring no harm came to them, didn’t she?”

“What about her mother, the concubine?” I asked. Records stated that the concubine fell ill after giving birth to the princess, remaining bedridden for a long time before eventually passing away. However, the exact date of her death had never been recorded. Yet it was the very existence of the late king’s concubine that was the root of the royal family’s transgression.

“The princess didn’t protect the concubine until the end. That’s the answer. The concubine fell into a deep sleep immediately after the princess was born, but the princess did wake her once. The moment the concubine truly understood the princess’s existence, she was overcome with terror. She lamented her life and wept and wailed bitterly. It was then that the princess learned where the royal blood flowing through her veins came from.” Lady Robur was perhaps recalling that time. A faint smile touched her face, yet it held a hint of sorrow. “That’s precisely why seeing my mother cry out in anguish... Well, to say I couldn’t bear it might be the perfect way to describe it. So the princess put her mother back to sleep and made her vanish from the palace.”

From the diary, it was clear the late king had never directly protected Princess Beljeanne’s mother, the concubine, from his legal wife Sriarde.

Yet the late king had loved his concubine from the bottom of his heart. Because she’d been taken from him by unjust means before she became his concubine, and he could neither reclaim her by legitimate means nor possess her again in her true form, he became obsessed. As a result, he could no longer let her go, as his diary recorded. The only way it might have been possible for him to let her go... Well, perhaps if the family of the concubine had taken her back to her birthplace. But the Cherria family, originally a marquisate, had inexplicably begun to decline. It had started around the time Sharona Cherria’s aunt had gone missing. Whether the king had intervened then was impossible to know now.

What was certain was that Beljeanne Yevina Rovenia was born from the king’s mistake, bore the sins of the royal family and the Four Ducal Houses, and had perished while protecting everything in this country. And that the true sovereign of this land was an unmatched villainess.

That was a truth known only to me now, and one that must never be revealed unless the true mistress of that unmatched villainess desired it.

“So you needn’t think about the princess,” Lady Robur told me. “The princess’s legal father left something behind, didn’t he? You seem to know the truth better than your mother, the previous queen.”

“Ah...” I started to agree, but then noticed the silver holy seal visible at Lady Robur’s neck. Though the sun was setting, I also noticed her poor complexion. “What about that seal?”

“Proof that the princess became this kingdom’s ruler through underhanded means. I suppose I can’t really tell you more than what you’ve already figured out on your own. I’m in a contest of endurance with a certain sacred beast. If I lose, I’ll turn to ash again.”

A certain sacred beast... Undoubtedly the sacred beast that bestowed the royal family’s blessing-names.

“If I break it...” Immediately I made an attempt with my magic, but the moment I channeled magic to Lady Robur’s body, it was repelled.

“It’s useless.”

“Jilkaglim Sobel Rovenia earnestly pleads—grant this one all elemental blessings.” Ignoring Lady Robur’s words, I rose and cast an ancient spell in an archaic language. The flower I’d designated as royal, a deep purple iris, formed a crown above Lady Robur’s head, flickering and fading into a faint black-purple glow that enveloped her entire body.

Sensing the unnatural magic entangled with her soul, I channeled my magic toward suppressing it, using the robe she wore as a reference point. As if permeated by a faint light, the robe’s color shifted to deep purple. Soon, the sacred seal, likely present not just at her neck but across her entire body, faded away like ripples. It seemed to have worked.

Instantly I was overwhelmed not only by the drain of magic but also by the sensation of my own life force being consumed. I stumbled, dizzy, and collapsed to my knees.

If the sacred beast that bestowed my blessing-name was doing something to Lady Robur, I should have been able to interfere by linking it to my blessing-name. This ancient magic, long extinct, was the magic from the time that sacred beast had first manifested. And my magic held all affinities within it. It was balanced and even, just like Princess Beljeanne’s. I assumed I could interfere and suppress its process, and it seemed I was right.

“How foolish,” Lady Robur said. “That sacred beast warned your soul not to utter your blessing-name, didn’t it?”

“That’s right. Such a fierce...headache. Ahh. The warning is reaching me. I don’t think I could do that again.” Dizziness, headaches, and nausea all assaulted me like when my magic power was depleted, but I controlled myself to merely frowning.

“Of course. How reckless for a king. If you don’t want to end up like me, refrain from doing that in the future,” Lady Robur said reproachfully. There was a note of real danger in her voice, yet it also carried the gentle scolding of a grandmother reprimanding her grandson. “But thank you. I managed to say most of what I wanted to, and you spoke too. In any case, talking further won’t do either of us any good. I hope we never meet again like this.” Lady Robur stood up, approached me, and gave my shoulder a firm tap.

“Wait...” Despite my protests, the scenery shifted—we were now in the ruins of Princess Beljeanne’s Palace Retreat.

※※※※ The Moon Is Beautiful, Isn’t It, Darling? (Laviange)

“Truly befitting a king. To think he could interfere with the power bound to his soul by his blessing-name and the royal family’s flower, suppressing the sacred seal...” Left alone in this place, I let the words slip out as I sat down again.

From the perspective of my life before last, the king was my nephew by blood. Perhaps because of that, he was able to wield considerable magic.

Suddenly, I found myself recalling the moment after my body turned to ash, when I entered the wheel of reincarnation—or rather, just before being thrown into it.

“Beljeanne. By the method established in ancient times, you became ruler of the Kingdom of Rovenia, the land promised between the first king and I. But I do not recognize you as ruler. I sympathize with your birth, but forcibly erasing the name I bestowed upon the person who bore it is a sin. The first king was the very spark of conflict my pact-bearer did not desire. Furthermore, you are far too lacking as a human.”

In my previous life, I’d used the power of the sacred beast that dwelled within my blessing-name to reduce myself and the demon I had absorbed into my body to ashes. I had burned away the curse mark the demon had seared into me to claim my body, using the sacred seal.

The name of that sacred beast had been Ahvoyd. It seemed the name had been erased from history; it was only by chance that I’d learned it. But it was because I knew the name that I could wield the power of Ahvoyd, forcing my father to admit defeat and erase my blessing-name.

Back then, the sacred beasts had been bound by contract to future kings and the heads of the Four Great Ducal Houses as a matter of course, due to a promise made to the first king who’d established the nation. The sacred beasts weren’t permitted to break pacts; they were forced to bear that burden. So I’d forcibly dissolved all the sacred beasts’ contracts too. As the ruler of this country, I’d used my own blessing-name as a medium to directly draw power from Ahvoyd and terminate the pacts.

Of course, I’d done this without getting permission from the arrogant pact-bearers—or even the sacred beasts themselves. However, if any sacred beast, like Cas or Lag, had refused the release, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. The other sacred beasts must have desired the release as well.

The demon inhabiting my half brother’s body had become a magical curse within him. So, under the pretense of expelling it from his body, I’d executed the beat-the-hell-out-of-him strategy. Timing it perfectly, I’d shown an opening to the weakened demon and successfully lured it into my body, allowing me to erase it along with myself.

But even that, along with everything else, had been perceived as a sin by Ahvoyd, who had been waiting at the edge of the wheel of reincarnation and had maintained a pact with the first king of Rovenia. The only thing I’d been able to perceive of Ahvoyd was the voice—it was a neutral voice, but it held a stern resonance.

“This is mercy, and preparation for the punishment to befall you. Learn and know humanity in a new land. Pitiful child. Should one appear who fills your broken heart throughout your lifetime, you shall return to this world once more, and the punishment shall be executed alongside the oath.”

There was a long silence, and then Ahvoyd continued with profound sadness. “Ah, but I’m sorry. You poor child, burdened with everything. Perhaps it would be happier for you if no such person ever appeared.”

“I made a promise to Casquette and Laguondol, so that won’t do,” I’d replied. “Besides, I still haven’t given you the choice to be free yourself.”

“What?”

“Surprised? Even the first king of Rovenia probably wouldn’t want you in your current situation. I’ll return someday.” Exhaustion had suddenly overtaken me. Strange, considering I’d had no body. “I’ll return. When I do, you’ll choose again. For now, I’m sorry, I’m sleepy...”

“...Pass away before the one who fulfills you... Or...refuse...”

The warm, soft light that showered down and enveloped me had felt so comforting that I’d been unable to catch every word of Ahvoyd’s farewell. It wasn’t until I’d returned to this world as Laviange that I’d learned I’d entered the wheel of reincarnation right before Cas’s eyes, as he’d chased after me.

“I’d had so many feelings I couldn’t put into words, feelings I wasn’t even aware of myself as Beljeanne.”

The pale blue of a full moon shone down from the sky above and I remembered the face of my husband from our younger years, smiling brightly as always. He’d always been so cute.

“You make such delicious dango, Tsukina! Nothing makes me happier than looking at the moon together while we eat it!”

“The moon is beautiful, isn’t it, darling?”

Beljeanne had been saved by him and our family in that life. But in this life, I’d come to know the loneliness of being without him, and the longing I felt for him.

I wondered what kind of face I was making right now.

Epilogue: The Most Frightening Guard (The Pope)

“How was the contract terminated so neatly?” Jabi demanded. She still wore her hood low, keeping her face hidden.

This was the first time I’d seen her in quite a while—it had been a month since I’d cleanly terminated my contract with the demon, leaving no lingering effects.

“It was purified by a sacred beast,” I replied.

“I see. You relinquished your core. I’m curious as to what happened.”

I’d expected that question, so I was able to answer calmly. “I was forced to read the autobiography of a talentless, incompetent lady. The shocking plot twists and artistic skill were so overwhelming that the moment I lost all will to fight, my core was erased.” Jabi stared at me intently, as if trying to glean information from my expression. Of course, her hood meant our eyes never met. It was merely a feeling I had based on our long association, despite everything.

I wasn’t lying. It was undeniable that I’d lost my will to fight because of that scandalous novel. What on earth had happened between her time as a princess and her rebirth as Lady Laviange? I was too scared to ask.

“Then die,” Jabi said lightly. A crimson-black arrow appeared from nowhere, flying straight for me. My pointed miter hat was blown off, and the creature perched atop my head swiftly kicked the arrow away.

“Disappointing, I suppose. Normally I’d kill you to silence you but... What the hell is that?”

Of course, I couldn’t see anything but Jabi’s mouth, but there was no doubt she was staring at the top of my head. Her mouth twitched slightly. She was clearly grossed out.

No wonder. A new species of plant-type magical beast was parasitizing the top of my head, and I’d been hiding it and keeping it there with my miter. One of my old friend’s wives had to be grinning smugly as she straddled that magical beast’s back. I was sure the top of my head looked utterly chaotic.

Unbeknownst to me, the princess, in her current reincarnation as Lady Robur, had entered a pact with my old friend—a sacred beast now called Captain Dread. I wasn’t sure if it was a name or a nickname, but the one who’d set this parasite on my head was, of course, that very captain. And the wife in question was an alraune. While I hadn’t seen him in decades, my old friend had apparently jumped the gun and inherited the name of the sacred beast Drogolena as if it were his family name, and had taken alraunes, born from the previous beast’s seed, as his wives. And not just one, but five alraunes. He was a rotten bastard, but since they were plants, I supposed it was in their nature.

“What on earth is going on?” muttered Jabi. “That talentless, incompetent, runaway lady... Well, I suppose it was inevitable that I’d underestimate her. In my current state, I can’t stand up to a sacred beast head-on. But that alraune... It’s riding a sheep? A sheep but a plant? How pointlessly ambiguous...but it’s a magical beast, isn’t it? Yet including the type of magic it releases... Isn’t it all just too ridiculous?”

Jabi sighed. It was no wonder she was so dumbfounded and resigned. After all, a mini beast called a barometz, a sheeplike creature, had bundled the vines sprouting from its belly and rooted them into my head.

This was apparently the miniature magical beast version of the vehicle that Lady Lavi rode on, which she called Hi Ho Hi Ho—the creature Nax had mentioned seeing with Lady Lavi and Countess Faltan.

After I lost consciousness in the underground lab, the first thing I’d done upon waking was check my parasitized head in a mirror. Needless to say, I’d immediately used an illusion spell to hide it, but I also had to wear a miter—a tall hat exclusive to the office of pope—whenever I appeared in public, so the creature would be hidden even if the spell failed.

It was my personal secret that this was the first time I’d even been grateful for the position of pope, a role I had never once been happy to hold.

Incidentally, Lady Lavi had named this smaller sheep just Hi Ho, and whenever she saw it she would tear up nearby weeds and feed them to the creature.

Whether it was naming things or solving problems, she’d always been simplistic and shortsighted, even as the princess. Now that everyone called her Lady Lavi, the name Lily miraculously seemed perfectly normal. The power-up she’d gotten from her reincarnation had made her simplistic instincts terrifying.

The creature on my head looked like a sheep from any angle. Yet, as he had vines sprouting from his belly, he was undoubtedly a plant-type magical beast. The classification itself induced confusion. Despite his ridiculous appearance and his constant bouncing about, he was a bundle of holy magic. And incredibly aggressive. When he got mad at me, he would attack my head with his sharp hooves—he was a magical beast that demanded constant vigilance.

Incidentally, whenever one of Captain Dread’s wives appeared, they inevitably mounted him, triggering a rampaging sheep event at least once.

Even I wondered what was happening on top of my head. I was praying in earnest for the first time since joining the church as an apprentice priest that the commotion on my head might someday subside.

It was quite, ahem, immoral. If I didn’t read aloud at night from the racy novels that highlighted Lady Lavi’s tastes, the sheep wouldn’t sleep and would protest by bouncing around. The sleep deprivation had become so severe that I just gave in. Sneakily reading scandalous novels in the middle of the night? I wanted to ask just what kind of adolescent boy this sheep thought he was.

From Nax’s account, this sheep had originally been derived from a large, migratory plant-type magical beast that withered quickly. Being cultivated into a parasitic magical beast had apparently extended the species’ lifespan. That was, of course, thanks to my old friend.

“I pride myself on having the most terrifying—ahem, the strongest guard,” I told Jabi. “It’s a gift from a sacred beast, after all.”

This gift had clearly been given in anticipation that the demon would reappear and attempt to kill me. Since the sheep provided round-the-clock protection, I should be grateful. And I was, but every time I looked in the mirror I couldn’t help but resentfully wish they could have done this another way...

“Ugh, sacred beasts again. Truly annoying. And it attached itself to you using Beljeanne’s hair. My restrictions work especially strongly whenever it involves things or creatures connected to her—including you. It’s even worse since she seemed to care deeply for you.” The vision of my old friend with dark magic power streamed directly into my mind—of the princess searching for me after reincarnating as Lady Lavi—and before I knew it, a smile spilled over my lips.

“What a pity,” Jabi continued. “If you’d managed to fulfill the contract with me back then, you could’ve taught that troublesome Beljeanne a lesson. But soon enough, you won’t have any bodyguards left.”

“Ah, this is the type that sprouts again immediately after withering. Thanks to the sacred beast’s power, it’s supposed to last more or less permanently.”

“But are you really okay with that?”

“Of course,” I replied with a chuckle. Though hidden by her hood, Jabi’s gaze was undoubtedly fixed on the top of my head. I couldn’t stop my eyes from darting around. It wasn’t good, but I’d endure it. Touching the princess’s heart had finally filled my own emptiness. I’d learned I hadn’t been abandoned by her.

“Well, I suppose I have no choice,” Jabi muttered. “I’ll go now. You are the true architect of keeping me here, so I’ll let you off just this once. As long as you don’t interfere with my complete revival, we’ll likely never meet again in your remaining human life.”

No sooner had she spoken than she vanished.

“Well, that was rather abrupt...” I couldn’t help frowning. For a demon’s exit, it was far too...

I recalled the moment I’d first heard the demon’s whisper, after the princess had died. Unable to accept her death, I’d returned to the hut where we’d lived. No one had come for weeks. The only one who’d stayed with me was the mandrake—the princess had been friends with it and raised it as a guard dog.

“You must hate me for taking away your beloved Beljeanne. This country chose to make your true savior, your beloved, the villain. They chose self-preservation. If you revive me, I’ll give you the chance to bring the dead back to life,” a hoarse, raspy voice had said. That must’ve been Jabi’s true voice. I understood the meaning of her words immediately. It was exactly the sort of thing the rotten royal family and the Four Dukes would do.

Even now I couldn’t forgive them for that. And that righteous crown prince? He’d summoned a demon, after all.

But initially, the overwhelming grief and emptiness of being left behind by the princess had far outweighed any simmering hatred. I’d sat silently beside my friend in front of the hut, consumed by memories of the princess, and resolved to simply wither away.

And yet, when I heard that voice, the embers of hatred had been reignited.

“The princess... Is it true?” I’d asked.

“Look. The offering has arrived. Use that thing which tormented your beloved to the very end to grant me a vessel for my soul. See? What I hold is a lock of your beloved’s hair. Accept the power dwelling within my fading thoughts. I shall restore your beloved, and ensure you yourself regain the status befitting that achievement, along with the honor you were stripped of. This time, your beloved will love you as a man.”

It had been Sriarde who’d staggered into the abandoned palace just then, looking like a criminal. Her once glorious crimson hair was now matted and tangled, stained a dull, dirty red. Yet her eyes—a deep purple that had long seethed with hatred for the princess—burned with an even more murderous, bloodshot fury.

The fire in my chest had blazed upward, the flames of hatred exploding fiercely.

“You...you were that lowly brat’s lackey, weren’t you?” the woman had said.

Seeing the bundle of silvery-peach hair in this woman’s hand, I’d realized why the princess’s hair had been unnaturally short on one side—it had been because of her.

Using this woman who’d forced injustice upon the princess until the very end, I would rescue the princess with my own hands and place her in the position she’d deserved. Then, this time, not as a maid, but as a man, I would love the princess, and be loved by her in return.

I had always wished to be that kind of person. My ears, filled only with selfish thoughts, could no longer hear my friend’s voice urging me to stop.

After that, I would revive the princess, and had resolved to place her in her rightful position this time. Removing the church as the state religion had been part of that plan. By no longer accepting every land purification request, I’d positioned myself to weaken the nation’s power directly while simultaneously increasing the value of the priests’ purification abilities. I’d been establishing the church as a specialized institution dedicated solely to land purification.

Of course, I was now fully aware that I had done things the princess would not have wanted...and yet I had no regrets.

I couldn’t help but laugh at myself. Truly, I was a hopeless case.

“What’s wrong?” my old friend’s wife called down from above.

“Nothing...” As I answered, however, a fleeting unease struck me. Could Jabi’s timely departure somehow be connected to my experiment? Where had Luciana’s body gone?

That green giant lizard that Jabi had summoned—the will residing within Luciana, attached to that massive body, had been almost entirely swallowed up by the instincts of the lizard. Even so, some of it should have remained at the end. Years of research had taught me that will resided in the head. Luciana was probably the same.

Luciana was Lady Lavi’s mother, but Lady Lavi herself didn’t seem to feel any sort of attachment toward her. The feelings Lady Lavi had now, and the ones the princess had had, toward their mothers... No, even back then, it would have been hard to call it “affection.”

The spear I’d thrust into the giant lizard was a spear that showed nightmares to those it pierced, forcing them to submit. It had been further reinforced with demonic power. The light arrow fired by Lady Lavi’s older brother Mihail had still affected its body even after I’d dispelled it. However, while it had somewhat neutralized the power of my spear embedded in the lizard’s body, it had lacked the strength to completely counteract it.

It was only natural. The power in his pupils had activated the dark magic within him to an extreme. His vision was unstable, and using holy magic, the polar opposite of dark, must have been extremely difficult. Had he continued to overuse the power of his eyes without control, his magic would’ve run wild.

That was why my old friend had knocked him unconscious. Prince Regulus had been collateral damage.

Now, Lady Lavi, having noticed the rampage of his eyes, must have been interfering and suppressing it by infusing her own magic into food or drink for her brother to consume. Otherwise, Mihail would have been running wild like the princess’s former fiancé, Soviesch.

And so far there had been no word of Mihail’s magic running wild. He was, after all, the next head of one of the Four Great Ducal Houses and he possessed considerable magic power. If he had truly lost control, it would be impossible for it not to become common knowledge.

When Soviesch had lost control of his magic at the princess’s Palace Retreat, the young princess, barely of age herself, had been injured in the process of saving him. Ah, even now, just remembering it made me furious.

The princess had kissed Soviesch, directly channeling her own magic into his body to intervene and suppress his raging power. The princess, myself, and Soviesch himself were the only ones who had known about the incident. Afterward, until he could master the power of his eyes, the princess had arranged regular meetings with him under the guise of exchanges related to their engagement. She’d infused her magic into his tea, helping to control it by interfering from within his body to prevent it from running wild.

The power of the eyes manifested in the Robur bloodline, but it wasn’t a power that appeared frequently—the last person to manifest it before Soviesch had been a long, long time ago. I hadn’t been told the details of the power, but I did know that it allowed one to read the emotions and memories of others.

I suspected that successive heads of the family had handled it secretly, to prevent it from becoming public knowledge, and to avoid the truth of it themselves. From what Soviesch had been able to find, no detailed records had seemed to remain.

If relations with the sacred beasts had been as good then as they were now with Lady Lavi, one of them would no doubt have offered help voluntarily. But back then, the pact-bearers of the royal house and the Four Great Ducal Houses—those destined to become kings or heads of their houses—had likely looked down on the sacred beasts, binding them through their pacts, so voluntary help had been out of the question.

The princess had been able to free the sacred beasts who’d had pacts with others back then because the sacred beasts themselves had desired it. That was how deeply the sacred beasts’ hearts had already been turned away from this country.

“Sacred beasts... Why did you...” I stopped myself mid-sentence. The lady atop my head was not the previous Drogolena. She was a different magical beast born from seeds left behind. Even if I asked the wife of my former friend, who’d been looked down on by his pact-bearer, why he’d protected this country back then, I doubted I’d find her answer satisfying.

Instead, I asked about something else that had been on my mind. “Who defeated Lady Lavi’s mother?”

The alraune tilted her head. “I wonder...”

“I see.”

Her expression made it impossible to tell if she genuinely didn’t know or was simply choosing to remain silent. I could help a wry smile.

Luciana had vanished from that spot with the spear still piercing her body. That was why, even after I had been teleported alone from the underground to the great hall by my old friend’s magic, and had subsequently witnessed the shocking debauchery of the church officials, I’d still known where her body was. Several days later, however, I’d suddenly sensed the spear disappear.

Then, last week, as pope, I’d signed off on the burial notice for Luciana at the Cherria family cemetery. She must have been slain on the very day that the spear vanished. If it was someone other than Lady Lavi, a sacred beast pact-bearer, who had defeated her, Luciana’s soul would have been devoured by demons and obliterated. Just like what had happened to Sriarde, the queen from two generations ago.

As an aside, I’d accumulated a considerable amount of charm magic, enhanced by demonic power, within the priests. This was so that I could manipulate them swiftly and at will, whenever I desired. I had also intended for the priests to unconsciously crave my presence like a drug, making it difficult for them to leave me.

However, I’d had no idea that, through my magic, demonic charm power had accumulated within the priests themselves.

Only recently had I heard this from one of the alraunes, and I was utterly shocked. If things had gone badly, the priests’ souls might have been devoured by demons. I shuddered at the thought—contracts with demons truly brought nothing but harm.

According to the alraunes, it seemed Lady Lavi had infused the enchanting power replicated from the sacred beasts’ magic into a spell, showered it upon the priests to overwrite the demonic power, and destroyed my enchantment along with it.

Naturally, even the sacred beast pact-bearers I’d seen in action in the past couldn’t have performed such advanced magic. Lady Lavi truly wasn’t the talentless lady of the rumors, said to be limited in her magic power and incapable of using spells properly.

So it couldn’t be helped. That was the result of all that—a phenomenon beyond all comprehension.

Having relinquished the demon’s core, I was curious about the wine Lady Lavi had been drinking, and what she’d said, so I teleported to the church’s great hall.

First in my view were church officials, completely drunk. They were praying and prostrating themselves, kneeling on the floor as if worshipping something. Then, a little farther away, was a red-haired youth with a face twisted in terror, desperately sketching something. Beside him was a young lady with an absurdly faint presence, who was bowing down alternately to the youth and to his subjects, like the church officials were.

Following everyone’s gazes, I saw Lady Lavi’s brother and the first prince. For some reason, they were shirtless.

The two handsome men lay sprawled across the dining table, striking various poses like painting models. Skillfully, they balanced plates of food and glasses of drink on their bodies. Both wore expressions of rapture, tinged with sensuality.

Noticing the half-naked pair staring intently at something, I followed their gaze to see Lady Lavi smiling sweetly with a faint, youthful smile that suited a girl her age. She was also gazing back dreamily, but she somehow resembled that pervert I’d seen after the entrance ceremony... No, never mind, she was just plain adorable.

At that moment, I never could have imagined that this lewd, bewitching scene would soon appear in popular novels and illustrations, circulating in the streets, and being referred to as “body cuisine.”

Afterword

I am Hanako Arashi, author of this book. I sincerely thank you for choosing this book from among so many captivating works.

This is the third volume in the series. It’s been a while since the last one, but I hope you’ve been well. While I wondered if I could truly publish up to volume 3, after struggling through a tough battle, I managed to scrape this together. I’m very emotional about it.

In this third volume I introduced a chimera that might make readers think, “Wait, isn’t this women’s fiction? This looks like men’s fiction!” I’m secretly nervous that I might have startled readers who aren’t fond of gore or cruel depictions. I really did try to tone it down.

*For those thinking, “Yeah, right.” If you’re curious, please take a peek at the web version. I’m a horror fan at heart, and when I was writing the web version it was Halloween season. I was having horror dreams every other day and loving it, and I watched videos of Halloween zombies almost daily. There’s clear evidence I charged full steam ahead toward the gory zombie direction.

Now then, about this third volume, it also focuses on Luciana, the mother with a temper and a wicked streak. Honestly, I debated whether I should make Luciana a completely unsympathetic, selfish mother right though to the end. But this is a world where sacred beasts who adore Laviange exist. A mother like that would probably have been eliminated long ago. So, as the author, I’d be delighted if you could feel even a tiny bit of pity for Luciana, just a hint of her humanity. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s okay to do anything to your own daughter.

Still, ending it there would be too heavy! So I’ve kept things light with Laviange’s artistic flair and the conclusion of the pope’s story. This time, I’ve introduced what’s probably a minor, botanical-type magical beast. While I’ve added some tweaks, it does appear properly in real world lore, so please search for “Scythian Lamb” or “Vegetable Lamb of Tartary.” The lamb is apparently so delicious it would make Team Peckish very happy.

And now, about the manga adaptation. As mentioned in the afterword of volume 2, it’s currently being worked on by Kazusa Subaru. I got hooked on Subaru’s art skills before everyone else discovered him, and I’ve become one of those creepy people who grins like an idiot while staring at the drawings he sends over.

Serialization is scheduled to begin around autumn 2024! It will be serialized on Gangan ONLINE, and once detailed information is released, I plan to announce it on platforms like Kakuyomu, where I’m currently posting the web version of this work. Please check it out if you can! Thank you for your continued support.

To Wan Hachipisu, who continued handling the illustrations for volume 3: Thank you for accommodating my requests, like making Mihail on the cover illustration a bit more chuunibyou-esque and the detailed specifications I gave you for Mirandalinda, who gets hyped up over yaoi! The cover illustration’s style changed and Mihail turned out just as cool as ordered, and Miranda was cuter than I’d imagined yet still had that fangirl vibe. I was thrilled and excited even at the rough sketch stage! Facing the finished god-tier illustration, I was once again overcome with excitement! Thank you!

To the editor who made me agonize over the web version of the zombie chimera from the first draft, which was at the time brushed off with “Well, it’s women’s fiction”—at first I told myself I was actually suppressing my horror-loving instincts back then. But seeing your response, I nodded along inside, thinking, “Yeah, you’re right.” My apologies. Instead, thank you for letting me write with high energy about the clione. It was a long-cherished ingredient I’d dreamed of eating—dried clione soaked in ochazuke until it plumps back to its original form. Between that and your patience through all the inconsistencies in the third volume’s text, I’m filled with both apologies and gratitude.

As a sidenote, keeping your advice close to heart, I overcame my childhood accident and continued the battle against the evil fat-storing organization—and managed to dip below the big mark!

*If you’re wondering what this refers to, please check the author introduction section.

Finally, to everyone involved in this work, and to all of you who picked up this book—including the fact we made it to volume 3—I offer my heartfelt thanks once again!