Alice could understand what Yuna meant.
The moment she heard the question, Alice realized she had let her guard down too much lately.
And that her current self had reminded people of the Alice from the past.
“I suppose you’re right.”
Alice could only feel bitter about it. She believed she was a different person from the Alice of the past, but it seemed the people around her inevitably saw things differently.
“What if I say I’m different?”
“Different?”
“I am different. But to other people, I probably don’t seem all that different.”
“What are you even talking about…?”
Alice had memories. She knew that she herself had once been that girl.
But still, she was different. The real Alice had already died that day.
She was merely a fragment born from Alice’s ability and a fleeting miracle.
A part of Alice, perhaps, but calling herself Alice entirely would be misleading.
“I’m Alice’s lingering attachment.”
Alice’s ability was a power that made countless challenges possible.
A power born from Alice’s desire to experience all kinds of adventures, all kinds of lives, and everything she wished to do within a short span of time.
The current Alice or in other words, the Oracle, could be described as just one among those countless experiences.
“I don’t really get philosophical stuff, but you are Alice, aren’t you?”
“If that’s how you choose to see me, Miss Yuna, then maybe that’s true.”
“That’s how I’m going to see it. And Johan probably will too.”
“……”
Though the words sounded accusatory, Alice found comfort in them.
At least the girl standing before her considered her real.
“So, what are you planning to do?”
“Fufu.”
Alice let out a soft laugh at Yuna’s blatant wariness.
Now she understood why Yuna had come to see her.
Because Yuna believed she was Alice.
Because she loved Johan more than anyone else did.
That guardedness, like a cat with its fur standing on end…how could it not seem adorable?
“You don’t need to worry.”
Alice no longer felt nervous even while facing Yuna.
Before, when she didn’t know Yuna’s intentions, she had been uneasy.
But not anymore.
Yuna’s cute little concerns had nothing to do with her, so there was no reason to expect anything troublesome.
“I’m going to die soon.”
“……”
“So the kind of thing you’re worried about won’t happen.”
“……”
A calm confession.
Yuna held her breath for a brief moment before finally letting out a sigh and asking,
“What do you mean, you’re going to die?”
Even Yuna no longer showed the same level of hostility as before.
What Alice had just said so calmly was simply that shocking.
“Is it because of your lifespan?”
“I suppose so…”
Alice slowly shook her head.
Lying would have been easy, but Yuna was not someone who could be deceived by a lie.
“Not exactly. Just… please understand that I’ll naturally disappear soon enough.”
“……”
Yuna frowned.
This wasn’t what she wanted.
This wasn’t the situation she had imagined.
Alice looked like someone who had already given up, smiling so fleetingly.
Could anyone really feel happy after seeing someone like that?
Yuna couldn’t.
And yet…
“Please.”
She was a selfish person.
At this moment, she could feel that more clearly than ever.
“Die somewhere Johan can’t see.”
“……”
The moment she understood the meaning behind Yuna’s words, Alice was stunned.
It couldn’t have been easy for Yuna to say something like that.
“Don’t hurt him any more than this.”
And yet the reason Yuna spoke such harsh, cruel words was entirely because of Johan.
She simply didn’t want the person she loved to suffer any more pain.
For that sake, she forced herself to say something terrible.
Even Yuna herself looked pained by her own words, her expression tightening as if they wounded her too.
“Okay. I will.”
That was why Alice deliberately answered with a smile.
She understood Yuna’s feelings.
“That was my plan from the beginning.”
And in truth, Alice felt the same way.
She had no intention of dying somewhere Johan could see.
That was exactly why she had removed Johan from his position as the Knights’ strategist.
Alice planned to die in the deepest part of the Imperial Palace, in front of the audience chamber.
The Emperor’s blade would sever her head painlessly, and her body would be reduced to ashes so completely that nothing would remain to be found.
Johan would never even learn that someone like her had died.
She would simply disappear.
As naturally as someone setting off on a journey, she would quietly leave this world behind.
“Is that enough for you now?”
“……”
Without answering, Yuna turned around and walked away.
Watching her retreating figure, Alice quietly thought to herself.
Being too perceptive isn’t always a good thing. You end up learning things you never needed to know, and that can’t feel good at all.
It would have been better if Yuna had remained unaware too.
The moment that thought crossed her mind, Alice let out a faint laugh.
Then again, I’m no different.
Because she could see the future. Because she had seen it. Alice chose to devote everything she had to saving the world.
Even as she mocked herself inwardly, Alice looked straight toward the rising sun.
The life she had left was short, but still long enough to enjoy.
***
My stomach felt heavy.
The food from last night’s party with Yuna still refused to settle.
Because of the guilt.
Today made four days.
My promise with Emily was tonight, so I needed to resolve this somehow before the morning ended if possible.
Would Tronios Ether actually open the doors of the estate to me?
“Father, are you ready?”
“Yeah.”
My father and I visited the Ether Duchy with grim determination.
And surprisingly enough, the Ether family opened their gates as though they had been expecting us.
“We should’ve just come earlier.”
“Seriously.”
If I’d known it would be this easy to get in, I would’ve done it sooner.
Maybe the reason none of our letters had received a reply was simply because they’d been busy.
Or perhaps the letters had been filtered out internally.
A house like the Ether family probably didn’t accept letters from just anyone.
Unfortunately, even if our family held the title of count, we were still just a rural house tucked away in the countryside, so maybe our letters got caught in their examination system.
“This way, please.”
The person guiding us led us somewhere other than Tronios Ether’s office or the guest reception hall.
For one reason or another, I had visited the Ether Duchy several times before.
I didn’t know the layout perfectly, but I recognized enough of the route.
At the end of this hallway was Ariel’s office.
Now that she had begun making a name for herself as a great mage, she had been given her own personal study and office.
“It seems they’re taking us to Lady Ariel instead.”
“So you handle it?”
“Father, please act your age.”
“Making a brat bow his head and apologize is part of being an adult too.”
“I’ll bow on my own, so don’t even think about touching my head.”
“Try acting stubborn for even a second and I’ll personally slam that wicked head of yours onto the dinner table.”
Half joking, half serious, we exchanged strange banter as we crossed the long corridor.
At last, we arrived at Ariel’s office.
“My lady, I’ve brought them.”
“Yes, send them in.”
With the attendant’s polite announcement, the door slowly opened.
“Welcome. Father-in-law, Johan, was the trip here uncomfortable?”
“The hallway’s so long my legs are starting to hurt.”
“Fufu, perhaps I should prepare a carriage for next time.”
Since Ariel and I normally talked often anyway, the atmosphere wasn’t especially bad.
After opening the conversation with a few light jokes, we eventually took our seats while casually glancing over the refreshments the servants had prepared.
“Ariel, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“Yes, Johan. I’m listening.”
“Well…”
But when it came time to actually bring up Emily, the words wouldn’t come out.
There was a sense of distance.
Not between Ariel and me, but between my father and me.
The reason my father had intentionally put physical space between us was probably because he was worried magic might start flying.
No need to worry. If Ariel got angry enough to blast me with magic, a distance like that wouldn’t save anyone anyway.
If anything, since I was better trained, my father would probably be the only one who died.
And when that happened, he’d regret it.
“Ah! I should’ve stood closer to my son!” or something like that.
“Ahem! It’s about Emily.”
“……”
Ariel quietly sipped her tea and remained silent.
She showed no visible reaction at all.
Considering what had happened last time, you’d think she would react immediately. Was she holding back because my father was present? Or was she calmly listening first before deciding how to respond?
I couldn’t read her expression.
“So… things just kind of ended up that way…”
Even by the time I finished explaining everything, Ariel had maintained her composure.
Unbelievably calm.
Seeing that, even my father quietly let out a small sound of admiration, as though thinking that, “Lady Ariel truly was the daughter of a great noble house.”
“I see.”
Just a short reply.
But hearing that voice alone told me things had gone horribly, catastrophically wrong.
A calm voice. A peaceful tone.
“It’s okay. Miss Emily is someone trustworthy.”
“……”
Those were words the usual Ariel would never have said.
“You’re already engaged to Miss Yuna, so I don’t think adding one more daughter from a Viscounty would really change much.”
A sense of déjà vu.
A scene that felt strangely familiar.
“And it’s not like you dislike Miss Emily, right, Johan? If you truly hated her, there would’ve been much simpler ways to resolve this.”
There was weight behind those words.
Yeah. If I had truly hated Emily, there had been a much simpler solution.
I could’ve just maintained a cold and consistent attitude no matter how hurt she became. The receipt she handed me was proof she had been connected to Ex Machina, so I probably could’ve even used that to threaten her in return.
Setting aside the fact that Emily helped me, what she was doing now was, one way or another, no different from blackmail.
But why was Ariel bringing that up?
It almost sounded like she was defending her.
“……!”
Bang!
I shot up from my seat.
At last, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. I instinctively realized that all the strange incidents from recently were connected as one.
“Was all of this planned?”
From the moment Emily sent a letter to our family to this very meeting.
All of it had been orchestrated.
A letter with no real content had lured my father to the capital.
Yuna had been difficult to meet because she kept leaving her seat often, making it impossible to gather information.
Olga Hermod had allowed this whole matter as if it had nothing to do with her, and Yuna had used my guilt against me by throwing a party so I wouldn’t investigate matters related to Emily.
And today, the day everything would be decided.
Ariel had made the same choice as Olga Hermod. The reason Ariel herself had come to meet us instead of Tronios Ether was because of that as well.
“You were all in on it……!”
“Johan, sit down. What kind of nonsense are you spouting so rudely?”
“Father! We’ve been played!”
“So what? The matter’s been resolved, so I’m heading back now. Thank you for the tea. Lady Ariel, thank you for being so generous toward this foolish son of mine.”
“It was nothing.”
Ariel set down her teacup and replied with a radiant smile.
Then my father rose from his seat with a satisfied smile of his own.
He looked far more at ease now.
“Johan.”
“……Ariel.”
“What exactly are you dissatisfied with? This was a situation you caused from the beginning, and we resolved it by showing leniency, didn’t we? In the best way possible, no less. Or are you unhappy because you dislike Miss Emily?”
“…….”
I couldn’t say a single word.
It felt like there were dozens of landmines buried within that sentence.
First, was this a situation I caused?
Yes. I had knowingly and unknowingly given Emily far too much room.
And had Ariel and Yuna resolved it by showing leniency?
That was also true. The two of them could have chosen far more violent methods.
Was this the best possible outcome?
.
This was probably the best possible outcome. No matter what, it was true that the two of them had compromised.
But there was something else that sent a chill down my spine in this situation.
“What exactly are you planning?”
“I think about you day and night, Johan.”
Ariel brushed off my question with a soft smile.
Once again, I found myself speechless.
There was a limit to how shamelessly someone could turn things around, but I couldn’t push her any further here.
I didn’t know what the two of them were plotting, but I had no choice but to be swept along by it. No, I deserved to be.
“Next time, let’s all sit down and talk together. We should invite Miss Yuna and Miss Emily too and have tea as a group of four.”
Just imagining it conjured a vision of a horrifying hellscape.
Naraka was not far away. I was the one who had created it, after all.
Ah, Lady Lapis, so this was what you meant.
Hell had been somewhere this close all along…….
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