That day, the social gathering passed quietly as usual. Rebecca managed to get through it sohow.
But the palace wasn’t that spacious, so if another event was scheduled, Rebecca would have to face Eve again.
Of course, as befits the position of a princess, their distance wasn’t close, but the problem was that the adults kept trying to tie the children together with other children.
It was half a year.
For a whole half year, Rebecca had to keep running into Eve in the palace, at banquets, at events, at the swordsmanship training ground and so on.
“???”
Every ti that happened, Eve ca over with a bright smile.
“......!”
She hated that lack of distance.
That kind smile, was painful.
The more she looked at that kid, the more everything about her was nobler than herself.
‘Why is she white, and why am I dirty?’
Talent in swordsmanship. A nature that gives people smiles. Expressions and actions that sotis, when you look, seem kind...
The comparisons spread like a plague and broadened their range.
At so point, Rebecca began to think more and more that she was ugly.
Although she was only ten years old, Rebecca had never once in her life harbored dissatisfaction with her looks. Even so, when she looked in the mirror, she started to feel strangely bad.
“Why do my eyes look so dirty...?”
She pulled down the outer corners of her eyes with both hands a few tis.
Rebecca’s breathing began to grow rough. She pressed her lips shut alone and snorted through her nose, then t the eyes of herself in the mirror again. Her stomach surged; she grabbed a costics case.
Then she smashed the mirror.
Clang!!
The glass shattered, and shards flew and grazed her cheek. Then she felt considerably better.
‘Ignore it. Ignore it... Walk my own path.’
But a few days later, the situation reversed beyond control.
At the ti, Rebecca had no proper sparring partner, so she often sparred with wooden swords against her half-brother, the prince “Joshua.”
That kid, who had properly inherited the blood of King Hiaka III, Swordsmith of the Kingdom, was a few years younger yet better at swordsmanship than Rebecca.
It was fine.
Isn’t he a boy?
But the inferiority complex made Rebecca a bit more headlong, and in the end Joshua’s wooden sword ripped past her neck.
The wound wasn’t deep, but it required treatnt.
The next day, her tutor spoke shocking words.
“Starting tomorrow, Baron Lemontree’s young lady, Eve, will serve as Her Highness’s assistant tutor.”
“...Pardon? What did you say? I don’t want that.”
Rebecca, who usually didn’t speak words of refusal, answered reflexively. But the tutor narrowed his eyes.
“Even if you dislike it, it won’t do. Your Highness. It is His Majesty the King’s order.”
“No. No... even so...”
“I’m going to be busy for a while as well, and since Your Highness was hurt too much this ti, His Majesty has made special arrangents.”
“...No... Why? Why is it that kid...?”
“As you know, Lady Lemontree is a genius at swordsmanship and does not injure her opponent in sparring. Also, she is about your age. She has a good disposition as well, so you two will be on good terms...”
It felt as if her chest were collapsing.
If that was His Majesty’s order, there was no way to defy it.
Thus the training with the assistant tutor began.
“......!”
Eve ca over with a beaming smile as usual.
Then, as if she’d learned etiquette sowhere to put on airs, she bent at the waist before Rebecca with so absurd motion.
It was exasperating.
Even so, she forced herself to attend class a few tis and, half-heartedly, swung her sword.
As the days went by, Eve ca closer and began to teach her more kindly.
‘Ah.’
Only then did Rebecca realize it perfectly.
‘I can’t do this anymore...’
She had no confidence to endure this ti at all.
Swordsmanship, the gentle expression, the temperant that brings smiles to those around. Up to here, it had only been what she felt from seeing at a distance.
Once she drew close, she thought she knew.
She slled good.
This child had a cool and pleasant fragrance coming from her very body.
It was different from Rebecca, who thought a dirty sll ca from her own body every day and washed for an hour.
She was lovable.
It wasn’t simply because of gestures or expressions. She was like snow-white blank paper and transparent water. Once, when Rebecca got annoyed, Eve imdiately conveyed a feeling of apology, and it was so very sincere.
The generosity of her heart was lovable.
She was righteous.
When she moved, she even took care to avoid stepping on a single grasshopper.
When a maid tore Eve’s clothes by mistake and was about to be scolded by the head maid, Eve instead comforted the maid and sewed together with her.
At the palace dining hall she kept packing leftover bread into her pockets, and when Rebecca wondered where she took it, she was feeding it to puppies that had secretly whelped in a corner of the palace.
At this ti, Rebecca felt that way. If there is such a thing as a protagonist in this world, it would be that person. It wasn’t herself.
At the end of it, a certain day’s lesson.
“...You, you.”
Because they were alone.
Because no one would hear.
Because even if she heard, she couldn’t speak.
“...Don’t get close.”
Rebecca, for the first ti, spoke words edged with blades.
“??”
“...Don’t stick to . You really piss off.”
“??,,”
Can’t even understand words, can she.
Even so, Eve kept clinging and seed to ask why.
That kindness was revolting.
“Get lost, please. Just...!”
She pushed with all her strength, but strangely she couldn’t push her away.
Wasn’t it that Eve had actually co to hug her?
Her heart thudded down with disgust. Rebecca slapped Eve’s cheek.
Smack!
She herself was briefly surprised at what she’d done.
Eve, startled, plopped down. Then she looked up at Rebecca with gloomy eyes.
Rebecca tried to run away like that. Because her heart was pounding.
The mont she turned her body, her eyes t those of the palace maids.
The next day, rumors spread far and wide that a rootless princess had assaulted a genius young lady.
Since there was no one who knew the exact reason, the rumor was inflated. She did it because she was pretty. She did it because she was kind. She did it because she was jealous of swordsmanship... even to absurd talk like, the princess is of common birth and was originally a slave of House Lemontree...
For a while, Rebecca slowly went mad under everyone’s gazes.
“.......”
Because she hated, because she was compared, because it was so painful she thought she would die,
“.......”
Rebecca made one plan.
⋮
“I’m sorry. Eve.”
When Rebecca approached carefully, Eve flinched.
“...Because you were [N O V E L I G H T] cool, I was jealous.”
Rebecca apologized a couple of tis and gave a careful smile. Then she apologized with sincerity, saying words that couldn’t be heard.
They ate together, and she opened the princess’s wardrobe and accessory room and gifted Eve pretty clothes.
Did those efforts get through?
Eve’s expression also gradually brightened.
“Do you like it?”
“......!”
“Then,”
Rebecca smiled.
“When shall we go out and play together?”
“......!”
Eve also nodded with a smile.
“......Okay.”
Once, Rebecca had been severely scolded by Setian.
It was when she entered his “sanctuary.”
It was only that she went in for a mont, wondering, What is this place? But “Setian,” the grandfather who always smiled benevolently, flew into a rage and sternly rebuked her never to enter again. Shouting. Slamming his fist on the desk. Throwing ceramics so they burst. Rolling up his eyes. For young Rebecca, it was a very shocking mory.
“I’ll go over this way for just a mont, so would you try waiting first in there?”
“......!”
Rebecca shoved Eve into the “sanctuary.”
Eve smiled and waved her hand briskly.
“...Pardon? You’re saying she disappeared?”
The next day she went missing.
***
Eve was a Hero.
A being born to subdue demonfolk, help people, and save the world.
From the ti she was young and couldn’t speak, she was instinctively sensitive to “Demon.” Around age ten, her demonization was on hold and her horns had gone back in. However, Eve clearly understood the polluted part of herself.
Eve wanted to beco close with Rebecca.
Even to Eve, who knew nothing of the world, Rebecca was special, but that was not the reason.
An instinctive sense. A heart that wanted to beco close with that child. It was the destiny of one who, as a Hero, saves comrades.
So when she was slapped on the cheek and cursed at, she was gloomy...
But didn’t she smile at her again?
To be asked to go out and play together, was very joyful.
It would be nice to beco friends like no other.
However...
From the mont she entered the sanctuary, Eve began to feel sothing strange.
Her body was led all by itself.
It was like the “sll of sothing burning” at ho, so to speak. Eve recognized an “on of danger” that was unpleasant yet absolutely not to be avoided. Then she hurried toward that place.
Deep inside the sanctuary. Multiple entrances to underground passages. Just one, where the sll was thicker.
Inside that.
Eve ca to see sothing shocking.
A vast plaza made up of thousands, tens of thousands of human skulls.
And between the skulls, even a portion of so gigantic skull with three horns, protruding from inside the wall.
‘.......’
She fled out in haste.
It seed she should. Eve knew that she was still young and weak.
She thought she had fortunately co out of the sanctuary, but Rebecca was nowhere to be seen, and the scenery of the world had strangely changed. It was [Illusion].
“You saw.”
She felt a presence behind her. When she turned, Setian was approaching.
“It would’ve been better if you were blind.”
Before Eve could do anything in response. Thwack—a blade flew and pierced Eve’s heart.
But Eve did not die. The “polluted thing” inside her finally rampaged and sprouted horns on her head.
Setian, too, flustered by that change, poured out [Curses] to the utmost.
First, starting with the 『Curse of Being Forgotten』. Then the 『Curse of Oblivion』, 『Curse of Starvation』, 『Curse of Banishnt』, and so on.
Eve sohow succeeded in fleeing the spot, but her life afterward was utter isolation. Despair. Cast out, unable to belong to human society, she lived for ten years soothing herself amid hunger and loneliness.
What surfaced from ti to ti in her hazy mory was... a mory about a golden-haired, red-eyed girl who had suddenly shoved her into the sanctuary.
And then.
Ten years passed,
now.
When Ilushatacom’s illusion 『Primal Mirror』 was broken.
“.......”
“.......”
Eve t eyes with that girl.
***
『 Armory of the Celestial Soldier 』
The Ultra Bomiteka’s wing root was torn.
「 Giant Soldier’s Sword○ 」
Its jaw was shattered.
『 Radiant Shell 』
The eyeball it pulled out into its mouth, mumbled, and fired burst in midair.
『 Punishnt from Heaven』
All the hornless demonfolk it poured from its mouth were shredded.
As expected, it was nothing but buying ti, but I did not stop my attack here.
『 Flash Secret of Heaven 』
With the 「Royal Guard Sword」 taken from the Armory of the Celestial Soldier, I thrust into Quan’s chest.
Puhook!
Shards of volcanic glass exploded to pieces from the bastard’s chest. At the sa ti, Quan’s face shriveled.
“...Kugh, this is nonsense. Heh heh...”
“You talk well.”
“...Really, ugh... It’s fine...”
He trembled with his body in pain and yet laughed.
“Do you read comics...? The scout, ugh..., does not die from this kind of attack... He must survive and, in the final battle, say lines like, ‘Ahh, there’s no way to defeat such a final boss...!!’ ‘Ah! The protagonist is awakening...!!’ ...because of that, you know... And I’m a Constellation, you see...?”
I twisted the sword tip.
“Keuheok...!”
He spewed blood and collapsed.
“Heh heh... It’s fine... I’ve done my part...”
“What is your part.”
“Your boot-camp training... You beca too strong, and that was a problem... There’s no choice but to drain your strength like this, right...?”
I left him and turned my body. I had no ti to listen to the ravings of this lunatic.
My heart was urgent.
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