The entirety of the otherworldly “mansion” had already become an ambiguous state where the walls and floor seemed to have merged together.
Navigating through a place where even the distinction between up and down would be lost without firmly stepping on the ground, Mialanze staggered forward.
Unidentified objects that seemed to be furniture were scattered around.
Following the scenery she had passed through, Mialanze headed to the kitchen where René should have been lying down.
“Are you okay, René?”
Upon entering the room, Mialanze stopped.
There was a small figure. René had sat up.
Like a waterfall shimmering in the moonlight, glossy silver hair covered her back.
The makeshift bandages were untied and bloody, but the flesh underneath was white, soft, and smooth. Despite some blood stains, there were no visible wounds or scars.
“Is the injury… healed?”
“I’m fine, Mialanze. I’ve troubled you.”
“…Has your memory returned?”
“Yes.”
René spoke with few words, and her voice was overtly tearful.
“René…”
“Just leave me alone for a bit, Mialanze… I just had a bad dream.”
Mialanze was at a loss for words.
During the exploration of this strange mansion, René had forgotten all the tragedies.
It might be more accurate to call it a “happy dream”.
But the fact that she deliberately called it a “bad dream” made Mialanze somehow understand.
Because she had to awaken and despair the moment she remembered everything.
Because even though it was painful once, she had to experience it again.
She remembered that her mother, who was supposed to be waiting for her return, was long dead… murdered.
“Leave me alone,” she said, but Mialanze questioned if that was really the right thing to do.
Did René want comfort, or would it hurt her more?
Mialanze didn’t know what René was thinking at a time like this.
—I knew nothing about René…
She admired, worshipped, and intended to serve her, but she didn’t understand René.
It would have been fine to behave as a subject and follow René’s words, but Mialanze thought that wouldn’t be enough.
Unfortunately, she realized it too late.
René, who had been suppressing her voice and sobbing, eventually stood up.
“…Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Not with a wet, messy face, but with a cold and calm expression that Mialanze was familiar with.
—Ah. She probably used magic to wipe away the tears.
Mialanze felt a slight movement of magical power.
Whether it was showing off or enduring, she couldn’t say.
“Earlier, my strength and memories suddenly returned. Mialanze, what did you do?”
“Yes. I found the exit. And… I have defeated the elves who created this space and were harming Princess-sama.”
“You did it alone?”
Seeing René’s surprised expression, Mialanze wasn’t entirely indifferent.
That she, who could only rely on René for everything, had made the impossible possible for René. It made her proud.
“It’s all thanks to you, René. When I think of you, strength wells up within me.”
“Well done. …Or should I say, the way you address me has changed.”
“Ah! Um, this is…”
She had been allowed to change the way she addressed René, and it hadn’t returned to normal.
Calling a subject to the lord too familiarly could lead to execution in certain cases.
But before thinking about “having been rude,” Mialanze felt lonely.
She had only been offering reverence from afar to René, who was far away. For Mialanze, who had been entrusted with protecting her, it was unexpectedly fresh and moving.
And, above all, she felt closer to René’s presence.
René, who seemed to make a slightly sullen expression, stood up eventually.
“It’s fine. I was the one who gave the initial order. You can call me however you like. But, don’t address me too casually in front of others. It would harm my prestige.”
—Right, Princess-sama has the power to read minds… It’s almost as if I begged for it…
Despite feeling unbearable, Mialanze was happy.
It felt like she had become a special existence for René.
“Understood. I am grateful for this happiness.”
“Seeing me in that state, there’s no need to put on airs.”
René sighed.
—René’s arrogant and aloof demeanor… Could this be an act? Is she doing this to maintain the prestige of a ruler…
Suddenly, a thought crossed Mialanze’s mind.
Perhaps, what René was like when she had lost her memories was her “true” self.
“I thought you were cute, but…”
“Mialanze, even well-intentioned compliments can come off as sarcasm. Remember that.”
“I apologize.”
Even Mialanze, without René’s ‘Emotion Detection’ ability, could sense it. René was embarrassed.
“Has your power returned?”
“Yes. Your wings haven’t disappeared either, right? The compulsion force in this space is weakening, probably. …I want to have Everis analyze it. There might not be many places like this, but I want countermeasures, and if we understand how the power was sealed…”
“Anyway, we should escape quickly now. Initially, I had to create an opening to the outside world due to the elves’ attacks… Now, the world is damaged and a path has been created by my attacks.”
“Right. I don’t want to stay in a place like this for long. Let’s go.”
René quickly left the room.
Mialanze couldn’t follow.
“…Mialanze?”
There was already no sensation in her limbs.
◇
René saw it.
Mialanze’s legs, kneeling down. They turned into clusters of bleached sand, crumbling.
There were cracks in her arms, and fragments were falling off.
Like a sandy mountain on the beach yielding to the wind, being shaved away.
“I’m sorry… it seems I’ve reached my limit here.”
“What is this!? What have you done!?”
“I don’t know… I probably… caused a miracle…”
René held Mialanze, who was crumbling, as if cradling her on her lap.
Light.
Too light.
Her body lacked the feeling of existence, and it seemed like it would shatter with just a little force.
“Princess… No, René. Please listen. I burned myself for your sake. …I consider that happiness. I didn’t entrust my wish to you because of that. René, for me, you became someone to share the same prayer with and walk together to protect. That’s what I thought…”
With a languid tone, Mialanze’s words gradually stretched out.
It was a farewell message.
To convey everything at the end.
“I apologize for not being able to stay with you until the end…”
“Wait! Wait…!”
—Don’t let go.
René instinctively thought so.
It seemed like there was something she could find within Mialanze.
It might provide some hint for René’s journey.
But, there was no time to ponder anything anymore.
Mialanze’s arm broke halfway and, with the impact of falling to the floor, it dispersed. Her eyes, as red as blood, clouded like burnt glass…
“Giriggirisee――――――Hoo!!”
A nearly half-n*ked sl*t… or rather, witch, burst into the room, pushing the door open as if smashing it, and slid headfirst into the room.
