The Young Princess Kills Everyone: Re
A light enveloped the world.
Mary sensed that something was strange and opened her eyes.
“Sis, you’re awake!”
It was Ami.
Calaria nearby reacted to her voice and also came into view.
“It’s alright now, sis. We’re all your friends!”
“This is the sickbay of Majoram’s headquarters. Mary, you slept for over one day.”
“……What happened?”
“It’s no wonder you don’t remember. It happened right in the middle of the coronation ceremony in the royal capital-”
After Mary’s question, Calaria explained with a disgusted expression on her face.
“Right after that author Stella killed Edward, she revealed herself to be the arcana user of World. Then, Shaiti, Erini and Erio admitted that they’re homunculi and tried to kill you.”
“And everyone in the royal capital was controlled by World……”
Ami looked down with sorrow.
Their words mostly matched Mary’s memories.
But there had to be an ‘after’.
At the very least, the situation should not have allowed her to wake up in Captis.
For caution’s sake, Mary used Analyze on herself and checked her Sorcery Rating.
The value was 25,000; that was the value she had before she devoured all the dead.
(What’s going on……? I remember eating a lot of corpses and acquiring the strength to challenge World. I returned to Captis after that, and then…..)
Her memories suddenly cut off after that.
Mary held her head, and Calaria worriedly put her hands on Mary’s shoulders.
“You should get some more rest. You were hurt so badly that it’s a miracle you’re even alive.”
“Yeah, most of your body parts were missing!”
“……Yeah. I understand.”
She felt like she was forgetting something important.
She laid down on the bed and thought about it.
She closed her eyes, and the sickbay’s door opened after a while.
A plump man entered the room.
“Mr. Noted!?”
Mary was very surprised and reflexively sat up like a spring.
But Noted seemed to be even more shocked by Mary’s reaction.
“Whoa! You’re full of energy, my princess. I’m glad your injuries have healed.”
“How…… you? And did you lose weight?”
“Haha, you really seem unwell.”
Noted was definitely dead – that memory existed in Mary’s head.
However, she put her hand on her chin and thought about it, and could not remember when and where that event happened.
Calaria quickly followed up.
“I’m sorry, Mary is still a little confused.”
“Understandable. She lost not just her parents, but also her brother.”
“I think sis should get some more rest.”
“I agree. Fortunately, World hasn’t made a move yet. Maybe we can hole up here for a few more days.”
“Hole up……? What happened to the kingdom?”
“There are uprisings in every territory, and they’re coming this way too. Including the residents of Captis, of course. People under World’s control have already been spotted inside the building. It’s sad, but…… We had to deal with such people.”
Among such a desperate situation, how reliable was he when he claimed they could hole up here for a few days?
In truth, without Noted’s assistance, Mary and the others could not even have reached their battle against Henry.
They managed to make the first move while fighting the enemy arcana thanks to his provision of information.
As for Ox, who possessed the arcana of Power, and Cruze, who possessed the arcana of Chariot, Calaria’s assassination sniping was also successful.
“You saved me, I should help with dealing with them as well.”
“I’m not sure about giving that responsibility to an outsider……”
“It’s better than using some henchman, isn’t it? Let me thank you.”
“……Thanks. Alright. I don’t want to burden my staff even further than I have.”
“I’ll do it too!”
“Ami, you stay with Mary. She still has to fight World after this.”
“Okaaay!”
Ami raised her hand and gave a lively answer.
Calaria smiled when she saw this, then left the room.
Mary quietly stared at the door they left through.
“This is shocking, isn’t it? We could be friends with Shaiti, Erini, and Erio…… but they were all underlings of World.”
“Yes……”
“But, we gotta fight. You gotta take lots of arcana to defeat World, sis.”
“To defeat…… World……”
“That’s right. You can’t do it alone, but I know we can do it if the three of us combine our strengths!”
“Do you have a strategy?”
“Huh? Oh…… Right, you haven’t heard. Noted built an awesome weapon. Its name is Arcana Buster!”
Mary never heard that name before.
It did not exist anywhere in her memories.
“It’s a cannon that can turn the arcana inside you into shells and shoot them. World’s Sorcery Rating is 3,000,000, so we can’t kill her by normal methods. But, we can defeat World if you collect lots of arcana and combine them!”
“So we have to kill Miss. Shaiti and the others, right?”
“You can even use my arcana too if you have to!”
“That is not going to happen.”
“It’s alright, it’s just my arcana. I’ll always be with you after the fighting is over anyway. I won’t just throw away my own life.”
“……”
“Sis, why do you look so surprised?”
No.
Something was clearly strange.
But Mary could not tell what it was.
“……No, it’s nothing. Like you said, I guess I’m still confused.”
“That’s not good. Maybe you should sleep.”
“Ami, will you be my body pillow?”
“Really!? With great joy!”
Ami happily got in the bed.
Mary hugged her small body and fell asleep.
The sense of discomfort and unease she felt melted away in her slumber.
♢♢♢
As usual, Mitis was sitting in the president’s office in Pupa’s headquarters and watching Mary.
The device was getting prepared in a room nearby.
There were connector cables on the floor.
She felt the leeway of being able to begin at any time.
Resting her chin in her hands, she saw a pure white dome emitting light.
It had surrounded Cutie and Mary during their fight in the royal capital.
“The tarot card of Empress signifies maternity and prosperity. But its inverted position signifies failure, selfishness, and lies.”
It was an incomprehensible phenomenon considering Empress’s original powers.
But Mitis, knowing the tarot card that was its origin, could say it was valid.
“I know the blood I gave her is very pure, but she’s surviving as just a small piece of flesh and activating her reverse power. I can feel that she really wants to protect Mary no matter what.”
The power of the inverse position – in other words, Reverse.
Currently, Mary was inside that trick.
“Cutie is just a pawn. I have no interest in her nor a grudge towards her – but if she can activate that power, then she must have been a superior human who also hated herself.”
Mitis spoke as if she had nothing to do with it.
♢♢♢
Mary woke up after around three hours.
She stood up, and Ami also woke up next to her.
“Hnnnh, good morning.”
Ami’s sleepy voice and face were irresistibly cute, and Mary gently patted her head.
Then, she got out of bed.
“Where are you going?”
“To Mr. Noted. I wanna talk to him.”
“I’m coming too!”
“Sorry, please let me go alone. It’s going to be a complicated conversation.”
“Oh…… People always leave me behind.”
“I’ll be back right away.”
Ami pouted, but she quickly cheered up when Mary patted her again.
Mary also felt happy that she could touch Ami like this again.
At the same time, she also felt like crying.
She swallowed the unclear emotions welling up in her chest, and left the room.
♢♢♢
Mary visited Noted’s room, and he told her to sit on the couch.
The room was very tidy, and it definitely felt like the room of a president who worked there.
In fact, Noted’s power was a big factor in Majoram growing this much.
“Do you want to talk about the Arcana Buster?”
“No, it’s about something completely unrelated.”
“Unrelated?”
“I’m sorry, I know you’re busy.”
“No no, it’s alright. I can tell from your face that it’s important.”
Mary looked at Noted across the table.
It really was him.
But she kept carefully looking at him, and had a strange feeling that he was not Noted, but someone else.
That was also what she wanted to talk to him about.
“Dugan had a steward named Platy, right?”
“Yeah…… She turned into an angel and died in the end. She was a miserable girl.”
“I heard she was a war orphan.”
“That’s right. It looks like he thought about adopting her at first. But she ended up being a servant.”
“Didn’t you think about adopting someone too, Mr. Noted?”
Noted’s eyes opened wide after Mary’s astounding question.
Mary herself did not understand why she wanted to ask this.
But Noted’s surprise was not because he did not understand the meaning of the question.
“I thought about adopting a girl too. But why? How do you know about that, Princess Mary?”
“I just do. Why didn’t you take that girl in?”
“Because I felt it would be rude to adopt her just to fill the void of my dead wife.”
“Then what happened to her……?”
“……I don’t know. I hope she was adopted by someone good and raised well. Well, I’m not good at raising children, so I don’t think there’s many people who would do even worse than me.”
He laughed.
But Mary had to firmly deny that.
“That’s not true, you can be a wonderful father!”
“……Huh?”
Noted looked shocked.
Mary realized her mistake and put her hand over her mouth while her face got red.
“P-Please forget I said that. I don’t know why I said it either.”
“Ahaha…… Alright. But maybe I did adopt her in another future. As you said, I hope I was a good father in that world.”
Mary was certain that would be the case.
But she did not understand why.
She definitely had a basis for it, but could not find it no matter how much she searched her mind.
She left Noted’s room, stood in the corridor, and looked down on the townscape of Captis through a window.
The fight against Dugan after he transformed into an angel greatly damaged the town, but not everything was destroyed.
The restoration was progressing well.
It had stopped now because of World, but Captis would definitely go back to its busy self after Mary and the others beat World.
They could win.
The future was open.
Even if things were desperate right now, there was no need to give up on everything.
This was that kind of a world.
♢♢♢
Thus, the battle ended.
Mary obtained the three arcana possessed by Shaiti, Erini, and Erio.
Then, they successfully loaded all her arcana into the Arcana Buster and destroyed Stella and World.
The people were freed and the kingdom, no, the world was at peace again.
Now that even Edward was dead, Mary was the only remaining royalty.
She naturally became the queen.
Calaria started serving Mary as a knight, and Ami became her lady attendant as the three lived busy but happy lives.
Indeed, everything went well.
Each day was full of smiles.
Mary’s relationship with Calaria and Ami also developed well.
Why did this happen?
Mary thought about it.
There could be only one reason for it.
Yes, there was something in this world that was ‘missing’.
♢♢♢
Queen Mary went out to the royal castle’s balcony and looked up.
A beautiful sky without a single cloud.
The people of Orvilia went about their happy lives on the ground, and all of them smiled and waved at Mary when they saw her.
But Mary only looked at the sky.
And she talked to her.
“Did you really think that everything would go well if you didn’t exist?”
Mary realized some things with the passage of time and arrived at this conclusion.
Even Mary’s sense of time was fuzzy, and this distortion took her ‘normal memories’ away over minutes, or years, or hours.
Still, she did not forget the ‘abnormality’ of this world.
“I guess so. I forgot how weak you were, Miss. Cutie. I can’t make you carry this burden alone.”
She pretended to be tough precisely because she was weak.
She was clumsy.
That was why she avoided being honest.
“World has nothing to do with you wishing for us to be happy and creating this world. You’re so kind, selfless, and a good-natured virtuous person. I, your father, Miss. Calaria and Ami all love you in their true hearts.”
Because otherwise, the Reverse of Empress could not create a world like this.
The world they were in now was proof of Cutie’s innate goodness.
“That’s who Cutie Majoram is. Even World can’t deny that! Things would be a lot worse without you anyway, Miss. Cutie. I would already be broken. And worse, I would have ended my life without knowing your body!”
It wasn’t just about her abilities.
Her financial power, personality, everything about her was helpful during the journey.
They probably could not even reach Henry without her.
“So I reject this.”
Thus, Mary spoke firmly.
She climbed up on the balcony’s fence.
“This stupid, worthless and meaningless world can just disappear!”
She jumped down head first.
The people screamed.
And the happy world vanished along with the sound of Mary’s head bursting open.
♢♢♢
The floating scent of blood dragged Mary back into reality.
She opened her eyes and found herself standing in the royal capital she was in before.
Before her eyes, probably due to the regenerative abilities of an angel, Cutie was standing there covered in blood but completely unscathed.
Mary walked up to her and put her hand on Cutie’s cheek.
“Why……?”
Cutie’s voice quivered.
“Why did you leave? That was the only thing I could do now……”
Her words and face really were Cutie’s.
Mary instinctively sensed that World was not interfering with anything right now.
“I told you earlier. It’s pointless if you don’t exist, and nothing would go that well if you weren’t there.”
“But I’m a traitor? From the very start…… Even my father’s death is my fault, you know!?”
“No, it’s World’s fault. You’re not responsible for anything.”
The white light surrounding the two slowly weakened.
It was probably the time limit.
“You’re kind, Mary…… But, I’m sorry. I can’t come up with any solutions in the time I have left.”
“You haven’t been released from her control, have you?”
“You know that would be too convenient, right? Your attack triggered my Reverse. I guess my body couldn’t endure that even after I became an angel. Same as uncle Dugan, really. The last moment of humanity given to an angel. But…… There’s nothing I can do for you now, Mary.”
“That is not true.”
“It is. No matter what you say…… I’m just a burden and a curse for you.”
“That’s what I want.”
Mary deeply desired Cutie’s hesitation.
She also knew why Cutie didn’t want to say it.
But hesitation only made her vanish towards life along with death.
So Mary wanted Cutie to remain in this world.
Even though Cutie was a ‘curse’, she still gave Mary the power to keep pushing.
“I can’t be that impudent.”
But Cutie still refused.
Then, Mary slightly lowered her voice and seductively said:
“Even if someone you love is asking you?”
Cutie’s cheeks blushed and she averted her eyes.
“……That’s mean.”
“That’s who I’ve always been. Please tell me. Tell me how you really feel, Miss. Cutie.”
She could not resist any longer.
Cutie wanted to spill out all of her feelings too.
That was why she stopped herself from doing so.
But Mary herself wanted Cutie to be ‘selfish’.
Cutie got closer to Mary and buried her face in her chest.
Mary immediately put her arms around Cutie and hugged her.
“I don’t want to die.”
“Yes.”
“I don’t want to die, I don’t want to leave you, and I hate how my body turned into a monster because of someone else!”
“Of course.”
“And my father got killed too. Calaria and Ami ended up the same way as me……. I can’t ever forgive this!”
It was completely natural.
Cutie tried to hold her tongue because she felt guilty.
But after speaking once, the words gushed forth like water from a broken dam.
“It’s only you.”
She looked up and stared directly at Mary.
“Only you can kill World……”
The tears wetting her eyes were a mix of love, hatred, and regret.
“So, please. Take my heart with you. I want this hatred…… to vanish. By your hands, and nobody else’s!”
“I understand. I promise.”
Mary held out her little finger, and Cutie wrapped hers around it.
They shook their fingers a little, then separated.
The contract was made.
This promise, or perhaps this curse, would surely be the driving force that pushed Mary to the last moment.
Even if a vain demise awaited her at the end.
“I’m not sure I deserve this…… Should someone like me get such a blessed death?”
Cutie left her body in Mary’s chest again.
Mary’s body was bloody, but strangely smelled sweet.
Cutie felt Mary’s bodily warmth and felt sleepy.
She knew.
She knew this was a slumber she would not wake up from again.
“I want to make your wish come true, so I decided to remain in this world and fight.”
“You’re strong, Mary. I feel my chest tighten when I hear your words……”
Cutie’s eyelids gradually fell.
“I got to be your…… girlfriend……”
Her voice was faint and gradually got quieter.
“I was…… really…… happy……”
She did not say anything else.
The light surrounding the two also vanished.
The beasts around Mary also disappeared, and the bone giant was standing alone in the royal capital.
“……Miss. Cutie.”
Mary called her name after a short pause.
“Miss. Cutie.”
She said it again.
There was no answer.
She felt Cutie’s warmth on her skin drop.
“Aah…… She’s dead, huh?”
She spoke the truth.
She knew it, but it still permeated in her brain which refused to comprehend it.
Her emotions reacted.
A lump of sorrow surged from the depths of her stomach up to her eyes, overflowed, and spilled.
A teardrop wet her cheek and tickled her.
Then, her voice came out.
“Uh……. Uuuuugh…… Ugh, uh, aaaaaaaaaggggh……!”
The young girl cried and screamed alone in the empty royal capital.
She hugged the body of her lover, which slowly slipped away from her arms.
“Miss. Cutie, Miss. Cutiiiieeee! I, I……!”
This was not like eating prey.
The taste of flesh and blood spread in Mary’s ‘mouth’ as a person.
She pushed her nausea down, chewed, and swallowed.
Then, while breathing heavily, she let the skies hear her ‘determination’.
“Aaah…… Aaaagh……! I’m going to end it! I’ll carry you and our promise until the end! Your shape, voice, smell, feel, pleasure, taste, texture, all of it. All of iiit!”
Her face was wet with tears.
Cutie’s body lost its shape, but Mary kept hugging it.
“I’m going to kill World!”
She finished eating Empress.
Mary currently possessed 12 arcana.
9 remained.