Prologue – A Cry Rings Out Because You Died
The next night, Romeo was at the upper floor of one of the buildings lined up at the center of town.
It was a banquet, and there were nobles circled around Romeo chatting and laughing.
And standing next to Romeo was the woman who exposed Mary’s crimes, Juliet.
“I can’t believe so many people are participating in our ‘engagement party’ after what happened. I’m so happy.”
“That’s all thanks to your personal virtue, Lord Romeo.”
“Hehe, everybody just wants to see your face, Juliet. You’re much more beautiful than Mary. A woman like you full of talent and ambition is most suitable to be my wife.”
“Lord Romeo…”
Romeo pulled Juliet’s head up by the chin and kissed her.
Him and Juliet were lovers since before he met Mary.
(I had to get engaged with Mary after my father’s orders, but I was always supposed to be engaged with Juliet. But….. why? My father was so mad about the idea of me making a ‘lower rank’ aristocrat like Juliet my wife. So, why did he suddenly say ‘I’ll let you marry Juliet if you go along with my cheap play’?)
This party was held immediately the day after that.
The aristocrats had a few unjust suspicions, but even Romeo could not understand his father’s thinking.
The fact that Rome couldn’t answer any questions certainly was not because he was hiding something.
(Well, Mary’s death doesn’t matter to me. I had no interest in that woman in the first place. I’m used to not understanding my father’s plans, so I guess there’s no point thinking too much about it.)
The only thing Romeo could do now was to enjoy this party.
He stopped kissing Juliet and put his hands on her waist.
“Juliet, look at the view from this floor.”
“Yes, I can see it, Lord Romeo. So many people are working assiduously for the sake of our future.”
“This building is the symbol of my power. Father will soon retire, and I will take over the duchy. After that, all this will be ours.”
“Hehe, you really are a wonderful man, Lord Romeo. I hope to be by you our whole lives as you walk on your path.”
Juliet kissed Romeo on the cheek after saying that.
The aristocrats around them all got excited.
This pleased Romeo, who approached closer to the window with Juliet.
Romeo had paid special attention to this room while planning the building, so the walls were entirely covered in glass windows.
This showed off their prosperity and the greatness of House Slava’s pockets, as the cutting-edge technology of the Kingdom was used to build this place.
“Such a beautiful night view…… I feel like the entire town is under my control when I look at this.”
Juliet put her hand on the window and quietly muttered.
But the next moment, her view changed.
“…..?”
She tilted her neck.
Before she could grasp the situation, Mary extended a bone blade from the palm of her hand.
“For the servant’s share, I’m going to repay with one fresh head.”
Using this blade, she cut Juliet’s head off along with the glass window.
His fiancee’s head dropped to the ground with a thunk right in front of Romeo’s eyes.
Juliet died in confusion as her mouth was open in shock.
The party venue became completely silent for a moment.
“Uh…… uuh…… uh, aaaaarrrrrgggh!”
After Rome started shaking and screaming, the chaos spread immediately.
Mary broke through the window and entered the hall.
Right then, Romeo started running towards the corner of the room as fast as he could.
“Mary!? What the hell!? G-Guards! Kill her right now!”
“Y-Yes!”
The sudden appearance of Mary, who was supposed to be dead.
Romeo almost could not understand what was happening, but he at least understood that this was a dangerous ‘thing.’
The guards courageously surrounded Mary, and aimed their rifles at her.
Countless mana bullets were fired along with a white light.
The ear-bursting firing sounds filled the room and drowned out the screams of the people.
Stray bullets broke windows, tables, and the lined up food went flying around.
But Mary did not move, and stopped all the bullets without any protection.
The shooting stopped for a moment when she disappeared under all the smoke.
But when the smoke cleared up, though injured, Mary was calmly standing there.
Further, her gunshot wounds were wiggling and gradually closing.
“…..Her injuries are healing? What the hell is that thing? Is that really Mary Pulsherima!?”
“That’s right, Lord Romeo. I’ve borrowed the Death God’s powers to avenge myself and came back from the depths of Hell.”
“Shut the hell up, ghost! H-Hey, what are you all doing? Kill her already! And the other aristocrats, if you’re supposed to be the Kingdom’s sorcerers, protect me!”
It was quite the pathetic and shameful order coming from the prince who was still unable to move due to shock.
But no one could refuse his orders.
The soldiers fired again, and the spells of various attributes fired by the aristocrats smashed against Mary.
Despite this barrage, she did not go down.
She even started to smile, and put her hand around the back of her head in the smoke.
Then, her skin peeled off and a mass of bones grew out.
Her face contorted a little because of the pain, before she grabbed the object and pulled it out at once.
It was a 3-meter long pole made out of bone, in the shape of a spine.
She held it with both hands, transforming the tip and turning it into a perverse blade.
It was a ‘sickle.’
Mary twisted her hips and shoulders to prepare.
Then, she slashed the air with her blade.
‘Hundred Corpse Burial Scyhte.’
The hall went quiet the moment Mary swung her scythe.
The bullets, spells, and the smoke surrounding her in the quiet room were all cut in two as if the air itself had split.
Except for Romeo who was on the ground already, everybody in Mary’s eyesight was cut in two as blood started gushing out of them like a water fountain.
“Uh… Uah, aaaaagh, aaaaaarrrrrgh!”
Romeo screamed while peeing himself.
Mary approached him as she showered in the blood gushing out from the corpses.
“W-Wait! It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!”
“What wasn’t you?”
“The one who hired the assassin, it was my father! He ordered your death! I bet he conspired with people from the Kingdom! Of course he did! So it’s not my fault, please don’t kill me!”
“Duchy of Slava, and your father….. Okay, then I’ll kill them too.”
Mary raised her scythe.
Romeo looked up at the blood-stained blade, and shook his head after opening his eyes wide.
“You’re not going to let me go!?”
“Who said I would?”
“P-Please don’t…… Please, please, I’m begging you! I’ll give you anything you want for my life. Money, land, power, anything you want. I’ll even marry you again if you want! That would be better for House Pulsherima too, right? I mean, I’m the heir of House Slava. My life is important for the future!”
“I know. Your life should be preserved more than anyone else’s.”
“Then why!?”
Of course, Mary was not going to stop after those words.
In fact, the more valuable the life, the better it was to take it.
“That’s why I’ll kill you.”
Because this was revenge.
“Eek!”
Mary swung her scythe down.
A line was cut right through the center of Romeo’s body, and red blood began seeping out.
“Agh…… arrgh……”
Then, his body cleanly split in two and dropped to the ground.
Mary took her hands off her scythe, which lost its shape and absorbed back into her body.
“They’re lying when they say revenge doesn’t fix anything.”
Her chest area distorted and the heads of countless beasts crawled out of it.
Their necks stretched as they began to wildly devour the remains.
“I mean, it feels so good. Hehe, hehehehe, ahahahahaha!”
Mary vigorously laughed as her cheeks blushed from the pleasure brought on by the corpse.
A camera lens saw this all through the slight opening in the entrance.
◇◇◇
The next day, the news of Romeo’s death spread through the country.
The killer being Princess Mary also drew a lot of attention.
She became wanted throughout the country.
Of course, all the newspapers were also talking about it.
But, since everybody on location were killed, there was no information other than the victims’ identities and the killer’s name, so the newspaper industry was having a difficult time coming up with things to write about.
However, one newspaper company was different.
“You’ve got a big scoop here! That’s the only thing we’ll write about today!”
“Right…… Okay.”
A dull man with glasses being praised by the editor-in-chief in his office.
He was on the same floor during Mary’s murders.
He was supposed to write an article on Romeo’s engagement, and so was called to participate in the party.
“I just went outside for some fresh air, so it was right after I left the room.”
“So that’s how you’re the only survivor, that’s some dumb luck. Gahahahaha!”
In contrast to his superior’s hearty laughter, the man simply forced a smile.
He dropped his gaze and looked at the newspaper on the desk.
Then, he muttered in a gloomy voice:
“How can you laugh? It was really terrifying. That thing…… that thing, it’s not human any more.”
There was a photo on one face of the newspaper- a photo of Mary confronting Romeo with a bloody sickle in her hands.
As the headliner in big letters:
‘The young princess kills everyone.’