episode_0016

“I’ll help with anything.”

That blank-check promise held immense weight for ordinary people. The name “heir to the Grave Duchy” was anything but trivial.

The second most powerful family in the Empire, right beneath the imperial household.

Moreover, the current Duke of Grave was the most talented head in the family’s history, achieving dazzling feats in both scholarship and martial arts.

If such a man trusted someone enough to entrust them with his family’s affairs, gaining people’s trust and influence wouldn’t be difficult.

Especially for Christine, who knew the future—she could wield what she had effectively, and the higher the person’s status, the more valuable her assistance became.

But that only applied to ordinary people. Even if she offered help, the chances of it being truly useful to Eric were slim.

At best, she’d be a nuisance; she couldn’t possibly decipher his intentions.

Eric, who already knew the future perfectly and meticulously seized every opportunity, operated from a fundamentally different starting point than her. Most of the events she sought to change had originated from things she’d overheard from him in the first place.

In the end, Christine’s words were nothing more than an empty promise—”I’ll listen to you from now on.”

Still, to prove she was different from the rest, she had no choice but to stare at Eric, hoping to convey it somehow.

And in reality, Eric only looked back at her with an expression of mild discomfort.

“You’ll help me? You, Christine?”

“Yes! I’ll do anything you say! Whatever you need, whatever you have to save—I’ll get it for you! I can even dig up weaknesses of people you need to kill or eliminate! I-I know the future now too!”

“……”

Eric’s gaze remained eerily calm. Seeing that subtle look, Christine grew impatient. This wasn’t enough.

She had to think of something only she could do—something only possible because it was her.

Fortunately, Christine was clever enough.

“T-The Hero’s party! You’re planning to make the other members grow just as much, right? You want them to gain the powers they missed in the previous loops, don’t you? I-I’ll step in and persuade them! Since we’ve both regressed, they’ll trust me—”

“No. They’ll come to me on their own even if I don’t say anything. They’ll remember regressing, just like you. So that’s unnecessary. Instead, let me ask you one thing. Answer me honestly.”

“A-Anything!”

“If I told you to kill your comrades—the Hero’s party from the previous world—could you do it?”

She almost answered “Yes” immediately. To her now, Eric’s words were no different from divine decree. His commands were prophecy; his praise, blessings.

How could she defy the words of a god?

“Well—”

What stopped her wasn’t affection but a thread of rationality, clinging to her fanatical devotion.

“I… can’t do that.”

“Hm?”

“First of all, you can’t guarantee that the new Hero’s party you form will be better than the current one.”

“Care to explain?”

Seeing Eric’s expression, Christine knew she’d given the right answer.

“The knowledge you have, the experiences I’ve lived through—they’re all based on our party, right?”

Though phrased as a question, she already knew how Eric would respond.

“So even if you find new members now, it’ll be hard to match the four of us. Especially replacing Lucilla, the one who drew the Holy Sword—that’d be nearly impossible.”

“What if I hated them so much that I insisted on finding others?”

“You… don’t actually want that, do you?”

Eric had already discarded his feelings for them. On the surface, their relationship seemed normal, but beneath it lay nothing—no regret, no apology, no love. The worst kind of bond.

The idea that Eric would hate them now was absurd.

“Haha, right. And is there another reason?”

“If you kill them… I might end up killing you.”

Eric was still grinning, as if the situation amused him endlessly.

“Not everyone is as strong as you. So I can’t cross that final line.”

Love could turn to hatred in an instant. Christine, clinging to Eric like a madwoman, knew this well. If she struggled desperately and still couldn’t see her goal, she’d make the worst choice.

“If they’re scum that have to die, if they’re evil—I’ll kill them without hesitation. But if not, I’d rather kill myself.”

Dying by her own hand was infinitely better than killing Eric. A prophet who couldn’t obey her god’s command deserved death without protest.

“……”

Eric kept smiling as he watched her. Christine began to feel uneasy.

What if her answer wasn’t what Eric wanted?

What if she’d just deluded herself?

What if Eric only needed a puppet who’d obey his words?

Then Eric spoke.

“You pass.”

“Huh…?”

“You pass. I was worried you’d turned into a fool from guilt, but you’ve still got your rationality. Good.”

“S-So then…?”

“You said you’d help, right? Do what you can.”

“Y-Yes! I’ll do my best!”

“But are you really satisfied with this? You’re the heir to the Grave Duchy, an elite student at the Academy. A life without me would be far more valuable and happy. You’d throw all that away?”

“That version of me wouldn’t even be able to call you ‘brother’ anymore. I hate that! I absolutely hate it!”

“Got it. You asked me to treat you like family, right?”

Eric looked down at his bloodstained hands, then gently cupped Christine’s cheek with the less-bloodied one.

“Thank you, my little sister.”

“Ah… Aah… H-Huuu…”

How could she describe this feeling?

Pleasure?

No, that wasn’t enough.

This was salvation. This was birth.

Like a newborn baby’s first cry.

Like a dying man in the desert spotting a single bottle of water.

Compared to the attention she’d received before, this praise was insignificant. Eric had once exhausted every method to earn her favor.

But now, in the exact opposite situation, Christine finally understood how Eric must have felt.

Praise as hollow as pity.

And now, she was addicted to the pleasure it brought.

If only I’d paid a little more attention to his words back then, I could’ve kept enjoying this happiness.

The regret was pointless, but the pleasure he gave was special.

For the rest of her life, she’d be bound to his words. And she was content with that. As long as she lived, she couldn’t ask for more.

“This took longer than expected. I’m really heading back now—you don’t have to follow. You’ll do well, right, Chris?”

As Eric’s hand left her, Christine nodded vigorously, her eyes fixed on him.

“One more thing. Once we start at the Academy, hide the fact that I remember the previous loops.”

“Why? If you’re going to talk to them anyway, wouldn’t it be better to say you’ve regained your memories?”

“This way, they’ll suffer less. As the Hero’s party, they can’t afford to obsess over someone like me. Besides, the fewer people who know my situation, the better.”

Eric waved his bloodied hand slightly.

“This artifact’s a real pain. If all four of you regressors knew I’d looped too, it’d immediately—”

He dragged the same hand across his throat, playfully mimicking death.

“Ah! Then—”

“Don’t worry. Not yet. I figured I’d need to reveal it to at least one person to move freely.”

“So you chose… me?”

“Well, yeah. You were the easiest to talk to. So help me keep it hidden. You know what’ll happen if everyone finds out.”

“But what if… someone else figures it out and acts like me?”

“I already gave you my answer, Chris. That won’t happen. Never.”

Still smiling, Eric stood and headed to his room.

“Heh… Hehe…”

Lick.

The moment he was out of sight, Christine greedily lapped up the blood dripping from her lips—his blood. Her fair, delicate hands were stained red in an instant.

A metallic, salty delicacy—irreplaceable by anything else.

She alone had earned the right to savor it. Even if it was nothing more than scraps of affection, she’d claimed them.

Not the imperial princess, not the church’s saint, not the world’s hero—only her.

In this moment, Christine was happier than anyone.