Ch.141Let’s stop and go out.

1.

After Lactea unintentionally used her command language to attack Reina.

Reina was confined to her room under the pretext of protection by the noble faction.

Numerous high-level barriers,

Magic circles that alert to intrusion,

Guards changing shifts every few dozen minutes.

It had been several days since she was locked in a room that even the continent’s top 10 strongest couldn’t easily breach.

“【Breakthrough.】”

Crack,

Crunch!

Lactea, who had instantly subdued the guards, broke through the barriers and magic circles as she entered the room.

Reina raised her head at the commotion.

She sat up, touching the wound on her forehead that had not yet fully healed.

“…Sister.”

The pain in her heart was surely more bitter than the physical pain from her wound.

On that day when the chaos reached its peak.

Reina had heard an explanation of the situation from Hallorand, but she had locked herself away, refusing to believe it until she could meet her sister in person.

As soon as she saw Lactea, she got off the bed and ran toward her.

“Sister…!!”

Hoping to be embraced as always.

Hoping to be told that what happened days ago was just a mistake and misunderstanding.

And,

“Father…”

Hoping to share and be comforted for the endless sorrow that kept washing over her.

…Hug.

Reina was thus embraced in Lactea’s arms.

How long they remained like that.

While there was none of the usual stroking, Reina was still nuzzling her face against her sister’s chest when Lactea finally spoke.

“Reina, you fool.”

Did she hear wrong?

Startled, Reina raised her head, ready to snap back and ask why she would say such a thing.

At that moment, she came face to face with it.

A cold expression on Lactea’s face that she had never seen before.

“S-Sister…?”

Why was she acting like this?

Was she so sorry about the mistake she had made that she was flustered?

Couldn’t she just hug her affectionately as usual, regardless of that?

“Why…? Why are you suddenly like this, Sister…?”

As her mind grew more confused, tears began to flow instead of words.

The silence continued regardless,

Eventually, commotion could be heard outside the broken door as members of the noble faction began to gather.

“This way, this way…!”

“Hurry…!”

“The Second Imperial Princess is in danger…!”

Only then did Lactea, who had been looking down at Reina with cold eyes, move.

And in a—

Crack!

Completely unexpected direction.

“Ow! My hair…! Why are you suddenly doing this, Sister…!!”

“Shut up. How disgusting that we share the same blood when the Empire’s sun is being held hostage while being slandered by treacherous subjects.”

“Wait, let go of this…!!”

“If I leave you like this, you’ll be manipulated by those traitors to push me out. I need to cut off the problem at its root, so you needn’t worry.”

“What…?”

Her face no longer held a gentle smile, only a sinister one as if tainted by evil.

“As a member of the imperial family who has failed to fulfill your duties, a simple execution would not be enough punishment… I’ll kill you with the most painful command.”

Now that she had turned against her, the talent once praised as genius had transformed into terror.

“Die, disgrace to the imperial family.”

With her overwhelming talent, she used a command against Reina.

“Go ahead and 【Resist】 if you dare.”

Immediately after,

【<Slash(C+)> has been activated.】

The dagger that Lactea had once gifted to Reina slashed diagonally across Lactea’s chest.

“Huh…?”

A hand that moved reflexively, as if guided by something, regardless of her own will.

“Kugh…! You trash…!!”

Was it just her imagination?

That she couldn’t feel any pressure from her sister who was charging at her as if to kill her right away.

And,

“Save the Second Princess!!”

“W-What should we do about the First Princess…!!”

“Damn it, don’t touch her, restrain her with magic!!”

The gentle smile that spread across her sister’s lips as she was subdued by binding magic.

Several days later.

While everyone was at an impasse, unable to take sides in this ‘minor’ dispute between imperial family members, Lactea, who had been in self-reflection, declared before everyone:

“Due to the chaos in the Empire caused by the war, I will postpone succession and head to the battlefield.”

A declaration that she would return to become Emperor after achieving merits that everyone would acknowledge.

Lactea thus headed to the battlefield with Hallorand and several nobles under his command.

As she traveled alone in a carriage, always with sound-blocking magic in place,

Nahan intervened and asked her without concern for others:

“Was that really the best you could do?”

“……”

He could understand all of Lactea’s actions because he had once skimmed through these memories, because he had witnessed it vividly by her side.

Unlike Lactea who had some imperial authority, Reina was someone with only nominal status.

“You pushed her away so she wouldn’t get entangled like you.”

If Reina were framed like Lactea, she would be helpless against it.

And she had added justification.

“You made her attack you with that ‘resist’ command to put her on the nobles’ side.”

The First Imperial Princess who assassinated the previous Emperor.

The Second Imperial Princess who escaped from her clutches through her own power.

And finally.

The battlefield is a place where death can come at any time.

Noble blood doesn’t automatically deflect weapons, so if she were to die, the nobles would have plenty of excuses.

“You plan to leave the palace for the battlefield and then die at their hands.”

To have Reina, who isn’t the heir, crowned as Emperor, and sacrifice herself in exchange.

For a plan conceived by Lactea, who was called a genius, it was far too crude, so Nahan said to her again:

“That wasn’t your best, was it?”

He had been wondering since receiving the memories of the members after resolving the previous quest.

“Someone like you couldn’t have come up with something this simple as your best option.”

At Nahan’s words, Lactea, who had been smiling like a doll, spoke:

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me.”

“I’m not joking, so answer properly.”

Nahan was angry.

He knew these were unjust memories, but facing them directly was much worse, which made his chest feel even tighter.

“Why did you make this choice?”

A question asked like an accusation.

Finally, the corners of Lactea’s lips, which had been raised, trembled and fell.

“What kind of person do you see me as?”

Memories of Lactea flashed through his mind in an instant.

-I receive the commander’s orders.

Early in the possession, she had noticed my identity but hid it from the other members.

-Are you alright?

The way she appeared appropriately to save him whenever his life was in danger.

And now.

Considering how she was throwing away her life for her sister Reina,

“Capable and intelligent. Someone who was betrayed by those blinded by jealousy and envy, but still maintains a kind nature. A beautiful person.”

“…?”

Was it his imagination?

“…You only choose nice words.”

“Because you deserve them.”

“…Enough of that.”

Lactea, her ears slightly reddened, opened the window slightly to look outside and added:

“Anyway, as you said, I am human after all. Humans make mistakes. Especially when those choices could lead to the death or injury of loved ones.”

“…Now I think I understand.”

She seemed superhuman in her capabilities, but at her core, she was just one person.

“I could have made better choices. But all those plans had some probability, however small, of Reina losing her life…”

“So you chose the option that would protect her life no matter what happened?”

“That’s right. No matter how difficult… even if it’s difficult enough to die from. In the end, one must be alive to escape.”

After the previous Emperor passed away, when the beasts of the eclipse began to take over the imperial city.

Lactea must have pondered alone.

How could she shake off the eclipse and survive together with Reina?

She would have calculated countless possibilities, but in a situation where there was even a 1% chance of Reina dying in all those options.

As long as that probability existed, Lactea couldn’t think as a genius, but as an ordinary person with a beloved family.

So she chose.

To push forward with a choice that had a 0% chance of Reina dying, even if there was a 100% chance she would lose her own life.

…Creeak.

At that moment, the carriage arrived at the battlefield.

“I still don’t regret my choice. However…”

With her back turned, hiding her face, Lactea opened the carriage door and added as she stepped out:

“If you get the chance, tell Reina for me. That I’m sorry for grabbing her hair that day. And… sorry for saying those hurtful things.”

“……”

【2/3 charges consumed.】

【When all charges are consumed, <The Abyss> will be able to locate <Lactea>.】

Nahan shook his head at her.

“No. That—”

“Enough. I will return to where I should be. I hope… you return safely as well.”

What followed was the future he already knew.

After arriving at the battlefield, Lactea was surrounded by demons within hours, barely escaping to hide.

However, she was detected by the demon beasts and the main demon force, and at the moment before death.

“I’ve come to save you.”

She was destined to be rescued by Black Wolf, who was also in tatters and had broken his sword, now wielding the dagger she had gifted him earlier—

“Oh my, I came to save you too.”

Nahan approached Lactea, who was reaching out toward Black Wolf, and extended his own hand.

“Let’s stop this now and leave.”

Lactea furrowed her brow at Nahan.

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Yes, you do.”

Instead of waiting patiently, Nahan embraced her as she continued to pretend not to understand, and whispered:

“You realized it a while ago. That this is a nightmare.”

Since meeting Lactea,

“……”

It was the first time she chose silence instead of an answer.