Ch.156Witness – 2

“Is this the place?”

I stopped in front of a large villa and looked around. Since this was the only building in the vicinity, it had to be the right place.

The letter that had served its purpose crumbled in my hand. I’d wondered why they only included a key without writing down the address, saying they’d be waiting—turns out the letter itself was meant to guide me to the location.

Nika and Beatrice were quite disappointed they couldn’t come along, but since I was planning to leave right after meeting Leona and Aria anyway, and given that the Crown Prince had directly ordered it, they reluctantly accepted and backed down.

As soon as I entered the garden after unlocking the gate with the enclosed key, a detection spell lightly swept over my body. Of course, they wouldn’t rely solely on a physical lock for security.

The detection spell continued to scan me every few steps as I crossed the garden. I deflected about half of them while letting the rest pass through, and finally stood before the mansion door. It had the same type of lock as the gate.

‘Is there really any need to use the key?’

With that question in mind, I took out the key. A click sounded as the lock disengaged.

“…?”

That was it. Despite clearly hearing the lock disengage, the door didn’t open. I looked down at the key, wondering what exactly it had unlocked.

While I was standing there bewildered, the door opened slightly. It was chained from inside, preventing it from opening fully. Through the gap, Rosaria peeked out with half her face visible.

“Password.”

“What password?”

“Can’t let you in without the password.”

“Really? Then I’ll leave.”

As I turned around, an arm shot out through the gap and grabbed my wrist. Rosaria was glaring at me with her cheeks puffed up.

“Can’t I make jokes? You should have asked how to get the password.”

“Don’t worry. I was joking too.”

“…”

Her already puffed cheeks grew even rounder. Rosaria threatened me to stay exactly where I was and not think about going anywhere, then closed the door. Immediately, I heard the sound of the chain being removed, and the door swung wide open.

“Did you change clothes?”

The first thing I noticed was what she was wearing.

It wasn’t that pathetic excuse for a holy maiden outfit the Pope had given her, nor was it that one-piece turtleneck so short her backside would be half-exposed just standing still. Instead, it was a relatively normal solid-colored dress.

Though it still couldn’t hide her chest, but to be fair, hiding a chest that size would require winter padding thickness, so it wasn’t really an issue.

“I made it myself. With thread spun from starlight. I can do this much now.”

“Ahem,” Rosaria puffed out her chest proudly.

“Very fitting for a Holy Maiden. Why not keep that position from now on?”

“…Be quiet.”

Her proud demeanor didn’t last long. Seeming embarrassed by the title of Holy Maiden, Rosaria tapped my arm repeatedly, gesturing for me to keep my mouth shut.

“Where is this place? Where are the others?”

The hallway clearly showed money had been lavishly spent. It was easily on par with the mansion of my family home. There weren’t many households in the Empire that could afford to spend this much on a remote villa.

“It’s Laura’s villa. She says she used it when she was young.”

“That explains it.”

If it belonged to the Crown Prince, that made sense.

“The others are waiting in the room. Let’s go. I’ll explain everything there.”

As she said this, Rosaria subtly linked her arm with mine. I could naturally feel something soft against my forearm. It seemed she wasn’t wearing upper undergarments. As for the lower part, that wasn’t something I could check, so I wouldn’t know.

We stopped at a room located in the center of the third floor. When the door opened, all eyes turned to us. The usual members were present: Priscilla, Elisier, and Laura.

“Mira!”

Priscilla ran over and hugged me. Laura’s hands trembled, nearly spilling her tea, as soon as she saw me. It seemed the scent had completely faded from the coat she’d taken from me.

I waved back to Elisier, who greeted me with a light smile, and stroked Priscilla, who was nuzzling her face against me, while surveying the room.

“More ordinary than I expected.”

“What kind of thoughts led you to say such a thing?”

“Hmm, kidnapping and confinement?”

—Click!

Simultaneously with those words, I heard the sound of the door being locked behind me. I stiffened and turned around. Rosaria was looking at me with a grin.

“How did you know?”

“…”

“Haha! Look at your face. It’s a joke, just a joke. We all know that even if we all attacked you together, we wouldn’t stand a chance, so why would we do that? Consider it payback for what happened at the door earlier.”

Apparently pleased with my expression, Rosaria unlocked the door with a giggle. I was honestly startled just now. Trying to hide my surprise, I casually sat down on the sofa.

Rosaria naturally took the seat beside me. Seeing this, Elisier’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“What’s going on that required such a letter?”

Laura, whose anxiety seemed to have worsened to the point of spilling her tea, finally calmed down after practically stealing the coat I was wearing and putting it on herself, then resumed sipping her tea.

“Let me ask directly. Was that light that brightened the sky two days ago your doing?”

“Yes, it was me. I heard the Empire was in an uproar because of it?”

When I casually confirmed, Laura, who had asked the question, sighed.

“I’d appreciate an explanation of exactly what happened.”

Since I was planning to explain anyway, I told them everything that had happened with Durahan. After hearing the story, Laura looked dumbfounded.

“While that’s certainly the personality I designed, it’s beyond my imagination. I never would have guessed he’d become someone who values honor to such an extent.”

“I don’t know. He seems pretty similar to the original. He surrounded the hero with his subordinates, challenged him to a duel, lost, and then annihilated all his subordinates too.”

“That’s true, but still…”

Laura awkwardly sipped her tea. Taking advantage of the pause in conversation, I unfastened Durahan’s sword that I had been carrying. Elisier’s eyebrows twitched slightly when he recognized the sword. I extended the hilt toward him.

“Take it. I thought it would be better for you to decide how to dispose of it.”

“I understand. He was a loyal subordinate until the end, so I should at least prepare his final journey with my own hands.”

After taking the sword, Elisier seemed to contemplate something before leaning it against the sofa.

“So, is that all you wanted to discuss?”

“There is one more thing. The real reason why I insisted you come alone.”

“What could it possibly be?”

Laura pulled out a blue notebook from her chest and held it out to me. It was the very notebook that the Laura of the past had used as a diary, and which contained memories sealed away from the current Laura.

“After the light you sent brightened the Empire’s sky, more of my memories returned.”

“Your memories returned? Is that true?”

“Why would I lie about this? Thanks to that, I was able to read the next part of the notebook. I’ve already checked it, so now it’s your turn.”

If it was about Laura’s past, it was indeed something that could only be discussed among those who were possessed. I understood why she insisted I come alone.

As I took the notebook, Rosaria quickly came over and pressed against my side, while Elisier attached himself to my other side. Priscilla was still occupying my lap.

[If you’re reading this, it means you’ve somehow recovered more memories. I don’t know what method you used, but congratulations first. It means you’re one step closer to the truth, right? To be honest, I hadn’t thought of a way to break the seal, as I was desperate to leave some trace of myself in this world. Still, I’m curious how you managed to read this far. Perhaps]

“…?”

From the next sentence on, the text was heavily scribbled out, making it impossible to read.

“The letters are covered over?”

“It was like that when I first saw it. I don’t know the reason either. Perhaps there’s something else?”

‘I don’t think so.’

All the other writing had the same level of clarity, but the ink on the scribbled part was noticeably darker compared to the rest of the diary. I could also see traces of black ink that had slightly bled through to the opposite page.

This meant the next sentence had been covered relatively recently. And there was only one person who could have tampered with it.

“I’ll try to restore it.”

“W-wait a moment! Carelessly tampering with it might be dangerous—”

Laura rose urgently from her seat, but my magic was faster.

My magic began to carefully separate the ink from the notebook. As expected, the relatively recent ink overlay disappeared, revealing the hidden text beneath.

By then, Laura, who had approached right next to me, could only struggle in Elisier’s grip, who had been watching with an intrigued expression.

[Who knows? Maybe like a princess in a fairy tale, you received a kiss from a handsome prince and the curse was broken. Personally, I’d like that. I wish someone other than me would appear with a ta-da and solve everything.]

“Nnnngh…”

Laura hung her head with a deeply flushed face. Rosaria and Elisier, who were checking the text from either side of me, each made a comment.

“Wow, Laura. I didn’t know you could say things like this! Such a maiden, a true maiden. Did you hear that, Mira? To break the curse, you need a kiss from a handsome prince. Oh, should there be tongue involved too?”

“There’s a Demon Lord, a princess, and a prince. Was what you wrote not a romance fantasy but a children’s fairy tale?”

“…What could I do? No matter how many times I repeated the regression, there was no end in sight, and my body was increasingly becoming more like Laura than myself. Getting emotional was inevitable.”

“I understand. You were scared, weren’t you, our princess? It’s okay now that your prince has arrived. Right, Mira?”

“Aaaaargh! Just kill me instead!”

The fact that she could be teased like this was evidence that it wasn’t actually a big deal. Neither Elisier nor Rosaria had ever teased Priscilla for clinging to me.

If Laura’s reaction had been closer to trauma, they wouldn’t have spoken like that. They probably would have been quietly reading the room. And I wouldn’t have removed the ink in the first place.

[Anyway, what I want to say is one thing.]

One sentence took up an entire page. I turned to the next page.

[How to escape this cursed world.]