Ch.96Aftermath – 2

“Answer me. Can you believe that I’m the one who created this world?”

As soon as I heard those words, two possibilities came to mind. Either Laura was the creator of this world, or she was the author who wrote the original novel.

Theoretically, both were possible since she claimed to have created the world within the novel.

My deliberation didn’t last long. Each statement on its own might be ambiguous, but when put together, they became quite clear. It was definitely not something a god or creator would ever say.

‘So that means she was the author of the original novel…’

While I was pondering what was happening, Laura pulled up the corners of her mouth in a mocking smile as my response was delayed.

“You don’t believe me, do you? I expected that. No matter how much you run wild, in the end, what I wrote—”

“That I’m a character in a novel?”

“A character in a novel… huh?”

I cut off what she was about to say. No need to be polite anymore, so I switched to informal speech.

Blink, blink. Her eyelids fluttered a few times. A hint of life returned to her blood-red eyes. I was starting to get used to that surprised reaction.

Except for Priscilla, who burst into tears the moment she met me, both Rosaria and Elisier had initially considered me just a character from a novel when we first met.

“And what you wrote was a yuri romance fantasy novel, right? At least, a yuri romance fantasy. Correct?”

“W-what? You… how much, no, how… do you know about this…?”

“This might be your first time, but for me, it’s already the fourth time hearing this question. I never thought I’d hear it four times, but here we are. I wonder why so many people are being possessed like this.”

Since this didn’t seem like a conversation to have while holding a tray, I used magic to suspend it in the air. Meanwhile, Laura’s pupils were shaking violently.

“Fourth… time?”

“It means you and I aren’t the only ones who’ve been dragged here.”

“…”

Seemingly shocked by my words, Laura stood dazed for a while, then slowly looked down at her own hands.

Clear tears began to fall one by one from her eyes.

“Hic… hic…”

The droplets soon formed a continuous stream. The transparent liquid ran wildly down her cheeks, wetting her palms.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… for writing such a thing… for making you all trapped in a place like this… truly, ugh, I’m sorry… it’s all my fault…”

I hadn’t expected her to cry, so I hurriedly approached her, comforting her that she didn’t need to blame herself.

To be honest, out of the four possessed individuals, I was the only one who was doing okay, but I’m not tactless or stupid enough to mention that in this situation.

Besides, Laura had nothing to be sorry for. She probably didn’t bring us here, and she certainly didn’t write the novel with the intention of possessing people, so what was there to feel guilty about?

Judging by her current reaction, Laura seemed more like a victim of possession herself.

‘…Then who brought us here?’

I thought the author might be the mastermind, like in many clichés, but it turns out that wasn’t the case. My head was spinning.

“Waaaaaah… huuuung… ugh… hic, waaaaaah…”

Even while crying her heart out, Laura crawled into my arms. I embraced her just as I would Priscilla.

Her tears only subsided after the sun had completely set and darkness had fallen. Laura raised her head as she swallowed her final sob. Her eyes were swollen from crying so much.

When I used healing magic on her, her eyes, still half-immersed in sadness, were revealed.

“Are you feeling calmer now?”

“…I’m not sure.”

Squeeze. Laura tightly hugged my waist.

During her crying, I learned why she had made the room like this—she said she couldn’t stand the sight of what was originally in this world. Of course, it didn’t matter to me since I wasn’t supposed to exist in this world anyway.

I didn’t get to hear why she couldn’t stand it, though.

“Let’s move to another room first. This isn’t a good place to talk.”

“…Can’t we stay here?”

“No, we can’t.”

“O-okay…”

At my firm refusal, Laura nodded, her body exhausted from crying. She looked so weak that I asked if she wanted some porridge, but she shook her head.

Anyway, now that I had her permission, I immediately summoned the servants. Soon after, hurried footsteps approached. They stopped right outside the door.

“May we enter your bedchamber, Your Highness?”

“…Do as you please.”

Her voice was still cracked and hoarse, but it was enough. The door opened forcefully. Dozens of maids entered the room with proper etiquette.

They looked back and forth between the fire-ravaged, ruined room and Laura sitting on my lap, dirty and with tattered clothes, with puzzled expressions.

“…What has happened here?”

The head servant who had been knocking earlier demanded an explanation with her eyes.

“It seems the enchantment cast by the succubus wasn’t completely dispelled. This was just a minor accident that occurred while Her Highness was using all her strength to suppress the lustful thoughts.”

I offered the excuse I had prepared in advance. Everyone’s faces showed undisguised surprise at the mention of suppressing a succubus’s enchantment through sheer willpower.

“I understand. Do you require any additional treatment?”

“She’s fine now. Just provide a new room for Her Highness to rest.”

“Yes. I will guide you there.”

We were promptly escorted to a new room. Laura was still filthy. Several times along the way, she was offered new clothes or a shower, but she flatly refused them all.

“You should at least wash up. Don’t you feel uncomfortable?”

“…I don’t want to use anything from here. Absolutely not.”

Laura clutched the bedsheet as if she might tear it. The once-white sheet was now covered in soot.

“Then at least change your clothes. Everything’s showing.”

The clothes she wore were still little more than rags. Except for the school uniform coat I had given her, she was practically exposing all her skin.

“I don’t care if it shows or not. Or what, are you getting turned on by me? Want me to show more? I could strip completely right here. Consider it an honor. I have no memory of showing my bare skin to any man. You’re the first. I did show myself to Dolores when she helped me bathe, but surely you’re not going to nitpick about me showing myself to a woman? So—”

After rattling off words like a machine gun for quite some time, Laura seemed to realize her mistake midway and shrank back again, carefully watching my reaction.

It seemed like words that had burst out unintentionally due to her emotional state.

“I-I’m sorry… really sorry… I didn’t mean to… I was wrong… I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Seeing tears welling up in her eyes as if she might start crying again at any moment, I comforted her once more. Laura gripped my hand tightly and only managed to regain her composure after taking several deep breaths.

“Are you calm now?”

Nod. A silent nod came in response instead of words.

“Good. I have a lot to ask, but… let me start with this. Did you also return to the point of your first possession after seeing the ending of the work, or did your body forcibly move according to the original story when you tried to deviate from it?”

“…I don’t think that’s a question I can answer.”

Laura handed me the blue notebook she had been preciously holding since before she lost consciousness.

“Instead, I’ll give you this. If you read it, you’ll understand. It says the content is too dangerous to take in all at once.”

“I couldn’t see anything in it before.”

“No, you’ll see it now. Come closer. I’ll show you.”

I moved beside her. True to her words, letters pressed firmly onto the pages that had previously appeared blank to me were now becoming visible.

“It had a triple seal on it, so you couldn’t see it before. The first seal was broken when you found the diary, the second when you saw its contents, and the third would break when I recovered all my memories.”

“And the person who cast the magic was you before you lost your memories?”

“Yes. More precisely, I didn’t lose my memories—I gave them up voluntarily.”

“You gave up your memories?”

“…Read it and you’ll understand. I can’t tell you more than that.”

Laura was resolute. I took the diary and opened it to the first page.

[It’s not you… is it? The fact that I’m reading this means I’ve somehow escaped this damn regression or broken free from the compulsion. Either way, it doesn’t matter. The key point is that I’m now able to read this.]

[I placed 3 seals on this diary. One to prevent me from finding it, another to allow me to recover only surface memories, and the last to allow me to recover all my memories. If you’ve read this far, it means you’ve broken the second seal. Even if you’re curious about why I did such a troublesome thing, please read to the end. There’s a reason for everything.]

[The reason I sealed my memories is… I’ll be honest because it’s me. I was scared. I couldn’t bear it anymore. I was scared that I was gradually becoming Laura instead of myself, scared that this regression would never end, and above all, scared that I would give up. I kept thinking that someday I might give up on living as myself and become Princess Laura instead.]

[You, reading this now, probably don’t understand the situation I was in when writing this, so let me explain. I’m increasingly acting like the original Laura from the novel. It’s not my will. It means my body is forcibly moving according to the original story.]

[At first, it only happened briefly, but it’s been getting longer, and now I can barely move by my own will for even an hour a day. Even for that hour, I have to grit my teeth and exert all my strength to move as I want. Do you know what it feels like to watch your bodily freedom being slowly taken away? No, you wouldn’t. You don’t remember. And that’s a good thing. It’s not a normal hellish experience.]

At this point, I glanced at Laura. Her expression had hardened.

[Oh right. I mentioned regression in the previous paragraphs? I should explain that too. At first, I thought the regression would end if I killed the Demon Lord, because that’s how I ended the novel. Remember? But it didn’t work that way. No matter how many times I killed the Demon Lord, even if I took the holy sword instead of the hero and killed the Demon Lord myself, I always returned to the point of my first possession. And with each regression, I lost more of my bodily freedom.]

[So I decided. Before my spirit was completely broken, while I still had a glimmer of hope, I would seal my memories. And then live as Princess Laura through however many repetitions might come, betting on the miraculous possibility of reaching this point. Well, the fact that you’re reading this means my final gamble was a splendid success, so give yourself a small celebration. Even though I won’t remember it.]

[Here’s a question. How many times did I repeat the regression to make such an extreme choice? I’ve drawn it on the next page, so count them if you have time. If not, just skip ahead.]

As instructed in the diary, I turned to the next page.

Clusters of four vertical lines crossed by one horizontal line were drawn endlessly. The same pattern continued on the next page, and the page after that. Only after flipping through at least five or six pages did I finally see text again.

[1463 times.]

[That’s why I did this ‘troublesome thing.’]

[No one could endure the memory of the same time repeating that many times.]