Chapter 97: Final Act – Toward a Happy Ending (6)

Lately, I’ve started feeling someone’s gaze.

Someone, whenever and wherever, just peeking their head out and watching Ianna.

Ianna, delighted by the attention she hadn’t received in a very long time, watched the situation with a subtle smile mixed with excitement and pleasure.

And after a while, she was able to find out who was secretly watching her.

‘Isn’t that the child I saved?’

The sight of the child timidly following her around, constantly trying to strike up a conversation, caught Ianna’s eye.

It kept bothering her too.

‘Why on earth?’

‘To thank me for saving her?’

Ianna couldn’t understand the reason at all.

Saving someone was a matter of course; the strong protecting the weak was a natural law, as self-evident as water flowing downwards from high to low.

At least, Ianna herself had learned it that way, and taught it that way.

It wasn’t something deserving of special thanks.

‘Still, it doesn’t feel bad….’

Ianna suddenly recalled memories from days past.

Memories of being stabbed in the back about five or six times.

She couldn’t help but be instinctively wary.

‘Could it be that this child also approached me wanting something?’ she wondered.

Ianna was watching the child she had saved with suspicious eyes.

Anyway, Ianna could roughly grasp what was happening within the Bureau.

No matter how much the child she saved tried to hide her identity and leave no trace, it would naturally be revealed.

Ianna had been watching the child for nearly a month.

‘……What on earth is she thinking?’

Curiosity kept her from sleeping at night.

And for good reason; she had never felt so obsessed over – though this was Ianna’s own delusion – in her entire life.

Ianna, who craved attention and love, was able to anticipate ‘Vixen’s’ unusual movements.

And she approached Vixen one step ahead.

“That’s not it…! Um, there’s something I’d like you to accept……!”

“Could that be… a present…?”

And.

Ianna’s face flushed red at that moment.

She was so overjoyed that she was stomping her feet, not knowing what to do.

KABOOM!

She even jumped up and down so much that she accidentally broke the Bureau’s ceiling.

Ianna stared intently at Vixen’s lips.

The moment the word ‘present’ came out, she felt like she would hug her tightly without realizing it.

It was the most affectionate expression Ianna, who was inept at expressing herself, could manage.

The emotion Ianna held for the gesture of a ‘present’ was immeasurably vast.

And Vixen didn’t know that.

‘Why is her reaction like this?’

Even after spending a long time with Ianna, she hadn’t completely figured her out.

She was worried that maybe she had really misjudged.

‘I can’t afford to be disliked by Ianna here… Did she realize these are the snacks she hid herself?’

Of course, Ianna was nothing like that.

Ianna, who had been left alone for a long time, had a very strong obsession with ‘her things.’

However, that didn’t translate into memory.

Even if she secretly hid things in various places throughout the Bureau to eat alone, she would forget everything completely after a fierce battle with an unidentified entity.

It was an unavoidable consequence of her innate nature.

Anyway.

Ianna carefully accepted the snacks Vixen handed her.

Then, she hugged Vixen tightly.

“!?”

Vixen’s body stiffened completely at the incomprehensible action.

‘What beautiful black eyes this child has. She looks somewhat familiar… but anyway, she’s a poor child who lost her parents to an unidentified entity. I must take care of her. More importantly, how can she be so grateful? What on earth is this emotion? I’m so happy my head is spinning. What is this situation?’

For Ianna, it was the first time in her life receiving such pure – though of course, it wasn’t – goodwill from another person.

It was only natural that her behavioral doctrine malfunctioned.

The two embraced each other for a short while, feeling each other’s warmth.

Due to Ianna’s immense strength, Vixen couldn’t even think of breaking free.

“W-Well, I….”

“I’m so happy! This is the first time I’ve ever received a present from someone else. Thank you so much!”

Ianna’s gaze changed in an instant as she snatched Vixen’s hand.

She had noticed that someone was watching them.

For instance, ‘Heosang.’

And it was true.

‘Heosang’ had been watching the two intently from the moment Ianna made contact with Vixen.

At first, it was simple curiosity.

She wondered if her little toy might say something strange to Ianna.

Of course, even so, the fact that it was all within her palm didn’t change.

In the first place, the reason the Queen bothered to gather the leftover ashes and keep them alive wasn’t anything special.

Since it wasn’t a power game, since it was no match for her at all, she had kept it alive to relieve her boredom while subjugating Ianna.

She could even give orders at any time with the choke collar around its neck.

For example, if she ordered ‘die,’ Vixen would actually strangle herself to death.

To make an analogy, an elephant and an ant.

No, an even greater disparity existed between the two.

And Ianna unconsciously paid attention to the Queen’s gaze.

It wasn’t that Ianna knew what the Queen was up to.

In the first place, Ianna wasn’t even aware of her own identity.

This world was not the past or anything like that. It was a fragmented world created from Ianna’s memories.

It meant it was a kind of virtual reality, reconstructed and built based on some of the deceased Ianna’s memories.

In other words, Ianna too was a ‘created’ existence, but her self-awareness and personality were independent.

The unidentified entity that had taken possession of Ianna’s body had detected an ‘impurity’ in Ianna and performed a separation process.

And based on the deceased Ianna’s personality, it created something new.

That is the current Ianna.

Such an Ianna felt an inexplicably strange sensation from the Queen.

A sensation just like that of an unidentified entity.

The Queen’s sole purpose was to subjugate Ianna.

She intended to make both body and mind completely subservient to her.

In this aspect, there was no external pressure whatsoever.

In other words, it meant that Ianna’s judgments were all based on her own thoughts.

Ianna, after noticing the Queen was watching, acted cautiously.

Embrace!

For some reason, the more she hugged the child, the more intense the gaze felt.

It was clear that this child and Heosang were definitely related.

“Aaat!’

Only then did Heosang turn her gaze and look around.

And suddenly, no one was there.

When facing an enemy, Ianna becomes more serious than at any other time.

She doesn’t overlook even the smallest movement and captures everything about the opponent she perceives as an enemy in her sight.

And.

For some reason, Ianna wanted to consider Heosang an enemy.

No matter how she thought about it, it was strange.

‘Was there such a magical girl in the Bureau?’

‘It’s too natural. Everyone around her treats Heosang so naturally.’

And from that naturalness, a sense of incongruity emanated.

She didn’t know what was going on, but one thing was certain.

She must not trust Heosang.

‘Wait… Heosang?’

Ianna hesitated for a moment.

Because the keyword ‘Heosang’ seemed to trigger a forgotten memory.

Ianna’s memories were brought over as they were from the point of her death.

Although the unidentified entities had tinkered with them a bit, they couldn’t completely erase the memories.

Sealed.

Ianna’s memories had been sealed.

At this point, Vixen was unaware of these facts.

She perceived this world as reality and believed she had returned to the past.

And this belief was scheduled to be shattered soon.

***

‘Why is Ianna reacting like that? From the perspective of having to frequently contact Ianna, it’s advantageous, but I mustn’t give that creature a different impression.’

Around the time that creature considers her relationship with Ianna merely a game, she must tell Ianna everything she knows.

Of course, she also knows she’s being watched. Because her neck keeps tightening whenever she tries to do something.

Current time is 23:21.

A total of 2 unidentified entities occurred today, and casualties and property damage are…….

Vixen covered her ears, then dragged her exhausted body and lay down on the bed.

‘But since when was I naked?’

Lately, she had been naked frequently.

She didn’t know why, but when she opened her eyes and woke up, she was always naked, and even right before falling asleep, she was naked.

Screeeech

At that moment, the door opened and the Queen entered.

“…Why did you come in?”

“I just came to see you. No particular reason, really.”

“Mm…….”

I deliberately suppressed my hostility towards the Queen as much as possible.

Because nothing good would come from showing my emotions.

The Queen smiled faintly and, at some point, came and lay down beside me.

I was a little flustered but managed to maintain my composure.

The Queen’s white, slender fingers traced my back, and a chill ran through my entire body.

“…You’re not rejecting me?”

“You told me to seduce you, didn’t you? Seeing you act like that, can I assume you’ve already been seduced or something?”

“……Haha!”

The Queen silently got out of bed and left the room.

Current time is 26:■■.

A total of 278,325 unidentified entities occurred today, and casualties and property damage are…….