episode_0088

But Bella was a character that existed at least in the settings. Even if she didn’t appear in the main story after dying, she appeared in a flashback scene. Even though she was just an illustration without any modeling.

Right now, I have a soft voice, but that’s only because there are people around me who are watching. In reality, I have a much more gloomy personality. My eyes are always half-closed, and I sometimes have a wry smile on my lips.

It seems that the fact that she almost always exposes her sternum never changes, no matter what the situation.

It was still that kind of outfit.

She was wearing a tight tank top and a very short jacket, exposing her chest. Honestly, if there was someone wearing this in a place like the subway, it would be embarrassing and difficult to find where to look.

Even from my perspective as someone who has lived in the 21st century, it may feel a little embarrassing, but in this world, it is truly an outfit that is hard to imagine. And that is because a princess is wearing it.

“Ah.”

Alice, who was returning after finishing her order, made a disgusted expression when she saw Bella sitting in the empty seat.

Of course, Bella didn’t seem to care much about Alice’s reaction.

This was the reason why the gap between Claire and Alice was not easily narrowed in the original.

Alice, who was the daughter of the emperor since birth, was able to grow up without any lack, despite the emperor’s somewhat eccentric expressions of affection. She wore clothes made of the best materials and ate meals made of high-quality ingredients. Although she worked hard herself, her background was actually good enough to support her efforts.

But Claire wasn’t like that. Claire, who had been sold to a brothel and suffered all sorts of horrible things, couldn’t fully empathize with Alice’s accident and clashed with her over everything.

The same was true for the other children of the Emperor. Among the children of the Emperor, there was no character who lived a life as gloomy as Claire. Even Bella, who had been through everything, sympathized with Claire and they were able to be close.

It wasn’t particularly strange that Claire had become Bella MK2 by the time she entered the academy.

Of course, here, instead of Claire coming in as the Emperor’s child, I was there, and I don’t know if she was careful with me or if there was no need to send the fake princess or prince to a dangerous place because of the country’s existence, but in any case, Bella survived. The only thing that changed was the country’s existence, so it’s reasonable to assume that she survived because of me.

“… …Why did you come here?”

Alice said, seeming annoyed as she sat down. Bella shrugged, still resting her chin on her hand.

“Want to see your sisters’ faces after a long time?”

“There’s no reason for that. We’re not that close.”

“Be sad.”

Bella let out a sigh of regret. It was easy to tell that she wasn’t sincere, though her gesture was a bit exaggerated.

“You may not be close to me, but my cute youngest and I are pretty close, right?”

“With Sylvia?”

“… … .”

I watched the conversation between the two without saying anything. It didn’t seem like the fight would stop even if I intervened, but I didn’t think their argument would reach a dangerous level either.

“Why, right? Sylvia doesn’t really have relationships with other people. I think it’s okay to say we’re close friends, right? ”

“If you put it that way, I—”

“Isn’t it too simplistic to think that just because you’re close to me, we won’t be close to each other? After all, relationships between people can overlap.”

“I don’t think that’s something you should hear from someone who hates being in relationships with other people.”

I turned my gaze to the direction of the waitress. From the moment we first entered the store, the waitress had been sitting there, nodding off. There weren’t many customers, so it seemed like she had nothing to do. That might be why Alice went to the checkout counter earlier without waiting for the waitress.

“If you tell me that story, it’s hard to believe, so why don’t you just tell me your purpose? If you beat around the bush, you’ll only get further away from your purpose.”

“Are you trying to protect her because she’s your little sister? To be honest, it seems like you’re the one receiving the protection, not the one giving it.”

“… … .”

Seeing Alice glaring at Bella, I slowly opened my mouth.

“What brings you here?”

“Of course… … ”

“If you really wanted to build fellowship, you could have come to me whether I was in the academy or outside.”

I said, looking at Bella quietly.

“You didn’t show up like this because you had something to tell me, did you? Lucas didn’t show himself to me until he thought of something to tell me.”

“… … Did you hear something from Lucas?”

“He said he would kill me someday.”

“What?”

“Really!?”

Bella asked back incredulously, and Alice looked indignant.

Judging by Bella’s reaction, Lucas must have left the Emperor right after they came out of Winterfield and talked. Well, if Lucas was still there, Bella would have no reason to come looking for him.

“… … Lucas did that? Really? He? You? ”

I was glad I brought this up, seeing Bella look flustered in a way that was very unusual for her.

“For what reason?”

Alice also reacted incredulously, but I didn’t bother to explain it to Alice and just glanced at Bella.

“… … .”

Alice and Bella both fell silent for a moment, perhaps understanding the meaning.

“… … Phew.”

Bella sighed as the table fell down.

“Well, okay. If I think about it, I think I know why he said that.”

And then I ran my hand through my hair.

“I think I’ll be busy.”

Bella, who had been muttering as if she was lamenting, continued her story as if to show that she meant what she said.

“Did you know there’s a casino near Northwood?”

“The empire’s largest casino, built in the middle of a forest.”

Of course I knew.

And then, as we were approaching June, there was something that came to mind when I heard the story about that casino.

“Did the law enforcement infiltrate the casino?”

“The power of the law in casinos… … .”

Bella, who opened her mouth almost at the same time as me, closed her mouth when she heard my voice overlap with her own.

“… … Did you know?”

“… … .”

I didn’t bother to answer.

Alice was staring at me blankly, her mouth wide open.

“Then do you know who infiltrated?”

“Aren’t you a Knight of the Knights Templar?”

“If you say Knight of the Knights Templar, you can’t tell exactly who they are. There are so few of them that you can count them one by one.”

Bella asked as if she was looking at something.

“If there is a way to avoid being suspected by anyone, it would be better to send in someone who is not suspected by anyone.”

“… … .”

I continued speaking to Bella, who was nodding as if telling me to continue.

“All female knights of the Knights Templar are also nuns. So if you dress one of them up in a very provocative outfit and send her in, the average person won’t even notice that she’s a knight of the court.”

Because it was like that in the original too.

Even so, who would think that a woman wearing a bunny suit is a nun?

Besides, her personality wasn’t like that of a nun.

“… … So?”

Bella asked with a more serious expression than usual.

“However, a devout knight of the cathedral would be very averse to such irreligious behavior, and the law would not want to inflict animosity on a knight who is so precious. So the one who first came up with such an idea would be a knight with such a personality.”

And among the Knights of the Cathedral, there was only one crazy female character like that.

No, well, most of the Knights Templar are crazy fanatics, but there is one person who is crazy in a slightly different sense.

“So, who do you think it is?”

“Isn’t that Eliza?”

“… … .”

At my answer, Bella’s expression hardened slightly.

Alice still couldn’t close her gaping mouth.

Of course. It must be hot information that the Empire has just obtained. Besides, in the original, it was information obtained quite by chance.

If you see me telling you such information so nonchalantly as if I knew it from the beginning, you will naturally be shocked.

“… … I think I know a little bit why Lucas said he would kill you.”

Well, it’s not that I said I would kill you for that reason, but it’s also true that I said I would kill you because of your abilities.

“… … .”

I turned my gaze back without saying anything and saw the waitress, who had finally woken up, moving.

As the waitress started to come over, having just received two glasses of finished parfait, Bella didn’t ask for more details.

Although he looked at me with eyes that seemed to be suspicious of me.

……good.

However, I don’t think there is a need to completely give up on ‘mysticism’.