<Episode 55>

 

Eveline and Abellard, carrying a bunch of bananas, were descending.

“Brother, why did you drink so much when you were at the mansion?”

“Oh, back then?”

Eveline suddenly remembered the times she drank with Elkais and asked.

“So that Eve would take care of me.”

“…”

“Whenever I drank and got sick, you always nursed me back to health.”

Abellard laughed awkwardly under Eveline’s cold gaze.

“C-Can I lie a little now?”

“No.”

“But should I always tell the truth, even if it makes you uncomfortable?”

“In such cases, you don’t have to say anything.”

“But what about situations like just now?”

Eveline frowned slightly, realizing he had a point.

“That’s a bit tricky.”

“Right? You don’t want me to hurt you with my words, and I don’t want that either.”

She watched as Abellard took the bunch of bananas she was carrying.

“I don’t like seeing you carry heavy things.”

“It doesn’t feel that heavy since I’m in your body now.”

Eveline took the bananas back from him and continued walking.

She glanced back at him and found it strange to see him smiling so beautifully. It was Rubellite’s body, but his expressions were unmistakably Abellard’s.

“It would have been nice if you were like this back at the Duke of Willaidon’s mansion.”

“Sorry. I was foolish back then.”

Eveline felt even more annoyed by his straightforward apology. But it was in the past, so she sighed and walked ahead.

When they returned to the cabin, they found that Elkais had cleaned up the place. All the bloodstains were gone, and the clothes were neatly folded.

Even the ceiling, which had already been sealed to prevent leaks, was reinforced further.

“We’re back.”

When she returned, Elkais was eating a golden fruit. Eveline noticed the peculiar fruit he was eating and, seeing his gaze shift to the bananas she was holding, she lifted the bunch and said,

“You said these taste good when roasted, right?”

“Yes.”

Elkais chuckled at her words. Then he examined the fake Eveline clinging to his arm.

“My neck still hurts.”

“Oh dear.”

Elkais was alarmed to see blood flowing from the fake Eveline’s neck wound.

Eveline wanted to use divine power to heal her bleeding body.

“Brother, can you teach me how to use divine power?”

“Oh, that?”

Abellard smiled broadly, happy that Eveline had spoken to him first.

“You just do it.”

“…”

“Just think, ‘I want to heal you, it must hurt,’ and it’ll work.”

“That’s very helpful.”

“Hehe.”

Eveline didn’t scold him for his unhelpful advice and set down the bunch of bananas she had brought.

“Can I borrow a knife?”

Since Elkais didn’t object, Eveline carefully took his knife and cut the bunch of bananas.

After Eveline and Abellard returned, the fake Eveline clung to Elkais and showed no intention of letting go, leaving the rest of the work to the two of them.

“We should fetch some water.”

“I want to go too.”

Elkais lifted the fake Eveline in his arms at her words.

“Your neck is injured, not your legs.”

“She might be weak.”

Elkais glanced at Eveline as he spoke.

He didn’t regret eating the fruit. He originally didn’t want to, but he did to suppress his desire to kiss Eveline due to her pheromones.

“I’ll fetch some water.”

“Alright.”

When they left, Eveline and Abellard separated the bunch of bananas and lined them up in a row.

“Who’s going to cook?”

“Elkais, probably. Besides, these are green and need to be cooked before we can eat them.”

“These have a lot of seeds.”

“I heard they’re okay when roasted.”

Eveline touched the seeds inside a banana that Abellard had accidentally cut in half.

Bananas naturally have seeds, but the ones she had eaten were a cultivated variety without seeds, so it was her first time seeing banana seeds.

A while later, Elkais returned to the cabin, carrying water with one arm and Eveline with the other.

“I’ll do the cooking.”

“Alright.”

Elkais set Eveline down as he looked at the prepared bananas and said,

“You said you wanted to talk to Eveline, right?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead and talk. But first, that item.”

“This?”

Eveline pointed to the gun, and Elkais nodded.

“Yes. It originally belongs to Eveline, so it’d be good if you returned it.”

“I am Eveline.”

“…Then could you at least leave it with me while you talk?”

“Alright…”

Eveline placed the gun on the table and secured the safety pin.

Then she spoke to the fake Eveline, who was peeking at her from behind Elkais.

“Let’s just talk at the door.”

“…Okay.”

“I’ll come running if you shout.”

The fake tightly squeezed Elkais’s hand and then let go first. Elkais gently patted her shoulder as if to reassure her.

Eveline stepped outside the cabin with the fake.

Once they were some distance from the cabin, the fearful demeanor the fake had shown in front of Elkais disappeared, replaced by a relaxed expression.

Eveline realized that the fake hadn’t lost her memory and her expressions were similar to Rubellite’s, so she intentionally walked a bit further.

The fake followed along without much concern.

When the cabin was barely visible in the distance, Eveline spoke up.

“You’re Grand Duke Croppers, aren’t you?”

“Who knows?”

“How did you switch bodies?”

“Do you think I’d tell you?”

“Was this your goal from the beginning?”

“It worked out for you, didn’t it? You ended up in Abellard’s body by luck.”

Eveline was now certain that he was Grand Duke Croppers. His confident demeanor, as if he had nothing to hide, made her a bit angry.

“Why did you do this?”

“Will you tell me who the god behind you is and what their plan is?”

“Is that why you did all this?”

“It’s the most important thing to me.”

“So you staged this whole play?”

Eveline realized that he didn’t actually intend to kill her and Abellard.

If he had intended to kill them, he wouldn’t have left Abellard and come to the cabin.

Then why did he push me off the cliff? If he wanted to take my body… no, did he plan to injure me and then take it?

While she was lost in thought, he spoke again.

“Yes.”

“Alright, then.”

When Eveline replied as if resigned, Rubellite Croppers habitually touched his chin and waited for her answer.

“The god behind me is Goddess Yulias.”

Eveline lied.

She believed that the god behind her was not Yulias but Dekarv, the god of destruction.

“And Goddess Yulias’s will is for everyone here to survive and leave this place.”

“Hmm.”

Rubellite Croppers looked at Eveline skeptically.

“How can I believe that?”

“You don’t have to believe me. What did you think?”

“I thought only one person could leave this island alive, and everyone else would die.”

Eveline had never seen her body look so unfamiliar.

Her red hair, although unkempt, flowed like silk, and her eyes sparkled like the sky.

She realized that the reason her hair, which she had despised as a Beta, looked beautiful now was because of the Omega pheromones emanating from her body.

“Why do you look so distressed? You look like you’re in pain.”

“Wouldn’t you feel the same if you found your own body attractive?”

“I suppose so.”

Rubellite Croppers looked at Eveline again.

“Abellard looks beautiful no matter who he is.”

“Ugh…”

“So, the princess’s god wants everyone to survive. That could be possible if it’s Goddess Yulias.”

He gave her a meaningful look and then said,

“How about we form an alliance?”

“What kind of alliance?”

“A pact to share everything that happens with each other from now on.”

Eveline didn’t believe him at all. If the goal was to kill everyone and leave alone…

She wanted to survive, but not at the cost of everyone else’s lives.

She had become a police officer because she wanted to help the weak, not to live well alone.

If she only cared about living well, she would have gone to law school.

“Alright. But you have to return my body now.”

“The princess is lying to the end.”

“What are you talking about?”

Eveline tensed as she saw her body’s extremities turning black like Rubellite’s.

She regretted leaving the gun behind and picked up a nearby wooden stick to defend herself.

“Does Goddess Yulias really want that?”

She shivered as her body stretched and split like Rubellite had shown before.

“You should have said you were under the protection of Goddess Remeros instead.”

Smack!

Eveline struck at his body, which had extended like tentacles to attack her.

“Not this time.”

“You’re pretty confident even though you can’t use magic.”

Eveline wasn’t skilled with a sword. But they were near the cabin.

“Elkais!”

She shouted for Elkais at the top of her lungs.