If I were the only one left behind, others wouldn’t have to sacrifice themselves.
As I bit my lip and hesitated, Simone spoke up.
“Sera, don’t go through with it. You don’t have to sacrifice yourself.”
“That’s right!”
Aurora quickly raised her voice.
“As long as Princess Eva is alive, danger will always loom over us! Instead of surrendering, we should fight back!”
At those words, Princess Eva shifted her gaze toward Aurora.
“Lady Shae, now that I think about it, you’ve always been a nuisance.”
“Me?”
“I never liked how you dared to receive Sera’s attention.”
Her eyes grew sharper, burning with intensity. Then, as if she had just realized something, she spoke in an intrigued tone.
“Ah, so this is what anger feels like.”
“What did you say?”
“I’ve been learning a lot of new emotions lately.”
Her cold gaze swept over Aurora.
“Sera, there are too many things by your side that I dislike.”
“No, I love them far more than I could ever love you. I will never stand by your side!”
The moment I shouted those words again, Princess Eva’s fury exploded.
Boom!
As her expression twisted in rage, a deafening explosion echoed from somewhere. We all turned our shocked gazes toward the source of the sound. It had come from outside the palace…
“If it’s come to this, I suppose there’s no other choice. I need to vent my anger somehow.”
Eva smirked with an unsettling, mischievous expression.
“I decided to detonate a few automatons. After all, sacrifices are always unavoidable, aren’t they?”
At her words, more explosions erupted from outside.
“Is she really making the automatons self-destruct?”
“If that’s the case, innocent people will be caught in the destruction…”
“Stop this at once!”
The noble ladies who had been siding with Eva had already vanished without a trace.
Soon, the sound of explosions died down, but Princess Eva still seemed to be seething with rage. Then, as if making up her mind, she spoke once more.
“Sera, the fate of this continent rests on your decision. If the automaton attacks continue, everyone will perish.”
“But if I defeat you, I can put an end to this disaster.”
I barely managed to stand up and shouted. Even Arkhangelo, who had been frowning deeply the whole time, joined in.
“Hmph, Seraphina won’t fall for your schemes!”
“Yeah, don’t treat Seraphina like some foolish child.”
Raffaelo supported Arkhangelo’s words, and even Ghieuspe, who was usually quiet, spoke up with a solemn expression.
“We will not be deceived.”
At this, Princess Eva bit her lip tightly. She was clearly seething with rage…
As I remained on guard, wary of what she might do next, she opened her mouth once again.
“But, Sera, don’t you remember? The day I told you my secret. Once you know a secret, you have to take responsibility for it. You can’t leave me.”
At her words, I fell silent. After all, I had no idea what her true identity was.
As I stayed quiet, Eva’s expression shifted—she looked as if she had just realized something.
“Sera… could it be…?”
Eva slowly stood up and locked eyes with me. A gleeful glint flickered in her violet irises.
“I see! You don’t remember, do you?”
“……!”
“Aha, so you forgot about that day. I thought something felt off. Well, it’s not strange that you forgot—it was a huge shock for you, after all.”
Damn it. She figured it out. But it was something that would have been revealed sooner or later.
“Sera, should I show you again? I’ll reveal my secret to you once more. What do you think? By sharing secrets, we can truly become one.”
“What nonsense are you spouting now?!”
As I struggled to find an answer, Arkhangelo thankfully intervened.
“Seraphina won’t fall for your tricks, I told you that already!”
“You all…”
Eva’s gaze finally shifted to the others, her eyes scanning them as if evaluating each one.
“Arkhangelo Phyro, the genius tenor. If I were my old self, I might have liked your music.”
That was practically an admission that she was no longer the same person as before.
“And then we have the Marquess of Monteverdi, Captain Nesta, the dark mage Ascary, and Lady Aurora Shae…”
Eva called out their names one by one.
“So, Sera, these are the people you’ve chosen? These worthless pieces of trash?”
“I already told you—I value them far more than I could ever value you. I will never choose you.”
“Hah…”
Instead of raging, Eva let out a hollow laugh, as if she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Then, she took her seat again and resumed speaking.
“It seems you really did forget my secret, Sera. I wonder… if I tell you again, will it change your mind?”
“I already have a rough idea about your true identity!”
At those words, Princess Eva’s eyes widened in surprise.
“You were the one who created the automatons!”
“Hmm, that’s true. But is that all?”
“You went even further and created an army of automatons!”
“…I’ve never made such a thing, but that does sound like a good idea.”
Her unexpected response made me freeze in place.
Wait a second. Wasn’t the past me terrified and ran away because of those automatons?
Then, if it’s not just automatons, what else could it be?
“A time machine?”
“…….”
“T-Then, could it be…?”
Right, this is a fantasy world. Anything is possible!
“Are you an evil god? An absolute force of destruction?”
“What nonsense is that?”
In an instant, my face turned bright red.
Her reaction was so similar to a dismissive “What the hell are you talking about, you idiot?” that I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.
While I was trying to cool my burning cheeks, Simone calmly spoke up.
“Then, what exactly are you? Can you reveal your true identity?”
“Ah, I suppose it’s time I finally told you…”
As soon as Princess Eva said that, everyone fell silent and focused on her words.
Who exactly was she? What kind of being could wield such terrifying power?
“Yes, Seraphina. You weren’t entirely wrong. On her fifteenth birthday, Princess Eva created an automaton.”
Wait, then why did she say I was wrong?
…Hold on. Something’s off.
She should have said, ‘I created an automaton.’ But instead, she said, ‘Princess Eva created an automaton.’
Does that mean she isn’t actually Princess Eva?
But before I could fully process that thought, her next words made my breath catch.
“And then, the automaton devoured Princess Eva.”
“…What?”
“It consumed her, absorbing all of her knowledge and memories. From then on, it wore her skin and began pretending to be human.”
At that moment, a passage from a book I had read at the Lithman Ducal Estate flashed through my mind.
— In February, Princess Eva released an automaton capable of consuming food like a human.
— The automaton was able to learn from what it consumed, allowing it to evolve on its own. The fact that it could process information without human input was of significant importance.
Until now, I thought Princess Eva had merely created an artificial human…
But the truth was, I had been facing an artificial human all along!
An artificial human had devoured Princess Eva!
“H-How did it consume her…?”
As I trembled, Aurora suddenly shot up from her seat and shouted.
“Then what about Maria?! Tell us what happened to Maria!”
“Ah… The god of this world…”
Eva’s lips curled into a serene smile as if reminiscing about Maria.
“One day, the god of this world came to me, seeking to set things right. So I devoured her.”
“…What?”
“Sera, don’t you remember? That day when you came to find me.”
Her violet eyes gleamed under the chandelier’s light.
“In front of you, I consumed the god of this world. I stripped her flesh from her bones, drank her blood, and when nothing was left, I even chewed her bones to dust. That’s how…”
A chilling silence filled the air.
“That’s how I ate the god of this world.”
It was then that I finally realized—
The laws of this world had been completely shattered.
The terror was overwhelming, but my survival instinct kept me from collapsing. My vision blurred, my head spun.
‘That’s right… That day, Princess Eva… Maria…’
And as I listened to her words, the memories I had forgotten began to resurface.
***
“Your Highness, thank you for inviting me!”
Seraphina clasped her hands together and smiled brightly at Princess Eva.
Eva, who had appeared in the drawing room, smiled gently when she saw Seraphina in a pink dress.
“Sera, that dress suits you well.”
“Oh my, really? But I’m sure Your Highness looks even more beautiful today.”
That day, Princess Eva wore a crimson-red dress.
