#4.
“Are you Hera Wintale, the only daughter of Count Wintale? The poor girl too frail from birth to even step foot into society?”
Despite her words, the uninvited guest’s expression was cold. She showed no trace of sympathy for Hera.
As the uninvited guest alternated her gaze between Hera and the holy relic, she let out a brief exclamation.
She had just understood why the relic’s location had suddenly appeared in the Prophecy Book—and why it was resting on Hera’s body.
With a gesture filled with certainty, she placed a finger under Hera’s nose.
Hera still wasn’t breathing.
“So that’s it. The Count brought out Izina’s Sword to save his daughter. A relic no one could find a clue about, no matter how hard they searched.”
The uninvited guest let out a cynical laugh.
“Who knew I’d benefit from a father’s love.”
Having made her brief remark, the uninvited guest finally took a bigger step forward.
She reached out without hesitation toward Izina’s Sword.
“Slot open.”
Her pleasing voice gave a short command.
Then, from the book floating in the air, a single blue rose slowly began to bloom.
The full rose blossomed richly, and its petals soon began to fall, circling the book as they spun around it.
Once the rose petals vanished and the book reappeared, it was no longer a book. It had transformed into a pedestal upon which Izina’s Sword could rest.
The bluish glow surrounding it was the same as before.
[Slot open.]
As the message announcing the completed transformation hovered above the pedestal, the uninvited guest moved without restraint.
“Izina’s Sword will now be taken by me, Blue Rose.”
Calling herself Blue Rose, the intruder lifted the sword.
Just then, a faint breath escaped Hera’s lips.
It was so faint, so weak, that it could have easily been mistaken for an illusion.
Unfortunately, Blue Rose didn’t notice that subtle sign of rebirth.
Hera hadn’t fully revived yet, and still needed the Sword of Izina for several more hours.
“Urgh…! Why is the sword suddenly so heavy?”
Blue Rose tried to place the sword on the pedestal—the slot—but it suddenly grew heavy.
Even just holding it became too much, and she dropped to one knee, struggling to endure its weight.
“What the hell…?”
Izina’s Sword sensed that Hera’s revival was imminent. It resisted, fighting back to achieve that small success.
Not understanding this, Blue Rose summoned her strength and forcibly lifted the sword.
Then, she placed it onto the slot with effort.
“Seal… complete.”
A hasty declaration.
Izina’s Sword had determined that it could not protect Hera and itself at the same time.
So it chose to abandon Hera and protect itself.
“…!”
Though it had clearly been placed on the slot, Izina’s Sword suddenly leapt up as if such a seal meant nothing.
Before Blue Rose could react, the blade pierced straight through her abdomen.
“Ghk!”
Even though she had been impaled, not a single drop of blood flowed from her body.
It looked as if the sword had simply passed through like a ghostly blade.
But Blue Rose knew exactly what Izina’s Sword had done.
“My soul…”
The sacred sword hadn’t targeted her body—but her soul.
Before she could even attempt to grab it again, the sword floated swiftly through the air and disappeared somewhere.
“It tore… my soul…!”
Without even a scream, Blue Rose collapsed onto the floor of Hera’s room.
Her body began to grow cold at a much faster rate than those who died from physical wounds.
[Re-scanning for contractor.]
[Biological response: terminated.]
[Incineration system activated.]
The book-turned-pedestal once again bloomed into a blue rose. The petals began to swirl, wrapping around Blue Rose’s body.
Moments later, the petals transformed into blazing blue flames capable of burning everything to ash.
[Incineration in 5 seconds.]
[5.]
On this day, at this moment, numerous events unfolded at once.
Impossibilities and coincidences began to intertwine.
[4.]
[3.]
First, Izina’s Sword vanished in an instant.
[2.]
And as soon as the sword disappeared, Hera—who had been faintly breathing—reverted to a cold, rigid corpse.
By a bizarre twist of fate, Hera’s soul flowed into the swirl of blue rose petals surrounding Blue Rose’s corpse.
[1.]
And conveniently, an empty body was waiting to receive Hera’s soul.
[Biological response: detected.]
[Incineration incomplete.]
[Re-scanning for contractor.]
[Error detected.]
[Emergency shield activated.]
It was then that the blue flames surrounding Blue Rose’s body reverted back to rose petals.
[Relocation to fixed coordinate.]
The blue rose petals were sucked back into the book. The book flew out the open window.
Now, nothing remained in the room except Hera’s cold body.
✦
“You’re only called the master of the Neutral State because of the troops and wealth I brought with me when I married into House Wintale. So when I leave, I’ll be taking them back.”
New Year’s Day, 938—at the break of dawn.
House Wintale lost much that day.
The Count’s only heir, Hera Wintale. The mistress of the house, Belina Wintale. And the holy relic, Izina’s Sword.
As she left the house that couldn’t even protect her daughter, Belina gazed at the family crest inscribed with their house’s motto.
Listen to the song of stars and whales.
She never wanted to see that phrase again.
The era of beautiful songs had ended.
Belina hoped House Wintale would be so overcome by sorrow that they’d forget the music of this world for generations to come.
“Belina Wintale—I’ll return this name to House Wintale as well.”
When she accepted Larry Wintale’s proposal and came to the Ivy Empire, she had created her own empire-style name: Belina.
As the legitimate princess of the Kingdom of Karen, her real name was Haz Soteria.
“Farewell, Count Wintale. And farewell, Ivy Empire.”
The carriage carrying Countess Belina Wintale—or rather, Princess Haz Soteria—crossed the southern borders and the sea of Tashiril, heading toward her homeland, the Kingdom of Karen.
She retraced the same path she had taken when she married into House Wintale.
✦
Three days had officially passed since Hera’s death.
“Ugh…”
In a small room in a noble’s estate not far from House Wintale, a woman slowly awakened.
“…Mm?”
What Hera saw was an unfamiliar room, unfamiliar blankets.
Still frozen with her eyes open, Hera heard an even stranger name.
“Sis! Emilia! You’re finally awake?”
What came into her view was an incredibly beautiful young girl.
Hera, confused by the unfamiliar surroundings and girl, hadn’t yet noticed the book quietly tucked beneath the bed she lay on.
“…Emilia?”
When Hera murmured the name, she felt a strange yet oddly familiar emotion—contradictory feelings at once.
“Sis, do you know? You’ve been asleep for three days straight! I was so worried…”
“You are…”
Red rose-colored hair and eyes like the sky.
Even the frown on the girl’s face was breathtakingly beautiful—who in the world was this?
Hera’s bewilderment was plainly written on her face.
The girl who had called her ‘sister’ looked shocked.
“Don’t tell me… you lost your memory?”
“Maybe… I’m not sure.”
It was the way Hera normally spoke, but her voice was completely different.
Her vocal cords felt heavier than before. Startled by her calm, deeper voice, Hera covered her mouth.
“Oh god of Sukaro…”
The girl called out the northern god’s name in exasperation. She couldn’t believe her sister had suddenly changed into someone else overnight.
“I’m Cecilia. Your lovely little sister.”
“Cecilia? Cecilia Tolyn?”
“Yeah, that’s right!”
Cecilia nodded happily.
She thought her sister Emilia had remembered her.
Cecilia Tolyn. The most charming lady in Ivy Empire’s society.
Though Hera had never left the house due to illness, there was no way she wouldn’t know Cecilia’s name.
Everything Cecilia did became gossip among the people.
A girl radiant like an angel. The pride of Junior Baron Tolyn—Cecilia Tolyn.
Why have I become Cecilia’s sister? Why am I in the Tolyn family…?
