Daphne (3)
When Daphne mentioned having a frail younger brother, Meursault tilted his head.
As far as he knew, there was only one person who could possibly fit the role of Daphne's younger brother.
"That's unexpected. Platon always seemed perfectly healthy on the outside."
"Well… this isn't about Platon."
"Pardon?"
"I told you. Right now I'm not telling Daphne's story. I'm telling mine."
Daphne looked at him with eyes that seemed to plead for him to understand. But if this wasn't Daphne's story, whose was he supposed to be listening to? Meursault hadn't the faintest idea.
Seeing him look a little flustered, Daphne murmured in a deflated voice,
"If I just look like a crazy person to you, I can stop talking…"
"Ah—no."
Meursault waved his hands hastily.
"I want to hear it. Not Daphne's story. Yours."
He meant it. A story that belonged to someone other than Daphne? How delightfully absurd. It felt as though he had discovered a new side of her, and he didn't mind that at all.
"Really? You really want to hear more?"
Daphne's face brightened. She took hold of one of Meursault's arms and began to speak about that "someone."
The story, which started from early childhood, was so vivid that Meursault found himself drawn in without difficulty.
"From the moment I first understood the world, I wanted to become a doctor. I thought that if I became a doctor, I could cure my little brother's illness."
"You were a good sister."
"I finally became a doctor—but being a doctor doesn't mean you can cure everything."
"Then… your brother…"
"I don't know. The last time I saw him he didn't look well, and after that I couldn't meet him anymore… so maybe by now my brother is…"
Her voice trembled as she spoke, and even though Meursault still believed the story was invented, he instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulders in a rush of concern.
"If it's too hard to talk about, you don't have to say more, Daphne."
"No. I want to tell you. Married people shouldn't keep secrets from each other."
"…"
While Meursault was quietly wrestling with whether he, too, ought to have no secrets from her, Daphne continued.
"And the truth is… I don't actually have violet eyes."
"That's a truly strange thing to say. Those beautiful violet eyes are perfectly clear to me right now."
"They're originally black."
Black? That genuinely startled him. Among everyone Meursault had ever seen, black eyes belonged only to Hayden and Haydam—two people. Or three, if he counted Luna Moon from the portrait he had seen not long ago.
"They're black… and they're not that beautiful."
"They are beautiful."
"I'm serious, Meursault. Right now you're just enchanted by my eyes."
At that, Meursault couldn't help laughing out loud.
"Of course I'm enchanted by you."
"Meursault."
As if she had made up her mind, Daphne lifted her head from his shoulder and looked at him.
"Close your eyes for a moment. I'll show you my real eyes."
"Your real… eyes?"
"Yes. This might be the last chance I ever get to show you."
At the time he didn't think deeply about why she called it the last chance. He simply assumed she meant she might never again find the courage to say something so ridiculous. After all, the idea that Daphne's eyes had never originally been violet was brand-new to him.
"All right, Daphne. Then…"
Even so, Meursault obediently closed his eyes.
He had not kept them shut for long when her voice came again.
"Meursault. Open your eyes and look at me."
He opened them and looked at Daphne.
And truly—the violet eyes of a moment ago had vanished without a trace. Pitch-black pupils met his gaze instead.
And yet, strangely…
They don't feel unfamiliar.
Even though the eyes that had been glowing violet only seconds earlier were now black, he felt neither surprise nor confusion. Eyes he might have seen long, long ago. Eyes filled with affection and expectation. The eyes of the woman he had longed to marry for so many years…
Looking into those two eyes, Meursault said,
"They're still nothing but beautiful."
When he came back to himself after speaking as if entranced, Daphne was smiling the brightest smile he had ever seen on her face.
"I'm so happy. Even if it's a lie—I'm so happy you said that."
"A lie…?"
The words had left his mouth without thought, as if they had always been promised—so they could never be a lie. Yet Daphne seemed to believe he had only said it for her sake, and Meursault's brow furrowed the faintest fraction.
But she wasn't finished.
"Meursault. There's actually one thing I want to apologize for."
"Something you want to apologize for?"
A thousand thoughts raced through Meursault's mind in an instant.
Has she changed her mind about the divorce?
Or has she decided not to marry me after all? Is that why she started saying she isn't really Daphne?
Fortunately, what came out of her mouth was something else entirely.
"I might have to leave for somewhere far away soon."
"Ah… are you planning a trip?"
She had just said she wasn't originally from this place. Perhaps, now that she had divorced Commander Hayden, she meant to visit another zone.
"If that's the case, I could come with you…"
Daphne frowned with a small smile and shook her head.
"I don't even know yet whether I'll really have to leave. Originally, if I'd married Hayden, I wouldn't have had to go… but if I marry you, Meursault, I might have to leave."
If she married His Excellency she wouldn't have to go… but if she married him, she might have to leave?
He couldn't make sense of it, yet the atmosphere didn't invite detailed explanations.
Daphne spoke to the puzzled Meursault.
"Even so… even then… I want to be your wife before I go. Is that all right?"
From beginning to end the words made no sense—but in the end she was saying she wanted to be his wife. That made answering easy.
"It's exactly what I hope for, my black-eyed lady."
Daphne clapped her hands and beamed like a child, and Meursault was simply happy because she was happy.
Until a voice rose from the lobby downstairs.
"Lady Daphne, the divorce papers have arrived. You need to sign them."
"I understand."
After answering the servant, Daphne drew a deep breath. Her eyes—somehow violet once more—filled completely with Meursault.
"Meursault. Even if I leave, wait for me. No matter what it takes, I'll come back to your side."
"Of course. I can wait longer than His Excellency waited for ten years."
At those words Daphne smiled softly and went downstairs.
Meursault escorted her. The last sight he had of her was her back as she lifted the pen and signed the divorce papers.
The next instant, the moment the signature was finished, Daphne collapsed where she stood like a puppet with its strings cut.
When Meursault finished the story, he simply sat in silence, tears streaming down his face.
The Commander wore a face lost deep in thought.
"…"
I couldn't say a single word.
Because I had realized who had been possessing Daphne's body.
There was no way I couldn't know. In a way, it had been predictable all along.
CornerDarling had first encountered that otome game through his older sister. When I heard him talk about her, the timeline still hadn't been sorted out, so I had vaguely assumed his sister wasn't one of the possessed. After all, I had been told she had worked at Salvation Project perfectly openly before any of us possessed anyone.
But now I understood.
My mother had died inside this game, returned to reality, founded a company called Salvation Project, and created the Safety Zone series. Daphne, too, had returned to reality, quit being a doctor, and joined Salvation Project.
I already knew time flowed differently between this game and the real world.
Of course I did. We had all possessed our bodies through convenience stores on different days—yet every one of us had started at the same point in time. Luna Moon had died ten years ago and returned to reality, yet looking at the fact that I was already over thirty, Mother must have returned about thirty years ago in real-world time.
Now I also understand why the Safety Zone looked the way it did ten years after Luna Moon's death. Daphne must have gone back and told them.
Thinking that way, this death was something that was always going to happen. If Daphne hadn't returned to reality and talked about what would come ten years later, the game we possessed into couldn't even have existed.
But… one thing was still strange.
Why did CornerDarling possess someone instead of Daphne herself?
Could it be that both Daphne and my mother are possessing someone somewhere and I simply haven't found them yet? But if those two were here, they would obviously have chosen the Cola Area so they could meet Meursault and Hayden. Hiding from my eyes inside this zone would have been impossible. Those two people are most definitely not currently in this zone.
Now I think I understand why that loner kept saying his head hurt and we should just stop the apocalypse.
For now, I had my own job to do.
"Please store Daphne's body so it doesn't deteriorate."
"Haydam."
"Lord Haydam."
The Commander looked at me with something almost like a scolding gaze, while Meursault stared at me with eyes full of expectation and hope.
"Can she… be saved?"
That wasn't something I could actually guarantee. I only thought we should at least preserve the body in case something became possible later.
"…For now. Just keep it preserved without any damage."
"Yes! I'll see to it!"
Even doing this much would be enough for Meursault to keep living.
As I watched him carefully lift Daphne's body and head somewhere, the Commander spoke to me in a low voice.
"Always remember that you are not an omnipotent god."
I looked up at him. He was watching me with a face of genuine worry.
"If the problem is that I told him to store the body, then that—"
"No. That isn't the problem."
It wasn't? I blinked at him, and the Commander added,
"Meursault already knows the dead can't be brought back. One day he'll also realize you said what you said because you didn't want him to fall apart. So it's fine."
Apparently the Commander believed I hadn't spoken those words because I truly had a way to revive Daphne.
"Haydam…"
He spoke with a sigh in his voice.
"As I've told you before—you're only a regressor. You don't have to try to solve everything alone."
"…I understand what you mean."
Yes. Those were exactly the words I needed right now.
I should go see Darling Outsider.
It was finally time to talk about his sister… and about my mother.