Remember This

Ah.

I didn't want to think about anything.

Leaving Lirith behind, I went straight back to my room and collapsed onto the bed.

On the way back, Grace, Emma, and Charlotte had followed after me, saying something — but none of it registered. Not a single word came through clearly.

Only this:

Ed… I love you…

Her confession.

And —

Ed!!

— her cry, looping endlessly inside my ears.

Even now the three of them were calling my name, trying to talk to me, but my chest felt clamped shut and my throat was locked. I couldn't even manage to tell them I wanted to be alone, to ask them to leave.

Lirith likes me… no — loves me?

Not as family. As a man.

Since when?

When had she started looking at me that way?

I won't cross the line. I'll keep holding it in. Just don't leave my side. I've never been greedy…

"Ugh—!"

A wave of nausea hit me so hard I had no choice but to sit up.

Whump.

"Ed?!"

"Hah… hah… Ah— Princess, I'm sorry."

"E…d?"

Without meaning to, I roughly shoved Charlotte's hand away again — the same hand that had only been reaching out in concern. And just as naturally, I was calling her Princess once more.

Why?

She hadn't done anything wrong.

Was it because of Lirith?

I had no intention whatsoever of granting my sister's absurd request. The reason she gave for asking it was even more absurd.

I was going to marry Charlotte. No matter what.

This house was no longer safe for me. I was leaving. I would marry the princess standing right in front of me and go to the Imperial Palace.

No — I needed to leave right now, this instant.

Camilla's measures had probably locked Lirith in isolation, but there was no telling when she might get out. Every second I stayed near her was a second I needed to —

Run.

Lirith was just like Lee Hye-yeong. She wouldn't ask my opinion. She wouldn't care what I felt. She would simply force her feelings onto me, one-sided and absolute. And because I would never accept them, my sister would try to kill me — just like the Hero had.

That was why I needed to tell Charlotte now. Ask her to leave with me.

And yet.

Why was it so hard to get the words out?

Was I… hesitating?

Are you insane?! The sooner you move, the better your odds of surviving!

I berated myself and opened my mouth to speak to Charlotte — and that was when it came.

Emma's voice, inside my head.

"Emma?"

Not only had it used casual speech — it felt as if it had read my thoughts and answered them. I turned my head and called her name.

But Emma's reaction was strange.

"Ah! Young Master! Are you all right?! Here — please drink some water."

The moment I called her, she only fretted over my condition and held out a cup of water. Nothing more.

Something was wrong.

I had called her because I'd heard her voice speaking as if it could read my mind.

"Didn't you just say something to me?"

"Pardon? No… I didn't say anything at all?"

She insisted she hadn't spoken a word.

"What?"

Her answer left me stunned. It had definitely sounded like Emma's voice — or had one of the other two said it?

"Then who just asked me if I really thought that…? Grace? Princess?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean, Young Master."

"Ed, are you all right? I didn't say anything like that…"

Both of them gave the same answer as Emma.

I hadn't misheard. The direction and the timbre of that voice had been unmistakably Emma's.

"I definitely heard it… Emma, did you use a transmission on me? Or something?"

"What? What are you talking about… Young Master, I would never play a trick like that on you."

I pressed her again, trying another angle to identify the speaker, but she only looked wounded and turned the question back on me.

"…Right. You wouldn't do anything weird to me."

That was true. That airheaded Emma would never pull a prank this cruel.

Then had someone sent me a transmission from a distance?

I didn't know much about this world's magic, but as far as I understood, there was no telepathic magic equivalent to the sound transmissions of a martial arts world.

"Then whose voice was it…"

All three of them claimed they hadn't said a word. I muttered to myself, unable to make sense of it — and Grace, watching me, spoke in alarm.

"Young Master, there are only the three of us in this room, and none of us said anything of the sort… Don't tell me — are you hearing things? You mustn't, Young Master!"

"Ed! Of course this is hard, but you have to pull yourself together now more than ever!"

Charlotte cried out with her, just as shaken.

Did I look like I was losing my grip the way I had that night? They seemed to think the shock from Lirith had driven me to hear phantom voices.

"No, I definitely hea—"

I was still trying to tell them that even if it wasn't Emma, I had heard someone's voice, when —

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded from outside the door. Then the door opened, and Camilla, Allen, and Amelia walked into my room.

"Edward, Mother's coming in."

"I'm coming in with her, little brother!"

"Wh— Mother? And Brother, weren't you supposed to have left?"

I could have expected Camilla — she might have come to check on me. But Allen… I had been told he was gone.

No — Lirith had said he'd left without a word, and that had struck me as odd even then. The fact that he hadn't left at all, that he was walking into my room with her now, meant Allen already knew everything that had happened in the mansion.

And yet.

He hadn't shown his face even once lately. Why appear at this exact moment?

He looked at me — at the thoughts written plain across my face — with a distant, pained expression.

"Little brother… why didn't you do as your brother told you, and act so rashly…"

Had Allen seen this coming? Was that why he'd told me to wait, that he would handle everything himself?

But the water was already spilled.

And more than that —

"I don't regret proposing to the Princess immediately."

"Ed…"

I did not regret confessing to Charlotte.

Even if Allen had meant to take care of everything himself — no matter how capable, how brilliant he was — it wouldn't have mattered. Lirith would have eventually exploded the way she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had tonight. Of that, I was certain.

"That's enough, Allen. There's no need to bring up what's already done with Edward."

Camilla told him not to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠press the issue, then turned to me.

"Ed… of course I know how hard this is for you right now, but there was something this mother needed to ask, so I had no choice but to come at once."

She must have dealt with Lirith and come straight here. She would have had many questions about the conversation Lirith and I had shared alone in the study.

"That thing you said to your sister… can you tell me why you said it?"

That thing…

Probably:

Please, Sister. Don't try to kill me.

Coming from a mother's perspective, Camilla would have no choice but to take those words with deadly seriousness.

"Ah… yes. I'll tell you."

What was the point of hiding it now?

In the past I hadn't wanted to worry my family. And even if I had told them, I doubted they would have believed me — they might have thought I was insane. So I had kept the truth from my family, from everyone around me.

But I had already worried them as much as anyone could. Just now Grace and Charlotte had been looking at me like a madman hearing voices. Things couldn't get much worse.

"It's because…"

I opened my mouth to tell them everything — Camilla and everyone else. Why I had begged Lirith not to kill me. About my past life. About how I had died. About my connection to the Hero, Lee Hye-yeong —

"Ugh—!"

"Edward?!"

The nausea slammed into me again. I couldn't speak.

"I-I'm fine. Let me try again—"

Everyone around me looked panicked. I tried to calm them and pick up where I'd left off —

"Hhk—!"

My chest locked shut. Agony.

As if something were stopping me from speaking the truth.

And as if to prove it —

The same voice from before.

Don't say it.

I had been about to start with my past life. Somehow — I didn't know how — the owner of that voice was blocking me from speaking.

Why stop me?

And once again, the timbre of the voice was —

"E-Emma?"

— identical to Emma's. Her name slipped out of me before I could stop it.

Had she been pretending to be a clumsy airhead all this time while freely using magic? I didn't want to believe it, but even Lirith had tried to lay hands on me. What if the girl who had been by my side since childhood had done something to me as well?

Amelia saw the look on my face and immediately roared at her daughter.

"Emma! What have you done to the Young Master?!"

"I-I didn't! Mother! I would never do anything strange to the Young Master!"

Whether it was because of everything that had happened tonight, I couldn't say — but Amelia, who was usually so reserved, was scolding her own daughter with a ferocity I'd never seen from her.

"Calm yourself, Amelia. You saw with your own eyes that your daughter wasn't doing anything."

Camilla looked at her with something like pity as she intervened.

"I have no wish to watch a mother and daughter fight…"

Perhaps the scene of her own quarrel with her daughter was still fresh in her mind. Of course Camilla wouldn't want to watch another mother and child tear into each other.

"My apologies, my lady. Even so, my daughter has been acting strangely of late, and I cannot rest easy. It wasn't long ago that she caused trouble for the Eldest Young Master — she may well have done harm to the Young Master as well."

Amelia apologized to Camilla, but she showed no sign of intending to stop reprimanding Emma.

Emma had caused trouble for Brother Allen? What was that about?

"The Young Master and the Eldest Young Master are completely different! I would never do that to the Young Master!!"

"Uh… that stings a little…"

"She's right. I sensed no mana of any kind that would suggest Emma deceived us and harmed the Young Master."

"…"

Allen tried to interject, looking hurt, but Grace's defense buried him completely.

I hadn't even accused Emma of doing anything. Simply calling her name had thrown the entire room into chaos.

And yet.

I had clearly heard Emma's voice. But Emma hadn't spoken — and just like before, it seemed I was the only one who had heard it.

While I sat there reeling —

"I would never dare do that to the Young Master!! Young Master… I really didn't do anything… sob…"

Emma's eyes filled with tears as she swore her innocence to me.

"Emma…"

Looking at her, I thought: the voice that kept suddenly speaking to me, that kept tormenting me — it clearly wasn't Emma. It was something else. Or I had truly gone mad, and I was hearing things.

I was trying to believe she would never go so far as to act like this just to deceive me, when —

!!

The voice again.

So it really wasn't Emma playing tricks on me. Emma was looking at me right now, crying as she spoke. Grace and everyone else in the room had said they felt no mana either.

Just as the voice said. It was audible only to me. Even now, no one around me had noticed a thing.

Why could no one else hear a voice this clear? And why did it sound exactly like Emma?

What?

Could it read even the thoughts inside my head?

The voice ignored my questions and kept saying only what it wanted to say.

The "truth" — that would mean my past life, and everything about the Hero Lee Hye-yeong.

The moment I spoke it, I'd be in real danger?

I was trying to tell my family and the people around me so that I could be safe.

But the voice still gave no answer to my doubts. Only this:

With those final words, the voice fell silent and did not return.

I had been so focused on it that I hadn't been watching the room.

"Emma!!"

"I said I didn't…!"

Even with Camilla intervening and Grace defending her, Amelia was still scolding her daughter.

I spoke up in a hurry.

"I called Emma by mistake… Stop it, Amelia."

"Young Master…? Very well."

Amelia looked displeased, but once I — the person at the center of it — said it was fine, she finally stopped berating Emma.

I turned to Emma and apologized.

"I'm sorry, Emma. You didn't do anything wrong…"

"Young Master… sniff…"

The voice had sounded exactly like Emma. But the voice itself had said it wasn't her — and while it had been speaking to me, Emma had been getting scolded by Amelia.

Was the voice some kind of ghost, using Emma as a conduit to reach me?

Plenty of questions remained, but the voice had given no answers and was gone now. I would have to figure it out another time.

I must have still looked unwell, because Camilla studied me carefully.

"Edward, are you truly all right…?"

"Yes. I'm fine…"

She clearly didn't believe me. She sighed and spoke gently.

"Haa… It seems this mother pushed you too hard. When you're ready, please tell me. You must."

She seemed to think I was still too shaken by Lirith to answer properly, and had no further desire to press me.

I had wanted to tell Camilla — to tell everyone — the truth. But if I ignored the voice's warning, something irreversible might happen.

"…Yes. I'll be sure to tell you next time, Mother."

I put off answering her question for now.

"Good. And you'll want to be alone. Come along, Allen, Amelia."

Hearing my answer, Camilla nodded and, out of consideration for me, moved to take everyone out of the room.

"What? But I still have things to discuss with my little brother…"

"Yes, my lady. Emma, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come along."

"B-but…"

"I shall stand guard outside ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the door so that the Young Master may have his privacy."

A few of them still tried to stay, but in the end — whether of their own will or not — everyone left my room.

Everyone except one.

"Ed…"

Only Charlotte remained, looking at me with a face full of things still left unsaid.