Chapter 58
Chapter 58
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 57
Chapter Title: Counseling
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“…….”
When had it started, I wonder.
The point when the girl before me began crumbling under the weight of her burdens.
If I had to guess.
This clever girl must have realized at a very young age the sheer heaviness of the load the world had placed upon her.
And so, she created another self.
One possessing nothing else.
Nothing but the pride and responsibility she was supposed to carry as royalty, cleanly extracted.
If asked how that was possible, even I couldn’t explain it.
Just as no one can explain the principles of mana spread across the continent.
Just as we can never fully dissect the dreams we have during the sleep we share every night.
Just as a cleric forever kneeling in prayer cannot fathom the will of the gods.
It was a mental issue impossible to explain with logic.
But one thing was clear: if she hadn’t done it, the pressures bearing down on her would have been too much to endure.
“Elenoa was always trying her best.”
Even in her dreams, she studied until she fell asleep, determined to appear dignified as a princess.
Even when nightmares terrified her from sleep, she would naturally sit at her desk and catch up on her lessons.
But there was something off about it.
She put in the effort to meet the basics of being a princess, yet her words showed little interest in it.
It stood out most when she endlessly asked me about animation characters.
“The old Elenoa knew she lacked the pride and responsibility of royalty.”
At my words, the Elenoa before me—bundled entirely in royal pride and dignity—flinches.
“That’s why she tried even harder. She was a good girl who forcibly tried to change herself into this.”
“…….”
“But it was the opposite. She knew her royal duties too well, and since they were destroying her, she tore them away herself.”
Nothing else.
Just an existence left solely with a sense of royal responsibility.
That was the true nature of the Elenoa now sitting before me.
A cool breeze blows in.
As if even that were a precious experience for her, she closes her eyes for a moment to savor it, then slowly nods.
“Yeah, that’s right. I’m the personality that took on the duties and responsibilities Elenoa separated to survive.”
“…….”
“I was capable. Miraculously, I could extract only the burden of royal duties.”
She declares it with bold confidence. I suspect her lack of basic knowledge or creativity stems from this.
She had cleanly extracted only the essentials, leaving her deficient in foundational knowledge.
“But you know, I’m still a personality. Even if that girl forgot, I’m Elenoa too, and over time, I can’t help but grow.”
Even after separating her royal duties, Elenoa continued to grow.
The burden of royalty was gone.
But in its place, she began to feel stress anew over why she lacked that sense of royal duty.
“Funny, right? She lost the memory of creating a new personality from excessive stress back then, yet she was walking the same path again.”
In conclusion, Elenoa was incomplete.
Too diligent, too able to view herself objectively.
The standards she set for herself kept binding and pressuring her.
“If things stayed like this, she’d end up in the same situation again. So I made a decision: I’d take over the body.”
Not the kind, frail personality.
But herself—the one meant to rule, take responsibility, and reign as royalty.
“That’s why you tried to make your dreams as identical to reality as possible.”
“Yeah, exactly. If I was out here, that girl needed a place to be.”
So she used dreams as a medium to create a new world.
A world where the frail but earnest Elenoa could be truly happy.
“That’s why she made it look like nightmares. That girl wouldn’t accept a situation where she dumped her burdens on me.”
Elenoa shrugged casually as she spoke, but the mood shifted abruptly.
“But you ruined everything.”
Her finger pokes sharply into my chest.
Her eyes were filled with deep resentment and doubt.
“You know what? Because of that damned yokai Mac, the other personality is completely gone. Without a trace, cleanly erased.”
“…….”
“It was a clash of beliefs over the idea of devouring nightmares. I won the body’s control with the stronger conviction!”
Thwack!
Now she swings a full fist into my chest. It didn’t hurt.
If anything, her face twisted in pain, as if she’d hurt herself more.
“And! That girl admitted herself that she was inferior to me!”
“…….”
“So she vanished!”
Her voice held no tremor. Resentment was there, but no regret in her declaration.
The tears that had briefly welled up were already gone.
With a face as cold as the night air, Elenoa proclaimed,
“Better this way. A royal should be able to cut away their own weakness.”
“…….”
“That’s my stance. I have to prioritize the kingdom over the existence of Elenoa. It’s only natural.”
Elenoa turns away sharply, as if she no longer wants to talk, heading toward the balcony railing.
She showed no frailty now, so one might even view her more favorably than the original Elenoa.
She wouldn’t waver anymore.
She wouldn’t doubt herself.
She’d become a leader with charisma, easily claiming the academy presidency.
And then.
She’d incite the students, sowing the seeds of rebellion.
She’d become convinced that she could rule the kingdom far better than her brother, King Orpheus.
At a glance, this Elenoa seemed wholly wrapped in royal duty.
But that wasn’t it.
She was merely clinging to that sense of royal duty.
Because that was all she had.
Probably, the Elenoa I met in the game was this personality.
The frail Elenoa, unable to distinguish dream from reality as per her plan, would have lived eternally in that world.
Ending with her death at the hands of Aria Rias from the same class.
“When creating Mac, we had to pin down various concepts.”
Unfortunately, I don’t particularly enjoy seeing the same ending twice.
“What?”
Elenoa glares at me, frowning as if wondering what nonsense I’m spouting.
She’d tried to chase me away, saying she didn’t want to talk, but I keep speaking.
“It was too problematic to simply go with a yokai that eats nightmares. We started from the outset with the feel of creating a new creature.”
It helped to think of it as drafting the concept sheet for the yokai Mac.
But like a god creating an animal, it had to be meticulous and realistic.
Not just having an elephant trunk.
But how that trunk moves, its habits, whether there are bones inside, muscle mass, length, and so on.
We crafted Mac in diverse, intricate detail.
The most important part was eating dreams.
Yes, everyone focused on that.
But I was the opposite.
I focused on what came after eating dreams.
Because back then, unaware of the split personality, I wondered if there really were evil spirits I couldn’t see.
I was a bit hopeful.
Elenoa’s eyes widen at my story. She tries to hide it, but can’t suppress the rising anticipation.
“It might not be a pleasant tale for a princess, but animals have to excrete after eating something.”
I subtly pull out a small orb.
“It’s the fragment of nightmare Mac left behind. However, Mac could digest nightmares, but not personalities.”
Thank goodness what Mac ate wasn’t actually a personality. No matter how much we prepared, we hadn’t accounted for it eating a personality.
“Then…….”
“She’s still in here.”
Elenoa stares at me blankly. Now it was her turn to choose.
From a princess’s standpoint, staying as she is would be right.
An object of admiration for the Griffin Kingdom’s people, capable of turning students into rebels with sheer charisma.
In truth, if Aria Rias hadn’t stopped her, her coup might have succeeded.
Returning to normal could be seen as shirking royal duty and ignoring the people’s expectations.
But Elenoa didn’t agonize long.
With an expression declaring she’d never regret her choice, she nods firmly.
She doesn’t voice it—a final remnant of princessly decorum.
And a kind of courage, prioritizing herself over her princess role for the first time.
“Good.”
So I take out the Mac fragment in my hand, along with a black gem from my pocket.
The Spirit Stone, Remegaton.
“That’s…….”
“Pretend you didn’t see it.”
I warn her pointlessly and draw up my mana. Elenoa feigns composure but asks anxiously,
“But is this really possible? Wouldn’t it be better to ask a grand mage?”
“Ridiculous.”
It really was laughable.
Who did she think was standing before her, and who was she suggesting I ask?
The first time I met Elenoa, I asked the Black Necromancer something.
If there was no way to enter dreams.
And she replied,
[You think there is? Soul communion is possible, but entering dreams? No way.]
Yes, dreams are impossible.
“Does this look like handling dreams right now?”
Not dreams, but personalities.
Thus, handling souls.
A situation where I needed to stitch back together a girl’s soul split in two.
And this was remarkably my area of expertise.
“Don’t forget who I am.”
The being closest to the boundary between life and death.
One who communes with souls, listens to their stories, offers comfort.
“I’m a Necromancer.”
My mana, the Mac fragment, and Remegaton begin to resonate.