Chapter 139
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 138
Chapter Title: The Mask Comes Off
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“You can’t go in?”
About twenty years ago in the Belverk Ducal House. Schwarz, who had been heading into Astridje’s room where she sensed her master, stopped at the entrance and tilted her head.
“My little sister said she had business inside.”
“So you’re standing guard like this?”
“Is something wrong, Schwarz?”
Blocking her path was none other than Astridje herself.
“…No.”
Schwarz, who bowed politely to Astridje—someone who had been extremely wary of her due to their many past clashes—soon furrowed her brow and fell into thought.
‘It’s already been two years since Master started acting strange.’
Lately, she had no idea what her white-masked master was thinking.
‘Honestly, I prefer her like this… but it still feels off.’
Originally, Schwarz’s master had been wicked enough to make even the Belverks click their tongues in disapproval.
Unlike the solitary wolf Astridje, who sided with no one, she was the final piece that could tip the scales toward her brothers’ factions, which ran parallel to each other.
Because of that position, her siblings hadn’t been sincere with her, but they had still shown her a considerable degree of favor.
One noteworthy point was that Schwarz’s master had exploited that very favor to act arrogantly for the past ten years.
“Oh dear, watch where you’re going, Big Sister.”
“……”
“Pfft, that look suits you well.”
In particular, her malice had been consistently directed at her older sister, Astridje, unlike now.
“Seriously, it’s pathetic that something like her is my sister.”
“…Miss.”
“Ah, Schwarz. Is the plan going well?”
That was why Schwarz remembered it all too clearly.
“…If I assassinate Big Sister today, I’ll finally be able to join the faction.”
“……”
“Killing off that useless bitch will get me recognition from the brothers—perfect, right…?”
The her from two years ago, who had been just as wicked as any other Belverk, brimming with thoughts of assassinating Astridje to gain her brothers’ approval.
“Well then… Hya?”
And even up to the moment she missed a step on the stairs, too distracted by her schemes.
- Thud, thud, thud…
Schwarz, who hadn’t reacted in time, belatedly reached out, but her master had already tumbled down the stairs several times and collapsed limply on the floor, headfirst.
“M-Miss?”
“……”
“A-Are you hurt…?”
And a few minutes later. She barely woke up thanks to Schwarz shaking her in a panic.
“…Huh?”
Her eyes, unlike her usual self, were remarkably pure and innocent.
“Where is this?”
Due to amnesia from the shock of rolling down the stairs, Schwarz’s master’s personality had completely changed starting that day.
“Lady Astridje, do you trust your little sister?”
“…Why do you ask?”
“Just personal curiosity.”
Recalling that day for a moment, Schwarz turned to Astridje and posed the question.
“It was an empty life with no reason or purpose to live.”
“……”
“How could I not trust the one who reached out to me?”
Astridje closed her eyes briefly, then answered in a low voice.
“But…”
Even so, Schwarz couldn’t help voicing the suspicion that had been nagging at her.
“You know that two years ago, my master became a completely different person from before.”
And a brief silence followed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“……”
“To me, my little sister has existed only since two years ago.”
Astridje’s response amid the silence was utterly resolute.
“If she ever reverted to who she was before, I’d have no reason to live either.”
“……”
“So don’t talk nonsense. Serve your current master well, Schwarz.”
Of course, Schwarz could only bow her head at that clear answer.
“…Thank you for the response.”
She, too, was more loyal to her current master than the one from two years ago.
Meanwhile, at that very moment, inside Astridje’s room.
“So, to sum up what you’re saying…”
Imperial Princess Lia, wearing a blank expression alongside Kairen, interrupted the white-masked girl who had been chattering away and began summarizing.
“You got hit by that carriage…? Or something similar, and when you opened your eyes, you’d possessed the former youngest of the Belverks?”
“…Yeah! For the record, it wasn’t a carriage—it was a car.”
“That’s… hard to believe.”
Even after summarizing, it felt so outlandish that she scratched her head and frowned.
“I didn’t believe it at first either… But the more time passed, the more familiar people and situations from the story appeared…”
Growing a bit timid at the cool response, the white-masked girl glanced around before continuing.
“Ruined Crown Princess. I belatedly realized I’d possessed the otome romance fantasy parenting game based on that novel I loved.”
“……”
“Ah, sorry. I got carried away again… You probably don’t get it.”
Kairen, sitting beside Imperial Princess Lia, flinched repeatedly at her words, but it seemed she couldn’t see it.
“So… in your world, our world was… a game? Like something for entertainment?”
“Well… sort of. Since it’s based on a novel, calling it a novel would be more accurate…”
Leaving Kairen frozen stiff, the conversation between Imperial Princess Lia and the masked girl continued.
“If they were gonna transmigrate me, they could’ve at least given me regression powers or a status window… All I got was the original knowledge, and now I’m basically a corpse…”
But as the white-masked girl started muttering gloomily to herself again, Imperial Princess Lia turned to Kairen and asked.
“Kairen, what do you think?”
“…Ah, yes?”
“Honestly, I can’t believe it.”
Finally snapping out of it, Kairen turned toward the white-masked girl and spoke.
“Hey, why… um…”
“Ah, uh, sorry.”
But strangely, the white-masked girl was looking in the opposite direction, not at the one addressing her.
“My eyesight’s pretty bad… Were you talking from over there?”
“It’d improve if you took off the mask.”
“It’s because of the Crimson Eyes. No choice if I want to hide them.”
Kairen nodded warily at her explanation.
“Anyway, why tell us all this?”
“Because… you two showing up like this wasn’t in the novel or the game.”
And the girl’s explanation resumed.
“So I wondered if you were transmigrators like me… but you’re not.”
Kairen stared silently at her scratching her head sheepishly for a long while, then spoke coldly.
“If what you say is true, I have a question.”
“…?”
“Then who’s the protagonist of this world?”
His gaze toward the white-masked girl, now tilting her head, seemed to be testing her.
“A novel definitely has a protagonist.”
“…True…”
“And there’d be a villain opposing that protagonist.”
Unlike Kairen’s suspicion, the white-masked girl answered immediately.
“I think I possessed the story around twenty years before the original timeline…”
“……”
“So the protagonist and main villain haven’t even been born yet. Hehe…”
Kairen flinched slightly again at her words, and Imperial Princess Lia began eyeing him suspiciously.
“Ah, but this could be useful to you two.”
“That’s why I asked.”
“S-Sorry. I’ll tell you right now.”
Even as Kairen kept his eyes fixed on the white-masked girl, his own widened in surprise.
“This world’s protagonist is the nameless, mute youngest imperial princess, who’ll be born in about ten years. My favorite!”
Because crucial information no one without original knowledge could know started spilling from her mouth.
“And the final boss of Ruined Crown Princess, practically the protagonist’s greatest nemesis…”
Even Kairen began showing a flustered expression at information he himself didn’t know.
“The most evil Demon King, who dyes the empire in darkness in an instant with power surpassing the First Demon King.”
But as the white-masked girl finished with a tense expression, a chill silence filled the room.
“…is Kairen Nox Belverk.”
It was shocking information for both Kairen and Imperial Princess Lia.
“Um, guys?”
“……”
“Why’d it suddenly get quiet?”
I, who had been silent for a while with Princess Lia, turned my head at the growing presence beside me.
“Ow!”
“……”
“It hurts!”
And right after, the sharp pain in my cheek.
“Wahh…”
As I grimaced and whined in pain, Princess Lia, who had been pinching and twisting my cheek, opened her mouth with a look of disbelief.
“…This girl?”
No, even if that’s the case, there’s no need to attack me right now…!
“Haha, you guys are hilarious.”
But Princess Lia’s absurd action seemed to come across as quite favorable to the white-masked girl in front of me—or rather, precisely, my aunt.
‘Is it because her favorite is Princess Lia? No, probably not.’
Her eyesight was poor, so she hadn’t realized our identities yet, but we couldn’t hide forever. What to do?
“You’re not transmigrators like me, but still, let’s be friends from now on!”
“……”
“A scenario not in the original? So exciting!”
But such worries were short-lived; we had no choice but to take her outstretched hand.
After all, uncovering past secrets required the cooperation of those from the past.
“…Anyway, let’s reintroduce ourselves.”
As we shook hands, my beaming aunt’s eyes sparkled, and she began explaining herself again with a bright smile.
“I’m the youngest daughter of the Belverk Ducal House and Big Sister Astridje’s eternal ally!”
Come to think of it, I hadn’t heard her name yet. I wonder what it is…
“I’m Anastasia Nox Belverk!”
…Wait, what did she just say?