03. The Mad Queen Who Talks to the Mirror (2)
03. The Mad Queen Who Talks to the Mirror (2)
[Episode 3] - The Crazy Queen Talking to a Mirror (2)
-Hic! Hic!
After some time had passed, perhaps because it no longer had the energy to cry, the 'Mirror'—currently in Vivian's form—lay on the floor, curled up like a pill bug, struggling to avoid my gaze.
Even though it had the vicious appearance of Vivian, which was scary enough to make eye contact with, its behavior was unmistakably that of a child. Just how much had Vivian tormented it for it to throw a fit like this at a single word?
"Whew... Mirror-ah? Mirror-nim? I don't know what I should call you... First, could you please listen to what I have to say?"
-......
"...For starters, I didn't call you here to get my looks evaluated. It's just that I couldn't think of any other way to call you, so that's all I said."
-...Really?
Only then did the 'Mirror,' which had been curled up tight, peek its head up and make eye contact with me. I didn't miss this moment and spoke to the Mirror in the gentlest, most soothing tone I could muster.
"Of course. I called you because I need help. Unlike 'that woman' who only used you to evaluate her looks, I truly, desperately need your help."
-......
"You know what happened to me, don't you...? Honestly, I'm so confused by this situation right now. I opened my eyes and I was at a funeral... I came to my senses and I was inside this woman's body..."
Thinking about it again made me even more confused.
I had decided to accept this reality, but I still couldn't accept all of it. If I had 'Vivian's' memories, it would have been much easier to accept...
But there were absolutely no memories of Vivian left in this body.
All I remembered was the fact that this world was a 'Parenting Simulation Game'. However, that alone was insufficient for living in Vivian's body.
Therefore, I needed something to fill the void left by the lack of those memories. For instance... 'someone' who had been by Vivian's side for a long time and knew every single move she made.
"Please. Could you help me?"
I begged the Mirror, pouring all my desperation into it.
Because right now, this Mirror is the only one I can trust and rely on.
Perhaps my sincerity had gotten through to some extent. The Mirror, which had been crawling on the floor curled up tight, was now hugging its knees to its chest and looking up at me. However, it hadn't yet let go of its suspicious gaze.
-...Ainsel.
"Yes?"
-My name isn't Mirror, it's Ainsel. I am the one and only familiar of 'Vivian, the Witch of the Coven,' and a mirror fairy.
Fairy.
Hearing the word fairy, I could truly feel the reality that I had possessed a body in this world. Should I call it spirit worship? This world was home to various fairies and spirits.
Fairies were described in the game as beings that tempted humans with sweet words to play pranks, or sometimes helped humans they took a liking to.
The 'Seven Dwarfs' who would later help Snow White were also of this type. When I thought of dwarfs, I imagined stubby beings with bushy beards, but these dwarfs were fairies, so they were small and cute.
'I wonder if I'll meet them someday...?'
And those who could make 'contracts' with such fairies or spirits and control them were called 'witches'. Ordinary people couldn't see fairies, so they feared the existence of witches who could command them.
In the game, there was one other witch besides Vivian. Well, she was someone who only met the princess in the latter half, though.
Anyway, that's not important right now.
I looked at Ainsel, smiled, and reached out my hand to the mirror as if to shake hands. It didn't have hands, so we couldn't actually shake, but my intention seemed to be conveyed properly.
"I'm counting on you, Ainsel."
-...You don't have to use honorifics with me. It gives me goosebumps to see you use polite speech with that face.
"...I'm counting on you, Ainsel."
Ugh-
Ainsel retched again, as if the sight of me using polite speech with Vivian's face was truly disgusting. Just what kind of relationship did Ainsel and Vivian have for Ainsel to react like this?
-By the way, you don't seem very surprised? Perhaps you already knew that I was a fairy?
Flinch.
My shoulders jumped involuntarily.
Ainsel tilted its head as if truly curious and asked me. What should I do? Should I tell it that I already knew?
That I knew this world was a game? That I knew about fairies, and that I could predict some of the future?
I squeezed my eyes shut.
After letting out a small sigh, I answered Ainsel's question.
"...U-um, I think I saw it in a dream. Hearing you talk about it, it feels like it's vaguely coming back to me? C-could this be Vivian's memory...?"
-Well, who knows? I've never seen a case like yours before, so I can't give you a definitive answer.
After thinking quickly, I decided there was no need to stir up trouble by telling the truth. If it asks later, "How do you know things like this?", I can just answer, "I saw it in a dream."
"A-anyway..! It's really troublesome because my memories aren't coming back perfectly. I have no idea how Vivian usually spent her time as Queen, or who her friends were."
-Vivian doesn't have any friends.
"...Surely she could have at least one...?"
-No? Vivian has no friends.
I felt a bit sad and bitter at Ainsel's overly firm words. So Vivian, who was rumored to be a complete scumbag in the game, didn't even have any friends...
Unlike me, who was feeling bitter, Ainsel didn't lose its smile even while badmouthing Vivian. Rather, it looked at me with a smirk, as if it were thrilled, like someone who had finally settled a lifelong grudge.
"R-right. Then I'm worried about things like my tone of voice. For now, everyone thinks I have 'amnesia'... but I can't pretend to have lost my memory forever."
-Certainly... Vivian doesn't use a tone like yours. She uses a more arrogant, clueless tone and acts as if there is no one above her.
Indeed, that was the vibe of Vivian in the game.
Infinitely arrogant, excessively selfish, more insolent than the King, as cunning as a snake, and meaner than anyone else. That was the image of Vivian I had.
-Hmm...
Ainsel, who had been stroking its chin with its finger as if deep in thought, soon clenched both fists as if making a resolution and looked at me.
-Fine. Hmm... It's awkward to call you anything else, so I'll just call you Vivian from now on. I have things to do here anyway... so I'll help you until my work is done.
"Really?"
-Of course! Fairies don't lie.
Once I received confirmation that it would help, my worries melted away. It was a conditional agreement with a time limit, but at least it was help. Feeling relieved, I let out a sigh and flopped onto the bed as if collapsing.
'Now I can finally ask what I wanted to ask.'
I sprang up from the bed, looked at Ainsel, and asked what I had wanted to ask from the very beginning. What on earth happened to the original 'Vivian's' body, and why I was here.
"Then, will you tell me? What on earth happened to Vivian? And how on earth did you recognize me right away?"
-That's obviously because...
Ainsel narrowed its eyes as if debating how to say it, then cast its gaze downward. It hesitated for a moment, then looked straight at me again.
-Because I clearly saw Vivian die.
"What?"
I frowned involuntarily at that answer. Ainsel let out a small sigh and continued the story.
-Vivian was a jealous human. She was selfish and greedy. She was the type of person who had to get whatever she wanted, no matter what.
For the first time, Ainsel made a bitter expression while thinking of Vivian. Ainsel, who always frowned or clicked its tongue whenever it talked about Vivian, now had a look of genuine pity.
-In a way, she was an amazing person. It was Vivian who climbed to the position of Queen of a country solely with that jealousy and greed. However, as a result, no one thinks of Vivian as the Queen.
"..."
-Anyway... Vivian, whose greed was excessive, eventually ended up coveting something she could never have. What do you think that was?
I fell into deep thought at the sudden question.
In the game, the person Vivian was jealous of was 'Snow White'. The princess's appearance, the princess's personality, the princess's face. Vivian was jealous and envious of everything about the princess.
Having become so jealous and envious of the princess, Vivian eventually reached the conclusion that if she couldn't have it, she had to make it disappear from her sight.
That was the reason the princess kept dying in the game, and the reason it turned a parenting simulation game into a roguelike game.
Come to think of it, during a raising event-
"Don't tell me... the person she was jealous of...?"
Ainsel gave a bitter smile at my hesitant answer.
As if that were the correct answer.
-That's right, the person. Vivian wanted to become the very person she was jealous of. She was jealous of the other person's appearance, their voice, and even more than that, their very life.
"......"
As expected, it was an event that existed in the game.
Vivian, who was jealous of 'Snow White', uses a curse to perform a ritual to swap bodies with the princess.
However, there was no need to stop Vivian in this event.
It was a lottery-like event where Vivian would self-destruct anyway. It was an event with such a terrible probability that I hadn't seen it more than five times in over 340 playthroughs.
If you just saw this event, the game would become easy enough that you could naturally see the happy ending.
"So... Vivian was jealous of the princess and tried to swap bodies with her, and the ritual failed, so I possessed her... is that what you're saying?"
-Yes? What do you mean, the princess?
Ainsel opened its eyes wide as if surprised by my words and waved its hands as if to say no.
The person Vivian was jealous of wasn't Snow White...?
-The person Vivian was jealous of was the First Queen.
"The First Queen?"
-Yes, Vivian was jealous and envious of the First Queen, who was loved by the King. Then, eventually, she performed the 'body-swapping ritual,' which was no different from a curse, and failed. That is the reason Vivian died. Perhaps... that is the reason you entered Vivian's body.
After hearing all of Ainsel's story, I covered my mouth and fell into deep thought. Because it was a story slightly different from the one I knew.
'The First Queen...? That can't be...?'
In the first place, the reason Vivian could become the Second Queen was because of the First Queen's death.
When the King, who was a devoted husband, declared that he would not bring in a new queen, the Council of Elders vehemently opposed it and begged the King.
'Please! Please bring in a new Queen!'
It was because there was only one princess as an heir, so they needed a queen who would bear a prince. Vivian was the one who exploited that gap, defeated numerous rivals, and ascended to the position of Second Queen.
So, Ainsel's story was quite different from the story I knew.
Because the person Vivian was jealous of, and the person Vivian performed the ritual on, was not the First Queen, but her daughter, 'Snow White'.
'Could it be... that the First Queen didn't die? If the First Queen is alive and well, how could Vivian have ascended to the position of Queen? The King... what state is he in right now?'
Knock, knock.
As I was clutching my head as if it were about to burst, thinking, I heard a sound of knocking on the large door.
Without me even saying to come in, a maid who was clearly showing how annoyed she was walked in and opened her mouth as if to inform me.
"His Excellency the Chancellor has requested an audience with Her Majesty the Queen."
"The Chancellor?"
Why is the Chancellor here all of a sudden...?