Is This Child Loved or Unloved? (2)
Is this child a loved child? Or an unloved one?
“Is this Rien’s past?” The moment my mind linked into Rien’s past, I found myself able to step inside it. Looking around, I immediately recognized the imperial palace.
“Rien definitely said she was born from the Fifth Imperial Consort, right?”
The empire’s inner court had a total of six imperial consorts, including the primary empress. As was tradition with emperors and their countless side consorts, the imperial bloodline was extensive.
“Better hide my presence first.”
I flipped the Vigilante Robe inside out to prevent anyone from recognizing me, then started walking in search of Rien.
“Found her.”
After wandering for a while, I spotted a young girl squatting in a secluded corner of the palace garden, playing alone.
“Is that… a magic circle?”
I moved closer to observe. What I had assumed was Rien drawing on the ground wasn’t random doodles—it was an actual magic circle.
“A Second Circle array.”
The fact that a child who couldn’t possibly be ten years old yet was casually sketching a Second Circle magic array on the floor filled me with genuine astonishment.
“Was Rien a genius?”
Understanding and drawing a Second Circle array at that age was nothing short of genius, whether she could actually cast it or not.
“Sigh… Were you here again, Lady Rien?”
While I watched, a maid approached the girl, let out a heavy sigh, and yanked her to her feet. The motion was surprisingly rough, as if she were forcibly dragging her up against her will.
“A maid acting like that toward imperial royalty?”
Even if the maid came from nobility, the highest she could be was a viscount’s daughter. The girl, however, was direct imperial blood—daughter of an imperial consort or not, she still carried the emperor’s lineage. I couldn’t comprehend the maid’s attitude.
“There’s only one reason a maid would behave this way.”
If the superiors ignored the child, the subordinates followed suit. Even someone as socially dense as me could figure that out.
“The consort—her mother—must be ignoring her, which is why the lower staff does the same.”
It was a painfully common cliché.
I decided to keep observing the girl and followed after the maid who was hauling her away.
Hmm… I didn’t know much about how the imperial family operated, but this was clearly messed up.
After observing for an entire day, I confirmed that this place was rotten. I also learned something else: the Eighth Imperial Princess wasn’t one person, but two. They were twins.
Rina and Rien. At first I assumed it was the classic cliché—one twin cherished, the other discarded. But I had been wrong.
“To draw His Majesty’s attention to me, you must reach the Second Circle!”
“I-I’m sorry! I-I’ll raise it faster!”
Slap! Slap!
The sharp cracks of a whip filled the air, followed by the sound of a sobbing girl desperately forcing her mana to rise.
“That’s not how you form a ring.”
From everything I had witnessed, the Rien I knew wasn’t the real Rien. The girl I knew was indeed Rien—but the one I knew as Rien was actually the child named Rina.
Both born with identical talent, yet one was ignored while the other was driven to the brink through constant abuse. I had wondered why.
The reason turned out to be pathetically simple and childish. The emperor had shown genuine interest in the real Rien exactly once. That was enough for the consort to stake everything on her.
Just like every other consort throughout history, it all stemmed from the pathetic desire to win the emperor’s favor. A cliché so childish it was almost insulting.
“Seriously… I told him not to insert his own trauma into the characters…”
Before falling into this world, I had seen this exact situation. One of the two childhood friends who created the game with me had gone through something nearly identical. She also had twin sisters, and the story mirrored Rina and Rien’s circumstances perfectly.
Rien had been one of the characters my friend created. I had warned them—begged them—not to put personal baggage into the game. Yet here it was anyway.
“I really, really hate the salvation cliché.”
I wasn’t fond of salvation. To me, the word was nothing but hypocrisy. And as for salvation itself… No. I’ll stop there.
“Sigh… Can’t be helped.”
I used one of the Vigilante Robe’s functions to disguise myself as a butler.
“Damn it. Failed again?”
A whole month had passed since I linked into the mental world. The problem was that this single month had repeated five times.
“They’re suppressing me with every trick in the book.”
In the first loop, I tried befriending the sisters. They never opened up, and the tragic day arrived. The consort sold Rien off as Rina. I could only watch helplessly as Rien died on an assassin’s blade.
In the second loop, I managed to get close, but the consort expelled me for a “mere butler overstepping his bounds.” Failure.
In the third, I eliminated the assassin beforehand—only for a different one to appear. Failure.
In the fourth, I evacuated both sisters early, but an accident occurred during the escape and Rien still died.
And now this was the fifth loop.
“I have to do something… Wait. Why am I even doing this?”
Suddenly the question hit me. Why was I struggling so hard? Until now I had simply rolled with it, naturally trying to save the sisters. This wasn’t discomfort with my actions—it was self-reproach for forgetting my own power.
“I’ve been here too long. I forgot my true nature.”
My true nature was the owner of lies that could rewrite the world.
“I shall be the hero who saves the sisters.”
Alteration
Han Ijun is the hero who saves the Rien Astray Argano and Rina Astray Argano sisters.
Alteration in progress.
Alteration complete.
With the alteration complete, the predetermined ending can now be changed.
You are freed from all restraining forces.
It had been stupid to struggle through four loops when such an easy path existed. But there was no time to dwell on it. With a determined expression, I moved to save the sisters and prevent the tragedy.
“Ugh!”
They said it was a mental world that felt like reality, but getting stabbed still hurt like hell.
“Who the hell are you!”
The moment I took the blade meant for Rien, the consort screamed at me in fury.
“Your Highness the Consort, would you kindly shut up?”
“What did you say?”
“I said shut up.”
“H-how dare you speak that way to me, an imperial consort!”
First, I used the dagger I had prepared in advance to eliminate the assassin. Then I picked up the assassin’s sword, endured the burning pain, and stood before the consort with the blade pressed to her throat.
“Can you even call yourself a mother?”
“Do you really think you’ll get away with this?!”
She was still spitting nonsense. All for the emperor’s fleeting favor? Was that worth tormenting her own child like this?
Rage surged inside me, but I forced it down and spoke to the consort.
“I finally figured out how to end this loop.”
“What?”
“Just die for now. You won’t remember, but be ready—your real self in the outside world will be seeing me soon enough.”
I slashed her throat without hesitation.
Crack—!
The instant the consort’s head left her shoulders, the entire space began to shatter.
In a pure white space, a girl sat curled up, staring blankly into the void.
Was she Rina? Or Rien?
Was she a loved child? Or an unloved one?
Who was she?
Who am I?
“Ri□”
Someone seemed to be calling a name. The girl thought it must be an auditory hallucination. This space belonged only to her.
“■en.”
It came again. A somehow familiar voice—warm, gentle.
“Rien!”
The girl looked toward the voice.
“Took me long enough to find you.”
“I-Ijun?”
“This place is way too big.”
“How…?”
The girl couldn’t understand how he was here. This space was supposed to belong only to her.
“Let’s go back.”
“B-back where?”
Back where? Where was there to return to?
“Where else? The place where you belong.”
“The place I belong…? But the place I belong is… right here…”
This was where she belonged. What was he even saying?
“Black Wind and Erara are waiting for you.”
“But…”
She couldn’t leave this place. This was her atonement… her penance for what was essentially killing Rina.
“I can’t possibly understand everything you’ve been through. But I can help carry it. So can Erara and Black Wind.”
“Help carry it?”
No one had ever said anything like that to her. She had always carried everything alone, embraced it all by herself.
“So let’s go back.”
He held out his hand.
The girl hesitated, unsure whether to take it. But he was faster. He grasped her hand and gently pulled her to her feet.
“Come on. Let’s go.”
He led her forward. That warm touch, those words about sharing the burden, began painting color into the monochrome, distorted world the girl had lived in.
“I finally found you.”
A voice far too familiar reached the girl’s ears. She turned around.
“Rien?”
“Go, Rina. And stop suffering any longer.”
Tears streamed down the girl’s face. She finally understood that the ghost of Rien that had bound her all this time had been nothing but an illusion she created herself.
“Goodbye, Rina.”
“Take care, Rien.”
And so the girl’s world changed.
Is This Child Loved or Unloved?
You have cleared the hidden scenario quest through ???.
Since you cleared it through a new method instead of the predetermined route, additional rewards are granted.
Quest reward: You have acquired the skill Eye of Envy.
Additional reward: Eye of Envy evolves into ??? Eye.
The quest was cleared. As a reward, I obtained a Mystic Eye. Even though it was a demonic power, it was incredibly useful, so I’d call it a good reward.
Still, the Eye of Envy evolved into ??? Eye. I had no idea what the question marks meant. And “Prince of Salvation”? That felt a bit much.
Anyway, barely twenty minutes have passed in reality, yet it feels like I lived through years.
If I had gone through a few more loops, my mind really might have worn out. I don’t know how the protagonists in regression stories endure it. I have nothing but respect for them.
I pulled a sleeping bag set from my inventory and laid the still-unconscious Rina down gently.
“Now then, shall we go deal with the bastard who caused all this?”
It was time for Four Eyes to move once again.