I Want to See You Again
"......Ugh."
Lulu's eyes trembled faintly as she turned the pages of the diary.
[Yeah, I have to admit what needs admitting. I've been too dependent on Lulu. She has her own life too, but I've been binding her too tightly. So, of course something like this was bound to happen.]
The rough, bold handwriting that had repeated across several pages suddenly vanished, replaced by calm, neat script.
[She must have been suffering too. My obsession was beyond imagination. I'm supposed to be hated by everyone, but forcing our twisted relationship on her is just selfishness.]
"Ah..."
The neat handwriting continued.
[Still, I have to keep giving her affection. I need to erase the last remnants of that Misfortune Mark that's almost gone. I just need to try a little harder.]
[She, who is more pitiful than anyone, must be given a happy ending no matter what.]
Lulu tore her eyes from the diary's final entry and bit her lip hard, murmuring.
"...I didn't know."
Recalling faded memories from the past.
Lulu had always craved love.
"M-Monster... You're a monster..."
"M-Mommy..."
But for her, it was an impossibly difficult wish.
"Get out! Get out of our house...!"
"...U-Ugh."
Before she was even ten, she was chased from her home. The reason was simple: misfortune dogged her relentlessly.
And it continued even after she was cast onto the streets.
Even when she luckily found work or a guardian.
Even when she made friends.
The misfortune slowly strangling Lulu denied her any taste of "happiness."
By the time she entered the academy, she had already given up on everything and was walking toward her end.
"...Lulu, from now on, be my pet."
Until an unexpected turning point arrived in her life.
"Lulu, this is your room from now on."
"Want something to eat? Tell me anything. I'll give you everything."
"These are clothes and accessories for you. Of course, I'll get you whatever you want."
"I told you not to self-harm. Let me wrap your bandages—come here."
Frey, who declared he would possess her as a "pet," showered her with boundless love.
"...Lulu, you're my pet. You only obey my commands. Just quietly receive my affection, got it?"
"Who gave Lulu this garbage food?"
"Where are you going, Lulu? I'll buy you anything, so let's go out together like I said."
"You're mine, Lulu. My possession."
But that love was deeply twisted.
"...I'm sorry, Master Frey."
So, even though he was the first to give her love and erase her Misfortune Mark,
"I don't think I can stay with you anymore."
On a day when Frey was especially cruel to her, she left the Starlight Mansion.
"Lulu...! What the hell...!"
"...Have you been tormenting Lulu all this time?"
"R-Ruby... Why are you...?"
"Lulu asked for my help. So from now on, she'll be with us."
And she sought refuge with the hero Ruby—the one who had always sent her love calls to join her, whom she convinced by explaining Frey's danger and abnormality.
"...Thank you for everything."
After that, Lulu was loved not just by Frey, but by everyone.
As a proud member of the hero party, she received attention, affection, and envy from the entire class.
Within the party, her analytical Demon Eyes earned her high praise and love.
Ruby, the hero herself, doted on her especially.
"Lady Lulu~! Try some of this~!"
"Ah, um... uh..."
"It's fine! Eat as much as you want!"
At meals, she always yielded the best food to Lulu.
"Great job in today's battle too! You're the core of our party, Lady Lulu!"
"Ah, y-yes..."
Even though her abilities limited her to rear support, they showered her with praise after every fight.
"My god... So you were treated like a complete pet at the Starlight Mansion...?"
"Y-Yeah... something like that."
"You're not a pet, Lady Lulu! You're a real person! Someone who can think and act on your own will!"
She formed equal, free relationships, not the twisted one Frey had forced on her.
"Good work today, Lulu!"
"Dinner together later?"
"Lulu... Help with homework. It's a magic circle analysis assignment..."
Thus, Lulu obtained the happy daily life she had so desperately wanted.
No more misfortune befell her, no one hated her, and no one forced love on her.
Her surroundings brimmed with happiness—people liked her, competed to give her love.
So she rejected every attempt by Frey to approach her again.
Ignored his messages and letters.
There was no room for him in the happiness she now enjoyed.
[But to give her a happy ending...]
[I still have to deal with Ruby.]
[Ruby's been eyeing Lulu's Demon Eyes all along, scheming behind the scenes.]
But now, Lulu realized.
All the happiness she'd enjoyed until now was an illusion.
".......Ugh."
Reading that passage over and over, Lulu clenched her fist tightly.
[Once Ruby's gone, the illusion created by her influence will vanish too.]
As written in the diary, the happiness Lulu experienced was all fake.
Ruby, who seemed to love her in Frey's place, actually coveted her Demon Eyes and plotted to kill her.
Of course, the Demon King had an "unattackable" penalty.
So Ruby reactivated Lulu's weakened Misfortune Mark to drive her to suicide and steal the eyes.
"...Ah, everyone. Lulu's coming. Do as I instructed."
"Y-Yes..."
"But why are we doing this...?"
She began what she did best.
"Lulu's self-esteem is too low... If we don't do this, the party's efficiency drops too much."
"Ah... I see..."
Asking Lulu's classmates to act friendly toward her.
"Sorry... Am I being too much of a burden...?"
"N-No! If the hero needs it...!"
"What's wrong with that Lulu girl anyway? She joined the hero party but has low self-esteem?"
"...Yeah, the hero seems really stressed about it."
While subtly poisoning public opinion against her.
Sowing discord.
[Once the illusion fades, her Misfortune Mark will naturally disappear too.]
"Ugh..."
Lulu groaned in despair, reading Frey's calm words.
[With the Misfortune Mark's effect minimized, there are plenty of people in the world who could love the charming Lulu—even without my selfish self.]
[If she who suffered in nearly every loop can live happily, surrounded by joy until she closes her eyes, I'm satisfied.]
[Of course, everyone else too. I just hope they forget me bit by bit in the world I've built and live happily.]
"Ah..."
As Frey's notes on her ended, she bowed her head, face pale.
"The only one who truly loved me..."
After a long silence,
"...was Frey."
She murmured in a melancholic voice.
"I finally realized..."
Gazing at the mark on her shoulder, faint just days ago.
"W-Wait."
Then her eyes widened.
The Misfortune Mark she thought had lost effect since no misfortune struck was
"That paper cut from the diary earlier... No way..."
becoming vivid again.
The reason was simple.
After the truth spread that "Frey Raon Starlight" was the hero and "Ruby" the Demon King,
the hero party's reputation plummeted.
Of course, even if hated by the world, as long as one person loved her, the mark wouldn't reactivate.
"Then, really no one..."
In other words, right now, no one did.
"No one loves me...?"
"Ahh..."
In a way, it was inevitable.
The world's people, knowing only fragments, couldn't view them favorably.
Those who treated her well were acting on Ruby's orders.
Ruby's "love" was hypocrisy to steal her Demon Eyes.
The party's affection was genuine, but
"Oh dear, my curse... causing this..."
"Heh... Frey. Can you win like this?"
Learning the truth, their nerves focused elsewhere—they had no attention left for Lulu.
"Ugh..."
Isolated once more, Lulu
- Shrrk...
with dead eyes, picked up the knife on the table.
"........."
After hesitating long,
- Swipe She cautiously extended her arm, drawing the blade across her skin for the first time in ages.
"Ack...!"
Unexpected pain surged.
"Ah..."
Only then did Lulu realize.
The self-harm that once soothed her mind,
her sole escape and comfort from the world,
offered neither refuge nor solace anymore.
"L-Lulu...! What are you doing...!"
"......."
And the worry and attention from self-harm ended in hollow pity.
- Clang...!
Even realizing this, with trembling eyes she slashed her arm several more times.
"Urk..."
Feeling only heightened pain and despair, she dropped the knife and murmured.
"...I want to be loved."
But no one could give her sincere love now.
Knowing this best, Lulu continued murmuring blankly.
"I want to be loved again."
The subject was omitted, but her meaning was clear.
"By you again..."
Before she knew it, Lulu
"I want to be loved..."
yearned for Frey's love once more.
"...Ah."
But turning her gaze while speaking, she fell silent.
"........"
In her vision, not Frey,
just an empty scabbard filled with glittering dirt.
"I... I want to see you again..."
Lulu's hollow voice
"Master Frey..."
echoed into the void.
Meanwhile, at that moment.
The black room where the countdown still froze at the final second.
"....."
Frey, quietly overlooking the world from within,
"...I definitely burned that diary."
began murmuring softly.
"Father and the heroines regaining memories is one thing, but Ruby reverting to her original form is suspicious too."
His expression blank as he spoke.
"And..."
He turned his gaze.
"Sister, you're holding out longer than expected? Stop the pointless resistance—it's interfering with my viewing."
"I... I can't give up... I can't bear watching my creations suffer anymore...!"
To the Sun God thrashing desperately and the Demon God with her cold smile.
"Even if I offer all my divinity... you...!"
"Try it if you can~."
He murmured coldly.
"...Annoying."
Caressing the small necklace once given by the scroll merchant.