“It looks like you’ve put everything out there on your face.”
slap
“I never even had it to begin with.”
whoosh
The one who answered Alice’s question was Bella.
Bella Fanggriffon.
The place she was in looked more like a free space than a prison.
Since Bella had once been royalty, she would never be treated poorly until the moment she died. It didn’t matter if that royalty had committed a crime or not; there was the pride of royalty to consider.
Bella’s residence was a mansion.
Though it was quite far from the Imperial Capital, it still belonged to the imperial administrative district. It wouldn’t take more than an hour to get there by carriage, but the surroundings were barren. Alice thought that at night, she might hear wild dogs barking from beyond the walls.
Of course, this was a mansion, but at the same time, it served as a prison to keep Bella confined. Numerous soldiers and knights were always on watch, and nearby, there were even military facilities prepared for emergencies.
However, judging from Bella’s reactions up until now, it might not have been necessary to prepare to that extent. But then again, one could never know what was in a person’s heart.
“I didn’t expect you to come looking for me first.”
pop
“……”
silence
“Moreover, I didn’t expect you to come all this way alone.”
thump
At Bella’s words, Alice shrugged her shoulders.
Bella followed suit and shrugged her shoulders, inhaling from the cigarette in her hand. As she exhaled, a long stream of smoke floated from her lips to the open window.
whooooosh
“What brings you here? Do you think there’s something more to figure out about me?”
twinkle
“Do you think there’s anything like that?”
squint
“……I guess so. Even when we were swinging swords at each other back then, we didn’t know anything.”
swing
“Was the story you heard from Sylvia that shocking?”
bang
Alice pulled a chair and sat down.
“It was shocking.”
thud
“I didn’t think you’d be the one receiving it.”
eh?
“Right. I didn’t know that either.”
shrug
Bella slowly rested her cigarette on the window frame. The tobacco stuck to the end was halfway burned, sending smoke rising lazily. It almost felt like a scented candle.
For a while, Bella gazed at the rising smoke, then turned to walk over to the table where Alice was sitting.
She pulled out a chair and sat down facing Alice.
“You didn’t come all this way just to play some jokes on me, did you? Could you tell me what you really want to talk about? Honestly, your face isn’t one I want to stare at for long.”
poof
“Should I have called Sylvia? Or Claire?”
spin
“……”
awkward silence
Bella stared intently at Alice’s face, then lazily leaned back in her chair.
She was wearing nothing but a thin nightgown. Even though the sun was high in the sky outside, Bella didn’t seem to think about changing into everyday clothes.
“Yeah, it would’ve been better to call one of them. I’d get along better talking with either of them than with you.”
shrug
However, the two of them hadn’t experienced the same past that Bella had.
…Actually, thinking it through again, Sylvia might be a bit different. She hadn’t experienced a past like ‘Bella,’ but in some sense, she had seen even worse things. Losing limbs was not an everyday pain. Nor was being ambushed or having one’s carotid artery cut.
Though Bella had never seen such scenes directly, she felt a kind of affinity for Sylvia because of that ‘background.’
Sylvia had never been particularly kind to Bella directly, but Bella always treated Sylvia warmly. It wasn’t a normal kind of warmth, but that’s how it seemed to Alice.
“Are you jealous of me?”
smirk
“Probably very few people in the world aren’t jealous of you.”
whistle
“……”
dramatic pause
Alice had a far better past than Bella to make such a statement about being unfortunate.
“So, what did you come here to say? Did you suddenly want to bond as sisters? Why, did you suddenly realize you have the same blood and want to have some sort of conversation?”
wink
“……”
awkward silence
“……Wait, were you really thinking that?”
shock
Alice kept quiet and stared at Bella, then hesitated before speaking.
“Do you know? I thought I was all alone in this world.”
deep breath
As if expelling her breath, the words came out a little fast, and Bella blinked.
“I’m… not as talented as you. Not only compared to you but also when compared to Damien, Lucas, and Jayden. Be it swordsmanship or knowledge, I was always behind someone. And of course, I was with Sylvia too.”
gulp
Alice’s eyes slowly fell to the table for a moment, before slowly climbing back up to meet Bella’s.
“And Father acted like he would pass the next imperial throne to someone else, not me.”
dramatic sigh
“Ha.”
giggle
At Alice’s words, Bella laughed incredulously.
“That person?”
“Why, weren’t you guys in the dark?”
quizzical look
“Of course. In the end, the one to succeed is… supposed to be the Fanggriffon.”
shrug
“……”
heavy silence
“And the Fanggriffon needs to be recognized by others too. It isn’t simply determined by ability. The person sitting on the throne of the emperor must have no weaknesses. And there’s also purity among those.”
mysterious tone
Bella fell silent for a moment, then added,
“It was a thought since I didn’t know I had the bloodline.”
ponder
“I feel the same way. I really didn’t know that I shared blood with you guys. So I thought I was all alone.”
heavy heart
“You—”
exclamatory
Bella began to speak but then stared quietly at Alice’s expression. Then she chuckled.
“Well, I was alone. Ignoring what others said, trying to butt in while that person and I were talking.”
laugh
“You teased me. That’s why I hated it.”
defensive tone
“Oh~ I did do that, didn’t I?”
reluctant markdown
Bella’s gaze slowly rose to the ceiling. Then she slowly focused as though trying to count the decorative patterns on it.
“Honestly, it was fun. And, um, what? It was a bit cute too. Seeing you all riled up and angry.”
smirk
“I really hated it.”
scowl
“I hated you too. Because you had everything. I thought it was only natural that I got a little angry and annoyed.”
pout
“……”
blinking silence
“I don’t exactly remember when it was, but there was a time when Sylvia came looking for me, you know? She said that.”
whisper
“Sylvia said that?”
curious
“She did. It wasn’t anything grand. She just told me not to bully you and left. Maybe she saw something in you back then. Or maybe… she really knew that she was the one who was truly alone.”
somber tone
Alice silently stared at Bella.
“Are you saying it’s just a matter of thinking?”
thinking emoji
“No, it’s not that. What you’ve gone through is too much for me to say that.”
serious tone
Bella lowered her gaze and stared blankly at Alice.
“So, you really came all this way just to have a sisterly chat?”
wink
“Yeah.”
nod
“I thought you wanted to talk about something really important since you wanted to be alone.”
curious raised brow
“It is a crucial conversation.”
admitting tone
“……You know? When we’re alone like this, I could charge at you and kill you without anyone stopping me.”
duh
“So are you going to kill me?”
challenging tone
As she stared back at Alice, who was meeting her glance directly, Bella laughed shortly,
“You really are you. You haven’t changed a bit since childhood. Well, maybe you’ve become a little more confident?”
teasing smile
“It’s just that unnatural confidence turned into natural confidence.”
confident grin
“So, after settling this, are you planning to release me or something?”
sarcastic
“What would you do if I did?”
quizzical tone
“Well, I was thinking of trying to kill the person I used to call Father. What do you think?”
evil laugh
“In that case, releasing you might be a bit hard for a while.”
serious reply
Hearing Alice’s words, Bella widened her eyes.
“Are you really planning to release me?”
gasp
“It seems like the political pressure is severe.”
sigh
“When you were in the kingdom, there was immense pressure to bring you to the empire, and now that you’ve been brought here and imprisoned, the pressure to release you is just getting heavier. ‘What did the empire do wrong after all?’ It’s hard to answer that. In the end, it’s not a plan that can be announced to the whole world, and if Father’s plan fails, it would mean the Papal State’s plan succeeded.”
fact
Alice kept staring at Bella, who had her mouth agape.
“Of course, it won’t be right away. At least it’ll be a story for a few years down the line, and even if I do release you, it’ll only be formally. You would probably only be able to roam around the vicinity, and maybe if you’re lucky, you might even make it to the heart of the Imperial Capital.”
hopeful shrug
“Above all, first and foremost, I must concretely establish the ‘crime’ you all committed.”
somber tone
“……”
heavy emphasis
Bella stared blankly at Alice.
“Why are you saying this to me instead of going after that person first?”
logical question
“What do you want me to do about telling Father this? That person would start plotting the next plan the moment he hears my story.”
eventual
“……That makes sense.”
nodding
Bella stared intently at Alice.
“In the end, it seems I was born from someone like you or me.”
dark revelation
“That’s right; really. I can’t believe I didn’t know that.”
shocked tone
Alice replied with a hint of grumbling.
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