The day Leria became a priestess.
After merging with Emil, Leria began dreaming.
It was a dream from a past life.
In a rundown room, Leria—her past self—was collapsing in tears.
It was the room she had lived in with her fiancé after their engagement.
But that fiancé would never return.
Leria’s present self looked down at her past self, who was sitting and sobbing.
“—What did I do wrong? Was losing to my sister really that terrible?”
It was true that she had been inferior in looks, intelligence—everything.
When she looked at the mirror in the room, the reflection wasn’t herself.
It was her sister, whom she hated beyond words.
Her sister was smiling at Leria.
When Leria moved, the reflection moved in sync, as if she had become the sister she despised.
“What’s this? Even after death you still mock me!”
The sister in the mirror began to speak.
“Because you’re not stupid. Coming back to life, being just like the hateful me, is something to laugh at, right?”
Leria’s eyes wavered, and she stepped away from the mirror.
“No, that’s not— I am—”
“It’s the same. You’ve already realized, haven’t you? No— right now you’re even worse than me. Because you understand. You are me.”
The mirror’s image returned to Leria, but its face was twisted in a cruel grin.
“You only repaid your sister for what I did. No, it’s even worse. You stole a man’s lover, forced a problematic guy onto him, right? What’s the difference between you and my sister? You were angry, so you struck back, weren’t you? The result is this— you’re truly pathetic.”
Hearing herself, she collapsed onto the floor, sitting down.
“This wasn’t supposed to be like this.”
“You know that, don’t you? —Everyone’s fault is yours. But maybe it’d be easier to just die like this. You could escape the nasty reality.”
The version of herself in the mirror sneered at Leria.
She wept in frustration, and before she knew it, Emil was at her side.
Emil, before being absorbed by the
“So this is the old Leria, huh?”
Leria, still crying, nodded at Emil standing next to her.
“Did you despise me? Yeah. I have a past life. Inside, I’m an old lady. You heard our conversation too, didn’t you? You were deceiving me!”
Emil shook his head at such Leria.
“For me, you’re an important woman. I don’t care about that. I just— wish you’d told me sooner.”
His reply was unexpected.
Flustered, Leria lowered her gaze and muttered.
“—No one believes me.”
“Maybe. I kinda get why you and Serge were so close.”
Emil glanced at a game cartridge lying on the floor.
“This is us? How should I put it— embarrassing.”
Seeing the cover of the second otome game, Emil blushed.
“Don’t you think it’s gross? I’m a terrible woman.”
“It’s the best woman to me. You know, I’ve always been compared to others. Everyone here compares me.”
Emil gave a wry smile, looking at Erik and the others.
“I’ve always watched people’s moods. But you looked at me, so I was happy.”
Hearing Emil’s feelings, guilt tightened around Leria’s chest.
“I am! I’m not the kind of woman Emil thinks I am. My reason for choosing him was awful, and—”
Emil hugged Leria.
“—I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were hurting this much. It’s been tough, right? If I’d realized sooner, you wouldn’t have suffered this much.”
He was concerned about the Leria who had been betrayed by her fiancé and cut off from family in her past life.
He cared for this version of her.
“Emil— me!”
“—You have to keep living.”
He said, and began to glow.
The surroundings turned white, and a sapling sprouted.
“Emil?”
When Leria looked at Emil’s face, he smiled sadly.
“Sorry. I can’t stay by your side any longer. So I’ll give you a Sacred Tree sapling as a final gift. This is all I can do now. Please cherish this last sapling.”
Leria gently took the sapling with both hands, and a crest appeared on the back of her right hand.
She heard the sapling speak.
(—I’m hungry)
The cute childlike voice warmed Leria’s heart for some reason.
Emil spoke softly.
“You know everything, right? The Sacred Tree went mad because the priestess vanished, so it can’t understand humans anymore.”
“So it went berserk?”
“Yes. But from the Tree’s view, it’s not a rampage. These children have a purpose. You could call it a wish.”
“A wish?”
The Tree’s wish.
“It is—”
◇
When Leria woke up, Emil was gone.
In his place stood only the Sacred Tree sapling.
Clemant was holding Leria’s hand, crying.
He looked terrible.
“Leria-sama! You’ve finally— finally opened your eyes!”
“—Clemant?”
Looking at the right hand Clemant held, the priestess crest was visible.
The wound where it had been pierced was neatly sealed.
“Emil suddenly collapsed, and the sapling appeared. The priestess crest manifested on your right hand, the wound healed— I was really worried about you, Clemant!”
Seeing the crest, Leria wept.
“Emil died.”
The man who’d understood her, who’d accepted her, was gone, and Leria screamed in tears.
Her tears kept flowing, never stopping.
The crest on her right hand felt like Emil’s final present for her.
“Leria-sama, what’s wrong?”
“What? Why did he die, Emil!”
She realized she’d lost what she’d finally gotten, all because of herself.
And she’d never get it back.
◇
Inside the Einhorn ship.
Serge was pleading with Julius.
“Please call
Julius sat on a chair in front of Serge, looking down at him on the floor.
“There’s no need. I’m your opponent now.”
“Not you— call him. Please! —I can’t kill my father. I was wrong. Let me talk to him!”
Serge knelt, bowed his head, performing a deep apology. Julius responded calmly.
“—Barthofort is angry.”
“So I’ll apologize properly!”
“It’s not about apologies anymore. We’ve caused trouble for him too, but I’ve never seen him this furious. I honestly didn’t think he’d go this far. Yet, watching you two, I guess it was right.”
“I don’t care what happens to me. But the people of this country—”
Julius sighed, a bit exasperated.
(Even I can’t judge others)
“The current state of this country, and the responsibility you’ll bear from now on, isn’t something to dump on Barthofort. He held on until the limit. You pushed him.”
Seeing Serge’s desperate face, Julius spoke of the future.
“Your chaos makes it hard for the Sacred Tree’s monsters or reconstruction to be handled. We’ll step in instead.”
“Will you help?”
“The Republic’s people… at least minimally. We can’t keep caring for non‑citizens forever.”
In other words, they’d only help so far.
He told them to solve the crisis themselves.
Serge begged Julius one more time.
“Just once. Let me talk to him.”
Julius closed his eyes.
“If my words aren’t enough— I’ll go talk to Barthofort, but don’t expect anything.”
Serge thanked Julius.
◇
When Julius visited Leon, he found Angel, Libya, and
Alberk was receiving treatment, talking about something.
“Barthofort, sorry, but I need a single meeting with Serge—”
Angel visibly bristled at the suggestion.
Libya lowered her eyes, and Marie…
“Julius, you fool! Don’t say that to your brother now!”
Marie shouted “Ah!” and turned to Angel.
She called “big brother” loudly, and Leon covered his face with one hand.
“—You were that stupid?”
“S‑s‑sorry! It’s not what it looks like. There’s a reason. Calling you ‘big brother’ was… you know, like sharing a cup, kind of like a sibling‑in‑law thing.”
Marie’s confused excuses only bred more misunderstandings.
Leon stood up and pointed at Marie.
“You holding a grudge against me? What will you do if the two of you misunderstand?”
“Gobennazai!” (a nonsense exclamation)
Angel, seeing Marie break down, said—
“—It’s fine to get along in a foreign land, but don’t call me ‘big brother’ and lean on Leon too much. He’s the same. You’re spoiling Marie too much.”
Leon looked shocked.
“Huh? Ah, no— yeah”
“But I didn’t think the reason was like Erik’s ‘big sister’ thing.”
Thanks to Erik, Angel apparently got the misunderstanding cleared.
Libya was also a bit exasperated.
“Leon, you’re spoiling them too much. I was shocked by the amount you gave them. And everyone spending it right away…”
Libya’s gaze fell on Julius.
Julius cleared his throat theatrically.
“Ah, about Serge’s matter—”
Alberk then said it wasn’t needed.
“Barthofort Count, you can ignore your son.”
Leon, weary, sat and resumed talking with Alberk.
“You’re worried too, so I’ll meet him once later. Honestly, I don’t get why you’d go that far for Serge. For the Republic, it’d be better if you stayed.”
Julius listened while the conversation continued.
Alberk stared at the ceiling.
“—Even if he’s foolish, he’s still my son. At this point I still hope. That’s a parent’s selfishness. I just want him alive.”
“Isn’t that wrong for a ruler?”
“Count, being pushed this far already disqualifies me as a ruler.”
Angel agreed.
“Not stopping the other six great nobles and Serge was a failure, but as a parent I could do that. I respect you honestly.”
Libya recorded Alberk’s words.
“Leon, continue from earlier.”
“Right. You destroyed the Respinas family, got the data, and found a way to fuse with the Sacred Tree.”
Leon’s group had been hearing detailed info about the Sacred Tree.
“They’ve been researching how to use the Tree a lot. I was shocked when I learned, then hearing it was rampaging, I thought maybe we could stop it. But it turned out it’s almost impossible to control. I was surprised when Emil fused.”
“If you saw it like today, maybe the Respinas family was right to want to destroy it. People won’t trust the Tree anymore.”
“—The Tree’s rampage is my fault. I intend to deal with it. Without the Tree as a heart’s support, the Republic will lose all hope.”
“Hope, huh”
Leon sighed.
“Bad news. The main Prevan house is wiped out. Most branch families are gone too. The other six nobles have thinned a lot.”
“I see. How many people are left— maybe we don’t need to cling to the six nobles anymore. The Republic might need to change shape.”
Alberk looked at his right hand. No crest there.
◇
Night.
When I entered Serge’s room, he was on his knees, doing a deep bow.
I snorted at his posture.
“Your bow has no value. It’s useless, so lift your head.”
“This is how I feel.”
“Self‑satisfaction? Then I’m leaving.”
“W‑wait!”
Serge lifted his face, and I started talking.
He basically wanted— Alberk’s pardon.
And for the Republic’s people to be saved.
“I was wrong. I was being manipulated by that guy.”
“Right.”
“My dad isn’t at fault. And I want the Republic’s people helped. You could— no, you could do it.”
“You can.”
From
We’ve been happily gathering Ideal’s components like Claire…
Luxion too. “With this I’ll get stronger,” they said.
They’re stealing parts from the base wholesale.
They’re too tough, I was blown away.
“Will you help?”
“Huh? I don’t know. I’ll do the minimum then go back to my country, so no. I’m actually being called back, so I’d like to leave now.”
The
I’m just staying because of excuses like the ship breaking.
Luxion’s being serviced, so I can at least help.
“—!”
Serge’s expression flashed red with anger, but he held it in.
Maybe he finally understood he was partly at fault?
“Your country’s problem, right? If you hadn’t gone berserk, none of this would’ve happened. You’re a total brat. I’m not your parent. Figure it out yourself.”
“—I can’t do anything now.”
“It’s the result of you running wild. You wanted this. Good for you.”
Serge hung his head, looking bitter.
He clenched his teeth, but—
“Did you ever think about what’d happen if Luxion and Ideal really clashed?”
“Couldn’t imagine. I never thought it’d go that far.”
I shook my head and turned to leave.
“Honestly, living is probably harder, but that’s your choice. And your dad’s life‑link… don’t waste it. Die carrying everything, so I’ll spare your life a bit.”
In other words, that’s all you’re worth.
I have no need to kill you.
“Please. Help me. I won’t defy you again. I promise. If you hate me, kill me!”
“—Your dad’s pitiful. He still believes this reincarnated kid is his son till the end. He wants his precious son alive, even though he’s a second‑life brat.”
Serge learned Alberk’s feelings, pressed his forehead to the floor.
“Dad—”
His huge body trembled.
When I left the room and shut the door, Serge’s sobs echoed.
“Damn bastard— too late”
If I save the Republic now, they’ll pick me as their next go‑to.
I can’t replace the Sacred Tree.
I run my hand through my hair, wondering how it all came to this.
“—If I’d acted more maturely, would things be different?”
When we first met, I was insulted and got angry.
Maybe that was the mistake. In the end, Ideal probably convinced Serge to fight.
—Reincarnated folks are all trouble, me included.
Maybe the world went crazy because we’re here.
—That’s how it feels.