——It was a life utterly devoid of freedom.
From the moment she was born, she had been defined as nothing more than the prince's future fiancée — that was her sole purpose, and she was permitted to live in no other way.
Even the magic she had dreamed of turned out to be lightning magic that served only to annihilate enemies. Those around her praised it as a magnificent power to protect the kingdom, but... she had never wanted anything like it. They might call her unworthy of being a noble, but what she wanted was something more——something beautiful.
She had no freedom at all. Nothing she wished for was ever permitted. Days crushed under the pressure and coercion of those around her, so suffocating she could barely breathe.
"What... do you want to be when you grow up, Ortesia?"
"I... I want to be ████."
What had she said back then? She no longer even remembered how long she had been able to recall it.
Her devotion to "God" had also contained an element of revenge.
If "God" truly existed, and had granted her no freedom whatsoever, had denied her the magic she so desperately wanted — then she would find out the truth and punch that God square in the face. That was what she had felt.
So she petitioned the king of that era and infiltrated the church. In those days, she pursued her own research into magic — repeating investigation and analysis on the origins of Bloodline Magic and various other matters.
"Oh my, aren't you doing something interesting there. Should the first prince's betrothed really be looking into things like this?"
Despite the content of those words, the tone of voice was bright and delighted — like someone who had just found an accomplice.
It was with that manner that she called out to——and met, for the first time, a witch of her own generation.
◆
"That girl... was free in every possible way. She received magic that could only be described as beloved by God — magic that symbolized 'flying through the sky,' the very emblem of freedom. She herself was utterly without pretense, and..."
While her daughter watched over her, Ortesia spoke haltingly, her voice faltering — for the first time revealing what lay inside her heart.
"How could I not pin my hopes on that? That she might destroy this country, everything about it, in ways I never could... You cling to that thought, don't you?"
From her devotion to God, it had only taken until her devotion shifted to her. No — even back then, though she never showed it outwardly, it hadn't taken long before she treated her as though she were God Himself.
Days when nothing she wished for was permitted became bearable, so long as that girl was there. Simply having someone who was free in her stead — impossibly, unconditionally free — gave her reason to live.
...And it hadn't taken long before that hope twisted into an obsession that should never have existed.
"............"
Even Ortesia hesitated to speak of what came next.
But... this was the end, after all. That thought loosened the lid she had kept so tightly sealed on her emotions for so long.
"...That girl didn't need to become king or anything like that. I just wanted her to break this country apart and stay exactly as she always was — free, endlessly free, forever..."
And so Ortesia simply spoke the deepest wish she had ever harbored for that girl.
"That was all. I just wanted her to stay by my side. That would have been enough."
"............Mother."
"But it wasn't a wish I was allowed to have."
She must have sensed it on some level, all along.
She now gave voice to the truth she had fully realized in the battle that had just taken place.
"That girl is bound by nothing. She is unshackled, free — that was the version of her I admired, the version I wanted her to be.
And yet, and yet...
For her to be bound by no one... except me.
How could I possibly have wished for that? I had no right to wish for such a thing...!"
"............"
Leila simply listened in silence.
It was true — it was not a wish that could be forgiven.
But to say she should give up, or that it was her fault...
To dismiss it with such words — that wish was far too desperate, far too human.
And that she had become this way... that she would never have been able to go on if she hadn't treated someone like God, if she hadn't clung to something.
Perhaps not to the same degree as her mother — but as someone who knew the dark side of this country, Leila could not simply cut that away and discard it.
Moreover, it was a first for Leila as well.
Her mother had always been, constantly, a symbol of fear. Someone she could never understand, someone she could only try to guess at what she wanted.
And for the first time, her mother had opened up to her — and moreover, with a wish that was far more human than she had ever imagined. In other words, a wish she could empathize with. Leila found herself struck with a strange sense of emotion.
"In the end, that girl left me behind. She didn't destroy this country either — she simply saw through me and turned away. She abandoned her family, her friends, everything, and set off in search of freedom."
"......"
"I... can understand that it couldn't be helped. But my feelings for her weren't so light that reason alone could make me accept it. I didn't know what to do, and all I had was a burning feeling swirling inside me — and then... into my life came..."
And so, the Witch of Calamity continued.
"...that man."
She kept speaking, tracing back her roots, the darkness of this country.
And... what was most likely the deep intelligence about the "Organization" that the Third Princess — her younger sister Liliana and the others — had so desperately wanted.
Next time: the conclusion of the Ortesia arc. A bit more about the Organization will also be revealed.