Volume 3 Chapter 59 The Path We Live
"Are you calm now?"
"...a little."
Catherine, pouting and sipping her tea, has bright red ears. After getting her all wet and muddy, Randy pushed her into the bathroom of the mansion──not the guest house──and told her, "Wash yourself," then left her there for a while...
Just a moment ago, Liz helped Catherine get dressed, and Rita poured her some warm tea.
In the pouring rain, a muddy girl came running, shouting something, then fell over and started crying. Randy felt bad for the neighbors and, against Liz's strong wishes, brought her inside...
"Drink that and then hurry home."
Randy spat out, and Catherine pouted back, "I know, okay?"
"Randy, do you dislike Lady Catherine?"
Liz smiled wryly, and Randy frowned, saying, "It's not that I dislike her..."
"I just don't want to get involved."
Randy sighed heavily and looked away from the two of us.
"Black and white. Enemies and friends. We're all human. Once you get involved, it's harder to keep things neatly separated. Emotions and relationships are like a gradient, not just black and white. It's easier to deal with someone you think is black when it comes to killing them."
"Wait, are you... planning to kill me?"
"If you hurt Liz, then yes."
Despite his words, Catherine could see a flicker of emotion in Randy's eyes. It wasn't hatred or anger, and she looked away, feeling a bit guilty.
After a moment of silence, Liz murmured, "A gradient... huh?" and nodded as if she understood. It seemed like she found her own answer about helping Catherine and not being able to resent her.
"Lady Catherine, why did you come all the way here today?"
Now that Liz had settled her thoughts, she asked Catherine why she came.
"...I got a no-contact order."
Catherine started to talk, saying that because of the attempted assassination of the Crown Prince, she was banned from contacting Crown Prince Edgar. This included not being able to contact his followers, like Dario and Arthur.
"My... my reverse harem..."
Catherine slumped her shoulders and glared at Liz with raised eyebrows.
"If you guys hadn't investigated 'Seven Wonders'──."
Catherine's eyes filled with tears again, and Liz sighed heavily.
"But it was you, Lady Catherine, who decided to investigate 'Seven Wonders,' right?"
Catherine turned her face away, unable to argue against that solid point.
"Also, I don't understand. What did you want with His Highness and the others?"
Liz tilted her head, and Randy almost blurted out, "Isn't it a reverse harem?" But he held back. In this world, the term "reverse harem" probably doesn't exist. It might, but Liz definitely wouldn't get it.
He wasn't trying to hide the fact that he was reincarnated, but now wasn't the time to come out with it. That would completely derail the conversation.
In front of a silent Randy, Catherine was explaining reverse harem to Liz.
"That... only looks like a future that will fall apart, right?"
"That's not true! This is a game world, and if I wish for it..."
Catherine was still caught up in that fantasy, and both Randy and Liz sighed heavily.
"Lady Catherine, are you talking about a game board? I don't really understand, but this isn't a fairy tale, a popular novel, or a game. It's reality."
With Liz's cold remark, Catherine protested, "N-no way!" She seemed completely confused, or maybe the idea that this was a game was the last thing keeping her grounded.
(Probably the latter...)
Randy had no idea about her past life. But she was born into this world and had definitely thought of herself as the main character until now. It's rare for someone to easily let go of that.
Still, Randy didn't need to worry about all that.
"Hey, Saintly Lady. Sorry, but this is reality, and you're just a clueless kid."
"But, kid..."
"Right? You don't even realize how big of a mess you've made. You're still stuck in your own fantasies. What else would you call that but being a kid?"
Catherine fell silent, struggling to find words at Randy's flat tone.
"The choices you made, like you were playing a game, might have killed Elizabeth. Did you ever think you could have killed someone?"
Catherine looked down, feeling small under Randy's cold gaze.
"So... what was I supposed to do? Get reincarnated in a game and just get rejected like in the game?"
Catherine's shoulders shook as she looked down.
"If it's really is a game... If I don't play my part, I'll end up unhappy. I could die. The world could end. The pressure of that certain future..."
Tears welled up in Catherine's eyes as she looked up.
"Hey... you understand, right? Since you're also someone who got reincarnated!"
Catherine pressed closer to Liz again, but Liz looked down and said,
"I'm sorry. What are you talking about...?"
"Are you really pretending you don't know?!"
Catherine's eyes widened as Liz shook her head silently, saying, "Really, I don't know anything..."
"That's a lie! What about the beauty serum and the camera──."
"Oh, that was me."
Catherine turned to Randy, her lips trembling as she said,
"No way... really? Hey, who are you anyway? You've been acting like this all along!"
"Who? I'm Randolph Victor, you know?"
"I know, but I don't really know you!"
"Which is it...?"
Randy sighed and shrugged, repeating, "The camera and beauty serum were my ideas."
"So, you've been messing up the story all this time?"
"Story? What story?"
"The game! The scenario of the otome game 'Useyaro'!"
Catherine shouted, and Randy sighed again, "What kind of silly game title is that...?"
But Catherine didn't hear him. She was passionately explaining 'Useyaro.' How Elizabeth, who was supposed to be taken over by Eleonora, would destroy the Dukedom and the world.
"That's an interesting story... I can totally see the old me doing that."
Ellie suddenly burst out laughing, and Catherine looked shocked.
"Wait, could it be...?"
"The forbidden great witch, Lady Eleonora, as you say."
Catherine turned away in fear at Ellie's wicked smile, and there was Randy, looking at her with pity.
"See? You even got a witch on your side, and you've been breaking the story for your own sake! You're just as bad as I am!"
Catherine glared at Randy, who sighed for what felt like the hundredth time.
"Sorry, but I didn't know this world was a game. I've never even heard of 'Useyaro'."
"That's a lie. Then why...?"
"Why what? I'm Randolph Victor. I'm just a person living in this world, doing what I want. I've enjoyed my life like that. That's just how it is."
Randy snorted, looking exasperated. "Besides, why would I know about an otome game? I'm a guy."
"That's a lie. No way..."
Catherine kept muttering "That's a lie" like a broken machine, but reality was harsh.
"Sorry, but it's all true."
Catherine jumped at Randy's words.
"So... I was just fighting a battle by myself...?"
Kneeling down, Catherine let out a dry laugh. She realized that all her efforts to stand up to Liz had just been pointless, and everything she had done as Catherine had been in vain.
"Because of my solo battle, I ended up rolling down... and lost everything?"
No one can answer that question. Everything Catherine says, neither Randy nor Liz can understand. They want to say, "If you're still alive, that's good, right?" But only that person knows what really matters.
"What should I do? I'm not even the main character... and my game knowledge is useless now... so what can I do──."
Ellie let out a big sigh in front of Catherine, who was kneeling.
"I'll tell you what to do."
Catherine looked up at Ellie with a tearful, confused face as Ellie grinned.
"According to your game, you should just let me kill you."
Feeling the killing intent from Ellie, Catherine instinctively backed away, saying, "N-no..."
"Ellie, that's not okay."
Liz, who held Ellie back, sighed and crouched down to meet Catherine's gaze.
"Lady Catherine..."
"What? If you want to laugh, go ahead. I'm scared of dying even though I've lost my way to live."
Catherine said this with a bitter tone, and Liz shook her head and smiled.
"I'm not going to laugh. I felt the same way."
Catherine tilted her head in confusion at Liz's smile, but Liz didn't say anything more. No, she probably didn't want to tell Catherine how she felt back then.
As a marquis's daughter, she thought it was fine to lose everything and die, but she still remembered the feeling of that stone she held onto at the moment of death.
And how Randy bravely jumped in to help her at that time.
From that moment, Liz's new... no, her own life began. She didn't plan to tell Catherine that. But she could at least throw a lifeline to someone a bit like herself.
"So, you're a reincarnator, which means you have knowledge from your past life, right?"
Catherine nodded, looking suspicious at Liz's smile.
"Do you remember your old name?"
"I don't want to say."
"Then how about 'Fatulina'?"
"What kind of name is that?"
Catherine frowned, and Liz gave a clueless smile, saying, "It just popped into my head."
"That's a lie. You just twisted the ancient magic language 'Fatous,' didn't you?"
Catherine gave Liz a sharp look, and Liz smiled back, surprised.
"Who knows?"
"Stop pretending..."
"Then can you tell me properly?"
"Sachie... Sano Sachie. That's my name."
Sachie whispered softly, and Liz smiled again, saying, "Lady Sachie... that's a lovely name."
"Lady Sachie. Are you Lady Sachie or Lady Catherine?"
"I... don't get it."
Sachie pouted and looked away, and Liz gently held her cheeks to make her look straight ahead.
"You've been acting like the Lady Catherine you think you should be, right? Is that what Sachie wants, or is it what Lady Catherine wants?"
"I... don't know."
Sachie muttered quietly, and Liz smiled again.
"Then why not let that go? As Lady Sachie and as Lady Catherine, you should do what you really want."
"My... what I want?"
Sachie whispered, and Liz nodded, standing up.
"This isn't the fixed world you know, it's reality. What do you want to do to live as Lady Catherine? When you figure that out, maybe you two can finally become one and be accepted in this world."
"That's impossible. I'm a Saint, so I have to defeat witches──."
"But that witch is just a harmless, cute girl now, right?"
Liz tilted her head, and it felt like Ellie was shouting behind her, "Who's a harmless girl!"
"This situation will change how the Church and Saints are seen."
Liz took a deep breath and spoke about the impact of the Church's brainwashing of Saints.
Church, or rather the Pope, was using Saints for their own purposes. This means that people started to realize that Saints were just pawns for the Church.
"Maybe the mission of being a Saint that the Church talks about doesn't really matter anymore. ...Besides, the mission of being a Saint has turned into just being a girl."
Liz smiled wryly as Randy joked, "If you just keep the cream puffs, you'll be quiet."
"Lady Sachie, what do you want to do... no, how do you want to live?"
"How do I want to live...?"
"Yes."
Sachie turned away again, saying, "I don't know about that," while Liz smiled like an angel.
"It's okay if you don't know. In fact, isn't it better that you don't know?"
Liz slowly sat down on the sofa, still smiling.
"Even if you don't know, there are things you can see while you're running. At least, that's how it was for me."
Liz let out a big sigh and looked off into the distance, saying, "At first, I was just going with the flow."
"I lost everything when I was exiled... but luckily, I was picked up and made friends."
The friend Liz was talking about was definitely Ellie.
"At first, I thought if I helped my friend, maybe I'd have some value, even if I felt empty."
Sachie tilted her head, asking, "Empty?"
"Yes. The only thing I had was being a Marquis's daughter."
Sachie looked away, maybe feeling guilty, as Liz smiled.
"But that feeling of emptiness led to many things, and I realized I wasn't empty at all."
Liz looked up again, placing her hand on her chest, saying, "Really, I had so many things inside me."
"I... have that much──"
"You do. Definitely."
Liz looked straight at Sachie and smiled again, saying, "So you should stand up and walk."
"At least, isn't it something to be proud of that you understand even the ancient magic language?"
"That's not normal."
"It's not. Randy doesn't understand it at all."
Liz smiled wryly as Randy puffed out his chest, saying, "I don't even get the modern magic language."
"What are you guys..."
"I'm a former Marquis's daughter."
"And I'm the poor Viscount's heir."
"And there's also a great magician here."
Sachie chuckled softly in front of the 3 who introduced themselves.
"...You were a good person, huh?"
Sachie mumbled, wiping her tears shyly as she stood up.
"No. I'm not a good person."
Liz shook her head but continued smiling.
"I need you to get back on your feet, Lady Sachie. You have to reach the peak of your life; otherwise, I can't push you down."
Even though Liz was smiling, there was a strange pressure in her face that made Sachie hesitate, saying, "Huh? What?"
"Do you really think what you did is forgiven?"
"Huh? No... well, that's..."
Sachie stammered, and Liz smiled, saying, "Of course not."
"I will never forget what you did, Lady Sachie. And when you reach the peak of your life, my goal is to push you down with a smile."
Liz was smiling widely, but everyone there knew how serious she was. They understood that this was her way of cheering Sachie on.
If that's the case, then it's the rival's job to understand that.
"You have a bad personality."
"Not as bad as yours, Lady Sachie."
Liz shook her head, and Sachie sighed but still lifted her face cheerfully.
"I won't lose to you. There's no way I'll be pushed down. I'm Catherine Evans. I'm the main character and the beloved heroine."
Randy raised an eyebrow at Catherine, saying, "Do you even understand what Liz was talking about?"
"I do. I don't know what I want to do right now, but..."
Catherine slapped her cheeks and looked straight at Liz.
"From today, this is the real beginning of Catherine Evans."
"Yes."
"Watch this, Elizabeth. I'm definitely not going to lose to you."
"I'm cheering for you, Lady Catherine. I hope you can climb a high mountain and push me off."
Liz smiled, and Catherine took a small step back, showing a wry smile.
"Well, if you're feeling better, you should go home. There's still a no-contact order in place, you know."
"That doesn't count because I was brainwashed, so it's not valid."
Catherine laughed through her nose, and Randy let out a big sigh.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That's what I mean."
Randy grinned and called out to Harrison, who was waiting outside the door, "Harrison, our guest is leaving."
As Catherine stepped outside with Harrison, the sky was beautifully clear, as if the heavy rain from earlier had never happened.
Randy watched Harrison's carriage get smaller and sighed deeply.
"Did you feel a little better?"
"I don't know. Emotions are like the weather; they change gradually."
Even as she said that, Liz smiled and looked up at the sky.
"Randy is..."
"I'm Randolph Victor. I've been that for a long time."
"That's right. Randy is Randy."
In the sky above them, the first star twinkled faintly.
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