Volume 1 Chapter 61 Mean Villainess, Liberated
That day came suddenly.
It was the night before the tea party I was hosting at my home.
Since it was my tea party, I thought it might be nice to showcase some stone divination, so I picked up the leather pouch filled with stones.
As I casually reached into the leather pouch, I felt a gentle warmth on my fingertips.
I wondered why the pouch, which should only contain stones, was warm, and took out one stone that seemed to be the source of the heat.
"Iolite"
The warm stone was the iolite I had picked up in the underground of that temple on the day of the field trip.
The moment I saw it, I remembered the incident of the thousand-year curse.
It was a gem picked up in the place where the curse was cast, but it also resembled it.
The light I felt from this iolite was like the light from that day.
The day to break the curse might be near, and thinking that made me feel anxious.
To escape the vague, overwhelming anxiety, I clutched the ruby given to me by Lady Ruby with a desperate feeling.
"Whoa!"
The next moment, the heat I felt from the iolite intensified, and the light grew stronger.
It became a light I could no longer look at directly, and I instinctively closed my eyes.
When I opened my eyes again, there was a large unfamiliar door in front of me.
The dim, damp air wafting around suggested that the other side of the door was the underground of that temple.
I should have been in my room just a moment ago.
I couldn't yet tell if I had teleported or if this was just another lucid dream.
"Are you alright, Lady?"
"Eek, ah, Lady Ruby!"
Perhaps because I was clutching the ruby, Lady Ruby had somehow appeared beside me.
"Come on, let's go."
"Huh, where to?"
"To break it. The thousand-year curse."
"Oh... I knew it..."
It felt like my premonition was coming true, or perhaps it was as if an event had been prepared.
After all, if this were an RPG, the event movie would start playing.
And then the boss battle would begin...
I wonder if I'll be okay; I should have leveled up a bit more!
I hope it doesn't come to that.
"Please don't look so anxious, my lady. You'll be just fine."
Lady Ruby smiled gently, her beauty striking.
With such a strong ally by my side, surely everything would be alright.
Let whatever god of the earth come at me!
With that feeling, I pushed open the door before me.
Beyond the door, a dimly lit space spread out.
At the far end of the room, something glowed, and though it was backlit and hard to see, I felt a presence.
"Um, excuse me."
I murmured softly and stepped into the room.
Then, the figure moved.
"Don't come any closer!"
Though I couldn't see the figure well, the voice was anything but calm; it was clearly an angry shout.
Startled, I hesitated, but Lady Ruby pushed me from behind, so I began to walk again.
"I told you not to come!"
It was an obvious angry shout, yet somehow it sounded sad.
Strangely, the fear in my heart gradually faded, leaving only concern.
"I'm sorry, but I must approach."
With that, I hurried towards the source of the voice.
I intended to get close enough to see their face, but that didn't happen.
I realized, as I could see them more clearly, that the voice's owner was holding a sword.
Moreover, the sword's tip was pointed at me.
If I charged in like this, I'd be stabbed before I could even talk.
That would be dangerous.
"Hey, Lady Ruby, may I light a torch?"
"In that case, let me do it."
"──How selfish! Stop!"
"I want to talk to you."
"What did you say?"
As we exchanged such dialogue, Lady Ruby and I calmly lit the torches on the wall.
The room became somewhat brighter, and I finally saw the whole interior.
Directly in front of the door, at the far end of the room, was a wall of sparkling jewels.
And in front of that wall was something resembling a bed, buried in flowers, with a person lying on it.
Furthermore, the owner of the earlier voice stood in front of that bed.
"...May I take a moment?"
"N-no! Who are you...?"
"I'm Elena Alfano. Um... I might be the reincarnation of that child lying over there."
It's hard to see because of the flowers, but the one lying on that bed is the student in question.
And the one desperately protecting her is probably the knight.
"But if she's supposed to be reincarnated, then why?"
"It's a lingering thought that maintains its form through sheer will."
"Lingering thought."
I repeated Lady Ruby's words like a parrot, but I didn't quite understand.
"Should I say it's a spirit without a soul?"
It's a ghost.
No way.
"The soul has long since been reincarnated, leaving behind a lingering specter."
"No way, my past self has become a ghost..."
As I murmured this, Lady Ruby chuckled softly.
"That's not quite right. The specter with the strongest will is the knight. That one seems to be an illusion created by the specter."
The knight, hearing Lady Ruby's words, averted his gaze from us with a sorrowful expression.
Seeing his face, I felt tears welling up.
"I'm sorry for getting involved with someone like me, making you suffer for so long."
At my words, he furrowed his brow sadly and weakly shook his head.
"...The one who suffered is her. She must surely resent this world and its people."
"That's not true. I read the diary she wrote, and there wasn't a single feeling of resentment in it. It was because you were there."
"I, was."
As he murmured this, his cheeks faintly flushed.
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