Volume 4, Chapter 16 – The Last Will & The Prophecy

Just as Fia had thought, the servants were extremely surprised by her return. The senior maid who first came out to greet her frantically gathered the other maids, then cautiously asked if she would like them to give her a tour of the palace to introduce the locations and functions of its various facilities.

The senior maid’s actions indicated that she already knew about the memory loss. Fia didn’t press the matter. Although the news had come from the mouth of a political enemy, the Northern Prince, she had long suspected that Count Evan and the Second Prince’s tutor, who had returned before her, would have let it slip. She had never intended to hide it from the start, so she wasn’t particularly surprised now.

Rather than touring the luxurious palace with a maid, Fia was more interested in discovering what the Eldest Princess’s private life was like. If she could find something like a diary in the study or bedroom, it would be a stroke of immense luck.

Prying into someone’s privacy was by no means a good habit, but it couldn’t be helped now. After all, a diary would allow her to understand who the princess was close to and what had happened between them, which would help her adapt to her current life more quickly.

“This is the place you frequented the most.”

Led by a young maid, Fia stood before a set of double doors. On this entire floor, this room’s door was the most exquisitely decorated. The golden handle gleamed under the sunlight from the corridor.

“There are always maids on standby outside the door. If you need anything, you can give us your orders.”

The young maid, her head bowed and eyes closed, was the picture of subservience, her movements so standard they were flawless.

Her looks and figure were both excellent, yet here she was, working as a servant. The royalty certainly knew how to enjoy life. While marveling at this, Fia couldn’t help but recall the scene of the maids assembling earlier. Dozens of beautiful women in long maids’ dresses stood in several rows; anyone who didn’t know better would have thought it was a beauty pageant.

“What is your name?”

“Colita.”

Fia scanned the maid with [Wind of Exploration]. Although she was just a maid, her level was already at the Fourth Rank. This level of strength would be considered skilled even in the Imperial Guard.

Fia couldn’t help but be secretly astonished.

“Are all the maids as strong as you?”

“Uh,” for some reason, Colita paused for a moment, then revealed a pure, untainted smile. “This level of strength is insignificant compared to Your Highness.”

“But you’re already at the Fourth Rank.”

“You must have seen incorrectly. I only have the mana of a Second-Rank.”

“Eh.”

She was clearly Fourth Rank. Colita was deliberately hiding her strength.

Was she a spy planted by her side?

Wait.

Fia suddenly realized something.

She remembered what Renee had said about the Eldest Princess’s organization.

What kind of place would be both safe and able to receive orders quickly, without arousing suspicion? In the past, Fia had assumed the mysterious organization was composed entirely of spies. But now, seeing as the princess had such a massive palace, and the maids within had always belonged to her, it was hard to believe she wouldn’t have placed some of her organization’s members among them.

And the Colita before her was very likely one of them.

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At this thought, Fia’s movements stiffened. But before she could confirm Colita’s identity, the maid suddenly asked.

“Does Your Highness have any orders?”

“Mmm…”

Since she would have to face this organization sooner or later, it was better to meet their leader early and make everything clear.

Fia feigned a moment of deep contemplation.

“Go and call Erin Slate here. Also, have a city-wide search conducted for a woman named ‘Claire.’ Her characteristics are: human, long silver hair, green eyes, and about the same height as you, Colita. Remember to write down the characteristics I’ve mentioned on paper before you send out the notice.”

“Understood. May I ask why you are looking for this Claire…?”

“She is very important to me.”

“Yes, I understand. I will go and inform the other maids to come over. If Your Highness needs anything, you can find them.”

After waving Colita away, Fia pushed open the doors and stepped inside.

—To describe it as a room was entirely inappropriate.

Colita had led her into a vast hall on the second floor that served as both a library and a magic laboratory. The ceiling was over seven meters high, and as far as the eye could see, there were shelves crammed with all kinds of books. Some were so high up that one would need to use [Flight] to reach them.

Before arriving, Colita had explained that in order for the princess to be able to use magic without leaving the Royal Castle, the King had specially summoned the magic-casters of the Three Main Towers to set up a barrier beneath this palace that countered the [Citadel of Silence]. Therefore, this was one of the few areas in the entire Royal Castle where magic could be used.

There was no smell of dust as one might expect. As it was cleaned daily by dedicated staff, the vast library was filled not only with the scent of paper but also a fragrance like that of flowers. A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, and the walls were adorned with plants like glowing spider plants and creepers. The entire left wall was made of glass windows, allowing sunlight to easily flood the room, filling the entire library with the aura of a magical world.

Following the aisle, Fia quickly found the desk the princess usually used. The exquisite and antique desk was placed under a window, and the books and notes on it were still in the same state as when the princess had left—Fia assumed this because the books on the desk were in complete disarray, not looking as if they had been tidied.

Recalling the incident where Liti had spilled water on the princess’s book and been slapped, it was highly likely that the princess had ordered the maids not to touch her books.

This worked perfectly in her favor.

Fia quickly walked to the desk.

As it had not been used for a long time, the desk was covered in a thin layer of dust. Fia used [Cleanse] to wipe it clean, then picked up the topmost book.

It was filled with notes on high-rank magic, and it wasn’t written by the princess. Fia just flipped through it casually and set it aside. What she needed was something the princess had written herself, preferably a diary.

Because the books were piled four or five layers high and were arranged in a chaotic manner, Fia had no choice but to organize them for the princess one by one.

“She was a brilliant princess who cherished books, yet she left them in such a mess. Did she have bad personal habits?” she mused while examining the traces of the princess’s life.

From the descriptions of others, the princess was a lady with no faults in any aspect. She shouldn’t have left her books in such a mess, giving the impression that she was untidy and ill-mannered.

“Although they are all theoretical books, they still paint a picture of the past.”

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Fia could already imagine the princess at dusk, sitting at her desk with her back to the sun, quietly reading a magic book. Her long black hair would slide down her snow-white shoulders, her cute brow would be slightly furrowed, and her devastatingly beautiful, cold face would be full of contemplation. If she wore glasses, she might even have been mistaken for a literary-type elf.

As the one who had inherited the princess’s body, this feeling was difficult to describe in words. It was a sense of “so this is what I was like.” It even made her hesitate, feeling that to continue organizing was to erase the traces of the princess left in the world, which felt incredibly cruel.

“Hm?”

Halfway through organizing the books, Fia’s movements paused.

An unlabeled, indigo-colored book had appeared before her.

Unlike the other exquisitely bound, hardcover books, this one, though also made of parchment, was just a thin booklet, more like a notepad.

Fia quickly opened it, but the inside was blank.

Nothing was written.

Was she just being too sensitive?

Unwilling to give up, Fia turned the booklet back to the first page.

There was a line of elegant handwriting, clearly written by a girl.

『Successor, me, blood.』

The moment she saw these words, Fia’s breath caught, and her pupils constricted.

Although they were just three short words, they were all written in the language of the Human Alliance.

“Impossible…”

Fia couldn’t help but whisper. There was no way the elf princess could have known the Human Alliance language.

Could this not be her handwriting? But besides the princess, who else would have been qualified to sit here?

Frowning, Fia looked at the handwriting again, and she noticed something.

Although the words were in the Human Alliance language and were written quite beautifully, there was a certain stiffness to them, a feeling of imitation. Just as a normal person’s handwriting would have connecting strokes and not be written one stroke at a time, this line of text gave Fia the impression of a beginner copying from a model. Every stroke was written with extra care, but it lacked a natural flow.

In other words, the princess was probably not fluent in the language.

This was likely just the princess practicing her writing—of course, it could also be a message. However, Fia found it hard to believe it was the latter. If the princess was trying to convey something, it meant she knew someone would see this note. And considering the word “successor,” besides herself, Fia couldn’t find a second suitable candidate.

If this line was something the princess had left for her to see, it would mean that the princess knew she would take over her body—that she had already foreseen her own death.

This was simply preposterous. Even the most advanced technology of the Shining Era could not completely predict the future.

The princess could not possibly be more powerful than the most advanced AI of the Shining Era; otherwise, this world would not be in its current backward state. Fia could only interpret it as a coincidence. The princess had happened upon the writing of the Human Alliance language somewhere, and out of curiosity, had copied it down on paper. As for a word like “successor,” that too was a coincidence.

Even so, unease quickly filled Fia’s heart. She no longer had the leisurely attitude from before. She began to earnestly check every book, trying to find any traces of the Human Alliance language. If she could find a book written in that language, her theory would be proven.

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That is, the princess was simply learning the language.

After all, there were multiple transmigrators in this world. If there were others like Laplace’s Demon, it wouldn’t be strange for them to have left behind books written in the Human Alliance language.

However, the reality was that not a single book matched her expectations. The books covered elf, the Milcandis holy language, beast-kin, and even the language of the Alfrieg Kingdom, but not one was written in the language of the Human Alliance. Fia even went through the books in the drawers but found nothing.

Could the book be on one of the shelves?

Fia looked up at the densely packed books in the hall. There were so many that even with her eidetic memory, it would take a considerable amount of time to go through them all. Her only option was to call the maids and have them help her look for a script they had never seen before.

“How could she predict the future…”

Muttering to herself, Fia’s gaze returned to the little booklet she had set aside.

Suppose, just suppose, that the words in this booklet were left for me by the princess. Besides her being able to predict the future, is there any other possibility?

A thought that had never occurred to her before surfaced in Fia’s mind.

The princess didn’t predict the future.

She planned her own death.

“Absolutely not.”

Frowning deeply, Fia rejected her own guess.

Admittedly, the more she learned about the princess, the more puzzling her death became. Her wisdom was far beyond that of an ordinary person, and her foresight was so profound that it was difficult for others to see what she was planning. When the princess saw the purple light of the Unsinkable Moon, even if she didn’t realize what it was, she should have recognized it as a powerful attack spell and reacted accordingly. Yet, she had been killed instantly by it, without any reaction at all.

This was not how the princess would have acted.

And if the princess had intended to be killed by the Unsinkable Moon from the beginning, then her death made perfect sense.

But the question was, why?

Why did the princess want to die? How could she have known that Fia would take her place? And if she had planned her own death, why didn’t she tell Anastasia, or her Father?

Not only that, she hadn’t even left any clues for her successor. If she had a compelling reason for Fia to take her place, she should have at least left instructions on what to do next. Yet, all she had left were some candies and a few magic crystals. Nothing else.

It was all so bizarre and illogical.

Fia preferred to believe that the princess had simply died due to carelessness, and that these words were just something she had seen somewhere and written down on a whim. After all, besides machines, living beings were always doing things that were hard to understand.

But even with that thought, she couldn’t stop herself from picking up the booklet again and repeating the words.

“Successor, me, blood.”

If the princess was trying to send a message, it was highly likely she was telling her to do something with blood.

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Subconsciously, Fia thought the princess wanted her to drip blood on the booklet. The rest of it was blank. If there was a hidden message, there had to be a corresponding method to reveal it, just like how some letters had to be heated by fire or soaked in water to be read.

There was no harm in trying. Fia hesitated for a moment, then, with a thought, had Laevateinn fly before her. She drew the blade’s edge across her right index finger.

A sharp sting and blood instantly gushed from the wound. Fia quickly pressed her finger onto the booklet. However, she didn’t smear the blood all over the page, but rather left a small thumbprint on each one.

She didn’t know which page the princess had left a message on. This way, she could test them all.

A long wait.

I hope nothing appears.

Fia prayed in her heart.

—Unfortunately, her wish did not come true.

Just below the words left by the princess, some blue text gradually appeared. Because the blood didn’t cover the whole page, Fia could only see fragmented phrases in the elf language like “made of blood” and “switch.” She immediately covered the area with fresh blood, and finally, the complete sentences were revealed.

『As expected of me, to find this place even after becoming like this.』

『I don’t know what I will become, but there is still time to turn back. I leave here a method to prevent things from getting worse.』

『First, the thing necessary to reverse the Darkborn Disease is my blood… These things that contain unknown elements can easily cure a person, even the Darkborn Disease is no exception. It can even turn the disease to my advantage, transforming it into something that strengthens a person. Use the blood…』

『Then, a method to contact Erin Slate…』

『I hope I will never see these words. That would prove I was wrong.』

The text ended there. The information the princess left was quite brief, as if she herself wasn’t sure she could accomplish a certain task.

But one thing was certain: she knew that after doing something, she might no longer be herself, which was why she had written down this key information here.

The reality was just as she had thought.

The princess had foreseen all of this.

Fia’s brows knitted together tightly, her ruby eyes incredibly grave.

Because this implied something else.

It’s possible that I was the princess from the very beginning.

And then.

Poof.

Without any warning, the booklet in Fia’s hand burst into flames. In just an instant, the white paper turned into a pile of ash with a speed that defied the laws of physics.