CHAPTER 22

Mother

I storm up the spiral staircase until I reach the queen’s room. She gets one small loaf of bread a day. I feel sorry for her, so I started giving her fruit for dinner as well. With an apple in hand, I slowly open the door to find the queen lying in bed.

“Uwoh? Uwoh?”

I call out to her, but she’s in a deep sleep. After placing the fruit on the table, I take the queen’s hand.

Just a little longer… Just a little longer until that rude Hero finishes the ritual. Termine will finally be saved, and you’ll be able to get out of this tower…

That’s when I notice.

Huh? What’s this?

The queen is holding something in her right hand. Curious, I gently open the sleeping queen’s hand and grab what she was clutching. It’s a small doll of a young girl who appears to be a handmaid. It’s probably old, judging by the wear and filth. But even if it wasn’t dirty, I would never say it was beautiful craftsmanship, not even as flattery. The face and hair are sloppily done to say the least. But for some reason, I turn it around, look at the back…and my eyes open wide.

To Mom       Love, Tiana

Those words are stitched into the back with black thread.

W-wait… When I was a human, did I…?!

The doll in my hand suddenly disappears.

“Look at the old hag, sleeping like a baby. I’ve never seen her like this.”

“Uwoh?!”

The deep voice sends a chill down my spine. I turn around to find the massive king of the beastkin—Grandleon—behind me, holding the doll I’d been examining.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. There was just something bothering me. When the hag was looking at you yesterday…that wasn’t how she looks at beastkin. And now this. You’re here, and she’s sound asleep.”

The queen suddenly awakens to the sounds of our voices. But one look at Grandleon and her expression stiffens. She braces herself, but…

“Ah…!”

She suddenly shrieks and stares at her right hand. The doll she was holding is now in Grandleon’s grasp.

“What? Is this yours, hag? Where have you been hiding it? Under your bed?”

“That’s none of your business! Just give it back!”

The usually detached queen is now red in the face and screaming. Grandleon realizes this isn’t normal and takes an even harder look at the doll.

“Something special about this doll?”

Grandleon then checks out the back.

“Tiana… That was your daughter’s name, wasn’t it? Which means… Oh. This was a gift from your daughter.”

“G-give that back…!”

The queen walks all the way up to Grandleon and stretches her arm as far as she can to retrieve the doll from the massive beast.

“Give that back! Right now!”

“Shut your wrinkled old mouth!”

With a roar, he pushes the queen with his free hand. That alone sends her flying back and onto the floor.

“Uwoh!”

I promptly rush over to the queen. I help her sit up and rub her back, but the queen’s eyes are locked on Grandleon, as if I don’t even exist.

“Please… Give it back…”

Grandleon listens to her pitiful pleas, then spits on the floor.

“Is your dead daughter’s toy that important to you?”

“Tiana… Tiana isn’t dead!”

“Huh? You hit your head and forget or something? Ultimaeus split your daughter open, and she died a miserable death. Just like this…”

The queen violently trembles as Grandleon squeezes the doll in his hand.

“Stop…! Enough…!”

But in the very next moment, the fibers begin popping as the doll is split in half at the waist. Grandleon then offhandedly tosses the broken doll on the floor.

“Tiana…!”

The queen’s voice strains.

…I clench my teeth while watching Grandleon’s violence. I want to do something, but I’m powerless. I would just get knocked to the ground like the queen. So I try to hold her up while embracing her from behind.

“Mn…! Tiana… Tiana…!”

That’s when…

Drip.

Something falls on the arm I have around her shoulder.

What?! N-no…! She’s…!

Tears endlessly flow down the queen’s cheeks.

“Hey, hey, hey! Look at that! She cried… The old hag cried! It took an entire year, but she cried! Is this raggedy doll really that important to her?”

I’m just as bewildered as Grandleon. Was the doll what kept her going? The doll I gave her in a past life? B-but why is that doll so…?

I look down at the pitiful, torn-in-half doll by my feet, and my desire to know naturally activates Appraise.

A doll that a young Princess Tiana made for her mother. [Warning] Do you wish to know the details?

W-warning?! What the…?!

I hesitate for a moment, but of course I want to know the details if I can. I wish to know more in my head when I suddenly start feeling dizzy.

…I abruptly find myself in a gray world like a black-and-white movie. Luxurious furniture decorates the unfamiliar bedroom.

“Mom! Mom!”

A girl around five years old rushes past me in a white dress. Standing before the young girl is Queen Carmilla in a dress as well. Her once wrinkled face is now completely smooth.

“Tiana! No running inside! It’s bad manners!”

Scolded, the little girl lowers her rueful face.

“But…I really wanted to show you this, Mom…”

“What’s that?”

“A doll… I made it.”

Queen Carmilla reaches for the doll when she notices Tiana’s hand covered in scratches.

“Your hand is a mess. You’re too clumsy to be playing with sewing needles.”

“But, Mom, you’ve been so busy with work that we hardly have time to see each other, right?”

Princess Tiana cheerfully smiles.

“So pretend this is me and keep it with you wherever you go!”

The young princess playfully moves the doll’s arms and legs.

“Look! That way, we’ll always be together! Even when I’m far away, I’ll always be with you, Mom!”

“Sigh… You little…”

After accepting the doll, the queen pats young me on the head, then smiles.

“Thank you. I’ll take good care of it.”

I blink, and the gray world disappears. Once again, I stand before the monolithic Grandleon. The monster glares at the queen as I hold her up.

“Did seeing your dead daughter’s toy break upset you that much? Tch. I’ll never understand humans.”

Grandleon approaches the queen, then grabs a handful of her hair and brings his wicked, lion-esque face toward hers.

“But I’m glad! I’ve waited so long to taste your anguish! Everyone you love is dead! Your daughter, the king, your retainers, and your people—everyone who has ever meant anything to you—they’re all dead! Listen here, you old bat. There is no hope for this world anymore!”

He lets go of her hair, and she crumples to her knees.

“Feels good to get that load off my chest. It’s been too long. Termine has finally succumbed to the beastkin.”

With an air of utmost satisfaction, Grandleon says:

“Now let’s get you over to the execution site so we can lop off that head of yours.”

W-wait! What?!

“U-uwoh! Uwoh, uwoh, uwoh!”

Unable to sit back and watch any longer, I stand before Grandleon, blocking his path to the execution site. To my surprise, though, he places a hand on my shoulder in a friendly manner.

“Oh, don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten about you. I’m impressed. You were working on getting this old hag to open her heart up to you first, huh? Then you dragged out her weakness. You lulled her into a false sense of security, then bam! Found her weakness. You’re good. From now on, think of this palace as your home.”

N-no! That’s not what I was trying to do…!

Grandleon shoves me out of the way to get by. Perhaps misinterpreting that as an attack, the earth serpent disguised as a fish appears and bares its fangs. But Grandleon simply laughs.

“You’ll get your reward later. But first, I need to execute this bag of bones.”

Ignoring me, he violently grabs the queen by the arm and drags her to the door. The fish that Seiya left for me will protect only me. Once it figured out that Grandleon had no intention of harming me, it returned to my body.

O-oh no! The queen’s going to be killed if I don’t do something! I have to stop him!

I open the door to go after them and look down the seemingly endless spiral staircase, but Grandleon is already gone.

What the…?! How did he go down the staircase so quickly?!

I rush down the stairs in a panic, but I’m so flustered that I trip and fall down them.

Ugh! Wh-why did this have to happen?! Why now?! It’s only been an hour since I met with Seiya! He hasn’t even finished half of the Celestial Sword Dance!

After finally making my way out of the tower, I look around, but Grandleon and the queen are still nowhere to be found.

The execution site! When I looked at it from the tower…it was this way!

My hunch proves right because, when I rush to my destination, I hear some beastkin talking while heading the same way.

“I heard they’re gonna finally execute that queen.”

“What? That old hag’s still alive?”

I’m in a hurry, but there are too many beastkin in the way, so I can’t get by.

“Uwoh! Uwoh, uwoh!”

The beastkin in front of me look back as if they’re annoyed by my screaming.

“What’s wrong with this fish?”

“Don’t make us eat you.”

They can give me dirty looks and taunt me all they want. I cut past them and solely focus on moving forward. After miserably running around for a while, I finally see Grandleon’s back. He’s making one of his men carry the queen while he leisurely walks ahead.

Th-thank goodness I caught up!

But the very next moment, I stop myself.

Wh-what am I doing?! I run over, catch up with them…then what?! Am I out of my mind?! There’s nothing I can do to stop Grandleon!

Lowering my gaze, I notice that I’m standing on gravel. Among the rubble stands a row of crosses for crucifixion, and there’s a guillotine nearby as well. Grandleon has already arrived at the execution site.

There’s no longer anything I can do! Seiya…!

But Seiya’s voice echoes inside my head.

“I will be prioritizing the ritual over everything else this time.”

I—I can’t…! Am I going to drag Seiya down again?! I can’t ask him for help no matter what! Besides, Ishtar told us to avoid direct confrontation with Grandleon!

I’m immediately swallowed up by regret.

All of this… This is all my fault! If I hadn’t taken the doll out of her hand, then Grandleon would have probably never noticed it! Seiya was right. This would have never happened if I had just kept my distance! I got too close to the queen!

It’s too late for regret, yet I can’t help but blame myself. But the only one who can do something about my ceaseless remorse is the Hero.

B-but…maybe Seiya will know what to do? Yeah…! Even if he has to fight Grandleon head-on, his overly cautious nature will once again guide him to victory!

“Seiya won’t be able to w-win.”

Adenela’s words suddenly pop into my head. Even if Seiya somehow uses Zet’s Berserk: Phase Two, which is supposedly an impossible task for humans, he would still apparently be no match for Grandleon. Going to Seiya for help like this would be meaningless. The Hexagram Ritual of Retribution is an absolute requirement to defeat Grandleon and save Termine. Which means… Which means…

I’m sorry, Queen Carmilla! Please forgive me! I can’t save you…!

The beastkin drags the queen along like luggage, her eyes vacant. Up ahead is the guillotine, standing tall with its blackened blade stained with blood. When I look at the queen’s exhausted, hopeless profile, I can still imagine her sweet smile from when I gave her that doll.

Mom…!

The instant I enter the cavern, I hear an ear-piercing crackle as the light inside the cavern violently flickers in the blink of an eye. The divine atmosphere filling the space must have dispersed like mist. Seiya pauses mid-dance, then runs the platinum sword into the ground.

“…Rista, do you realize what you’ve done?”

Seiya snaps his fingers, returning me to my original form, then casts a reproachful gaze at me.

“All the work I put into defeating Grandleon—it was all for nothing.”

“U-um… B-but the queen…is about to be executed…by Grandleon…”

Seiya doesn’t say a word. Not knowing what kind of face to make or how to say it, I force a pathetic smile on my face.

“Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha… Y-you’re sick of me, aren’t you? You’re wondering how long I’m going to keep dragging you down. I know… Even after I made up my mind that our relationship is nothing more than goddess and Hero, I’m still here… But…I don’t know what to do…”

I approach Seiya, desperate for help, and place my head against his chest.

“Hate me all you want. I don’t care if you punch me or kick me. But please… I beg you… Save the queen…”

What am I even saying? There is no way Seiya can defeat Grandleon now that I ruined the ritual. Asking him to save the queen is beyond selfish. It’s reckless. But…still…

“Even though my memories are long gone…even though I’m no longer human…she’s my mother…!”

The tears endlessly drip off my cheeks.

“Please… Please save my mother! I beg of you…!”

I beg the human Hero as if I were praying to a god. A few moments of silence go by until…

“You’re a goddess, and I’m the Hero you summoned. Nothing more, nothing less. I vaguely remember you saying that in the spirit world.”

I tremble when I hear his sarcastic tone.

“I’m sorry! I’m so sorry…!”

The moment I apologize, Seiya grabs me by the shoulders and sternly pushes me away.

“Mn…! Sniffle…!”

No words are needed to convey his rejection. As he pushes my body away, I feel as if my spirit is far away from him as well. It hurts so much that I can’t hold back the tears.

But…I was wrong.

I hear the sound of metal clinking against metal. When I slowly look up with my tear-stained eyes, I see Seiya equipping his sheathed platinum sword.

“You’re right.”

“Seiya…?”

“How I feel about you is irrelevant. If the goddess who summoned me wants to save the queen…then that’s what I’ll do.”

After letting out a deep sigh, Seiya cracks his knuckles.

“Besides, I’ll never be able to defeat the Demon Lord if I don’t have what it takes to defeat the Beast Emperor on my own.”

Seiya looks at me with sharp eyes brimming with determination.

“Let’s go, Rista. It’s time to save the queen and defeat Grandleon.”