I Was Reincarnated as the Prince in a Villainess Story, so I’ll Use My Cheat Knowledge to Create a Noble Lady Harem and Make Them All Happy - 62

Chapter 62: There Is No Villainess

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Valis could not take his eyes off Reina. To think that while harboring such deep affection, she had arrived at “this conclusion” in the end… When he thought of her agony, a burning pain seared the depths of his chest. A feeling of self-loathing even flickered through him, making him want to run away.

She appeared to be maintaining her sanity. However, upon her head were horns unique to the demon race, and upon her back were black wings like those of a crow.

She is resisting the domination. All while clutching both her noble spirit and her dark affection in her hands.

The tears she had shed when Mina spoke to her at the wedding and the tears streaming down her cheeks now bore the same quality of light. That was the proof Valis wanted to believe in. That was precisely why he searched for words to shake her resolve. He felt no intent within Reina to harm him. However, as she had said, time was limited.

Even if the Holy Kingdom invoked a Holy War, the possibility of Alveria losing was low. However, there would be sacrifices. In particular, a military force stripped of fear and hesitation by a Holy War would result in a massive loss of life. Reina, even in this current form, would not permit that. If her stalling for time led to needless sacrifice, Reina would never forgive herself, even if Morrigan were sealed and she returned to normal.

“…Reina. There is just one thing I want you to tell me.”

“…?”

He didn’t intend to stall for time. But as he agonized over what to do, the words surfaced.

“Why did you fall in love with me so much? What was the catalyst for it?”

Valis knew better than anyone that Reina was a woman of deep emotion. He also knew her personality—that once she was chosen as a “fiancée,” even if it wasn’t by her own will, she was the type to face that role with her whole heart and soul. But even so, what was the “catalyst” for her to harbor such passion since they were children? This connected to the question that had stuck in his mind before he reached this hall.

…Why was it necessary to make Reina the “fiancér of the Crown Prince”?

Laura’s wish was revenge against Ars, who had discarded her, and Mina, who had been the catalyst, and by extension, the Alveria royal family. Morrigan’s wish was likely liberation from the seal. If so, the efficient route would have been to plant hatred for the royal family in the young Reina and lead her toward summoning the Demon God and breaking the seal, like Lynas Wolm’s case.

Where exactly was the catalyst for Reina’s love for Valis? He wanted to know the answer. Reina connected her words in a halting murmur.

“…Mother told me… to become a lady worthy of the royal family… worthy of the Crown Prince… because if I did, she said I would surely be happy…..She told me that if I fulfilled my role properly and loved sincerely, I would surely be able to become happy just like she was… That is what Mother told me…”

Her voice grew weak.

“…That’s why Mother taught me everything about how to behave toward you…”

Reina was acting strange—no, more than that, these words turned a “key” in an entirely unexpected direction.

…Become “happy” like her mother, Laura?

Valis closed his eyes and drew a breath deep into his lungs. He had assumed that Reina’s mother, Laura, had not been happy at all. He assumed she was told her engagement was broken by Ars, could not give him up, married Livele, and left a will to have her daughter marry into the royal family. And that she had used the Demon God Morrigan to make that happen.

“…A broken engagement. And afterward, the prince marrying another woman… If anything, Laura-sama fits the template of a ‘villainess’ more than Reina-neesama does.”

Feril’s words echoed inside his head once more. But… What if the premise was wrong? What if no contract existed between Morrigan and Reina’s mother Laura, and she hadn’t been thinking of revenge at all? Valis opened his eyes quietly, letting his thoughts crystallize into clear words.

What if there was never a Villainess to begin with!

Valis gazed at Reina. Because of his previous question, a flicker of hesitation had appeared within Reina herself.

I’ll bet on this possibility.

Valis raised a one-handed sword woven from Archive Arts horizontally and declared in a loud voice.

“I understand, Reina. I will grant your wish. I will strike down the Demon God Morrigan along with you, and then, I will live on with you etched into my heart forever.”

“…!”

Reina’s eyes moistened with a light that resembled happiness. Only the way her tears flowed, as if stuck to her face, betrayed the distortion of the situation. She spread her arms wide, as if inviting him…

“Yes. Please, close the curtain on me with your own hands!”

In the next instant, Valis’s figure vanished from Reina’s sight as if bursting away.

Archive Arts: Leap.

He “bounced” the spatial vector over a short distance and charged head-on toward the center of his vision. A line of steel extended in a straight path.

“Augh…!!”

With a muffled groan, the tip of the blade was sucked into Reina’s chest and passed straight through to her back. A single piercing blade. But it was not a blade meant to end things there. 

Now, move…!

The horns on Reina’s head and the black wings on her back swirled into miasma. That was it—if Reina died, the demon would end too, so it had to happen. Valis vanished the sword and immediately released the spell formula of the vestments. The healing of Divine Arts woven in by Miria became a white light that enveloped Reina’s chest, and the piercing wound closed in the blink of an eye.

As long as you aren’t dead, I’ll heal you—he used the power Miria had described on Reina.

The instantaneous “Leap” that even Reina could not read just now was an application of the gravity control formula that the famous Warlock specialized in. Valis had not yet refined it enough to use in actual combat, but it was sufficient to move in a straight line into the bosom of a stationary target. That one move slightly delayed Morrigan’s departure. The miasma swirled, still within reaching distance.

This was the only chance. Valis pulled the unconscious Reina close and immediately began the incantation.

“…Chronos Cage.”

The Book of Morrigan, harboring Amon’s power, made a low hum as it began creating duplicates. The open books drew semi-circular orbits, deploying to surround the vortex of miasma. Space-time magic manifested by drinking Amon’s power. It fixed the miasma along with the surrounding time, while the books churned and decomposed it.

The tracks where the books passed became black particles, as if the invisible miasma itself had frozen, and were sucked into the walls of the ruins. There wasn’t even a death cry. It was the quiet disappearance of the Demon God Morrigan.

The horns on Reina’s head vanished, and the black wings disappeared as well.

“…Valis?”

Within his arms, Reina slowly opened her eyes. Valis leaned his face in and pressed his forehead against hers.

“…You idiot, Reina.”

His face contorted, and hot tears spilled out. Reina wiped away the trails of those tears with her finger and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

At that moment, a faintly glowing silver bracelet floated up from deep within Reina’s body.

…It’s the same as Lynas Wolm’s. Were there two of them?

Likely, this one was the real one. The one Lynas had must have been a duplicate. Morrigan must have set up multiple last-ditch efforts for her resurrection. That was why it couldn’t be found, since the real one had been dwelling within Reina. He no longer felt any miasma, and a soft light was leaking from the bracelet.

(Reina…)

A kind, soft voice reached Valis’s ears as well.

“…Mother.”

Reina whispered. Even if it was a relic of demonic origin, what remained there was a human voice. In all likelihood, it was Laura’s lingering thoughts.

(My precious Reina… please live happily, just as I did.)

“…Just like me… Mother definitely said that…”

Reina nodded through her sobs. Valis had certainly heard it too. The voice continued in a tone like the sound of gentle bells.

(Reina, I learned the etiquette of a Queen from the time I was small, but my body was weak, and by the time I was ten, I knew I would never be able to bear Lord Ars’s children.)

(So, when I was told the engagement was broken and heard that he would marry Lady Mina… I was relieved.)

(I felt that I didn’t have to push myself anymore. But then, I wondered what I had been born for. At that moment, Livele said to me, “Won’t you marry me?” He was a person who had been by my side like an older brother for a long time. It was already decided that he would inherit Agreia, and he could have married anyone, even if it wasn’t a woman as flawed as I was… yet, he still chose me.)

(I was so happy. For the first time, I felt glad that I had worked so hard to become a Queen.)

Large tears spilled from Reina’s eyes.

(Livele. My beloved Livele. I love you.)

(With a life that wasn’t very long, my only sadness was that I would leave a scar on your long life. I was frustrated by that. But, you were born, Reina. Your father was against it, but this was the one thing I wanted to see through to the end.)

The voice grew distant bit by bit.

(I love you, Reina.)

(The fact that you love someone and live your life with all your might will never be in vain.)

(Just like me, you might not be chosen by a Prince, but I’m sure there is someone who will “look only at you,” just like Livele did.)

(I’m sorry I couldn’t live by your side. Please, you too, live happily, just as I did.)

The light faded away as if slipping through the gaps between fingers. In its place, Reina’s sobbing filled the hall. Reina had not been born for Laura’s revenge. Just as Reina’s father, Livele, had loved Laura so much that he threw words at Ars saying he would even turn his bow against the country, Laura also loved Livele deeply.

There was never a villainess to begin with. That fact alone was now unshakable.

Valis held Reina tightly as she buried her face in his chest and cried, and he began the incantation for their return.

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