Returned from Another World, Earth Turned Out to Be Quite the Fantasy Too. Also, Losing Heroines, Stop Looking This Way. - V6 Chapter 00: Prologue

Chapter 00: Prologue — “Isn’t the Princess Plotting Something?”

Beatrice Blescott gnawed at her nails as she thought about what she needed to do.

“…We finally defeated the Demon King, and yet the hero ends up dying? Seriously, how useless!”

Even as blood began to seep out, she kept biting her nails.

She was the Saint who had successfully summoned the hero—and also a princess of the Blescott royal family.

A beautiful woman with smooth golden hair flowing down to her waist… yet something about her felt off, almost deranged.

The maids around her held their breath, careful not to provoke her even slightly.

At twenty-two years old, Beatrice had, six years ago, succeeded in summoning a hero—Natsuki Yura—from another world.

By keeping him under her control, she had crushed half of the Demon King’s army and ultimately brought down the Demon King himself.

At the same time, she was widely known as a tragic woman—one who had lost the hero she loved, despite their supposed mutual feelings.

In reality, she had repeatedly tried to seduce him in hopes of bearing his child—but never once succeeded. Out of frustration, she simply spread rumors to suit her own narrative.

And even before that, there was a more serious issue—since childhood, she had been in a physical relationship with the captain of the royal knights, a close friend of her father, the king.

Her indecent behavior was carefully concealed, so very few knew the truth.

Once, a maid who had infiltrated the palace as a spy for a rival house discovered this secret. When it came to light, the girl was subjected to brutal torture… and then silenced for good.

Since that incident, none of the maids assigned to the princess dared oppose her—no matter where they came from.

Above all else, they prioritized their own survival.

“…That man too… even when I, the so-called flower of the royal family, was right there—he wouldn’t lay a hand on me… just looked at me like that… I’m glad he’s dead.”

The real problem was that she hadn’t managed to leave behind the hero’s bloodline.

She had reported to the king—her father—that her relationship with the hero was going well, so now she was being scolded for failing to bear his child.

Beatrice was twenty-two.

At her age, it wouldn’t be strange at all for her to already be married.

And yet, she had spent the most important years of her late teens “devoted” to the hero.

—In reality, she had simply traveled around with him, hopping from place to place while attending noble parties.

Beatrice grew impatient.

Her younger sister had already made a grand announcement of her engagement to a court mage.

With the Demon King defeated, the whole kingdom was in a celebratory mood.

And since the hero was already a thing of the past, people were beginning to forget Beatrice’s achievements as well.

There were plenty of men proposing to her—the “tragic princess”—but she had no interest in mediocre fools.

The overwhelming strength of the hero was still burned into her mind.

She couldn’t forget it.

She wanted a child from that powerful man.

That desire hadn’t changed even now.

“—That’s it. If the hero is gone… I’ll just summon a new one instead.”

Fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—the long-held wish of the Blescott royal family was simple: the complete destruction of the demon race.

If their “piece,” the hero, was gone… then all they had to do was prepare the next one.

It was only natural.

The real issue was whether they could successfully summon another hero.

Hero summoning required an enormous amount of magical power.

When they summoned Natsuki Yura, they had managed it by consuming a huge amount of the royal family’s inherited mana stones.

But now, those mana stones were gone.

And they didn’t even have the money to acquire new ones.

—Then, all they had to do was drain magic from somewhere else.

Beatrice smiled.

To make her plan a reality.

To prove herself right to the man who had rejected her.

—And so, Beatrice succeeded in summoning a hero for the second time.

〜〜Afterword〜〜

And with that, Volume 06 begins.

First, a bit from the other world’s side.

Beatrice (the first original name from that world makes an appearance) is up to something.

Next time, we return to Nacchan’s side—he’ll finally be heading home!