Hmm.....

　I wake up as the morning sun comes into the room.

　Then I tried to get up to wake up, but I found Fee's right hand in my left.

　From then on, we just went to sleep. We spent the night on the couch, holding hands. Fee had been sleeping peacefully, breathing peacefully in his sleep, probably calmed down by the confirmation that his parents weren't dead yet.

　But now his mouth was slowly opening, and if he didn't, he was going to dribble out one of his saliva. If that happens, it will be very embarrassing for Fee.


"Fee. Hey, Fee.
'Uh ... um ... um ... ah ... just five more minutes ... ah ... ugh ...'
It's drooling.
'What?　What...?　Huh?　Why is Elle next to me?　Oh, why are you even holding hands!
No ... do you remember what happened yesterday?
'Oh....'


　Fee's face turns pale with a surly smile. To be honest, I'm used to this exchange, so I don't really care about it now, but....... Fee's seemed strangely flustered.


''I mean, I'm not even naked!
'No, I'm used to seeing them. Besides, Fee wouldn't have to wear makeup.
"...What?　What do you want!　You can't flatter me now!
No, it's true, though, isn't it?　I'm not going to tell a lie. You know that.
'Yes, but..........wait a minute!　Because, as expected, I need to wash my face!
Yeah, sure. Yeah, go ahead.


　Fee's guy just jumped up and disappeared. Even under the current circumstances, the infrastructure is not inoperative. The electricity is running, and the water supply is fine. As you would expect from being hit by these things, there are a lot of problems, but at the very least they seemed to be in place.


　With that, I also followed Fee as he left the room.


　Most of the people in this building are from the Order, or perhaps only from the Order, but even so, I felt like they were rather numerous.


''Elle. Are you awake?
"Serena. Fluffy ah ... good morning.
Totally. That's sloppy.
I'm sorry to hear that. I've been a little busy. But I'm a legitimate farmer's girl. I've never been good at mornings.
''Hmm.......if that's all I can say, I hope that's all I can say.
Did you hear that story?
Is this about the body?
''Oh. As far as I've seen, that wasn't the corpse of the head of one of the three great lords. It was cleverly disguised, though.
That would be nice for me, but then again, it does raise the question.
'Yes. What was the purpose of doing so...?
Yes....


　There was no way for me and Serena to think about it.


　That's how the morning meeting of the knights was going to be held, so we were going to head there.



　◇



Umm ... um ... um ...


　I wake up.

　At the same time, I thought it was cold........

　Yes. The place I am in now is a dungeon. I'm being held in a cell underneath the royal castle.


'Alice, are you awake?'
'Brother Oscar how could you do this to me...'
Why?　Of course, that's the consensus of the mystics.
''It's a lie I know about the mystics, but I don't think they'd go this far with the stones.
'You're a very smart Alice, aren't you? Yes, I am. It's just my choice.
Is that why you spill the blood of so many of the king's people?
I don't kill the king and his people indiscriminately. It's more that we don't want too many deaths in this case. And the soldiers we're using for that........oops, no more secrets.
'....Are all the other royals killed?
'That's not very nice of you to say. I don't want to destroy the kingdom and I don't want to be the new king. I told you earlier.　That my goal is not murder, nor is it human blood. This is a sideshow, so to speak. A sideshow. There will be people dead, but it will be minimal. Who's really dead in the first place is... well, it's a secret from now on. We'll find out someday, anyway.
A sideshow...?
That's right. Well, I'll use Alice's name for that, but that's okay, right?　You're not really royalty, you know.
....


　He whispers that from behind the bars and I can't say anything.

　I know where I'm coming from. This is a well-known story among royalty. Even among the nobility, those who know it know it. Fortunately, no one close to me seems to know yet, but I'm sure the doctor will eventually find out.

　I, Alice Canovaria, am royalty, but that's not right.

　All pure-blooded royalty has noble and royal blood running through their veins. Royal marriages are limited to nobles or those with a high aptitude for alchemy. But my mother was a maid. A maid in this royal castle. That is where I come from.

　I was born after my father, the king, dabbled in it on a whim.

　I was not pure-blooded royalty, and I was busy living in this royal castle. That's why I didn't have enough spirit left to rebel head-on against Brother Oscar's words.

　What little moonlight was shining from outside.

　It illuminates my body.

　Then I put my hands on the food that was left behind by my brother, who was already gone. I don't want to starve to death. I eat the bread that was thrown away in a mess and get lost in thought.

　How I became the person I am now........Alice Canovaria.