Chapter 160

9 A Waltz for Two In truth, she knew it was never going to happen. But still, she wanted to dream. The place where Jeanne de Rais once lived had been home to nothing but death. It was a remote place surrounded by cliffs, and everyone there lived knowing that death would someday take them. To them, Jeanne was nothing but a puppet meant to massacre them all. In order to create their fervent entreaty, the alchemists put their very lives on the line. “Grant us our wish, O Torture Princess. Send us to our eternal rest.” Jeanne had no desire to speak ill of their pride, nor did she intend to ridicule the cause they’d spent so long believing in. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have put in the work she had to see their dream to fruition and to become the maiden of salvation. As far as how she actually felt went, though, she had just one thing to say. “That’s so messed up! “I mean, if you’re dying, your dreams ain’t worth shit. They’re just a burden, weighing down the livin’.” The alchemists hadn’t let emotions influence their actions. To them, there was only death. And that coldness of theirs had been Jeanne’s entire world. But then she found something warm. Izabella was the first beautiful person she had ever met, and even after all the machine parts Jeanne had augmented her with, Izabella had retained her kindness. She was so gallant, so lovely, and always so warm. Izabella took her hand. Izabella didn’t shy away from her blood. Izabella cried for her sake. Izabella lamented her wounds. And so, Jeanne let herself believe. She’d even had a foolishly sappy exchange about it. “Marriage!” “Of course! We’ll have a big ceremony in the Capital!” She’d wanted so badly to believe. Like a maiden in the midst of a dream. “In truth, I knew it was never going to happen. But still, I wanted to dream of something beautiful.” There was no time to dodge the White Knight’s throw. In all likelihood, just about everyone was dead. Vyadryavka? Darius? The paladins? The Royal Knights? The saints? The beastfolk? Rubble fell. Fire rained down. They eclipsed everything. All of them? Elisabeth’s crimson eyes went wide. She found herself at a loss for words. Before her, she could see the solid line that had been gouged out of the city. Fire licked at the gash. It was like looking at a meteor’s landing site. The civilians had been evacuated already, but all the combatants were dead. There was little chance any of them had survived. Alice quietly raised her head. She posed her question with the indifference of a queen. “Now it’s truly over. Really and truly. Later, I’ll make sure to go kill the king who conspired with all those knights and saints, too. So are we done playing tag now?” She calmly cocked her head to the side. The look in her eyes made her intent perfectly clear. If the game was over, she was going to begin her massacre. She wasn’t even giving Elisabeth time to mourn the dead. Alice was a queen now, and her heart had no mercy in it. Elisabeth shook off her shock for the moment. She was just about to give her unhesitating answer, but then another voice cut in. “Not yet. We’re still here, aren’t we? Open your damn eyes, girl.” “We, married couple Izabella Vicker and Jeanne de Rais, will be your opponents.” The woman of gold and the woman of silver strode forward. The former’s right hand and the latter’s left hand were clasped tightly together with their fingers interwoven. Elisabeth bit her lip. The two of them were strong, to be sure. But they were no match for the Fremd Torturchen. And the gap between their strength and hers should have been obvious to them. Yet even so, they didn’t let go of each other’s hands, and they didn’t flee. The sheer depth of their resolve was plain for Elisabeth to see. However, she raised her voice anyway. “Jeanne, Izabella—this is beyond you. You’ve done enough!” “You said it yourself once. ‘If any dared tell me what to do, I’d lend them no ear.’ ‘The burden of your choice shall be yours alone to shoulder.’ And ‘Saving the world and destroying it are but mere matters of personal selfishness,’” Jeanne replied. Those were words that Elisabeth had spoken long ago at the World’s End. Elisabeth let out a small gasp. Sure enough, choosing to live or die was a burden that only a person themselves could shoulder. No matter what lay beyond, nobody had the right to stop them from making that decision. However, Elisabeth started to argue anyway. Before she could, however, Jeanne went on with a serene look in her eyes. “Do you have any regrets, foolish lady?” “What nonsense are you spouting, now? At this eleventh hour, how—?” “Could I possibly still have regrets,” she tried to finish. This was supposed to be a battle she was going to her death in. The very fact she was there should have refuted the very notion. But she couldn’t do it. For in that moment, “Ah—” Elisabeth remembered. It all hit her, whether she wanted it to or not. That one wish she had, the wish not unlike a star. Jeanne snorted upon seeing Elisabeth’s reaction. She spoke in a tone both severe and matter-of-fact. “You want to stop us. And when you succeed, you’ll end up dying in our place, but—‘you can’t seriously tell me you paid a single thought as to whether you’d regret it or not!’” This time, the words were ones that Kaito Sena had once spoken. Jeanne had been torn about whether or not to kill Izabella back at the World’s End, and that was what Kaito had told Jeanne to help her see that she wanted to save Izabella. Now Jeanne had taken that same comment and turned it back on Elisabeth. There was no way Elisabeth could lie, not when faced with those words. She was totally and completely beaten. Recognizing that, she steered the Kaiser in a new direction. If those two were going to stay, then it was Elisabeth’s job to leave. Having all of them get taken out in one fell swoop would be counterproductive to their goal of buying time. Elisabeth quietly proceeded onward. Her black hair fluttered behind her. However, she did make one half whisper of a comment. “Forgive me. I shall follow you shortly hereafter.” “If all goes well, you won’t have to. I ain’t plannin’ on goin’ down easy, y’know.” “That’s right, Jeanne,” Izabella agreed. “I…wait, ‘I’? Don’t you mean ‘we’ won’t—hey, whoa, aaaaaah!” Instead of answering the question, Jeanne snapped her fingers. When she did, all of Izabella’s machine parts burst into motion. In accordance with Jeanne’s orders, they started moving on their own, and Izabella’s legs broke into a run regardless of what Izabella herself desired. She raced down the path that had been carved through the city. In what seemed like no time at all, she was already gone from sight. After checking to make sure that Izabella had fled far enough away, Jeanne nodded all on her own. “You hoped for a future together with me. You brought me happiness…and that alone is enough. Good-bye, my beloved. May you find a more suitable partner, and may you live happily ever after with them.” Jeanne gave her a little wave, much the way a child would. However, she immediately squeezed her pale hand tight. She turned toward Alice and focused her rose-colored eyes straight on her. Then, for the very first time in her life, Jeanne broke into a gentle smile. She faced the Fremd Torturchen and spoke. “Would you mind if we talked for a bit, young lady?” “Talked?” It was such a fair and radiant expression that Alice couldn’t help but stop mid-attack. For a moment, Alice was taken aback. She seemed captivated by Jeanne’s expression. However, she hurriedly pulled herself back together. She spoke in a tizzy. “A-ahh. You’re trying to buy time, aren’t you? But I’m not going to fall for that. Crushing you will be ever so easy. You should know that no one is coming to save you.” “You’re not wrong. It would be a lie to say that I’m uninterested in buying time. But more than that…I’ve wanted to chat with you for a good long while now.” Jeanne’s expression was as serious as could be, and her words were unblemished by falsehoods. Alice squinted at her. She still found the whole thing rather suspicious, but she bade her White Knight to lower his lance for the time being. Jeanne gave her a small nod by way of thanks, then went on with great eloquence. “I’m an artificially made Torture Princess. The moment I was born, I was entrusted with a mission to save the world. ‘Grant us our wish, O Torture Princess. Send us to our eternal rest.’ I won’t speak ill of their request, and I intend to honor their pride. But still…what they gave me was unmistakably a curse.”