Lydilia let out a heavy sigh. “If I hadn’t intervened, Charlotte would have been killed in a matter of days.”
“Th-They did imprison me, but isn’t there usually a trial for things like that...?” Charlotte asked.
“Of course, they wouldn’t have let it go to trial. The food and water they brought to your cell were all laced with poison, you see,” Lydilia explained.
“Poison...?!”
“So you hadn’t noticed—I thought as much.” Lydilia scoffed ironically. “It’s easy to accuse you, but when it comes to a trial, they wouldn’t be able to stop you from blabbering about things they didn’t want the public to hear. Hence it was in their best interests to silence you before it got to that point.”
“That prince was just going to assassinate her...?!” Natalia spat out.
“That’s crazy! How can they do that to Mommy!” Roo barked furiously.
Lydilia turned to Allen with an amused look. “You don’t seem surprised.”
“Not really.” Allen nodded in agreement with a scowl. He’d had a vague hunch that that might be the case, and now it proved to be true. So if Lydilia hadn’t stepped in, I would’ve read about Charlotte’s death in the papers...
A villainous woman who caused a scandal in the neighboring kingdom, poisoned in her prison cell. It was just the kind of headline that would spread like wildfire. Allen imagined the very possible scenario of reading such an article in the paper one morning, then folding it up indifferently, as the story already faded into oblivion. He shuddered at the thought. It certainly was no laughing matter.
“Come to think of it...I remember they gave me a meal in the prison, but I fell asleep before I could touch it,” Charlotte said, color draining from her face.
“That was me.” Lydilia chuckled deep in her throat. “You made me nervous when I saw your complete lack of caution.”
“Lydilia...tell me one thing,” Allen said. There was one more point he wanted her to clarify. “Why didn’t you take over Charlotte’s body completely?”
“What?” Lydilia asked.
“In fact, that wasn’t the only time you could’ve done that. You must have had plenty of opportunities. If you took over Charlotte’s body and escaped...you could have been free.”
It was exceedingly rare among cases of reincarnation that two personalities—that of the previous life and that of the present—would coexist separately in one body. And why was that? Because if the two personalities clashed, one side would consume the other. For a powerful character like Lydilia, it should have been smooth sailing for her to subsume Charlotte’s consciousness completely and take full control of her body.
“Why didn’t you take control?” Allen asked again. “It would’ve been a chance to do over your life that ended too soon.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. A second chance at life is the last thing I need.” Lydilia shook her head decisively. “I did everything I could as a saint three centuries ago. However...all that I gained for my efforts was my own death,” she sighed. Her face was shadowed by a deep shade of resignation. She looked straight into Allen’s eyes and, with a hand to her chest, declared, “I am weary of being a saint. Now, I only wish to rest in peace. That is my sole desire.”
“Is that...what you really wanted to talk about?” Allen asked.
“Correct.” Lydilia nodded generously. “I must have slipped out like this for a reason. Allen, was it? A wizard as powerful as yourself must know a spell to put me to rest permanently. Will you do that for me?”
“I do know a spell, but...you’d cease to exist completely. Is that really what you want?”
When two individual personalities from past and present reside in one body, it gives rise to numerous problems, including power struggles to take control of the body, a volatile mental state, and so on. Under the current law, the one who was entitled to hold the main agency was the personality of the present life. As a result, there was a rather specific spell for eliminating the personality of the past life if it got in the way—a spell that couldn’t be used for any other purpose. But Allen had only read about it in an article a long time ago and hadn’t learned it himself. If he dug up the article and made his own improvements to the spell, though, it would be a simple matter for him to erase even a consciousness as dominant as Lydilia’s forever.
But he was reluctant. Lydilia was one half of Charlotte, and on top of that, she had saved Charlotte’s life. He didn’t want to do anything so cruel. But Lydilia continued with cool composure.
“No matter. I have no reason to remain in this world.”
“You’re rather cynical for a saint...” Allen murmured.
“Why, who wouldn’t become cynical after leading the life I have? Ever since I was a small child, I have been used as a tool in politics. I have seen more than enough of the ugly side of society,” Lydilia said nonchalantly.
Though Allen had noticed something doubtful in her words before, now she spoke nothing but truth. In other words, utter oblivion was what she truly desired. Still, he hedged at her request. “But...it’s a difficult decision.”
Natalia and Roo remained quiet, awkwardly exchanging glances. There was no guarantee that Lydilia wouldn’t change her mind later on. It wasn’t impossible that she would decide to take over Charlotte’s body. Considering that risk, Allen was well aware that the prudent thing to do would be to eliminate her now. Even so, he couldn’t commit himself to it, so he decided to leave the decision up to someone else.
“What do you think, Charlotte?” he asked.
“Of course...that would be horrible!” Charlotte asserted, clenching her fists.
“Well, thought you’d say that.” Allen smiled a little at her predictable answer.
“We’ve finally met after all this time. I haven’t even had a chance to thank her properly... It would be too sad to say goodbye already!”
“I do not require any thanks. I only wish to depart from this worthless world.”
“That’s where you’re wrong!” Charlotte sounded more determined than ever.
Lydilia narrowed her eyes at Charlotte. “Hm...? What do you mean?” Charlotte’s outburst seemed to have tugged at her curiosity.