Akuyaku Reijou no Naka no Hito - CH 12.2

…Then, Williard and the others were annoyed by the Star Maiden, but I guess that somewhere in their hearts they were not fully satisfied from the beginning… And they have thought about this. But enough about this, some of them, like the queen, could have seen through Pina’s true nature even though they were in contact with her, and some of them, like Sphere, could have realized the truth if they laid out the facts without emotion.

The day of the meeting with the Star Maiden. Though Emi watched anxiously as Pina clung to Williard and the others, flirting with them. Those men were amused to see Emi looking at Pina approaching her as if she were frightened… They must have been happy, Emi, who is not only cute but also has a beautiful heart, had never been jealous. They were inwardly delighted to have it pointed at her. If they don’t reject Pina outright and keep the「oh dear」attitude, Emi will get jealous. They misinterpreted it as a mixture of my feelings of jealousy from Emi, which they were happy about, and my impression of Pina. This is a third-party analysis by me, who has no opinion on these individuals, but I am sure I am not far wrong.

At first, the ugly bug crawled out and her lover was scared and hugged him and he thought to himself,「You can come out like this once in a while…」Even if that was the extent of his awareness, he ignored Emi’s uneasiness about that woman’s behavior and gave priority to satisfying his own desires.

Whatever the trigger or reason, it doesn’t change the fact that those men ended up betraying and hurting Emi. I will not forgive all of you.

「His Majesty the King, I ask your pardon for my remarks.」

「You are… the Countess of Laud.」

「I am now doing something like a secretary for Remilia-sama, just like Sphere.」

「What are you going to do to me?」

「I want to reveal who the real sinners are.」

Sphere continues talking without even looking at David, her ex-fiancé, who is cringing there. She had just been「baptized as a knight」 in the country of the demon tribe, and this time she was again participating as a female knight on the demon tribe’s side. She was followed by Angel at the entrance, and she was also behind Klimt alongside him. The nobles who noticed her were buzzing, though. I can see that they really haven’t let her know anything since she cut ties with her parents.

And from the day she barged in, she has remained as stubborn as ever, my goodness… She will not give up her position of support as a knight. For my part, I would like Sphere to work as an equal, but… She has been educated as a noblewoman, and I would like to entrust her to be the deputy for a part of my territory that has spread too wide, but she won’t budge.

In her hand, the case in which the magical crystal stone that I had left in the carriage, containing the image of the「Water Mirror of the Past,」was neatly placed like a specimen.

Pina screamed hysterically,「What’s a water mirror of the past?」But she immediately became suspicious, as if she had guessed what kind of magic it was from the name of the magic. She probably thought that since only Angel could see through the lie, the others would be able to say whatever they wanted again later.

「Sphere, in a place like this, such thing as that… Pina-san is going to be exposed.」

「No! This woman hung up Remilia-sama in front of many people that time. We must tell the truth to those who are being deceived.」

「Ugh, Sphere… That was supposed to be given to me after the evening meeting to help me make the right decision…」

I looks at Angel with an annoyed expression on my face as if to say,「Please stop this somehow.」Oh yes, I knew that if I left it in the hands of the Sphere with a strong sense of justice, she would work to detail the truth if this were to happen.

Seeing my reaction, Angel smiled a black smile that looked devious and nodded back at Sphere, suggesting,「I’ll do the big projection so the whole venue can see it.」

「Angel…!」

「Remilia, stay back. Klimt… Watch this sycophant for a minute so she doesn’t try to stop me.」

「Okay, okay, Brother.」

A giggling Klimt urges me to step back and escorts me to the back. I acted puzzled and flustered, and turned a concerned glance in Pina’s direction. Shs gritted her teeth and glared at me in response, but Klimt stood between us with a natural motion to intercept her.

「I think the real sinners should be judged. You don’t think Remilia would say she forgives that Pina woman without giving her any judgment, do you?」

「That… you’re right, uhm. I don’t know if this is the way to do it…」

「It’s also to restore Remilia-san’s lost honor, you know.」

「My own honor is not important… I just didn’t think it was good to have someone who goes to such lengths to actively bring people down so close to the center of the country… I can’t believe I had to disrupt the soirée like this…」

The truth is that I do not care about my own honor. What I want to take back is the「honor and happiness of Duchess Remilia Rose Graupner」that Emi has built.

Klimt stops me from cringing and pretending to jump out to interrupt Angel and Sphere several times. When I tried to shake it off, Angel, who looked like he was having a good time, isolated me and Klimt with a translucent black barrier. I know that I could break this immediately by force, but I also know that「Remilia would not break it by force to avoid endangering others.」I turned my face to Klimt to show that I was at a loss, and began to disarm it slowly to the limit without being deliberate.

Williard has always loved to talk nicely, but few aristocrats who actually engage in politics have ever been involved in intrigue and intrigue. The first prince, who can drink from the clear and muddy waters, is more like royalty. Angel? He’s okay with it, he can see through the lies, so being the leader of a country that follows its ideals isn’t the worst thing he can do.

In that respect, Emi was certainly not the right choice for queen, and the woman who could lie without difficulty and fabricate evidence with great skill might have been more suitable only in that respect. The dirty world doesn’t suit such a kind and honest girl.

In fact, that is why my father gave up on「Remilia.」Whichever was true, he was either foolish enough to commit a crime that would have been discovered, or he was defeated by a conspiracy. Because I was no longer that man’s「excellent pawn」anyway.

However, since Emi did not have any familial affection for this man, I know that Emi would not be that hurt that this man gave up on his own daughter. So I left him out of this revenge play. I think I am being very kind, since he was only slowly, slowly losing his financial resources and power, and most importantly, the power and connections of the ducal family that he cherished.

My targets are Pina, Williard, Claude, David and Stefan. Only the woman who framed Emi and the men who betrayed her trust.

There will be saga for those who perjured themselves at Pina’s request, but it can’t be helped because this decisive play was necessary to show Williard and his friends the reality of the situation.

There will be many who will be disinherited or have their future closed off for appealing to the demon tribe for friendship, but they will get what they deserve, so will I give up on them?

With a nice combination of Sphere and Angel, evidence and witnesses’ lies were exposed one by one.「The story that Remilia smacked her in the cheek in the courtyard has now been destroyed by all the evidence and witnesses, so if you still think it’s true, I’ll ask you now? That woman over there.」 Angel, who had put back on the calm mask of the Demon King, approaches her. Pina remained downcast and did not speak, and Williard and the others, who at first looked puzzled, now only kept their distance and looked at each other with a distant look of disgust.

Many of those who were hung for perjury in the video admitted their guilt when questioned again about the truth. Some of them started to say,「This footage is also fake,」but Angel snickered at them,「I hope someone believes that argument,」and they started to cry.

Many of those who perjured themselves for the crimes of「Duchess Remilia」are commoners who are not present here. The personal attendants and bodyguards who accompanied me were the third daughters and fourth sons of lower nobility, and they lost their nobility after coming of age, but that is not the same thing. They are the servants of the academy and special students like Pina. Even they helped me to perjure myself. Under kingdom law, when a commoner defrauds a nobleman, the crime is more serious.

I am sure that unlike the followers of「Duchess Remilia」 who were bought off with money, they genuinely supported the「love between a former commoner Star Maiden and a prince」 and told just a few lies in the hope that they could help remove that obstacle, though. But since I willingly perjured myself, surely I will have no regrets no matter what punishment I receive, right?

Even if the person who has fallen into the trap is now the benefactor of the entire demon tribe as「Remilia, the Maiden of Purification,」and the nobles dismiss those who have told their names here, not wanting to be noticed by the demon tribe.

「From this point on, unmarried women will be subjected to a highly stimulating video, so please, ladies, cover your ears and turn your backs! …Angel-sama, this way please.」

「Roman Duor Markelov…… was the man who was Remilia’s bodyguard. In addition to briefly divulging the plans of the noble daughter he was escorting, this man was having illicit relations with the Dauphin’s lover.」

Oh dear, my! I can’t believe the Sphere is being that proactive!

I hid my delight and looked into her eyes, then shyly showed her cheeks. Klimt looked at me suspiciously as I was in the middle of slowly dismantling the magical barrier that Angel had created, while trying to look as if I was doing my best.

「Remilia-san…?」

「Uhm… When Pina-san asks Romano to make a false report about my behavior… Along with the money, uhm… She is in a state of indecency that she would only show to her mate, huddled together with her lord… I thought I had made a rule not to show that. I thought we were supposed to not show that…」

I show him a troubled look. It was a gamble to see if he would notice, but I’m sure that Sphere, who was checking the footage, became suspicious of the cutoff in an unnatural place after a comment that suggested a male-female relationship, and asked Angel to show the rest of the video or something.

I almost burst out laughing because it went so much the way I wanted it to, but I kept my eyes down. It would appear that they are unable to look directly at the flimsy images of men and women projected on the screen.

I was surprised when I first saw it too. She can let her breasts lounge and huddle together, she can let her skin suck on skin that no one but her mate should be allowed to touch, she can kneel before a man and bury her face in that place… It seems that she only kept her purity as a maiden, but uhm…… that impure hole in hers… She was doing things that I was afraid to even say out loud. It was more horrifying than the mating of beasts, so much so that I almost gave up halfway through, even though I was trying to establish evidence to take revenge on the woman who had hurt Emi.

I’m glad Sphere noticed and put it to good use like this. I hope it was worth it to see the filth.

Oh my, Father’s face turned red and black and he got angry. It must have been an unbearable humiliation for that proud man to be known as a fool who hired servants and guards who betrayed their masters without recognizing it as such.

But in fact, if you hadn’t hired those guards and maids of honor… That absolution play probably did not succeed. If only there were no one by Emi’s side who would betray her master, smuggle evidence of her crimes into her personal belongings, or provide criminals with items stolen from her master to help them fabricate her crimes… No. It’s not a good idea to go overboard. The fact is that Emi is sleeping deeply hurt. We have to talk about the future, to make sure they get their due.

「Angel! Don’t take it any further than that!」

Just as the two half-naked, embracing and mouthing each other were shown in large screen, the barrier was turned off, appearing to have been disarmed at the right time. I am sure Emi would have done her best to preserve her dignity even with that woman. After she banished me to the countryside, she said something horrifying like,「It looks different from the game, but I’ll be disgusted if you’re happy, so I’ll have a man attack you so you can’t get married,」as if she was thinking about going shopping tomorrow. I don’t want to add anything to it.

Well, what if the magic crystal stone containing this footage inadvertently leaks out and is used by the lords and ladies to comfort their ennui?

Ahh, the guards, including Romano and the one who was Emi’s maid of honor, are also in proper hands. They are employed at the royal court through Pina’s introduction after the absolution play「because they can’t stay with the Duke Graupner as they are.」This time, I found out that he betrayed the main family and perjured himself in a crime, so he was originally executed. If I show mercy and save a life, it will only save a life. But they were fired and let go. No place will hire a servant who betrays his master, and his parents will probably disown him. All five of them will be of use to me after they「disappear」before someone else know it.

「T–That’s wrong! Hey, Will, you believe me, right……? You and I went through the evidence together when I was abused?!!」

「No, but that was…」

Williard looks up at the large image of Pina and Romano kissing and mutters in disgust.

「T–That thing is fake! Remilia-sama couldn’t allow me to be happy again…!」

「…Then, why does the Pina projected there have a mole in the same place? Did Remy know about that too?」

「A mole…? Tha– Will, how does Will know?!」

「…There was a time, shortly after you graduated from the academy, when you would have pressed me for a thinly veiled male-female covenant. I refused to do those things until I was married because it was not a good idea… I’m really glad I said no then.」

「No!!!」

A closer look revealed two distinctive moles lined up above Pina’s waist on the screen. Oh my, I guess she was extraordinarily lucky to have such a prominent mark conveniently placed in such a spot, and to have been caught on film, and to have known by Williard. Maybe it’s because he have a good daily routine.

「Will… uhm, that’s terrible… you said you wanted to make me your wife… Will…」

「…I’ve never been able to hate you no matter what you did to me… Strangely enough, I don’t have a shred of love left for Pina now.」

「Eh… Eh?」

「I have no idea why I liked you so much… His Majesty the Demon King said that he had broken the curse that controls our minds… Hey… Pina… you, what have you been doing to us all this time…?」

Williard, his face contorted to suppress nausea, steps back to get away from Pina. Pina’s eyes widened in astonishment at the anger in her voice, and when she looked around, she realized that Claude, David, and Stefan were all looking at her with the same eyes as Williard, but she couldn’t accept it and raised hee voice.

「Wrong, wrong, wrong! I, I did nothing wrong… there’s nothing wrong… because Will was, everyone was, for me… you said you liked me better than her…」

「I’m sorry, but don’t touch me… What have you ever done to me… No, Pina, you… You made me do such a horrible thing to Remy…」

「W–Will…?」

Pina doesn’t seem to realize it, but the nobles and their sons and daughters around her was looking at her the same way, and the likability she built up while at the academy is now back to zero. All that was left was a contemptuous look, as if they were looking at a dirty rare animal, as befitting her behavior up to this point.

「Lies… lies, Clau, Davy, Steff, hey, you told me you liked me, that I was cute, and that you really wanted to marry me, right?!!」

Not only did no one respond, but they quickly looked away, and I was able to avoid being almost hung up on. David, Stefan, and Claude, in that order, finally shook off their outstretched hands, and Pina, who was cowering in her sticky, lacey, frilly dress, let out an inarticulate moan,「Ahh… ah,」and she let out an inarticulate moan and suddenly jumped up and tried to jump on me.

「Youuuuu!!! You orchestrated this whole thing!! You shitty woman! Shit, shit, shit! You’re jealous because I’m happy! It’s your own fault for being so stupid!! Don’t be so backhanded!!」

「Kyaa!」

Of course, Angel knocked Pina off long before she could reach me, and the panicked king of this country told the surrounding Kingsguard to restrain her mercilessly, and she was pushed to the floor.

「This was my world! The world was meant for me, the heroine!!」

「This world doesn’t belong to anyone, it’s a world where everyone lives one person at a time, you know?」

「You’re the one who erased the likability I raised! I can’t believe I’m doing this, holding on to old memories! What was that fiction?! You’re the one who spread that too, right?! The evil god of the last boss and the god of creation are the same one, and if you purify them, they will return to their original state…! And demons and demonkind! You lied and you’re fooling all of them about that too!」

「That, I can’t believe you’re treating a creation god like an evil god……!」

「That’s the way it’s supposed to be! You! You’re a reincarnated too! You bitch, you act like you don’t know what you’re talking about!! I came all the way out here to… It really pisses me off that you would do this on the verge of making me happy……!!」

「…Reincarnated? What are you talking about…」

「Reincarnation, you know!? You have a past life too, don’t you?! OtoKishi! You’re a real bitch for dropping Angel first and then coming back to show him off….」

「OtoKishi…? I don’t know anything about that… I don’t have a past life as seen in the stories, I only remember being Remilia from birth…」

I searched Emi’s memory after she uttered that I had never heard of that term. I understand now, it seems that the name of the story describing this world is「The Star Maiden and the Knight of Salvation」and it is called「OtoKishi」for short.

In fact, I am not a reincarnated person. I can only look into the memories of Emi, who is a reincarnated person. It is Emi who has a past life, not me.

When I told her this, Pina, who saw Angel not denying anything, froze with a look that said,「I don’t understand.」

I watched Pina as she puts the finishing touches on this occasion. When I put a little strength into my hand, as if I were afraid of Pina, as if I was unexpectedly holding onto Angel’s arm, he smiled gently and put his hand around my waist and hugged me protectively.

Without changing… From the arms of Angel, whom Pina had boldly stated that「she would never give him to me because he was her favorite character,」I looked down at her with pity, as if the Virgin were looking at a fool.

「Pina-san… Poor fellow, relying on spells to manipulate people’s feelings, and no matter how much they like you for it, it’s just empty… So much so that you wanted to be loved, even if falsely……?」

「This is the woman who falsely accused you. You are not showing her any mercy.」

「No… Angel. It was indeed sad that I was accused of a crime I didn’t remember and that no one believed me, but I am happy now. Pina-san… You bribed them with money and even used your own body to make me look bad, but… That doesn’t make you happy, right, Pina-san…? You can’t make people love you by humiliating me or manipulating their feelings with curses… This is so sad and I feel sorry for Pina-san…」

「Hah, haaaaaah!? You’ve got to be kidding me, don’t fuck me around!!! What a good girl you are! Don’t make fun of me, you!! Who the hell do you think you are, talking from the top?!! You destroyed all of my happiness!! Unforgivable!! I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive you, I won’t forgive you!!!!! I  will kill youuuuu, I will kill youuuuu!!!!!」

Pina was so frustrated that she began to cry and scream, liquid spurting from every hole in her face. Hands are restrained behind her back, so she cannot wipe, and drool and… The people around me were clearly taken aback by the way she was screaming and even dripping snot.

In contrast, my tears, shed at the most beautiful angle, shimmer in the light of the chandelier. The men who had condemned me for believing the then fabricated evidence and perjuring witnesses looked away awkwardly.

Yes, that’s right. What a poor, pathetic, miserable woman. Not one more ally made with drugs. Those who have bought you with money will sell you to make you a little less guilty. She was so happy to be surrounded by so many men, but now she was a lonely and solitary existence.

There was no one to protect her, and she was folded on the floor and even manacled behind her back. What a shameful sight. To have an opponent who once had to resort to cowardly tactics to win, have all her foul play exposed, be beaten to a pulp, lose, and then cry「poor me…」Women like you are the worst to be pitied, aren’t you? I pity you from the bottom of my heart. Mostly mockery, but it’s true that I do feel「sorry for her.」 How silly of me.

Now Pina is so agitated that I can’t even hear what she is saying, though she is screaming, her face messed up with spit, tears and snot. I was about to ask her how frustrated she was, but shw spat out the word「Shut up」in an annoyed tone, and with a single snap of my fingers, Pina’s voice disappeared. Oh my, how unfortunate.

In the center of the hall, where Pina’s cursing had died down and no one could speak, the quiet tearful breath of「Remilia, the merciful, Maiden of Purification who has compassion even for the person who once trapped her and falsely humiliated her,」and the beautiful Demon King gently stroking her hair as if to comfort her, would look like a painting to those around her.

I bet Emi would have cried even for this woman. She’s a sweet girl. Of course, I would never use words like that to intentionally get on this woman’s nerves like I do.

As Angel switched bodies to hide me from Pina’s gaze, who was about to storm out, the kinsmen with Pina forcibly dragged that woman out of the hall. Oh… Pina’s been taken off the stage. I can’t help it, it’s not natural to hang up and attack here any more… I’ll let this be the end of the matter.