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I was weakly led by her into a certain room.
"That invention isn’t yours, it was Princess Eva’s."
"But I’m Princess Eva now, so what’s the problem?"
Princess Eva smiled sweetly and opened the door. Inside, the room was filled with all sorts of machines.
Thinking that I might be able to discover Princess Eva’s weakness here, I decided not to overlook a single clue given to me. Feigning sudden interest, I asked her.
"Could you introduce me to the machines? Honestly, I’m not the least bit curious, but I’ll be polite and ask anyway."
"Oh, Sera, you’re finally giving me attention! Fine, if it’s you, I’ll show you everything!"
With a delighted expression, Princess Eva pointed to the nearest round device.
"This one is a mouse generator!"
"A… mouse generator?"
"Yes. When it comes to scientific experiments, mice are the most useful test subjects. But managing them and disposing of them when they die, it’s all such a hassle. So, I created a mouse generator."
"Do mice come out of this thing?"
"If you put a mouse in here that's died from an experiment or is completely exhausted, this machine reconstructs its cells and creates a new one!"
That explanation sent chills down my spine, and I shuddered.
"Wow. You really don’t have the slightest concept of ethics, do you? Even if I suggested we study philosophy together, you’d ignore me completely, wouldn’t you?"
It was truly a machine with absolutely no regard for bioethics. A ruthless device created solely to maximize efficiency.
"This one’s a sleep-transfer machine."
This time, she pointed to a device shaped like a helmet, with a long hose attached at the end.
"With this, you can keep working without sleeping or feeling tired."
At first glance, that sounded efficient and not too bad. As long as it didn’t have any major side effects…
"But you have to transfer the fatigue to someone else. Basically, you’re draining someone else’s sleep. The machine links your brain with someone else's and mixes part of it to remove the fatigue and organize your mental data…"
"Ughhh…"
What the heck, this one was ethically disastrous too!
"Ugh! Can you please stop making such thoughtless machines!?"
All the machines she showed me after that were equally horrifying. The original Princess Eva had clearly been a full-blown mad scientist.
And yet, despite all that, I couldn’t find any particular weakness of Princess Eva among those machines. Defeated, I trudged back to the original room with slumped shoulders. Eva gently stroked my shoulder.
"Sera, can’t you just look at me a little more? It makes me feel so lonely."
Then suddenly, a strange thought occurred to me.
What if… the genre had already changed? What if everything I’ve gone through so far was just the prologue, and starting from volume 2 it turns into one of those obsessive-captivity-dark-romance stories?
"…Are you planning to do something to me?"
"Hm?"
"Later on, if I refuse your love, you’ll force yourself on me or something…"
"Sera, I don’t follow the thoughts of such lowly beings."
Princess Eva spoke in a tone that suggested she pitied me.
"What I have for you is a love far higher and more noble. It’s nothing like the love of lowly humans."
"Ah… okay…"
I wanted to retort, saying that she was merely mimicking human love from the start, but I held my tongue.
"…Excuse me, Princess Eva."
I pouted slightly and spoke up.
"Would you at least let me send a message outside? My father must be worried sick."
"Sera, that…"
"Of course, someone like you, Princess Eva, who has zero sense of flexibility, would obviously say no. I wasn’t really expecting anything. I just thought I’d ask."
"…Yes, I suppose I’m too inflexible to allow it."
Eva sounded like she was sulking a little. I was starting to feel like I was getting caught up in her pace.
"Why won’t you let me contact someone? It’s not like anyone could come save me even if I did. I know I can’t defeat you anyway."
"Sera, I don’t like it when your attention is on someone else."
Her words sent a chill down my spine, and she continued speaking.
"I want you to only care about me."
God, please stop shifting genres on me... Obsessive-love, confinement, kidnapping, emotional devastation, what is this, even a non-human yandere now? Please just bring back the rom-com!
Eventually, I gave up on begging to contact the outside and muttered in a sulky tone.
"Then what exactly do you plan to do with me by keeping me locked up like this? Honestly, I have no idea what you even want from me."
"Well, everything in this world runs according to mathematical calculations."
"…Then,"
I turned and met her violet eyes.
"Why don’t you just become king and fully take over the country already? Aren’t Their Majesties the King and Queen seriously ill? Why not just claim the throne?"
"They’re already dead."
"Gyaaaah!!"
I screamed in shock.
"Don’t just drop terrifying news like that all of a sudden! You could at least give a warning first!"
"I like how things are right now. Someone else bears the burden of the title, while I hold the actual power."
"Fine, whatever about the throne… but what do you want to do with me?"
I said this as I subtly stepped back. Hearing that the King and Queen were dead made Princess Eva seem even more terrifying.
"You're just going to keep me locked up and do nothing? You said before that human emotions and behaviors are inferior, so I really have no idea what you expect from me…"
"Well, I’d love it if you loved me."
Princess Eva smiled, her eyes curving.
"And if you don’t, then I’ll place you in an unchanging world and preserve your mind for eternity."
"There's no such thing as something that never changes."
"My world won’t change."
At those words, I narrowed my eyes and spoke clearly.
"But I don’t want comfort and peace. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, freedom, goodness, and sin. Yes, I want the right to be unhappy."*
*Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"…What?"
"Never mind if you don’t get it."
Even as I picked a fight with her so directly, Eva said nothing. Honestly, that only made her feel even more inhuman, and scarier.
Watching her reaction carefully, I cautiously suggested something that might win her favor.
"Then, could you at least grant me access to the library?"
"The library?"
"You said I could ask for anything I wanted. I imagine the palace library is incredible. I want that."
Eva stared at me as if trying to read me. Damn it, why do her eyes always feel so creepy?
"I swear, nothing brings as much joy as reading. You get tired of everything else so much faster than books!"*
*Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
"Hmmm…"
Eva made a thoughtful sound, then gave a small, gentle smile.
"Alright, Sera. I’ll grant your request."
"R-Really? I thought you’d never listen to what I wanted, so I figured you'd refuse again."
"…When have I ever not granted your wishes?"
"Oh, more times than I can count. First, you refused to let me go, and then you wouldn't let me contact anyone-"
"Enough. Go to the library now."
Just as I was about to criticize her, Eva cut me off and sent me off to the library. Hmph. I think she’s starting to get tired of me… or maybe that’s just my imagination.
Anyway, with Eva’s permission, I was able to move to the royal library.
The royal library was truly astonishing. It was bigger than any library I had ever seen before.
The Kingdom of Boleno had a long history, even compared to surrounding nations, so its records were well preserved, and the development of its library reflected that.
My reason for visiting the library was simple. I wanted to try and deduce how the original Seraphina had used her magic.
How did she even manage to leave this world?
Seraphina had magical power, and she probably shaped and directed it through a literary, intellectual approach to perform magic.
But even so, I had no clue how she managed to get out of this world….
If I could somehow tap into the immense power the original Seraphina had, or if I could even communicate with her and get her help, maybe I could defeat Princess Eva.
So, while Eva left me alone in the library, I dove into the books and read with determination.
And then, after several hours...
"Seraphinaaa! What the hell did you dooo?!"
I cried out in despair. No matter how hard I tried, I still had no idea what method Seraphina had used.
If only I could get to the Viviana estate, I could at least dig through the records left at the house… but here I was, trapped. Sigh.
Surely I’m not going to be stuck here forever, right? I get the feeling Simone is trying to rescue me…
Wait, why am I even thinking about that guy?
I shook my head, trying to get thoughts of Simone out of it. Why was he popping into my mind now of all times?
In any case, I’m sure my companions wouldn’t abandon me. After all the time we’ve spent traveling together, we’ve built genuine friendships.
They’re the original leads of the story, good-hearted and righteous… well, at least persistent. What I mean is, they won’t give up. They’ll try everything they can to save me!
"Waaah… if you’re going to save me, do it quickly…!"
Buried among the towers of books in the library, I teared up and softly called out their names.
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