[Though you had not intended to seize any further benefits, because you had always wished to help Theresa and Theresis more, the military industry you operated in, in pursuit of greater production capacity, performed too outstandingly.
And because your factory’s products were excessively cheap yet effective, you gradually became the Victorian military’s most favored supplier over these two years.] [You had even come to monopolize the new-type steam-powered armor industry in all but name.] [This touched the fundamental interests of many grand dukes, causing them to gradually unite without your knowledge.] [Furthermore, over these years, as the sibling duo of Theresa and Theresis rose abruptly, bringing gradual order to the chaotic Kazdel, and as their faction grew ever stronger, this pair of siblings had gradually gained a certain fame, becoming one of the candidates most likely to enter the capital of Kazdel.] [Your originally overlooked shipments of ‘defective products’ and your secret transport of steam-powered armors had gradually come into the view of certain individuals.] [Those grand dukes, coveting the military industries under your name, thus, upon noticing these things, united without a second word.
At a moment you absolutely did not expect, they exposed all your deeds.] [And using the pretext that you were aiding separatist forces in Kazdel, potentially endangering Victoria, they jointly petitioned the Cabinet, and revealed these matters to the common people of Victoria.] [For a time, before you could mobilize the intelligence and information in your hands to mount a counterattack, bribe-taking Royal Guards broke into your home and immediately dragged you before the Grand Tribunal of Victoria.] [The entire process was as smooth as flowing water, just as swift as the carving up of your military industries.
It was clearly premeditated.] [In truth, you had anticipated something like this happening as early as a year ago, when you first researched, developed, and popularized the steam-powered armor.
You had even prepared contingency measures.
But everything truly happened far too fast.] [Or more precisely, you were too preoccupied with the situation in Kazdel.
Coupled with the illusion of safety their prolonged inaction had given you, you had grown careless in guarding against these nobles…] [You had not expected this pack of old fossils to unite against you, much less imagined that those Royal Guards—usually sluggish as snails—would move so swiftly.] [Even public opinion had been stirred up by them.] [This, too, was your miscalculation.
Clearly, because of your fondness for Theresa, you had overlooked the common people’s loathing for the Sarkaz, and also overlooked the importance of steam-powered mechs to Victoria.] [Thus, you were defeated, and stuffed by the Royal Guards into the empty tribunal to await the next day’s trial.] [But you were not afraid, nor did you feel terror.
After all, you knew full well that you had already given Theresa and the others more than enough weapons.
So even if you could no longer transport those supplies in the future, it mattered little.] [You believed they had already weathered the hardest times.
Your only regret was that you felt you would very likely be hanged tomorrow.] [This left you, who had not seen the game to its end, somewhat unwilling.] [What surprised you somewhat, however, was that as dusk approached, the Aslan King came here of his own accord to see you.] [He arrived upon the setting sun of twilight, wearing a heavy, opulent crown and an outfit combining armor with courtly formal wear.
His short silver hair, like a lion’s mane, proclaimed his identity as the Aslan King.] [Facing your calm self, he candidly laid out the plan those grand dukes had used to frame you, and expressed his wish that, if you joined the Aslan royal family, he could offer you his protection.
At the same time, he implicitly indicated that Victoria, under the leadership of a certain existence, would deploy troops to Kazdel next year to shatter its capital.
He hoped you would cease making fruitless investments in Kazdel.] [The Aslan King’s words were very sincere.] [You could see his earnestness, and you could also see his undisguised affection for you, which he had never concealed.] [But you did not like him.
Or rather, the calamities the Aslan had brought upon your family made you equally discriminate against any Aslan.] [Though you were grateful that he had loosened the reins on your family in many ways, and you knew that you owed much to the man before you for your smooth entry into the military sphere and your successful transport of so many supplies to Kazdel, your feelings for him ended there.
You could be friends, but only friends.] [Still, he was, in truth, a point through which you could break the deadlock.
Perhaps you could make use of him to overcome the current crisis.] [Looking at the Aslan King before you, after deliberation, you decided…] [Branch 1—Feign compliance, temporarily bow to circumstance, and after weathering this crisis, use this Aslan to achieve your goals.] [Branch 2—State your own position clearly, confess your true thoughts, and uphold your final dignity and pride as the Grand Duchess of Manchester.] Two options.
Yet again, a highly critical divergence point.
Ecaros looked at the options and began analyzing the situation in her mind.
After a brief hesitation, she chose Branch 2.
There was nothing to debate—Ecaros could not possibly choose Branch 1.
She did not want to be screwed over, even if it was just a nominal fake marriage.
Though a simulation was a simulation, and reality was reality, Ecaros’ heart instinctively rejected Branch 1.
Ecaros would absolutely never betray her childhood friend, and she believed her sim-‘self’ would support her choice.
This time, however, after making her choice, she did not enter First-Person Mode.
Instead, she planned to speed-browse the subsequent simulation on the simulator panel.
[You chose to make your stance and thoughts clear to the King of Victoria.] [After all, you more or less acknowledged him as your friend.
You had very few friends, but toward those you acknowledged, you disdained treating them with lies and falsehoods.] [The Aslan fell silent.
But in the end, he threw his head back and laughed.
When he had tired of laughing, he nodded at you, his tone tinged with a sigh, with nostalgia, and with unwillingness.
He asked: “Then…
since we are friends, I vaguely recall that last time you didn’t remember my name.
What about now?
Do you remember my name, Manchester-senpai?”] [You did not quite understand his purpose in asking this, but in the end, you nodded and, looking at him calmly, spoke: “Charles Henry Vincent.”] [This was the first time you had spoken the Aslan King’s name.
And when you finished speaking that name, for some reason, you saw a look of release in the Aslan King’s eyes.] [He then spoke with you about many things.
Finally, before leaving, he left behind a sealed vial of Originium solution, and spoke to you in a tone of complex emotion for the last time: “Since we are friends, let me help you one last time, senpai.
Tomorrow, during the trial, drink this solution.
Although it means you will eventually die, it’s still better than dying in the courtroom tomorrow.
After all, you still have unfinished business, don’t you?
Haah—Truthfully, senpai, had you chosen to deceive me, perhaps I could have taken you into the palace, foolishly believing I had won, and used the Crown’s power to shelter you.
But alas, you are, in the end, only my friend…
And this time, too many people want you dead—the citizens included.
That steam-powered mobile armor also touched too many people’s profits.
So…
I’m sorry.
I cannot help you much.
However, if you are willing to trust me, then drink this tomorrow in court.
Afterwards, I will have the Tower Knights cast you out of Victoria.
I can guarantee that the final glory of House Manchester will not be sullied by others.
But this also means that in the future, senpai, you may never return to Victoria…”] [His tone, sincere, carried a weariness that mingled helplessness with fatigue.
You could see that he truly had no other way.
And since you yourself were unwilling to bow to another, toward Henry, who had given you a second path, you expressed your gratitude and accepted the vial of solution.] [Though drinking an Originium solution of this concentration was little different from suicide, compared to certain death, this choice was not too bad.] [If you died, then you would have at least preserved Manchester’s final dignity.
If you didn’t die, perhaps you could try to make your way to Kazdel, to find Theresa and Theresis, to see how they were now, and to present them the belated coming-of-age gifts you had originally prepared.] [And watching you, without any hesitation, accept the Originium solution just like that, Henry, like an old lion that had exhausted its final strength, once more asked you in a tone tinged with bitterness: “Haah…
why?
Why would you rather gamble on this than choose me, senpai?” “…Do you truly…
like the Sarkaz that much?”] [Hearing Henry’s unwilling words, as you sorted through the complex feelings in your heart, you looked at the Originium solution in your hand—which, under the twilight glow, refracted a clear amber light.
In a trance, through it, you seemed to see Theresa’s amber eyes from your memories.] [And through those beautiful eyes, you recalled your past with Theresa.
You recalled the days you had lived together.
You recalled your first meeting, your embraces, your teachings, the warmth, and the farewell…
It also made you recall your own past self—that lonely, hollow figure—and the figure of Theresa, who had seemed like another you, yet in the end, had instead recolored your world.
Unconsciously, as if you had finally understood something, your face revealed a gentle smile it had never worn before.
Like the faint light of melting glaciers, like the April breeze brushing through willow tips.] [In this moment, you felt you had probably figured it out.] [In truth…
you had thought about many things over these years.
But ever since that failed attempt to stop Theresa from leaving, you had no longer regarded her as a mere slave.] [So, savoring those three years spent together in the past once more, you realized again some feelings and thoughts that your past self had been unwilling to acknowledge.] [And now, having completely thought everything through, you could, even without Theresa by your side, face—and even speak of—these things that your past self had regarded as false, cowardly, and worthless.] [Thus, you slowly spoke, your eyes shimmering with memories of the past and a serene tenderness…] [“Perhaps…
it’s because she carries the image of my past self.”] “Although, in the beginning, I only wanted to possess her, to forcibly remake her, to make her into my own likeness…
as we spent time together, I discovered that while we are indeed similar, we are also completely different.
She can hide in the shadows because of me, but her final destination will always be a hall of dazzling light.
She can disguise herself for the sake of her family, but she will never forget her original self.
It was she who allowed me to see once more the things I once possessed and yearned for.
She let me see…
what the ‘me’ who had not lost her parents, who had not lost her trust in others, might have looked like.” “So, I think…
it’s probably because of all this that I’ve come to like her, just a little.
And besides her, my pride will not permit me to submit myself to another.”] [Speaking softly, like a child sharing the most precious secret in her heart, you gently rocked the little vial filled with Originium solution, letting the refracted glow scatter across your form.
Your long, slender legs were crossed.
You wore a smile of tenderness and reminiscence.
And the wind outside the window, at this very moment, gently stirred your silver hair, mussing it across your cheeks.
Together with those soft, pale golden eyes, within this empty, magnificent tribunal hall, they sketched a painting that the Aslan King would never forget for the rest of his life—yet would also never be able to reach.]