"..."
"Gghhhh…!"
The former Royal Magician's expression grew cold as it glanced over at the silver-haired girl before the constraints of roots enveloping her tightened enough to make her bones crack.
"No. What I am, little girl, is THE first human to one-up a deofol! I'm still very much myself, my intellect and morals intact~!"
The deofolized human cheered out for itself, beaming with pride.
"N-no…! D-dad would NEVER even suggest sacrificing so many lives…!"
Syon trembled with a held-back sob before shaking his head and declaring with tears dripping down his face…
"Oh, my naive boy…."
…which only caused the former Royal Magician to smirk.
"Humans and fae alike, I've always had no compassion for either. Do you think that the golden bear cub over there started existing because the fae that it replaced just fell down some stairs?"
"???"
The problem was, that the deofolized human's next words stunned Syon into complete silence.
"Do you think that it was an accident that I captured you? Do you think it's just a coincidence or merely book knowledge that I knew how to recreate a human body to host you? Because you at least realized that it's not a mere puppet, right? My boy?"
"...!"
The former Royal Magician asked, furrowing its brows and taking a step forward, causing the panicking Syon to crawl back as fast as it could until he tripped and fell on his back, while still desperately trying to keep his eyes on the deofolized human.
Syon couldn't even voice his shock and disbelief. He could barely muster to shake his head desperately with a distraught expression, unable to accept the words that came out of what remained of his creator's mouth as the truth.
"Y-you wouldn't…! You… there's… there's too many unforeseen factors that would make it impossible for you to do all of that and keep it a secret all alone…!"
"Pfft~!"
The deofolized human did give him enough time to recover, only to snicker mockingly once Syon muttered while trembling.
"My boy~! I was never working alone~! If anything, I always had the blessing of the Royal family~!"
"!?!?"
The former Royal Magician couldn't help himself any longer and burst out into a peal of laughter, stunning Syon once again.
"Well… one in particular. You Highness, if you may~"
The deofolized human chuckled playfully, before stepping to the side to grandly reveal a person approaching it from behind through the tear in space.
"...th-third princess…?"
At the sight of the person, who at least appeared to be still an actual person, Syon uttered in pure confusion, even looking to the sides as if expecting there to be someone else beside Demi-Leigh Nordenthele…
But there was no one else.
"..."
The thing is, even Demi-Leigh didn't look as if she was particularly enjoying the situation. And not just that she wasn't enjoying it as much as the former Royal Magician, but rather at all.
If anything, judging by how she kept glancing over at the burning Royal castle and how tightly she was hugging her sides, it would be reasonable to assume that she was in great distress instead, and not an eager or even willing participant in the slightest.
"Your Highness…? Something's the matter? Perhaps a stomachache? Can I offer you a spell that would ease the…?"
"...I want Rotti…!"
It was to the point that even the former Royal Magician offered help, but the young woman interrupted it with a short, pitiful sob.
"I…! I already told you! I don't care what happens to anyone else! He must survive! You can kill or experiment on anyone, as long as my Rotti survives…! If he defolozes, you HAVE to turn him back!"
Demi-Leigh cried out, most likely attempting to sound adamant in her stance, but her resolve had clearly been shaken, close to crumbling.
Her words were less to remind the deofolized human about her goal and more to convince herself it's still what she wishes for.
"...R-Rotsard…? What is this supposed to mean? What could possibly threaten him other than… than… than this!?"
Maybe because of her hesitance, Syon ended up calming down enough to retort in disbelief, even pointing his shaking hand at his defolized creator.
"Watch your mouth! You can only speak like that because you don't know what I do!"
Surprisingly, Demi-Leigh was very quick to give a snappy retort to that… but since it sounded far too desperate, it only reinforced the suspicion of how distraught the third princess actually was.
"What do you…?"
"You don't know what I know! The Grand Fae itself revealed the future to me when I was a child! The so-called ideal future! And my Rotti was destined to die as a…! As a stepping stool for some lousy hero! What kind of ideal future is that supposed to be!?"
Syon tried to ask, but Demi-Leigh interrupted him with a desperate shout, revealing everything all on her own.
"What is there in the world for me if Rotti isn't there!? I couldn't save him after his mom died, I couldn't help him when Vallhalls shunned him…! If I don't do anything now… I… I won't abandon him anymore! Not when I know about the circumstances of his destined death! And if the lives of the rest of humanity would be the price of it, so be it!"
"Rest assured, Your Highness. Not only your dearest Rotsard will be saved, but only 99.95% of humanity will be sacrificed, and not the entirety of it."
Demi-Lousie called out, hugging her arms with a truly distraught and pitiful expression, but, seemingly unintentionally diminishing her desperation, the former Royal Magician corrected her with a benevolent smile.
"Th-third princess…! Have… Have you not looked into how Rotsard fares nowadays…?! I… I made a report! Why are you acting as if he's a helple-MPFFH…?!"
Syon gasped with disbelief, only to get his mouth shut and limbs tied up with the same net of darkness that trapped the golden bear cub…!
"A report…? What… what is he talking about…?"
"..."
But his words did make an impression, and Demi-Leigh blinked repeatedly before turning over to the former Royal Magician as its expression turned blank.
"What is the meaning of this…? Why does he sound like the report he made was about my Rotti doing well….? There has been only horrible news about my Rotti descending into despair lately!"
"...haaaa…"
The third princess grew agitated, causing the deofolized human to turn to the side where it discreetly sighed and rolled its eyes.
"Your Highness. That's because he is lying to cause discord between us to disrupt our cooperation. His mind is that of a fae. Didn't you tell me what awful creatures those pesky faes are? Isn't it an opinion shared by your beloved, too? The nasty fae is trying to lie to get away, or simply because it has a nasty personality that it kept hidden until now."
"MMMPFFHH! MPFFFHH! PHHGHHFGG…!"
After composing itself enough and turning back to the third princess, the former Royal Magician declared without batting an eye, while pointing its finger at the thrashing Syon, whose muffled noises grew in volume as he struggled to break free.
"..."
The third princess didn't say anything to that and even leaned back as if to distance herself from the struggling homunculus… but at the same time, she also kept glancing over at him while biting her lips in clear distress.
"..."
The former Royal Magician's expression darkened.
There was obviously a problem. The third princess wasn't nearly as stupid or naive, even under so much anxiety, to just casually believe him anymore.
It wasn't a big problem, though.
She wasn't indispensable, what she represented and the potential authority she could wield would be useful… but it wasn't something that the deofolized human couldn't do without.
The former Royal Magician wasn't even going to make a fool out of her or anything, either, though. It really intended to assure that she would get her beloved Rotsard, not only alive but in one piece and not corrupted or even polluted…
…that is, he would as long as she would be useful…
But… if she was going to start making a fuss and go back on their deal…
"..."
The former Royal Magician glanced to the sides, quickly scanning the surroundings.
Except for the destruction of the main building of the Royal Academy and the partial destruction of the boys' dormitory, there was nothing unusual or potentially dangerous.
Nothing at all.
Not in the front yard, and not in the slightly frosted training grounds in the back…
…wait…
The training grounds were frosted over…? At this time of year…?