Chapter 128
Though merely a Princess, with the Emperor and Prince having vanished, all power had converged upon her.
No... to be more precise.
*Due to the Demonkind invasion and countless wars, someone had to bear an unbearable burden of responsibility.*
It was more accurate to say that the Nobles, who would normally have stepped forward for their own safety and power, were pushing the 'responsibility' onto her, someone with no proven authority, rather than seizing it for themselves.
When all responsibility converged, though it was merely an illusion, power would concentrate, allowing all choices to be made. Everyone knew that all of this was meaningless. However, many were deluded into believing they could turn that fleeting glimmer into something real.
Those who were usually marginalized or unable to step forward tended to invest heavily in such illusions.
"Princess, are you alright?"
Among them was Count Monterio, one of the Key Figures of the Princess Faction. To briefly describe him, the term Extreme Utilitarian would accurately define him.
She gave a slight nod, and he smiled thinly at her. Soon, he and his Knights surrounded her and spoke.
"Unidentified Assailants have infiltrated this place, so we will protect the Princess with the utmost vigilance."
Given that he said 'assailants' (plural), he didn't seem to be referring to Damian, who had come alone.
*At least Damian wasn't discovered, that's a relief.*
Feeling somewhat relieved, she began to assess the situation properly.
*Considering that Count Monterio, who has no connection to Combat and is not my assigned Guard Knight, came all the way here to protect me...*
She concluded there was a high probability that Monterio was the Key Figure behind this commotion.
*That means, this isn't protection, but closer to an abduction.*
The reason they surrounded her so closely was not only to prevent her escape, but also to keep others from noticing this scene.
*An Extreme Utilitarian doing something like this...*
At first glance, an Utilitarian might seem to dabble in anything profitable, regardless of what it is. But in reality, they only touched what was 'profitable'.
In other words, it meant they were extremely accurate in their situational assessment and analysis.
*From Count Monterio's perspective, it seemed he had judged the Princess to have already lost her value.*
And for her to have lost her value meant... there was an extremely high chance they would now sell her off to some unidentified party.
As that realization struck her, the events that had transpired earlier and what she had experienced in the Banquet Hall suddenly came to mind.
For a long time, trapped in a cage, unable to do anything, she had only been able to watch the greed and schemes of others in those painful days.
Not only had he been the first to whom she could open her heart, but he was also the man who had shown her the world outside her cage.
That experience was so precious that to hide it from those around her, she tightly held it in her heart and closed her eyes.
*I know it's greedy to want to experience more of this freedom and experience.*
Yet, she still wished to feel it again. But knowing that she couldn't go any further than this, she simply followed them in silence.
"Princess, do you happen to know the word 'regression'?"
As she followed the Knights, Count Monterio posed a question to her. She was puzzled, unable to discern his intention. However, with nothing she could do at the moment, she simply answered with detachment.
"A word meaning to return."
"That's fortunate. You know it very well."
Given his sudden mention of the word 'regression,' she realized there was a high probability that this entire situation was connected to regression. The problem was, due to the unrealistic elements inherent in the word 'regression' itself, she was somewhat perplexed. He looked at her and calmly continued.
"As one lives in this world, there are countless things one wishes to undo. Minor incidents, yes, but also events that can change one's entire life."
"..."
"Princess, do such things exist for you?"
Of course, they do. Thanks to being confined in a cage, she had fewer such experiences than others, but there were still countless things she wished to undo.
As she bit her lip and pondered for a moment, Count Monterio stared intently at her.
"Princess, have you never wished to undo such things?"
At the mention of 'undoing,' she paused for a moment and looked at him. He was still sly, but he looked at her with a face that was strangely more rigid than usual.
His expression, as if asking for the truth rather than a jest or a lie, resurrected countless memories long buried.
Her childhood, when Father was normal, the times Older Brother smiled. And... the moment in the Banquet Hall when she had cast everything aside and briefly escaped with Damian.
As all these things came to mind, she yearned for them with a profound sense of loss, and nodded silently. He then asked her another question.
"This is my last question. Princess, if there were a way to return to the past through a minor sacrifice, what would you do?"
"What...?"
"It means exactly what I said."
At the word 'return,' she looked at him in silence. He pointed to the place where Father... no, the Emperor resided, and spoke.
"Please enter. Everyone is waiting."
At the mention of waiting, she looked forward with a puzzled expression. Her haggard Father, awaiting his final day, and her Older Brother, seemingly plagued by all sorts of worries, were seated there.
"Father...? Older Brother?"
At this long-awaited reunion, she urgently called out to them both. But they seemed not to hear her voice, remaining frozen, not even turning their gaze.
"Please come in. Your seat, Princess, is here."
As she moved to the seat she was guided to, a man with a smile on his face stepped forward with calm strides and introduced himself.
"Now that the Princess has arrived, I shall introduce myself anew."
His expression was mixed with unease, yet he spoke with a strangely enlightened look, as if he understood everything.
"My name is Sinclair. I am the Master of the Information Guild."
That a mere Master of the Information Guild would gather the Emperor, Prince, and Princess and introduce himself was somewhat incomprehensible, so she looked around. Yet no one made any attempt to stop him; they merely stared at him with blank expressions.
*Are they under some kind of brainwashing or hypnosis?*
But then again, Count Monterio seemed perfectly normal. As she pondered the utterly bizarre situation, this Sinclair fellow waved his hand and spoke.
"To explain the Basic Principle of Regression, I will first inform you of the Basic Principle of Magic."
He showed them a butterfly in a small glass bottle and spoke.
"Magic is a type of transaction created through sacrifice."
Sacrifice? Transaction? She frowned at the somewhat alien explanation, but to assess the situation, she watched in silence. Then, this Sinclair fellow shook the bottle and spoke.
"However, in the case of ordinary Magic, the Founder of Magic placed 'restrictions.' Thus, sacrifices were impossible except for mana, certain catalysts, and items."
He then burned the butterfly in the bottle, and using it, created a small piece of iron as he continued.
"In the case of Black Magic, such restrictions do not apply."
While creating a piece of iron itself was possible with ordinary Magic, those would evaporate once the expended mana disappeared, making it impossible for them to remain forever. However, seeing that the piece of iron created by this Sinclair fellow did not disappear no matter how much time passed, she couldn't help but fall silent.
"The point is this: by utilizing the Characteristics of Black Magic, one can achieve things that would ordinarily be absolutely impossible to create."
The moment she heard those words, she understood the entire situation at once. In other words, what this Sinclair fellow was saying was:
*If you make a massive sacrifice, the regression you so desire is also possible.*
"..."
Whether such a thing was truly possible or not was secondary; the real question was how much sacrifice would be required. Even to her, who had no connection to such things, it was obvious that an enormous amount of sacrifice would be involved. Yet those gathered here seemed utterly unconcerned about such sacrifices.
She wasn't the type to call out wrong as wrong, but it seemed she couldn't let this pass. So she raised her hand and immediately posed a question.
"I have a question. To achieve regression... what must be sacrificed?"
"A good question. To achieve regression, an immense amount of energy is required. And the most efficient way to obtain that energy is through Lives Imbued with Human Emotion."
In short, it was a proposition to grant regression if people were sacrificed, so she let out a hollow laugh. No one would agree to such an absurd thing...
"...?"
She looked around to see everyone watching with indifferent expressions. Given that there was no agitation whatsoever, it seemed they had all heard these things beforehand, and bewilderment washed over her.
*...Why?*
*Even if it was the Nobles, why were Father and Older Brother also saying nothing?* This seemed wrong no matter how she looked at it, so she looked at Father and Older Brother and urgently raised her question. But they merely stared back at her indifferently.
*...*
*She needed to break this situation and buy time to persuade them. So she urgently opened her mouth, trying to calm them, but...*
"Pria. Do you not wish to see your mother?"
Words she couldn't simply ignore came out.
"If we return, everything will return to how it was. What reason do you have to stop it?"
"That's..."
She wanted to say it was because it wasn't logically right, but she knew appealing to their common sense wouldn't work. So her mouth quickly closed.
*...At the very least, I have no choice but to turn this around myself.*
The moment she saw this, she realized there was no time for thoughts of cages or anything else. If she left things as they were, they would literally push innocent people to their deaths to satisfy their own desires. She tried to hold onto her sanity and break this situation by any means, but...
"Pria. You have always been ignorant of your place and crossed the line."
The Prince, who was seated... that is, her Older Brother, looked at her and spoke.
"Stay still."
"..."
Here, there were already only those who had 'agreed' to such a proposal. And in other words... whatever she said would be meaningless. If she opened her mouth, she would only be attacked, and nothing would change.
The moment she realized that reality, Damian's face strangely came to mind. She let out a self-deprecating laugh and closed her mouth.