The Real and the Fake

"Hey, you."

"Yes!"

"Bring me some tea and sweets. I'm thirsty."

"Yes! Then I'll have someone else—"

"I was talking to you! Bring them at once! I'll kill you if they're bad!"

I threatened the soldier stationed inside the room as a guard.

The soldier was terrified by my unexpected demand, left the room, and went to prepare tea.

That left only General Estman and me in the room.

As soon as I dispelled my illusion, I hurried over to General Estman.

"I apologize for my rudeness."

"That's all right... What do you intend to do now...?"

"I'll rescue you and persuade the soldiers on the upper levels to join us."

"Don't say that so casually... The place is crawling with enemies..."

"I have a plan."

With that, I returned to Zandra's appearance.

A little while later, the soldier returned, looking tense.

I drank the tea from the cup the soldier cautiously offered me, then threw it near him.

"Eek?!"

"This is awful! Do you want to die?!"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"Enough! Bring me all of General Estman's aides! I'll kill them in front of this general!!"

"B-but..."

"Are you refusing to obey me?! You can take their place!"

The soldier fled outside once more.

While he was gone, I explained the plan.

"I'll cast an illusion on you and let the soldiers see it. Pretend to be a soldier Princess Zandra has beaten, and leave the room."

"What will you do after that...?"

"Cause a commotion so they won't send anyone after you. Head to the castle's middle level—to Prince Arnold's room. The prince will open the hidden passage and wait for you there."

"His Highness... This is shameful... Protecting him is supposed to be my duty..."

"If that's how you feel, then fulfill your duty from this point on. Nothing is over yet."

"You're right... You speak the truth... I will fulfill my duty."

General Estman gritted his teeth, braced an arm on the desk, and stood.

Though he was unsteady on one leg, the strength in his eyes had not faded.

I had thought of General Estman as a gentle, grandfatherly old man, but he was a veteran warrior through and through. He had spent most of his life on battlefields, and it showed. His entire bearing radiated fighting spirit.

Just then, the soldier brought General Estman's aides.

Every one of them glared at me.

The instant the soldier I had threatened closed the door, I sealed him inside a dream with an illusion.

By now, he was probably having a happy dream.

"Take the general and escape. Get ready."

"Huh...?"

"What is going on...?"

Realizing I was still in Zandra's form, I showed the aides my appearance as Grau.

Then General Estman spoke.

"He's an ally... Escape and head to the upper levels of the castle..."

"Y-yes! Understood!"

"Play along. From this point on, General Estman is a soldier Princess Zandra has beaten."

After conveying that briefly, I returned to Zandra's appearance.

Then I threw an object at a nearby soldier.

"The general's precious aides are going to die if this keeps up!!"

I kept throwing things at the soldiers, but the aides couldn't keep up with my act.

So I immediately warned them in a low voice.

"Scream. Call for help."

"Huh? Um..."

"Hurry up. Don't you want to save the general? Or would you rather I really torture you?"

"N-no... Uwaaahhhhhhh!! Please help me, Zandra-sama!!"

"General!! Even now, you're still unwilling to cooperate? Then I'll put you through the same thing!!"

With that, I struck the soldier's left leg with an object.

Realizing what I intended, the soldier threw himself down and screamed theatrically.

"Uwaaahhhhhhh!! My leg! My leg!!"

Anyone outside would hear that and assume Zandra had gone on a rampage and cut off a soldier's leg.

After continuing the act for a while, I cast an illusion on General Estman and made the soldiers see him as the injured soldier.

Then the aides carried General Estman out of the room.

"Oh, come on!! This is making me furious!!"

To keep anyone else from entering the room, I immediately left it and began shouting curses.

No one approached the area around the room, fearing Zandra.

Naturally. If you displeased Zandra, a spell might come flying at you without warning.

I took my anger out on things around me, making sure everyone's attention stayed on me rather than on General Estman and the others who had left the room.

But as I did so, an unexpected person appeared.

"Honestly! What is this?! I've been treated horribly! How dare you cast an illusion on me?! I'll kill you, I swear! No! Killing you won't be enough! I'll keep you alive until you're right on the verge of death, make you suffer and suffer and suffer, then kill you after making you regret what you've done!"

The real one was in a league of her own when it came to hysteria.

No performance could reproduce that.

Impressed by that in the strangest way, I stared at the unexpected person who had appeared—Zandra.

The soldiers present were dumbfounded and did not say a word.

I shouted at those soldiers.

"Why is there a fake me here?! Capture her!"

"What?! What do you mean?! What's going on?!"

The soldiers moved hesitantly at my words.

Since they knew Zandra well, they thought I—the one who had just cut off a soldier's leg and thrown a tantrum—looked more like the real one.

Zandra, meanwhile, pointed at me with a demonic expression.

"You! You're the one who cast an illusion on me! I will never forgive you!"

"What a clumsy lie! I'm the greatest mage in the imperial family, a master of forbidden magic! There's no way someone like me could have fallen victim to an illusion!!"

With that, I signaled to the soldiers with my chin to move toward Zandra.

Apparently, that settled the matter in the soldiers' minds.

Zandra was the greatest mage in the imperial family. There was no way that Zandra, who wielded several forbidden arts, could have been caught in an illusion.

That was what they thought.

Zandra, however, flew into a rage.

"What are you talking about?! Capture that fake at once!!"

"Shut up, you fake!!"

"Don't get cocky!! I can kill you whenever I want, you know!? If you don't want to die, hurry up and capture that fake! She's an illusionist!"

"Do you really expect us to believe that?!"

"Oh, is that so? Then die."

Her anger must have reached its boiling point.

Suddenly, Zandra murmured those words in a calm voice.

Then she swung her arm, created a blade of wind, and decapitated a soldier.

What a fool. I knew you'd resort to force eventually.

"I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you, I won't forgive you... I'll kill every last one of you!!"

"That's my line! Capture her! I won't tolerate someone pretending to be me!"

The soldiers took up defensive stances, still uncertain.

Regardless of which one was real, simply standing there dumbly would get them killed by Zandra.

Zandra was already in full massacre mode. Resisting was their only chance of survival.

In the midst of this, I left behind an illusion of Zandra and slipped away.

"Well, the lower levels will be in complete chaos for a while now."

They would eventually realize that Zandra was the real one, but even then, Zandra wouldn't forgive the soldiers who had suspected her, and the soldiers wouldn't forgive Zandra for the casualties she had caused.

Zandra and Gordon already had a rift between them. This would deepen it further.

Serves them right.

If they started fighting among themselves and fell apart, that would be a great help.

As I thought that, I teleported to my room and returned to my appearance as a prince.

"Now all that remains is to see whether General Estman can make it here safely."

If, by some chance, General Estman failed to make it, we'd have to proceed without him, regrettable as that would be.

It wouldn't be a problem in itself. It would only slightly increase Alida's burden and cause the blood of soldiers who weren't eager to join the rebellion to be spilled for nothing.

But I found that too cruel to accept.

So I wanted General Estman to do his best and make it here.

"I wonder if the escape group is safe..."

I did everything I could before sending them off, but that didn't make me any less worried.

There were plenty of soldiers outside the castle too.

Getting past them all and reaching Father's side would be quite difficult.

"I suppose all I can do is trust them..."

As I murmured that, I looked down from my room at the streets of the Imperial Capital.