'Cause, 'cause Father and I are amazing! I promise, you'll be able to meet with the people you care about!" "That's twice now, Alice. Control yourself already. I'm talking right now, and besides..." The man scolded Alice once more. Elisabeth bolted toward them. "Umm," Lute tried to interject, but the man went on matter-of-factly. "...hearing you say that will do nothing but send Elisabeth into a rage." Elisabeth drew Executioner's Sword of Frankenthal as she dashed forward. Then she brought it down on the man's neck. "â€”What do you aim to do?" As her question rang out, so too did a high-pitched metallic noise. The darkness had exploded out once more to block Elisabeth's blade. If this guard had been thrown up a second slower, the man's head would have gone flying through the air. It was a splendid display of defensive talent, to be sure. Yet the one who'd summoned the darkness, Alice, seemed completely dumbfounded. She must have acted on reflex alone. "What do you aim to do to Kaito?" Elisabeth continued pressing down with her sword. The darkness creaked. Thinking it an opening, the Peace Brigade's coyote-headed rookie cried, "Captain!" and rushed forward. Wanting to back her up, he took his first step up the stairsâ€”then abruptly recoiled with his tail balled up. Elisabeth's murderous aura was simply that intense. There was only one person the Torture Princess cared enough about to be worthy of being described as such. Well, technically two. But at the moment, the two in question were inseparable. Aye, like a single, tender being. Elisabeth had no intention of allowing anyone who planned on bringing them harm to continue living. And when dealing with a would-be agitator, she had no intention of living up to the moniker of Torture Princess. The punishment for that particular crime would be swift, capital, and absolute. It didn't matter if she fully understood the situation or not. Beyond the darkness, the man spoke freely. "Your anger is legitimateâ€”I fully endorse it. The way that information was laid out didn't take your feelings into account in the slightest. I do beg your pardon for that. Alice, you were in the wrong there. Apologize." "Wh-whaaaat? B-but, Father, she just tried to kill you! Yet I'm the one who has to apologize? That can't be right. Why, it's wrong as wrong can be!" "That was one thing, and this is another. When you do something wrong, you have to apologize. So apologize." The man's voice left no room for argument. Alice clutched the hem of her skirt. Her lips trembled, but she did bob her head downward. The white ribbons on her blue hat, which resembled rabbit ears, flopped forward. "I'm sorry, Elisabeth. It was all my fault. Please forgive me." "A fine jest, coming from you." Elisabeth spat out the words, but in truth, her homicidal inclinations were dampened a good deal. Insipid as it was, the other two were both serious. It may have looked like a comedy routine, but they were being quite earnest. In particular, the man's admonition that "when you do something wrong, you have to apologize" had come from the heart. Ergo, he considers his massacre here and his murder of the imperial princesses to be in the right. The man's thought processes and morals were fundamentally broken. That was all too clear to her now. Meanwhile, the man in question was putting his earnestness on display and covering for his indelicate ward. His voice sounded out from lower down. It would seem that he, too, was bowing. "And there you have it. Could you find it in your heart to forgive her? I do hope we can see eye to eye here. All Alice said was that she wants to help you meet them. Please don't misunderstand her. I promise you, it's nothing like what you fear. All we want is to reunite you with them, and by all accounts, that's something you seem to want quite a bit." "I'll ask that you kindly refrain from assuming you know what I want. 'Tis aggravating." "A tragedy is a tragedy, Elisabeth Le Fanuâ€”but it doesn't have to end as one." ...What? The man's appeal was sincere, but Elisabeth furrowed her brow. Something about it seemed off. Emotion had begun creeping into his voice at some point. There was something unsettling about that sudden shred of humanity, but it was gentle and honest, too. And what's more, his heartfelt tone stirred something in Elisabeth's memory. It reminded her of someone else, whether she wanted it to or not. And the moment she realized who, she froze. Of all people, 'tis...! Kaito Sena. That was who the man's tone reminded her of. That sincerity, backed with compassion and empathy for the powerless, was just like his. It was a voice that only someone with deep, deep wounds could possess. But that didn't explain why he was using it now... "You would speak to me in that tone of voice?" "Of course." The man made to continue but paused at the last moment. For the first time, he seemed to waver. The silence persisted. "You will get mad, though," he eventually murmured. However, he made up his mind and spoke. "After all, Elisabeth, you're weak, and you've had everything taken from you." "Hedgehog." The Torture Princess immediately snapped her fingers, and the hundreds of needles she launched at the man served as her reply. An endless stream of metallic noises rang out. The darkness had repelled each and every one of Elisabeth's needles. However, she'd expected as much. The attack's sole purpose had been to vent her rage. Unless she launched either a surprise attack or a repeated barrage of powerful blows, she suspected the darkness would hold. However, the latter was easier said than done. Letting the imperial princesses' bodies get caught up in her torture devices wasn't an option. The beastfolk held corpses in high regard, and with things as tense as they were, trampling on their culture would only make matters worse. Yet her rage refused to subside. 'Tis unacceptable... Utterly unacceptable! Once all was said and done in the battle for salvationâ€” â€”what had Elisabeth Le Fanu been left with? Posing that question to her was a taboo that must not be broken. At the battle's end, her fleeting, peaceful days had been taken from her. She wouldn't admit it, but she had lost everyone she loved. But she herself had been rescued. The world had been saved. Everything had ended for the best. And they all lived happily ever after. The greatest good for the greatest number was, surely, the greatest outcome. So what matter is it? Elisabeth Le Fanu had been left with nothing. But to say she had had everything taken from her was a bridge too far. He had saved her. And because of that, she hadn't had everything taken from her. She'd had everything given to her. That was what she'd forced herself to believe. For what other choice did she have? If she didn't, she'd be betraying his smile. She'd be betraying that final expression Kaito Sena bore. She replied to the man in a tone as cold as ice. "You and I have naught to talk aboutâ€”now, kindly perish." The man was on the other side of the darkness. He shouldn't have been able to see what she was doing. Sensing an opportunity, Elisabeth pulled her sword close to her chest. Then she silently aimed its tip. After infusing it with her mana, she thrust it forward. The darkness shattered. However, she didn't feel the soft give of flesh on the other side. A metallic sound rang out, but it wasn't that of sword on sword. "Oh?" "Please, Elisabeth, control yourself. You're a proper lady, not a bad girl, right?" Shards of darkness tumbled through the air like mirror fragments, and the other side came into view. Alice, who appeared to have moved instantly, was standing before the man in black. And she was holding, of all things, a teaspoon. "I see, I see... Inane, aye, but deft nonetheless." Elisabeth gave a small nod. Alice had diverted her blade with the teaspoon's curve. No normal piece of silverware should have been able to survive that blow. Alice's white ribbons rustled as she looked up. Her red eyes burned with a strange sort of irritation. She shouted loudly. "If you keep being bad, I can't invite you to my tea party! What are we to do? Oh, I have an idea! We can pluck off your arms and legs and leave just your mouth to talk with. I'll even feed you cookies and tea myself. What do you say, Elisabeth? If you don't want that, where's your I'm sorry?" "Ha, hearing an ill-mannered brat prattle on about ladies is fine humor indeed. I shall have you know, I'm no ladyâ€”and for all I care, you can take your cookies and tea and feed them to the pigs. Who would go to a party with the likes of you lot?" "Why, you're not even sorry! You're not even sorry, Elisabeth! And after I apologized so nicely! That's not fair! You're supposed to be older than me! You're supposed to be older, but you're just being mean!" Alice stamped her feet childishly. For whatever reason, the ribbons on her hat bristled up menacingly. Elisabeth snorted once more. Tears welled up in Alice's eyes, and she swung her teaspoon about. "You're a bad girl and a meanie! You know, Elisabeth, bad girls get shoved down in the tub, and beaten hundreds of times, and tied up with packing tape, and stuffed in garbage bags, andâ€”and...all sorts of even worse things! And when that happens, no one will listen to you, no matter how many times you apologize!" "Packing...tape? I've not heard of... Wait, no, don't tell me...?" Elisabeth furrowed her brow. The fear in Alice's voice was real. Elisabeth opened her mouth, wanting to follow up on her train of thought, but before she could, Alice shouted once more. "If you keep being like that, you're going to die along with everyone else in the world!" "I'm sorry to interrupt you when you're having such a nice time with your prospective friend, Alice." The man in black suddenly admonished her. Alice puffed up her cheeks and looked over at him. It looked like tears of dissatisfaction might spill forth from her eyes at any moment, but the man pacified her with a glance. Then he gestured at something with his chin. "But it's time." Alice followed his eyes, then let out a small gasp. Elisabeth and the beastfolk were at a loss for words, too. For the person who'd grabbed the man's wrist was someone none of them had expected. "...Y-you're kidding, right?" "Oh, not in the slightest... As you can see...this...is no joke." Alice's murmur elicited a quavering response. Each time the woman spoke, blood trickled through the thin cloth covering her chest, further staining her once-white fur. Her life was quite literally draining away before their eyes. Yet she smiled at Elisabeth and her men all the same. "For I...do yet...live." It was Vyade Ula Forstlast. The second imperial princess whom they'd all written off as dead. 2 The Imperial Princesses' End Down, down, down. Alice fell down a very deep hole. After being shoved down in the tub, beaten hundreds of times with a rolling pin, having my arms and legs tied up with packing tape, being stuffed in a garbage bag, and being locked in a car trunk for several hours, I suddenly found myself falling down a very deep hole. No one would listen to me no matter how many times I apologized. No one would hear me no matter how loud I shouted. I was so sure I was being a good girl this time, so I thought and I thought and I thought, but I had no idea how I was going to