Irium

We were then joined by Roswaisa, who was surprised at first that Kaylith, my father, hadn"t come here. But, after her surprised pa.s.sed away, she hasn"t said anything. Then, Danny and Trevor came to join. Danny has been looking down, kinda defeated even. Trevor, on the other hand, has had a smile on his face ever since I saw him coming into the room.

Finally, we were joined by Kaylith, who took his seat on the throne. And so, all six of us are here now.

"Roswaisa, please display me your expertise at Absolute Frost Requiem, will you?" He asks.

"Sure," she says and … disappears.

"Wh-where is she?" Danny questions.

"I am right here," her voice comes from the place she was standing on before she disappeared. Seeing that, Kaylith clapped his hands and said,

"Well done! You"ve perfected your control over Absolute Frost Requiem already." He says with a smile which indicated he was predicting this success.

Roswaisa makes herself visible and Kaylith continues, "Now then, Irium and Danny"s purpose for coming back in time to 1856 has been fulfilled. Is there anything either of you wants to say?"

"Nope." I immediately answer. But then,

"Well, actually, I do want to say something." Danny says so. "I had misjudged you in the beginning. I am sorry for that."

"Don"t be." Kaylith says, "I doubt anything you thought about me could be worse than the truth."

Tsk!

"In any case, now that the two of them have nothing to say, what about you, Roswaisa?" He asks while turning to her.

"…" Roswaisa presses her lips, as if she is hesitating in saying whatever it is she wants to say.

"Nothing to say?" Kaylith asks.

"Kaylith," she says then, "I saw the past you showed me, and I see now why you blame yourself so much and consider yourself a heinous person, but you can still be saved. I believe so."

"Hah!" Kaylith sighs and says with a smile, "You only think so because I couldn"t show you the entire story, Roswaisa. But anyway, there"s no point in dawdling on that matter."

Roswaisa shows a look of disappointment but she knows very well that Kaylith would not change his mind, especially not from some talk-no-jutsu she can pull right now.

"Well then, what about you?" He looks at Priscina as he asks, "I kept you cooped up in that room for years just for the sake of you talking to Irium when you did. Surely you have something to say to me, some curses to throw at me?"

"Nah! It"s fine." She says, dismissing him with a carefree expression. "Had the roles been reversed, I would have done much worse to you."

For a moment, Kaylith straightens his back as he hears that. Well, that certainly was a delightful sight to see. Well done, Nee-san, well done!

"… okay, finally, Trevor," he turns to Trevor as he asks, "you have been a great friend and many time in my life, the only person I can count on. So what about you? Anything you want to say?"

"May you rest in peace, Kaylith!" Trevor says with a smile.

"… well, that"s certainly not what I was expecting to hear … but, it works." He says with a baffled expression and then stands.

As he does so, Danny, Roswaisa and Trevor straighten their backs, while I and Priscina act cool leaning back on the wall.

"Hah!" He sighs and says, "I see my children haven"t grown out of their rebellious phase."

Tsk! This … this … what the heck, I don"t even want to abuse him, same as it was with Priscina.

"In any case, Irium, I am appointing you as the new ruler of this-"

"Go to h.e.l.l!" I interrupt with that.

"Well, I am going there. And that is why, I want you to-"

"Forget it, old man, not happening." I say.

"…" He looks at me with hopeful eyes.

"…" I look at him with a denial.

"Okay fine, Danny, you-"

"Nope, I have a life back on earth." He says.

"If you become the king of this realm, you can probably get a harem." Kaylith tempts him with the oldest trick in the book. And-

"Yeah, sure, I"m in." It works. Of course it works.

That said though, while this may seem like a joke on the outside, it isn"t. I do think Danny is a good choice for someone who would be ruling over this realm. Perhaps, he is even a better choice than any other option available, especially me.

"Hmm … alright then, that"s settled. Now all my affairs are in order." He says with a smile as he raises his voice a little, "So there"s no reason for you to hide anymore."

And then, the b.i.t.c.h responsible for the hopelessness we are thrown in appears.

"I wasn"t hiding. I was just waiting for the right opportunity to show myself." says Dues ex machina as she steps into the throne room from the front entrance.

Trevor, Danny and Priscina scoff at her and I try to keep my deadpan façade from breaking. Kaylith, on the other hand, smiles diplomatically and says, "I suppose you"ll now be taking Roswaisa with you."

"Yes, indeed I would."

"Forget it!" Roswaisa yells, "I would never kill the entire demon race for you."

"Pfft!" Dues laughs, "Your willingness to do it does not matter, my poor Angel."

"What … do you mean?" She asks.

"Why do you think you are the one who is supposed to fulfill the "prophecy" of killing all the Angels and Demons?" She asks with a mocking smile, "Aside from you being more beautiful than average woman, you are special in any way at all."

Oh no! Does this mean-

"When you were a human, when you were Adonia Evans, I found you and conditioned you to become slave to my will."

This b.i.t.c.h!

"I made sure you become an Angel after you die so I have someone who can become powerful enough to utilize that ability of Kaylith"s for my purpose, and will do it on my command." She barely stops herself from breaking into laughter as she says, "You, Roswaisa, are my p.a.w.n. All that is needed is a little reminded of the fact."

Wait! Doesn"t that mean that … oh c.r.a.p!

"Oops!" She says. "Looks like I already gave that reminder, didn"t I?"

As I look at Roswaisa, even at this distance, I can see the light in her eyes disappear.

*****