CHAPTER 1
PICKING UP THE PIECES
1
“Emilia, are you a virgin? This is crucial.”
For a split second, Emilia couldn’t process what she was being asked.
“…”
She was surprised by the suddenness of the question, but the situation being what it was, she struggled with how she should respond to such an odd confrontation. With only a single blanket to cover herself, Emilia took a deep breath.
As she was forced to confront such an incomprehensible situation and try to understand what was going on, Emilia’s instinct was to try to recall everything that had happened so far.
—Following an invitation from Anastasia, a fellow royal-selection candidate, she had traveled to the Water Gate City of Pristella, one of the five great cities in the Kingdom of Lugunica. During her time there, she met with Crusch and Felt, two other candidates who had also received invitations from Anastasia, and they all enjoyed the welcoming, peaceful atmosphere. The next day, after a rather tense breakfast, she set off into town with Subaru and Beatrice, running into the Songstress Liliana…and then finding out that Subaru and Beatrice were facing off against one of the Witch Cult Archbishops by themselves. As soon as she learned this, Emilia quickly joined the fight. Their enigmatic foe may have been covered from head to toe in bandages, but she proved to be a powerful opponent, wielding flames and chains with equal skill. Emilia fought her hard, but they had been pushed to a point where defeat was looking inevitable when— What did happen after that?
When Emilia came to, she was lying on an unknown bed in a room she did not recognize inside an unfamiliar building. And when she stepped outside the room to see what was going on, she found herself in the hallway face-to-face with a white-haired man dressed in an all-white suit. Standing before him, she was unable to move, even forgetting to breathe.
—Who is he, where are we, and why am I here?
Now, as Emilia caught her breath and started to think—
“Ah, my apologies. It seems I’ve surprised you. I must admit that was an error on my part.” The white-haired man—Regulus Corneas—smiled and raised his hand. “I am sorry for the sudden question. Truly, I apologize. You see, I’m the sort of man who can genuinely apologize when I believe I am in the wrong. There are utterly unbearable louts in this world who refuse to recognize their own faults and merely shift blame with an unending stream of excuses, but on a fundamental level, I stand apart from such lowly, inferior people. You agree, don’t you?”
“Ummm… Yes, it’s important to be able to apologize from your heart, sure…”
“Just so! That’s it exactly. Being able to apologize is crucial. Thank goodness. People who can’t even understand something as simple as that are far more common than you would think, but since we both share that understanding, I’m sure we will get along famously in our married life. That’s a relief. There is no mistaking we were fated to be joined together.”
Regulus’s eyes sparkled excitedly as he nodded to himself over and over, completely ignoring Emilia’s apparent shock. After looking her up and down, he continued.
“You see, I’m not inquiring as to your chastity out of a vulgar curiosity. As I said, we are husband and wife, and spouses must of course be joined together out of a powerful bond of mutual love and understanding. In order to maintain a relationship like that, it is only natural that it is a requirement that both parties must entrust all of themselves to their partner. Which is why I would like to be sure.”
“Sure of what…?”
“Sure that you have not been touched by another man. But to be clear, I ask this with only love in my heart, so while it might cause you some small amount of discomfort, I really must insist. It’s my duty both as your husband and as a man.”
Regulus’s thoughts flowed out with great expressiveness and verbosity. Emilia felt something was off about Regulus himself as she was tossed about by the flood of words.
“………”
She was overwhelmed by the vehemence of his insistence, but that was not all. His figure, his voice…something about him was stirring the depths of her memories. But she couldn’t seem to figure out why, and it soon slipped away, before she could manage to figure it out. But she could say one thing for sure—this man was incredibly focused on one certain word.
“So please allow me to ask again: Emilia, are you a virgin?”
“Um, can you explain what that means? I’m sorry, that’s not a word I’m very familiar with.” Faced with the same question once again, Emilia averted her purple eyes apologetically.
It was clearly something that held great meaning to Regulus, but she simply didn’t understand what he was getting at.
“…What?” Regulus’s expression tensed when he heard that.
Right as Emilia was starting to feel uneasy, his eyes suddenly widened.
“—Marvelous. You truly are the manifestation of my ideal maiden!” Regulus exclaimed, grabbing her hands as an animated smile crossed his face.
Emilia’s eyes widened in shock, but Regulus paid no heed to her response and celebrated like a child who had just gotten his hands on the toy he had been dreaming of for so long. He nodded to himself over and over, and his eyes gleamed with a feverish light as he stepped in closer.
“Yes, I knew it! I had always had some misgivings as to whether using virginity as a metric was really the best way to answer this question. But that’s it exactly—true purity lies in the heart. Physical virtue is only natural and expected! But what truly matters is being immaculate in spirit as well… As fulfilled as I am, you have still managed to reveal a new truth to me!”
“Ah, um, that’s nice, I think…?”
“Indeed it is. And let me say, you pass with flying colors. You are perfectly suited to be my wife. And in the future, I won’t have to do something as silly as inquiring into the virginity of my brides. Anyone impure enough to understand the very concept would only diminish the value of the station. A woman who has committed adultery in her heart is not fit to be my wife.”
Letting go of Emilia’s hand, Regulus rapturously regaled her with the future he saw for them.
She still couldn’t quite grasp the true meaning of what he was saying. In fact, all of his talk about being husband and wife had come out of nowhere. In her mind, husband and wife described the loving relationship her father and mother shared, which seemed at odds with Regulus’s idea of marriage. Maybe he was thinking of something else that merely sounded similar?
“Ah, how careless of me. I’ve said too much. I shouldn’t leave you standing there in such a state for so long. Let’s get you a change of clothes.” Noticing Emilia’s bewildered silence, Regulus clapped his hands. “Come along, #184.”
A door opened on his command, and a doll-like figure joined the two of them in the hall.
“ ”
The beautiful woman in a white dress approached, elegantly trailing long blond hair. Her pure, unblemished white outfit must have been coordinated with Regulus, whose appearance radiated all white. Standing silently at Regulus’s side, she politely curtsied as she looked at Emilia.
There was no emotion in the woman’s expression. Emilia’s breath caught as she noticed the lifeless, doll-like eyes.
“Prepare a change of clothes for her—for #79. Once she is ready, go help the others prepare for the ceremony. She will be joining all of you, so do try to get along and look after her.”
“ ”
“Mm-hmm. You’ve stopped smiling like I requested. Good girl. You are an excellent wife.”
Regulus smiled, satisfied by the woman’s silence and lack of expression as she did nothing more than nod. He then stepped toward Emilia, who still had not grasped what was going on, and, as if it were nothing, he reached his hand out and caressed her silver hair without a hint of hesitation. Her body stiffened in response to a gesture that felt entirely different when a certain black-haired boy did it.
“Well then, I shall see you later. She will make you even more beautiful.”
“Right…”
Emilia was filled with doubt and resistance, but at the same time, her instincts were telling her not to openly defy this man, that Regulus Corneas possessed great power. A horrifyingly vast amount of power.
“Good girl.”
Nodding at her short response, Regulus smiled and leisurely turned away. She watched him disappear down the hall, and when he was finally out of view, her shoulders gradually relaxed at last. Her body had instinctively tensed up, completely on guard against him without her ever realizing it.
His mere presence felt just as menacing as the horde of great rabbits—
“—This way.”
The woman’s voice was beautiful, like a perfectly tuned harp. But there was no emotion in her voice, either. And something about that pained Emilia.
“Your clothes.”
“Um, I really appreciate it, but I have a lot of questions. Like where is this, for starters? I was in the great plaza in Pristella, and then— Ah! Wait!”
Ignoring Emilia’s questions, the woman had quickly started walking.
“Um, could you please listen? I really need to send a message to my friends. I’m sure they’re all worried about me, and I’m worried about what happened to them, too…”
“ ”
“Excuse me, are you listening? Can you hear me? …Arghhhh.”
The woman just kept walking forward, back straight, not lending an ear to Emilia. And as Emilia started to pout after all her questions were ignored, the woman finally led her to the room beside the one she had woken up in. It held all sorts of clothes and accessories, almost like the dressing room in a castle. But just like the place she had woken up in, something about this room made it feel different from the coldness that the rest of the building radiated.
“There are so many clothes, but…this wasn’t originally what this room was for, was it?”
“These were all brought here by our husband. Please get dressed, #79.”
“…Is that number supposed to mean me? He—Regulus called me that, too. Who are you?”
“I am #184, one of his wives—just like you.”
Closing the door, her back to it, the woman who called herself #184 responded. Her voice was as cold and emotionless as before, but Emilia was still a bit relieved to just be able to talk with her.
“Thank goodness you finally responded. Um, what should I call you again…?”
“#184. Please be careful; he is picky about the numbers.”
Hearing that warning, Emilia placed her hand on her own chest.
“…That number thing is bothering me, too, but I assume it’s safe to say that when he was talking about marriage and spouses, he meant me? If so, I don’t recall ever agreeing to marry Regulus…”
Thinking back, she could not remember ever arranging anything of the sort. #184 narrowed her eyes ever so slightly.
“You may not have such intentions, but he most certainly does. And your will has no bearing on his desires.”
“That’s strange, though. Marriage is something two people who love each other do together, right? I don’t even know him.”
This discussion about marriage didn’t mesh at all with how Emilia understood the concept. And from what #184 was saying, Regulus sounded less like a good husband and more like…
“—It’s like he’s one of the wicked kings I’ve read about.”
“ ”
Emilia was still busy studying for the royal selection, and the names of many kings filled the pages of history, including some whose names were recorded for not particularly flattering reasons. Dictators, for example—rulers who refused to listen to others and insisted on obstinately following their own course above all else.
“That’s a perfect description of him.”
“Huh?”
“His bearing is undoubtedly that of a king… He is well deserving of the title ‘the little king,’” #184 murmured softly.
Emilia could not catch what the woman had said, so she asked her to repeat it, but #184 tightly pursed her lips.
“……Your clothes.”
“What? Wait…”
#184 was even more unyielding than before to cover up her momentary slip of the tongue. She stepped forward to remove the blanket Emilia was using to cover her body—
“—Gh?!”
Without warning, a loud noise and violent tremor rocked the town.
“Watch out!”
Emilia caught #184, who had stumbled from the sudden jolt and blast. Emilia swung her head around and then leaped to the window of the changing room. Searching for the source of the noise, she saw something unbelievable.
“That’s…the floodgate?!”
Her lips quivered, and her purple eyes opened wide as she watched a huge floodgate—one of the massive devices that controlled the flow of water in all the city’s waterways—open with an ominous groan.
With nothing to hold it back any longer, the water rushed into the city all at once. Pristella was laid out like a bowl, designed so that water would flow toward the lower levels—to the center of the town.
In the distance, the heart of the city was visible—city hall. And that tall structure was already being swallowed up by water.
“That’s…”
The roads were flooded as a rolling wave swept away people and goods alike. Emilia clutched the windowsill in shock, hearing the imagined pandemonium in the back of her mind.
It was beyond anything she could imagine, and while she watched in shock, all the people were tossed about, desperately struggling to survive.
What had happened?
The city’s residents and her fellow candidates who had also traveled here—were they safe?
And there was another who came to mind.
“Subaru…”
Her knight was somewhere out there, too. Was he safe?
She closed her eyes, imaging his smile as she prayed for his safety.
Praying, pleading, Emilia kept her eyes shut tight.
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