Chapter 6

"Five, six, seven... nine, perhaps? You all are trying to kill me, aren't you?"

The red-haired man standing in front of Alicia had a familiar face. He glared at her with intense hatred.

"Your pleas for mercy will be in vain. You will die here, accept it."

"I'm relieved to hear those words."

Alicia smiled and took out a slender dagger she had hidden between her breasts.

"Ha! You intend to fight this many with a weapon that's practically a knife?"

"Too bad. My goal is—"

The thief's sword was brought down, closing in on Alicia.

However, before the blade could tear her apart, Alicia thrust the dagger into her own left chest.

"Wh-What!?"

In the burning heat and pain, Alicia smiled.

When she was a child, her mother had told her, at the age of five:

"The condition for seeing the future is that you must be in mortal danger."

Gently stroking Alicia's hair, a gentle voice said:

"And on top of that, you must take your own life..."

Blood from her heart flowed through the blade and into the hand gripping the dagger.

The red overflow stained her pure white wedding dress, as if a bright red flower had bloomed there.

"When the mystical power activates, you will see the future in death. Then, you will return to a moment just before you lost your life."

Recalling her mother's words, Alicia felt a mysterious power circulating through her blood.

(Finally, thank you for coming to kill me seriously, Tina.)

Even in the agony of not being able to breathe, Alicia forced a smile with her lips.

(—Through your murderous intent, I can know the 'truth.')

At that moment, a scene enveloped in light appeared in her mind.

＊＊＊

"I'm glad I was able to properly kill my sister..."

Tina, looking down at the blood-soaked wedding dress, laughed softly and happily.

"Now I can be happy without any worries."

In Alicia's closed mind, a scene appeared. It was the castle of her homeland, in what seemed to be Tina's room.

"If Alicia were alive, she might say something unnecessary at any time. And the commoners who know that the charity work was actually done by Alicia must be silenced quickly."

Tina, who had always acted as if she admired Alicia, had never invited her to her room.

In the room, which Alicia saw for the first time, there was a mannequin wearing another wedding dress.

"And I will be the wife of Prince Felix. To have a husband who is a prince of a powerful country, with beauty, power, and strength as a swordsman, is wonderful...!"

Tina pressed her cheek against the dress, whispering with an innocent, angelic expression.

"Does it matter if Prince Felix has a cruel and cold heart? I can wrap it in my sun-like warmth and melt it away."

(......)

Alicia watched the scene with a sense of disgust in her wavering consciousness.

(I don't want to see such an obvious scene.)

In the future where Alicia was dead, Tina's actions were already clear.

Then, the vision changed again, and a slightly more distant future spread before her eyes.

"Mom, I'm hungry..."

In a small town outside the capital, a thin child was crying.

Women were at a loss, hanging their heads in front of the withered fields.

"After Lady Alicia died in an accident and Lady Tina married into the Leuria Kingdom, no one has helped us. All the men have been taken by the war."

(—Even after the alliance with the Leuria Kingdom was established, Uncle still didn't start any policies to help the people. The Leuria Kingdom wouldn't advise him to do so. This was something I already knew...)

When she was young, she had held a tiny hope that her uncle might one day pay attention to the people.

But it was right to give up early.

(Seeing this fact again is just a confirmation. I don't have time to be disappointed here.)

The scene in her mind changed, and Alicia squeezed her eyes shut.

She was not in a state to objectively judge what was happening to her.

In the pain spreading from her heart, she could only face the approaching future.

"—Help me!!"

The voice that echoed was her uncle's.

He was surrounded by men with swords.

The uncle, who had once pointed a sword at her father, was now in the same situation as her father.

"Do you know who you're pointing your swords at!? This is ridiculous, let me see your king first!!"

"......"

"I and the kings of other countries made a pact fifteen years ago!! Are you going to betray it now!? How much do you think I've taken from your countries since I became king!!"

"What nonsense."

One of the swordsmen pointing a sword at her uncle was wearing the uniform of the Western Great Kingdom.

"My father said, 'When you staged the coup, I helped you, not the previous king.' Everything you've offered to my father so far has been to repay that past favor, hasn't it?"