Moon of the Empire

This is impossible. She can't die. Even if something did almost kill her, [MATERNAL EMBRACE] is supposed to save her!

I tried to push myself up, but my arms buckled under my weight. [SPIRIT BLADE] had taken more out of me than I'd thought and I felt like I had bricks strapped to every part of my body.

"Yahime!"

My voice was hoarse. The tree we'd pinned Louis to was gone and he lay motionless on the ground where it had been.

"I didn't expect you to live."

Richard's voice dripped with malice as he stalked toward me. I reached for my naginata, but it was gone. I'd stored it with [INNER VOID].

ALERT

[SKILL SHARE] IS UNAVAILABLE

"What did you do?!" I demanded. "Where is Yahime?"

Richard shrugged and closed the grimoire in his hand. It was barely holding together and most of the pages were charred or missing.

"What did you do? That was your attack after all."

"Don't play with me!" I spat. I forced myself to my knee, pounding my leg with my fist to make it move. "You were the one I attacked! I killed you!"

He shook his head with a sly grin.

"No, you gave me the means to kill that vexing Dusk. I'd hoped you would use something to kill me in one attack. I never expected Louis's sword art."

What was he talking about? I couldn't understand. My head was spinning and the ringing in my ears made it impossible to think straight. Were there any skills in Royal Hearts that could reflect attacks? Then again, were there any that let you steal them?

"I'll kill you!" I swiped at Richard when he got close, only to fall face first onto the frozen ground when he stepped out of the way. "I'll fucking kill you!"

He laughed before knocking the air from me with a kick to the ribs. He repeated himself several times until I was a barely conscious heap.

"I… kill… you…"

I mumbled the words over and over again. I couldn't even see Richard anymore and it felt like I was being dragged across the ground.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I'm just glad the plan worked. I never expected her to steal my attack, though."

"Me neither. I'm just glad I won't have to break any bad news to His Highness and Sarah."

"Ha. Don't start acting like we're friends, Gredig. But you did good."

Listen to them. Having a protagonist get together after defeating the villainess, treating me like some generic boss to forget about when the next update comes out. Why do they get another happy ending? They don't deserve it. They didn't have to suffer for it.

My resentment was bitter on my tongue. Or maybe it was just blood. What did it matter when every life I lived was only going to end in failure?

You haven't failed.

"Vide?" My mouth was too dry to speak over a whisper and my vision was blurry with tears. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I tried to protect her…"

A warmth radiated from the core of my stomach and I felt like I was being rocked in someone's arms.

Rest.

***

Kyomi?

I opened my eyes and blinked at the void stretched out in front of me.

Where was I? And who was Kyomi? It was a strange name, one that I had never heard before. A merchant from the far continent?

I tried to remember, yet all I could recall was the numbing cold and the crippling hunger.

Come on, Aurelie! Focus. A daughter of House Scelerat does not forget! Remember!

I squeezed my eyes to remember and when I opened them I was surrounded by bodies.

"What did you do?! Where is she?!"

I looked down at the girl screaming at me. Looked down at me?

"You did not just fucking EAT Bixey!"

The "me" I was watching picked up a sword and swung it at me. Was it a toy? It didn't hurt at all, but her palms were beginning to bleed.

"hurt?"

The abyss swallowed the world around me, returning me to the darkness.

Why was I watching myself? And why did I speak that way? I was trying to ask if she was hurt! Why did I sound like some simpleton barbarian?

I sighed and tried to approach the situation from a different angle. The memory was familiar and foreign at the same time. The same with watching herself. It felt natural despite being absolutely absurd.

The world brightened around me again and I found myself in a shabby dark room.

"What do you think?"

What do I think? About what?

"don't… know…"

I wanted to scream at my inability to communicate. Was it really that hard to speak properly?

"You do." The other me stood from the bed she was on and walked over to me. "You and I are family. And just like Lucinda and Taro, we'll take care of one another, and protect one another. Understand?"

My heart tightened. I couldn't say who Lucinda and Taro were, but they sounded lovely. I'd only ever had a transactional relationship with my family. In return for providing me clothing, food, and shelter, I performed my duties to become the future Moon of the Empire.

"kyomi… scared…"

The faint voice in the darkness reached my ear. It wasn't a memory. It was someone else trapped in nothingness with me.

"Who's there? Can you hear me?"

I called to the person several times before waiting for a response.

"kyomi?"

That name again. Then was the other me Kyomi? It would certainly help keep things clear if we ever met.

"Keep talking! I'll come to you!"

They did and I walked blindly toward the sound of their voice.

What is that miserable creature?

It looked like a human-sized plucked bird and the white rings of its eyes glowed dimly at me.

"Hello," I greeted it. "My name is Aurelie Scelerat. Are you hurt?"

"aurelie? no aurelie… kyomi."

I frowned.

"I assure you that my name is Aurelie Scelerat. Now who are you?"

"me? Yahime…"

The name struck me like a bolt of lightning, and the memories I'd seen before fell into place.

"Of course you are," I whispered softly. I knelt down and lifted Yahime's head. It was weightless in my hands and I laid it on my lap. "Now tell me why you're here, Yahime."

She told me in her broken words what had happened before she awoke. A battle against two men who matched the descriptions of Louis Bourbon and Richard Gredig. Pushing the other me out of the way before she was hit by the sword art.

"Do you regret it?"

I wasn't sure why I asked her, but I needed to know. Did I regret it?

"no."

"Then rest. Leave the rest to me."

***

It was a peculiar feeling finding myself in my own body again. The statement alone was just as peculiar and I doubted many people ever experienced the sensation.

"Is Aurelie still alive?"

"Yes. I was thinking of taking her back to the empire with us."

I took a deep breath of the crisp northern air. I, we, had made it. To a place the empire could never hurt me again. Or that was supposed to be what happened.

"That's quite presumptuous of you, Richard."

The handsome face that had once charmed me looked ragged. How had I ever fallen for such a man? I truly had been desperate for companionship.

"H-How? You were just—"

I placed my finger over his lips to silence him. I wasn't sure how I'd reached him so quickly, but it seemed like an inefficient use of time to question everything. The answers would come in time.

"And Louis! It's been too long."

The swordsman's pale face became translucent. He reached to his hip for his sword, but I waved it in front of him.

"At least you recognize me. I would have been hurt if you'd thought I was that copy like Richard."

"Aurelie," his voice trembled as he spoke my name. "Then that wasn't… that's why…"

"I'm not sure what you're thinking, but don't try too hard. You've never been the brightest. Imagine falling in love with your master's woman while helping him win her affection."

"I was just doing my duty," he muttered. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Perhaps not. But both of you have caused enough trouble."

I didn't give them a chance to argue.

[WILL OF THE EMPRESS]

The moment I activated the strange "skill", the men's eyes glazed over.

"Now listen closely. I have an important job for you."