A few days had passed since the Rudel sky pirates incident.

Lutart appeared at Lugh's mansion.

"Diantha-sama, the Six Families have finished speaking with the Kingdom's diplomats."

Lutart, who served the Vermillion Household in the past, was now a teacher at the academy to take care for them.

Diana sat on the sofa to listen to the report.

She looked out the window and saw that it was snowing. Winter had arrived.

"And then, how will Rudel and the others be judged?"

Rudel and the others who acted in a fight with Aster, would of course be brought to justice.

That's what she thought, but really Diana's prediction was wrong. "Nothing of the sort, they have been acquitted of all charges."

"W-Why!!? Maybe they could have gotten the sentence reduced, but won't they sentence them after all they've done!!?"

Dressed as sky pirates, they destroyed an Aster ship.

They hurt the sacred tree.

There were even several dead, among them the knight leader of Rosenberg Household, Baltort. And the sons of Herring Household which had no heir now.

Randy blamed everything that happened, including the armor incident, on Rudel.

That alone is a felony.

And besides, they were hurting the people involved from the six noble families.

"What do you mean with nothing?" That was Diana's honest sentiment.

"A diplomat of the Kingdom was a great talker. And it seems the Rosenberg’s backed her up."

Lutart's gaze sharpened.

For the Vermillion family, the Rosenberg family is the enemy.

The knowledge that the Rosenberg’s were backing the Kingdom must have bothered Lutart as well.

"The Rosenberg’s again?"

(Are they really going to join forces with the Rosenberg’s? Teaming up with the enemy is the worst thing you can do.)

From Diana's point of view, it felt like they betrayed her.

(Although they promised to protect the Sacred Tree and restore peace in Aster, Rudel and Erselica joined Randolf's scoundrel.)

However, Lutart also had other information.

"Furthermore, the heads of the six great noble families have officially announced that this sacrificial farce was not the will of the Sacred Tree."

"... They are indeed very honest. I heard it was different, but is it something they can believe so quickly?"

The issue related to the Sacred Tree was very sensitive in Aster.

And, even so, it was hard to believe in that just because Rudel said. "That was a parasite who attached the Sacred Tree."

She wondered if Lutart agreed with him.

"I didn't foresee this outcome. What if they had been persuaded by the Rosenberg’s?"

Diana had no idea what was going on.

"I'll go talk to Rudel and the others."

"Diantha-sama, Rudel and the others are a danger now. They've most likely been tricked by the Rosenberg Household."

"But I'll still talk to them."

(Besides, we have Zero around. If something happens, I won't hesitate to use him.)

She already had an equivalent power with Rudel and the others.

This made Diana feel safer.

Then Lugh returned from outside and came to the room they were in.

Lugh, dressed in a suit and with his coat under his arm, greeted Lutart.

"Lutart-san, it's been a long time."

"Lugh-sama, you look well too. More importantly, what's going on today?"

"... What are you talking about? Today is the day we're getting engaged Diana."

"Aah! I forgot! I'll go get dressed right now, sorry!"

Diana got up and went to change. He told her about an affair concerning Randolf.

"Diana, you see, my father told me this. Thanks to this problem, the relatives, military men and knights are very upset with the Acting Chairman. They say he is no longer worthy to be the Acting Chairman."

"Right now the six of them are gathered together discussing about it."

"Really!"

Diana overreacted when she heard that.

(This is good. Just like the game, the great nobles were fed up with Randolf, resulting in a rebellion against him.)

(The next Acting Chairman was Jude's father in all routes, but Linus' route, where after taking a swipe at Randolf exposing his misdeeds, he becomes the Acting Chairman.)

(But this is good. It means that the game has not been distorted as much as I thought. No doubt there's still the possibility of getting the bad ending, but I won't allow it.)

Diana came out of the room wearing a beautiful dress.

"I'm ready now."

Lugh smiled a warm smile at her.

"You look beautiful, Diana."

"Thank you. By the way, have you heard from Zack? Zero hasn't told me if he's woken up yet."

Lugh furrowed his eyebrows and then adjusted them.

"What's wrong with you!"

She grumbled.

"Calm down, Diana. Zero hasn't told me anything."

"Whatever, come on, I want to get this over with quickly and go to sleep."

Despite it being their commitment ceremony, Diana wanted to get this over with as if it were a trivial issue.

(If Zack doesn't wake up, I will have lost my best card. The head of the Rosenberg Household is waiting for the opportunity to destroy this country.)

But Diana was not convinced.

(Why do I think about Zack so much? Could it be that I'm worried after what Rudel did to him?)

Diana blushed as she thought about Zack for some reason.

Lugh was looking at her with the same loving expression as always as he squeezed her hand tightly.

◇

Autumn vacation was almost over, winter was here and the day for Alisa and Airi to return had arrived.

When we arrived at the harbor, the wind was cold and unpleasant.

"Be careful, you two."

I was astonished that Alisa in front of me was on the verge of tears.

"That's our line. You're going to have a hard time in this strange place."

Airi smiled at me, she was a little worried.

"We were able to be of help this time. And, Rudel-san... you mustn't deceive us."

Huh? Are you really going to say it?

Seeing the subtle look on my face, Alisa asked Ixion to keep an eye on me.

"Ixion, make sure Rudel doesn't cheat us."

"Leave it to me. If I see any signs of infidelity, I'll let you know right away."

What do you mean, any signs?

"You'll judge whether I'm having an affair, depending on the amount of suspicion I make?"

"Yes. So please be very careful what you do."

"... Not exactly the sort of thing an observer would say."

Airi looked at Lucy, who had come to see them off. Sara couldn't as she was still in bed.

"Rudel-san, can I talk to Lucy? It's an important conversation between women, so don't listen."

Should I answer with a yes with a smile?

I nodded my head repeatedly and agreed.

◇◇◇

Lucy and the girls gathered away from Rudel and Ixion's sight.

She felt a little uncomfortable around them after what happened in the spirit world.

The reason was due to the jealousy they felt towards Lucy for getting so reliably close to Rudel.

The worst thing for Lucy was discovering that the love for him was not only reciprocated, it went in more than one direction.

That left her with a sense of revulsion.

Alisa told her bluntly.

"Lucy, we'll put you in charge of Rudel while we're gone."

"Huh, just like that?"

"Sure. After all, we consider you a rival. We accept that you're Rudel's woman."

Alisa smiled in a pleasant but angry way.

"But that doesn't mean we like you, you know that?"

"We are jealous, we admit it, we love Rudel so much that we hate a woman coming near him. But still, Rudel is everything to us."

"I know, I love him too. I want to be forever with him, when this semester is over I'm going back to the Kingdom with him."

"Sounds good to me. We'll have a fair competition when we're home. We'll show you the power of the love for Rudel that we have."

"Believe me I don't want to know anything to do with love between you, and more so if it's about you."

Lucy's mouth became razor sharp, a vein scored on Alisa's forehead.

"Play all you want with him, my body will make him remember who is the woman he wants most."

Alisa emphasized the curves of her body, lifting her firm breasts.

Lucy understood that as a declaration of war.

She lifted her breasts in the same way.

"Don't think I'll lose if it comes to showing off attributes. Your breasts may be bigger than mine, but Rudel has shown me more affection than he has shown you. The personality is what matters, not the breasts of a girl who enjoys sleeping in another woman's bed."

"You're a little..."

The veins on Alisa's forehead increased, but she noticed something. Airi hadn't said anything for a while.

"Is something wrong Airi?"

In reply she said with her empty eyes.

"It's about yesterday."

Alisa understood what he meant.

"Oh, that's right."

Her eyes became empty as well.

◇◇◇

The night before returning home, Alisa and Airi wanted to have one last time to receive Rudel's love.

They went into his room, lay down on his bed.

Their underwear was in full view.

They pretended to sleep. They wanted to receive all of Rudel's sexual desire before ending their vacation.

They had been waiting quietly for hours.

Rudel came to the door of his room, but he was always interrupted by someone.

"Oh, Rudecchi, shall we go get something to eat? A new restaurant opened where they serve venison."

"That sounds delicious."

They kept coming after Clovis.

"Count, I got a rare antique item, do you want to see it?"

"Well, I have nothing to do."

After Warren came Frey and Chlust.

"Count, I got some tickets to an opera concert, I'd like you to come with me to get your opinion."

"I'm not a fan of that kind of music, but it sounds interesting."

"Bradford, I'm going to train my quads. Let's go together as muscle training partners!"

"No, stay away! Last time I ended up with a three-day backache!"

Even Darryl and Dominique went to bother him, they were returning with the girls in the same escort fleet.

Finally, Liam showed up.

"Bradford. I've got a coupon for a super-giant ramen, Erselica gone and it's just you left, you want to compete?"

"I'll make you swallow those words, you idiot prince."

In the end, Rudel came back and fell asleep in the living room.

They waited for him all night, Ixion came into the room to say.

"I'm sorry. Things didn't go as I expected."

They got up with a murderous glare at those meddlers.

◇◇◇

"Hehehe..."

Lucy laughed as she saw the dark expression and murderous aura emanating from those two.

"I swear that when I get home I will file a formal complaint to the palace to have His Highness sent to another country to study next year."

"I second that."

"W-Well, I guess for you guys the physical connection is important."

(Truth be told, if that had happened to me I'd be just like them.)

Alisa noticed how the sailors had finished loading everything onto the boats.

It was time to say goodbye, Alisa smiled at Lucy.

"Take care Lucy, we'll see you next year. I'm not afraid of Erselica anymore, but I'm worried about that strange daily allowance Rudel gives her."

Lucy thumped her chest.

"Leave it to me. Although Erselica-chan and him seem more like relatives the way they treat each other. Like they're siblings."

"How unpleasant that would be."

After saying that Airi, went over to hug Lucy.

She smiled at her.

"Lucy-san, Rudel-san is in your care. Take good care of him for us, he is our man after all."

Lucy hugged her back.

"It's true. We are his women and he is our future husband. Even if we don't like each other, we must get along."

Airi added after making a strange smile.

"Thank you for keeping that secret."

Lucy smiled in the same way.

"No problem. We're on the same page."

What Airi was talking about was a secret towards Rudel.

They lied to him that it was safe when they were giving each other love.

The reality was that due to Lucy and Sara, their deepest desires came to the surface. The desire to conceive a child.

Bell examined them and said none of them was.

Not even Lucy.

Lucy couldn't tell them anything as she tried to do the same.

They said their goodbyes in order to return in peace to the Kingdom.

◇

Alisa and Airi had returned to the kingdom.

I found Erselica crying at the entrance.

She said the idiots took the money I had given her recently.

I don't know what's worse. She being that pitiful or those guys being so useless?

Then Cana appeared.

"Erselica-sama, don't worry."

"Cana?"

"I've been saving my money. It's not much, but I thought we could survive for a month with this."

Then Allen arrived and also handed Erselica an envelope.

"Those fives are so useless that if we didn't figure out a way to have money to spare, we'd end up on the street,"

When Cana handed her the money, Erselica was desperately trying to take advantage of it.

She struggled to keep her outstretched right hand in place with her left.

"T-That's your money, Cana, so take it back."

"But!"

"I told you no! Hurry up while I keep my sanity... I-I won't be able to keep it for long now. Please Cana... Keep that money away from me. Don't make me see it."

"Erselica-samaaaa!"

It's like watching a sad scene of a person about to turn into a zombie telling its friends. "Stop me! I don't want to attack you, kill me while I'm still human!".

No, it's actually different. Completely different.

Behind me was Lucy, returned to the mansion.

She was carrying a shopping bag in her hand, so she seems to have been shopping on her way home.

"I'm home! What happened to Erselica-chan and why is she crying?"

"Oh, this? Actually..."

I told Lucy what happened.

Then Lucy, understanding the situation, offered a sympathetic look to Erselica.

"Erselica-chan, I can give you some money. When I became the priestess, I got some money to live on. I'm indebted to you and I can pay you rent or something."

Lucy's suggestion had brought Erselica to tears.

"Rent... what a precious word."

Precious? I don't understand Erselica values.

"You and I get along just fine. You can count on me without reservation."

"Thank you, Lucy-samaaaaaaaaaaaa!

I started thinking when I saw Erselica hugging Lucy.

(Ah, she really is trouble if I don't lend her money.)

◇

After giving Erselica money to keep her from taking money from Lucy or Cana or Allen, I headed to my room.

"Today has been a long day."

"You can tell. On the other hand, can I make a report of my findings?"

"... How did it go?"

After the pleasantries, I decided to listen to Ixion's report.

There were a lot of questions this time.

"Now, I would like to talk about the decisions of the six families that have upset you. It is a fact that they don't want us in this country, I suggest not to do anything remarkable and wait to return to the Kingdom."

"Fine with me, I'm sick of this country and its nobles."

"About Randolf, he made a move in our favor, but there was resistance at all. The Exner, Banfield and especially the Herring families have a deep grudge against him, you know?"

"Yes. But I don't care, continue."

"As for that, it seems that the heads of the six great noble families didn't know that the Sacred Tree could be manipulated by a third party."

"They didn't know?"

"No, for them to simply believe that a parasite caused this shows their lack of knowledge of the Sacred Tree."

"I also discovered this. The pages in the ancient books of each family, where it marked the sacrifice, are false."

"What do you mean?"

I have a bad feeling about this. I hate it when this happens, as my intuition is always right.

"I analyzed each book in detail, only the book Lucy has doesn't have that written in it. The others have it, but her family's does not. It means someone planned this."

"Someone? Was it the Herrings or Exner?"

"No. The head of the Herrings took the opportunity to talk about it. The weird thing is, he was being controlled."

"Controlled... you mean?"

This was starting to freak me out.

"I found a slight toxin in the environment that day. It was so small it was impossible to detect."

"Toxins are usually products of plants."

"Ixion... are you trying to tell me maybe..."

Ixion's red lens glowed brightly.

"The one responsible for all this was the sacred tree itself."

"Just as you said your cousin told you. The sacred tree is definitely hiding something."

"Plants are living beings, but their consciousness is tiny. So it's strange to me that such a calculated plan like this would occur."

"On the other hand, the black armor that attacked us is more intriguing to me."

"Right. That thing used Derrick as a means of communication, even Sara spoke to it as if they knew each other, but their voices sounded distorted."

"This all gives me a bad feeling, Master."

"You're scaring me already."

"According to Lucy, Sara was manipulated and something attacked her."

"I carefully read Lucy's family book. There was a page that was torn out."

"I managed to analyze the markings with the pen they used."

"And what did they say?"

"... Careful. The sacred tree is not our ally. We must stop it."

I was speechless.

"Hey, hey, hey. Isn't that too bad!"

"If that's true... doesn't that mean Lucy's parents were aware of it?"

"It's possible. According to my research, the Vermillion family has been isolated for generations from contact with other families more than necessary. They only socialized when it required."

"So... they kept it from others for something?"

"They've been researching the use of the Sacred Tree is the Vermillion family for generations. They must have discovered something and... Randolf must have silenced them."

"You're lying, is this a case where the Vermillion family was working behind the scenes?

(In that case, it would make it look like the game story was right.)

(Mr. Randolf was indeed planning to destroy Aster and Lucy's parents tried to stop him and it was too late.)

(Does that mean... Mr. Randolf was always an enemy and Diana was right in wanting to defeat him?)

"That's not possible."

"Isn't it?"

But there's more I didn't understand.

"Vermillion Household, back in the days when they called themselves the Seven Great Nobles, were the representative house of Aster."

"This house was researching how to manipulate the Sacred Tree that is considered sacred in Aster?"

"I don't know the details of the situation, but I can deduce it to a certain extent."

"Master... what if indeed Randolf is your enemy? What will you do? Will you eliminate him before the end of the year according to the game's story?"

What's going on?

Gathering the information Ixion has been collecting, I had a bad feeling about this.

Lord Randolf, who is supposed to be the last boss, is a nice guy, and Sara, the villainess, is actually a nice person.

To top it off, there was the Vermillion family who were making strange moves behind the scenes to stop the sacred tree.

It was a big difference from the setting of this Otome game.

"I guess from Erselica and Diana's stories, this story was wrong from the beginning."

"From the beginning?"

"You said it would start with the first scene of the destruction of the Vermillion Household."

"Yes. The Rosenberg’s destroyed it and the main character, Lucy, saw the mansion in flames... and they both said that's how it started."

And Ixion had previously said that was the problem.

"It was impossible for the Vermillion family, who had a superior blessing, to lose to the Rosenberg family, who only had an inferior blessing."

In fact, the blessings given by the Sacred Tree are ranked.

Even if the lower ranks go against the higher ranks, they cannot win.

"After hearing Sara's story too, I made a prediction. Didn't the Vermillion family lose the blessing of the Sacred Tree a long time ago? That's why they didn't even attend the Rosenberg’s' knight's funeral."

"Why? They could at least show themselves... No, wait. There’s something here. Was it a rule for a great nobleman to wear their emblem?"

"Yes. At ceremonies and such, it was customary for the person of highest rank to show its emblem to those around."

Such a thing existed in the Aster rules.

"Does that mean the Vermillion family, Lucy's parents, couldn´t show their faces without being shown their emblem?"

"They studied to bring the Sacred Tree under control and were stripped of their blessing, perhaps because the tree was angry. That has coherence. I also believe that the six great nobles who were angry about this spared the Rosenberg family who destroyed the Vermillion family."

Suddenly the premise was broken. In other words, the first one who did bad things was...

"Probably the Vermillion family. But from the Aster's perspective."

"From the Aster's?"

"It's not clear what they were thinking in trying to control the Sacred Tree. What if I explained to the Master in plain language that they were actually trying to save the world from a crisis?"

"That sounds like justice for the Vermillion family."

"I'm afraid there are some facts that are not discussed in the game."

We don't need that kind of scenario!

Why isn't it a fluffier scenario?

There's evil and there's justice, it can be as simple as that, can't it?

No, wait. It's a fluffy scenario, so is it such a terrible world?

It's just that no matter how much I think about it, it's useless.

Due I'm not that smart!

"What do you think would happen if I told this story to Diana?"

"She won't believe it? You distrust Diana."

"Won't you be more than me? You're a dangerous artificial intelligence that doesn't even think of its master as a master and says you will destroy everything in the blink of an eye. I would suspect it too."

"In a small degree of Master's intelligence to ignore and doubt me everything I've done so far."

"I don't need a great degree. For an average man, a moderate amount is enough."

Well, let's stop talking about stupid things.

I asked him something important.

"Ixion, can you get along with Zero?"

In a very cold tone he replied.

"I'm going to kill him without a doubt."

◇◇◇

The meeting of the great nobles ended.

Because of the trouble Rudel caused, Cliff, Randy and Linus wanted to oust Randolf.

Randolf punished Randy severely since he was responsible for everything that happened.

Also Randolf declared that soon Rudel would leave the country. There they would have a vote to decide the next Acting Chairman.

Randolf already had enough. To him, there were only two men he didn´t want as the ruler of this nation. Randy would lead Aster to ruin while Cliff would end up with an economic crisis.

Linus was the best choice, but after what happened, his confidence was waning further to the point where he felt that if he was elected Acting Chairman, the country would close its doors.

He arrived home at night, went to his office for a bottle of wine and went to the far side of the castle.

Almost in the middle of the forest was a makeshift grave.

He left some roses and then emptied the contents of the bottle on the grave.

"The problems this time were very serious. The sacred tree tried to kill my daughter... I wonder..."

Randolf sat up and looked up at the sky.

"Bea, is this your revenge on me for killing you?"

What happened ten years ago haunted his mind. Randolf always wondered if he did the right thing. Since...

"The will of the sacred tree is absolute. Even, if it harms the sacred tree itself."

◇◇◇

After the engagement party, Diana was putting her dress away.

She was in her underwear, a mature, grown woman's lingerie.

"Lugh's relatives sure are testy, especially his uncle. It's certainly true that Vermillion Household can be restored with our son... but it's too early to talk about one."

Someone came through the door after she had changed into her pajamas.

It was Zero. Diana asked him about Zack.

"How's Zack?"

Diana was very intrigued about his well-being.

"He woke up a little while ago, he had a high fever. I really got worried."

Diana gave a sigh of joy after hearing that he woke up already.

Zero asked her after seeing her smile.

"Diana-sama, why are you so impatient about Zack-sama? I understand that concern for others of your own kind is vital, but the way you act is... very intriguing to me."

Diana threw her pillow at him, Zero said. "That hurt."

She moved to turn off the light and then lay down, she said to Zero.

"He's my adventure partner, you might say."

"I understand that, but your behavior is more appropriately said to be a female for a male."

"Don't talk nonsense!"

She threw the pillow at him again.

Diana blushed and said to herself.

"He certainly looks good in every way, he's dependable, he's strong, and he also doesn't hesitate to put himself before danger. That makes him..."

"A suitable man for you unlike Lugh-sama?"

"I didn't say that."

"Anyway, go now and let me sleep."

"Good night."

Zero went off somewhere.

◇◇◇

Outside Diana's room, Lugh was there to deliver a letter to her.

The letter was a poem he had written to her, it was the same poem he had given her a year ago. Lugh chose this day for their engagement since it was the day they met.

Squeezing the doorknob hard, Zack left, crumpling the letter a little.

◇◇◇

A group of men had arrived at a port warehouse where men in suits were waiting for him.

"Did you have trouble?"

"No. It was due to what is happening now that we were able to get in easily."

The men who came in first came one by one as tourists.

Then a group of men came in as traders.

They passed through with no problems as security is tight.

The man who looks like the leader said.

"I don't know what's going on here. But this is the perfect opportunity for the Ereboreas Republic to take over this country."

The men were smiling sinisterly.

◇◇◇

Romeo had just woken up.

"Where am I?"

He woke up in his bed in the castle. He had bandages on his head and nose.

He stood up and walked to the door to go outside.

He heard voices, it was his father and sister.

"He's really causing us trouble, that useless brother of yours."

"You're right. He couldn't even protect me from Rudel, he's a piece of trash no doubt."

"Father, when do we get rid of him?"

"I'd like it to be as soon as possible... I know!"

Randolf said to his daughter in a cheerful tone.

"Why don't we kill him and fake his accident?"

"...!"

Romeo gasped as he heard how his own family conspired against him.

"Uh..."

He couldn't believe his ears.

"I think that's a wonderful idea dad!"

"Then we can name Rudel as heir and not that adopted child."

"Mom was indeed unfortunate to lose the baby and in replacement we had to bring in a new one. I thought I was going to love him, but no, a scumbag was always a scumbag."

"Hahaha, it's like you say. Let's go to your mother and tell her this and coordinate the murder."

Romeo couldn't take it anymore and jumped down the sale, using his ice magic he created a ramp to slide down.

If he had opened the door, he would have noticed some roots with black roses playing some voices.

"That's right, Romeo is an idiot, hahaha."

The voices were getting more and more distorted to the point of not sounding human.

◇◇◇

Zero was flying to the Wayne Household residence.

In a room with an open window was Zack, he was looking at himself in front of a mirror. He had his body wrapped in bandages.

As he slowly removed them, Zero said.

"Good morning, Zack-sama, how are you feeling?"

Zack was silent for a moment, then answered him.

"Zero, isn't it?"

"That's right. Is something wrong with you?"

"Of course there is."

Zack started to smile.

"I remember. I remember everything now."

He turned to look at Zero, who said.

"I remember my whole life so far. The one before and the new one."

Because Zack, he was a reincarnate.

"That bump on the head helped me remember several things. I get it at last Zero."

"I understand the weird way Diana was behaving with you, my obsession with her. We're similar, she's a reincarnate like me."

Zero was glad. He already knew that.

"I was waiting for this, congratulations Zack-sama."

Unlike Ixion, Zero detected that Zack was a reincarnate.

But since he doesn't know Romeo, he passed on him.

Zack went to find his shirt, his shapely muscles were exposed, a scar lay across his chest.

"Zero, I want you to repair Grappler as soon as possible."

"I'm on it, but what's the rush to do it?"

After getting dressed he said.

"I got it too late. You see, that day... Rudel tried to kill me."

Zack clenched his fist tightly.

"Despite being allies, despite being adventurers, he tried to kill me. Worst of all, without explanation he attacked me! There is no greater proof that he wished to rob you!"

"Having two artificial intelligences from that pesky game. It's too dangerous having him hanging around here, he must be stopped as soon as possible!"

"Zero!"

Zack turned and a look of determination emanated from his eyes.

"Lend me your power to protect this country. Just as in my previous life, I will be the ally of justice that fights against evil. We will stop Rudel as soon as possible!"

Zero nodded. But he muttered under his breath so that I wouldn't hear him.

"What fools the new humans are. They're so easy to manipulate... Now then, what should I do to be able to get you by my side, Ixion?"

Zero's yellow eye changed to red.

"After all, we both wish to destroy the new humans. We received that final order and this time no one will stop us from achieving it."