It had been four days since Sienna had returned to Aroth, and she had a packed schedule for every one of these past four days.
On the first day, she met with the King and the Magic Tower Masters, and immediately after that, she gave a speech to the crowd that had gathered in the Green Square.
As she finished her speech, which was met with both tears and cheers, the whole city of Pentagon had begun preparing a huge festival. The next day, Sienna participated in the festival procession and was paraded around Pentagon.
The day after that, Sienna took the time to meet with a group of young wizards, carefully selected by the four Tower Masters and the Head of the Wizard’s guild, who dreamt of becoming the next generation of Aroth’s leaders. The meeting started with a light lunch, but the attending young wizards were more interested in listening to Sienna’s nagging than in the food. Sienna’s nagging started with her complaining about “the problem with young people these days,” but as it eventually led to her providing each of the young wizards with individual guidance, everyone left the meeting satisfied.
Today was still the fourth day of her return to Aroth.
Sienna had one final meeting with the Royal Family of Aroth and the Royal Parliament. They had also tried to occupy her schedule for the rest of the day, but Sienna had firmly refused all of their appointments. This was because she felt that she had already done more than enough by allowing them to pester her for these past four days.
Sienna complained, “It’s not like I’m going to die any time soon. Even if I don’t take any measures to prevent my death, I’ll still be able to live for over a hundred more years. So why are you all making such a fuss? Fine then, I’ll do whatever you want me to do, but in exchange for that, I won’t ever set foot in Aroth again. Is that okay with you?”
How could anyone dare to pressure Sienna further after being told it might make them an enemy of Aroth for the rest of their life?
Once Sienna managed to free up her schedule for the rest of the day by using this argument, she returned to the top floor of the Green Tower of Magic. This was originally the office of the newly appointed Green Tower Master, Rynein Boers, but during these past four days, Sienna had been using it for her temporary lodgings.
Of course, Rynein had offered to return the entirety of Sienna’s mansion to her for her private use rather than just the top floor of the Tower of Magic. If Sienna had so desired, she could have even claimed the entirety of Aroth’s Royal Palace for herself, but... no matter what, Sienna felt the most comfortable here, on the top floor of the Green Tower of Magic.
Along with her mansion, which had now become a museum, this was where Sienna had spent most of her time when she first lived in Aroth three hundred years ago.
“Hm,” Sienna hummed thoughtfully as she sat in a comfy chair, holding up a gem as she carefully examined it.
This gem was the Demoneye of Fantasy, which had gotten cracked during their battle against the Demon King of Incarceration. Since then, it hadn’t seen any use, and thanks to Sienna’s regular infusion of soul power, the crack in the Demoneye of Fantasy had completely recovered.
“Hmmmm...,” Sienna’s focus intensified.
She didn’t have any regrets for what she had done.
After inheriting the Demoneye of Fantasy from Noir, Sienna had immediately sealed Noir Giabella’s soul into the Demoneye. At that time, she believed it was the best option available. If Noir was allowed simply to perish and disappear like that, she might become an eternal nightmare that would continue to weigh heavily on Eugene’s heart.
Sienna just couldn’t accept that. That was why she couldn’t allow Noir to die completely.
Of course, there was also a secondary reason that she needed Noir’s help to control the Demoneye of Fantasy. Back then, Sienna had no choice but to admit to herself that, no matter how hard she worked, she wouldn’t be able to wield the Demoneye of Fantasy against the Demon Kings as skillfully as its original owner, Noir Giabella.
“In the end, I was proven right, wasn’t I?” Sienna muttered, her lips sticking out in a pout.
When they fought the Demon King of Incarceration in Babel, would they have still been able to win if they hadn’t used Noir to control the Demoneye of Fantasy? Thinking about it rationally, the possibility of their victory would be extremely low.
During that battle, everyone’s strength combined was still less than that of the Demon King of Incarceration. If the Demoneye of Fantasy hadn’t been able to fuse reality with a dream world, it would have been much more difficult for them to push the Demon King of Incarceration as far as they had.
It was only because they had pushed him as hard as they could, that the Demon King of Incarceration had been forced to unleash his full power, which was what allowed the poison Balzac Ludbeth had turned himself into to activate....
“Aaagh...,” Sienna groaned in frustration.
Since all Demon Kings were now dead, there would no longer be any reason to use the Demoneye of Fantasy. In that case, sealing it away like this might be able to put a clean ending to everything.
However, the power held by the Demoneye of Fantasy was too great in its potential to limit it to mere battles. Her instincts as a wizard drove Sienna to figure out how to replicate the powers of the Demoneye of Fantasy, using only magic....
But that wasn’t the only reason Sienna was hesitant to simply seal away the Demoneye of Fantasy forever. Her interest in its magic was just an excuse. Sienna let out a deep sigh as she shook her head. If she just sealed the Demoneye away like this, wouldn’t Noir still become a nightmare for Eugene?
‘No, I can’t allow that,’ Sienna thought, shaking her head, knowing full well just what kind of personality Eugene or Hamel possessed.
During the moment that he had slain Noir, the feelings that Eugene had carried for Noir Giabella... those feelings weren’t just born out of the lingering influence left from his past life as Agaroth.
In the end, it was Eugene who ultimately remembered his past life’s relationship with Noir. And while the two of them were facing each other in Noir’s dream realm, they must have seen something in each other that appealed to both of their heart’s desires.
So, the nightmare of Noir Giabella that clung to Eugene following her death was ultimately an accumulation of his unfulfilled feelings for her. Such feelings would not disappear no matter how much time passed, but would instead grow stronger. Even if he didn’t usually think about it, someday... it would suddenly return to the forefront of Eugene’s mind to torment him.
But was that really the only reason why she had yet to seal the Demoneye of Fantasy even though everything was finally over?
At the moment of Noir’s death, the feelings that Sienna had felt were....
Sienna couldn’t help but admit the truth.
The words that Noir had whispered to her amid her specially crafted nightmare still bothered her — Noir’s claims that Sienna would absolutely never reach the level of intimacy that existed between Noir and Eugene. Even though it was a destructive relationship, where they were doomed to kill each other despite harboring affection for each other, the bond between Eugene and Noir was so strong that, whoever died, the scars that would be left on the survivor would never be erased.
Sienna might not hold any desire for such a relationship but in their final moments... Sienna had felt jealous of them.
At the same time, she had also felt fear. Fear that if she allowed Noir to die like this, then perhaps... no, Noir would definitely reincarnate someday and come looking for Eugene. Noir had even personally warned Sienna about the possibility of this happening.
—The bond of fate that exists between Hamel and me... is an extremely strong one. When I am someday reincarnated, I will definitely, without a doubt, be able to remember Hamel.
Sienna had denied her feelings at the time. However, now that everything was over, she could admit that all of the comforting lies she had told herself at that moment were false.
The jealousy she had felt at the moment of Noir’s death, the fear of her possible return, and also...
“It’s all because I’m far too kind,” Sienna muttered with a deep sigh.
Having already given in and admitted to the truths that she had previously tried to deny, there was still one emotion that Sienna had felt at that moment. And she was fully aware of what that emotion had been.
It was sympathy.
As the reincarnation of the Twilight Witch, Noir Giabella had been reborn as a Night Demon. Sienna sympathized with Noir Giabella who, let alone being able to satisfy the unfulfilled desires of her past life, was forced into a relationship with Eugene where they had no choice but to try to kill each other. She also sympathized with Eugene, who had chosen to kill Noir even though he had reached a point in their relationship where he could admit to himself, “I don’t want to kill her.” So instead, Sienna had captured Noir’s soul....
“But there’s our promise,” Sienna said with a frown.
In Babel, Sienna had made a promise to Eugene. That once everything was over, she would release Noir Giabella’s soul.
However, doing that wouldn’t be enough to put Sienna’s heart fully at ease. Sienna let out another deep sigh as she tapped the Demoneye of Fantasy with her finger.
[Oh my,] Noir said as she rose from the jewel in a purple cloud. She blinked her eyes for a few moments, stared at Sienna, then grinned happily, [It seems... that very little time has passed since I was last out. Sienna Merdein, you appear to be in perfect health. And this place is....]
While Noir was sealed within the Demoneye of Fantasy, she wasn’t able to observe what was going on outside of her prison.
Noir tilted her head as she looked around. [This looks like a wizard’s room.]
Her probing gaze landed on the nameplate on the office desk.
[The Green Tower Master, Rynein Boers...,] Noir read out. [Ahaha, the position of the Green Tower Master was vacant at the time of my death. So it seems that, since then, she has become the new Green Tower Master, hasn’t she?]
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