CHAPTER 5
Aliceliese the Ice Calamity Witch
No scream came out of her.
Instead, what filled the Queen’s Space was Elletear’s blood from the wound that crossed chest to shoulder.
“…Mo…ther…run……”
As blood poured from her mouth, Elletear fell like a puppet with cut strings. Queen Mirabella collapsed behind her, and the two of them did not stir.
“…Elletear? …Mother? ……”
It couldn’t be real.
Alice doubted her own sanity at first. She’d never seen anything like this before, not even in her worst nightmares. In the Queen’s Space, she bore witness to the tragedy of her beloved family dying.
“I don’t know who you are, but it looks like you were too late. This nation has fallen.”
The swordsman holding the bloodied sword turned to her. She didn’t recognize him, but she knew he had to be the Imperial assailant. A Saint Disciple? Maybe. At the moment, that didn’t matter. She knew one thing: This man had committed an unforgivable crime—and that she was saddled with regret.
She had been naive. That was why she hadn’t been able to protect the queen or her sister.
It just proved her point. It proved the Empire needed to be destroyed.
“Guess you’re next,” the man said to her.
“How dare you, Imperiaaal subject!”
For the first time in her life, she growled, seeing red.
She knew her scream was unbecoming of a princess, but who would stop her?
…Until now, I’ve suspected my sister of being responsible for the coup d’état.
…I thought that was part of the reason why she’d taken Sisbell to the villa.
But it hadn’t been. Her sister had been innocent. It was a misunderstanding that she couldn’t take back.
After all…there was no way someone trying to usurp the queen would protect the queen. Her sister Elletear hadn’t been the traitor in the House of Lou.
“—Imperial subject, I will never forgive you!”
She couldn’t control her astral power. Its energy—pushing the limits of her full capacity—seeped from the crest on her back, turning into frost that manifested behind her like two blue wings.
“Frost, huh? So you must be the Ice Calamity Witch.”
“That’s right. To you, I’m a witch.”
She pointed—right at the sword that had been brought down on her family. If it meant getting her revenge, she would become a witch to bring about the destruction of the Empire.
“I’ll freeze over Imperial cities. And you!”
Frost blasted toward him, materializing into ice blades that rained on the Saint Disciple. However…
“It seems you don’t understand the situation.” Joheim held a shield in his hand—a human shield. He held the eldest princess, who was bleeding freely from the wound across her chest.
“Lady Alice, don’t do it!”
“…Guh?!”
Alice snapped back to her senses when Rin yelled at her. She stopped just as she had been about to attack. The ice in the air melted. If she hadn’t stopped, her blades would have pierced through her sister, the hostage, instead of her intended target.
How dare he disgrace her sister. After all that she’d experienced, Elletear had been reduced to a human shield. This act of barbarity was beyond description.
“I’ve captured a purebred. I’m returning to my nation.”
“Silence! …I…will never forgive you. Don’t you dare think you’ll get back to the Empire in one piece!”
“We’ll see about that.” The swordsman changed direction, still holding her sister in the crook of his left arm. As soon as he turned his back on Alice, he started racing toward the back of the Queen’s Space.
…Is he trying to escape?
…But it’s just a wall over there. The only door is behind me.
No.
There was one other door, an emergency corridor known to only the royal family and those close to them. But it wouldn’t open unless it were touched by a descendant of the Founder.
“I have the key.”
That was Elletear in his arms. He took her unmoving hand and made her touch the wall. When the astral powers sensed the eldest princess of the House of Lou, the wall tunneled, making a passage.
“How could you use my sister like some tool?!”
“I’m making use of her full potential.” Then he bolted from the Queen’s Space.
The hidden passage was directly connected to the grounds. His plan was to meet with the other Imperial forces and take the eldest princess, Elletear, back to Imperial territory.
“Rin! How is the queen?!” She turned to her attendant.
Rin and the three guards accompanying her surrounded their collapsed queen. Two of them were already in the middle of requesting backup on their communications devices.
“She’s alive. But the laceration on her left arm has gone to the bone… It’s a miracle it’s still attached.” Rin bit her lip, next to her unconscious leader, who seemed to be in pain. The attendant had stopped the bleeding by tying a thin thread around the shoulder artery.
“She needs surgery for her arm ASAP. When the medics arrive, we’ll need to take her to the medical room, and they’ll need to start procedures immediately…”
“I trust you to handle it. Do anything as you see fit.”
“…Lady Alice.” Rin held her breath. “You’re not going after him, are you?”
“No. I’m going to go after Elletear.”
The priority was rescuing the eldest princess. Her secondary concern was tearing that man limb from limb and destroying the Empire.
“If anything happens, Rin, inform me immediately!”
Alice didn’t even wait for a reply before she started running and slipped through the hidden door, out of the Queen’s Palace.
“Where is he?! Where is that man…?”
She was sure the Saint Disciple carrying her sister had been standing here just ten seconds ago. They couldn’t have gone far. Under the faint light, Alice could only make out black stains on the pavement.
Elletear’s blood.
Time was of the essence. Her sister’s wound didn’t compare to the queen’s cut. If her sister didn’t receive immediate medical attention, it would be a matter of life and death.
“I won’t let you escape. I won’t let you have your way with my sister…!”
The trail of blood led to the plaza on the grounds. Farther in, a plain parked car began to drive away.
“Are you trying to kidnap her?!”
So the Saint Disciple’s aim hadn’t been to meet with the Imperial army. He was going to immediately take the purebred back to the Empire.
Alice would never be able to reach them on her own legs. What could she do? Would she order the astral corps to pursue them and close the borders?
“Lady Alice, over here!”
A white government car screeched behind her. One of the royal guards from the Queen’s Space was in the driver’s seat.
“Lady Rin entrusted me with an order: to prepare a car to go after the Imperial forces who have taken Lady Elletear.”
“An excellent decision. Floor it!”
Alice dove into the passenger’s seat. Before she even had time to put on her seatbelt, the car began to accelerate in pursuit of the other vehicle, tailing it out of the palace grounds.
“Are they headed to the residences?”
“They must plan on getting on the highway. Central Interstate 8 is directly connected to the border.” The guard who gripped the steering wheel held a communications device in his other hand.
“Call to Checkpoint. Vehicle carrying royalty. Princess Elletear has been taken by the enemy, who is trying to get on the highway. Close off all borders.”
They raced through the town in the middle of the night, the enemy vehicle ignoring traffic signals. They did the same.
Cars around them blared their horns, but they just didn’t have time to mind the right of way.
“Hurry! My sister is on the cusp of death. We don’t have enough time to chase them to the border. It’ll mean her life!”
“I understand that, but—!”
They couldn’t close the distance. In this high-speed car chase, only five seconds separated the two vehicles. They could see the car carrying Elletear, but they just couldn’t seem to catch up.
…This is unbelievable. How can they drive so perfectly at this speed and time of night?!
…I imagined they would be spending all their energy just making sure they’re on the right route.
She had to assume they were already familiar with the central state’s roads. Without a shadow of a doubt, there was a traitor of the Sovereignty—and whoever it was had to be in that car.
“—There’s something I need to say in advance,” she voiced to the driver gripping the steering wheel next to her. “It’s about what we’ll do once we’ve caught them. If my sister is safe, we must immediately take her to the closest hospital.”
“Of course.”
“But…if she’s not well…or if we’re not fast enough rescuing her, I would like you to return to the royal palace right away.”
“Y-yes, ma’am. To get back to the queen, you mean.”
“No.”
Her next words were going to be the most heartless statement she’d ever made in her life.
“To crush the remaining Imperial army. Not a single one shall step foot in their homeland again.”
“……”
“If my sister isn’t safe, I don’t know if I can keep my emotions in check. So I’m telling you in advance. I’m counting on you.”
“…Understood.”
Outside the window, the passing scenery changed from towering buildings in the inner city to the suburbs outside the city center. They headed onto roads that spread into the quaint countryside and woods.
“Lady Alice, the enemy vehicle has stopped… N-no, it hasn’t!”
The vehicle had screeched to a stop.
But only for a moment. The car visible from their windshield started to reverse, racing at them.
“They couldn’t possibly be—?!”
Before she could say anything else, Alice’s vision was in flames.
The car had exploded.
While astral power instantly activated its automatic defenses to human threats, it was slow to react to mechanical threats. The close proximity of the bomb had made it difficult for even Alice to respond appropriately.
…So this was a trap.
…They made me think Elletear was being taken away, but the car was empty.
She was starting to lose consciousness. Right as she felt the heat of the flames, the car holding Alice was blown into the air by the blast.
“—”
“Lady…Al…ice…please…keep it together…”
She opened her eyes. Alice felt the coolness of metal in the car that had been turned over on its side.
Astral power of steel. The guard had controlled metal and torn away part of the car to create a makeshift shield, protecting her from the direct fire of the blast.
He, however, had only managed to make one shield.
“What about you?!”
“I’m just happy…you…are…safe…” Turning his back to the windshield, the driver slumped onto Alice’s lap. His uniform had burned off his back. His skin was red and angry.
“You protected me…”
She received no reply. After guarding her, he had lost consciousness.
“Please wake up. I’ll get help right now!”
She placed her hand on his burned back, covering him in frost to tide him over. She got out through the car window and grabbed the man, pulling him with all her strength.
Then Alice yelled into her communications device: “Rin, please, I need you!” She didn’t have time to wait for her response. “Please have a medic come here immediately. It’s an emergency!”
“Lady Alice?! How is Lady Elletear?!”
“They got away. Even the enemy car was a trap. No time for that now. Please get a medic team here. I have someone who’s wounded. He was burned…protecting me…”
“I’ll arrange for it immediately!”
Rin didn’t ask where Alice was. She could figure out where her location was through the device and the royal palace’s communication center. As long as Alice didn’t move, physicians would be on their way in a little more than ten minutes.
“…I’m counting on you.” She hung up and lifted her head.
The car that had exploded in the middle of the road was roaring from the flames. The embers fluttered down on Alice’s shoulders like snow.
By her feet, the guard lie unconscious.
Behind her was the car crushed from the explosion.
“……”
With all that in front of her…
“—Why?!” Alice bit her lip—so hard it bled.
Was she feeling anger?
No. That didn’t do her emotions justice. The queen, her sister, and now even one of her subordinates—people were going down right in front of her eyes, life leaving their bodies like water dribbling from her fingers.
“I was supposed to save them—the queen, my sister, this man! …Why won’t anything go right?!”
Alice had been convinced that she had the power to change the war. As soon as she had arrived at the palace, she worked on containing the fires like her life depended on it. She had run to the Queen’s Palace and come all the way out here to rescue her beloved sister.
And all of it had been in vain.
Why hadn’t she been able to save anyone when it mattered to her most?
“……”
Her sister was on the verge of death after that Saint Disciple had maimed her. And the queen required surgery immediately. Even this man who she had laid on the roadway needed to be brought to a hospital. Otherwise, who knew what would become of him?
…The Imperial forces—no, all Imperial subjects!
…If this was part of your plan, I’ll never forgive you.
“Prepare yourselves… I will have my revenge…” She balled her hand into a fist.
That was when she heard footsteps…and realized she sensed someone running down the roadway.
But who?
She looked up to find a black-haired boy standing there, panting.
A swordsman with a pair of swords—one black and one white.
“Alice?”
“………Is…ka…?”
Now, of all times. On the night when the relationship between the Empire and Sovereignty had reached rock bottom…
Iska the Successor of the Black Steel and Alice the Ice Calamity Witch had crossed paths.
The girl had been made acutely aware that every single Imperial soldier was an enemy without exception.
Her sister and mother had been hurt by an Imperial subject. She couldn’t let a single one get away. No matter who they were.
“……”
“…Alice?” The boy held his breath as he looked at her.
He must have noticed something right away—the wrath on her face and the astral energy seeping from the crest on her back. Everything was just so different from normal.
…Yes. Yes, I suppose that’s right.
…You would be able to tell, somehow or other. Alice observed the Imperial swordsman when she realized her eyes were tearing up.
“…Why do I have to see you now, of all times?” Her lips, split from tooth marks, trembled. Her voice was weak as a whimper. “We…can’t…call each other rivals anymore. We can’t have a simple relationship anymore…”
“Alice? What are you saying? You have to listen to me—there’s something more important. It’s about Sisbell; she’s—”
“I know I told you to stay at the villa,” she interrupted him, refusing to take anything else for an answer.
As soon as she’d heard about the raid, she was sure she’d told him upon coming across him in the hall of the villa before rushing to the royal palace.
“I want to believe that this has nothing to do with you. So if you want to prove that’s true, stay in the mansion.”
“Alice? Wh-what are you talking—?”
“Do not go outside under any circumstances. If you show any sign of collusion with the Imperial army, I won’t forgive you!”
She knew she had warned him.
He was the one who had broken his promise.
“Listen to me, Alice! Sisbell was kidnapped! Vichyssoise from the House of Hydra escaped from prison and destroyed the villa!”
“…Sisbell was kidnapped?”
“I’m following after them. And then I heard an explosion, so I came to the road.”
Is that the truth? She scrunched her face to hold back those words she had almost uttered.
…We can’t do this. I can’t listen to you anymore.
…Even if I want to believe you. I can’t because of my position.
The Imperial army were enemies. And she was the princess who would succeed the queen.
“You say my sister has been kidnapped? And you claim it was Vichyssoise behind it, not the Imperial army? What if you were the one who helped make it happen?”
“Alice! What’s gotten into you?!”
“……”
It hurt to have Iska look at her this way.
She knew that she didn’t want to say this, even if she’d been forced to spit it out. But she needed to destroy the Empire to protect the Sovereignty.
She couldn’t pardon any Imperial subject, regardless of their identity.
“I don’t believe you! I can’t believe anything you say, Imperial citizen!”
“…What?”
“It’s ridiculous for you to tell me to trust you! I…I saw my sister killed in front of my eyes. By a Saint Disciple—just like you!”
Her voice echoed between them, strained and grief-stricken.
She couldn’t stop the tears from trailing down her cheeks.
“And it wasn’t just my sister. The queen, too. There’s no going back anymore. I can’t forgive anyone who would hurt my family or my subordinates!”
She couldn’t even wipe away her tears…because she didn’t understand why she was crying.
…Why…?
…Why am I crying? Why am I sad?
Was it because her family had been hurt? Or because…?
“I am Aliceliese, middle princess of the Nebulis Sovereignty. I must bring down the Empire. Even if it means taking you down with it.”
“…Alice.” Iska remained confused. He looked at her directly.
But it was no use.
She couldn’t stop it anymore.
“Why?! Why is this happening?! I…never wanted to fight you when we’re like this!”
That was it.
That’s why I’m crying—the biggest reason that I have to shout out.
I wanted to see you on a battlefield—on a special one just for the two of us. I wanted to forget about the strife between the Empire and the Sovereignty. I wanted to escape from the battle between blood among royalty.
—I cherished our crusade.
But the dream was over.
And in the worst way possible. It had devolved into a future fueled by antagonism.
“I…” Instead of wiping away her tears, Alice spread her arms. The astral power on her palms twinkled, creating icicles from the void. “Former Saint Disciple Iska, this is a declaration of war on you. Prepare yourself for battle.”
“Alice?! This isn’t the time for tha—”
“There’s no going back anymore!” Her voice was hoarse.
Alice pointed at the Imperial swordsman in front of her.
“I never wanted to fight against you in this unstable state! I never wanted things to end this way…!”
At the moment, the curtain drew open on the second battle between Iska the Successor of the Black Steel and Alice the Ice Calamity Witch.
Bright-blue astral energy.
It split into thousands, then tens of thousands of particles, soaring into the air before winking out of sight. Few had witnessed that fantastical scene. The unarmed civilians had fled to the underground shelters. The only exception was…
“This intense spark of astral power. Wondered who it was. So it’s the middle princess. Mira’s daughter.”
He was on a slight hill in the rural area.
As if receiving divine benediction of the heavens, the handsome man with white hair was bathed in the moonlight.
Salinger the transcendental sorcerer. The felon who infiltrated the palace to attack the former queen thirty years prior. Over fifty, he had the physique and face of a man in his early twenties. Far from reaching its decline, his muscular form had instead become even harder.
“……”
He was looking down at something several miles below the hill. Anyone else would need specialized binoculars to see the scene, but he had astral powers at his disposal that did the trick.
“And who is that but the Imperial swordsman himself…?”
He clucked his tongue quietly. Salinger had suffered a defeat to that opponent in the past.
“The battle’s over, sorcerer.”
“You’re a beast hiding under a swordsman’s skin!”
“Can’t make any sense of it. Why is he still in the Sovereignty? More importantly…”
This boy had protected Aliceliese’s attendant. Did that mean the Imperial swordsman was one of Aliceliese’s henchmen? That was what Salinger had once suspected, but now…
“I see. What an unfortunate twist of fate.” The white-haired sorcerer let out a sigh.
A battle was developing below. Alice’s astral power was turning the roadway and fields around them bright blue, freezing them over.
She was merciless. It was clear she wouldn’t go easy on the soldier based on her attacks, but her face was the ghastliest thing there.
She gritted her teeth. Her eyes snapped open as she continued to attack the Imperial swordsman with her astral powers.
“Princess Aliceliese. You really are Mira’s daughter. You must believe this was all some scheme planned by the Empire.”
The transcendental sorcerer knew that the Imperial raid was actually a joint effort orchestrated by the House of Hydra.
…Thirty years ago.
From way back in the day, he had known about this…far before the two below him had been born.
“How ironic. Nothing changes on this planet. Mira, didn’t I tell you? You’re not fit to be queen.”
They were too innocent—Queen Mirabella Lou Nebulis IIX…and her daughter Aliceliese. They weren’t suited to being the Founder’s descendants. They couldn’t withstand a battle between blood. He had foreseen they would eventually become tragic heroines—just like this.
“……Fools.”
In a rare moment, the white-haired Adonis voiced his anger at others.
“So you’re going to repeat the same mistake from the past.”
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