The Protagonist's Party is Too Diligent

"You look like you've given up on everything."

"I never held onto anything to begin with."

The one who responded to Alice’s remark was Bella.

Bella Fangryphon.

The place she was in... wasn’t exactly a prison.

No, it was too free to be called that.

As someone who had once been royalty, Bella would never be treated with outright disrespect—no matter what she had done.

Whether a royal committed crimes or not, the pride of the imperial family was something that had to be preserved.

Bella's prison was a mansion.

Far from the center of the capital, yet still technically within its jurisdiction.

By car, it was less than an hour away, but it was surrounded by empty plains.

At night, Alice thought, she might even hear stray dogs howling beyond the estate walls.

It was a mansion, but at the same time, it was a cage meant to contain Bella.

Soldiers and knights constantly patrolled the premises, watching her every move, and a military outpost had been set up nearby in case of an emergency.

But... judging by Bella’s current attitude, Alice wondered if any of that had even been necessary.

Of course, that didn’t mean she could risk being careless.

No one could ever truly know what was inside another person’s heart.

"I didn't think you would come to see me first."

"......."

"And I definitely didn't expect you to come here alone."*

Bella exhaled a long stream of smoke from her pipe, watching Alice shrug in response.

She raised an eyebrow at Alice, then shrugged back before taking another slow drag.

A faint trail of smoke curled from her lips to the open window, stretching in a thin, unbroken line.

It looked almost like an incense stick, burning down.

For a while, Bella just watched the smoke drift upward.

Then, finally, she turned away and walked over to the table where Alice was sitting.

Pulling out a chair, she sat down across from her.

"You didn’t come here just to chat, did you?

"So tell me—why are you here?

"Honestly, your face isn’t exactly one I’d choose to look at for too long."

"Should I have brought Sylvia instead? Or Claire?"

"......."

Bella stared at Alice for a moment before lazily leaning back in her chair.

She was dressed in nothing but a thin negligee.

The sun was high in the sky outside, but she clearly had no intention of changing into something more appropriate.

*"Yeah. That would’ve been better."

*"I’d rather talk to either of them than you."

But... neither of those two had gone through the same past as Bella.

...No.

Now that Alice thought about it, Sylvia might be a little different.

She hadn’t experienced the exact same past as Bella, but in a way, she had been through something far worse.

Most people would never experience the pain of losing their limbs.

Or having their stomach sliced open in an ambush.

Or bleeding out as their carotid artery was torn apart.

Bella had never seen anything like that with her own eyes.

But because of Sylvia’s origins, Bella seemed to feel a strange sense of camaraderie toward her.

Even though Sylvia had never been openly friendly toward Bella, Bella was always affectionate toward Sylvia.

Not in the usual way.

But to Alice, at least, that’s how it looked.

"Are you... jealous of me?"

"There aren’t many people in this world who wouldn’t be jealous of you."

"......."

Alice couldn't say, I was unhappy too.

Because no matter how much she had suffered, her past would never compare to Bella’s.

"So? What did you come here to say?

"Did you suddenly want to bond over being sisters?

"What, did learning we’re actually related make you want to talk?"

"......."

"Wait. Seriously? That’s actually why you’re here?"

Alice stayed silent, simply staring at Bella.

Then, after a moment of hesitation, she finally spoke.

"Did you know?"

"I used to think I was completely alone in this world too."

Bella blinked at Alice’s words.

It was like she was exhaling her thoughts.

Like they had been weighing on her for a long time, and she had to let them out before they suffocated her.

"I was never the most talented.

"Not just compared to you—but compared to Damien, Lucas, Jayden.

*"Whether it was swordsmanship or knowledge, I was always falling behind someone."

"And, of course, that included Sylvia."

Alice’s gaze lowered slightly, resting on the table for a moment.

Then, moving slower than before, her eyes rose back up to meet Bella’s.

"And Father always acted like he would pass the throne to someone else."

"Ha."

Bella let out an incredulous laugh.

"Him?"

"What, he never said anything about it to you?"

*"Of course not. In the end, the one who takes the throne has to be a Fangryphon."

"......."

"And a Fangryphon has to be acknowledged by others.

*"It’s not just about talent."

"The person who sits on the throne can’t have any weaknesses that enemies could exploit.

*"And that includes... purity."

Bella paused briefly.

Then, almost ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) as an afterthought, she added:

"Of course, I didn’t know we were actually related back then."

"I thought I was alone too."

"I didn’t know I had any real family."

Alice opened her mouth slightly, as if to say something—

And then stopped.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Bella started to say something, but instead, she simply stared at Alice for a moment.

Then, with a small chuckle, she spoke.

"I mean, you were alone. You ignored what everyone else said, always tried to interrupt when he and I were talking—"

"You bullied me. That’s why I hated you."

"Ah~ Yeah, I did, didn’t I? That was pretty fun."

Bella slowly tilted her head back to look up at the ceiling.

She focused on the intricate designs painted there, as if she were counting them, before continuing.

"Honestly, it was amusing. And... well, you were kind of cute. You’d get all worked up and stomp around, throwing a fit."

"I really hated it."

"I hated you too. You had everything. So, yeah, I thought it was fair to be a little mean to you."

"......."

"I don’t remember exactly when, but Sylvia came to see me once."

Bella’s voice was casual, as if recalling an insignificant memory.

"She told me to stop messing with you."

"Sylvia said that?"

"She did. Not like it was some grand speech or anything. She just said it once and left.

"Maybe she saw something in you back then.

"Or maybe... she knew, better than anyone, what it meant to be truly alone."

Alice quietly observed Bella.

"Are you saying it's just a matter of perspective?"

"No. I’m not saying that.

"Because you've been through too much for it to be just that."

Bella lowered her gaze from the ceiling, her eyes settling on Alice’s.

"So, you really came all this way just to... 'bond' as sisters?"

"Yeah."

*"Hah. When you said you wanted to talk privately, I thought it was going to be something important."

"This is important."

"......You know," Bella said after a pause.

"If it's just the two of us here, that means no one could stop me if I decided to kill you right now."

"So? Are you going to?"

Alice met her gaze, unwavering.

Bella stared back.

Then, with a sharp exhale, she let out a short, dry laugh.

"You really haven’t changed. You're the same as when you were a kid.

"...No, maybe a little different. You're bolder now."

"What used to be forced confidence has just... become natural confidence."

"So, after all this 'bonding,' are you planning to let me go?"

"And what would you do if I did?"

"Hmm. Maybe I’d start by killing the man I used to call 'Father.' What do you think?"

"Then I guess I can’t let you go anytime soon."

Alice’s answer made Bella’s eyes widen in surprise.

"...You’re seriously considering it?"

"There’s been a lot of political pressure."

Alice sighed deeply.

"When you were still in the kingdom, people kept pressuring us to bring you to the Empire.

"Now that you’re here, they’re pressuring us to let you go."

"What exactly did you do wrong against the Empire?"

"I have no answer for that."

"And I can’t exactly go public with his plans, either."

*"Because admitting that his plan failed would mean admitting that the Church's plan succeeded."

Alice watched as Bella sat there, mouth slightly open in shock.

"Not right away, obviously. We’re talking about years down the line."

"Even if we do release you, it’ll only be symbolic."

"You might be allowed to move freely around here, and maybe even in the capital someday.

*"But first, we need to ensure that the 'crimes' you committed are properly recognized."

Bella stared at Alice in silence before finally speaking.

"Why are you saying all this to me first, instead of him?"

"What would be the point of telling him?

"The moment he hears this, he’ll just start working on his next plan."

"......Yeah. That’s true."

Bella watched Alice carefully.

Then, with a quiet chuckle, she muttered,

"In the end, you and I really are children of the same man."

"Yeah," Alice sighed.

"At this point, I don’t know how we didn’t figure it out sooner."