I had a very complex conversation with my mother. She talked a lot about dragons, our culture, and even explained why I don't have a tail, horns, or wings.

The reason for that... is apparently because I'm not 'mature' yet. She said that at some point, I might just wake up with a tail and horns like a dragon would have. Being a hybrid doesn't matter. I am a dragon, and a tail and horns are a standard I cannot escape. Dragons can awaken wings, tails, and horns over time, and it depends on each individual and their maturity.

Of course, I decided not to think too much about it. So, my mother talked about various other things. She talked about her life... about... well, a large part of her life is tied to fortune.

Well, what a surprise. Everything she talked about was money, gold, riches, and properties she had acquired over the years... It was... boring. Yes, it was undoubtedly a very boring topic to discuss.

But I paid attention because I see that she doesn't hate or despise me. To her, I am a daughter like any strong daughter she could have had. Apparently, for dragons, personal power isn't as relevant because they care more about accumulating things.

In other words, you can be a weak dragon, as long as you have massive wealth, they will treat you with respect. Of course, dragons are naturally strong beings, so me being weak would still generate some scorn.

But I think just the fact that my mother in this world treats me like a beloved daughter already makes me happy to have met her.

We spent many hours in a conversation that helped me see what I am from a new perspective. After hours, my mother had to leave since it was getting late, and then I was called by Esther.

Esther apparently wants to talk to me about something, so I had to go even though I didn't want to. And now I'm here in this room with her in an uncomfortable situation.

"..." I look at her tensely, wondering what she thinks of me right now.

"Evelyn, I called you here because the wedding date has been decided. It will be on February 10th, which gives us about one month to prepare."

"Since we are getting married, you and I will be relieved of some of our duties as candidates for the throne. Therefore, we will be moving to my mansion."

"We will still do things for our Father, though to a lesser extent. That is why I have decided to take you to my mansion in two days. You need to receive proper etiquette lessons for the wedding. We also need your measurements for the dress, among other things."

"Therefore, prepare by gathering your things. I will also be taking that maid serving you and those two things you built." She speaks coldly, as if upending my entire life is of no importance.

"E-Esther..." I get her attention.

"W-Why did you just a-accept this marriage without question?" I ask, not understanding it. It's confusing to me. This marriage never happened in the game, and Esther isn't the type who would marry me, I think.

"..."

"...Hmmm..." She seems to think about what to say.

"Evelyn, I am someone... brief. I don't like to beat around the bush or delay giving an obvious answer like this. So I will be honest. I suggested this marriage to our father. So it wasn't a question of accepting, since I actively wanted this." Her answer leaves me even more shocked.

"W-What?!! B-But... you wanted it? Why would you want that? You didn't need to!! Getting to know our families doesn't even really help you! You, Marie, and Lucien are already the ones with the highest chance of winning our father's position!" I say with pure uncertainty and confusion.

"You're right, Evelyn. The three of us are the ones with the highest chances. And truly, meeting my mother won't change my future plans much. I'd even say it was disappointing to meet my mother..." She says with that icy gaze.

"S-So then..."

"But Evelyn, I did this not expecting to gain something, but out of pure personal motivation... Call it personal selfishness if you want. In short, I wanted you. I wanted to ensure you would be under my control in some way, and marriage seemed interesting." She only confuses me further.

"Why... would you want me? I-I'm like a failure, right?" I become afraid that she knows how strong my blessing can become in the future when I create many powerful puppets.

"Yes, Evelyn, you are a failure to everyone... and marrying you doesn't bring many benefits... Let's see... How can I give you the answer to this without making it too obvious..." She muses for a moment.

"Hmmm... Evelyn, I decided to keep you close because, unlike the others, you are not an NPC." She says this with a smile.

"I don't under... wait, you said NPC?... No..." My mind short-circuits, everything going blank.

'NPC? She knows what an NPC is? Why does she know that term? Where did she see it? There are no games here... h-how...'

"E-Esther, n-no... I don't know what you're talking about..." I say in shock, looking at the floor. My body trembles in a way I can't control.

"Is that so? Then you are bound by the same [Script] as everyone else? Are you really going to say you don't understand what I'm implying? Then perhaps... I misunderstood when I read the report of the things you say?"

"Then are you going to say you never said [Japanese High School Girl]?" She does it again. She says something again that no character in the game should know.

"E-Esther... i-is that... are you like... r-r-reincarnated?" I ask, but she looks confused.

"Reincarnated? What is Reincarnated? If you're referring to some magic that allows you to revive in a new body, then you are wrong, since I have never died before." She genuinely seems not to understand, which confuses me too.

"H-Huh?" The conversation goes completely off the rails. She knows game terms, but she isn't a reincarnated person from planet Earth? How the hell would that be possible?

"W-Wait... your curse!!! The truth of the world is that you know the world is a game!!!!?" I point at her, the words escaping before I can think about what I'm saying.

How had I never thought of this before? Esther's curse of seeing the truth of the world wasn't something symbolic or abstract—it was literally in the sense that Esther could see the game as a game, even if she didn't fully understand it was a game.

Her gaze becomes icy and dangerous as I finally realize what I've said. Esther's curse now makes perfect sense. [See the Truth of the World] was meant literally, and I inadvertently told her that I know about her curse!!!

"How do you know about my curse?" She speaks in a dangerous, questioning tone as I see the gears turning in her head.

"...I see... Ah, yes... Now I understand. Evelyn, you know about my blessing, don't you? That's why you had that idea to make multiple spheres in that competition, wasn't it? It wasn't chance... You have full knowledge of my blessing... You always knew..." She gives me a dangerous look as I realize I've said too much.

"T-That's not...

"SHUT UP" She rises from her chair with a hatred I never expected to see in her. Normally, she is always composed and never shows her feelings in an explosive manner.

"You knew... you always knew everything... You knew, you knew, you knew, you knew, you knew, you knew, you knew, you knew, YOU KNEW!!!" She puts her hands on her head and seems to be freaking out, having some kind of dangerous collapse.

Her tone changed from that icy tone from before to something truly dangerous, with a hatred that even I can feel.

"N-No, I..."

"Why... why, why did you do it... why did you ignore me... Tell me, Evelyn, do you find this funny? You knew, you knew that I could see... You can see too... so why ignore it?" She looks at me with a lunatic gaze as if she wants to kill me.

"W-Wait, I s-swear I can explain, it's not..." Before I can speak, I'm already on the floor with her on top of me. I feel her nails digging deep into my neck.

"You knew the truth. You knew this shitty world is entertainment, but you chose to ignore it... You knew I could see this truth, but you never came to talk to me... You left me suffering with the truth alone while you hid like a cowardly parasite."

"You isolated yourself from everything... You left me going insane for years in this boring, repetitive hell... Do you know how unpleasant it is to know that the life of everyone around me is like a pre-programmed script made for the amusement of something?"

"Can you understand how maddening it was for my young, 4-year-old mind to realize that everything around you was a lie for others to enjoy watching?"

"You can't imagine how much I wished to have at least someone who understood me... How much the 5-year-old Esther cried hidden in her bed, wondering if she would live forever without meeting someone who could understand her."

"How many nights did I think about how unfair it was that I was the only one who could see this infernal truth..."

"Do you understand the disturbing thoughts that formed in my mind every night? The desire for freedom, the desire to escape this cage of lies... when in the end, the only conclusion I reached was that I need to kill every living being in this world to be free..."

"But there you were... knowing everything but completely ignoring it... However, I can even understand that you were also a child just like me and perhaps didn't fully understand what you were seeing."

"You know what's the worst part... You always knew, but even now, in adulthood, you chose to form friendships with these stupid things... You treat everyone as if they are real when you know they are not..."

"You escaped the script that entertains the others, but you still chose to do nothing, selfishly..." She tightens her grip. I feel her nails piercing through my throat. I choke, trying to push her away, feeling blood filling my mouth.

"Should I kill you?" She asks herself as I cry in fear of this.

"Tell me, Evelyn, was it fun? You seemed very happy... Yes, you managed to achieve happiness in this fake world... So... why did you so selfishly leave me with the worst side of reality?"

"Why did you never come to talk to me to at least try to help me, even a little? I'm sure you understand what loneliness is... If you understand, why did you never do anything for me either?"

"You know how much I hated this world? I bet you know... Is that why you recently always acted strangely around me, right? Hahahaha, how foolish of me... I should have realized that you also knew about me..."

"I... wanted to believe it was a mistake... I think I'll just kill you... You deserve death for deliberately choosing to let me continue suffering eternally." She begins to squeeze even harder. I feel her nails inside my throat as my desperation to live rises to critical levels.

"P-Please... d-don't... I-I am here n-now... I-I'm s-sorry... I-I didn't do it on p-purpose... I-I was s-scared of d-dying... I-I was a-afraid of y-you... p-please d-don't kill me, w-we can f-fix this" I can barely get the words out when she stops squeezing.

"...Afraid?..." She ponders the word for a moment and seems to have an epiphany.

"Ah... that... changes things a bit... It doesn't make them better... but it undoubtedly changes things... You are afraid of me? You feared that I would kill you if you revealed the truth?" she asks while I decide to just play along and nod my head affirmatively.

It's true that I was afraid she would kill me, but to begin with, I never knew that she knew the game was a game. This explains a lot about why in the original game she was capable of lying about her true history to Grace.

It also explains why in all routes she always causes genocide. But how the hell was I supposed to know that she knew the game was a game? She never gave signs of knowing; she just threw enigmatic phrases into the middle of the screen!!

"...I am not irrational, Evelyn... I understand that I am scary to many... It makes sense for you to fear me... But I wasn't always like this... If you had sought me out when I was between 4 to 8 years old, I would have been your friend with great joy."

"I would have been very different from what I am now... I would never have killed you for you also knowing the truth... I... hate loneliness... It is cold and bitter... Yes... I always hated being alone..."

"And that, in a fake world like this, is the worst feeling..." She begins to pull her hands away, removing her fingers from my throat. I see her hands covered in blood as I put my hands on my neck, feeling the blood flowing.

There are literal holes in my throat. If I weren't a puppet, this would kill me or cause permanent damage.

"I understand... Evelyn, I assume my blame... I admit I share part of the blame in this for being frightening. It wasn't solely your fault that you ignored me... However, now you know you must not ignore me..."

"Evelyn, now that we have clarified this matter... I feel better. It's good to see that you didn't ignore me without reason... Fear is a powerful motivator, and I understand that..."

"But now... now you know, Evelyn... If I see you ignoring reality again, you can be sure, I will not give you a second chance to live... because it will be 100% your fault..." She gets off me as I realize how close I was to death.

Esther is a complete sociopathic maniac, and witnessing her meltdown was terrible in every way possible.

The terror and fear make my heart race madly, along with the tears still streaming down my face. The wound hurts, but because of the 95% pain reduction, it's acceptable.

"..."

"Get up, Evelyn. I want... to talk a little more... I would love to hear what you truly think about this world, and I would be happy if you hated this world as much as I hate it." She says, calmer now, as if almost killing me just now was nothing.

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