I, the Female Lead, Ruined the Original

The sword Selleana received in a hurry looked just as it had the last time she held it. The only difference was that Rakrensius handed it to her while holding the blade with his bare hand.

“Is this really okay?”

“Yes, it’s fine…”

Selleana pressed her fingertip against the blade, but she felt nothing. Even if the blade was dull, it was still a sword… Was it really not meant for actual use? Since King Asmion must have used it on the battlefield, it must have been treated as a holy relic…

As she swallowed her complicated thoughts, Selleana smiled brightly at Rakrensius. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? No matter how holy it is, it’s so big. I remember how hard I tried to pretend it was light back then…

?”

As she held the sword with both hands and swung it, she was surprised. “I-It got lighter…”

“…Yes. It seems to adjust its size and weight to match the user.”

“

… Back then, it suddenly felt lighter, and I thought I was just imagining things because I was drunk. So, could it be that the blade becomes dull too?”

“Correct. It’s always like this unless it’s in combat.”

“Master of Tower has never used it, so you wouldn’t know what it’s like when the blade is sharpened, right?”

“I hope I never have to find out.”

While answering her, Rakrensius watched intently as she examined the sword as if expecting something different.

Thinking it was because of the crowd, Selleana swung the sword with one hand, just like before.

[Really? You heard me?]

[Can you hear me?]

“M-Mommy!” Startled, Selleana dropped the sword onto the bed and jumped back.

[I’m not a haunted object…]

“That, did you hear it?”

“Hear what?”

“Just now, did the sword speak?”

“What? T-That…” Selleana’s eyes rolled towards Di, lying on the bed. “The sword… spoke?”

“…Weren’t you suspecting that?”

“H-How could I?”

“You asked me last time if it could talk.”

“

, that was…”

She had just thrown out a random question to see how Rakrensius would react. Extremely flustered, Selleana reviewed what she knew about the holy relic.

In the K-Rofan world, it never failed to exceed their wildest imaginations.

Trying to brush away the tears that started to well up again, Selleana spoke brightly. “A-As expected of me. I have such a good intuition, right?”

“Yes, well…” Rakrensius couldn’t miss the subtle change in her expression. Pretending not to notice anything as Selleana wished, he forced a smile to keep his face from darkening. “That’s right… Lady is very perceptive. You even recognized me in disguise immediately…”

“Don’t be embarrassed. I told you, you looked cute.”

[

…] Di’s muttering continued, saying it was amazing to call that ridiculous sight cute and that they were a perfect match.

“Di, stop talking nonsense.”

“Pardon?”

“

, nothing.”

Rakrensius heard the sword’s laughter echo in his mind. It was just a moment ago when Selleana had revealed her secret.

Di found great interest in this and insisted on speaking directly with Selleana. Since Rakrensius had similar suspicions, he didn’t object. They both agreed there was no need to be overly cautious in this situation. Moreover, Di had a hypothesis it wanted to test by communicating with Selleana, and it succeeded. Unlike Rakrensius, it seemed communication was only possible through contact.

“So, Lady, if you don’t mind, could you keep holding Di and continue talking?”

“

alright.” Selleana carefully picked up the sword again. “But why suddenly…?”

“It finds your story very interesting and wants to talk directly.”

[Yes, especially the part about knowing what life you would lead.]

“

, I can’t get used to this…!”

Unaccustomed to the voice in her head, Selleana almost let go of the sword’s handle. But she held on, not wanting to lose the connection.

“As you know, the reason the empress is wary of me is because of this holy relic.” Rakrensius sat next to Selleana, placing his hand over hers on the sword’s handle. His tone was serious.

“Master of Tower… seems to think the situation is beyond repair, don’t you? Considering how you wouldn’t tell me anything no matter how much I asked, and now you’re finally speaking up.”

“…”

“Because I’ve become someone precious to Master of Tower…?”

“…That’s right.” The man’s face was filled with sorrow as he admitted it. “I vowed not to cherish anything, but in the end… You ended up like this because of me.”

Selleana wanted to reflexively deny it, but after losing all her friends today, she couldn’t. Rakrensius, understanding what she couldn’t say, gave a bitter smile. At least her friends weren’t dead or hurt. Unlike the childhood servant, the stray cat, and others who had been kind to him.

Selleana, who always emphasized her will and choices, must have felt distressed seeing her friends forced into lives against their will.

“Well, I’ve always been curious about Master of Tower’s secret, so it’s fine. I’m actually glad we can talk openly now.”

Of course, it was unfair and infuriating that her friends ended up like that… But holding onto what had already happened wouldn’t change anything.

Selleana gripped the sword’s handle firmly and continued speaking. “But I think differently.”

“Different… how?”

“When I met the empress earlier, she said that I was shaking the world and asked if I didn’t know there was a natural order… So it felt like it wasn’t Master of Tower’s problem, but mine.”

“…”

[…]

Both Rakrensius and Di fell silent at her unexpected statement.

“So I met my friends earlier. To see if they had really changed beyond my control. But…”

“…”

“Turns out they really had, right?”

“Yes, they had…” Rakrensius tightened his grip on her hand. He had confirmed their drastic changes alongside Selleana throughout the day.

“But Master of Tower and this sword… think that what happened to me is because of Master of Tower.”

“That’s right.”

“Actually, it was strange earlier.” Selleana bit her lip and furrowed her brow. “Remember I told you I decided to find you because the empress said she’d allow me to skip the selection contest if I brought my true love?”

“Yes.”

“But earlier, she said she was just curious about who I’d bring.”

Hearing this, Rakrensius’s face twisted with pain. After all, it was because of his involvement with Selleana that she was harmed.

[In summary… Elard’s daughter, you defied the course of fate. And in the process, the one you chose happened to be Rakrensius, which is why the saintess orchestrated this.]

Ignoring its young contractor’s unspoken thoughts, Di slowly summarized the situation.

[As for me… my first master was Asmion, the founder of Nepelsian. I’m ‘Di, who knows everything,’ who helped him succeed in his revolution.]

“Knows everything…” The grand description of the sword made Selleana pause. A sudden thought crossed her mind, and she asked, “Then, did you also teach Master of Tower Hangeul, by any chance?”

[Hangeul… Yes, I did.]

“Hangeul?”

“It’s the cipher script we use. It’s a script from the country we lived in during our past lives. We wrote in that language and exchanged it like a code.”

“

… That’s why I couldn’t understand it at all.”

“Then,

… Master of Tower, could you get me some paper and a pen?”

Without asking why, Rakrensius brought a notebook and pen. Selleana scribbled something quickly and held it up in front of the jewel on the sword’s handle.

“So, can you read this…?”

「

Our Master of Tower is the best-looking guy in the universe.

」

[…] The eyes of the eyeless sword grew cold.

What kind of child’s play is this…