That day when Lelia became a priestess.

　Having fused with Emile, Lelia had a dream.

　It was a dream of her previous life.

　In a rough room, Lelia - the Lelia of her previous life is crying out.

　It's the room where she lived with the other man when she got engaged.

　But that fiancé never came back.

　The current Lelia was looking down at the Lelia of her previous life, who was sitting and crying.

'-- What was wrong with me? I shouldn't have been so bad at losing to my sister.

　It was true that I was losing to everything - my looks, my academics - and everything else.

　When I looked in the mirror in the room, the reflection in it was not me.

　It was the reflection of my sister, who I hated.

　She was looking at Lelia and laughing.

　When Lelia moved, she was moving with her movements, and it was as if she was the sister she hated.

'What. You're going to make fun of me after you die!''

　My sister in the mirror began to speak.

'Because I'm not stupid. You're just laughing at the idea that coming back to life is the same as me hating you.'

　Lelia's eyes shake and she takes a step away from the mirror.

'No, no. I am!

'Same thing. You've already figured it out, haven't you?　No, you're worse than I am right now. Because I can tell. Because you're me.

　The mirror image returned to Lelia, but her face was smiling ugly.

'What I did, you were just doing to my sister back. No, it's worse than that. You stole someone's girlfriend, and a man with real problems, you pushed him around, didn't you?　What's the difference between you-- and your sister?　You were so frustrated that you had to fight back, right?　And the result is this-- you're really clumsy.

　I sit down and crumple in place as I am told by myself.

'It wasn't supposed to be like this,'

You know it's your fault. --It's all your fault. But it would have been nice to die like this. You'll be able to escape from a bad reality.

　In the mirror, I saw myself sneering at Lelia.

　I was crying in frustration, and before I knew it, Emile was at my side.

　Emile, before he was taken in by the Holy Tree, was looking at Lelia's previous life.

''So this is the old Lelia, huh?

　Lelia nodded to Emile, standing next to her, tears streaming down her face.

'Scorned?　Yes, I did. I had a past life. I was an aunt in it. You overheard that conversation. You've been lying to me!

　Emile shook his head at such Lelia.

'You're a very important woman to me. I don't care about that. It's just--I wish you had told me sooner.

　What came back was an unexpected word.

　Troubled by the reaction, Lelia turned over and began to speak in a blur.

''--I don't believe anyone.

'Maybe so. I kind of understand why you and Serge were so close, too.

　Emile looked at the game software lying around the room.

'This is us?　What can I say--it's embarrassing.

　Emile looked embarrassed when he saw the cover of that second maiden's game.

'Don't you hate it?　I'm a terrible woman.

You're the best woman I've ever known. I've been - I've been compared to a lot of people. I've been compared to everyone else in this room.

　Laughing bitterly, Emile looked at Erik and the others.

'I was only looking at people's faces,' he said, 'but I was happy because you looked at me like that. But I was happy to see you looking at me like that.

　Guilt tightened in Lelia's chest as she heard Emile's feelings.

'I am!　I'm not the kind of woman Emile thinks I am. Even my reasons for choosing Emile were terrible, and besides!

　Emile hugs Lelia.

'--I'm sorry. I didn't know you were hurting so badly. It's been hard on you, hasn't it?　If only I had realized this earlier, Lelia wouldn't have suffered so much.

　Emile cared for himself in his previous life, when he was betrayed by his fiancée and cut off from his family - he cared for himself.

　She was worried about herself like this.

'Emile--me!

You have to live.

　With that, Emile begins to glow.

　As the surroundings turn white, a sapling is born.

"Emile?

　When Lelia looked at Emile's face, she smiled sadly.

'I'm sorry. I can't be by your side anymore. That's why I'm going to prepare a sapling of the holy tree for the last time. This is the best I can do right now. This is the last sapling, so take good care of it.

　A crest appeared on the back of Lelia's right hand as she gently took the sapling handed to her by Emile with both hands.

　The sapling's voice can be heard.

(--I'm hungry)

　For some reason, Lelia felt very warm at the sound of her lovely, childlike voice.

　Emile speaks softly to her.

'You know all the circumstances, don't you?　The reason why Holy Tree went crazy was because the priestess was no longer there and Holy Tree couldn't understand humans anymore.

That's why it went off the rails, right?

''Yeah. But hey, it's not a runaway for Seiki. These kids have a role to play. You could call it a wish.

"Wish?

　Seiki's wish.

''It's just--''

◇

　When Lelia woke up, Emile was not there.

　Instead, there was only a sapling of the Holy Tree where Emile had been.

　It's Clément who's taking Lelia's hand and crying.

　He looked terrible.

'Lady Lelia!　Well done. Well done to you for waking up!

Clement?

　I looked at the right hand Clement was holding, and I could see the miko's crest on it.

　If you look at his stomach, the place where he was pierced is neatly blocked.

''Suddenly, Emile-kun collapsed, and the holy tree sapling appeared from there. The priestess's emblem appeared on Lelia-sama's right hand, and the wound was closed up - this Clément, I was really worried about you!

　Lelia cries when she sees the crest.

'Emile is dead.'

　Lelia cried from the bottom of her heart that the man who understood her - the man who accepted her - was gone, Emile, who had accepted her.

　Tears spilled out in rags and did not stop.

　The crest on her right hand is like the last gift that Emile prepared for Lelia.

''Lelia-sama, what's wrong?''

Why? Why did you die, Emile?

　He realizes that he already had what he wanted, but Lelia has lost it because of him.

　And it will never be available to her again.

◇

　Aboard the Einhorn.

　Serge is handcuffed to a room with Julius in handcuffs, and it's Julius, who has taken off his mask.

　Serge is pleading with Julius.

Call Leon. I want to apologize.

　Julius was sitting in a chair in front of Serge, looking down at him as he sat on the floor.

'There's no need for that. You're dealing with me here.

"Call him, not you. Please!　--I can't let him die. I'm sorry. So let me talk to him!

　Julius deals with Serge, who kneels on the floor and bows his head - on his knees - and gets down on his knees, Julius deals with him nonchalantly.

'-- Baldfalt is angry, you know.

And I'm sorry!

It's not. It's not about an apology anymore. The guy has been a pain in the ass to us all, but I've never seen him this angry. We honestly didn't expect him to go this far. But looking at you guys, I guess I was right.

I don't care what happens to me. But the people of this country have nothing to do with it.

　While Julius was stunned by those words--.

(I can't speak for others either.)

'This is the current state of this country and the responsibility you have to carry with you for the rest of your lives. Don't push it on Baltophalt. He hung on until the last minute. We pushed him over the edge and you put him over the edge.

　As Serge looks despairing, Julius talks about the future.

'With you guys in a mess, it will be difficult to deal with the monsters and reconstruction that the holy trees have unleashed. We'll deal with it instead.''

Can you help me?

The people of the Republic, you know. That's the least of it. They're not their own people, and they won't be taken care of until the end.

　That means we can only help them so far.

　He said that the nation was in danger of being taken care of by itself.

　Serge asks Julius to do it one more time.

'Just once. Let me talk to the guy.'

　Julius closed his eyes.

'Don't my words convince you?　--I'm going to go talk to Baldphalt, but don't expect it.

　With those words, Serge thanked Julius.

◇

　When Julius visited Leon - he found Angel, Livia, and Marie there.

　Alberg was receiving treatment and talking about something.

'I'm sorry, Baltophart, but I'd like to have a one-time visit with Serge--'

　Angier is clearly uncomfortable with that.

　Livia's eyes are downcast, and Marie--.

'Julius silly!　Don't say that to my brother now!

　And Marie said, "Oh! He turned back to Angel and the others.

　I called out loudly, "Brother," and Rion's side hid his face with one hand.

''--You were that stupid?''

'I'm sorry, I'm sorry!　No, it's not. It's for a lot of reasons. That's why I called you my brother. I mean, what do you want me to say?　We're close enough to have exchanged cups, and this is, in other words, like a brother-in-law.

　All the excuses that the confused Marie puts out are likely to provoke a misunderstanding.

　Rion stands up and points at Marie.

'You have something against me!　What if you two get it wrong!

Go to hell!

　Angier, who was looking at Marie who had started to cry--''

''-- It's fine to be friends in an unknown foreign land, but don't call me brother and be too much of a help to Leon. Rion is the same. You spoil Marie and the others too much.

　Leon is surprised.

'What?　Oh, no--yes.

'But I didn't think the reason was with a sister caller like Erik.

　Apparently, thanks to Eryk, Angel misunderstood me.

　Livia is also a bit dumbfounded.

''Rion-san is too spoiled. I was surprised when I heard the amount of money you gave him. I don't know about you guys spending that right away, though.''

　Livia's gaze turned to Julius.

　Julius coughed deliberately.

'Ahhh, so, about that Serge thing...'

　Then he said that he didn't need Arberg.

'Count Baldfalt, you can have your son ignored.

　Rion sat down tiredly and resumed his conversation with Alberg.

'I'm sure you're worried about him and I'll see him one time later. To be honest, I don't understand what you would do for Serge. I think you are doing more good for the Republic by staying on than Serge.

　Julius decided to listen to the conversation while he was talking.

　Alberg looks at the ceiling.

'-- no matter how stupid he is, he's still my son. I would expect it at this point in time. Even if that's what my parents are forcing on me. The rest is simply - a parent's selfishness in wanting him to live.

Isn't that the wrong thing to do as a politician?

Count, I've already failed as a politician after being driven to this point.

　Angier agrees.

''It was certainly a mistake not to stop the other six nobles and Serge and the others. But as a parent, you can do that much. I honestly respect you.''

　Livia was recording Alberg's story.

'Mr. Rion, continue what you said earlier.

Yeah, that's right. Now, after destroying the House of Lespinus and getting the documents, you've found a way to merge with the Holy Tree.

　I heard Leon and the others talking about the Holy Tree in detail.

''It seems that they have been doing a lot of research on how to use the Sacred Tree. I was surprised when I found out, but when I heard that the Sacred Tree was running out of control, I thought it was one of the ways to stop it. But when I looked into it, I found that it was almost impossible to control. I was surprised when Emile fused with it.

''Maybe the Respinus family was right to think of destroying them when they saw them like today. People in this country wouldn't believe in the Holy Tree anymore.

''- It's my fault that Seiki went out of control. Yes, I will deal with it. Because without the emotional support of the Holy Tree, the people of the Republic will lose all hope.

Hope.

　Rion let out a sigh.

'I have bad news. The Previn family's main family has been wiped out. I've heard that there are hardly any branch families left. I heard that the other six noble families have also decreased in number considerably.

''I see. How many people are left - or maybe we don't need to worry about the six nobles and so on anymore. Maybe the Republic should change its shape.

　Arberg looked at his right hand.

　There was no crest there.

◇

　Night.

　When I come to the room where Serge is, that guy gets down on his knees.

　I snicker at the sight of him.

'Your kneeling is worth nothing. It's useless to do it, so look up.'

That's how I feel.

'Self-aggrandizement gone wrong?　I'll leave then.

Wait, wait!

　Serge looks up and starts talking.

　To sum up what he's trying to say--.

　Mr. Arberg's life is saved.

　And I'm asking you to help the people of the Republic.

"I'm sorry," he said. He lied to me and manipulated me into doing what he wanted me to do.

Yes.

It's not his fault. And I need you to help the people of the Republic. I know you can - no, I know you can.

You can do it.

　Luxion is undergoing repairs, but I'm sure we can do at least that.

　From the data that Ideal left behind, he's been looking for the remains of the base and scavenging for parts there.

　Creare and others were happily collecting parts for the Ideal.

　Luxion is the same. 'This will make me even stronger,' he said, or something like that.

　It seems that they are going to uproot the base and take away the parts and so on.

　Those guys are so tough.

　They were so hardy, I was so surprised.

Can you help me?

What?　I don't know. I can't because I'm going back to the country after I do the bare minimum. In the first place, I've been called out and I'd really like to go home right away, wouldn't you?

　The Kingdom of Horfert has asked me to explain and I've been told to come back.

　I'm just staying behind for a number of reasons, like the ship broke down or something.

　Luxion is doing maintenance, so I can at least help in the meantime.

“--!

　Serge's expression turned red and angry for a moment - but he was holding back a lot.

　Did he understand that he was in the wrong a little bit?

'That's your country's problem. This wouldn't have happened in the first place if you hadn't gone off the rails in the first place. You're a real little shit. I'm not your parent or anything. Take care of yourself.

I'm not doing anything right now.

"It's what you wanted. That's what you wanted. Good for you.

　Serge was looking down in frustration.

　He clenched his teeth, but--''

''Didn't you think about what would happen if Luxion and Ideal seriously collided?

I couldn't imagine it. I didn't expect it to be that bad.

　I was dumbfounded and turned my back to Serge to leave the room.

'Honestly, though, it's probably harder for you to live. It's your choice. And then there's the life your father held for you. Don't let it go to waste. For the sake of that man, who is going to die with everything on his shoulders, I'm going to spare your life.

　On the other hand, it's only worth it.

　I don't need to take a life at all costs.

"Please. Please, help me. I'm not going to do it again. I'll make a promise. If you hate me, you'll just kill me!

I feel sorry for your father. He believes in this reincarnation to the end, because he's his son. He's my son, and I want him to live. He's a little shit on the inside for the second time in his life.

　Serge knew how Mr. Alberg felt, and his forehead was on the floor.

'Dad--'

　His large body is shaking.

　As I leave the room and close the door, I hear Serge sobbing.

'You idiot--it's too late,'

　If I save the Republic, the Republic will choose me as their next go-to guy.

　I don't want to take the place of Seiki.

　I brush my hair and think about how this happened.

''- Would it have been different if I had been more mature?

　The first time we met, I got angry at him for making fun of me.

　I regret that was a bad idea, but in the end, Ideal must have said and fought Serge.

　--It's really a good thing that the reincarnated people are all shits and giggles.

　Including me.

　Sometimes it's because of us that this world has gone crazy, isn't it?

　-- it seems that way.