Reincarnated As Both The Villainess And Heroine...?

A Moment of Peace

"Kill her!" father repeated his order.

As the soldiers approached me, the flames of something terrible roared across the room, blasting the soldiers back with an unnatural force flames shouldn't have. The elemental of fire emerged from the gem, sending forth a roar as it fully manifested in the physical realm.

Ah, this was pretty bad.

"It's the spirit of flames...! The legendary divinity that wrecked havoc upon the battlefields!" thank you for the exposition, soldier.

In the first place, why did you bring such a valuable treasure,  father? I know we have a lot of high ranking noble treasure, but wouldn't it be better if you picked one that wasn't worth as much?

The flames curled around the flare beast, a being that was called forth from a different dimension. It was a wolf, but a dragon. It was a dragon, but a serpent. Well, it'll be easier to understand if one saw it fight.

As a soldier tried to land a blow on the wolf, the flames roared, molding itself into the form of a mighty winged beast. The dragon form released a blast of wave that sent the soldiers flying backward, discouraging any melee strikes.

The medium sized dragon leaped into the air, morphing into a snake, before descending upon the poor soldiers, and consuming one of them whole.

"Top priority..." the flames that changed back to the form of a wolf hissed. "Eliminate the source of pain for the master."

A high ranking spirit could take on any forms, and weren't limited to the first being that they inhabited when they first crossed over to this world, unlike lesser variants. This was why they were versatile and highly sought after.

You just had to pick the most troublesome spirit to deal with, father...! Flames in an enclosed wooden space? Not to mention demanding a five-year-old to control a high quality noble treasure!? You were just asking for it!

Really...this wasn't going to end well at all. Even though I knew how it all ended, my heart was still heavy when met with such a mess.

Amidst all the chaos of the rampaging spirit, the flames consumed the entire dance hall in a scorching heat. Then, it happened. A tendril of flame shot out, but it was dodged by the soldier...which caused the fire to find a new random target, me.

Specifically, Elizabeth me. Even if I had knowledge of future, it still happened so fast I barely had time to react to it. There was no doubt I would be struck by it, that is, if nothing else interfered.

A gouging noise. The spurt of blood. The sizzling of flesh. The scent of something charred. Just like that, a shadow had quickly passed over me, shielding Elizabeth me from harm.

"Ah...my daughter...please live on," with those words and a bitter smile, my mother went crashing into the ground.

Her gut was split open in a gruesome manner, but I averted my gaze from the burnt flesh. Even if there was healing magic in the world, there was a limit to the strength of humans. No, even a miracle wasn't enough to save her.

In the end, it was something this minor. It wasn't a major event, no dramatic death, nor one that would affect the basis of the plot. It was just a simple sacrifice that could have simply avoided.

It was a death for the sake of a death. Just to increase the villainess' suffering. It was extremely pointless and tacked on, from start to end. Even so, it was evident that it had a huge impact on Elizabeth herself...for this body of mine was feeling the instinctual emotions already.

"Mother!"

"Elizabeth, I..." without even finishing her last words, the life of the Bathory duchess was snuffed out.

How could you say that during your last moments...? It's unfair, you know. This bit wasn't in the game, so I was caught off guard. But this...this was too cruel. How could you just go ahead and imply you love me at the very end? Was it such a hard thing to say to me normally?

Even if you never did spend much time with me, but even so, you are still my mother. I made the decision to kill you, so how could you...? How could you go and reveal your feelings at the very end...?

If you're going to be a useless mother, then please do so till the very end...don't make me regret things. Because, now that I have decided to live as both Elizabeth and Rin, these tears for you are genuine, you know?

What an awful joke. Tasteless. Whoever designed Elizabeth Bathroy was an absolute sadist. You didn't even allow her the opportunity to tell me she loved me. Ah, really, this world was made to deny the right to happiness for the villainess.

However, this was something that I had already steeled my resolve on.

Anyway, the brawl seemed to have reached its final stages. With the sound of a desperate cry from Rin, the party finally ended with a mighty explosion that no doubt claimed at least lives up to the double digits.

***

In the end, it was only I who remained conscious. The one individual that the spirit didn't target. Which, of course, included Elizabeth me for some reason. Even though Elizabeth's body had minor burns, but my consciousness remained relatively intact even after that explosion.

Gazing at the noble treasure in my hand, I confirmed it was temporarily dormant, with most of its energy sapped. To think a simple miscommunication could resort in this entire disaster...

I rolled to both my right and left, then I collided into a body. A warm, moving one. This...this must be the first time, right?

The two faces I have seen for the past five years in the mirror, they were now reflected in those ruby and green eyes. The forgettable faces of the childhood forms of the protagonist and antagonist, but the two faces did hold some degree of resemblances to my future selves.

Propping myself up with the help from both bodies, I let out a tired laugh from the two, ""What a mess this has all been.""

Tilting my gaze upwards to the sky revealed by a collapsed ceiling, I noticed an ironic scenery. The starry sky today was absolutely gorgeous. Even among the rising smoke and scent of charred corpses, the sky was beautiful.

Everything was just so conflicting, though. Even though I should feel troubled for being responsible for such a disaster, I felt oddly...calm. My mood was composed, as if there was something forcibly anchoring my sanity.

Perhaps it was because of this brief moment of respite. Leaning on myself, being at the same place with both bodies...it was just so relaxing. As if I didn't have to worry about anything else. I felt safe when the two bodies were near each other, I suppose. There was just this sense of security when both bodies were close. What a discovery.

Even though there was still something dreadful lurking beneath my mood, but at this very moment, I feel as if just gazing silently at the stars was enough. For just this moment, I could briefly forget about the death of my mother. Ignore the terrible ethics of this entire issue.

""For the sake of a peaceful future like this...I have to continue forward,"" I let out a sigh from both bodies.

At this very moment, this flash of peace, it was all very precious to me. I was so caught up with the matters of the game recently, that I have forgotten what it felt like to truly live freely.

So this was why...I wanted to reach the end of this road. So I could finally relax. Matters like these...it was painful to experience. This was one of the worse events, but still, it was still nevertheless terrible to experience.

Even so, for the future filled with moments of peace like this, I absolutely had to carry onward. No matter how hard the decision would be. No matter how difficult it was to accept a worse outcome despite knowing the future. If I wanted to have moments like these, then I must ensure things were going to follow the original history.

"Rin? Rin! Where are you?" ah, as expected, Shiro made it out safely.

I got up with a sad smile, giving the Elizabeth body one last look, "A good luck to me. Looks like I'll need it."