“Louise Sweeney.”

The girl could not bring herself to answer to that name, and didn't lift her head.

“My best friend.”

He changed the name, searching for her.

"A faithful worker."

Of course, Louise was like that in many ways.

"My dear fiancée."

“Holder of my special feelings.”

” …Mm.”

“If you're a fake, so am I. As you said before, we have a mutual influence on each other.”

Louise finally jerked her head upwards. That was what Louise had told the court official. Ian wasn't supposed to be around then.

"Y-you heard that?"

“Sorry.”

He couldn't confess to her that it was part of recorded history now.

"Wh-why were you listening in! You weren't supposed to hear it!”

“Now I see that profane face again.”

He gently poked the faint crease between Louise's eyebrows.

“Ugh…”

“If you're not dumping this poor guy, can you just answer me, holder of my special feelings?”

“Come on.”

“…”

“All right, then—my fiancée?”

Louise wanted to cry. But he only had a stern look on his face that prompted her to answer quickly.

“Okay.”

“Is my faithful worker here?”

“Yes.”

“The person who made the pledge of friends.h.i.+p with me and Simon?”

“…”

“Louise Sweeney.”

He said that name again, but the girl could not bring herself to open her mouth.

“I don't know why you always considered Alice and Louise separate.”

Louise doubted her ears for a moment. Alice.

“My doll?”

“Yes. But it's also the name of the mind you wouldn't reveal before.”

He had imagined a secret Louise that he couldn't meet.

“In the holy religion, the body and soul are a single pair, and the beginning and end are always together.”

Louise had learned this as well. This country believed in a holy religion and respected royal authority. Ian had been taught the doctrine as a child, and had also told Louise,  ‘My fiancée must believe in G.o.d.'

“If Louise Sweeney's soul had disappeared, then the matching body would have crumbled away as well."

“That…that's—”

“But your body is strong. Even to the point of always getting yourself into trouble. So, if your body has other memories.”

Louise waited for the rest of the words with a nervous face.

“It's because you opened your eyes to the memories that were engraved on that soul.”

“But that time…"

“Besides, Alice and Louise can not be different. I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Sweeney would have been the first to notice."

They were a couple that deeply cared about their daughter.

“But as far as I know, the Sweeneys had never said, ‘My daughter suddenly changed.'”

“But I…!"

“You?”

She was about to answer, ‘I acted like Louise!' but she quickly shut her mouth. The story didn't say anything about the villainess' childhood.

“I don't know. I…"

“You are Louise Sweeney. From the beginning. I think Alice's memory was born in you.”

He came up with quite a simple explanation for her long suffering.

“You came to a conclusion that's too much in my favor.”

“That's how everybody lives.”

“You could be wrong about it.”

“It's not something you can fix.”

"Even so.”

Louise was about to cry. In the past, she thought might have to go back to the original world. After years of stable living, however, the idea was almost forgotten.

“I didn't make it up for you just so you feel better”

He looked very serious.

“I'm the first gatekeeper to divine law.”

He was on the topic of royal authority.

“There are many laws in this world that are described in the name of reason. And everyone is subordinate to these laws. Everyone.”

He strongly emphasized his last word.

“And you are also included in it.”

“What if I am not part of divine logic? If so…"

“I want you to listen to me a little more.”

“What?”

He smiled kindly.

“I am the gatekeeper who stands by that logic. I will open the door wide at the mere sight of you.”

“Th-then you're not a good gatekeeper! That's bad!”

“It's okay, I'm only a bad guard for you.”

“G.o.d must be unhappy.”

“You can't make G.o.d unhappy, so he let you safely inside the door. He wants a gatekeeper as solid as a wall. “

“You've come to a conclusion in my favor again.”

” I favor you.”

“With all my heart.”

“That kind of wording is weird…"

“But you like it. I can tell by the way you smile.”

Of course she couldn't help but like it. She had someone that thought about her and loved her so much. Her heart seemed to overflow with this amazing feeling.

“Right?”

“Yes.”

But it is also strange. Why would the hero of the world say this to her?

“But from the look on your face, you must still be doubting something else.”

"H-how do you know?"

“We've played together for years, what do you think? So, what are you thinking about?”

He let go of her hand for a moment and began to browse through the food warehouse again. He plucked an apple from a box, rubbed it over his white s.h.i.+rt a few times, then broke it into two halves and offered one to Louise. 

As Louise looked vacantly down at the apple, it suddenly occurred to her — she wouldn't starve anywhere with this guy. 

“Thank you.”

Louise took the apple with her hands.

“Do you want me to make you a pie next time?”

“It's for survival, isn't it?”

“It's for courts.h.i.+p.”

He answered while munching on the apple.

“I taught myself some recipes for courts.h.i.+p. A thick chocolate cake, or autumn apple pie. In winter…”

He gazed at Louise. He was trying to guess what she ate in the winter.

"Cinnamon rolls?"

“Yes, something that warms you up like that. It's a must have on a snowy day.”

“It's amazing."

“What is?”

“You've been so sweet to me…"

Louise shook his head for a moment and then corrected herself.

“It's amazing how you love me.”

“I suppose so. The friends.h.i.+p period was too long.”

“No, but to explain this feeling…."

Louis gazed down at the apple in her hand, carefully took a bite. It made a satisfying crunch on her teeth.

“Well, there is a beautiful princess and an ungainly dwarf in the forest. It's like the prince came and he was trying to woo the dwarf.”

“I guess the dwarf has been a lifelong ideal for the prince. If someone tried to court her the instant they first met, then I don't think that's any normal love."

Louis gazed at his face, and shook her head quickly. Something must have been wrong with the a.n.a.logy.

“Let me try again. So…”

Louise came up with the right story.

“There is a good main character and a wicked older sister. One day, the prince comes to visit and begs for the sister! Even though she is a villainess who bullies the hero!”

“I guess the prince is also a villain.”

"He can't be! He's the hero! The hero of a fairy tale cannot be evil!”

“Well, this isn't a fairytale, is it?”

…Eh? Not really. His genre was like a romance fantasy. 

She became speechless, and he smiled at her. He learned one thing from her words.

“Now I know.”

” …?”

“Why, sometimes, you look afraid of something.”

Ian believed he had another rival.

“In the magic orb you saw, you saw a different future. You were always worrying because you thought you had to be prepared for it.”

Louis nodded slowly. Ian polished off the rest of his apple, then folded his arms, thinking. Perhaps he was wondering about his true partner.

” …Do you want to know who it is?”

“I'm very nervous.”

She supposed that was only right. If she had a destined partner, she would definitely want to know who it was too…

“It's crazy! If you weren't with me, then who were with you with in that d.a.m.n magic orb?"

“What? Me?“

“Yeah. I'm nervous and I don't think I should get an answer for some reason…"

He mumbled a few more words in discontent.

“It's better to hold it to yourself just in case…because I don't think I could let it go.”

“Is it that important to know who I liked?”

Louise looked at him with a frown. With a face that looked like he would pa.s.s out, he shook his head quickly and pressed his hand near his heart.

“Well, don't tell me yet. I'm not ready.”

He took a deep breath and said the next thing carefully.

“Let me ask you one thing. Did the person you like have a status above the n.o.bility?”

Ian was the Crown Prince, so he was ranked above the n.o.bility. Louise nodded in a.s.surance, and he made a grim smile.

“Then that means he can order the death penalty.”

“Th-that's really vicious…!”

Ian couldn't execute Ian, of course. But for some reason he was thinking of death. It was not something that the male lead in a wholesome novel would think about.

“So I told you.”

He leaned towards her, brus.h.i.+ng his finger against her lips and whispering.

“It's not a fairy tale.”

…The original novel wasn't wholesome either.