The Keeper of Duty
Hahaha.
You've grown strong, Bell.
I wonder where your strength is coming from. It no doubt must be your hate toward me.
...Shut up!
You are a traitor to our family.
A runaway from Candle Square!
And now a terrorist who destroys the Heart of the Star and thereby plunges an entire city into chaos!
So...
So... As...!
As a maid of Candle Square, I will carry out your execution!
I see.
But you know this already, don't you? I don't die.
So how do you intend to execute me?
I'll...
Let me teach you, Bell.
The secret to killing the undying.
What?
You know how desperate I was to free myself from this curse.
At first... I tried something rather extreme.
But in the end, I had to accept the harsh, unyielding reality.
There is no way to break the curse. Fighting it is meaningless.
And that was when I met a certain [witch].
A witch?
She showed me the [truth].
I will teach you the first and the simplest method.
This curse is bound to the bloodline of your family.
Therefore, to break it, you will need the help of someone who shares the same bloodline.
Should someone from your [bloodline] versed in the Rhys family's hexomancy strike you down...
You will die.
Tell me, undying one.
Do you have anyone who can grant you that rest?
You can die... if someone in your bloodline kills you?
That's right. What do you say, Bell? My beloved sister.
Th-th-that's...
You were forced to bear our ancestral duty because of me.
You had big shoes to fill. A heavy torch to carry.
You must have grown so full of thorns in the shadow of the former [model Master Maid].
Were those thorns ever pointed toward me? Did you hate me for abandoning you?
Or despite everything...
Do you still love me as my sweet little sister?
...Hahaha.
Don't worry, Bell.
It's fine either way.
C-Carnelia...
So now... grant your poor sister her rest.
...
Don't hold back.
If you truly hate me—the traitor to our family and the runaway from Candle Square—then wield that hatred as your weapon.
And if you still love me, then have compassion and bring me rest.
In either case... you need only to fulfill your duty.
...
How... How could you say that...
Always… you always do what you want!
Why is it always your way?! Why?!
Are you... Are you telling me this is what you really want? That this is your wish?
Fine then! Have it your way!
Errgh!
Wait!
Let go of me! Don't get in my way!
Bell tried to wrench free, but I held her tightly.
Maybe... this wasn't something I should interfere with. It was a family matter, after all.
But letting this continue would only lead Bell to a choice she'd regret.
Why do you want to kill your sister?
You really need me to explain?!
I already told you! I promised Claire!
I swore that if I met her, I'd carry out the execution myself!
Did Claire really say that?
Before we left for Aganon, that wasn't what Claire said at the station.
She said to follow the instructions as per the [Manual], like a maid of Candle Square should.
Same difference!
Maybe. But if it were me... I'd check first.
Bell hesitated, then pulled a worn book from the bag Claire gave her.
A bookmark was tucked into a specific page, as if Claire had left it for her.
Bell opened the marked page.
That book... It can't be...
How a maid of Candle Square... treat another maid.
No matter the situation... trust your fellow maid. Support them.
And if they stray from the right path, don't hate them.
But guide them back to the light.
Claire said Carnelia herself wrote that book.
Though the [model] Master Maid she presented... may not have been who she truly was...
Could that really have been the whole story?
...
I wrote that out of nothing but more than a whim.
Bell, don't tell me you're going to forgive me because of a few flowery words.
...
No.
I'm a maid of Candle Square.
And the one overseeing Candle Square now is the acting Master Maid Claire.
...
So as a maid of Candle Square, under the authority of the acting Master Maid...
I'm placing you under arrest.
Any talk about dying or not dying can wait until we get back and speak with Claire!
Oh...?
This is... disappointing.
The simplest solution... never works out, does it?
I didn't want to do this, but it seems I'll have to resort to the second method.
What? What are you trying to do now—
Before either of us could react, Carnelia swung the lamp in her hand.
In that instant, with a deafening roar, the Heart of the Star shattered completely.