気づけばそこに立っていた。辺り一面真っ白の世界。
先程と違うのは、私に色が付いている点だけだ。さっきは世界と同じく真っ白だった。
隣を見る。とてつもない大きさのクリスティーナの、プラネタリウムのドームみたいな瞳がすぐ近くにあった。クリスティーナは前回も今回も真っ白だ。
『私、入れたの?』
『うん、できた』
ほっと息をつく。だが本当に重要なのはここからだ。
私は周囲に視線をやって、あっと驚いた。
『これが殿下が今見ている夢なの......?』
そこはまるで、世界一の博物館のような空間だった。
純白の壁みたいなガラス張りのショーケースが整然と並んでいる。中は等間隔に仕切られ、目につく限り様々なものが収められていた。
そんなショーケース一つ一つがどこまでも高くそびえ立っていて、真上を見上げても終わりがない。
数についても同様で、空間はどこまでも向こうに延び続け、それに伴ってショーケースも並び続ける。
感嘆の吐息を漏らした。しかしクリスティーナは大きな首を左右に揺らした。
『ゆめじゃない。るうぇいんの、いしきのなか』
『え?』
『こっち、れべっか、はやく』
クリスティーナの鼻に背中を押されて、小走りに進む。ショーケースとショーケースの間を直線に進んでは直角に曲がり、別のケースとケースの間を進む。
段々おかしな音がしているのに気がついた。進むにつれて近づいていくそれは、たとえるなら金属をハンマーで力任せに叩くみたいな、耳障りで不快なものだった。
発生源は私と同じ、真っ白な世界でひどく目立つ、色のついた『異物』。
ショーケースを棒状の金属で殴りつける後ろ姿に、にっこり微笑んで声をかけた。
『ごきげんよう。昼間ぶりでしょうか。今日はよくお会いしますね』
サジャッド・マハジャンジガが、武器を取り落として振り返った。
『......な、んで? は? 何が起きてる』
『ここで何をしているのか――いえ、今まで一体何をしたのか、教えていただいても?』
サジャッドが金属で突いていたショーケースに目を移す。突き破られてこそいないが細かい傷やへこみがたくさん入っている。
その部分だけでない。この一帯は一面彼が殴って回ったのだろう形跡が見て取れた。
近づく私を怖がってサジャッドが後ずさる。
『なんだ、お前。どこから来た』
『失礼ですね、お忘れですか? レベッカ・スルタルクですよ』
『いいや、本物なわけない。......精神の防御反応か?』
サジャッドは私の存在を理解しかねているらしい。私本人だとは考えてもいない。きっとこんなことは今まで一度もなかったのだろう。
そもそも自分の能力が私にバレているとも知らないはずだ。
彼の予想に乗ってみたらどうなるのだろう。私はまるでサジャッドの言葉を肯定するかのように、ただ微笑んで沈黙した。
サジャッドが私の背後に控えるクリスティーナに目をやる。
『撤退か、クソ、最悪だ』
『その前に、ここで何をしたのか答えてください』
よ。六週間も粘ったってのに......特にお前に関連する記憶や概念は傷一つつかないときた』
サジャッドはもはや私のことは見ておらず、独り言のように言い放った。
『心配ない。時間はある。次はもっとうまくやろう』
そして止める間もなく、転がっていた金属の棒で自分の胸を刺した。
その体がボロボロ崩れ始め、固まりがさらに細かい砂に変わって、ついには目に見えないほどの大きさになって消え去った。
私はただ見ていることしかできなかった。
サジャッドの最後の欠片が消失すると同時、私の足元が突然ぐにゃりと溶けた。反射的に引っ張るが抜けない。取り込まれるみたいにして、足が、下半身が、胴がみるみる沈んでいく。
――まるで、異物を排除するみたいな動き。
『れべっか、るうぇいんがおきる!』
クリスティーナの嬉しそうな声を最後に、私の視界は真っ白な世界に完全に呑み込まれた。
はたと目を開ける。薄暗闇に浮かぶ白いシーツ。手の平に誰かの筋肉質な身体を感じた。
がばりと体を起こす。
仰向けで寝台に肘をついた殿下が、きょとんと私を見ていた。
その顔は憑き物がとれたように晴れやかで、同時に心底不思議そうだった。
「レベッカ............夜這いか?」
「違いますっ!」
即座に否定してから、その首に思いっきり抱きついた。
私を支えきれず押し倒された殿下が寝台に沈んで、「やっぱり夜這いじゃないか」と私の腰に手を滑らせたので、思いっきりつねってやった。
起き上がって、一連の出来事を捲し立てるように話す。その間グルーが殿下に一生懸命すり寄っていて、殿下は上体を起こして彼を撫でていた。
クリスティーナは早々に近くで丸くなって寝始めた。
一通り聞き終わったとき、殿下は驚くでも怒るでもなく、見たこともないくらい残念そうに眉を寄せた。
「夜這いじゃないのか......」
「夜這いから離れてください」
ぴしゃりと言い放つ。すると何かを考えこむようにした殿下が、「今、何日だ」と尋ねてきたからびっくりしてしまった。
「このニ、三週間の記憶が曖昧だ。寝ている間やつから意識を守っていたせいで慢性的な寝不足だったんだろう。まともに覚えているのはひどい頭痛としつこい吐き気と、あと――」
痛ましい状態に聞いているだけでも胸が苦しくなってくる。殿下がそんなふうに苦しんでいたのに、気づかなかった自分を恥じた。
が、その気持ちは次の瞬間霧散した。
「レベッカの最高の膝枕のことだけだ」
彼はとても重要なことを発表するみたいな、真剣な面持ちで言った。
「殿下、本当にサジャッドに何もされてないんですか? 『破廉恥』とか植え付けられたりしてません?」
「そうかもな。じゃあこれはやつのせいだ」
「きゃあ!」
殿下は開き直り、いきなり私を自分の寝台に転がした。抵抗したら上掛けで包まれた。
布の海からぷはっと顔を出すと、今度は顔中にキスが降ってくる。
「もうっ、この破廉恥殿下! 寝台に引きずりこみ殿下! こういうこと去年もあった!」
顔を真っ赤にしてじたばたする私を、殿下はくつくつ笑った。自分も横になって私を抱きしめ、首元に顔を埋めてくる。
私はいい加減疲れてため息混じりに呟いた。
「殿下、問題が山積みですよ......」
「分かってる。明日から大忙しだ」
サジャッドは殿下の『夢』に入り込んでいたが、殿下が『昨日の夢がどこで何をしたものか』というその鍵になる情報をサジャッドに教えたわけはない。
『夢』に入り込む条件が間違っている――攻略本が間違っているか、シナリオにはない何かが起きているかどちらかだ。
前提にしていたものが間違っていた今、サジャッドの悪行の証明も、階段突き落とし事件の実行犯調査も、やり直しだ。
そもそも今のサジャッドは『不可解』の一言に尽きる。
私を攻撃したり、キツく当たっていたエミリアを懐柔しようとしたり、殿下を洗脳しようとしたり、言動に筋が通っていなさすぎる。
「ずっと意識が朦朧としていたと言ったな」
殿下が急に話を切り出した。サジャッドの攻撃と戦っていた六週間の、最後の二、三週間の話だろう。
「不意に意識が浮上することがあった。レベッカの膝で寝ているときだ。今考えれば、多分まともに寝ていたのはあの一時間だけだった。もう一歩も動けず寝台で寝ようとした日も、レベッカに会いたくて部屋に行った。あれがなかったら――」
殿下は顔を上げ、至近距離で私を見つめた。そしてはにかむように笑った。
「助けてくれてありがとう、レベッカ」
彼の頬を両手で挟んでぐいと引っ張る。その唇に自分のを寄せてから、目を丸くする彼を力いっぱい抱きしめた。
「......助けられて、よかったです」
殿下は起き上がろうとしたが、私がずびと鼻をすすった途端大人しくなって、また私の首元に顔を埋めた。
膝枕をしていたときと同じように金髪を優しく梳かす。すると殿下はすぐに動かなくなった。深い寝息が聞こえてくる。
この温もりを失わなくて本当に良かった。
殿下の頭に鼻を押し付け、私も目を閉じた。
Before I knew it, I was standing there. The whole place was a completely white world.
The only thing that was different from before is that color had returned to me. Before, everything was as white as the world around me.
I looked next to me and saw Christina's enormous, planetarium-dome-like eyes right in front of me. Christina was still completely white.
[Did I do it?]
[Yes, it's done.]
I breathed a sigh of relief, but the important part was still to come.
I looked around, and was surprised.
[Is this the dream that His Highness is seeing now?]
It was like a space that belonged in the world's greatest museum.
There were orderly rows of show cases with walls made of glass like white walls. Inside, everything was divided into equal intervals, and various things were on display as far as the eye could see.
Each show case was so tall that they seemed to go on forever, and even if you looked up, you couldn't see the top.
The number of cases was also the same, the space stretched endlessly, and the show cases continued to be arranged.
I let out a sigh of amazement. But Christina shook her big head left and right.
[This isn't a dream. It's the inside of a ruin.]
"[What?]
"[Come on, Rebecca, hurry.]"
With Christina's nose pushing me, I hurried forward. I went straight between the showcases and turned at right angles, and then went between other cases.
I noticed that there was a strange sound. As I approached, it was like hitting metal with a hammer, it was unpleasant to the ears.
The source of the sound was the same as me, it was very conspicuous in the white world, the colored foreign object.
I smiled and spoke to the back figure who was hitting the showcase with a metal rod.
[Hello. It's been a while since noon. We see you a lot today.]
Sajad Mahajanjiga turned around and dropped his weapon.
[...What, why? What's happening?]
[What are you doing here----no, what have you done so far, may I ask?]
Sajad looked at the showcase he was hitting with metal. It was not broken, but there were many small scratches and dents.
It's not just that part. This area was probably all hit by him, it was evident from the traces.
Sajad feared me and backed away as I approached.
[What, you. Where did you come from?]
[Excuse me, have you forgotten? I'm Rebecca Slutarch.]
[No, it's not possible to be real ... is this a defense reaction of the mind?]
Sajad seems to not understand my existence. He probably doesn't even think I'm a real person. I'm sure something like this has never happened before.
In the first place, he shouldn't even know about my abilities.
I wonder what will happen if I go along with his expectations. I just smiled and remained silent, as if I were affirming Sajad's words.
Sajad looked at Christina, who was standing behind me.
[Retreat? Damn it, this is the worst.]
[Before that, please tell me what you were doing here.]
[You can see for yourself. I couldn't do anything. I've been trying for six weeks... especially not with memories or concepts related to you.]
Sajad no longer looked at me, and spoke as if he were talking to himself.
[Don't worry. We have time. I'll do it better next time.]
And without hesitation, he stabbed himself in the chest with the metal rod that was lying there.
His body began to fall apart, turning into smaller and smaller grains of sand, until it finally disappeared into something invisible.
All I could do was watch.
As the last bits of Sajad disappeared, my feet suddenly melted away. I reflexively tried to pull back, but it wouldn't budge. I was being absorbed, and my feet, legs, torso sank more and more.
----It seems like the process of removing a foreign object.
[Rebecca, wake up!]
With Christina's joyful voice as the last thing I heard, my vision was completely consumed by a pure white world.
I opened my eyes to find myself in a dimly lit room, floating on a white sheet. I could feel someone's muscular body in the palm of my hand.
I quickly sat up.
His Highness, who was lying on his back with his elbow on the bed, was looking at me with a dazed expression.
His face looked clear, as if something had been lifted from it, and at the same time, it seemed very strange.
"Rebecca... did you sneak in at night?"
"No, I did not!"
I immediately denied it and hugged his neck tightly.
As His Highness was pushed down by my weight and sank into the bed, he slid his hand on my waist and murmured, "I knew it, you did sneak in at night." So I hit him hard.
I got up and began to tell him about everything that had happened, while Grue was trying to get close to His Highness and His Highness was stroking him while sitting up.
Christina had already fallen asleep nearby.
When I finished telling him everything, His Highness didn't look surprised or angry, but rather, he looked disappointingly in a manner I had never seen before.
"So you didn't sneak in at night..."
"Please stay away from sneaking in at night."
I let out a sigh and His Highness, who seemed to be thinking about something, asked me "What day is it today?" I was surprised.
"My memory of the past three weeks is hazy. I must have been chronically sleep-deprived while trying to keep my consciousness while I was sleeping. The only thing I can remember clearly is the terrible headache and persistent nausea, and also----."
Just listening to his painful state made my chest hurt. I felt ashamed that I didn't notice him suffering like that.
But that feeling disappeared in the next moment.
"It's all because of Rebecca's best knee pillow."
He said it seriously, as if he was announcing something important.
"Your Highness, are you really sure that Sajad didn't do anything to you? Like, implanting "shamelessness"?"
"Maybe so. Then this is his fault."
"Ah!"
His Highness laughed carelessly, and suddenly threw me onto his bed. When I tried to resist, I was wrapped in a blanket.
I peeked out from under the cloth sea, and this time, kisses rained down on my face.
"Stop, this shameless prince! Dragging me onto your bed! This happened last year too!"
His Highness chuckled as I squirmed, blushing. He lay down next to me and hugged me, burying his face in my neck.
I breathed a sigh mixed with a groan, because I was getting pretty tired.
"Your Highness, there are a lot of problems..."
"I know. It's going to be a busy time starting tomorrow."
Sajad was in the dream of the Highness, but the Highness had not told Sajad the information that would be the key to the dream of what he did and where he did it yesterday.
Either the conditions for entering the dream are wrong----the strategy guide is wrong or something that is not in the scenario is happening.
Now that the premise was wrong, Sajad's proof of wrongdoing, investigation of the perpetrator of the stairway push incident, and all of it has to be redone.
Sajad is currently inexplicable.
He's attacking me, trying to win over Emilia, who was strongly against him, trying to brainwash the Highness, and his actions don't make sense.
"You said you were always in a daze."
The Highness suddenly started talking. It was probably about the last two or three weeks of the six weeks he had been fighting Sajad's attack.
"There were times when my consciousness would suddenly surface. Like when I was sleeping on Rebecca's lap. Now that I think about it, maybe the only time I was really sleeping was during that one hour. Even the day when I couldn't move and tried to sleep on the bed, I went to see Rebecca because I wanted to. If it wasn't for that----"
His Highness looked up and stared at me at close range. And then he smiled bashfully.
"Thank you for helping me, Rebecca."
I grabbed his cheeks with both hands and pulled them. Then I pressed my lips to his and hugged him tightly as he widened his eyes.
"...I'm glad I was able to help."
His Highness tried to stand up, but as soon as I shook my head, he became docile and buried his face in my neck again.
I gently combed through his golden hair, just like when he was using my lap as a pillow. And then His Highness became still. I could hear his deep breathing.
I was truly glad that I didn't lose this warmth.
I pressed my nose against His Highness' head and closed my eyes as well.
The Villainess Carries a Strategy Guide
その悪役令嬢は攻略本を携えている
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/the-villainess-carries-a-strategy-guide/
Fantasy Josei Romance Shoujo
Academy Adapted to Manga Aristocracy Doting Older Siblings European Ambience Female Protagonist Love Interest Falls in Love First Magic Nobles Otome Game Reincarnated in a Game World Villainess Noble Girls
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n6554fr/
岩田加奈