Seeing Beatrice's calm and indifferent expression, Natsuki Subaru's heart tightened with a stifling grip, and he almost roared:
"Why are you so calm? Why do you speak with such an air of resignation? Why do you act as if you've already given up!"
"...By now, you should understand, I suppose."
Beatrice hugged the black book in her arms tighter, speaking calmly to Natsuki Subaru, "Roswaal is merely acting according to his Book of Wisdom, in fact. Since such an ending is written in the book, then Betty's fate was sealed from the very beginning, I suppose."
"What nonsense are you spouting!"
Natsuki Subaru suddenly stepped forward, pointing at the Book of Wisdom in her arms.
"Roswaal's book is his, but your book is *yours*! Is it written in the one you're holding right now that you'll be killed by that guy!?"
He knew that Beatrice's Book of Wisdom was entirely blank, and for centuries, not a single word of the future had ever appeared within it.
Four hundred years ago, the Witch of Greed, Echidna, facing her foes, entrusted the Forbidden Library to Beatrice, leaving behind this degraded version of the Book of Wisdom at the same time.
At the same time, she instructed Beatrice to guard the place well, waiting for "that person" to come for her.
Yet even Echidna herself couldn't say for certain who "that person" was.
Perhaps for her mother, it was merely a vague expectation; as long as Beatrice was willing, anyone could become "that person" who would save her.
But Beatrice refused. Stubbornly, she tied her hope to this blank book, to that elusive "contract".
And so, four hundred years flowed by in silence.
Beatrice guarded this library alone, her only interactions being with the successive generations of Roswaal, who would come to consult materials and then leave, with little exchange.
These four hundred years were Beatrice's solitary, drawn-out lament, ultimately dragging her into utter despair.
How deep was that despair?
Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but recall that in the original story's Gluttony arc, after Natsuki Subaru consumed Beatrice's four hundred years of memories, his hair turned white overnight, and he frantically damaged one of his own eyes.
Just imagining that solitude was enough to suffocate a person.
And Beatrice, clutching this blank book that had long since ceased updating, waited for four hundred years in the darkness.
She meticulously followed her mother's instructions, only hoping for "that person" to appear, hoping he would dispel the darkness, fill the loneliness, place her first in his heart, be the first to remember her, choose her, and personally sever the contract that had bound her for four hundred years.
But "that person" never came.
"Since that person won't come, then it doesn't matter if Betty dies here, I suppose."
Beatrice had already silently recited this sentence countless times in her heart.
At this moment, amidst Natsuki Subaru's shouts, Beatrice slowly lowered her eyelids, her slender fingers opening the book in her arms.
She gently turned the book's spine, facing the pages toward Natsuki Subaru.
As expected, from beginning to end, there was only a glaring blankness.
"Nothing is written on it, I suppose. Just like before, Betty's fate has always been a blank page."
"If that's the case! If that's the case, by what right do you follow Roswaal's will!?"
Natsuki Subaru rushed a few steps toward Beatrice, his knees brushing the edge of the step stool, looking directly into her blue eyes.
"Just like before, you should decide what you want to do yourself!"
He knew in his heart that this book recorded Beatrice's last connection with her mother, Echidna.
It was the only memento left to her by her most beloved mother, the Witch of Greed, Echidna.
Every word in the book, in Beatrice's eyes, was her mother's instruction, the lifeline that sustained her through four hundred years of torment.
However, as the pages gradually turned blank, the small flame of hope in her heart slowly extinguished.
She interpreted the blankness of the Book of Wisdom as proof that her mother had also abandoned her, and thus became utterly disheartened.
No one cared about her, no one loved her, the person she waited for wouldn't come, and living was nothing but endless solitude.
That was why Beatrice sought liberation.
"...Like before, deciding what to do herself?"
Beatrice froze, murmuring the words.
But the next second, in those blue pupils that once reflected the faint light of the library, thick, melting emptiness and exhaustion slowly spread, as if even the last glimmer of light was about to be devoured by the boundless darkness.
"In this mansion, following Mother's instructions, always alone... when was such a time ever Betty's own choice, I suppose? Which person has Beatrice ever truly been?"
"Beatrice......"
Natsuki Subaru called out softly.
"Betty's life is just like this book, pure white, indeed, it's blank, in fact! There's nothing I've ever chosen myself, and nothing to affirm my own achievements or merits..."
Beatrice forcefully closed the Book of Wisdom, slowly stroking its cover without a title, her movements as gentle as if she yearned for something.
"If only, Betty really... were just a book, how wonderful that would be, I suppose."
Beatrice, who couldn't even entrust her heart to an illusory desire, painfully revealed her wish.
If she were just a book, she could continue waiting for that person in her original form.
If she were a doll without a heart, if she were a storybook whose resolve wouldn't waver with the passage of time, then she wouldn't have such lamentations.
But Beatrice couldn't do that.
She had a heartbeat, breath, and a soul that felt pain and weariness.
So she lamented this self of hers, lamented this inescapable perception.
"Because... Betty has a heart, I suppose. It thinks wildly as time passes, and even things I once firmly believed in, I've started to doubt. I worry, I suffer... I even gradually forget Mother's appearance, forget how to smile. How many nights has Betty desperately tried to remember, trying to grasp those fading memories..."
Beatrice raised her head, biting her lower lip as she looked at Natsuki Subaru, her eyes reddened, yet stubbornly refusing to let tears fall.
""
Natsuki Subaru pressed his lips together, saying nothing.
Because he could feel the surging emotions in her words—centuries of accumulated solitude and grievances, now pouring out like a broken dam.
At this moment, any comfort would be pale; he could only quietly be a listener.
"Solitude is too terrifying, in fact... Betty also once thought of finding companionship. But the outside world kept changing, and everyone would eventually abandon Betty and leave."
As she spoke these words, Beatrice's voice began to tremble.
"Saying it's for something more important than oneself... Mother was like that, Roswaal is like that, even Lewes was like that!"
When Lewes's name escaped her lips, Beatrice's features twisted in pain, and tears finally welled up and streamed down.
Watching Beatrice cry, Natsuki Subaru understood she was speaking of Lewes Meyer, the girl who sacrificed herself four hundred years ago to protect the Sanctuary.
Although her acquaintance with Beatrice was brief, it left an eternally unhealing scar in the Great Spirit's heart.
"Betty... the fate of Beatrice, the Great Spirit, is probably just like this, I suppose. Always alone, abandoned by everyone, left behind by all..."
Beatrice's voice grew softer, tinged with an almost desperate resignation, then she paused, and quietly added, "But now, finally... I'm a little relieved, in fact."
"What a joke!"
Natsuki Subaru sharply interrupted.
"Being killed by someone you know soon—what kind of relief is that!?"
"Isn't it obvious, in fact?"
Beatrice met Natsuki Subaru's gaze and nodded.
Then, a faint, almost illusory smile suddenly bloomed on her lips. Within that smile lay a longing for the past, like clutching at a lifeline, carrying a faint yet stubborn warmth:
"Since Betty's affairs are written in Roswaal's Book of Wisdom... it means Mother hasn't forgotten Betty, in fact."
She smiled, as if she had finally found salvation, or as if her long efforts had finally been rewarded.
Even if this reward was the deathly ending already inscribed by the Book of Wisdom her mother left behind.
Even if this salvation came from the murderous intent of Roswaal's descendants, who were once like family.
But for Beatrice, as long as it proved she hadn't been forgotten, this pain didn't seem so unbearable anymore.
Beatrice blindly obeyed Echidna's instructions, able only to receive answers through blind faith, believing with the devoutness of a martyr for their religion.
This obsession was clearly visible in the pure sense of liberation within Beatrice's smile.
"What a joke! Deciding the future with just one broken book, hey, Betty, has your mind gone bad, I suppose?!"
Beatrice's twisted smile made Natsuki Subaru unable to bear it any longer. With agitated emotions surging in his chest, he couldn't help but shout loudly at her:
"You're no different from Roswaal! No, that guy at least has some self-awareness; you're worse than him! So stubborn you're backed into a corner, utterly hopeless, truly an idiot, a hopelessly idiotic fool!"
Beatrice's sorrowful joy came from confirming that her mother had love for her.
What kind of twisted familial love is this bullshit?!
Expressing love by prophesying her daughter's death—how could that be called a mother's love?
Furthermore, Natsuki Subaru believed that even if Echidna's personality was dark and abnormal, she would never want Beatrice to commit suicide.
Speaking of which, the root of all this can't be separated from that thing called the Book of Wisdom.
That was the Authority of Echidna, the Witch of Greed, also known as the "Memories of the World." Every event that had ever occurred in the world, no matter how minor, would be recorded in it.
However, despite Echidna possessing an almost avaricious thirst for knowledge, she specifically disliked looking up answers directly in books, always saying it was too boring and far less interesting than exploring step by step herself.
Her two degraded versions of the Book of Wisdom were held by Beatrice and Roswaal, respectively.
Beatrice's book slowly became blank decades after she signed the contract with the Witch four hundred years ago.
The contract she and Echidna made back then was simple: to wait for "that person" to appear and then fully hand over the Forbidden Library to "that person."
Yet in reality, Echidna never intended for "that person" to actually exist from the very beginning.
She merely wanted to see what choices Beatrice would make during her long wait:
Would she steadfastly guard the Forbidden Library, or would she gather the courage to step outside?
Would she casually pick someone to be "that person," or would she always uphold her promise?
She didn't even tell Beatrice where "that person" might appear, simply leaving her to endure four hundred years of solitude and torment alone in the vast, cold Forbidden Library.
Meanwhile, the degraded version of the Book of Wisdom in Roswaal's possession only recorded Natsuki Subaru's "Return by Death" ability, but not its trigger conditions, yet he always adhered to the book's contents.
These two degraded versions differed from Echidna's original, only recording the holder's future, and only the holder could understand them.
Of course, Beatrice's book, which had turned into blank pages, was an exception.
Now it lay open, anyone could see it was empty at a glance, yet the weight of this blankness in Beatrice's heart was so heavy it suffocated her.
In her perception, the book turning blank meant that her own future had completely vanished, with no possibilities, no hope.
It was this very thought, like an invisible shackle, that firmly trapped her in the abyss of despair, unable to break free for four hundred years.
Every day she looked at that blank book, as if looking at a life that had long been declared over, even her breaths filled with icy despair.
"Wh-what...!"
Natsuki Subaru's sudden rebuke left Beatrice utterly dumbfounded.
Anger and confusion intertwined in her mind, leaving her speechless for a moment.
Natsuki Subaru, seizing this opportunity, continued his relentless verbal assault on this obstinate Great Spirit:
"You've lived for a full four hundred years, yet how can you only accept such an extreme answer? Has your Great Spirit mind gone addled, I suppose?! Why must you cling so stubbornly to a single outcome?! Is your thought process a one-way street?"
"B-Betty has thought about it, of course! Betty doesn't know how many times I've tried to make words appear on this blank page... but nothing works, in fact!"
Beatrice hastily defended herself, her voice trembling with indignation.
"That's why you're even dumber! What kind of effort is it to make words appear on a blank page? Are you going to roast it with fire? Drown it in water? What era are we in, anyway? Haven't you considered there might be other, simpler reasons?"
Natsuki Subaru retorted eloquently, his tone filled with the exasperation of wanting to see her improve.
"Simpler reasons?"
After hearing Natsuki Subaru's words, Beatrice couldn't help but frown, vaguely feeling that something was off, yet unable to articulate what it was.
It should be known that the Book of Wisdom's perennial blankness had long made Beatrice believe it was her fate, a dead end with no way out.
But that wasn't the truth at all.
There were clearly other possibilities—
"For example, your mother might have just accidentally given you the wrong book back then."
Natsuki Subaru looked at Beatrice, then started speaking utter nonsense with a straight face:
"It's like how librarians occasionally pick up the wrong book; that kind of thing is very common. At least back in my hometown, several such incidents happened every day at the library."
"Gave... the wrong book?"
Beatrice first frowned in confusion, then she reacted, and anger spread across her delicate, pale face at a visible rate.
"How dare you insult Mother!? How could Mother possibly make such a foolish mistake..."
______
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