"Unfair… I won't die... I can't die."
"Yeah."
I babbled nonsense, half-delirious from the fever.
But someone was there beside me, responding to every word I said.
"Those bastards... I'll definitely get revenge... Make them regret abandoning me... I swear..."
"Yeah, I get it."
His voice was indifferent, but oddly comforting.
I drifted in and out of consciousness, teetering on the edge of life and death.
* * *
I'm alive.
That was the first thought that crossed my mind the moment I opened my eyes.
"Ugh…"
As I struggled to sit up, something draped over my body slid down with a soft rustle.
It was a coat I didn't recognize.
I stared blankly at the coat that had fallen across my legs before finally coming to my senses and looking around.
A cave.
It was a dark, cold cave.
The one who had brought me here and taken care of me all this time was sitting off in the distance, leaning against the wall.
With his arms crossed and his head bowed, he was completely still—probably asleep.
I knew who he was.
Isael Carlton.
A character destined to become an antagonist, standing in the protagonist's way.
Another major figure in this world.
Before long, he opened his eyes.
"Oh, you're awake?"
I greeted him awkwardly with a small smile, and Isael stared at me like he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Um… Thanks. For stopping the bleeding and taking care of me."
My abdomen was currently wrapped with a strip of cloth.
He had torn a long piece from the hem of the skirt and tied it tightly around my waist to hold a handkerchief in place over the wound.
My skirt had ended up shorter and badly torn, which was unfortunate.
But given the circumstances, I had to be grateful for even this level of treatment.
While fiddling with the jagged hem of my skirt, I said, "Really, thank you. I'd already lost a lot of blood… But thanks to you, I survived."
"It's fine."
He replied curtly, then fell silent, staring at me intently.
After a long pause, he finally spoke again.
"I know who you are."
"…Huh?"
"Rosette Grace."
"Oh…"
"That's right, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah. That's right."
I nodded, a bit dazed.
Of course, I knew who he was, but I hadn't expected him to know me.
"I've seen you a few times before. At the Imperial Palace."
Isael continued in a low voice.
"I also saw your name on the sacrificial list."
...Sacrificial list?
So that existed.
As I sat in a blank haze, Isael went on.
"I'm sure you know who I am, too."
I had told Isael that I'd seen his younger sibling.
Knowing who his sibling was meant I had to know who he was.
I quickly nodded.
"Yeah, I know."
"…Alright."
Silence followed.
Not knowing what he was thinking, I cautiously observed him.
Then, after some time, Isael broke the stillness.
"All of the people from the Empire of Lyonesse are dead. Except for us. Did you know that?"
The Empire of Lyonesse.
That was the country I had lived in before coming to the tower.
It was also Isael's homeland.
"…I guess so. I had a vague suspicion."
I answered honestly.
"The last time I saw people from the Empire of Lyonesse was on the first floor."
The two great empires that unified the two continents of this world.
Camelot and Lyonesse.
The protagonist Leonard's homeland, Camelot, had offered six children as sacrifices.
And the Empire of Lyonesse, Isael's and my homeland, had offered ten.
Originally, it was supposed to be nine. But when Isael entered the tower, the number became ten.
He jumped onto the altar to save his younger sibling.
Isael was the legitimate heir and crown prince of the Empire of Lyonesse.
Which meant he was never meant to be a sacrifice in the first place.
The child chosen by the imperial family to be sacrificed was Princess Beatrice.
The emperor, unwilling to sacrifice his own children, had chosen Beatrice, a distant relative, to raise as a princess and offer in their place.
However, when Isael learned the truth, he couldn't accept the imperial family's actions.
He had truly considered Beatrice his real sister. He had cherished and loved her.
So he tried to stop the sacrificial ritual.
But in the end, he had held Beatrice in his arms as they burned together on the altar, which brought them into this tower.
In other words, Isael is currently attacking the tower solely to find his younger sister.
The reason he becomes the villain is because he awakens due to Beatrice's death.
There was one reason Isael became the ultimate mastermind who stood in protagonist Leonard's way.
It was tied to a decision Leonard made in order to pass the final trial and open the last door of the tower.
"Choose. Between the countless lives outside and the life of the woman standing before you now. If you could save only one, which would it be?"
At the final door, the demon asks a question.
Leonard chooses without hesitation.
"I will save the greater number of lives."
"That's the answer I was hoping for. Good, you may pass."
Hearing that answer, the demon opens the door, and Leonard leaves the tower with his companions.
But the choice Leonard made at that moment—
The woman sacrificed in place of countless others—
That was none other than Beatrice, Isael's sister.
And Isael, arriving too late at the final floor, finds Beatrice lying there, dead.
In front of his beloved sister's lifeless body, Isael breaks down and weeps.
Then the demon speaks to him.
"Leonard of Camelot, the one destined to be a hero, left the tower after sacrificing this woman's life."
And then it asks:
"I will grant you the power to take revenge. In exchange, offer your soul. What do you say? Do you accept my offer?"
Isael answers without a moment's hesitation.
He sells his soul to the demon and swears to take revenge on Leonard.
And also on his parents and his country, who had offered Beatrice as a sacrifice.
That's how he becomes a villain.
Whew. That boy really was dealt a harsh fate.
In any case, Isael's confrontation with Leonard happens after leaving the tower.
Which means Isael surviving the tower is a predetermined event in the novel.
Unlike me, just an extra in the original story.
The sacrifices, aside from the main characters, don't make it out of the tower alive.
They're all destined to die here.
But I wanted to live.
And to do that…
I got up and approached Isael, who was still seated.
Maybe because I came too close too suddenly, Isael looked at me with a wary gaze.
I spoke carefully.
"Why haven't you asked?"
"About what?"
"Your sister."
I had expected that as soon as I regained consciousness, he'd ask me where Beatrice was.
But contrary to my expectations, he hadn't brought it up at all.
It was a little strange.
After all, the reason he helped me in the first place was probably to find out where his sister was.
If I died before he got that information, it would be a problem. That's likely why he saved me.
"…You told me about my sister the moment you saw me."
"Yeah."
"So how did you even know I was looking for her?"
Isael looked at me with suspicion.
Even under his sharp gaze, I kept my composure and opened my mouth.
"Well, I'll start with what you probably want to know the most."
At that, Isael folded his arms, as if willing to hear me out for now.
Meeting his eyes directly, I continued.
"Your sister… The princess… is imprisoned on the very bottom floor of this tower."
"How could you possibly know that…"
"How? Because I saw her. With my own two eyes."
"…What?"
Isael looked at me like I was spouting complete nonsense.
Yeah, that's understandable.
Before I got into the thick of it, I laid the groundwork.
"The truth is, I have a bit of a special ability."
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