Annan's struggles were halted by the whisper.

"Who are you?"

The being didn't speak, and retreated from the edge of the square with Annan in his arms.

Annan quietly activated the magic scroll. Through his dark vision, he saw a beautiful cheek without a left eye pressed against him.

"The princess ......?"

Annan told the scorched girl not to do anything - she had already done nothing.

Following the "princess" back to the darkness, when Annan thought she was going to retreat to the front hall, she took Annan into a side path, pushed open the trapdoor behind a statue, and entered the dark secret room.

The "princess" let go of him, and Annan observed her appearance, her dark eyes, her lost arms, the white dress hanging from her body, and her long gray hair, which was simply wrapped up with ropes...... It is indeed the appearance of a princess.

"What's going on?"

Flowers have a fake princess, and Persona also has one?

"That princess is a fake...... said the princess.

At first, Annan thought that the palace had been invaded by a strange man, and the princess had escaped from the square and hid here. As a result, the princess told her that the princess that Annan had seen from the beginning was a fake......

"You mean I've been feeding ......"

"Weird." The princess looked at him quietly.

The boat in the bottle exercised Annan's ability to discern falsehood: "How do you prove what you say? ”

"I remember everything about Persona."

Annan doesn't remember, but he knows what happened on January 17, three years ago.

"January 17, 998 Yves Arc Calendar, what happened that evening?"

"Evening...... It was the time of the regular king's meeting. ”

"Who attended?"

The princess said some names, and the Archbishop of Valencia was among them.

"Why do you remember so clearly?"

"I'm not mortal......"

If Lilith is the tower spirit of the Mage Tower, then the princess is the spirit of Hearsi—and the gods answer.

Annan didn't quite believe her yet: "The "princess" of the round square became like this because I lifted the curse on her, so what about you? ”

"I don't know, it seems that her changes will also appear in me......" Wang Nu lowered her head, "this is what I am worried about...... She has stolen my identity and become a real princess, and everything that happens to her will happen to me as well......"

The thorn-wound strangulation marks still lingered on the skin of the princess in front of her.

"Do you need it?" Annan lifted the boat in the bottle he held in his arms.

"I'm human, I don't need weird things......" The princess replied.

Annan really couldn't tell the difference, so he had to say, "I can't tell which of you is true and who is fake...... So I'll do it my own way. ”

"What?"

……

Da-da-da-da-da-

The sound of footsteps echoing through the dark passage raised the head of the "royal maiden" in front of the Sealed Gate.

Annan, holding the boat in a bottle, emerged from the shadows: "I brought back the last body. ”

"Thank you......" the princess said softly.

Annan looked at her: "Behind it is a sad story. ”

"Would you like to talk about it?"

The princess's gentle voice was tinged with a hint of curiosity, and she was not in a hurry to ask Annan to hand over her body.

Annan didn't know if she was in disguise or what...... Standing in front of the circular square, tell the story of the boat in the bottle and the bird in the cage.

"Persona City is the closest place to the gods, but it still can't put an end to the ugliness of the world......" The princess sighed softly. I want to thank you for your willingness to free the people of the city who died in vain. ”

"It's not your fault, the gods had been missing for a long time when the boy was captured by the nobles." Annan looked at the equally miserable princess, "I just don't understand...... Why are you lying to me? ”

The princess's raised eyes showed a hint of surprise, and suddenly: "You saw ...... She? ”

"You know?"

"The whole Persona City is under my watch, of course I know ......"

Annan guessed what would happen next: "So, are you going to say that she is a fake too?" ”

"No...... She's real. ”

The princess's words made Annan stunned, "I'm really ...... too"

"I don't know if you know, but I'm a warlock......" Annan said euphemistically.

"I'll tell you a story......

The little girl and her mother lived in a forest hut without any restrictions, and on this day, her mother said that she was going to go out and never came back. The little girl was scared and worried, and one day, a wild beast appeared outside the hut, and it managed to break into the hut by breaking glass. The terrified little girl thought it would be nice if she had an older sister......

Then the little girl's sister appeared to protect and fought off the beast.

Of course, the little girl has no sister...... When she awoke, the beast was gone, covered in bruises.

"It's me," said the princess, .......

No wonder what she suffered was reflected in another princess......

"What can I do for you?" Annan asked.

"Already...... No need. The princess's gaze lingered briefly on the boat in a bottle.

Annan thought for a moment, and then, as he had done the previous two times, approached the princess and placed the boat in the bottle in her hand.

"Will you give it to me?" The princess looked up at him in surprise.

"You didn't lie, and she didn't lie. She doesn't need humanity, you need humanity...... So there is no conflict between you. ”

"I thought you'd suspect I was a bad person......"

"I did suspect it, but it occurred to me that you were the ones who stayed here to fend off the strange infiltration." Annan said.

The princess smiled slightly.

Nothing makes her happier than praising the nobility of the devotee's dedication.

The broken ship in the bottle was reduced to ashes in the hands of the princess, and Annan looked at the thorns expectantly, but found that they did not wither, but seemed to come to life, gradually tightening and winding.

"Why ......"

A terrifying force suddenly erupted in the princess, and when it touched Annan, it turned into a gentle thrust that pushed him out of the circular square.

The ground began to tremble...... Not only the circular square, but the entire palace and the entire Hearsa City began to tremble.

"Sorry, I lied to you......"

The thorns tore the princess off the ground, wound and tightened tightly, and pierced into the princess's skin...... There was no blood flowing, and her thin silhouette blurred, as if dissipating, turning into a faint but growing light like the morning light.

"The beast has not been driven away, it hides in the room, and will rush out at any moment......" The princess's whisper echoed through the circular square, with endless sorrow.

"There is something to cost to destroy this beast...... That's me. ”

The light emanating from the princess became brighter and brighter, and the thorns that wrapped around her dissipated painfully in this brilliant golden light.

The brave little girl clutches the axe, in the name of her sister.

"The ring...... As a gift to you. ”

"The new King of Hearsi."

(End of chapter)