Inside the carriage returning to Salisbury Castle.

The rabbit, who had energetically run around with the children in the park, had collapsed from fatigue, and only Rodri and I were awake.

“What’s the matter?”

I tilted my head as I looked at Rodri, all the while diligently petting the mochilike rabbit on my lap.

“I have a story that I… haven’t told the Duchess.”

“…?”

I wondered why he was making such a serious face. I blinked at him, urging him to speak.

Rodri sighed deeply and then opened his mouth with a determined expression.

“…That day, at the Ainstern Royal Palace’s auction house, it wasn’t the first time I met you, Duchess.”

“…Huh?”

The hand petting the rabbit instinctively stopped. I had a feeling this was something significant. I licked my lips and asked.

“So, when did we meet for the first time? I don’t remember…”

Rodri moistened his dry lips with his tongue and answered.

“I can’t remember exactly when… but what I saw then is vividly etched in my memory.”

“What you saw then…?”

“…Yes, the truth is…”

After seeming to hesitate, clenching both hands into fists, Rodri continued.

“…I can see the color of people’s souls. There are rare instances among the red mages like me who possess this ability, but I hear there are others…”

“The color of… souls?”

“Yes, it’s also referred to as the aura of the soul…”

“Wait, I’ve heard of that before.”

I remembered something Arwin had mentioned about the aura of the soul. I didn’t quite get what it was, but… Well, wasn’t it just as the words implied? A unique color that a person’s soul possessed.

“So? What was the color of my soul when you saw it before?”

I had a feeling I knew what Rodri was getting at, but my heart pounded with an inexplicable anxiety. It seemed like my body, Gloria’s flesh, remembered something unknown.

“The color of the Duchess’s soul that I saw then… was a very… cruel and bloody red.”

“…B, bloody red?”

A color scarier than I’d anticipated had come up! Bloody red? That’s an image that fits well with “Gloria,” but it’s somehow eerie.

“…Yes, it was such a creepy aura that… I felt a suffocating fear at the time.”

No way, was it that bad? Gloria committed many evil acts, but still, she’s just a petty villain, isn’t she? A suffocating fear sounds like something for the final boss!

‘The original work has its own final boss, though.’
And here, our Lodri was to play a significant role in stopping the final boss… or so it was planned, but the author gave up in the middle of the series.

But well, the ending of the original wouldn’t really have been world destruction or anything like that. It must have been a happy ending. Excluding a few, romance fantasies are generally happy endings.

‘Besides, 《The Secret Night of the Rabbit Princess》 was a very popular novel. If it had been published, it would have been a goose laying golden eggs, so the author wouldn’t have suddenly come up with a tragic ending unless he was crazy.’

If he had done something like that, he would have faced tremendous criticism from angry readers and malicious commenters who carelessly pounded their keyboards. The 21st century is scary.

In the medieval times, they executed by burning with fire, but in the 21st century, they execute with words and letters.

“Actually, the terror I felt at that time… I still find it difficult to describe exactly. The bloodred aura of the soul, the extreme terror it gave, it was like something unknown from the outside world. Something incomprehensible and unacceptable… that sort of thing.”

“…….”

That, exactly…

‘It’s like C×thulhu.’

Precisely, the terrifying beings created by L×vecraft. Unfathomable unknown monsters from outer space. Isn’t that exactly what Lodri is talking about?

‘But what’s that… nonsense. That minor villain Gloria Ainstern is a mythical monster? That can’t be.’

Lodri must have been simply very scared. He must have been younger back then, so yes, it’s possible.

“But now, the Duchess…”

The eyes of Lodri, resembling the twilight at sunset, looked straight at me. The fear and discomfort when talking about the past Gloria had vanished, instead filled with goodwill, trust, and respect towards me.

“With a high and vast sky resemblance, she possesses a bright blue color.”

“……Whoa?”

I inadvertently let out a foolish sound. But… isn’t it wonderful! A bright blue color resembling the sky? I absolutely love it! Feels like an outstanding person! Seems like someone with great character!

“Ah, but isn’t that color similar to my eyes?”

“Yes, you are right. The Duchess’s eyes also have a bright blue light.”

“Ohho…….”

I was sincerely 200% satisfied, and my lips curled into a smile. Are you watching, Gloria? This is the difference between you and me… Hahahaha.

“……So actually, I’ve been wondering all along. How can the color of the soul possessed by the Duchess change…….?”

My laughter abruptly stopped at Lodri’s following words.

That, that’s true. How do I explain that? Damn, how do I skirt around this?