I Will Break Off the Engagement Because I'm Jealous - The Untalented Villainess Who Rejected the Prince Searches for a Safe Haven with the Cheat Heroine - Chapter 4.4

Emilia ran through the mansion. She thought it must be a dream, but her footsteps were light.

“Iris, where are you!”

As she searched for Iris and sorted through the situation, she ran down the hallway. The hint was the family’s reactions.

(Father, Mother, Big Brother… that wasn’t an illusion, it was definitely their true feelings! I definitely felt that! And the ones present were the real people. This is my dream too, but it’s not just that. Everyone must have been put to sleep, and we’re all sharing this dream!)

When Emilia hugged them, and when she stood up to leave her family saw her off. No one tried to stop her. They just watched her gently.

(If everyone is trapped by the skill, we have to escape from it. Probably the enemies. Kismort Baron’s aim is to delay us! He said “one more day”! He intends to keep us asleep and detained until Prince Sieg arrives!)

However. She thought she might as well wake up and pinched the back of her hand, but it only hurt and had no effect at all. If it’s sleep caused by spirit power… a skill, then it must be different from physiological sleep. Just like how Donixbarret’s chains of promise couldn’t be physically touched.

(What I need to find is the core… like Donixbarret’s “promise,” there must be something that forms the core of this spirit power. I kind of understand. It’s probably “true feelings” and… “sleep” itself. These two things.)

Vaguely, but Emilia had grasped Kismort’s skill. That strange sensation when the light sword appeared—there was a strong “hazy feeling,” and it was teaching her the essence of the skill. As if she could use it herself.

(If that’s the case, then he himself must be in this dream too. If I defeat him and drive him out of the dream, the skill will dissolve and everyone will wake up—the fact that he’s nowhere to be found and that disgusting voice stopped is proof. He’s the only one who can move freely in this dream, and he’s running away right now.)

By making herself sleep as a condition, she gives sleep to others and exposes their true feelings in the dream. Emilia had figured that Kismort’s skill was something like that. It was never mentioned in the game, but it made sense if it was something not suited for combat. There was a scene in heroine Iris’s route where “while watching Kismort sleep, she gets dragged into sleep, and after waking up, they talk about their true feelings with each other,” which also helped with her speculation.

(That’s right. The key is Iris. Why is that girl being hidden? That’s the problem.)

Emilia speculated. If the aim was just to delay them and incidentally expose true feelings, he would have probably left Iris as she was. But even after searching the entire mansion, strangely, Iris couldn’t be found. It made sense for Kismort to hide. But there was no need to hide Iris.

There were two possibilities. One was that if Iris was found, for some reason the dream would end. It seemed unlikely, but it might be possible. Someone who heard her “true feelings”… in this case, if Emilia ran wild and destroyed the dream, that kind of scenario. And the other one.

(Me. I said before that I’d trust you no matter what, even if you did anything to me—)

Who Iris was “with right now.”

This was just Emilia’s intuition, but.

Iris was definitely with Kismort.

Kismort was hiding so his skill wouldn’t be broken, and since he had Iris with him, naturally she couldn’t be found.

(There might be some things I can’t forgive. It’s okay, I’ll definitely find her.)

She had sorted through the information.

The enemy and Iris hadn’t been found.

Emilia. Had raised the smoke signal for counterattack.

“If I get hurt in this dream, the sleep will break and everyone will wake up… that’s why you’re hiding, right? Kismort.”

There was no answer. Emilia slowed her pace and walked leisurely. She was certain he “could hear.”

“What did Prince Sieg tell you? To detain me until he arrives? You’re so eager, even sucking up to Big Brother. Kismort Keiquartz?”

The certainty that he “could hear” changed to the sensation that he “was listening.” Emilia guessed that he was paying attention to her words and smiled.

(That’s right, I might not be as good as Iris but I’ll show you I can find you.)

The messenger Donixbarret felt intense anger at “having his name abbreviated,” “Sieg being insulted,” and “having his promise broken,” and had been distraught. The frightening thing about him was that he remained calm despite being so deranged… but surely Kismort had something similar.

Donixbarret, Sieg… and the numerous skill holders Emilia had seen so far. Those possessed by spirits had strange “quirks.” They had intense personalities that supported their strong spirits. That was reflected in the skills themselves and could also become weaknesses. If Kismort was the same, then she could unravel it from the nature of his skill… Emilia stopped and looked up at the ceiling, placed her hands on her hips, and took a deep breath.

“I’m coming to wake you up now.”

<Gh…………>

There was definitely a sense of him gasping. Emilia grinned and continued speaking.

“I’ll sneak up quietly and whisper an annoying sound in your ear. How about something like ‘bzzz’? Just when you think you hear it, it moves away. Your sleep gets lighter, and you hear the sound again. You try to swat it away, but you can’t reach it at all. Just when you’re about to drift off again, at that wonderfully comfortable moment, that ‘bzzz’ sound——”

<Stooooooop!>

There was a reaction. Emilia’s smile deepened.

<Disturbing sleep makes you an enemy of humanity! Are you siding with such a thing!? I’ll exterminate you!? I’ll exterminate you!>

“You’re noisy. If you scream that much, won’t you wake up yourself? Rising blood pressure isn’t good for sleep, you know?”

<What do you know!? My sleep is protected by this skill “Sleepy Drowsy”! No one can disturb it!>

(Not good, he’s recovered his composure…)

He was upset, but Kismort seemed to quickly regain his mental footing. Just making him angry wasn’t enough, Emilia thought.

“But if a mosquito flies near you, you wake up right away, don’t you? This mansion isn’t that high up, and this season has high humidity and temperature, so mosquito larvae are breeding everywhere.”

<STOOOOP! Don’t talk about them! What if they come near!? For a noblewoman, you’re so inconsiderate! You’re disqualified as a lady!>

The abusive language was directed at her, and Emilia felt a bit irritated.

Seizing that opening.

<That’s right. It’s because you can’t understand Prince Sieg’s true feelings that you used such a cunning scheme, isn’t it? I heard about it? That you tested the love of the godly, broad-minded Lord Sieg and deliberately manipulated him into breaking off the engagement?>

He had struck a nerve.

The outcome of what Emilia had done at the academy ball a few days ago. It seemed it had already been shared among Sieg’s group. Not understanding Sieg’s true feelings… that was the truth behind Emilia causing that commotion. The trigger for her foolish choice of not being able to believe in his love. Being hit there. Her knees felt like they might buckle.

(I already know that. That I was wrong. That I made a mistake!)

Perhaps because it was a dream meaning her heart was exposed. The words brought intense pain and stabbed deeply.

It was something she had regretted over and over again. Something she had cried over countless times, thinking that even if it was a mistake, she had no other choice.

And yet. It still hurt.

<What foolishness! A fool who can’t believe in people’s warm true feelings! That’s why even Iris dislikes you!>

The direction of the screaming voice changed.

“……………………What did you say?”

It stabbed even deeper.

Right into Emilia’s “hazy feeling.”

<Oh my, are you curious? About that lovely Iris’s true feelings! That voice cursing you! How nice! And yet I went to the trouble of hiding it for you! Do you want to hear it! You parasitic, mosquito-like woman clinging to the brilliant talented girl!>

Listening to Kismort’s grating voice, humming like a mosquito itself.

The back of Emilia’s mind.

Became cold and clear.

“—You’re not thought of anything by Iris, are you?”

Instead, the “hazy feeling.”

Became like thick magma.

And overflowed.