NOVEL NEXT Chapter 47.2
Stage 2-16. A Smile Is Best
“…I need to wet my pajamas a bit to make it look convincing.”
I turn the faucet and catch the water in my hands.
To dampen them properly, I splash the water onto my face on purpose.
I leave the water trickling down my face and begin undoing my buttons.
I also set aside the corset I wore to hide any unnatural protrusions.
The reflection in the mirror shows my bare self.
Water drips down my cheeks and neck, stopping at a metal basin embedded beneath my chest.
A magical device specially made to withstand any magic, installed into my body.
Inside the glass container it guards is a green liquid—the completed Body Enhancement Doping Extract.
A device that makes me the professor’s spare vessel.
Thin tubes connect the device, embedded into my abdomen, circulating the liquid throughout my entire body.
“…It’s truly hideous.”
No one could ever love a woman like me.
I got carried away for a moment.
Even I call myself “hideous” every day—of course, anyone else would think the same.
“I… really am hated, even by God.”
If God truly existed, if He wanted Ouga to be my prince, He wouldn’t have let that moment slip away.
If she had just returned to her room, I could have revealed my secret, and Ouga would have accepted me.
Just like everyone else… that’s all I wanted.
“Hope” gets tangled up with “resignation,” loses its warmth, and fades away.
It feels like the world is telling me that I don’t deserve to be saved.
Yes… Father, Mother, Sister, and Little Sister—all of them were killed…
I’m the only one left alive, so I mustn’t be allowed to be happy…
The cold water on my face feels oddly pleasant.
…I have to stop letting my emotions control me.
As of this moment, Reina Milfonti is dead.
I am nothing more than a doll acting on the professor’s orders, a replacement for him.
I just need to keep performing as I always have.
That way, I won’t have to suffer anymore.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
“No, it wasn’t that long… Reina, you…”
“…? What is it, Ouga-kun?”
“…It’s nothing.”
“Hehe, you’re acting strange, Ouga-kun. You look so tense.”
With practiced ease, I press my finger against his cheek, forcing a smile.
“See? A smile is best.”
Though the words were mine, they sounded like a curse.