‘It was all because my soul had been swapped.’

Back then, not knowing that, I just thought I was a rotten-luck kid.

Because that’s what the man called my father said every time.

‘Just seeing you ruins my luck! Ptui!’

So I figured everyone else felt the same and didn’t bother hoping for adoption.

Anyway, because of that, until I debuted as an actor at fourteen, I lived at the orphanage and took care of the younger kids.

“Here or there.......”

Kids aren’t all that different.

The very young ones who know nothing show their hunger for affection as it is and simply welcome whoever comes for them.

By contrast, the older ones didn’t readily approach people who came to “volunteer.”

‘Because they knew too well that if they got close, the ones who would be hurt were themselves.’

Watching those children, Camilla suddenly halted.

A girl who looked about six was walking along hugging a teddy bear as big as her own body.

Camilla couldn’t easily tear her eyes away from the child and the bear.

“Ah!”

The child, toddling along, suddenly lost her balance and pitched forward. No—nearly did.

Strangely, she recovered her balance just like that and stood upright again.

“Hehe.”

Grinning from ear to ear, the girl hugged the teddy bear even tighter.

‘Yikes.’

Watching, Camilla slowly shook her head.

“Why is that?”

“...It’s nothing.”

Catching Petro’s puzzled glance, Camilla finally turned away from the child—letting out short sighs in her head, one after another.

‘Wherever I go, it’s a world full of ghosts.’

****

With their bellies full of snacks, the children scattered with the club members to play whatever games they wanted.

Laila taught a few kids songs, and Petro took on the little ones charging him with wooden swords.

DADADADA—

“Hm?”

Then one child came running for Camilla.

It was Rio, the boy who had burst into tears earlier after getting only five candies from Petro.

“Book!”

“...You want me to read to you?”

“Yes!”

A storybook was clutched in Rio’s hands.

Princess Lulu. Taking the book from him and skimming the contents, Camilla gave a small snort.

Only the princess’s name was different; otherwise it was no different from Snow White, the fairy tale that was so famous in that other world. The setup was uncannily the same.

A little later......

“Mirror, mirror. Who is the fairest in all the world?”

Camilla read on, acting every character in the book.

“That would be Princess Lulu, who possesses all the world’s beauty from head to toe.”

By the time the story reached the middle, not only Rio but all the children had gathered round and were sitting in a cluster near Camilla.

Even the club members who had been playing along with the kids were listening to the fairy tale.

‘How odd.’

It was such a famous story that no one didn’t know it, yet no one could take their eyes or ears off Camilla.

Was this fairy tale always this suspenseful?

Even though they knew the story, even though they clearly knew what the next lines would be, everyone swallowed dryly.

The same for the children. Mouths agape, they stared holes through Camilla’s face.

“What!”

“......!”

A murderous voice filled the room.

“Right now, carve out Princess Lulu’s heart and bring it to me!”

Using the vocal technique she’d learned for the stage, Camilla sent the line out in one unbroken breath. Even her expression was the very image of a vicious queen.

“Mm......”

“Mm... mm......”

“Waaaaah!”

Huh? Just as she was about to turn the page, Camilla paused at the cries breaking out here and there.

“I’m scared!”

“Waaah!”

“The queen is too scary.”

“The queen is bad!”

“The queen! She’s a witch!”

...Did I overdo it, acting again for the first time in a while?

Camilla scratched her cheek lightly.

“Waaah......”

Watching from the side, Laila kept letting out little exclamations of awe.

All through Camilla’s performance, she hadn’t even been able to breathe loudly.

“Camilla is really amazing. How can she act that well?”

She, too, had often read books to the children. So had the others.

But the fairy tale read by Camilla was on a different plane from their clumsy acting. It felt like watching a play, not listening to a story. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

“Truly.”

Petro also couldn’t take his eyes off Camilla, a touch of admiration in his gaze.

Lately she showed sides of herself far outside his expectations.

She was so different from the Camilla he had known before. Different enough that one could believe she was another person.

“It’s too cruel! Waaah!”

“Fairy tales are cruel by nature.”

Seeing Camilla—uncharacteristically at a loss in the face of the children’s tears—Laila and Petro burst into laughter at the same time.

Chapter. Reaper Havel

Late at night. The hour when everyone slept.

Camilla, too, seemed tired from the orphanage visit that hadn’t been on her schedule for today, and went to bed earlier than usual.

Srrk.

In the silence and darkness, someone appeared in Camilla’s room without a sound. A man in his early twenties.

Dark gray hair and blue eyes like the coming dawn. Most striking of all were the accessories dangling all over him.

Every finger wore a black ring, and his ears were studded so thickly with black gems it was hard to find an empty spot.

He watched the sleeping Camilla closely, then took a step toward her.

Whip!

In that instant, someone snatched him as if swiftly looping around him and dragged him to one side.

Only after he’d been hauled as far from Camilla as possible did the man hear the other’s voice.

“Shh!”

The one clamping a hand over his mouth—Camilla’s attendant, Dorman—smiled gently and tightened his grip.

“Quiet.”

Still gripping the man by the collar, he vaulted out the window. There wasn’t a hint of hesitation.

“What the—?”

Dropping lightly from the second floor, he still didn’t release the man’s throat.

“What brings you here?”

“It has been a while, senior.”

The man showed no sign of being flustered by Dorman’s handling. He merely offered a polite greeting.

“Why am I your senior.”

With a small click of his tongue, Dorman corrected the error.

“I was a senior manager. You were a mere low-grade gofer. I am not your senior.”

At that, emotion showed on the man’s impassive face for the first time—hurt.

“What are you doing here? You even manifested.”

“Otherwise, Sen— Dorman, sir, you wouldn’t be able to see me.”

“You came to see me? Then why were you loitering near Lady Camilla?”

“I have a favor to ask of her.”

“A favor?”

“Yes.”

“What is it?”

“I’d like to tell her directly.”

“You want a meeting?”

“Yes.”

“...With Lady Camilla?”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“......? Yes.”

The man tilted his head at Dorman, who kept asking the same question.

Tuk.

Only then did Dorman release his grip on the man’s neck. Then he patted his shoulder in the warmest, friendliest way.

“Alright—no, by all means, then, Lord Havel, Reaper.”

“......?”

At °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° Dorman’s sudden switch to an affable expression and honorifics, Havel felt an unaccountable sense of dread.

****

“Who did you say?”

“One of the same Soul Managers as me.”

“No, to call me a manager is—”

“A very capable individual.”

Cutting off the flustered Havel, Dorman butted in again.

“So he outranks you?”

“O-outranks? I—”

“At present, yes.”

“What? No, I......!”

Havel, who had been waving his hands, suddenly froze.

“...Why the shoes?”

Camilla, seated across from him, slowly stood and took off the shoes she’d been wearing, picking one up in her hand.

“I have a lot to say to you.”

“No, I mean, why the shoes all of a sudden......?”

“You don’t randomly change gender too, do you? Like suddenly becoming a woman?”

“Huh?”

“Shall we start after I hit you a bit?”

“Uh—uh?”

Havel looked to Dorman for an explanation, but Dorman only smiled contentedly, delighted at the birth of a new shield.

Joy is best monopolized, pain is best shared—such is happiness, no?

A little later.

“So what is it? You came to ask me for help?”

“That’s right.”

“You want me to persuade a soul?”

“Yes. That aside, could you maybe now—”

“Tsk. Who told you to lower your hands.”

Havel’s head was spinning. He couldn’t understand why he had to kneel with his hands raised.

But he couldn’t resist.

He learned something new today: shoes can be weapons.

“Unbelievable.”

Camilla clicked her tongue again and again.

“You think I’m going to grant your request?”

She’d been grinding her teeth every day as it was. Every time she faced her snarled-to-the-limit situation, she ground and ground again.

And she made a vow.

“That if your higher-up showed himself, I’d rip out every last hair on his head.”

And now what?

“A request?”

What a laugh.

“No, I think there’s a misunderstanding here—I’m not actually his superior—”

“My superior lacks tact. I beg you, Miss, be generous and indulge him.”

Listening to Dorman, Camilla kept clicking her tongue. Superior or subordinate, they were both equally brazen.

Their underling had made that colossal a blunder, and instead of an apology—what? Help us?

“To hear you, someone might think you’re the victims.”

How do you have the gall to come asking for help? Brazen. Absolutely brazen.

“Still, would you at least hear what the favor is?”

“Why would I?”

“Because there’s no harm in establishing friendly ties with a Soul Manager.”

“And what’s the upside.”

“They won’t recklessly drag away the dead who linger around you, Camilla.”

Now that he mentioned it, Zeno hadn’t shown himself for a while; nor had Derrin or Ferrol. Most likely they were all hiding because of that Soul Manager named Havel.