Taming The Villainesses

(EP-333.2) Of Hearts #2

333 – Queen of Hearts #2

“Lack of emotion, hmm….”

After listening to my explanation, Mirna kept her words brief.

Sipping tea lightly in her room, she let out several more “Hmm-,” before carefully opening her mouth.

“Narmi, what do you think?”

“Well? I can’t tell just by listening. But, honestly, I’ve felt something similar a few times while talking to her. It’s definitely different from the usual way of thinking.”

“I’ve thought the same. She’s definitely not normal.”

Both Narmi and Mirna concluded that Queen Aira’s state wasn’t normal.

Frankly, even without professional knowledge, anyone who’d known Queen Aira for a long time would come to the same conclusion.

At that moment, Elga, who had been quietly listening, chimed in.

“Still, she’s better than before. Aira used to act entirely on impulse, like she didn’t even think. She’s improved a lot recently.”

Elga had a point.

Before entering Ark, when Aira was ruling as queen in Angmar, her condition was really bad.

“But before even that, Aira used to smile a lot and even play pranks all the time. It’s the world that broke her like this. Her emotions were killed.”

To Elga’s testimony, Mirna muttered softly, “Killed emotions….” Then, she seemed to recall something and added.

“That might be the case. Killing emotions is surprisingly easy. But reviving them is very difficult.”

Mirna proposed a hypothesis.

Perhaps Aira, after experiencing a series of tragedies, had completely shut herself off.

“But be careful. There may be a lot of emotions and memories that she wanted to forget inside that closed lid.”

Mirna’s words reminded me of the time I went inside Aira’s inner world. The memory of her sister’s wedding flashed in my mind.

And the vivid memory of her siblings, bleeding profusely and dying one by one, still lingered faintly in my thoughts.

Those must have been the memories Aira wished to bury deep within her heart.

If Aira’s emotional lid were to be pried open, the sorrow and pain she should have felt would flood back all at once, causing her immense suffering.

Do we have the right to force her to face the emotions she has deliberately avoided? The discussion goes back and forth.

Then, Narmi spoke up.

“Queen Tarantera is strong. She’s far stronger than we think. If she can maintain her sanity even with a terrible monster lurking inside her, it means she must have had an incredibly pure heart to begin with.”

“Like a saint….”

She trailed off.

Her words reminded me of Aira’s status window, which I had sneaked a peek at before. Indeed, one of the jobs listed was “Saintess.”

At the time, I found it puzzling.

But now, I think I understand.

A saintess, huh.

As I was mulling over these thoughts, I noticed the others’ gazes slowly shifting toward me. Their expressions seemed to say that it was up to me to make a decision.

Of course, my answer was already clear.

“We have no other path. We must proceed as planned. So, how are the preparations coming along?”

I asked the sisters about the progress.

In response, Narmi and Mirna began whispering to each other. Their voices were so faint that even my sensitive ears couldn’t hear them.

Was this some kind of special signal between the sisters?

Watching them, Elga frowned.

“They’re twice as annoying now that there are two of them. Can’t they go back to the way they were? Them chattering away with the same face is giving me a headache.”

It was indeed a bit overwhelming.

At that moment, Mirna spoke up.

“The preparations are going smoothly, for the most part. The problem is getting the medicine.”

Narmi chimed in.

“Since we’re going deep into the subconscious, we need a drug strong enough to put a beast to sleep with a single drop. We need ingredients to mix it ourselves. With the help of Professor Stella, we should be able to get it.”

Looks like the sisters got it under control.

“And how about your side, Elga-nim? Are things going well?”

At my question, Elga rubbed her forehead.

“Well, I’m doing what I can.”

“Lady Lioness, we need to make her sleep for at least 16 hours. It’s your job to make that happen.”

“I know.”

Was everything proceeding as planned?

This was our plan:

Put Aira to sleep using the drug, then all of us will dive together into her subconscious world. There, we will confront and defeat the monster lurking within her.

It’s a simple process to explain. Narmi and Mirna have put their heads together, and estimated that it would take about 20 hours to complete.

“I’ve arranged to meet Aira tomorrow evening. We’ll relax at a nearby hot spring together. From the evening to morning, that should be plenty of time, right?”

“Lady Lioness, tomorrow evening is too soon!”

“I know! But Aira’s been incredibly busy lately. If we wait much longer, the festival will proceed as planned, and there’s no way Theo can defeat Aira by then!”

“I understand that, but if we rush to make the drug, there might be side effects….”

Mirna and Elga raised their voices at each other. Only Narmi looked at me and shrugged. Jjak-. I clapped my hands together, cutting their fight short.

“It’s because I’m lacking that everyone is struggling so much. We’ll proceed tomorrow, as Elga-nim suggested.”

Mirna was a bit perplexed by my answer.

“But Sir Theo, we can’t predict what side effects the drug might have. No one can make a potion that quickly.”

A potion….

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll bring a helper.”

The operation was set for tomorrow evening.

Tomorrow, we’ll destroy the Ars Nova that’s been hiding in Aira’s body.

When the morning sun rises the day after, many things in the world will have changed.