Lily POV
"Lily…? What do you mean, Lucy…?"
Hina looks at me with a rather confused expression after I finally reveal the secret I've been hiding all along. Even though I was so nervous about this moment, now I feel strangely at peace.
"In my previous life as Lily, I was just a normal, completely ordinary girl. Then one day a fire broke out in my home and I wasn't able to escape."
"The fire… so that's why there were no records of it…"
"I should have died, but then I just woke up in Lucy's body for some reason while also inheriting her memories."
Hina intently listens to my words and carefully considers my explanation while softly muttering some things. Then she suddenly looks up at me and asks:
"You woke up as Lucy… When did that happen? When did you 'take over her body'?"
"That… It was about two weeks before the opening ceremony."
"Phew, you scared me for a second. Looking all serious and saying such ominous things."
Hina lets out a small sigh, suddenly looking much more relaxed, which only makes me confused. This wasn't a reaction I expected at all.
"...? I'm saying that I stole Lucy's life. The entire time we knew each other, I've just been pretending to be someone else. Aren't you disappointed? Or disgusted or angry?"
"Why would I be? I might not know all the circumstances yet, but you're the same Lucy… or Lily I've spent all these months with, right?"
"I mean… yes."
I awkwardly answer. The way Hina is talking about this so matter-of-factly really throws me off my pace.
"Then I don't really see the problem. And the way you described waking up as Lucy with all her memories, wouldn't that just mean that you reincarnated after you died? Or something similar?"
"N-no, that isn't the case at all! The real Lucy is amazing! She overcame every hurdle life threw at her and worked incredibly hard. That's how she came in first on the entrance exam and got enough money together for the tuition. I have all those memories. I know how hard she tried… and then I came along and took her life before she could realize her dreams…"
"So this Lucy worked hard… never let anyone stop her… and achieved really good results through her own efforts…?"
Hina still doesn't seem convinced and asks me those questions.
"That's right, she's really amazing."
"But… isn't that just you?"
"Me? No, not at all! I'm timid and useless and you've seen how I always mess everything up. I'm not like her at all."
"I mean, I can't really prove it either way since I haven't met you before. But that's the situation that makes the most sense to me."
I don't know how Hina could come up with such an absurd idea. I could never compare to the real Lucy, no matter how hard I tried. Though her logic does make a little sense, but there's a different aspect of this that completely disproves her idea.
"There is one more thing. My previous life… it was in a world quite different from here."
"Um… okay."
"Well, maybe it wasn't that much different, just that there wasn't any magic or mana and the technology was much more advanced."
"Okay..."
"Actually that part doesn't matter too much."
"No, sorry. It's just a lot to take in all of a sudden."
Hina's expression grows increasingly strange as she tries to make sense of everything I'm saying. Realizing that I'm beginning to lose her, I quickly get to the point.
"In my old world, there was this video game… um you can think of it as a sort of interactive book, called 'A Budding Love in Golden Vow Academy'. And the story centered around the protagonist named Lucy Castille."
"Okay, now it's getting really confusing."
"Just bear with me a little longer. The story of this game was about Lucy's time at the academy, how she got stronger and the connections she built. And, well, the biggest part of it was the relationships, since the story's focus was romance."
"...! Y-you mean…"
For some reason Hina's face suddenly reddens. Ah, could it be that she secretly has a sheltered young lady side to her that gets embarrassed by romance stories? That's kind of cute…
"Ahem. So there were three romance options: Arthur, Bernard and Hugh."
"...Huh? Just those three…?"
Suddenly, the blush drains from her face, and she gives me a puzzled look.
"...? Who else would there be? That's why I approached them in the first place. Since otherwise the story might have gone off in bad directions. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself again."
"Um, just out of curiosity… What was my role in that story?"
"Oh… Well… Are you sure you want to know…?"
"I do."
She looks at me with a determined gaze, but I have a hard time bringing myself to tell her about her in-game version. I mean, at this point she deserves to know all the details, but it still feels weird.
"Okay… Um, in that story you might have been like a bit of a bad person… or something along those lines… or the main villainess…"
"Oh. I see."
The light in her eyes dims slightly and she lowers her gaze.
"But, but! There are some differences between the game and this world. Take me for instance, I wasn't in the game, there wasn't anyone who took Lucy's place so I'm already a divergence from that story. So you must be one too and-"
"So that's why you were so scared of me when we first met. But why…"
"Ugh…"
Then she suddenly looks up at me again and says:
"Then why did you agree to my proposal back then? If you knew I was supposed to be a villain, why did you still go along with me? I mean, I'd like to think that I'm not such a bad person, but if that's all the information you had, you should have stayed away from me."
"No, you helped me out back then. I had to do something for you as well."
"What if it was just a trap to lure you in?"
"Then… Even if it had been, I should still do my best to return the favor! And it did turn out to be just a misunderstanding. You're a completely different person than the Seraphina of that game."
"Haah… That's exactly the kind of thought process I expected from you."
Hina lets out a sigh, but at least now her expression returns to normal.
"So I'm guessing that you're telling me everything about this game because the Lucy from there was much different than you?"
"Hm, that's right. She was much more proactive than me and won over all the capture targets… or love interests. Then, in the end, they confronted that Seraphina, who carried the remnants of Agramon. They defeated her and saved the world."
"...Agramon? The ancient evil god Agramon? The last surviving harbinger, who was defeated by the old heroes of Meridia? That Agramon?"
"Um, yes. You probably don't know about anything like that, right…?"
"Like hell I do! I thought he was already long dead, but he's still around?"
Judging from her reaction, she genuinely has no idea about what I'm talking about. But then how did the Seraphina from the game have a connection with that god?
"Anyway, that's not important for now."
"Hah, not important…"
"...So for all of these reasons I can't be the real Lucy. At best, I can imitate a sliver of her presence, like I've been trying and failing so far. So that's why I've been doing my best to improve some of her relationships, so she'll have a little easier time when she returns."
"When she returns…?"
"Ah, right. The seal that Miss Julia found was never mentioned in the game, so I'm pretty sure that that's where the real Lucy's soul is. So if Miss Julia can undo the seal, I think she'll just take her body back, or I'll just hand it back to her."
"Wait, so that's what that was? And what do you mean you'll just give her body back?! What happens to you then?"
This is the first time Hina seems genuinely upset by what I've said, even though I thought this part was the easiest to accept.
"I'm just giving back what I stole. And, well… I guess I'd just fade away like I was supposed to…"
"What kind of nonsense is that?! Why should you do all of that? I don't accept it at all!"
"I'm not the real Lucy, I was just a mistake from the start."
"You are the real Lucy to me! You're the only Lucy I've known. I'm not going to accept some stranger taking your place. I don't care if she's supposed to be the 'real' one."
"Hina… don't be unreasonable."
"I'm unreasonable? Then what about this, from what you told me, I'm supposed to be the villainess of this story and yet I don't have any inclinations to do anything like that. Wouldn't that make me a fake Seraphina as well?"
"That… But you don't have someone else's soul sealed within you, do you?"
"...Not that I know of, but what if I did? If that villainess were sealed inside me, should I give up my life so she could take my place?"
"Of course not. But it's a completely different situation. If the real Lucy comes back, she can bring about a happy ending and do everything that she did in the game. Not to mention the fact that she's just an innocent soul whose place I stole."
"..."
"Please, Hina. I'm sure she'll become your friend too. And then… you can just forget that I ever existed."
"...I don't care…"
"Hm?"
She falls silent for a moment so I try to convince her again, but she only mutters something under her breath. Then she suddenly looks straight at me, her eyes glistening and shouts:
"I don't care about that! I don't want to be friends with some stranger! I want to be with the one I fell in love with!"
"H-huh? F-fell in love…?"
"That's right! I love you and I want to be with you! Do you have a problem with that?!"
"L-love as in friends…?"
"Love as in love! I might not be a love interest in that weird game, but I did fall in love with you here."
Love… with me…? What? The villainess and the… No, she's not really a villainess. And I'm not Lucy either… Ugh, this is all so confusing!
"So?"
"H-hm?"
But even as I'm trying to get my head wrapped around all of this, Hina suddenly speaks to me again. This time, though, her tone is less accusatory. The blush creeped back on her face as well, maybe even more intensely this time.
"So what is your answer?"
"My answer…? To what?"
"My confession! What else?"
"Uh, I… I don't know…"
Being in a relationship with Hina… It's hard to imagine. I never even considered it as a possibility before. But it is true that I really enjoy being with her and I had a lot of fun with her during my time in this world.
So if we were… together, wouldn't we get to keep living like this for the foreseeable future? That doesn't sound so bad…
No, get your head straight, Lily! There is no choice here at all, I'm giving this body back to Lucy so there's nothing to consider in the first place.
"Actually, I can't-"
"Stop. If you were going to say 'I'm going to give my body back to the real Lucy so I can't be with you.' Don't even bother finishing your sentence. Disregard this whole, 'who is the real Lucy?' thing and answer me honestly."
"I…"
I try to explain myself, but she disregards every argument I was about to make. With her looking at me so seriously, I really should give her my real answer.
"I don't know. All of this is so sudden and I just don't know how I feel."
"Okay. That's enough for me."
"Hm?"
Even though I thought this was going to be a disappointing answer for Hina, she seems weirdly relieved and even a little excited…?
"It's not a no. I can work with that. I'll show you the extent of my love for you, so much so that you won't be able to let go of this life!"
"Eeeh?!"
Hina makes such an embarrassing declaration that I can't help but get flustered and let out a strange sound.