Akatsuki Translations

Echelle Loine Raleigh

Before she left home, back when she was Echelle Shinra Caraleigh.

In the Caraleigh household, her existence was a “stain.”

“Do not show your face before us unless necessary. It’s unpleasant.”

These were the words told to her by Garldwin Shinra Caraleigh, the head of the family and her supposed father.

From a very young age, even before she could fully understand, they had conversations as father and daughter. He was a difficult and strict father, but at least there was some semblance of a father-daughter relationship. On her birthdays, he showed fatherly care by buying her what she wished for.

However, the relationship between Echelle and Garldwin as father and daughter only lasted until it was discovered that Echelle was favored by the evil spirit the 【Mirror Spirit Miralphyne】.

As soon as this was known, Garldwin abandoned his duties as a parent to his firstborn daughter. He immediately discarded the lovely stuffed animals he had bought as birthday gifts, hurled insults at a young Echelle who didn’t understand the situation, repulsed her as she cried and apologized without understanding why he was angry, drove her out of her room, and shoved her into a storeroom used by the servants.

This is the oldest and most vivid memory Echelle has of her father.

Needless to say, it deeply wounded the young girl’s heart. To her, her father was an object of sheer terror. Within the family home, she desperately lived her life hiding from her father’s gaze.

But her father wasn’t the only terror in the household.

“Stay away, monster!!”

These words were accompanied by a slap across Echelle’s cheek from her stepmother. Echelle’s biological mother, who had given birth to her, was ostracized by the entire bloodline and ended up committing suicide in almost a lynching manner due to the backlash. The stepmother, who became the official wife, continued to loathe Echelle. She acted as if getting close to Echelle would cause her to be possessed by the evil spirit as well.

“Haha! Look, there’s the evil spirit! Drive her out of the mansion!”

Echelle’s half-brothers, born to the stepmother, threw stones at her. They showed no compassion towards Echelle, despite sharing half their blood. They hurled insults and stones at her. Sometimes, they would even recklessly wield magic or powers bestowed by spirits in their mischief.

“What’s that smell? It’s disgusting, like a foul spirit.”

“Oh, isn’t it the smell of livestock? It’s exactly like something rotting.”

Her sisters would snicker and mock her loudly enough for her to hear. Echelle couldn’t retaliate. She hardly had the chance to bathe properly. She was, of course, not allowed to use the family’s bath. The well water was too cold, making it painful to wash herself.

“Do us a favor and leave this house as soon as possible. Your very existence is a nuisance.”

Just a few days younger, her stepbrother, born to the mistress and now the legitimate successor of the Caraleigh family, scorned Echelle with disdainful eyes as if she were filth. His condescending tone, so much like their father’s, always made Echelle shrink back.

“Echelle-sama, it’s okay. I’m on your side.” -Kalkara

The only thing that allowed Echelle to barely endure was the presence of Kalkara, a low-ranking priest and servant who had come to serve. From the Caraleigh’s perspective, she was too repulsive to interact with, but they also didn’t want the trouble of her dying, so they assigned the lowest-ranked servant, Kalkara, to take care of Echelle. Kalkara’s treatment of Echelle was devoted, never throwing hostility and disgust at her like her blood-related family did.

Without her, Echelle would have broken long ago.

It was hell.

A hell steeped in the malice of humans to its very limits.

Even for a Nameless, who had to constantly fight against hunger and the threat of monsters, it was incomparable.

Yet, she fought desperately. Clutching her fragile heart, she obeyed her father’s orders, never showing herself before him, and smiled obsequiously at her siblings, allowing herself to be used like a slave by sisters and brothers much younger than herself, enduring all the while.

Hoping, perhaps one day, the love her father once showed her as a child would return. Clinging to the non-existent hope that even a little bit of affection would be directed her way again.

If she had never been given any affection from the start, she wouldn’t have thought this way. But the love once given in her childhood bound her strongly. The deep disappointment and the rage of her father made Echelle punish herself.

The cruel treatment made her think it was all her fault.

That’s why she agreed when her father ordered her to become a 【Sun Knight 】, clinging to the slight hope that he was showing faith in her.

Being a Sun Knight meant independence was recognized. Essentially, the goal was merely to get her out of the Caraleigh family as soon as possible, a fact she pretended not to notice.

Thus, becoming a Sun Knight and gaining independence from her family, she continued her training as a knight. Having not properly received the education expected of someone from an official’s background, she was a failure among the Sun Knights, yet she struggled, clumsily, desperately.

And after all her striving,

《Die. 》-Aesula

What awaited her was a death sentence from her brother.

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“Echelle-sama! Are you alright?” -Kalkara

Echelle slowly woke up to a familiar voice, Kalkara’s.

Strangely, her heart was calm. As if something had snapped, no emotions welled up inside her, even after hearing her brother’s words urging her to die, leading to her losing consciousness.

“Echelle-sama. There’s no helping it now. We must hurry and flee from here.” -Kalkara

Kalkara stated firmly. Echelle thought it was the right opinion. Her brother, the Caraleigh family, intended to kill her. But Echelle couldn’t respond. Her heart wouldn’t move. She felt no inclination to agree or disagree.

“If you’re planning to run, I can find you a place. My family’s home is in a satellite city far from Gradol… well, I’m not exactly favored by my parents, but I know a lot of people there. They should be able to shelter you.” -Kalan

Kalan offered a lifeline following Kalkara’s words. But still, Echelle couldn’t respond. No voice came out. Her thoughts were scattered and disorganized. Kalkara and Kalan were speaking to her, but nothing reached her heart.

“Echelle-sama. Are you alright?” -Shizuku

Shizuku approached. Her beautiful hair, exquisite features, and bell-like voice were probably meant to comfort or encourage Echelle. But whatever was said, Echelle felt nothing would resonate.

But she stopped. Ur stepped forward and held her back.

“――――Echelle.” -Ur

Ur sat down in front of Echelle, who was sitting on the ground with a vacant look. Echelle lifted her face slightly. Ur’s face came into view. But nothing resonated. She felt nothing. Nothing at all――

“What do you want to do?” -Ur

He touched Echelle’s cheeks with both hands. His right hand, cursed by a dragon, was covered in a black band, distorted. Not long ago, she might have found it repulsive and slapped it away, mimicking what her family had done to her. But she didn’t feel like doing that.

And she didn’t mind it.

What do you want?

He asked, his voice filled with deep compassion. It seeped into her torn heart, soothing and reviving her barely alive spirit just a little.

And in that moment, a heat welled up from deep within her.

It was not a warm and tender feeling. It was not the unconscious emotion that arose when she looked at Ur.

Absolutely not.

It was a burning, boiling heat that seemed to consume her being. A scorching heat that had been hidden deep within her, now overflowing, engulfing the slightly recovered heart of Echelle in an instant.

Her heartbeat quickened, her breathing became labored, sweat broke out, and she wanted to claw at her chest through her clothes, to bow her head and hide. But Ur continued to look at her directly, as if to prevent her from fleeing from this heat.

“Echelle. What do you want to do?” -Ur

“…!…Ah…!!” -Echelle

Ur asked again. Echelle tried to speak, her throat trembling, unable to form proper words. Instead, large tears streamed down from both eyes. She had never cried this much, even when she was scolded by her father for the first time as a child.

Her vision was terribly blurred, but for some reason, she could see Ur’s face clearly. And then,

“What is… he…!!” -Echelle

Finally, she managed to squeeze out a voice.

A voice filled with anger, so unlike her own, as if spitting blood.

And it didn’t stop there.

“What is it… What is he…! He said to die…to kill myself…!!” -Echelle

“I heard it too.” -Ur

“At home too!! Every time he sees me, he says horrible things!! Even mocks Kalkara!!” -Echelle

“That’s terrible.” -Ur

“And after tormenting me thoroughly, to die…!? To die!! What is he!!!” -Echelle

Tears continued to flow. She clung to his arm desperately, her nails digging in until they bled. But Ur did not even flinch.

“I did it!! For them! For them!! I tried so hard!! Always mocked, exploited!! Beaten!! Trash thrown at me!!!” -Echelle

It was hard for her to get the words out, and what she wanted to say was all over the place timewise.

All the feelings of more than a decade, all the intense emotions that she had stubbornly sealed away in the depths of her heart, were overflowing.

“Yet I completed all the orders given!! I always did rifle maintenance for everyone in the family to go hunting!! Left behind at home…!!!” -Echelle

Echelle’s familiarity with guns, that fact, Ur listened to in silence, continuously catching the tears spilling from her wide-open eyes.

“Even after becoming a Sun Knight!! Even if I sent letters, not a single reply came back! And when I thought one did, suddenly they say to build a city!! And yet!! I still did my best!!! W-what a joke!!” -Echelle

She clenched her fist and struck Ur’s chest hard. A dull sound echoed. Ur silently took the outburst.

In her directionless anger, she kept hitting Ur’s chest, but her anger and tears didn’t stop at all. And looking up at Ur,

“Ur…!! I’m changing your quest!! I don’t care about Uuga anymore!!! So!! So!!” -Echelle

“Echelle-sama!!!” -Kalkara

Kalkara tried to stop her with a loud voice. But, Echelle didn’t stop. She yelled out a curse that seemed to echo outside the temple.

“KILL THEM!! KILL THEM ALL!!!!” -Echelle

She spat out a wish to kill her parents, her brothers, and sisters.

A prayer and a curse from her heart, suppressed for over a dozen years, took shape.

What remained was silence. Everyone present fell silent. Only the sobbing of Echelle, who continued to cry and gasp for air, echoed in the room. Amidst the stillness where no one could move, only Ur, who had directly faced her scream, moved. He gently stroked her head, which was shaking and crying, and looked straight into her bloodshot eyes to ask.

“Is that alright with you?” -Ur

To this question, Kalkara reacted with surprise once again. This question was not meant to correct her words, but merely to confirm them.

Echelle did not falter in response to Ur’s question. Behind the tears that continued to fall, her eyes simmered with hatred and murderous intent. The heart that sought to regain her parents’ love had shattered into dust.

“Yeah.” -Echelle

“Then we’ll consider it a new request. What about the reward?” -Ur

“I’ll give you everything I have. I’ll even become your slave or whatever you want.” -Echelle

Hearing this, Ur let out a deep sigh and then said,

“――――Got it. You are mine, Echelle.” -Ur

He gently embraced Echelle, who continued to cry, to prevent her from breaking.

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“Wait!! Are you serious?!” -Kalkara

Kalkara questioned Ur’s sanity, a very reasonable reaction.

It was understandable that Echelle was not in her right mind. However, Kalkara had not expected Ur to comply with such a request. She glared at Ur, but the expression on his face when he turned around was surprisingly calm.

“It’s indeed a problem to accept a murder request while being affiliated with the Adventurers’ Guild.” -Ur

“It’s not about that…!!” -Kalkara

“But the other side intends to kill all of us without letting anyone escape. If there’s a valid reason, the Guild would recognize it as self-defense. The Adventurer’s Guild is not so inflexible. Don’t worry.” -Ur

“But! That’s not what this is about!!!” -Kalkara

Kalkara shouted.

This was not about the Adventurers’ Guild’s rules or the right or wrong of murder. The one trying to kill Echelle was from her own household, the Caraleigh family, first-ranked Shinra of the City of Sin, Gradol. Kings.

In other words, this man was saying he would make an enemy of the City of Sin, Gradol.

“You’re out of your mind…!” -Kalkara

Even when confronted directly, Ur’s face showed no signs of disturbance. He was as calm as can be, which only made him seem more insane.

“I’m telling you, there’s a way to escape! Why are you choosing to confront this?!” -Kalkara

“Ah, that’s why I wanted to check something. Kalkara, may I have a moment?” -Ur

Ur said this and turned to face her. Kalkara stepped forward with a suspicious look.

“Excuse me.” -Ur

Then, Ur pulled a dagger from his bosom and stabbed it directly into her chest.

“―――eh?” -Kalkara

A sound uncharacteristic of her escaped Kalkara’s throat.

All flags reached. Advent of the【Twilight Princess of the Magic Mirror】 confirmed.