Chapter 214

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "This woman really has scammed everyone."】

【"With this, the analogy discussed earlier holds true."】

【Waver continued: "If it were a ritual to make the Golden Princess beautiful, the celestial timing would not match. However, if it were a ritual to transform another woman into the Golden Princess, comparing Venus to the Sun, the magecraft would hold."】

【"If using the Sun and Moon, the position must be an Opposition; at the same time, Saturn, which governs form, must also be at one hundred and twenty degrees. However, the situation of comparing Venus to the Sun is a different matter."】

【"Although it is an analogy, the fact that Venus is a planet remains unchanged. This means that as long as the Moon, Venus, and Saturn are each at one hundred and twenty-degree positions, it suffices."】

【Waver waved his hand, and Reines moved her hand, causing the celestial map floating in mid-air to rotate accordingly.】

【"The actual timing should be about a month ago, consistent with the time of the auction where Izellma obtained the cursed object."】

【Mick: "Hey, hey, is that Golden Princess really the maid from over there? Then how do you explain Karina being present at the debutante ball? And when the Golden Princess's corpse was discovered also..."】

【Waver: "At the debutante ball, the hall was not only a distance from the balcony, but they only introduced the Golden Princess and the Silver Princess, right? Using a Homunculus or a mechanical doll would suffice."】

【"Simply not using magecraft, just having a servant of similar build wear the same clothes would not be a big problem. Because if only one Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side had a maid accompanying them at the debutante ball, it would arouse suspicion; Lord Byron would surely spare no effort to cover it up."】

【"As for when the Golden Princess's corpse was discovered, it is even simpler. This ritual was not meant to last, even if it were effective; after all, it is Cinderella."】

【"Whether it is Perrault, Basile, or the Brothers Grimm, the result is the same: the magecraft applied to the protagonist is undone after the banquet ends."】

【"After spilling the real Golden Princess's corpse and locking the magic lock on that room, Aoko Aozaki's ritual most likely ended as well."】

【"By the way, it doesn't matter whether the Crown-rank magus's plastic surgery was so thorough that even the magical wavelength matched, or if the room's lock was replaced with one dedicated to Karina."】

Waver: "It really was a scam from the beginning."】

Feng Xi: "Indeed, the Golden Princess was already dead from the start."】

【"May I interrupt?"】

【Inorai spoke up: "Since you say it is plastic surgery, the goal was ultimately to imitate the original Golden Princess, right? However, the fake Golden Princess reconstructed by my foolish disciple reached a realm surpassing the real one; why is that? Was it the foolish disciple's ability? Or because of the cursed object used?"】

【"Both Aoko Aozaki and the cursed object had an influence."】

【Waver said calmly: "However, there is a more important reason. You should know very well the utility of beauty in magecraft; people who see beautiful things become beautiful—this is part of beauty in magecraft."】

【"The Golden Princess and the Silver Princess were designed to complement and enhance each other's beauty, also known as complementary beauty. However, the Golden Princess herself cannot see her own face, and the same goes for the Silver Princess."】

【"Even if reflected in a mirror, at that stage, it would damage their beauty."】

【"Therefore, to use this ritual, from a certain stage, a third person is needed."】

【"Ugh..."】

【Byron groaned and staggered backward.】

Rin Tohsaka: "Cannot see her own face, what does that mean?"】

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "Could it be..."】

【Waver: "Of course, when deciding to perform plastic surgery on Karina, Byron likely did not have such an intention; he was just anxious about losing the Golden Princess and tried his best to fill that void."】

【"Nevertheless, the ritual was established with the arrival of the third person; the maid Karina, who had always been watching the Golden Princess and the Silver Princess, attained the same beauty, bringing the ritual to a higher stage."】

【"Wait a moment, Teacher."】

【Svin raised his hand and said: "If according to what you said, wouldn't the Silver Princess also reach ultimate beauty with the birth of the new Golden Princess?"】

【"That point is simple."】

【Waver looked at the Silver Princess and said: "Miss Estella, you cannot see, can you?"】

【Silver Princess: "... ow did you know?"】

【Waver: "It is said that the Golden Princess could not hear; this is most likely a common pattern of honing magecraft by closing off one sense."】

【"Izellma's ritual has been completed to the point of branding one of the five senses as a genetic trait. Even Aoko Aozaki's plastic surgery imitated this aspect, stripping away Miss Karina's eardrums."】

【"By the way, there are no mirrors in the Golden Princess's room, which is also to match your room."】

【"You were arranged to be a pair in life levels such as eating and sleeping; whether there is a mirror is also too significant in a magical sense. If one Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side is to be matched, it is much easier than having one."】

【"Of course, they should use magecraft to avoid inconvenience in daily life, such as using magecraft similar to bat acoustic measurement, etc.; there are many methods available. However, fundamentally, they definitely cannot see."】

【"She did not enter the same cycle of beauty as the Golden Princess."】

【"However, I do not think Miss Aozaki, who performed the surgery, did not foresee this result."】

Empress: "Trading the five senses for beauty—a truly pathetic approach."】

Fiore: "This is what they call 'to gain something, you must lose something'."】

Sola: "No wonder there are no mirrors in the Golden Princess's room."】

【"Phew, although I don't remember, I have probably imagined it."】

【Aoko Aozaki narrowed her eyes and said: "By the way, the one who commissioned me to eliminate the El-Melloi classroom was Regina over there."】

【Being pointed out, Regina was not panicked at all; it seems she was already prepared.】

Shishigou Kairi: "The employer was actually this maid; I didn't expect that."】

Caules: "Why do this? Was she instructed by someone, or afraid of the truth being exposed?"】

【"The reward she offered was to tell me the truth about the Golden Princess's beauty."】

【Aoko Aozaki laughed: "Oh my, I see, so that's how it is?"】

【"Hmm, you didn't lie; you were able to tell me, you just didn't say that the true face was crafted by me. But since that's the case, I have no reason to hide the identity of the client."】

【Reines looked at Regina and said: "Then, was it you who framed me for murdering the Golden Princess?"】

【"..."】

【Facing Reines's question, the maid did not try to make any rebuttal, and the Silver Princess standing beside her also remained silent.】

【Reines: "What's wrong? Karina, who visited my room with the Golden Princess, should have been you in disguise, right? Whether you want to refute or just go along with it, why not try saying something? By the way, it wouldn't hurt to have your master say it."】

【The maid still did not speak; her attitude was solemn, and her expression did not change even when teased.】

Rin Tohsaka: "Really, if I didn't already know Mio was another murderer, I would have thought she killed her own sister."】

Waver: "Even though she isn't the killer, she makes herself look like one."】

Caules: "What on earth is she thinking?"】

【Atrum: "Hmph, the clever El-Melloi II should have deduced even this part."】

【Waver: "Are you saying everything should be said by me?"】

【Atrum: "That is of course; it was you who boasted that the case was left to you to handle. Since that is the case, isn't it a detective's duty to dig out the inside of the case from the blood vessels to the internal organs?"】

【Waver: "Sigh... The real Golden Princess should have died from the Reverse Reverse Reverse Reverse Side effects of the research. Izellma's ritual reached a deadlock and had already eroded the genetic traits of the experimental subject. If consumed excessively, dying in the process can be said to be a certain inevitability."】

【"However, Lord Byron did not stop there, at least not until this debutante ball."】

【"Tiadra, who was once the Golden Princess, died, but he invited Aoko Aozaki, and Karina, who was reconstructed into the Golden Princess, achieved success beyond imagination. This result perhaps made the Silver Princess and the Karina who served her firm in a certain determination."】

【Islor: "Does that mean the Silver Princess will die sooner or later?"】

【Waver: "No, compared to that, there is a more urgent problem."】

【"At that debutante ball, many magi must have thought that if it were them, they might be able to reach the Root. What if the Jewel Jewel Mage's Association heard of that possibility?"】

【Aoko Aozaki: "Hehe, Sealing Designation?"】

【Waver: "Strictly speaking, the Golden Princess and the Silver Princess are not magi, so perhaps they would not be subject to a Sealing Designation. This was originally Izellma's research, not limited to one generation. However, the Clock Tower could not let go of a person who showed the possibility of reaching the Root; this much is certain."】

Darnic: "Hehe, truly pathetic. The goal a family has worked so hard for was impossible to achieve from the beginning."】

Grand Duke: "Hmph, this is the means by which those in power maintain their rule; truly pathetic and disgusting."】

【Aoko Aozaki: "So, before escaping, the Golden Princess's corpse needs to be exposed. Hmm, if you say so, the Silver Princess and the maid originally intended to escape after the corpse was exposed, right?"】

【Waver: "The reason for framing Reines is most likely the same. As long as you drag other factions—if possible, pick famous magi from the opposing aristocratic faction—into it, the matter cannot be handled solely by Izellma and Baljelleta. In this regard, Reines is an impeccable candidate."】

【"Because of someone, I have some fame in the Clock Tower."】

【Reines said self-deprecatingly: "In short, the Golden Princess wanting to escape was not entirely a lie; she most likely considered it seriously."】

【Waver: "Basically, Lord Byron should have known it was the real Golden Princess when he saw the corpse; after all, the person who dissected the real Golden Princess into pieces was you. By the way, there is no need to emphasize the reason for the dissection, right? As a magus, for the sake of future progress, obtaining various data from the specimen is a matter of course."】

【Byron: "..."】

Rin Tohsaka: "The Golden Princess was actually dismembered by this old man."】

Tokiomi Tohsaka: "This point is not surprising."】

Caules: "Truly, even after death, she had to be squeezed for her last value."】

Waver: "Pathetic. A princess who seemed glamorous in front of others was, in the end, nothing more than a test subject."】