In the Sunroom of Red Rose Manor, on the outskirts of Backlund's Empress Borough.
Prince Edessak poured out everything that had happened to him to his childhood friend. At last, he sighed and forced a faint smile. "Leland... no, I should call you Lina. I'm honored that you listened so patiently... It means I haven't been a complete failure as a person. I still have a friend.
"But you really should go. The people the Royal Family sent to oversee my 'execution' should be here soon...
"And the fact that I had time to say goodbye to you means Finkel truly has abandoned me. Otherwise, he would have rushed in to stop us by now.
"Heh... He still has some regard for our old friendship. At least he doesn't intend to do it himself, and he even left me a little time to escape. Unfortunately, it won't help."
After hearing Edessak's account, Lina finally understood the scale of the affair her friend had been caught up in. She frowned, clutching the Demoness Card he had just given her, and demanded, "You're just going to give up and wait to die? Wait for what you call 'the end of the story'?"
She looked him straight in the eye. "The Edessak I know isn't someone who gives up so easily!
"And if you love Trissy, shouldn't you fight to stay alive for her?"
Prince Edessak went still for a moment, then shook his head with a bitter smile. "Too much is involved. Unless I die, there's no way to answer to the Church...
"Lina, come to think of it... what happened to us is remarkably alike..." They had both become expendable pieces in dealings that could never be brought to light.
He now understood his position completely. If Lina wanted to leave,