"Reina, how is Isolde doing?"
"She keeps biting her nails, so I wrapped them in bandages to stop her."
"Good work. Keep watching her with Kate from now on."
"But, Ian..."
Reina hesitated for a moment before speaking as she gauged my reaction.
"Will this really be all right? At this rate, I think she might actually lose her mind."
"It’s fine. In my experience, people don’t go crazy from something like this."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. Unlike Isabelle, Isolde still has hope, doesn’t she?"
As long as even the smallest hope remained, people would not give up.
As long as I, the one who had cured Isabelle, existed, Isolde would never give up.
That’s what makes Isabelle so incredible.
Before I arrived, Isabelle had endured [Rose’s Punishment]—something incomparable to the Curse of Monstrosity, which merely made one’s outward appearance hideous—with nothing but her mental strength and no hope whatsoever.
There was a reason my mental stat had increased by a full 100 through Isabelle.
"But did you really have to go this far?"
"That’s an ambiguous question. Reina, are you asking why I need to push Isolde this far? Or whether she’s worth going this far for? I’d like you to make your intent clear."
"It’s both, but I’m just worried about you, Ian."
I snickered at Reina’s words.
Perhaps to someone superhuman like her, I looked fragile.
I need to get stronger quickly, if only so I won’t make her worry.
I stroked Reina’s head as I answered her question.
"Well, I did push myself dealing with this."
"That witch really is dangerous, isn’t she?"
"She is dangerous."
Aurora, the Witch Princess.
She was the most dangerous of all the heroines.
No matter how unable she was to harm me directly because of the rules, it had not been worth approaching her merely to change the curse that would be placed on Isolde.
"I’ll accompany you as your guard next time."
"No. I’m already keeping my guard up around her. If you come along too, she might run away."
"But I’m so worried."
"I know Aurora’s weaknesses inside and out. Whatever she tries, I can handle it well enough, so don’t worry."
"Even so, you can’t let your guard down. You know, don’t you? A witch’s actions once caused an entire war."
"I know. Their whole race is made up of sadists."
The witch race as a whole had sociopathic tendencies to a hopeless degree.
At the slightest provocation, they would use curses to tear a family apart, and they had even turned a princess into a pig simply because she was more beautiful than they were.
As such incidents continued to pile up, the Church of the Sun finally ran out of patience and launched an all-out witch hunt.
That was the famous Sacred Flame War.
Even Helia’s beloved unicorn had taken part in that war.
Naturally, the Church of the Sun had won, and because of that, the Witch Queen imposed rules to suppress the entire race.
Yet even in this situation, witches could not restrain their individual desires and were secretly preparing to torment humans. Put bluntly, they were a race beyond saving.
Aurora will probably try to do something to me through a deal, just like she did in the original story.
I could fully understand Reina’s concern.
A nun who did not know Aurora’s circumstances well could not help reacting that way.
"The abbess, who fought in the Sacred Flame War, used to say this: you can trust a whore’s words, but never a witch’s."
"Vanessa fought in the Sacred Flame War?"
"Yes. I heard from the senior sisters that she distinguished herself greatly during the war."
I had wondered how she had become an abbess at such a young age, but I never expected there to be a setting like that.
She’s a trustworthy war hero, so it makes sense that she was assigned the important mission of searching for Angel’s Rest.
But to think the two of them had this kind of connection.
"Is that why she was acquainted with Claudia? It also explains why the Inquisitor acted so cautiously around Vanessa."
"Why are you bringing up that woman’s name?"
The moment I mentioned Claudia, Reina’s expression soured.
"You didn’t know, Reina? Until you arrived, Claudia was a leading candidate to become the Saintess."
"T-that woman?!"
Judging by Reina’s reaction, she truly had not known. It seemed the fact that Claudia had been a Saintess candidate was confidential even within the Church of the Sun.
"If she hadn’t been seriously injured in the Sacred Flame War, she’d probably be serving as the Saintess by now."
"That can’t be."
Reina, shocked, sank down where she stood.
"To think I was following in that fanatic’s footsteps! I suddenly feel depressed."
"Reina, that’s rude. At least unlike you, she sincerely upheld the doctrine."
"Hmph! Doctrine that twists the Goddess’s will has no meaning whatsoever."
Perhaps because they were fated rivals, Reina did not think very highly of Claudia.
"We’ve gotten off track, but anyway, Aurora isn’t dangerous enough for you to worry about."
"Then why did you go this far? From what I can see, Miss Isolde doesn’t seem like a woman worth you suffering for, Ian."
Reina’s assessment was accurate.
Compared to the other heroines, Isolde was nothing more than pretty trash.
Honestly, in terms of ability, Isolde was even more worthless than Kate.
There was no real need for me to put myself through this much trouble.
"Is this because of your nature too?"
"No, it isn’t."
Isolde had committed adultery and passed off another man’s child as her husband’s in the original story, but that was only the original story.
It would have been ridiculous to seize on something she had not done in this run and punish her for it.
Besides, even Ian, who loved Isabelle devotedly, no longer seemed to care much about what Isolde had done.
Honestly, I did not want to suffer this much over Isolde either.
I had mountains of things to do and no time to spare worrying about her as well.
Even so, the reason I was doing this was Isabelle.
"I went this far because it was Isabelle’s wish."
"Sister Isabelle asked you for something like this?"
"More precisely, Isabelle’s wish—the thing she asked of me—was that she wanted to share her happiness with her family."
Reina’s eyes went wide.
To help her understand, I continued explaining.
"As you know, Reina, Isabelle believes her family became unhappy because of her."
"Yes. It was heartbreaking to see her keep blaming herself."
"No matter how much I whisper love to her at her side, as long as her family remains unhappy, Isabelle will deny the reason she was born."
That was the nature of emotional wounds.
If they could be healed by someone else’s words, they would have healed long ago.
"I don’t want Isabelle to deny herself either. That’s why I’m pushing myself this far."
"Then shouldn’t you be kinder to Miss Isolde?"
"If it were something that could be solved so simply, I wouldn’t be going to these lengths."
If all I had to do was support Isolde financially, I would not have cared all that much.
With Ian’s original capabilities, supporting a family was no difficult task.
"Isolde is selfish. She thinks she became unhappy because of Isabelle."
"Ah..."
The problem was that her personality was just too fucking awful.
"I understand it. Isolde did grow up without receiving her parents’ attention because of Isabelle. It was inevitable that she would develop a sense of deprivation."
People with emotional deprivation generally looked for the cause in others rather than in themselves.
"No matter how materially abundant her life becomes, Isolde will resent Isabelle. She will probably even think I was stolen from her by Isabelle."
People who felt deprived did not know satisfaction.
They would pick apart every little thing, trying to fill whatever they believed they lacked.
Loving a woman like that is like pouring water into a bottomless jar.
Even in [A Country Village’s Circumstances], Ian had sincerely loved Isolde as her husband.
He truly made sure she never had to lift a finger.
Even so, Isolde had not been satisfied. She committed adultery and even became pregnant with John’s child.
What was more, all of that had happened before she was afflicted with the curse of nymphomania.
The reason was simply that she did not want to become pregnant with the child of Ian, an ugly man.
The story had changed greatly from the original because of me, but Isolde’s disposition probably had not.
What had changed in this run was Ian, not Isolde.
"If Isolde experiences Isabelle’s position for herself, she’ll come to her senses to some extent. Of course, along the way, the family will need to talk through all the things that have built up between them."
"I never knew you could be this considerate, Ian."
"Honestly, if it hadn’t been Isabelle’s wish, I would have gouged out at least one of her eyes long ago."
"Y-you hate her that much?"
"Not me. This body hates her."
I had checked several times, but Ian’s soul did not care much about the adultery Isolde had committed.
His soul was already directed toward Isabelle.
The problem was that Isolde had threatened Isabelle.
[ "Shut up! Why did you give birth to something like that and make my life so exhausting?!" ]
Tremble.
Perhaps that had become a trigger. Ian’s soul, sleeping within me, violently poured killing intent toward Isolde.
Calming it down had been no easy task.
Damn it, shouldn’t this usually be the other way around?
Far from receiving the possession perk everyone else supposedly got, I had to break out in a cold sweat trying to soothe the soul that originally owned this body.
"Reina, you can make as many fuckholes as you want, but train them properly. Even if they’re fuckholes, if they threaten Isabelle, I might kill them without even asking why."
"You don’t need to worry about that. I love Isabelle very much too!"
"Good. I’ll trust you with it."
I left Isolde in Reina’s care and headed toward my in-laws’ home.
I should comfort Adelia.
Adelia must have been deeply shocked by Isolde being cursed.
At a time like this, I needed to grow closer to her.
Because it is my beloved wife’s wish.
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