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Chapter 22
[Damn it! It’s back to normal again?!]
At Pianie’s sharp outburst, the cat doll let out a tear of relief.
[Mew-hoho…!]
The bear doll asked, watching Pianie fume.
[Weren’t you able to move once in a while before?]
[No. Today’s the first time I’ve moved.]
The bear doll’s eyes gleamed sharply.
[Do you remember when you first became a doll?]
[I don’t remember the exact date… maybe about a month ago?]
The bear doll grew serious.
[What’s the last thing you remember before becoming a doll?]
Pianie thought of herself, excited to go for her first kiss, and of Delis—waiting for her by the lake glowing brilliantly under the moonlight.
As the memory came back, Pianie suddenly felt miserable, like a puppy whose snack had been stolen.
[Why are you asking that? A lady must have her secrets, you know…]
The bear doll, flustered, hurried to explain.
[It’s just… your memory seems strange. I mean, you’re supposed to be the doll the Grand Duke lost.]
[No, I’m not.]
[What?]
[I said, I’m not the Grand Duke’s lost doll!]
At Pianie’s shout, the three dolls were dumbfounded.
[That can’t be right. He couldn’t have mistaken you…]
While the bear doll was lost in thought, the rabbit doll suddenly came up with an idea.
[Hey, before you became a doll, which generation of emperor was ruling?]
The unexpected question made Pianie answer weakly.
[I don’t know. I forgot…]
[What? No imperial citizen could forget that! Then you really are…]
The bear doll said sharply.
Embarrassed, Pianie blurted out quickly, her face heating up.
[I-I’m not stupid, okay?! I just can’t remember right now, but if I sing the song, I’ll know!]
No one had called her stupid, but she still puffed up indignantly.
[A song? What song?]
[Oh my! You don’t even know this one? Every child in the Loroa Empire learns it!]
Clearing her throat, Pianie took a deep breath.
If she could have moved, she would’ve neatly folded her hands below her waist, but alas, she couldn’t.
[On the radiant Sun Continent~ Reign the glorious emperors of the great Loroa Empire~]
[……]
[First, the shining saint-king, His Majesty Frederick~]
[……]
Pianie kept singing enthusiastically.
When she reached the twentieth emperor, she stopped and said proudly:
[So the current emperor is the 21st, right?]
[Y-yeah. That’s right.]
The rabbit doll, who had always mocked her, forced a cheerful tone but thought inwardly:
‘She forgot the current emperor’s number, but she remembers that ridiculously long song by heart? What’s wrong with her brain?’
The bear doll summarized what Pianie had told them.
[So, you were called out by someone you knew late at night, got attacked by someone, and ended up like this?]
[Yeah.]
[If what you’re saying is true, then you really are human.]
[I’ve told you that a dozen times already!]
As Pianie shouted, the dolls thought to themselves:
‘It’s just, you don’t act like a noble lady.’
‘Since the Grand Duke cherishes you so much, it’s only natural we thought you were his lost doll.’
‘Wow, she gets worked up fast. Only little hatchlings lose control of their emotions like that. I used to terrify everyone when I was a hatchling too…’
The bear doll cleared his throat.
[Anyway, calm down. You have no idea who attacked you?]
[I didn’t see their face, but I think I know who it was!]
[Oh? Who?]
[A woman named Lea. She’s really beautiful—and a black magician!]
[A… black magician?]
[Yeah! She figured out the inside structure of our mansion right there by the lake! That’s impossible without magic, right?]
Pianie declared proudly. The rabbit doll hesitated before saying:
[Couldn’t she have used a magic tool?]
[No. When Delis—ugh, that bastard—was talking with her, it didn’t look like she was using a tool. It looked like her own power.]
The way she said, “I’ll do it since you asked me to,”—that was not the tone of someone relying on a tool.
The bear doll grew serious. Magic could temporarily transform a person into a doll, but it couldn’t turn someone into a perfect doll.
Then could black magic do it?
‘They just borrow the power of evil gods, and yet they call themselves black magicians—and they’ve succeeded in changing something even real magicians can’t?’
If he had teeth, they would’ve been grinding. The bear doll was furious.
‘Those fools can’t even properly handle mana, yet they think they can meddle with the essence of life?’
He was convinced it wasn’t the work of a black magician—but he had no other theory either.
After a deep sigh, the bear doll said:
[Alright, fine. I’ll believe you—for now.]
[You should drop the “for now” part. Because when I get my body back, I might really want to hit you.]
[…Alright. I believe you.]
When he corrected himself, Pianie nodded in satisfaction.
[Good. By the way, what exactly are you guys? And what’s this “core” thing? Explain it properly.]
[You’re talking like we’re your servants.]
The rabbit doll muttered under her breath.
[You get one point.]
Pianie’s voice was cold and emotionless.
[What? Why are you giving me points?]
[When your points reach ten, I’ll smack you.]
[W-what?!]
[If you like being hit, keep earning points.]
[Ugh!]
The rabbit doll shut her mouth tight. The cat doll decided to stay silent too.
(‘Not that I can say much beyond “mew mew” anyway…’)
In the end, only the bear doll could speak.
[Ahem.]
Clearing his throat, he began explaining.
[About the “cores.” Humans define them as condensed lumps of mana that appear when powerful monsters or fairies die. They’re extremely rare—and nothing makes a better magic-tool material than a core.]
Pianie, listening intently, suddenly noticed something strange.
[Wait. You said cores are made when something dies?]
[Yeah.]
[Then what are you guys?]
[We died, too. Long ago.]
W–what? Died?
Pianie almost fainted.
[Y-you’re dead people?!]
[One was human. The others—fairy and monster, probably.]
The rabbit doll corrected, proud of her fairy heritage.
But that wasn’t what mattered to Pianie.
[Hold on! You’re dead, but you can talk?! Are you ghosts possessing these dolls?! Like some cursed doll story?!]
[Calm down and let me finish explaining.]
After a pause, the bear doll continued.
[That definition applies to normal cores. But we’re special ones. Our mana fused with our memories when we died.]
It was as if their souls had been transferred into the cores—they remembered everything from before death, and their personalities hadn’t changed.
‘We could still feel emotions. Pain, too.’
And so, they had been lonely—trapped inside decaying corpses for ages, unable to do anything.
That endless solitude made them wish for extinction rather than continued existence.
Then, one day, humans found them.
—There are cores here.
Instead of joy, they felt terror.
‘No! Don’t turn us into magic tools!’
If they were turned into tools, their mana would be drained until they vanished completely.
‘We don’t want to disappear like that! Don’t make us suffer anymore!’
For so long, they had thought death might be a mercy—but when truly facing oblivion, they longed to live again.
And though their desperate cries couldn’t be heard, Chris said this:
—Put them in dolls. Small ones that fit in my hand.
—Huh? In dolls? Without making them into magic tools?
—Just do as I say.
—Y-yes, sir.
Thanks to Chris, they weren’t turned into mere tools.
Even though doll bodies were restrictive, they could at least rest in a warm bedroom and bask in gentle sunlight.
Chris would sometimes talk about the doll he lost as a child, and whenever he did, they felt like he was speaking with them—not to them. It made their hearts warm.
‘When I think about it, we feel alive… but I know I died long ago.’
The bear doll spoke quietly.
[In short, we’re just fusions of the memories and mana from our original bodies. If our mana ever runs out, we’ll vanish. Not die—just cease to exist.]
His voice tasted bitter. It was the truth, even if painful.
No matter how much they felt or spoke, they weren’t truly living beings.
But Pianie didn’t care about such nuances.
[So you’re not ghosts. Then you’re alive!]
[No, even if we look alive—]
[Oh, come on. Why split hairs? If you have feelings and can talk to others, then you’re alive!]
