Facing her desperate cries, Gilles continued, his voice as cold and lonely as the grave: "How strange. Did you not resolve to cast aside all individuals for the sake of the many?"
Jeanne looked up, dazed, only to be struck by a wave of even deeper bewilderment.
"Gilles..."
Standing before her was the same Gilles de Rais she remembered—majestic, clad in his familiar ornate armor and cloak. But the icy gaze in his eyes made her blood run cold.
Gilles spoke slowly: "You are a Saint. No matter what you think, that fact remains unchangeable. Therefore, you judge everyone with the same impartiality, treating all equally. Whether it is me, who was once close to you, or the hateful Shakespeare, it is all the same. As a human, you treat us both with the same sincere distance."
"That's... that's not true," Jeanne stammered.
Gilles ruthlessly cut down the girl's weak defense. "There is only one exception. Him. You do not treat him normally. You possess a near-mad obsession with that homunculus—Haruka Kasugano."
No, it's not like that. These feelings... they don't belong to me.
"...That's not it. Haruka Kasugano joined this war of his own will. He has Command Spells, but more importantly, he is both Master and Servant. In this chaotic war, he is the one person I trust from the bottom of my heart."
That's all. It's just that. He was a comrade, a junior. It was only natural to worry about his future.
"Stop lying!" Gilles laughed. "Is it because he's 'pitiful'? If we're talking about being pitiful, the Black Assassin is tragic both in life and death. Are you not surrounded by countless pitiful souls? Why him, and only him?"
His voice held no malice, only the commanding weight of their shared past.
"I only believe in him as a partner!"
"No! You—"
Stop. Don't say it... That forbidden emotion was a sin beyond doubt, the key to a door of deeper despair.
"You—are in love with this boy. You yearn for him with a passion a Saint should never possess. It is not the love of a parent for a child, nor that of a friend. This sentiment is, without question, Love."
Love? I love Haruka Kasugano... I...
Jeanne found herself unable to argue. She looked back at her own actions and hesitated. To hesitate was to be defeated. Shakespeare and Gilles both saw it, and both wore the smiles of men whose trap had snapped shut.
------------
Jeanne's mind was a mess, but she shook her head frantically. No, this is wrong. Because the one harboring these feelings isn't me, Jeanne d'Arc—it's Leticia! That's how it has to be!
"No! Romance and love have nothing to do with me... it must be that way!" she wailed powerlessly.
Shakespeare's Noble Phantasm, [First Folio], unmasks the life and psyche of its target for entertainment. Love did not exist in Jeanne's life, only universal benevolence. Everyone believed this, including herself. But the Noble Phantasm exposed the emotions she had subconsciously locked away, dissecting them without mercy.
"Then, you refuse to admit it?" Gilles asked softly.
Jeanne went to answer, but her throat tightened. "...I don't recognize it. I don't recognize this feeling. It must be Leticia..." she said, clutching her chest in pain. The warmth, the agonizing affection—those were things meant for a human living in the world. She had no right to them.
No, that's not it... Leticia called out from the sea of her heart, but her voice was faint against Jeanne's desperate mental fortress.
Gilles paused, seemingly failing to bait her further, but then—
"Ah! As expected of the Saint of Orleans! How could you have such feelings? You shouldn't!"
"Huh?" Jeanne blinked, stunned by his sudden acceptance. She expected a denial, expected to be told she was wrong. But this was Shakespeare's true trap—a plot twist after layers of foreshadowing.
"Because you—you know his fate. No matter how he struggles, he will use all his Command Spells and march toward death. And you must use him. His power as a Servant is necessary to win! That homunculus didn't choose to be here; you chose for him. [You killed him]!" Gilles roared with laughter.
"You claim you wanted him to leave the war, that you'd even cut off his legs to save him, but you didn't!"
That's... right... Why didn't I stop him completely? I... I even wanted him to...
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH—!" Jeanne screamed.
She had no counter-argument. Gilles was right. She had used the guise of "fighting together" to bring an innocent boy to the battlefield. If she truly cared for him, she should have pushed him away, even if it meant he hated her.
Gilles roared with a calm, terrifying tone: "Jeanne, you truly are a Saint. Doing whatever it takes for victory, deceiving a poor homunculus to bring him to this hell! You are a model for us all!"
"You're lying..."
Jeanne used her Ruler authority to scan the battlefield. Before, because of Siegfried's heart, she could sense him. But now... there was nothing.
"He's... dead..." (In reality, Haruka Kasugano was using [Presence Concealment]).
Jeanne's mental defenses collapsed instantly.
"I killed him! I chose him with these hands, incited him with these words! I am a murderer! Why didn't I stop him?! Even if he hated me, I should have stopped him, but I didn't—!"
"Liar, liar, liar! I knew he would die! I knew it would end like this!"
"I don't deserve to be a Saint..."
Jeanne broke. She was trapped between denying her love and the guilt of leading him to his doom. In ten minutes, the invincible Ruler was defeated by a playwright.
Within her, Leticia whispered, "It's not like that... I should have told you... what those feelings really were..." But it was too late.
Shakespeare threw his arms wide. "Perfect! A truly beautiful tragedy!" He turned to the figure emerging from the shadows. "The rest is up to you~!"
"Hehehe..." Haruka Kasugano nodded, looking at the curvaceous Jeanne collapsed on the floor. Finally... we've reached this point!
Jeanne looked up and saw him, thinking he was just another of Shakespeare's puppets. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all my fault!"
"It's okay. I'm here now," Haruka Kasugano teased gently.
"Yes... yes..." Jeanne's eyes were hollow. She wanted to escape reality, to hide forever in this theater.
Haruka Kasugano took the opportunity to caress her. "Ah~!" Jeanne let out a soft cry. She didn't care anymore; as long as he was "alive," she would endure anything. The touch reminded her of their sweet days together. She buried her head in his chest. How happy... let it be like this...
Shakespeare and Gilles left, their mission complete.
Haruka Kasugano didn't hesitate. He leaned down and captured her cherry-red lips in a kiss. Jeanne shivered, lost between reality and illusion. She let him kiss her as if the rest of the world had vanished. He held her sexy, full body, savoring her fragrance and soft skin. While she was dazed, he skillfully undid her heavy armor, revealing the beautiful, supple figure beneath...
Jeanne's expression was misty, her cheeks flushed with a bashful red. Her hair and clothes grew disheveled.
---------
Haruka Kasugano lost himself in her soft, sweet kiss. Beneath her armor, she wore simple black attire. Her ivory neck led to slender shoulders, and her snowy arms shielded her high, full bosom.
He caressed her snowy legs with a sense of reverence. The curve and smooth texture were intoxicating; his hands roamed from her thighs to her slender calves, savoring the "devilish" smoothness of her skin.
He moved his hand slowly but firmly beneath her skirt, pulling at the fabric until he reached her ankles. He removed one high heel to admire her perfect foot. The contrast of the simple white cotton against her pale skin was incredibly alluring.
Let's keep her just like this... she's far too tempting!
He parted her legs and began to kiss the inside of her snowy thighs, working his way upward to the very end.