Side Note

If I had a nickel for every time I've seen Rio die in a coup, I'd have thirty-seven nickels, which isn't weird, because she keeps getting involved with coups despite having nothing to do with either the royalty of the country or the revolutionary force, and people die in coups. A lot of people. Mostly royals if it goes right. I should know, I've participated in at least four of them.

The one in Hamblin, thanks to time loop shenanigans. A failed one in Golmi. The Golemancer absolutely destroyed the rebels, and Rio and I only escaped because of time loop shenanigans. There was one in the Garwet Kingdom, but that ended quickly since the Demon Lord was found dead in his bedchambers, and Duchess Chloe was nowhere to be found. The revolutionaries were calling her a lucky bastard for being able to escape, but then again, her Sacred Power is literally being lucky. The fourth one is the one I'm in right now, which is happening in Trogen.

Oh yeah, I forgot to do that thing all the other Shadow Clones and Physical Madeleine seem to do. Just give me a second, I forgot what number they gave me. I think it was number four… screw that. I'm Deja, a shadow clone of Madeleine, and I'm stuck in a time loop. More specifically, I am stuck in the time loop of Rio Verdeux, whose Sacred Power seems to have, in the words of Ava, hidden mechanics. Why am I stuck in the time loop with her? No idea. Why do I stick around with her? Because there's no one else to stick around with, honestly. The first shadow clone, Madine, says it's due to Madeleine's feelings or will or whatever she said, but…

I turned to look at Rio, who was kicking a corpse whilst cackling loudly like the villainess she is. Yeah, even Madeleine isn't stupid enough to be attached to that… then again, I'm a shadow clone of hers, and I'm attached… but that's more so the fault of time loop shenanigans, thinking about it. Simply put, she may be a psychopathic, time-looping villainess, but she's my psychopathic, time-looping villainess… I feel like that was off-topic. Sorry about that, my mind wanders even more than Madeleine's. Time loops make you think about a lot of things. 

…

Oh yeah, the Trogen Uprising. So today was the wedding of Sofia Proch, the third princess of Trogen, and some random catgirl… I think her name was Millie. All I know is that she's the hero of Trogen right now, and they are getting married. Due to recent events involving Bellum, the Trogen royalty had to resort to hiring mercenaries to act as guards for the wedding, which is how Rio and I got in. You could only get the job by recommendation of an attendee, but it just so happened that the officiator of the wedding was someone who knew Madeleine. I didn't know Madeleine knew the Summoner, but it was convenient for us, since Rio kept whining about how she wanted to see the wedding.

The wedding was great, you know. The officiator was funny, and the catgirl said "Nyaa" for her vows, which was funny. Who knew a demon-summoning obsessed sheep girl had a sense of humour? Then the princess said her vows, and that's when I realised something was wrong. She did the normal thing, which was saying what she'd do for her wife, but then it derailed, and she started thanking people in the venue. The royal guards, the officiator, the servants of the castle, her mom, then once she went to the king, all she said was, "And to my dad. Thanks for dying."

That's when the mercenaries who were hired by the princess drew their weapons and fought the royal guards while the princess had pulled out a knife from her dress and threw it right at the king's head, killing him instantly. If that weren't crazy enough, for some reason, an elf kicked down the venue's door, yelling, "I OBJECT TO THE WEDDING!!!" and ran straight for the catgirl, while some other elves that were following her chose to add to the chaotic combat. Then, for some unknown reason, the Summoner decided she wanted to add to the chaos and opened a gate to Hell to let some demons join in! Some of the mercenaries that weren't hired by the princess had escaped to the outside, but for reasons unknown, Rio decided she wanted to join in the scuffle, which is why I'm still here. Oh look, she got hit in the head with an arrow. Oddly enough, that is the cause of most of her deaths. It's like the world is mocking her with her first one. Oh look, time is looping back.

"Okay, I think I figured it out. I'm doing this again, Deja!" And into the chaotic scuffle, she went back in. Well, at least she's having fun. Since no one is paying attention, I might as well loot the king's corpse. Maybe I'll get something important… nope, there was jackshit on his person. Guess I'll wait it out.

Hey there, it's Deja again. The fighting has finally died down, and by died down, I mean completely died. Pretty much everyone is dead, except for the mercenaries that ran away, the princess, the catgirl, the Summoner, the elf that barged in here, Rio, and myself. There were almost five hundred people in this venue. How did so little of us survive? Whatever. Right now, I'm receiving the payment for the bodyguard job from the Summoner. She's also giving me the share for all the other mercenaries who took bodyguarding positions. Hehe… lucky us. As soon as I finished receiving the gold and pocketed it, I turned around, planning to get Rio to stop kicking a corpse so we could leave. Before I could walk towards her, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the Summoner.

"Before you leave, I'll need you to do one last thing."

I turn to her, trying to glare at her out of annoyance. A shame the time loop shenanigans have crippled my ability to emote.

"Since you're a Shadow Clone of Madeleine, I need you to look into Princess Sofia's eyes."

I tilt my head, confused.

"I may not be with the rest of the group right now, but Madeleine's insane objective is one we all planned to finish. As I have a Sacred Power holder she has yet to meet and a clone of hers to act as her proxy, I might as well."

I nod, getting what she means. Side Note, huh. Unlike the other Shadow Clones, I don't really have a desire to look into the eyes of Sacred Power holders, but… well, Madeleine created me, so I might as well do a little thing for her. I walked over to the princess, who was clinging to the left arm of the catgirl. By the way, the elf was on the other. To make eye contact, I decided to do the logical thing: A headbutt. I successfully looked into her eye before the headbutt made contact, but still went through with it, hurting her.

Satisfied, I walk over to Rio, calming her down so we can go wherever the wind takes us. I hope it isn't another country that's about to have a coup.

Character profile: Sofia Proch

Sacred power: Uprising

Reason for loving Mimi: Cat tail.

Description: Sofia Proch, the third princess of Trogen and leader of the Trogen Rebel Force. Due to her Sacred Power, she was always a rebellious child, often skipping her etiquette classes, eating dinners in her room, and running all over the castle. Although it was only little things. After a while, she started hearing rumours about the rest of her family. Tyrants, they were called. Monsters, they were said to be. This caused Sofia to investigate, leading to her finding out that her father was a ruthless king, serving no one but his own self-interest. This sparked the flame of rebellion within her heart, and she felt she had to do something. Unfortunately, Sofia isn't the smartest cookie around the clock, but what she did have was patience. She waited and waited, creating a rebel force behind the scenes, who were all eager to act. Soon enough, an opportunity arose: Her own wedding. Although a bit hesitant to use her big day, since she really did love Mimi, the desire for rebellion was far stronger. Since mercenaries were the bodyguards, and could only be brought in by attendees, she snuck in a bunch of the Rebel Force. Soon, her father would be dead.

Chapter namesake: Uprising by Muse