If... Bronya stubbornly clung to the light because she had obtained a single ray of it, then Frélle was completely sunk in darkness, never having recognized what she truly yearned for.
Salvation had never existed in her life. Everyone around her had an ulterior motive.
Her mother needed a child to secure her status as the lady of the house, so she was born. And just being born was enough. After that, her mother never paid her any attention.
Her father needed a direct descendant to inherit his position in the main line, but she couldn't do it, so she faded from her father's sight.
Her butler needed her to rise to a high position so he could better serve her, but she didn't have her father's favor, so the butler decided her fate for her before she was even a year old...
To become a pawn in a marriage alliance. To learn to read people, to know people, to recognize people... to please people.
Everything operated on a predetermined track... like an inflexible machine, meticulously completing the tasks assigned by others.
At first, they said: "You should do this."
Later, they changed their tune: "You can do this."
Later still, their words became: "I suggest you do this."
Their words were always changing. The questions before Frélle went from multiple-choice to fill-in-the-blank, and then to subjective questions.
The blank space on her test papers where she could write grew larger and larger, and the answers she gave grew longer and longer.
From a single letter to a complete word, then to a complete sentence, an entire essay...
She was the most outstanding student, always able to produce a satisfactory answer.
The gazes that had once looked down on her gradually returned to her, filled with admiration, praise, and recognition... She had won all this back on her own.
But she couldn't be happy. For everything she had accomplished, Frélle only felt the relief of having completed a task.
She knew what that "test paper" really was.
It seemed that the space for her to express herself had grown, but in reality, all the questions on the paper had always had a standard answer.
The standard answer set by "them."
They knew what was right, knew which path was good, knew what the correct answer looked like, and knew how those answers could...
...make them happier.
This was a cage, a cage she could never escape from. Frélle had long been aware of this. Or rather, everyone in this cage knew it was a cage.
Frélle had seen people try to escape this cage, but no one understood them. They watched those crazed birds desperately slam against the bars, injuring themselves all over, before making a sad exit.
Everyone thought those people were difficult to communicate with, impossible to understand.
They didn't know where those people's rebellious thoughts came from, or why they would want to escape this place that concentrated honor, wealth, and everything else that required effort to obtain on the outside.
You just need to follow the steps here. Is that so hard?
Study obediently here, then start working, then produce results...
Is... that so hard?
It was truly hard, but definitely not an impossible task. Sometimes it was so simple it was unbelievable.
When you talked about it, it was a perplexing problem that made you scratch your head. But looking back, it seemed like you hadn't done anything, yet the matter was already over, leaving you in a daze.
Perhaps that was why there was so much "complaining about nothing" in the world.
But was it really "nothing"?
Frélle didn't think so. There was definitely something wrong with the world, and everyone would catch this disease. It's just that everyone was good at pretending, so others couldn't see...
Or perhaps this disease had always been with everyone, but they had grown so accustomed to it that they considered it a part of life.
So which side was sick?
This was the first question Frélle asked herself, and she came up with an answer.
Both were sick.
Just be a little more selfish, there's no need to care so much.
The order within the family was not absolute; it still had loopholes.
If you're going to raise a tool, then you should be thorough.
Just putting a bird in a cage is not enough. It will still be attracted by the world outside the cage, and will start to flap its wings, hurting itself.
So you should break its wings when it's young, so it never learns to fly, never understands flight.
A young calf cannot break free from a small wooden stake. A grown bull will not try to pursue freedom.
They would never know what fate awaited them after pursuing "freedom," yet they could still be tamed.
---||---
In the identical darkness, Frélle was not bound by the thin threads. She grabbed the threads and, using their force, stood up.
The soulless puppet had a will at this moment. The deepest desires in a person's heart were finally lured out.
A crack opened in the dark world, but it revealed not light, but a deeper darkness.
Why am I in a cage?
Because they have their own understanding.
Why is it them?
Because they control the lifeline... control all the elements that cannot be resisted...
How can I obtain freedom?
Break away from them, be independent of them... Only a backbone strong enough to support one's own sky is qualified to spread its wings.
I need power... the power to resist... the power of freedom!
---||---
Outside, Frélle, who was being held down by both Sin Mal and Sirin, suddenly clenched her fists.
"Hey! Put some muscle into it, don't slack off!" Feeling the strength beneath her increase, Sin Mal's eyebrow twitched. She gritted her teeth and said to Sirin.
"You're the one who's slacking!" Sirin held Frélle's waist tightly with both hands, using her body to press her down.
Although they were bickering, both of them realized the seriousness of the problem.
Frélle seemed about to break free!
---||---
Life is just one layer pressing on another... This is the essence of life.
The strong preying on the weak, selfishness... all those man-made sufferings, in the final analysis, are because of these factors.
I can't change everyone, I can only change myself...
I can't take care of everyone, I just want to take care of myself.
If I can't avoid suffering, can't overcome suffering, then let me become the source of that suffering!
Become the one who builds the cage, who restricts freedom!
"Not good!" Sin Mal exclaimed. Her experience told her instantly that something was wrong. She got up before Frélle even started to struggle, pulling the unresponsive Sirin with her and rushing to the side.
A surge of power shot up into the sky. Frélle floated quietly in the air.
And her eyes had regained their light, but they were filled with an endless disgust for the world.
A Pseudo-Herrscher... a successful puppet was born.