After registering Helena at the Adventurer's guild, they all returned to the manor with a Warp.

  "Everyone may go rest, except for Ernst," Kristina instructs.

  Rose is quick to follow, giving a brief nod, before heading for her room. Meanwhile, Helena approaches the Lady of the Manor to tell her something.

  "Kristina, thank you for today... Before I said I didn't know weather to hate or to like you... Well, I think that now I'm leaning towards like."

  "Good to know," Kristina acknowledges and Helena, satisfied with the answer, leaves for her own room.

  "My lady, what is it you require of me?" Ernst asks.

  "Ernst, please follow me, there's something I have to tell you, privately."

  I think it'll be easier for him to understand if I explain it from Kristina's perspective. "When we got transported to this world, I lost all my memories, but I've been gradually getting them back," Kristina starts.

  "Hmm... that wasn't noticeable at all... Although, I did feel like you were behaving a bit like your younger self recently..." Ernst ponders.

  "You did...?"

  "Yes, for instance, when we first went to the village and you accidentally knocked everyone unconscious with Pressure..."

  "I see..." "Classic Kristina..."

  "However, acting younger would at most indicate a partial memory loss, not a complete one... That's not to mention you displaying knowledge that you wouldn't have without your memories. One of the first things I saw you do after we arrived in this world, was you shouting 'where's my town'."

  "About that, the weird part is, at the same time I lost my memories, I got another person's memories."

  "Whose...?"

  Kristina takes a deep breath. "A 32 year old woman named Emilia, from a country called the Federative Republic of Brazil in a world called Earth."

  "So, from a world that was neither this one nor ours?"

  "Indeed, but most troublesome is that... Well, there's no reasonable way to say this... In her world, we were fictional characters created by her."

  Ernst spends a whole minute in silence, just trying to process that information. "That's perplexing... Are you sure of that?"

  "Yes, there was a game she played. It's hard to describe, since it requires technology way more advanced than what we have, but... It was a game where you created a character to play as, and you could also optionally create 'non playable characters' to populate your bases. I was the character she played as, you were one of the NPCs, in fact, all of the mansion's staff were."

  "That sounds very complicated for a game, how would someone ever be able to keep track of all that?" He sounds perplexed.

  "We had a machine that could keep track of all that stuff for us. It could in theory handle any set of instructions," computers are turing complete, after all. "It also allowed us to play with other people all over the world."

  "That's... fascinating..." A mixture of confusion and curiosity inhabit Ernst's mind at the moment. The things she's saying would sound ridiculous to anyone, but coming from Kristina's mouth, Ernst can't help but believe it.

  "So... Do you have any questions?"

  "Hmm... The way you explained things, you talked as Kristina, but do you see yourself as her or as Emilia right now?"

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  "For now, most of my memories are Emilia's. As to who I see myself as, I'm truly lost about that at the moment..."

  "Could you... tell me about Emilia? I would like to know more about the person that shares my lady's body."

  "I... She... Emilia's last memory is of her death, from her perspective, she died and was reincarnated in the body of a character she had created."

  "That's... I see..." Ernst clears his throat before moving to the next question. "Why did Emilia create Kristina?"

  "The game required a character for a player to be able to play, so I would have always made a character... Why I made Kristina the way she was, well... She was someone I aspired to be like someday." Basically, she was a way cooler version of me.

  "And the rest of us? You said we were optional, didn't you?"

  "Because I liked creating characters, coming up with backstories and personalities, among other things... most of all, the mansion just felt empty without you."

  "I see..."

  "You must understand though, I didn't have any idea that the characters I made would one day become real. If I knew, I wouldn't have made you frivolously."

  "Well, even if it may have been because of a whim, I'm glad that I exist..."

  "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that I shouldn't have made you..."

  "I didn't take it that way at all."

  "Sorry, again, this situation is just... so weird..."

  "Hmm... Before I met you, I mean, before I met Kristina, I had attempted creative writing a few times. I don't how I would react if I were to actually stand face to face with the characters of those stories I never finished."

  "Huh," that wasn't in the backstory I made for him, but it doesn't contradict anything either. Also... "Did you only write before you met Kristina?"

  "Well, I still write sometimes, though not fiction anymore."

  Oh, right, I remember... "'With silent admiration, Ernst diligently and discretely chronicles Kristina's exploits without her knowledge, hoping for one day to turn it into a book that will spread the glory of his lady across the entire world.'" Kristina's words make Ernst raise an eyebrow. "I might be paraphrasing a bit, but that was part of your description back in the game."

  "That's indeed what I have been doing."

  Kristina looks at the ground for a moment. "Why...?"

  "You made me, so you should know how much I care for my la-"

  "Not that. Why are you so calm about this? You just found out that you used to be a fictional character and that the person you thought was your lady was actually someone else..."

  "First of all, it's not like panicking would help in anything. And second, you said yourself before, Kristina's memories are coming back, so with time, she will back."

  "But Emilia's memories aren't going away. Even if all of Kristina memories come back, I don't know if I would go back to being the same Kristina I was before we got here."

  "What matters to me is that, at least a part of you, will always be the woman that I love."

  "I see... Wait, what, love?! Like, romantically?!"

  "You said you created your stories, so I assumed you knew and that hiding it was pointless..."

  "I mean, I knew Rose loved you because I had written that in her description, but I hadn't actually written anything regarding love in yours..."

  "Oh... This is embarrassing..." The usually composed butler's face glows redder than beetroot.

  "I'm sorry..."

  "There's no reason to apologize, it's not your fault..."

  "Yeah, you are right... And I don't know exactly what Kristina would think, but I'm happy to know your feelings, even if I don't think I can reciprocate them... At least not now."

  Ernst looks at the floor. "Thank you..."

  "There might be a way..."

  "For what...?"

  "Yesterday, at the church, I actually met the supposed goddess of this world."

  Ernst thinks, putting his hand on his chin. "Is that why you were distracted during the whole sermon...?"

  "Correct..."

  "I assume you talked to her?"

  "Yes, she explained to me what happened. After I died, she created a word based on my experiences in that game, that's your world. Then she took my soul, 'fused' it with Kristina's and transported us, along with the mansion, to this world."

  "That is... certainly an explanation..."

  "Believe me, I was very shocked and confused as she explained to me..." Some of that shock did come from how unorganized her room was though.

  "What was the 'way' you had mentioned?"

  "She offered to block Kristina's memories from coming back," Ernst eyebrows twitch in irritation at the thought of that offer potentially being accepted. "So, maybe I could ask her to block my memories instead and bring Kristina back?"

  "You... You would do that...? Wouldn't that be the same as ending your life...?"

  "It's... The right thing to do..." Although, honestly, I really hope Kristina will pity me and choose to bring me back someway eventually... Though I'm not confident on that...

  "Thank you... Thank you so much..." Ernst kneels in front of her.

  "I could head back to the church at any moment with Warp... Should I do it now...?"

  "Well... Theresia and Franz will be visiting tonight," oh, right! Almost forgot about that with this whole situation. "And we don't know if the process might leave you, or rather, Kristina, temporarily incapable."

  "I see..."

  "Kristina certainly wouldn't appreciate failing to be a proper host for the visitors, specially when they could potentially be important allies in the future. So, I think it would be best if you do it afterwards."

  "Alright, I understand..." I get one last night, huh... "Then I promise, after their visit is over, I'll bring her back."