Does a Doll Deserve to Live a Happy Life?

Chapter 13: In Search of Allies

Following Morning — Demiplane

“You wanted to speak with me?” I asked softly, watching the woman in front of me—who looked very different from the first time she’d arrived here.

After waking that morning and reassuring everyone again that I was okay, Kiara had let me know that Irisviel wanted to speak with me. She was the one who usually brought her meals each day, so it made sense.

Now here I was, standing in front of her as she sat on the edge of the bed—her food completely forgotten off to the side.

Of course, with everything that happened yesterday, there was no way the girls—Tamamo in particular—were going to let me go anywhere alone.

Which is why she was currently hanging off my back, her head resting on my right shoulder, her ears slightly tickling my cheek as she watched Irisviel like a hawk, ready to react to any sudden moves.

“Y-Yes,” Irisviel nodded somewhat submissively, her eyes still puffy and red from crying, with tear stains on her cheeks that she hadn’t bothered to wipe away. “Your name is Sieg… right? No—Sieg-sama?” she corrected herself mid-sentence.

Raising a curious brow at the way she addressed me, I nodded. “Correct.”

Irisviel took a deep breath, steadying herself. Then her face set in a look of quiet determination.

“I believe you.”

From beside me, Tamamo let out a small scoff.

“Tsk. Took you long enough,” she muttered with a slight sneer.

I stayed silent, waiting for Irisviel to continue, not saying anything about Tamamo’s comment.

Irisviel winced slightly at the words, but kept her gaze focused on me.

“I will join you,” she said quietly, yet firmly. “And do anything you ask of me. My heart, body, soul—my everything is yours to do with as you wish. I just have one thing to ask.”

She suddenly stood up.

Tamamo tensed—but relaxed just as quickly—as Irisviel dropped to her knees and bowed, prostrating herself in front of me.

“Please. Please help me rescue my daughter. Illyasviel is innocent in all of this. If you save her—bring her to me—I will sign any geass you want. I’ll obey all of your commands.”

Tears spilled freely from her eyes again as she trembled on the floor.

I stayed quiet, surprised at how much she had changed.

Just days ago, she had threatened me, cursed me, even wished me dead.

Now she was bowing, begging, surrendering herself for her daughter’s sake.

“What makes you think you have any right to make demands of my Master?” Tamamo asked coldly.

I stepped in before things could escalate. After all, since kidnapping her I had always intended to bring Irisviel to our side—and it looked like that moment had finally come.

“It’s alright, Tamamo,” I said gently, using her real name.

She blinked in surprise, but nodded and let me speak.

“There won’t be any need for a geass—or anything that extreme,” I continued, making Irisviel visibly relax as her shoulders slumped.

“As long as you promise never to betray us, your word will be enough.”

I let a small smile form.

“As for your daughter—Illyasviel...” I extended a hand toward Irisviel. “I was already planning to rescue her—whether you joined us or not.”

Tears flowed again—this time, tears of happiness—as Irisviel gently took my hand in both of hers, holding it close as she thanked me over and over.

“Thank you… truly, thank you.”

“As soon as this war is over, I promise I’ll go rescue your daughter from the Einzbern Castle,” I said, drawing her attention.

She looked up at me, hope shining in her eyes.

“For that to happen, though... we need to win the war first. You understand what that means, don’t you?”

I kept my expression blank as I spoke.

Irisviel flinched slightly—but to her credit, she didn’t look away. She didn’t cry. Instead, she nodded slowly.

“Yes,” she whispered with a resigned breath. “It means that… Kiritsugu must die.”

“I’ve already thought a lot about it. And knowing him… killing him is the only way to take him out of the war. He would understand. He’d even accept my decision, if he knew what was at stake.”

“Good. I just want you to be prepared,” I said, still calm.

Without another word, I turned to the door.

A moment later, Tamamo hopped up from behind, wrapping her arms around my shoulders and her legs around my waist—clearly expecting a piggyback ride.

With a sigh, I carried her.

“From now on, you’re free to explore the Demiplane as much as you’d like,” I told Irisviel.

“Now come. There are things I want to hear about this war—directly from you.”

“Y-Yes… Thank you,” Irisviel said softly, standing up and following behind us—stepping out of her room for the first time.

=====

Several Hours Later

Wanting to reward Irisviel for her decision, I’d chosen to have our conversation out on the beach, accompanied by everyone except Aoi, who was busy inside the house. She’d decided to take on household duties like cleaning and cooking from time to time.

Irisviel had been awestruck when she caught her first glimpse of our private beach. For a moment, her depressed mood vanished—replaced by a childlike joy as she splashed around in the water like a little kid.

That lasted until she noticed us watching her.

Blushing in embarrassment, she quickly looked down, trying to hide her face.

Now, we were all sitting together on a large blanket spread out across the sand. Kiara and Tamamo flanked me on either side, with Irisviel seated in front of us.

Sakura, who had also decided to join, surprised me.

After seeing both my sides were already occupied, she hesitated—then sat down in my lap.

When I didn’t react, she let out a small smile and made herself comfortable. My hand eventually came to rest on her head, gently stroking her hair.

After that, our conversation began.

Irisviel told us everything she knew about the war—every detail, every plan Kiritsugu had shared with her.

“I see. Thanks for that,” I muttered, a thoughtful look on my face as I considered everything she’d shared.

“Well, we can safely discard any plans Kiritsugu shared with you. If he’s as paranoid as you make him out to be, he’s probably already changed his strategy—just in case you were compromised.”

I didn’t even need to look at her to know that Irisviel agreed.

“That’s probably a wise assumption,” she said quietly.

“The problem, as ever, still remains Archer,” I continued, frowning slightly. “No—in fact, I’d say he’s more dangerous than ever now. After our skirmish, he knows how strong we are. Next time, he won’t hold back. He’ll come at us with full force—and if we don’t have more allies, we’ll be screwed.”

“So the problem is that you don’t have enough allies?” Irisviel asked curiously.

I nodded, and she continued.

“Is Archer really that strong? I mean—Tamamo-san seems really powerful. And since she’s Japanese, shouldn’t she be getting a Fame boost for being in her homeland?”

She paused, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Also… did you just say you fought a Servant?”

“In order: yes, we need more allies. Yes, Archer really is that strong—since he’s actually Gilgamesh. And while Tamamo is incredibly powerful, she’s also really vulnerable to Archer’s Chains of Heaven—Enkidu—since they become stronger against beings with divinity. And Tamamo has a very high Divinity rank.”

“Finally…” I continued, giving a slight nod. “Now that you’ve officially decided to join us, I suppose there’s no harm in letting you in on a few of my secrets.”

I glanced at Tamamo and Kiara, offering a reassuring smile when they both looked at me with visible concern.

“You see…”

I took the next several minutes explaining my powers, my origin, and everything else relevant to Irisviel—who sat silently through it all, her mouth gradually falling open in awe.

“Wow~ We really didn’t stand a chance, did we?” she said softly, referring to her and Saber.

“Actually,” I replied with a raised brow, “you did have a very good chance. You just had to return Avalon to Artoria.”

I gave her a pointed look, clearly referencing the fact that neither she nor Kiritsugu had ever intended to use that trump card—or even mention it to her.

“I guess you’re right,” she muttered, a sad expression crossing her face at the thought of having to lie to someone she considered a friend.

“The point is, we need allies. Desperately,” I said, steering us back on topic. “While Rider has promised not to attack us until the end of the war, we can’t put all our eggs in one basket. This war’s unpredictable.”

Irisviel looked thoughtful for a moment.

“…What about Saber?” she asked suddenly. “If you manage to explain your goal, I have no doubt she’d join you. Given her personality…”

“I thought about that too, actually,” I said with a nod. “We’ve already spoken once—I even sparred with her a bit. We had a good conversation going… before Archer and Berserker decided to crash the party.”

“I swear, the next time we meet Archer, I’m going to introduce him to my Polygamy Castration Fist,” Tamamo muttered darkly beside me.

I flinched slightly—both at the name, and at the implications of what that technique probably entailed.

“The point is, we can’t remain idle,” I said with a sigh. “We need to move immediately—either to bring Matou Kariya and Berserker into our ranks, or to eliminate them as soon as possible. Failing that, we take out Matou Zouken. He’s the one pulling Kariya’s strings.”

“Don’t forget,” Kiara added quietly, “we must also kill Kirei Kotomine and Assassin as soon as possible.”

Her voice was surprisingly cold—sharp with restrained fury.

“That’s right,” Tamamo nodded, face serious. “No matter what, Assassin and her Master are going to die. That I promise.”

“Seems a lot has happened while I’ve been here,” Irisviel muttered, blinking.

Then, suddenly, she got a nervous look and turned toward me.

“B-by the way, Sieg-sama?”

“Hmm? What is it?” I asked, turning to her. Her nervous expression didn’t go unnoticed.

“And you don’t need to refer to me that respectfully. Just ‘Sieg’ is fine.”

“R-right. Umm… I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while, so I’m just going to come out and say it.” She hesitated. “Is there a particular reason that little girl in your lap is… glaring at me?”

Indeed, if one looked at Sakura, they would see a fierce—yet (to me) adorably cute—glare aimed squarely at the white-haired homunculus. She wasn’t saying a word… but she was absolutely hissing like an angry cat.

“Fufufu~ Don’t mind Sakura,” Tamamo said unexpectedly, her tone sweet and sing-song… but with eyes that narrowed dangerously in Irisviel’s direction.

“Sakura-chan here has every right to be angry at you—after your ugly and future dead ex-husband tried to kill Sieg-kun twice now~”

“I-I see,” Irisviel said with a small wince, choosing to ignore the comments and say nothing more.

“For the meantime, we should relax. Tonight’s shaping up to be just as dangerous as our last outing,” I said with a sigh, letting myself lean back. My hand returned to gently patting Sakura on the head—a surprisingly calming habit.

Kiara, Tamamo, and Sakura all looked at me with concern, clearly wanting to object—but in the end, none of them said anything.

Instead, they just snuggled closer.

That alone said a lot about the seriousness of the conversation—especially since Tamamo didn’t even comment on Kiara being so close and clingy for once.

Irisviel, watching the scene unfold, tilted her head slightly in curiosity. Then, slowly, a soft smile appeared on her face as she let herself relax as well.

=====

Later That Evening

With things as dire as they were, the moment midnight arrived, Tamamo and I didn’t waste any time. We headed straight out to Fuyuki, saying goodbye to the others first.

Kiara promised she’d stay on standby in the portal room in case anything went wrong.

Even Irisviel had softly wished us luck—understanding now that, in order to prevent the future she saw… we had to win this war.

More cautious this time, I’d once again used Appearance Change to slightly alter my looks so I wouldn’t be recognized. My protections would still prevent any Servants from sensing me—something Tamamo was glad to hear.

Following the map in our HUD, we tracked the point labeled Kariya—thankful he seemed to be alone for the time being—and made our way quickly in his direction.

As we traveled, I saw and felt it—Rider and Saber clashing nearby, the surge of magical energy unmistakable even from this distance.

Archer and Assassin seemed to be holding back for now, though a copy of Assassin watched their fight quietly from afar.

{We need to move fast. This could be our only chance to talk to Kariya.} I sent the thought to Tamamo.

{Don’t worry, Sieg-kun. Even if that mad dog bares his fangs at you, your Tamamo will reduce him to ashes~} she replied with a feral grin in her tone.

That’s when something else caught my eye—Kirei was heading straight toward our position.

More specifically, he was headed straight for Kariya.

{Slight change of plans, Tamamo. Kirei’s also moving toward Kariya. I want you to intercept him. Stamp him if you can. If not… kill him.}

I felt Tamamo hesitate for just a second… then resolve hardened across our link.

{Understood, Master. I’ll deal with that piece of shit quickly and join you afterward.}

With nothing else to say, we picked up the pace—faster than before.

=====

Somewhere in Fuyuki — Kariya POV

He was dying.

Kariya’s body was finally giving out after his battle with Tokiomi Tohsaka—and being defeated.

He had finally managed to track the man down and challenge him to a fight. But Berserker, in his rage and power, had proven too much for Kariya’s failing body to handle. He was paying the price now… the price of ever thinking those damned crest worms would help.

Of ever trusting Zouken.

At the time, it was the only thing he could think to do—anything to save Sakura from going back to that hell.

But now Sakura was gone.

No matter how hard he’d searched the city, he hadn’t found a single trace of her. Even reaching out to Aoi, speaking to her in private… it had yielded nothing. It only served to worry an already troubled mother.

And now, as he lay in an alley, barely breathing, body breaking apart from the inside…

All he could do was hope Sakura had run. That she had escaped. That she was far from Fuyuki, far from Zouken, far from this nightmare.

It was then that he heard footsteps approaching, and just before losing consciousness, he saw a man appear in his already-blurry vision.