Final chapter of the web version of Book 3.
This story went from 5,500 reads to a ​mere 300.
For those of you still following it, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
The eBook version will be released next month. I'm simply finishing the cleanup while getting the cover and a couple of illustrations sorted out.
Please note, the eBook version is a heavily revised and improved story, and Part I of II of the second arc in the Gun Princess Royale saga.

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– Outro –

I sat on a bench beside a stone path that traversed through the middle of the garden that occupied the mansion’s central courtyard.

Resting back, I looked up at the false sky of the Estate and then listened to the burble of the nearby streams.

Surrounded by tranquility made me regret not bringing along a book to read.

I’m referring to a printed copy, not a digitized one that I could access on my phone.

This was the kind of environment where you needed to feel the paper under your fingertips, and to hear the rustling of the pages as you turned them over.

Reading a book here on a phone or tablet just felt wrong to me.

Or maybe I was just being stupid.

Yes, most probably the latter.

Regardless, I wasn’t going to change my mind, and I wasn’t going to fish out my phone from a skirt pocket and find something to read.

Thus, I chose to continue sitting with my arms thrown over the bench’s backrest, while I stared vacantly up at the blue sky with listless clouds floating beneath it.

It was Friday, midday, and I’d returned to the Estate a couple of hours ago.

I didn’t translocate back in.

Instead, I was picked up by Mirai’s Sarcophagus.

After sitting alone with my thoughts for a few minutes inside the Promenade, I realized that the gondola was deserted, and thus made my way outside.

While I was standing in the park, the Sarcophagus emerged out of its self-generated Pocket Space. It would have snuck up behind me again, but the Argus System noticed its presence, so I was a little more mentally prepared to be scooped up by its tentacles and then swallowed into its depths.

According to Mirai’s wetware, I spent an hour inside the artificial womb, but instead of having my consciousness transported into one of Ghost’s virtual environments, I ended up sleeping through the maintenance process. I don’t know what else to call it, because even as I dreamt, I could feel Mirai’s body being healed and nourished.

So what did I dream about?

Maybe I shouldn’t call it dreaming because on some level I was still conscious.

Perhaps I should describe the experience as lucid dreaming.

Very well. What did I lucid dream about?

I dreamt of being reunited with my parents…except that it was Ronin who met them at the orbital spaceport while I watched from a distance. I spent the rest of the dream wandering about like a ghost, unable to interact with the people around me who were oblivious to my presence, and so I was ignored by Ronin and his family.

However, what really sucker punched me was discovering that in the dream I was Isabel.

I wasn’t even a copy of Ronin, or another male person.

No. I was Isabel val Sanreal – a ghost walking amongst the living.

I was seriously relieved when I woke up, though I was still inside the womb. But a short while later, the Sarcophagus delivered me out into the Estate, dropping me off gently in the garden between the house and the lagoon sized pool.

But the dream stayed with me, as did the loneliness I felt.

I was greeted by Fatina and the maids who apologized to me for the way I was treated.

I was too distracted to be angry with them, so I forgave them with a few mumbled, disjointed, half-hearted words.

Once inside my suite, I chose to strip out of my clothes – the same clothes I’d been wearing when I entered the Sarcophagus in the morning – and then took a long hot shower. I didn’t need one, but I felt I had to have one. Dressing in a pair of black slacks and white blouse, I was met in the living area by Fatina, who wrapped me up in a warm hug.

Once more, she welcomed me back.

Fatina had a way of making me feel at home.

I felt my worries and troubles recede while I was held in her arms.

Not feeling hungry after being serviced by the Sarcophagus, I skipped breakfast and instead wandered aimlessly about the large house, eventually emerging out into the garden.

Plonking myself on a bench, I sat back, and spent the next half hour trying to process through the morning’s tribulations.

I felt like a fool.

Arnval, Sanreal, and maybe Erina as well, had played me like a fiddle.

“Princess.”

The sound of that familiar voice dragged my gaze away from the fake sky.

Ghost was standing a few feet away, dressed casually, with the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, exposing muscular forearms.

Is this really what he looked like in real life?

I noticed I was biting my lower lip in thought, but I didn’t stop myself from doing so.

“What is it?” I asked softly.

“I am sorry for not being there to help.”

I held back a frown. “You had your hands full, right?”

Ghost smiled bitterly. “They gave me more trouble than I anticipated.”

I considered the odds he faced.

One Artificial Awareness against nine others.

Just how powerful is he? Or were they holding back like Miss Ponytail was with me?

I decided to openly frown this time. “You gave me that new Regalia.”

“Indeed.”

“And the Argus System?”

“Yes. It was system employed during the war by high-end combat Simulacra. It allowed them to fight more effectively.”

I nodded without realizing it, so I stopped quickly and then rubbed the back of my neck. “Freaked me out the first time it fired up inside my head.”

“Yes, I imagine so.”

Rather than continue slouching on the bench, I arranged myself more primly, then folded my arms against my chest. “By the way, if they see me talking to empty air, they’ll suspect something.”

Ghost gave me a sheepish grin. “Unfortunately, I had to reveal that I have been in contact with you for some time.”

“Oh…wonderful. Can’t keep a secret, can you….” I let my voice trail away in disappointment.

“Princess—”

“Forget it. Forget it.” I sighed heavily, then took a long, deep breath. “So what happens now?”

“Now?”

“To me. To Erina.” I gave him a gloomy look. “What do I do now?”

A troubled expression swam across Ghost’s face. “The Gun Princess Royale.”

My heart skipped a beat. “What?”

“As a member of Team Novis, you will be competing in the Gun Princess Royale.”

I stared at him for a very long, anxious moment before casting my gaze down at the path before my feet. “So the next time I’m shot at…it’ll be for real.”

In my peripheral vision, I caught the grim nod he gave me. “Indeed.”

My heart felt like it was being coldly squeezed, and my chest grew noticeably tight. “Wonderful…,” I whispered with my eyes downcast.

So playtime is over.

From now on, there would be no holding back.

In other words, my opponents would out for victory, and to them I was just another virtual participant. When they shot at me, they wouldn’t know that I was flesh and blood, and very much alive.

How did I feel about that? Nervous? Anxious?

No, it downright scared me.

In the back of my mind, during each exchange of fire with Miss Ponytail, I’d known that she wasn’t out to kill me. Even so, had it not been for the Princess Regalia and Mirai’s preternatural ability to heal, I would have been severely injured many times over.

However, Miss Ponytail had been holding back.

The girls competing in the Gun Princess Royale would not be so kind.

I looked down at my hands as a cold, faint shiver trickled through me.

“Am I good enough?” I whispered half to myself.

“Time will tell.”

I swallowed hard and swung my gaze up at Ghost standing a few feet away. “You mean when I’m dead.”

Ghost appeared ready to argue with me, but he reconsidered.

I watched his expression swing from pensive to calm and unreadable.

“Princess, do you know why Raine failed to dodge your bullets?”

Raine?

Why did I feel like I’d heard that name before?

Narrowing my eyes a little, I asked Ghost, “Do you mean Miss Ponytail?”

Perhaps I threw him off for a moment because Ghost met my question with silence before haltingly nodding.

I believed I’d already deduced the answer to his question.

“Because she didn’t have to,” I replied matter-of-factly. “To her it was like a game where she had multiple lives. She would just pick up where she left off in a new body.”

Ghost shook his head, apparently disappointed with my conclusion. “No, Princess. That is not the reason why.”

“Oh, yeah?” I pouted and sat back on the bench. “Fine. What’s the answer?”

“Because there was no opportunity for her to dodge.”

I crinkled my brow as I frowned up at him. “Huh?”

“When you shoot, Princess, you almost never miss.”

I closed my mouth quietly.

That’s right. My marksmanship is almost a hundred percent—almost.

I swallowed discreetly. “So…?”

“So her Gun Princess avatar was constructed to be high specification.” Ghost folded his arms and stepped closer to me. “She knew that she couldn’t avoid being hit by return fire. Thus, she chose to face you with a high spec avatar. One that could take a beating, as they say, and carry on.”

“A walking tank,” I muttered sourly.

“Correct. She was built to be tougher than most. She was built to be Major League.”

I wet my lips subconsciously. “Meaning what?”

“There are two leagues in the Gun Princess Royale. The Major League and the Minor League.”

“I know that,” I grumbled, feel a tad annoyed at his sudden lecturing tone.

“The Gun Princesses of the Major League are constructed to a higher design criterion than those of the Minor League. They are stronger, faster, more robust, and can survive greater punishment.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get it,” I groused, then paused before asking, “So she was built like a Major League Princess. What’s your point?”

“My point is that the opponents you face in the Minor League will not be as difficult.”

I frowned faintly puzzled. “So I have nothing to worry about?”

Ghost sighed heavily as though frustrated with me. “No, Princess. That is not what I meant at all.”

With palms up, I raised my hands to shoulder level. “Well, I don’t get what you’re saying.”

“I am saying that you have survived a brief introduction into what the Major League is like.”

I leaned toward him a few inches. “And?”

“And, you did remarkably well.”

I lowered my hands onto my lap. “I can tell there’s a but in there somewhere.”

“Indeed.”

“Well, spit it out then.”

“You did well, but you survived because of Mirai and the Princess Regalia.”

I twisted my lips into a sour grimace. “You think I don’t know that?”

Ghost ignored my retort. “In short, you need to improve.”

Now my face twisted into an expression of disbelief. “Are you kidding me? That’s your big point?”

I stood up and faced him – though he was clearly only projected into my mind so those observing me would be watching a crazy girl talking at an empty space.

I would have jabbed him in the chest too, but once again, Ghost wasn’t there.

It didn’t stop me from pointing harshly at him as my emotions simmered darkly.

“You think I’m treating this like a game?” I complained in a low voice.

“I do not. I have observed your progress and I know that you took your training seriously. However, you are once again missing the point. You need to improve if you are to survive. There is no other way.”

“You said my marksmanship is almost perfect.”

“It could be better.”

“How?” Actually, I knew how but I wasn’t going to answer the question myself. I wanted to hear it from him.

“Shall I delve into the finer points?”

I crossed my arms under Mirai’s bountiful chest. “Yes, please do.”

“Then we shall recommence your training after lunch under my tutelage.”

“Oh wonderful. I get to find out who’s the worse teacher—you or Arnval.”

Ghost stiffened then peered down his nose at me. “Princess, do not compare me to that fraud.”

The frost in his tone made my breath catch.

I blinked up at him, faintly cowed by the cold in his eyes.

Was there bad blood between him and Arnval?

I had to swallow twice to find my voice. “What do you mean…fraud?”

He swallowed silently, and I watched him smoothly regain his composure. “Arnval, does not possess the combat experience that I do.”

I bit my lower lip as I recalled what he’d told me in Clarisol’s cave. “You were the Captain of the Guard.”

Unexpectedly, he took a half step back. He seemed to hesitate for a long moment before nodding shallowly. “Aye, Princess. That I was.”

As I thought of Clarisol living in isolation, my emotions bled away.

The annoyance, the frustration, the irritation – all of it drained out of me, and I was left feeling cold and empty within. And yet my chest felt tight, as though the void was pushing against my heart and lungs, making it difficult to breathe.

I had saved Erina from suffering Clarisol’s fate.

Maybe I could have performed better against Miss Ponytail. Maybe I could have found another way. But though it had come down to the wire, I had nonetheless saved Erina’s life.

I had achieved what I’d set out to do.

Yet, I found myself asking the same questions I had before.

Why would Sanreal do it?

Knowing how much his daughter suffers in her virtual prison—why would he consign Erina into the same Hell?

I gasped silently.

What if it was true? What if Mirai had been intended for Clarisol all along?

However, that approach did not resolve the original problem.

While one copy of Clarisol escaped, it still left the original behind in that lonely cave.

“There has to be a better way,” I whispered.

What if Erina had created Mirai to trade for Clarisol’s life?

I sneered at how ludicrous that sounded within my head.

What reason would Erina have for doing that? Trade Mirai’s existence for another’s life? Hardly. Besides, she said she wanted to use the Angel Fibers to save me—I mean, Ronin.

I bit my lower lip gently.

That brings me back almost full circle. She also said she wanted to save humanity with the Angel Fibers, but what if Mirai was created for another reason?

“Princess?”

I cleared my throat quietly, then asked the question that I inevitably returned to.

“Ghost, do you know if Erina really betray House Novis? Did she tell the Empress about Mirai? And if so, why?”

I didn’t expect him to answer me right away, but the silence that followed stretched on for an uncomfortable length.

I stared at Ghost who stood with his arms folded against his chest.

He was visibly conflicted as he regarded me. “I cannot say.”

“Ghost, tell me the truth—”

“That is the truth, Princess. I cannot say because I do not know. Your sister is resourceful. She is also quite passionate about her work. And you are very precious to her. As such, it is within the realm of possibility that she would go to extreme lengths to remain in control of Project Mirai.”

My throat grew dry, yet I found it hard to swallow as I continued to meet his gaze.

Ghost nodded subtly. “That said, this is Doctor Kassius we are talking about. If I have learnt anything about her it is that she always plans ahead.”

I tried again and succeeded in wetting my throat.

Was it Erina’s idea that I fight for her? Had she somehow convinced Sanreal to place her fate in my hands?

Icy fingers traced a path down my back.

Had she used me to challenge him—to prove to him that her actions were justified?

My gaze grew distant as I pondered that possibility.

If that’s true, then Erina really does have something big planned for Mirai. And if Sanreal was able to scan her mind, then he knows what the plan was.

Or does he?

Erina had said she may have wiped her own memories, but what about…?

“Ghost, does the Empire have the technology to read someone’s mind?”

“Mind and memory are two different sides to the coin.”

I flinched in front of him as I realized Ghost understood what I was thinking.

What does Erina want with Mirai? That’s the real question.

“We will find out in due time,” he said softly.

I wrapped my arms around me to restrain myself from shivering. “But surely Sanreal has asked her what she has in store for Mirai. Surely, he’s faced the same questions I have and confronted her about them. Don’t you think so?”

“I am sure he has. The question is whether Erina told him the truth or not.”

“Wouldn’t he be able to tell? Doesn’t House Novis have a lie detector or two lying around that they could use on her?”

“And surely, Doctor Kassius is aware of that lie detector or two that’s lying around somewhere.”

I laughed sourly and shook my head slowly. “Point taken. She is an Alpha after all.”

“Do you regret saving her?”

Asked casually, the unexpected question caught me out of left field.

I had to search my feelings for a long moment before I could give him an honest answer. “No. No, I don’t regret saving her.”

In contrast, had I not saved her, I would have carried a very real regret in my heart.

Whether saving her was a mistake or not was something that only time would tell.

However, for now, I harbored no misgivings for having saved Erina’s corporeal existence.

Truthfully, I felt as though a burden had been lifted from my shoulders, and my heart beat a little easier—a little less aggrieved.

Yet, while that was true, there were other doubts and worries that clouded my heart.

“Will I be ready by then?” I murmured to myself, then noticed Ghost had arched his eyebrows faintly in question, so I added, “Will I be ready to face whatever she has in store for me?”

A pensive frown wrinkled his brow. He held it for a second or two, before gently declaring. “Whether or not you are ready will depend on you.” He stepped up to me while slipping his hands behind his back. “There will be time to deal with Erina later. Thus for now, focus on growing stronger, faster, and improving your survival skills for the Gun Princess Royale.”

I chose to cut right to the point. “In other words, learn to stay alive.”

“Correct.”

Playtime was truly over. As Ghost had said, whether I survived or not was now in my hands. I loathed my situation and circumstances, but if I failed to approach the Gun Princess Royale with the right attitude, I would die out there.

I wasn’t a machine.

I was flesh and blood and something else. As strong and resilient as Mirai was, a shot to the head or the heart would kill me. However, the viewers and competitors would not be aware of this. They weren’t even aware that the Gun Princess Royale was real and not virtual.

Someone once said that when technology reached a certain level it would be indistinguishable from magic, and such was the technological might of the Empire who could recreate entire cities as environments for the competition, and fool humanity into thinking it was all virtual.

I had seen the magic of the Fabricators first hand, and I was almost swallowed up by one.

Remembering that night, and what was at stake as I ran through the desert with my precious cargo, made my chest hurt a little.

“I’ll get stronger,” I whispered, “and I won’t make the same mistakes again.”

Ghost held my gaze. “That…is a wise decision, my Princess.”

Hearing him address me that way made my heart beat a tad quicker, and I quickly bowed my head so that I wouldn’t look up at him.

And that’s when I noticed them standing at the entrance to the garden.

A teenage boy and girl.

“Consider it a present from Celeste. She says you’ve earned it.”

Ghost faded from sight, yet his voice lingered in my ears.

“A take my leave, Princess….”

Hesitant at first, the fair haired teenage boy and the teenage girl with snow blond hair stepped out onto the stone path that would lead them to me.

With every step they took, with every yard the travelled, my heart steadily beat louder and the ache in my chest great.

By the time they stood before me, I could hardly see them.

Tears blurred my vision, and I heard myself sobbing softly as I dropped to my knees in heart wrenching despair.

I had promised her I would keep them safe – that I would protect them – and I failed in my promise. The only thing I could do for them was to save their bodies. And so I fled across the desert, carrying them with me as I ran from the Fabricator that swallowed up the replica of the school.

Clarisol had thanked me for saving them, and her words had felt like a knife plunged into my heart.

I believed I wasn’t worthy of her gratitude.

I still believed that now.

Even though they were standing before me, veiled behind my tears.

“…Mat…Anri….”

Squeezing my eyes shut, I clutched at my chest as I begged for their forgiveness.

“…I’m…I’m sorry…I’m so sorry….”

Then the dam broke and I wept like a broken child.

The hurt that tortured my chest wouldn’t end no matter how many tears I shed.

Clenching my heart and lungs, it made me hunch over as I knelt on the cold stones.

But then I felt someone’s arms wrap around me, pulling me into a tight embrace.

She felt soft, warm, and carried the scent of fresh flowers.

She didn’t say anything, she just held me as I continued to cry.

The girl that I was infatuated with – the girl who proclaimed to be madly in love with my best friend – rocked me gently as she knelt with me in her arms.

And I felt her forgiveness.

I felt it in her warmth, and in the beating of her heart, as she nestled my head against her soft, generous breasts.

Her voice was a broken whisper, but I heard her clearly enough as her tears landed on my cheeks, mingling with my own as she wept softly with her head bowed over mine.

“…thank you…for saving us….”

Only then was I able to reach out and return her embrace.

Only then did the hurt begin to ease, though I continued to weep and then sob for a while longer.

However, before the hurt faded into memory, it briefly caught onto the edge of my awareness, and tugged free a somber, sobering memory – the memory of a girl sentenced to a lonely existence in a place that didn’t physically exist.

Clarisol.

As I held onto Shirohime, and in her arms, I made a promise then and there to grow stronger, to survive, and to win.

And to find a way to save Clarisol from her prison.

Only then would I be free to accept her gratitude.

– Fin Web Version Book Three –

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There is still one more chapter.

I pray that the eBook version of Book 3 will be satisfying to you in a way this version couldn't be.
In other words, I ask that you please give it a chance.
I've spent 3 years writing it, and I hope it doesn't disappoint.

If you are new to the GPR series, and are interested in reading of purchasing Books 1 and 2 of the Gun Princess Royale, the links are provided below:

Book One - Awakening the Princess

Book Two - The Measure of a Princess

A percentage of the purchases made through the links will go toward supporting the website.

I wish you all well.

Please, stay safe.