Within a dilapidated church, a small, ebony girl stood atop the massive, aged cross. Her head was tilted back, ruby eyes wide open, her gaze piercing through the hole in the roof to fix upon the crescent moon in the distant heavens. No one could fathom the depths of her thoughts behind that profound look; scattered feathers drifted slowly from her sides, falling like flakes of black snow.

Simultaneously, a human girl, perhaps fifteen years old, pale-faced and frail, also stood in the church, gazing up fixedly at the small figure above, so much like a black angel.

“A black angel.” The girl’s voice carried the sickly tone of malnutrition, utterly weak, yet a smile played on her lips as she gently extended a hand in a beckoning gesture, as if trying to reach the dark angel.

The angel lowered her head, shifting her gaze from the crescent moon to the human girl, and stated expressionlessly, “I must have told you several times already; I am not an angel of any sort.”

“I know, you are Shinku, right?” The less-than-friendly reception failed to elicit any revulsion in the girl; she continued smiling, saying, “But in my heart, you are an angel. I knew it the moment I first saw you… Ah, I’ve finally waited long enough, the black angel coming to claim my life. Tell me, when will you take it?”

Hearing the girl speak so calmly and naturally about the topic of her own demise, as if discussing something completely unrelated to her, Shinku shrugged with a gesture of resignation. “Heh. I truly didn’t expect to find a human so eager to die, even coming here every day just to see me for that very purpose… Do you truly wish for death that much?”

“Yes.” The answer was immediate. The girl sat down on a not-so-clean wooden chair, leaning back slightly, speaking without a trace of attachment. “They first said I would only live until five, but I didn't die. Then it was seven, then ten. I should have died, but I persisted. Everyone grew weary during that time. It makes sense; no matter how much life is extended, the certainty of imminent death remains unchanged, so it’s better to just die quickly.”

“Do you know? My parents visited me today. Although they pretended to be overjoyed, telling me everything would get better, their faces were etched with exhaustion, as if they felt guilty towards me… This is all my fault. If I didn’t exist, they would be so much more relieved. After all, I am a broken child, useless trash, unlike the perfect Miss Angel.”

Swish!

A slight breeze stirred, and Shinku descended, settling upon the backrest of the chair where the girl sat. She tilted her head to look down at the smiling girl beside her. “That is only natural. I am meant to become Alice, the perfect doll for Father, a being entirely different from you.”

“Indeed.”

“But…” Shinku turned her head again, gazing into the distance, murmuring as if to herself, “Don’t casually call yourself trash. Even a defective body cannot be labeled as such. Even a life threadbare and nearly spent possesses meaning. Even something that has vanished can hold the hope of survival, so long as someone still remembers it… No one lives for the sake of dying.”

“Miss Angel…”

Shinku reached out and lifted the girl’s chin, leaning in close until their faces were almost touching, scrutinizing her. A wicked smile curled her lips. “It’s a pity. The thing I despise most is humanity—vulgar and greedy. Stubborn and weak. Just like you, stubbornly desiring death, weakly hoping to use demise to evade the responsibilities and pain of living. It is utterly repulsive. Therefore, I will not help you fulfill your wish to die… Remember this well: I am not an angel.”

“Yes, you are Shinku.” The girl, with her unchanging expression, nodded.

Shinku withdrew her hand and spoke again. “Living requires far more courage and strength than dying does. A body as breathless and powerless as yours holds no shred of hope. However, I will grant you the strength to live.”

“Why? I don’t want to live.” The girl asked, confused.

“Didn’t I just tell you? I am not an angel, and I certainly won't help humans. Thus, upon my departure, for one who craves death, I will grant the opposite wish. Then, when you one day no longer yearn for death and instead overflow with the hope of living, I will reappear before you. At that time, I shall claim your life.” Having spoken, Shinku slowly floated upward and soared toward the night sky. “This is a demon’s pact; do not forget it.”

“Angel… Shinku, where are you going?” The girl quickly stood up, asking anxiously.

“I have already sent invitations to my sisters. Now, I shall depart to claim their lives.”

The girl watched in a daze as the black angel gradually merged with the night sky. Just as the figure was about to vanish, she seemed to recall something suddenly and called out loudly, “Kakizaki Megumi! My name is Kakizaki Megumi!”

“I will remember it, as proof for the next time I come to take your life.”

As the words faded, Shinku had completely disappeared into the night. Yet, before leaving, she had bestowed the power and hope for survival into the body of this human girl named Kakizaki Megumi.

“You must come back, Shinku… That is our promise.”

The girl looked up at the silent night sky and spoke with a smile. Although Shinku had not taken her life, but instead gifted her the strength to survive, in her heart, Shinku remained her angel. Therefore, she wished to live, to live until Shinku reappeared before her and finally claimed her life.

…

A month had passed since Shinku left the world of light and returned to the world of her birth. Although she was certain her Father was here, and she had searched nearly the entire world, there was still no trace of him. Finally, she paused in this city where the scent of Rozen maidens lingered.

The purpose of the Rozen Maiden War was the birth of Alice, the perfect doll envisioned by Father. Although Shinku had striven for this for countless years, ever since meeting Father, all she had desired was to remain by his side forever. Whether she became Alice was no longer important.

But now that Father had vanished, she was compelled to restart the War. Collecting all the Rosa Mystica to complete the perfect form of Alice was currently the only hope she could conceive of for finding him.

Although her objective was now clear, she had hesitated until now. This hesitation ended with her encounter with Kakizaki Megumi. For Shinku, that chance meeting held immense significance… As she herself had said, living required greater courage than dying, and turning the blade against her own sisters required more courage than merely existing.

However, if she lacked even that level of courage, her return to this world would be meaningless.

Though she no longer held enmity toward the other Rozen Maidens, and had originally resolved not to participate in the Alice Game, for Father’s sake—if necessary, she would destroy the entire world with her own hands rather than spare her sisters!

This was her resolve now.

The First Doll, Shinku; the Second Doll, Suigintou; the Third Doll, Suiseiseki; the Fourth Doll, Souseiseki; the Fifth Doll, Hinaichigo; and the most mysterious Seventh Doll—who undeniably existed but had never appeared, perhaps perpetually slumbering, leaving no information, not even a name… These comprised all the Rozen Maidens.

From the moment the Rozen Maidens were created, even they could not ascertain how much time had truly passed—hundreds of years, or perhaps a thousand? The only certainty was that the ordinary humans born in the same era had long since turned to dust.

Over this immense span, in fulfillment of the wish of Father who created them, this war of mutual slaughter among sisters, known as the Alice Game, had occurred sporadically several times. Apart from the mysterious Seventh Doll, the other six Rozen Maidens had friction and battles to varying degrees, but a victor had never been decided.

The reason for this outcome, aside from the repeated interference of Laplace’s Demon, was the crucial factor that the Rozen Maidens had never awakened in the same temporal span.

However, in this current age, Shinku could distinctly sense that aside from the Seventh Doll remaining somewhat indistinct, her five other sisters had already awakened. Therefore, in the hope of finding Father once more, she had dispatched the necessary invitation to her five sisters, summoning them to a non-reality she had forged, waiting for their arrival.

Yes, she merely needed to wait. Because she was intimately aware of the Rozen Maidens' strength; even before acquiring a medium, she was qualified to be the strongest Rozen Maiden, and now, this went without saying. Thus, she required no scheming or trickery… As to why Shinku had gathered all the Rozen Maidens together instead of simply dispatching them in the real world, only she knew the answer.

Though it was a fabricated world, merely looking upon it offered no difference from reality: bright surroundings, mountains and seas, and an endless sky. Shinku stood atop a towering building in this realm, waiting quietly.

Then, after an indeterminate amount of time, a grey vortex appeared in the calm void, and from the heavens descended a girl with sapphire blue eyes, golden twin-tails that reached the floor, clad in a 19th-century red queen-style Victorian dress, possessing an air of noble dignity. She materialized before Shinku.

The first to arrive was Shinku’s ancient foe—the Fifth Doll, Hinaichigo!

...

Finally to the roses. Status is good; there will be at least one more update today. RS