– I smell it, I smell your scent…… It is a familiar flower!
‘That damn talk of flowers!’
– Oo oo oo oo!
– Aaaaaaaaaahh……!
– Kikikikiki! Kikikikiki!
“Ugh!”
“Shaaaaaaaaaa-!” Breezes that chilled me down to my bones blew in from all directions. The ghosts gloomily laughed.
My teeth started clacking because I had my body down on the cold coins on the ground. I got scared because I thought we made something very angry. The red pandas in my arms seemed scared as well as they were shaking and whimpering. “It’s okay. Big bro is here, so you’ll be okay.” I kept saying those words to them.
The golden glow of the Holy Land was showing its light despite being within the red fog. I didn’t know who our opponent was, but if it was someone who could make the ghosts this confident……
– How many humans do you think can awaken me? Who dares to disturb the rest of this king?!
‘Of this king, king, king…..!’ The strong and imposing voice echoed through the burial room.
‘It looks like this kind master of the tomb will introduce himself. This is straight out of < The Mummy >!’
“Prince Jesse, I’m here. There’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Eek.” I heard a reliable voice right next to me. I raised my head in shock.
Clear water-colored eyes were looking down at me and smiling like a star. Tithé, who was in her arms, was safe as well. I felt a bit relieved after seeing Christelle holding her whip and standing on her own two feet-
– You’ve crawled into this place like a foolish scorpion! Your soul belongs to me now. I’ll take you as my personal slave!
– Shaaaaaaaaaaa!
‘Aaaaaah!’ A loud echo shook my brain while a scary breeze messed with our hair and clothes. Something the size of a house cut through the fog and charged at us!
– Pope, you dare to betray me?!
“Ahh, crazy!”
“Ahhhh!”
– Screeeeech!
We shouted loudly. It was because we made direct eye contact with her!
Well, at least I felt like that was what happened. The opponent was a large red ghost woman. She had a luxurious turban that resembled a crown, silk clothes that made her look extremely dignified, as well as eye makeup that made her look like a fierce warrior on the battlefield. She seemed to be in her mid to late thirties, but I could not be sure. Her neck, ears, wrist, forehead, and waist were all covered in lavish decorations.
A loud screech may have filled the area if she wasn’t already dead. It wasn’t an exaggeration. Her face was larger than my body!
– I will not be defeated a second time. You will become my prisoner now!
The mysterious monarch proclaimed. Her majestic hand came over us at the same time.
Shhhhhhhhhhhh! I clenched my eyes shut while looking at her shaking bracelet. The red pandas tightly hugged me as well. A bunch of ether shot out of my heart and brightly lit up a circle. Paaaaat……!
“I really am not that kind of person! This is all just a misunderstanding!” I shouted desperately.
“Ahhhhhhhh!” I could hear Sand shout above me.
– This terrible stench of roses piercing my nose! Ahhahahahahahaha!
The monarch’s laugh of victory screeched throughout the room.
“Hahahaha! Serves you right!” “Kekekeke!” The ghosts followed her and laughed as well.
I was so confused and my mind felt like I was going to blank out, so I opened my eyes wide. Christelle, who was getting ready to do something, also looked quite anxious. As the fog started to lift, I could see the giant ghost and Sand. She had the priest clenched in her grasp and basically had her face shoved up to him.
‘Huh……?’
– Roosegaarde! The bastard who acted all elegant while watering the flowers!
“P, please don’t kill me!”
Poor Sand was flailing. ‘What did she say?’
– Pretending to be pure, pretending to be honest!
“I am not the Pope! I am that person’s descendant, but I am not the Pope!”
– Shut up!
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!” Christelle and my jaws dropped down. Tithé started to hiccup while the red pandas raised their tails.
‘What is going on?’
“The priest is Count Palatine Roosegaarde’s youngest son.”
“Eek!” I jumped in shock. The Imperial Crown Prince, who had quietly approached us, clicked his tongue.
‘Dude, please make some noise when you walk. Big bro’s going to get a heart attack because of you!’
“After being naturalized in the Empire, he changed his last name to Roos.”
“The Roos in Roosegaarde is the root word for rose and gaarde means garden. The priest ended up as a flower that has left the garden,” Sir Johann slowly explained.
The two of them, who were already aware of Sand’s background, seemed to quickly accept this situation, but it was not the same for the rest of us. This whole situation was so shocking that our minds were not working very well. It was especially true for Joanne, who was almost completely out of it.
“The hell? Then if we throw the teddy bear-like priest-nim as bait, we can run?! I vote yes! Ahh!” She rolled over to us and said whatever came to her mind.
I calmly stood up. I was embarrassed that I had shouted, thinking that the ghost was after me, but maybe this was an expected development. I took another moment to think about my sense of identity. There was no way I would have such an important role like the Pope. I didn’t hear anything about purple smoke coming out of the temple either. ‘Wait, more importantly!’
“We have to help Sand.”
“Why don’t you hear her story first, your highness.”
“Sir Johann.”
The Cardinal resolutely blocked me. He always acted as the adult trying to protect me, and today was no exception.
I looked at Sand past Sir Johann’s shoulder and tapped my foot. The priest that was caught in the ghost’s hand looked so pale that he might faint at any moment. Basically, he was so pale it was hard to tell who was the ghost. I knew we wouldn’t be able to escape outside the tomb right away, but I wanted to at least bring Sand into my circle. It was too dangerous like this.
“We can’t just leave him like this.”
“As you already know, your highness, no attacks work on ghosts. They have all roamed this place for a long time with deep sorrows, so they will not easily calm down with a few words.”
“But……”
“It seems like the ghost has a grudge against the last Pope of the Únĭo era. I think it would be best to see the reactions of the ghosts first.”
His mint-colored eyes were dark yet sparkling sharply. I blankly listened to what he had to say. I recalled reading a story like that while cramming information about the neutral region while back at Juliette Palace.
Around 1,000 years ago… The ancient kingdom of Únĭo was split into two factions and a fierce battle at the capital was happening in the desert.
There was a Pope named Matthijs Roosegaarde at that time. He was born from the House of a Count who looked after the rose garden and rose to the holy position at a very young age.
‘This place, this place is the land where the Peace of the Almighty God blooms. You will need to kill me first if you want to shed blood in this place!’ I had underlined Matthijs’s words that day. Historians talk badly about him saying that he stepped in too late, but his appearance did bring peace back to the neutral region.
‘Then is that ghost the ruler of Únĭo at that time?’
– You said that you would respect me as the ruler!
“I, I don’t know anything about that! Please calm down! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Hanan Rumayyan,” Marian whispered through the ghost and Sand’s shouting.
I flinched and looked down at the child. The little girl was dangling on Sir Johann’s hip like a cicada. Her two-colored eyes were sparkling with curiosity and fear.
I quickly crouched down in front of the girl. ‘I remember now!’
“Marian, uncle knows that name too.”
“Yes, your highness. It is the name of the last king of Únĭo.”
“Yeah, but I can’t tell why she is acting like this. I remember reading it, but I’m getting things mixed up. Can you please teach me?”
“Pope Roosegaarde took the side of the Venetiaan faction that wanted a theocracy while Queen Rumayyan and the Riester faction wanted a separation of church and state. The Queen was popular as the youngest Cardinal at that time. And the two of them had been friends who studied together at the Temple of Boundaries since they were young. I don’t know much other than that……” Marian, who answered diligently despite the scary situation, trailed off. That seemed to be all she could come up with right now.
I thanked her when I heard Rumayyan’s reprimand from the other side.
– You are not that man’s reincarnation? How laughable. You have the same rosewood colored eyes and look like a bear just like him. But you dare to trick me?
“Soooooob, I have left my family! I am no longer a Roosegaarde! I swear!”
– Bloodline is not something that can be cut off so easily. Today, you will clearly see the scariness of your bloodline!
‘Line, line, line……!’ The woman’s voice, which was now low and cold as if she had used a voice changer, echoed through the area. Grey, red, and black fog spread out every time she talked and moved.
She didn’t physically attack Sand, but it felt as if she was cursing him. We could see the lunacy behind Hanan’s gaze and demeanor. Although there wasn’t enough logic behind what she said until now…… There was no way that an emotion that had been brewing and rotting for a thousand years would be normal.
– You will start serving me as the one and only ruler starting today. Your soul will be tied to me and never be free!
“For how long?!” Sand, who was now turning blue, shouted.
I gasped and dropped my jaw.
‘Why would you ask something like that?!’
“Sand! Don’t give up your freedom so quickly!” I shouted, but the priest looked determined.
I heard crown prince Cédric speak next to me. “I remember reading about it in a history book of the commoners.”
“Excuse me?”
“The scaredy-cat, Matthijs Roosegaarde, broke a promise with his close friend and went into hiding. But once she died, he cried and came out of the temple.”
“What was the promise?”
“That wasn’t recorded there,” he quickly answered.
‘A lot of stuff was burned. It was because of the war,’ Marian whispered to us.
Christelle and I hurriedly exchanged glances. I didn’t know what the two of them promised, but if what the crown prince was saying was true……
“The Queen was betrayed. I understand why she is so angry. It has been one thousand years without receiving an apology,” Sir Johann quietly concluded.
I urgently looked back at Hanan. Her large beautiful eyes were boiling as if they contained magma. We would never be able to understand her feelings without knowing the details of the situation. It was probably a pain that we couldn’t even pretend to understand.
If Sand, as a descendant of that Pope, officially apologized, she might feel a little bit better, but-
“This Queen is merciful. So you just need to do three things for this Queen!”
‘Hmm?’
“Excuse me……?”
“Excuse me?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry, what did she just say?”
Sand, Christelle, Joanne, and I all asked with confusion. The Queen showed her teeth and smiled.
– Fine, I will believe you when you say that you are not Matthijs.
-♩♬……
I flinched and looked around. ‘I can hear instruments somewhere. It oddly felt like it was the same tone as Hanan’s voice?’
– However, it is true that you have carried on that bastard’s fishy blood. You were the one who grabbed the whip I used while I was alive and you were the one who brought me out of my deep slumber. In that case, shouldn’t you be the one to fulfill the promise of respecting me as Queen and an equal leader? ♪
“T, that……”
– Shaaaaaa!
Ghosts started to appear from the tall ceiling as soon as she said that. We quickly hid Marian in the middle of us and looked up. The things that had been hiding behind the wall and only showed their presences were finally showing their true selves to us.
I got chills out of reflex and gulped. The blood-colored ghosts looked and were dressed very differently, and they were all different ages. The way they were moving in formation made it look as if they had been preparing for today. Their eyes were empty but they oddly looked excited as well. A soldier leading a carriage, an acrobat wrapped in a long cloth, people who looked like attendants… Even children, who made me wonder why they died so young……
-♬♪♩!
– Ring, ring, ring, ring!
– Thump, thump, thump!
‘They’re holding instruments?! Why are they suddenly performing?’
I was flabbergasted, but Hanan just started to sway her shoulders to the music. It was so good that it was hard to believe that it was the movement of a queen. The other ghosts started to dance as well.
An unexplainable sense of danger swept over me like a tsunami.
‘No way, right?’
– ♪ There are nine divine items on the continent
And the Almighty God has thousands of Holy Knight♬
♩But you, you are very lucky
Your new liege is the strongest knight of Únĭo♪
“Hold on.” I turned pale and opened my mouth. I almost signaled ‘timeout’ with my hand.
‘This is plagiarism. The lyrics are different but the melody is the same as < Alladin >!’
“I see, Lady Marise was correct. The ghosts sing to fool the human soul. She said you can be free as long as you don’t listen until the end.” Sir Johann tilted his head and smiled.
I couldn’t even answer properly and just opened and closed my mouth as the music continued.
‘Actually, this is more serious than that. They can get sued!’
– There is only one thing for you to do♬
♪ Swing that whip and say these words
‘Oh my dearest Majesty, please give me your command.’ ♩
♬ This Queen will be your compass
you’ve never had a master like me ♪
‘Wow, I’m going to report you all to Disney!’
– Boom, clap! Boom, clap!
“Your highness, this is our chance.”
– Clang, clang!
“Excuse me? What?”
Christelle was the one to bring me back from blanking out. She shoved Tithé into my arms and quickly wrapped him around me. I finally noticed that the crown prince and Sir Johann were already walking far away.
“We will look for India while big sis genie is singing. The ghosts are all focused on the queen right now. Please stay here and protect the children and Joanne.”
“……I understand. I leave it to you. Christelle, don’t forget to cover your ears!” I added on, maybe a bit too late. She was already far away and smiled as she pointed at Sir Johann.
‘Oh, right. It’s a relief that we have an air attribute Holy Knight……’
“Wooo! Wow! Hahaha.”
“Sand! You can’t enjoy it. Can you try to pull your arms out and cover your ears?!” I shouted in shock. The situation was more serious than I thought. I started grinding my teeth, holding a grudge toward the author.
‘Damn it, all of a sudden this is a musical?!’
—
Translator’s Comments
Man…author really going for it, eh?