– Chiiiirp, chirp, chiiiiirp!
Birds could be heard chirping. The Imperial musicians playing their instruments in the distance could be heard as well.
– Click.
Aurélie Boutier put her teacup down and looked out the window. The gardeners were hard at work as spring was right around the corner. Planting new seedlings, maintaining the shrubs, watering the new sprouts…they all looked happy as they did their work. The entire Imperial Capital was slowly preparing for the start of another day.
She thought about her student who had headed off to the desert. Well, she thought about him every single day, but there were times she suddenly recalled that child’s face and voice very clearly. Like right now.
“This should be the last of it. You don’t need anything else, right?”
“Yes, your Majesty. It should be good once we gather some mages who specialize in mana injection and test it out. The other three locations are in the north. We cannot get there right now due to the snow still present……”
This was the reception room by her bedroom. Aurélie was still unable to get out of this area.
At least she was able to get out of her bedroom thanks to her magnanimous soulmate. Frédérique and François, who were seated on the other side, were talking seriously while flipping through documents. They were discussing the wartime portal record restoration. It was last summer when the children went through a portal buried underground and ended up at the village in the mountain behind the Imperial Palace. Aurélie still chuckled at times thinking about the incident of them going missing. After the incident, the Empress proclaimed that she would restore all of the historical documents regarding those portals that the late Empress had destroyed. She also decided that the magic formations that still worked decently normally would be thoroughly maintained and not destroyed.
The process that had started late last summer was finally near its end.
“The ones still functioning could be used for trade or transportation for the masses.”
“Yes, your Majesty. The nobles in the countryside all look favorably upon portal or road construction businesses, so there should be positive results if the Imperial family reaches out to see if there are any interested families.”
“Good job. I knew you were the right man for the job.”
‘Work hard for just a little longer.’ Frédérique chuckled and patted the Marquis’ shoulder. The man smiled and silently bowed. The Cardinal also felt satisfied seeing him looking so happy after being complimented by his master.
The Chief of Staff knocked and entered as she was smiling. Attendants followed behind her with a golden cart of drinks and desserts.
The little boy with white hair, whom she was always happy to see, was with them as well. The little boy, who was tightly holding onto Laura’s hand, truly looked like a young noble as he was wearing clothes the Empress bestowed upon him and shoes the Cardinal bestowed upon him.
‘You need to wear the best uniform in the Empire to attend to the Empress’ tea time.’ Frédérique had shamelessly lied to the child. She then told the tailor to add a bunch of pockets to the clothes because the child liked them so much.
“Come on in, Laura. You are working hard as usual, Gerrit.”
“Hehe.” Gerrit laughed brightly before bowing. It was nice to see that he was gaining some weight as well.
The Empress flicked her chin and the child trotted over and picked up the tongs for the ice. That was the signal for the attendants to quickly start moving as well. It was a satisfying day for everything.
– Plunk.
One cube of ice went into the Empress’ coffee today as usual. Laura offered the Cardinal a cup of black tea and Gerrit’s cute little hand poured some milk into it before stirring the teaspoon. He put some sugar cubes on a plate that was smaller than his little palm. He even placed a coaster under the glass cup of the Marquis, who had lately been addicted to the café Chris. This child had a good memory and did not make mistakes.
“Thank you very much, Mister Little Geens. I should return the favor after receiving such great treatment!” François said that and pushed a cup of parfait toward Gerrit.
His large mint-colored eyes curled up like half moons. He had been extremely anxious on the first day, wondering if it was okay for him to accept something like this, but now, he happily ate until he was full since the Empress gave him permission multiple times. He made sure to sit right next to the Marquis, who was his temporary guardian.
The little boy had no idea that the staff in the Empress Palace made extra desserts just for him. That was why he was still a child.
François warmly asked “Is it delicious?”
Nod nod.
“Is it more delicious than what you ate at my house?”
Flinch. The Marquis laughed out loud. Gerrit quickly smiled, realizing that he was the victim of this adult’s prank.
Aurélie watched the child, who got some cream on his lips as he ate the parfait, before looking at the document in her hand.
< The Great Riester Empire’s Divine illness patients current status survey - First report >
“……”
Élisabeth had submitted this report a few minutes ago. It was progressing slowly because she had to investigate the entire Empire while quietly doing so with cooperation of the territory lords. This process started last October, but it wasn’t even half finished. A minimum of 100,000 people’s worth of work, including the priests, was expected before this was finished.
But there was some progress. Furthermore, the contents were pretty similar to what the Cardinal had expected. She quietly flipped the page.
– Flap, flap
There were people who were suffering from ether related issues, often called the divine illness, in the Empire. However, it was an extremely rare disease. There were less than thirty cases even after searching through around half of the Empire. Lady Sarah Belliard’s grandson, Pascal, was one of those cases, ut they were able to take care of him for a long time as nobles, while most of the commoners had much worse conditions. Luggage carts with large amounts of sun halo weed were set to leave toward all parts of the Empire starting tomorrow.
“Ah! You are giving me some too? Then I’ll take just one bite.”
The children whose pain was intense often died before they turned twelve. If the pain wasn’t as severe, they often fell asleep for long periods of time. Some children slept up to sixteen, seventeen hours a day. But among them……
“François, how is that just one bite?”
“……”
There were zero cases of any of them having special ether. Every single case had a child with pure ether. None of those patients had cracks in their plates either. The Archbishops who participated in the research were certain of it in their reports. It was something she, along with Frédérique and Alexandre, had heard so many times in the past.
‘Cracked plates cannot exist in this world and should not exist.’
Cédric was the only one in the Empire with this specific issue. It seemed to want to prove that this really was the ‘Almighty God’s curse.’
“Aurélie.”
“Hmm?”
The Cardinal snapped out of her thoughts. Yves was scowling when they made eye contact. Her negative thoughts must have been transmitted because she had not been focused.
“Stop looking at that and eat this.” The Empress pushed a parfait in front of her.
She thought there was only one for Gerrit, but the Empress seemed to have prepared another one to console her partner who could not leave this area. Aurélie put the document down on her lap and smiled brightly.
Gerrit seemed full of anticipation as she picked up her spoon. He seemed curious about her reaction to the parfait. Aurélie looked at the cute little boy and thought about her one and only student once again.
The warm yellow sunlight shone down on the table. The waiting was just full of happiness.
“It is sweet and delicious. I see why you like it so much, Gerrit.”
“Heheheng.”
……That’s why everything should be fine. Her beloved godson now had the prince and his friends by his side. He was slowly getting better.
*
While that was going on…
– Paaaa……!
“No, this…”
I tightly held the staff with both hands in shock.
The Holy Staff, which had looked as if I should put it in a museum, cracked as if it would break and was glowing. It looked like a creature trying to come out of its egg. The beige-colored light that resembled my teacher’s eyes was gentle. However, the light was not coming from the crescent moon on the top. That was still black and ugly.
Hanan Rumayyan looked back and forth at me and the staff before she put on a look of disbelief.
Sand, who managed to get out of her grasp, was crawling toward us as fast as he could!
– How absurd……! Are you saying that you are a Cardinal? You look barely over twenty years old?
The woman’s voice was loud. I calmly answered her. “I am a twenty-nine year old Archbishop, your Majesty.”
– My goodness!
The Queen gasped and rushed toward me. I got scared but still maintained eye contact with her. Since she was someone from a long time ago, I couldn’t tell what she was thinking about my age.
While that happened, Joanne and the divine beasts surrounded Sand and checked on him. I heard the painter’s rushed voice behind me.
“Don’t hold it in and let out your breath. We need to see if you are okay!”
“I’m already breathing, Baroness!”
“Then why are your cheeks so puffy?!”
– Pruu!
‘Mm.’
– Shaaaaaaa……
“Huh?”
The glow on the staff started to go out like a light that ran out of oil. I quickly checked the Holy Staff, wondering if it was breaking. Thankfully, that did not seem to be the case. It just turned back to the ugly black…… ‘Ah.’
‘How can I become its master?’
‘It’s simple. You just have to get stronger than me.’
‘That’s what she told me.’ It must have determined that my strength became weak again. My ether seemed to burst out for a moment earlier because I was upset.
My teacher said that I needed to get stronger than her to receive the staff’s approval, but thinking back on it, this was a staff she used until she was an Archbishop. So it wasn’t stronger than my teacher in the ‘present’-
– How is it that a mere Archbishop has a staff carved out of the World Tree? Your purple eyes must mean that you have received the blessing of the Almighty God! Who the hell are you?!
‘Ah, that scared me!’
“This esteemed sir is his highness, Prince Jesse Venetiaan. His Holy Staff was a gift bestowed upon him by his teacher, Cardinal Aurélie Boutier.” Sir Johann calmly explained and Hanan’s eyes opened wide.
Her eyes were so close that I could clearly see her pupils shaking. Her earrings that were as flat as plates danced around. The ghosts that hid behind the walls slowly returned and floated around their master.
I moved the staff and some of them got so scared they turned pink. I felt sorry for doing that and lowered my arm.
‘But I guess the ‘root of the temple’ is the ‘World Tree’?’
– Venetiaan……? Are you talking about the force that pushed for the combination of church and state and split my country?
“Yes, your Majesty. And this esteemed individual over here is his Royal Highness, Imperial Crown Prince Cédric Riester. He is Prince Jesse’s close friend and Holy Knight partner.” The Cardinal introduced his student this time. Crown prince Cédric visibly bowed his head. This was an unexpected show of respect from him.
Hanan looked completely flabbergasted now.
– Riester! He’s the descendant of the Duke who swore his loyalty to this Queen? And they have established an Empire now?
“Yes, your Majesty.”
“Gaaaaaaaaasp!” The ghosts gasped.
– And the children of those two countries have become partners?
“That is accurate.”
“My goodness!” Gasps burst out from all around.
“Kiiiiiiiiiii!” The red panda musketeers added to the noise. They were basically spectators at this point.
– I guess a thousand years is truly a thousand years. Friendship gets covered in blood and blood gets washed away with friendship once again! This empty grudge of mine!
The ancient Queen lamented. Her outfit was so splendid that her soul fluctuated every time she moved. The ghosts were whispering to one other while peeking toward us.
I used this relaxed moment to walk up to Hanan. The crown prince did not stop me this time. I smiled at him and started to speak. This was my chance.
“Your Majesty, if you would allow us to do so, we would like to help you.”
– ……What did you just say?
The Queen scowled and asked back. I decided to be courageous. We would not be able to safely get out of the tomb like this anyway. But most importantly, I wanted to help her and her friends. If it was possible.
“As I mentioned previously, it is not Sand’s fault that your spell did not work, your Majesty. We heard about being free as long as we did not listen to a ghost’s song until the end. So we used this sir over here, Sir Johann Geens’ power. He is an air-attribute Cardinal-level Holy Knight.”
– I see, how daring! I never trusted those pinwheels since I was young!
She shoved her face right in front of Sir Johann. The Holy Knight’s white hair fluttered like a willow branch. The woman’s vicious gaze and the man’s calm gaze strikingly contrasted.
I quickly interjected. “But we are able to volunteer out of our own volition even without offering our souls to you, your Majesty. The House of Roosegaarde’s…… Youngest son, Sand, will cooperate as well. Am I right?” I looked back at Sand and asked. The young priest was a good person.
His teary eyes were extremely pure. He quickly nodded his head while hugging the divine beasts. “Yes, yes! Although I didn’t do it, I really want to apologize and help. I am still scared, but……”
– What?
Hanan jerked her head up. She looked as if she could not believe it. The ghosts looked the same. I slowly started to share my opinion. It was more of a scheme than an opinion, but anyway…
“Your Majesty, I’m certain this is what you said. You said that you are tied down by your grudge and unable to leave. You said that you ended up cursed by something you conjured, and imprisoned here. You also said that Roosegaarde was the one who could free you.”
– …….
“If we flip that around, that should mean that it is fine as long as a Roosegaarde is one of the people included in the three acts of service to you. Am I wrong, your Majesty? I’m sure that the condition isn’t that ‘only’ a Roosegaarde has to do it.”
– ……That guy was the one this Queen wanted to curse, but wrath is not that specific.
She commented, almost as if she was mumbling. It meant that she agreed. I saw some hope. I actively stood up on my tippy toes.
“What about the one where you have to bind down the person’s soul? Is that necessary? You should know best since it is a curse that you cast, your Majesty.”
– …The reason I wanted his soul is because I knew that he would not come to me out of his own volition.
Basically…
“So you were trying to bind him in case he did not apologize and went against your wishes. That was the most certain way to guarantee your freedom?”
I cautiously asked. She stuck out her chin and stood up straight instead of answering. As expected, that was the answer. I could see an outline of a plan now. I exchanged glances with the crown prince and then looked around at my friends.
Everybody slightly nodded their heads. It made me smile.
I looked back up at Hanan. “Hmm. As you’ve already heard, your Majesty, we are all people who…are kind of a big deal these days on the continent. We have connections to the Riester Empire, the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom, and even the Vatican. We know how to use ether, sword aura, and mana. So if you would like, we would be happy to volunteer our services to you three times, your Majesty. As long as it is not to kill or harm anybody.”
– …….
I looked right at the Queen. There weren’t many thoughts behind my purple eyes, but I prayed that they could at least influence her in some way.
“I will free you all. I give you my word.”
—
Translator’s Comments
When our man gives his word, he means business.