‘First, we have confirmed that the sun halo weed affects not the plate but the ether.’

‘……I see.’

It was hard to breathe.

The Empress and the Cardinal continued to speak to each other. Cédric could not hold on any longer.

He knew that he needed to persist; however, at that moment, he wanted to get away from noise, light, and the gazes.

He thought that he should stay there and discuss the future plans with his mother, but he disappeared.

Now that they decided on what to do with the holy stones and the medicinal herb together, he wanted to be alone.

He quickly walked. It was a childish and impulsive decision.

– Slam!

– Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa……

A gentle breeze was blowing on the balcony.

However, his body and head were hot right now, making it so that most things could not cool him down.

That was why he did not care. He wanted to stand here all night if possible.

It would be fine if he stayed somewhere nobody could find him to burn his heart, scatter the ashes, and return to being the Imperial Crown Prince.

He was well aware of the fact that his mother and godmother would have despaired as much as he did. His black hair fluttered from the breeze.

“……”

A plate could not be fixed.

People would have become immortal if it was possible to repair their souls.

He knew it to be an unquestionable fact, but what had he been hoping for?

His gloved hand tightly clenched into a fist.

Crack, the edge of the ledge made of stone crumbled.

– Click.

An uninvited guest entered through the unlocked door at that moment.

He could tell who it was without confirming the person’s face or voice.

It was not difficult to feel this person’s presence even while hundreds of steps away from him.

There was only one person on the entire continent who had the same aura as the treasure around the crown prince’s neck.

His pure ether was unchanged despite just recovering.

He was the person who had filled this place that was known as the ‘Cold Palace’ with unnecessary warmth.

“Get out.”

Cédric growled without even turning around. He did not want to talk to his person right now.

He was well-aware of the fact that he was currently in a vulnerable state. He could not show himself like this.

“I will remain quiet, your Royal Highness.”

A calm voice responded back.

The priest did not say any words of affection or ask any useless questions.

Cédric then heard him sit down on a chair.

Cédric almost laughed at the fact that he was incapable of ordering this person to get out.

He was tired of this life where he was controlled by and went crazy for ether.

He was curious to know why he was born with such a fate, just why the hell the Almighty God was testing him and his family like this.

No…… He could honestly confess that such curiosity had disappeared a long time ago.

Cédric was similar to Frédérique but also different.

He believed in the Almighty God but also loathed the Almighty God.

– Pipo!

“Aigoo.”

The prince mumbled as if he became anxious. Cédric could hear the quiet sound of wings fluttering.

“Percy, why are you here? Did you stop sleeping to come out here?”

– Pipipipi

“You want to give that back? I thought it was yours now.”

His tone made it obvious that he was feeling awkward. The crown prince scoffed.

“Let’s give it to him tomorrow, okay, tomorrow.”

– Pipi.

“Good. You’re the best little chimney bird in the entire continent.”

Cédric could not hold back and turned around. They immediately made eye contact.

It was dark but the prince’s eyes still sparkled like amethysts.

He looked a bit concerned as he broke the silence.

“I’m really sorry, your Royal Highness. I was trying to be quiet, but Percy suddenly came out of the blanket.”

“……”

That was the second unbelievable thing Cédric had recently seen.

The first was the moment the prince had stealthily infiltrated into the room next to his bedroom.

This time, the Prince had a teacup with sage tea in one hand and a thick blanket on his other side.

The plate on top of his knees had a large piece of Tarte Tropézienne.

The chimney bird was sitting on the prince’s shoulder nonchalantly tilting his head.

Between his beaks was the Imperial family crest that the crown prince had noticed was stolen a few days ago.

Cédric scowled after seeing the bean-like eyes look at him as if the bird was asking him if he had any issues with this.

“Why do you look like that?”

“David prepared the tea for me, your Royal Highness. Vice Captain Élisabeth gave me the blanket and the tarte was something I brought…… Because I thought you might be cold and hungry.”

The prince explained. He snorted.

He could not believe that someone would think that a fire attribute Holy Knight would get cold, and that that someone he was talking about was his confidant.

However, the most daring was the prince in front of him.

Cédric forgot about how he had ordered the prince to leave a few minutes ago and stated , “What a spectacle.”

“I was planning on handing over some refreshments if you eventually talked to me, your Royal Highness. I thought that you might need it.”

“And if I ignored you?”

The prince’s eyebrows sank. He seemed to have not thought that far. ‘How foolish……’

“But isn’t it better than being alone during a difficult time?”

“……”

“Even if it is someone you are going to ignore, the fact that they are there, mm. But I don’t mean that you should ignore me, your Royal Highness.”

He smiled before continuing to speak. “We need to have at least a basic level of respect between friends.”

He then looked past the balcony door toward the Empress and the Cardinal.

Their faces looked relaxed as if they could wait as long as they needed.

The warm gaze was full of respect and affection. There was no need to guess.

The prince had already given his heart to everybody here.

Cédric clenched at this person’s spotless and pure presence.

If he likes the Empire, couldn’t he be satisfied with that?

“……”

He had to admit it. He did not want the prince to return to the Holy Kingdom.

He wanted the prince to choose Riester out of his own volition without having to enforce the power of the treaty and the authority of the Imperial family.

The crown prince silently looked down toward the priest’s ankles.

“Will you really not drink any tea, your Royal Highness? It’s going to get cold.”

……He had sworn to the Almighty God that he had no intentions of harming the prince to keep him tied down in the Empire.

The two adults would not want such a method either.

However, a flame kept roaring inside of him.

The abnormal and irrational violent nature of a Holy Knight was twisting his weakened sense of reason, trying to twist out.

A flame appeared in his tightly clenched fist. His magic tool glove was burning.

– Siiiizzle……

It didn’t matter. He was someone who had already burnt hundreds of pairs of gloves until now.

And the prince was still his one and only opportunity.

“Then I will take just one sip, your Royal Highness.”

His easygoing comment buried the ominous noises. The Holy Knight slowly raised his left hand.

The desires and fear inside his heart were whispering terrible things to him.

‘He will leave one day.’

‘You might as well burn him up if you are unable to keep him tied down.’

‘Why is it bad to overload?’

The chimney bird’s urgent chirping became distant. Everything turned red for the royal crown prince.

The veins in his temples were getting red and the swamp of pain opened its mouth. Crackle……!

– Slam!

It was at that moment. Someone kicked the balcony door open and ran out.

“Ahem!”

– Craaaaaack!

The reprimanding sound immediately came before the crown prince’s arm became frozen up to his shoulder.

It finally snapped him back to his senses. The back of his neck felt cold and he got chills down his spine.

The man opened his orange-colored eyes wide and checked on the prince. The way the prince was looking at him……

“Are you okay, your Royal Highness? Percy was really loud until just now. Dame Sarnez, his Royal Highness’s arm is going to be frostbitten if you keep that up.”

“You should be more worried about yourself, your highness!”

Christelle de Sarnez shouted in frustration.

The shocked prince stopped scolding the bird and looked at her.

Violent waves seemed to be splashing around in her blue-gray eyes.

“What is the problem now, your Royal Highness? Please tell me.”

“Dame Sarnez. I don’t think right now……”

“No, your highness. This was an explosive situation. You almost turned into a human barbeque.”

She sharply retorted. The prince’s eyes opened wide.

This was an obvious reaction as he could not feel other people’s ether.

However, it truly had been dangerous just now.

Cédric created flames to melt his left arm and clenched his mouth shut.

The other two were looking at her.

“Please don’t even think about running away, your Royal Highness. Our instructor felt it from inside the room as well.”

He couldn’t help but grind his teeth. Johann Geens was quite the persistent and annoying instructor.

He was debating whether to jump off the balcony when the prince started speaking.

“If it is because of your plate, we can talk about it later, your Royal Highness. Please tell me when you feel like sharing.”

“……”

Cédric looked at him in shock. He had not expected this guy to have analyzed it to that extent .

He could not see any cheap pity or fear in those purple mirror-like eyes. The prince calmly continued to speak.

“My ether is returning, so I will be able to help you out again, your Royal Highness. You also have the necklace I gifted you.”

‘If you haven’t used it yet.’ The prince mumbled to himself. Christelle became upset and added on.

“It’ll turn into poop if you just save it without thinking, your Royal Highness. Please use it if it becomes necessary.”

She then rattled on extremely quickly as if she was a waterfall.

“If it is your flame, I can always put it out for you. But I can only prevent a fire if you explain the situation to me first. If you hold it in and don’t share it with me, who knows when you will explode next time?”

– Pipipi!

The divine item loudly agreed. Cédric did not answer.

To share his secret with someone required enough trust for both sides to put their lives on the line.

That was why……

“Your Royal Highness, if you tell us, I will also share a secret of mine.”

Christelle solemnly proclaimed. The two men looked at her this time.

“It is not something normal or common. It is such a shocking secret that you might not even believe me. You could even say that you would never see me ever again. But it is true so I will offer it up.”

“Dame Sarnez.”

“It is something I wanted to tell someone. It’s so frustrating that I can’t go forever like this. I will happily welcome it if it is the two of you. I will wait until his Royal Highness opens his mouth first as you said, your highness, but there is no promise of when that would happen, which is why I am adding a stimulus.”

“……”

The prince’s eyes violently shook.

For some odd reason, seeing him react like this made Cédric curious about Christelle’s secret.

He didn’t know why he felt this way, but he felt that her story might be hiding an amazing inside story.

Her water-like gaze stared daggers at the young man.

“Deal?”

She said something he couldn’t understand before extending out her small fist.

Cédric was silent for a moment before raising his arm as if he was used to this.

This was an exchange where he had nothing to lose anyway.

This exchange was basically nonexistent if he chose to never share first.

“……I will accept it.”

The crown prince bumped the fist dripping with cold water. The prince quietly groaned.

That was how the chaotic situation came to a close.

On this night where the crescent moon was shining brightly…

Quite a lot of things were deciphered and new things for them to research had appeared.

For example, the way Jesse Venetiaan was looking up at the stars in the sky with a concerned look on his face was one such thing.

*

I was so tense that day but thankfully, nothing happened.

What I mean is that the crown prince did not suddenly share about his body’s condition, leading to Christelle confessing to being a transmigrator.

Actually, it was peaceful for over a month.

I slowly but surely regained my powers, the sun halo weeds in the Imperial Palace’s greenhouse grew very well, and the Empress and Cardinal searched the entire Empire for patients of the divine illness and the remains of the Holy Kingdom’s soldiers.

Everything felt back to normal by the start of winter.

The restrictions on entering Juliette Palace were released the day the Empress came over.

I was back to my usual routine of going to the temple to hear confessions and learning from Cardinal Boutier.

I watched Sir Johann’s lessons, went on walks with the red pandas, and even spent two hours watching Tithé swim around on his back.

Doing so made the memories of that time slowly become faint. Even the memory of the hole in the sky.

“This is the last day so there will be a lot of people all around, your highness. Please be careful.”

“Benjamin, you’re going with me as well. Please don’t worry.”

I smiled at the middle-aged man.

I then put on an Empire-style coat as well as thick boots that Pierre had brought over for me.

November 30th was quite a special day.

It was the last day of the harvest festival that had the entire Imperial Capital rowdy.

“The carriage is ready, your highness!”

Ganael appeared at the door and shouted with a smile on his face.

The young boy was quite excited about being able to walk around with Vice Captain Élisabeth.

I gave the divine beasts a hug and got up. Demy whined and wrapped around my ankle.

It was an expert’s way of preventing his fruit shuttle from leaving. I sighed.

“I’ll be back early. Big bro wants to take you, but there are too many people.”

– Cruuuuuuuuu

The red panda opened his mouth and growled before slowly climbing the table.

He then curled up on top of a history book.

I could now see just a portion of the cover to see which book he was pointing out to me.

Demy was quite obsessed with a certain word these days.

< The Pope Chronicles > ‘Pope.’ Our esteemed divine beast sure had big dreams.

“Yeah. If the purple smoke arises from the border in the future to announce that a new Pope has been determined, I will make sure that you are in the front to watch, Demy. Even if it requires me to ask her Majesty to make it happen.”

– Whimper!

I consoled him with a chuckling voice and rubbed his tummy and back quite a bit before leaving the room.

I could see the Imperial family’s carriage as well as the Imperial Guard members outside the window.

I was excited as it had been a while since I got to go out.

I made sure to grab Sand’s housewarming gift and walked out for the cold and refreshing air to brush past my cheeks.

I got onto the carriage with a bright expression on my face.

The celebration for Sand’s naturalization, the harvest festival, and meeting up with friends.

All of these were keywords for a fun and relaxing time!

—
Translator’s Comments

Classic fun times are coming!

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