She had seen this child make a prophecy before.

“Ugh, huff!”

“Modeste, it’s okay. Get some r……” Aurélie Boutier spoke calmly as she caressed the seer’s head. She was quickly recalling the past in her mind. The blue hair gently flowed through the middle-aged woman’s fingers. As she did that, the attendants pulled out handkerchiefs to wipe the patient’s bloody nose and some of them ran to Juliette Palace to get some help.

Modeste Bacary, the youngest Captain of the Fleur-de-lis, was famous for his genius-like prophecies. Calling him a prodigy, in some ways, was just a means to differentiate him from the others.

[Huff, the forcibly landed soul…… World, support……]

“He is so red but his cheeks are cold. Will you let Frédérique know about this situation? I think we will need the Imperial doctor as well.”

“Yes, your Eminence.”

Natalie motioned with her hand and two attendants quickly got on a carriage and disappeared toward the Empress Palace. They were all calm, as expected of the attendants serving the Cardinal.

Aurélie’s gaze moved back to Bacary’s monstrous-looking eyes. This child usually saw the future as naturally as breathing. He had never shown any signs of pain or issues right before receiving a prophecy; he didn’t even have any discomforts like needing to be sleeping to receive a revelation in his dreams. His specialty was seeing the future as easily as observing the weather. That was this young Captain’s pride and joy.

That was why this was ominous.

“Will you try closing your eyes? This must be hard for you……”

She covered his eyes, with the whites having been dyed black and the pupils shining brightly, and tried to lower his eyelids but it did not work. His eyes were completely stiff and did not budge at all. Even an extremely knowledgeable person like her was unfamiliar with something like this.

“You’ll have to excuse me for a bit. I’m going to take a look at your condition.”

“Ugh, no. Your Eminence!”

“Yes, I’m here.”

– Paaaaa……!

She opened a large blue healing circle. Numerous ether pebbles that resembled flower pollen shot up from the ground.

– Shaaaaaaaaaaaa!

The healing light that swirled as if to inspect the injured……

“Ugh!”

Bacary convulsed at that moment.

– Chhhhhhhhhh!

The Cardinal’s circle made an ominous noise before it crumbled. Aurélie was astonished. However, the shock didn’t stop there. From the seer’s body…

– Baaaaaaaang!

…Came an explosion of immense power. She was flung back. The attendants who were there with her were caught up in the chaos as well.

– Clang clang! All of the windows on the first floor of Juliette Palace, facing toward their direction, shattered.

“Ugh!”

“Aaah!”

“Your Eminence!”

“Your Eminence! My goodness! Immediately go inform her Majesty! Hurry!”

The front of the small palace instantly turned into pandemonium. There were no fires that spread but this was already enough to flip the entire Imperial Palace over. The staff at Romero and Juliette ran out to call carriages and look after the injured. The Imperial Guard members standing guard quickly surrounded the group. Natalie, who had multiple injuries on her body, breathed heavily while holding the fallen Cardinal.

Thankfully, the beige-colored eyes quickly opened. She did not seem to be very injured either.

“Are you okay, your Eminence…… Oh thank you very much, Almighty God!”

“Ugh, Natalie. That child……”

The Cardinal struggled to look toward someone. The two women looked at the gently laying prophet. Some of the Imperial Guard members had their spears pointed at him.

The young boy was blankly blinking his eyes that had now returned to normal. A distinct voice echoed in the air through all of the chaos that was going on. It was an eerie experience.

[ A scheme will be fulfilled. Fire and explosion, sword and blood…… A noble being will face the danger the Almighty God has reserved for him.]

Aurélie gasped at the terrible declaration. She tugged at Natalie’s clothes with shaking hands.

“My godson…… You must tell Sadie to come back. The school, the opening ceremony……”

The middle-aged woman’s voice sounded as if it could go out at any moment. Natalie quickly covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

*

At the same time in Baronet Belliard’s Estate…

“Good job, Pascal. Let’s eat a little bit more.”

“Dad, I’m full.”

“Please? Do it for your daddy since it’s been a while since you’ve seen my face?”

“Oo.”

Sarah Belliard could not believe the miracle that was happening in front of her eyes. She was quietly standing by the fire deeply etching the image in her mind.

The bright winter sunlight was coming in through the widow. There were the new pure white curtains as well as the side table that was full of wooden dolls. Her daughter was bawling while looking deeply moved. Her son-in-law, who had been looking after his child without getting any sleep since two days ago……

And her precious grandson who was emptying a whole bowl of garbure despite his grumbling.

“Oh Almighty God, thank you very much……”

Her daughter had basically been praying nonstop in gratitude. Pascal, the treasure of their family, their little puppy, their troublemaker and bundle of joy, woke up healthily a few days ago.

It was the result of slowly feeding the sun halo weed herbal tea to his lips while he was unconscious. Nothing had changed after ten days but Sarah had not given up. She had a feeling that this was her last chance. Convincing her despairing daughter and the others was done by saying that this medicinal herb was bestowed to her by a royal priest. That allowed the three of them to keep it up for an additional day.

Just as the crescent moon came up…the child called out to his grandmother.

“To be honest with you, I would like to eat some cookies too……”

“Let’s eat the cookies after coming back from the Imperial Palace. Grandma said that she would buy you a bunch of cookies if you are a good boy in front of her Eminence.” Her daughter said that while turning to look at Sarah. It had been a long time since she saw her daughter smiling so brightly.

Sarah’s eyes curled up as she nodded her head. Pascal’s face lit up after receiving his grandmother’s promise.

The child was scheduled to have his plate inspected by Cardinal Boutier today. Sarah had handwritten a letter to the Empress Palace to receive this difficult meeting.

Her daughter had made an offering of a significant sum to the Central Temple of the Imperial Capital the moment Pascal was returned to her. Her son-in-law had leaned against her shoulder to cry like a baby. The entire staff of the Estate cried in joy. Everybody called it the blessing of the Almighty God.

However, the old woman thought differently. Her wrinkled eyes slowly recalled the memories of what happened back in Spring.

‘This might sound arrogant, but I hope that you do not consider it to be a curse.’

It happened in the Imperial Palace Temple. The prince who was brought over as Diplomatic hostage, how he was hiding in a small confessional consoling someone he didn’t know…… Sarah couldn’t help but laugh for a bit. However, his statement was now words of the lord that had been bestowed down to the House of Belliard. It didn’t matter that the prince did not borrow the power of the Almighty God to say those words.

‘I hope that you and your family will not give up and continue to fight. You must do that if you plan on continuing to save your grandson.’

No one had ever encouraged her like that before. It may sound surprising, but that was the reality of things. The Empire’s Beau Monde could be quite heartless and she had a sin that she had committed working against her as well.

‘How is your grandson doing?’

The prince had asked her again during the Imperial family’s duel. Sarah had thought to herself at that time, wasn’t it silly to be shaken by this unfamiliar feeling of warmth despite being over sixty years old? Wasn’t it embarrassing for a reporter, who had suffered a decent amount throughout her life, to think a lot about something because of what another person said to her? She even criticized herself for having turned too soft.

‘How is your grandson doing these days?’

However, the prince asked the same question again in December. He even offered her a wooden case with an embarrassed look on his face. His pure gaze remained the same. His purple eyes looked as if he didn’t consider his actions to be anything special, as if he didn’t expect anything in return.

Sarah treated all of that to be extremely rare. That was why she chose to test it. She was someone who even tested the faith tied to a person’s middle name, so what would she not be willing to try, even against a royal priest?

‘Is there something you want from me, your highness? I’m sure there has to be something.’

‘Excuse me?’

The prince’s eyes had opened wide. He opened and closed his pretty mouth multiple times without saying anything before awkwardly answering her question.

‘I hope you can reduce the number of articles about me.’

‘…….’

‘Fallen Angel in the crowd, things like that are a bit…… Embarrassing. Maybe this is too difficult of a request?’

He then smiled bitterly saying that he would respect the freedom of the press. Sarah recalled the conversation from that day and smiled.

– Knock knock.

The servant in charge of their mail opened the door and walked in. She waved her hand toward her daughter’s family. She was telling them to keep chatting with her grandson as she will take a look.

“Excuse me.”

“Why are there so many?”

“Hohoho, most of them are letters congratulating us for young master Pascal’s recovery. These are for the young miss and the lord while these are for you, Lady Belliard. And this…… Arrived at your office.”

The last envelope the servant handed was quite large. He did mention it came to her office, so it sounded like someone was providing her with a scoop.

“A portal letter. From an anonymous sender.”

“Yes ma’am, it is not that uncommon. A young errand boy brought it over early this morning.”

Sarah nodded her head and pulled out a small letter knife from her pocket.

– Riiiiiiiip!

– Plop!

She tilted the envelope to check inside when a note fell out. The two of them saw the uneven handwriting on it.

‘A request for an extra edition to be printed. Please do your duty as a member of the Imperial family to protect the Empire. Your Royal Highness, Imperial Princess Sarah Riester.’

*

While that was going on, there was a crowd of people at the Imperial Capital’s Officer Candidate School opening ceremony. There were only a few people present from the upper class. Some of the nobles who helped with the construction were present, but the focus of the ceremony was the commoners.

The Officer Candidate School was an Imperial Institute of Education for the very few commoners who showed talent in sword art or magic. All of the families of the expected students had received invitations. People whose identities, jobs, and residences were fully verified were able to request to observe the opening ceremony as well. Those tickets were first come first serve, but the reaction had been explosive.

“My goodness, that is his Royal Highness? Can a person really look that handsome?”

“Shh! Do you want the Imperial Guard to drag you away?”

People had rushed in like clouds and filled the entire area even past the entrance. Cédric was sitting majestically on the top seat looking down at the training ground. The man who was called the most handsome person in the entire Empire was catching the attention of the crowd because of his handsome features as well as his beautiful formal attire and fur coat. The crowd was focused on their esteemed Crown Prince regardless of who came on the platform and what they did.

Élisabeth chuckled because it was funny no matter how many times she saw it happen.

“Why is it always like this whenever you come to a ceremony? Maybe you have a special talent you don’t know about? The beloved son of an Archmage truly is different.”

“Shut up.”

“Why don’t we name it this time? What do you think about the ‘Enchantment of the Imperial Crown Prince’?”

“It sounds like you don’t mind losing one of your medals today.” The crown prince retorted back. His condition seemed to be good after getting to play in the warm southern part of the Empire. The young Countess used a blind spot that could not be seen from any direction to smack the crown prince on his shoulder.

As the two childhood friends quietly chatted away…

“Duke Simon de Sarnez will offer up some words of encouragement as the representative of the nobles who have supported the school.”

The MC continued the ceremony. Cédric and Élisabeth looked forward with calm expressions on their faces. They then scowled at the same time. A familiar face was walking up to the platform.

“……His condition looks bad.”

“Bad is not the word to describe it. He looks like he might fall over at any moment?” The two of them whispered. It was exactly as she had said. Duke Sarnez was sweating quite a bit. His face was flushed like a patient and he looked as if he might be dizzy as he staggered for a bit. An attendant who was helping with the ceremony quickly held his arm.

The Duke gently smiled before bowing toward the Crown prince and the Vice Captain of the Imperial Guard.

He then used a handkerchief to wipe his forehead.

“Duke Sarnez, we can have someone else do it if you are not feeling well. It is cold so please rest somewhere warm.”

“No ma’am…… I am okay.”

He respectfully declined Élisabeth’s suggestion. His voice sounded hoarse.

The crown prince tilted his head. He knew of this man’s stout sense of responsibility, but today seemed too much. He thought that they should call the Imperial doctor when-

“Hello future students.”

The Duke starting his speech snapped him out of his thoughts. His breath was visible like the smoke of a signal fire.

It was at that moment.

“……Hooray! Hooray for her Majesty the Queen!”

Someone ran through the VIP section while shouting. The Duke as well as hundreds of gazes focused on one spot.

Clang! Élisabeth and her sword reacted immediately.

“Suppress him!”

“Hooray for his highness, Prince Jesse!” A young voice was shouting at the top of his lungs. The crown prince clenched his teeth.

The culprit seemed to be at most fifteen years old. His luxurious clothes and white scarf made it pretty certain that he was a noble. He couldn’t even run that fast. One of the Imperial Guards extended his hand toward the young man heading to the center of the training ground.

Just as he was about to get caught…

“Hip hip hooray for the Venetiaan Holy Kingdom!”

“My goodness, isn’t that young master Andresy?”

“It’s fine if he is injured!”

The young Countess shouted. The culprit, who was caught by the collar, urgently pulled something out of his pocket. Tears were visible in the young boy’s eyes. He looked scared.

Cédric Riester felt as if everything other than himself was moving very slowly.

“Oh Almighty God, please watch over me……”

– Baaaaang!

An explosion burst out of his small body before he could even finish his sentence.

Élisabeth quickly jumped to cover the crown prince.

“Ahhhhh!”

“Kyaaaa!”

The training ground filled with screams as it turned into a scene of fear. The young Countess saw Duke Sarnez slowly fly through the air. Bright red flames were eating away at his clothes.

The crown prince’s orange eyes were shaking. It was a terrorist incident.

—
Translator’s Comments

Oh nooooo! On a happy note, come see another event pic in our discord! It’s a crossover you never knew you needed but can’t live without once you see it!

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