The guide inside the Ark. The divine item with a conscience. The existence that could peek at the principles of the world and the upcoming future.
– Clunk, clunk.
– Clack, clack……
I had a lot of things I wanted to ask Nikky when I saw him again. Percy could not speak the human language, but he could.
“……”
For example, if what he warned me about last time was Simon de Sarnez and his scheme.
“……”
Whether Prince Consort Alexandre really was as tone-deaf as Christelle.
“……”
If there was a reason he pushed me off the Bell Tower the first day we met.
“……”
Whether he was copying Alexandre’s tone and speech patterns as well.
Well, trivial things like that. The situation was always dire whenever I met Nikky and we would always have to say goodbye so suddenly, so it was difficult to have a peaceful conversation. I thought this was a decent chance but apparently I was wrong.
It made sense because Percy had no master. He had gone on so many adventures with us and met many people throughout the Empire, but he didn’t seem to have found a person he liked for his master. It should mean that it is difficult to maintain the Ark’s appearance for a long time. Plus, four divine items were not gathered here as they had been at the Blanquer Lord’s Castle either. He did this purely out of a desire to hide us…… ‘I’ve used too much of my power.’
“You worked really hard. Thank you.” I rubbed Percy’s warm tummy and whispered. The chimney bird in my hand was fast asleep. His round and small chest was moving up and down without stopping.
The divine beasts came over and licked Percy. I felt proud of them because it seemed like they were saying thank you. As Tithé covered Percy with his flipper, I gave each of the little troublemakers a hug.
‘I didn’t get to ask how long he will need to be asleep. I wonder how many days it will be.’
“Snore! Snooo……”
I flinched and raised my head. Joanne was lying down on a large pile of hay and snoring away. Her lemon-colored hair, which was now much longer than when we first met, intermixed with the hay. Christelle crawled over and put a coat over her.
We met with Joanne around the time she arrived at the Eastern Regional Portal’s Public Parking Area. She looked completely stunned after seeing that we had reappeared in the carriage.
‘What the hell? What the hell?! No wait, this isn’t what I need to do. I greet his Royal Highness!’ She got angry but also showed her respect. She was someone skilled at multi-tasking.
‘I apologize for scaring you, Joanne.’
‘It’s fine as long as you know, your highness. What the hell did you do? You disappeared without a trace and poofed right back! I almost fainted in front of the Captain of the Imperial Guard earlier. Is this also magic? Or was it the work of a magic tool made by that wacko Marquis?’
‘That……’
I gave her a brief explanation without bringing up Nikky’s assistance and she gasped in astonishment while looking at Percy. She then pulled out some charcoal from her pocket and started to draw on the inner wall of the carriage. She seemed to have gotten an inspiration.
We used the moment she was mesmerized to slowly start moving again. The rest of us moved our bags and erased our traces as Sir Johann looked for a new carriage. We also made some fake tracks to make it look like we went in a different direction. We had to be careful because the Imperial Guard was still present nearby.
The red pandas were busy trying to copy Christelle’s tiptoeing.
– Squeeeeee
“……”
And returning back to the present… The group managed to follow the Rambouillet caravan’s travel path. Sir Johann was now seated in the coachman’s seat. We should be able to meet some familiar faces if we continue to quickly head southeast down this path. We had agreed to meet at the last portal before the border.
It was all thanks to young lady Bérénice who took pity on me. She had stealthily wrapped and handed me an opportunity to do something that I originally had no choice but to give up on. It was as if she was telling me to hold on tight.
– Kiiiiiiiiiii, kiiiiiiiiii!
“……”
Perry was dangling on the Imperial Crown Prince’s knee while crying. I peeked at the crown prince. He was leaning against the wall while giving the red panda no attention at all.
Honestly speaking, he was the only one I could focus on since we left the ark. The mysterious stick-shaped light we saw beyond the spatial dimension and the Prince Consort’s situation was concerning as well, but my friend next to me was more important. The continued silence was worrisome and the fact that he wouldn’t make eye contact with me was uncomfortable.
I didn’t know whether it was okay to give him ether so I just left my tap completely open. I couldn’t gather the courage to say anything first knowing the amount of pain and sorrow he was feeling right now.
‘I’m sure he was very surprised. I wonder if he blames me for it. Maybe I should have told him about it in advance. I should have given him some time to prepare for it……’
“Will you return to the Imperial Palace, your Royal Highness?”
I blinked in shock. Christelle was the one to speak as she asked crown prince Cédric that question. The two of them shared an intense gaze. It sort of looked as if they were glaring at each other, but it also looked as if no thought was really behind the gaze either.
I nervously bit down on my lips. Demy, who was licking an orange in my arms, also stopped moving his tongue and looked at the two of them.
“I’ll ask teacher if that is what you wish, your Royal Highness. I’ll ask him to turn the carriage around. The Imperial Guard should still be around the regional portal.”
“……”
He responded with silence. The man withdrew his gaze toward Christelle with no regrets. He then glared at a spot on the floor of the carriage. I felt frustrated for the first time. He had closed the door to his heart as tightly as Sadie had first done so when I first met him in the Imperial Palace’s Confessional.
‘I wonder if it would be better if I could feel his ether as well.’
……Clank, clank. Zz, zz.
The quiet noise of the carriage moving and Joanne’s breath barely filled the silent carriage.
“I will take it as you wish to return, your Royal Highness.” Christelle immediately stood up from next to Joanne and walked forward.
I just stared back and forth at her and the crown prince as if I was an idiot. I couldn’t think of what to say. Would it be better for him to be by his mother and his godmother’s side right now? ‘Probably? Then I should apologize for abducting him……’
“He looked the same as the day he passed away.”
Stop. Christelle’s fist stopped right before knocking on the wall.
The crown prince was speaking in a low voice. “His clothes and appearance.”
“……”
“That’s it.”
Clack, clunk! The sound of the carriage filled the silence again. He was finally looking right at me. His garnet-like eyes were now calm.
I felt touched that this guy revealed his feelings to us without having to be asked.
So, to translate…… He was shocked because he saw his father exactly as he had looked before his death but it was not so difficult that he wanted to go back home. ‘Am I right?’
– Shaaaaaaa……
I cautiously released my Holy Domain because I was not certain that I understood properly. I made the circle small enough not to stick out of the carriage and slowly released my power. I shared it with Christelle and the little troublemakers as well, which made Rhea’s whiskers twitch with joy.
The way she was smiling was the same as me. A ticklish and familiar sensation that felt as if the ether was flowing through the capillaries soon followed.
The crown prince silently stared at the gold aura roaming around him, and then……
Shhhh.
“Haha.”
He accepted it without rejecting it. Ether poured out like the tide through his palm that touched the circle. I quietly chuckled and heard Christelle mumble something about ‘of course he did this,’ and plopped down on the ground. The serious mood from earlier was gone and she seemed to be back to her mischievous self.
The crown prince scowled but did not stop taking in my ether. An excited Perry ran across his legs as if he was on a freeway.
The MC extended her legs as she spoke. “All three of us do not have fathers. Our relationship is one where we could understand each other if we wanted to do so.”
Mm, that was an amazing proclamation. Furthermore, I agreed!
“That is why it is okay to talk to us about anything and everything, your Royal Highness. If you wish to do so that is. Don’t you agree, your highness?” She looked at me and smiled. She sounded as if she read my mind.
I smiled brightly and nodded my head. We had no desire to force him to talk, so he just needed to remember that our ears were always open to hear him out.
It was an offer not just for the crown prince. It was the same for Christelle, who, in addition to Isabelle, was still recovering from her pain…… And me as well.
“There is something I must tell the two of you.”
That was why I suddenly said that. It just ended up that way. That statement just rolled off my tongue… As if it could not be held in any longer.
“Oh, what is it, your highness? I am curious. Based on the look on your face, it is not about tonight’s dinner menu.” Christelle remained seated but scooted her butt closer.
I couldn’t help but scoff, wondering if I had just been acting as a glutton this whole time. The pumpkin-colored sunset was visible through the gaps in the ceiling of the carriage.
“Do you remember? I’m talking about the day her Eminence took a look at Gerrit’s plate.” I recalled a memory from last fall as I spoke.
‘It was such an explosive situation. You almost ended up as a noble BBQ, your highness.’ Christelle’s angry voice was still vivid in my mind.
I didn’t know about it, but it was the moment I almost ended up as an instant roast in Juliette Palace. It was the night I learned that there was an issue with the crown prince’s plate. The moment I heard that he was suffering from a disease similar to the divine illness.
‘If you hold it in and don’t share it with me, who knows when you will explode next time?’ Our MC had sternly scolded the gruff male lead, and…
‘Your Royal Highness, if you tell us, I will also share a secret of mine.’
She had offered a deal that wasn’t really a deal. I had been truly shocked. Based on the context, the secret Christelle wanted to tell seemed to be related to her transmigration. She was about to say that she fell from a place not visible on any maps in this world, a star not visible in the sky.
Of course, there was no way that the crown prince would spill his story that easily. Christelle said that she offered this deal as a way to stimulate him to talk.
‘Deal?’
‘……I will accept it.’
However, shocking was shocking. I, as my fist stood in the middle of the one large and one small fist, had been perplexed about how to handle the situation. I too was hiding a large secret. I had been deceiving and tricking them this whole time.
“Christelle, you said that you would tell his Royal Highness a shocking secret.”
“Yes, your highness. I said I would do so if the day came when his Royal Highness would tell us his story.”
She flicked her chin as she responded. The crown prince scoffed as if he found this whole conversation to be ridiculous. But seeing him react like this made me confident that he was still willing to live up to that deal. I looked at the two of them and quietly whispered.
“To be honest with you, there is something I have been hiding as well. Something I have not told anybody……”
“Oh wow. Do you have someone you like? Or maybe you have been hiding a child from us?”
“Hahaha. Nothing like that.”
I smiled brightly and Christelle chuckled before getting closer. Her elbow that touched mine was warm, making me relax a bit.
The crown prince glared at us. ‘Such a jealous boy.’
“Right now…… I am not ready to tell you the details, but there is another reason I wished to go to the neutral region.”
“Hooo.”
Our MC’s eyes opened wide at my comment.
“I knew there had to be a reason you threw a bit of a tantrum. Well, I liked it though.” She continued to mumble.
I smiled bitterly, thinking that I had not acted my age. But I had nothing to say because she was right about it. My own desperation had made me beg and plead all around. I quietly exchanged glances with the crown prince.
“I’m sorry I said that my only reason was to see the crown princess.”
“……” His red eyes became as dark as ashes.
“Inside the Temple of Boundaries-”
“I do not wish to hear it.”
“Excuse me?”
I was instantly cut off! I was about to talk about the paten but the flow was interrupted. The little troublemakers, who had been quietly listening, wagged their tails with discontent. Christelle scowled as well but the young man did not pay it any attention and stood up.
‘Hey, you’re basically as tall as a light pole! You can’t suddenly stand like that!’
“Watch your head!”
– Boom!
“Aigoo! What the hell?! What the hell just exploded?!” Joanne was jerked awake and she looked around.
Christelle started crying and rolling on the ground laughing. It would have been even worse had Vice Captain Élisabeth been here with us. I was the only one worried that the male lead of a Romfan might end up with a bump on his head.
“……I’ll exchange with Sir Geens.” He commented without showing any emotions at all. Thankfully, he did not seem to be dizzy.
Sir Johann must have heard the impact from outside as well as the carriage slowly stopped. A late laugh broke out.
*
Rumors not based on the truth were bound to subside and even the greatest of heroes would be forgotten if they were no longer seen. Death in a distant place remained an issue of the distant.
Recently, the Venetiaan Royal Palace was returning to normal. It was the result of things being how they should be.
– ♩♪♬……
The beautiful music of the east filled the room. The luxurious light purple drapes and chandeliers the size of houses sparkled beautifully as if they were straight out of someone’s dreams. Expensive parties and masquerades were happening daily in the banquet hall that Werner Venetiaan liked the most. The Prince Consort loved extravagance more than anybody else in the palace.
After Duchess Wilhelmina Sneijder had visited, his habit of enjoying extravagance burned like a winter mountain fire that could not be stopped. He changed his outfit four or five times a day and had even gone to look for his younger daughter while drunk many times as well. All sorts of jewels and precious furs went in and out of his room day and night. Nobody could stop him. Or maybe they just saw no reason to stop him.
Duchess Sneijder had left, the Queen had lost her sense of reason again, and the crown princess had not returned from far away.
“Your Royal Highness, you are so beautiful I cannot take my eyes off of you.”
“Thank you.”
A noble respectfully kissed the back of his hand. The Prince Consort, who was seated at the head of the table, quickly scanned the person’s face and body underneath his hand-held fan. He looked pretty handsome and young, but objectively speaking, this man could not compare to himself. This man wouldn’t catch his sister’s eye to end up on the Queen’s bed.
He naturally pulled his hand away and smiled benevolently. His bruised cheek pulsed every time his facial muscles moved.
“……Enjoy yourself.”
He had not called a healing priest to heal it. The reason was obvious. Nobody could find out about his sister hitting him. One time was enough for such shameful pain. The bruise that spread from his temple down to his chin had not gone away even after a month. Werner did his makeup every two hours to hide the bruise.
“Thank you very much, your Royal Highness. It is my eternal honor to have simply met you like this, your Royal Highness.” The man bowed deeply before walking away.
The Prince Consort flapped his fan and looked around with a charming gaze. Everybody he made eye contact with looked at him with awe and showed their respects. Countless nobles and wealthy people… The sparkling hypocrites… The lovely murderers who were willing to do anything to stick to those in power.
He was not alone because such people existed. Flailing around to kill a damn bastard was nothing.
“This is satisfying. Things are finally a bit peaceful now.”
“It is my joy to hear that, your Royal Highness.”
His Chief Attendant bowed. The Prince Consort’s gaze continued to move before it stopped. The buzz from the alcohol instantly disappeared.
His older daughter’s coachman was glaring at him while standing next to a large marble pillar. Unlike everybody else, she was wearing grotesque armor covered with dirt and mud as she stood there.
—
Translator’s Comments
I don’t want things ever to be peaceful for you, you little bastard.