The brightly shining sunlight was so strong that it was painful. This was a land that never saw winter.

– Swooooooosh……!

A hot wind swirled around. The golden sand danced around. The path instantly disappeared and the terrain changed. Hills became flat and the area that the horses had stepped on turned into dunes.

Elise Venetiaan silently looked forward while on a horse. It should have been difficult to even open her eyes in this rough terrain, but the divine item, the Vicious Manifestation of the Headwind, was in her hand. The golden spear shone nobly as if it would not allow even a single speck of sand. The hot wind could not reach around the two women. Swoooooooosh……

Jeanine started to speak with a concerned look on her face. “Your Royal Highness, are you sure you don’t need to get some rest in a cave?”

“Yeah.”

The crown princess immediately answered. Normally, there was no reason to worry about her like this. She was the revered Cardinal-level Holy Knight of the Holy Kingdom who had been called a prodigy since she took her first steps.

However, the situation was different right now. Twelve priests had to calm Elise, who had almost overloaded, less than a month ago.

– Crackle!

‘Eek! Huff, ugh……!’

‘Your Royal Highness! Your Royal Highness, you must remain alert. Please recall your breathing exercises.’

‘Recall a happy memory, your Royal Highness. Think about the second princess!’

‘Follow us. Breathe in, hold it, let it out……’

A Cardinal overloading was dangerous to everybody around them, so the priests had put their lives on the line to save her. They did not care about getting burns or their robes catching fire. If things went wrong, more people would die from her overloading than the number of soldiers who had died the past two months.

Thankfully, the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom knew how to deal with such a situation. While the priests took turns fainting and bleeding to prevent her overload, the soldiers gathered their weapons and withdrew to a distant area.

‘Ugh! Ugh, Cornelisse…… Jesse!’

‘Yes, your Royal Highness. Think about your beloved younger siblings. You need to be able to see them again with a smile on your face.’

– Siiiizzle…….!

The loyal Jeanine was crying while holding Elise and consoling her. She did not pay any attention to the fact that her palms were getting burnt from the heat. A regular person like her needed to quickly leave the danger zone, but there was something only she could do. While in the Royal Palace, Elise did not rely on her mother or other family members, she always relied on Jeanine. She trusted Maartje, who should be searching through different areas of the Holy Kingdom. She also thought about the citizens of the kingdom who looked up to her, allowing her to resist the temptation of overloading.

She did her best not to think about her father. She could taste blood in her throat.

– Shaaaaa!

‘Ugh!’

……The sharp sunlight in front of her eyes subsided. The flame that made her feel dangerously impulsive and had been swallowing her soul withdrew as if nothing had happened.

‘Cough, cough cough! Haaa, haa…… Jeanine?’

‘My goodness! Are you back to your senses, your Royal Highness?!’

‘Oh Almighty God, thank you very much……’

Half of the priests were unconscious when her ether had settled. However, at least they had managed to prevent a fire attribute Cardinal from a dreadful explosion. The soldiers of the Holy Kingdom at the border were deeply relieved at that fact.

After resting in a tent for a long time, Elise proclaimed that she would head to the neutral region no matter the response from the Empire. She could no longer trust and rely on her father’s judgment. As long as this suspicion that he swiped the Empress’s response remained, it was impossible for her to return the position of Agent of the Queen. She planned on revealing the truth in this desert, where nothing could be hidden, before returning home.

The nobles with her on the battlefield were deeply concerned, but the crown princess’s stubbornness did not yield. This was the only way to bring peace.

That was the reason she headed out to this sandy area with just Jeanine on her side. Thankfully, the fate of the Almighty God helped them.

‘Vicarius Generalis Ronald Rupert supposedly wishes for an arbitration, your Royal Highness.’

At one of their stops, the two of them heard some amazing rumors. It was an area with numerous caravans and different tribes.

‘That’s good. Even if the Riester Imperial family does not show up, we should be able to share our stance with the Vicarius Generalis.’

‘Yes, your Royal Highness. Maybe the Empire will send him a letter as well.’

Thankfully, they had some time until the end of the Grand Celebration of the Advent of the Almighty God. Elise and Jeanine filled their bags with common gold coins accepted all around the continent, as well as plenty of food and water. Two of the best horses of the Holy Kingdom supported them. They had a map, but it only served as reference as the sand changed its appearance every day. There were no traces left of the capital of Únĭo, which existed a long time ago. The ruins had been hidden and the artifact was buried. All they could see was the neverending vast desert.

Elise picked up her spear and pointed to the horizon.

“I see a temple over there, Jeanine.”

“Ah……”

‘Ooooo.’ Something that sounded like the cry of a ghost echoed past their ears. It gave her the chills, but the middle-aged woman stood up straight without fear. She suddenly got courage as well, thinking about the wicked things in the desert that had fallen to her master’s spear.

She calmly looked at the crown princess’s fingertips. Her lips underneath the veil slowly opened at this unbelievable sight.

There was a grand ancient building standing at the center of this boiling desert. She could see a sparkling lake and beautiful grass far to the left.

“My goodness, that…… Your Royal Highness.”

“Yeah. That is the temple that cuts through the border of both nations and maintains the boundary between the Almighty God and the continent,” Elise answered. The crown princess had visited this place when she was younger. It was a time when her mother was still healthy and priest Michael had been alive. The building looked the same as back then. Pruuuu, pruuuu.. The horses snorted. Her blue eyes turned cloudy as if she was looking into her memories before returning to reality.

The ancient capital from two thousand years ago was right in front of her again.

“Let’s go. There’s no need to move at full speed, because it might be a mirage making it look so close to us.”

“Yes, your Royal Highness.”

Jeanine nodded her head. ‘Hut!’ Elise nudged her horse.

– Shaaaaaa……

The spot the horses left quickly became covered with sand, not leaving behind any traces.

*

– Clack, clack!

It was a night with a large moon in the sky. We had only been moving for a day, but the air was much warmer down here in the south. The number of trees growing sparse should mean that we were finally almost out of the forest.

“Jackpot! Your highness, I see it over there. It’s the Rambouillet caravan!”

“Hahaha. It is.”

Christelle and I started laughing at the same time. The two of us were now seated in the coachman’s seat. We changed with the crown prince, who had been driving by himself for a long time (well, Perry and Rhea did accompany him), had a delicious dinner with food we had packed from the Imperial Palace, and had kept driving for a few more hours. We were only using shady forest paths because we would obviously be caught if we used portals. We must have been really lucky as we had not met the Imperial Guard at all since leaving the eastern part of the Imperial Capital.

The map with all these side paths was provided by Marquis François Duhem (the person labeled by the Biweekly Riester as the ‘third most charming bachelor in Riester in 1614). He was staying in the palace for the grand celebration and was always carrying dozens of maps in his carriage because he was still working hard on restoring the wartime portals. Basically, he was in a great position to help us with this major incident. Plus, these documents were from the imperial family, so to sneak them like this was a big issue……

“Mm.”

I gulped. The communication magic tool earrings, the necklace, this secret map… ‘I need to make sure to return them to him.’

“Grandma! It’s me, Chris!”

Christelle let go of the reins and waved both arms with a bright expression on her face. I quickly grabbed the reins.

‘Aaaarf!’ Tithé, who was lying on her lap, aarfed with joy. I was worried because the little guy had not slept until now and seemed to be becoming more and more like our main character.

“Aigoo! Our pink wild horse!”

An aged voice shouted. There was a tall wagon with a roof in the path at the end of the forest. There was an old couple next to her, Sand, and……

“Isabelle?!”

“Oh, this is wonderful. My mother seems to be with them too!”

Isabelle was there wearing casual clothes! I gasped and my jaw dropped. I knew that Christelle had informed her mother about this plan in advance. It was thanks to her help that we were able to get an accurate grasp of the caravan’s voyage. But I had no idea that Isabelle would step in to accompany her daughter. I couldn’t help but scoff because I was happy to see her, but also surprised.

Our luggage carriage slowly stopped in front of them. Christelle grabbed Tithé and rushed off the coachman’s seat to run toward the adults. The old couple tightly hugged their granddaughter, despite not being related by blood.

“Our little princess! You must have been through a lot to get all the way here.”

“It’s okay, grandma. I was taking turns with my friends. I rested a lot along the way.”

“My precious child. I think you lost some weight pulling this heavy carriage.”

“Father, Christelle has always been skinny. You saw her just a few days ago,” Isabelle warmly pointed out.

I thanked the horses, the real ones to pull the carriage all the way here, and then cautiously approached the family. I then heard some noises inside the carriage. The three people inside seemed to be getting the little troublemakers before getting off.

‘Scrreech, screech, screeeech……!’ I heard Demy’s excited voice as well. I couldn’t help but sigh as he seemed to be telling the people inside to hurry.

– Step step…….

I then heard some calm footsteps behind me. I could tell who it was even without looking.

The old couple and Isabelle immediately bowed toward us. The fact that they were being extremely respectful but not surprised let me know that they were experienced and knowledgeable noble merchants. Sand quickly bowed as well. The warm moonlight blessed their heads.

“We greet the little sun of the Empire and the Moon of the Holy Kingdom.”

“Your Royal Highness and your highness. It is a boundless honor.”

“Welcome.”

“It is nice to meet you, Viscount Rambouillet. Lady Rambouillet. Isabelle, Sand.” I greeted all of them.

My nose tingled seeing Christelle being cherished by the adults to the point that I was so happy. Crown prince Cédric simply flicked his chin to answer. Joanne, who looked as if she was woken up in the middle of her sleep, and Sir Johann who never seemed to tire, greeted them as well.

– Screeeech!

– Aaarf

“And these little guys are Demy, Perry, Rhea, Tithé…… They are all divine beasts. This one here is Percy. He is currently sleeping because he is tired.” I gently pulled the chimney bird out of my inner pocket and showed the old couple, who clicked their tongues.

‘Oh my. For an esteemed person like you to have to hold him…’ Their warm faces looked concerned.

“We will provide you with a silk nest, your highness. It should be perfect as a bed for the long journey.”

“A silk nest?” My eyes opened wide.

Isabelle, who was wearing a beautiful scarf, curled her eyes and explained. “The Rambouillet caravan headed to the desert has everything except what does not exist, your highness. Not only do we have a nest, we also have an exclusive blanket as well.” She then pointed somewhere. All of us looked in that direction.

Everybody other than the two men gasped. There was an endless train of camels and carriages wrapped around the last portal toward the border.

– Pruuuuuuuuu……

– Gruuuuuuuunt!

‘So that is the sound camels make!’

“Wow, that’s crazy. How many is that in total?”

“This is a lot less than usual due to the current situation. We only have about 500 camels right now. But before the Warring Era, we would take around 12,000 camels and do business for over a year.” Lady Rambouillet rubbed her granddaughter’s hand as she answered. Even the silently listening Sir Johann was amazed.

‘12,000 camels? This really is a huge merchant family.’

“Camels…… This is my first time seeing camels……” Joanne blankly mumbled.

I had seen some at the zoo when I was younger, but seeing them in the wild like this made it feel fresh. I could also see the Viscount’s family as well as merchant guild employees moving in perfect order around the camels. ‘Oh dear.’

“Demy, no! You can’t surprise your new friends.” I quickly hugged the red panda that tried to run toward the camels.

The guy wagged his fluffy tail with a discontent look on his face.

– Screeeech!

“You need to take your time and get to know them better. It is rude to just go over and surprise them.”

“Hahahaha.” Christelle and the rest of her family laughed.

Viscount Clément Rambouillet gently motioned with his hand.

“Shall we go, your Royal Highness? I will personally escort you. I don’t dare to compare it to the relaxation you would feel at the Imperial Palace, but a warm bed and delicious food will be with us the whole way.”

“Will you not regret it?” The crown prince suddenly asked. We all looked up at him.

A short moment of silence swept through the group. Everybody understood what he meant. Empress Frédérique, angry at the abduction of her son, would definitely chase us. He was asking if they were really going to go with us when they would be dragged away as well if we got caught at the border. This was the final test and blessing he was giving to the Viscount’s family as someone in a higher position. This was their only chance to pull away.

The old man smiled benignly.

“Your Royal Highness, you and his highness supported our daughter and granddaughter. You trusted them without any doubts.”

“……”

Christelle and Isabelle looked at me and smiled brightly. I felt awkward because I had not done anything. When it came to being considerate, believe it or not, the punk of a crown prince probably did more than I did. All I did was stay quiet, make sure everybody ate, and provide them with Divine Oracles to get some rest. The two of them had stood up to Simon de Sarnez with only themselves. The three of them, Ellen included, were standing shoulder to shoulder while fighting the allegations.

“Basically, if you will allow us to do so, we will lead you to the charm of the oasis this time.”

‘It will be very safe and super fun.’ He then added on.

I suddenly felt as if I was at Disneyland.

“That’s fine with me. I was supportive of this plan since the moment our pink princess told me to cross the border!

Joanne was the first to respond and stood next to Christelle.

Suddenly, the crown prince and Sir Johann stared at me from a distance.

“W, what is it?”

‘Why is my opinion so important all of a sudden?’

“I still want to go…… Maybe the two of you have changed your mind…”

“Hmph.”

The crown prince snorted as if he expected this and started to move. Sir Johann warmly curled his eyes.

I snorted, thinking that the question was useless if Justine was going to answer like this. I then picked up the divine beasts and looked back.

Pss-….. A yellow leaf rolled on the ground. It felt as if we were getting distant from the alley we came from.

The situation in the Imperial family should be a mess right now and I was extremely positive about it.

“…I will return safely.”

So I energetically answered them. I didn’t care that it would not reach the two adults and the rest of my friends.

—
Translator’s Comments

We’re going to Disneyland!

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