She spoke honestly.

– Be proud of your service♪

♬I am the Queen, your liege, the ruler of all!

“Wow……”

– Kiiiiiii……

It was an amazing performance. The red pandas stuck their tongues out and wagged their tails. The lyre, the lute and the trumpet created an extremely thrilling sound. The loud drums and the mysterious flutes also helped to create a cool environment. Queen Hanan Rumayyan sang in a beautiful voice and the ghosts were dancing beautifully, as if they had been practicing for this day. I felt like I was seated in the VVIP seat of a broadway musical. I would be enjoying it too if the situation wasn’t so bad……

– Aarf!

“Aigoo. It’s not fun at all, right? You must be bored, Tithé. Do you want to take a nap?”

– Aarf.

The harp seal’s black eyes sparkled more and more. I covered the guy up and clenched my teeth. There were so many things here for a baby like him to like. Sparkling gold, silver, and jewels, soft and beautiful silk, hundreds of (dead) people he was meeting for the first time… They must have done something as even the light continued to change and dazzle without stopping. There was also a well-choreographed routine!

– Wahaha! Oh dear♩

“Sand! Are you doing okay?”

“Yes, your highness!”

The priest was being swept around as he shouted. Although he was no longer in Hanan’s grasp, the ghosts were pulling him left and right, making him move all around. But at least he was no longer completely zoned out as he had been earlier. The cute little divine beasts raising their voices to call out to him and Joanne swearing profusely seemed to help.

That was a bit scary.

– Shhhhhhh!

“Eek!” I flinched after hearing a weird noise and put out some ether.

Joanne’s jaw dropped and her bandana slipped down. Gold coins suddenly started to pile up as if I was watching a scene out of Poltergeist. Our artist let out a loud gasp of admiration.

“Wow, I’m seeing a whole life’s worth of magic here!”

– Your liege doesn’t have skills like these♬

“Ahhhhh!” Sand, who was suddenly placed on top of that gold coin pillar, pitifully started shaking.

Hanan’s eyes, which were larger than our heads, were shaking. She seemed to have lost all rationality a long time ago. I had not noticed at first from the shock of hearing a familiar song, but the Queen’s situation was quite serious. It wasn’t weird for her to be like this after holding onto her anger and a sense of betrayal for a thousand years. I would have gone crazy too.

– Boom boom, bang bang!

– ♬ My servant, my orders are not two but three.

Listen carefully and get it done♩

♪ you’ve never had a master like me

The lyrics felt scary once I thought that far. The chorus of the red ghosts echoed out like a spell. The song had already passed its climax and was headed toward its ending. I was at least relieved that I could be certain about the timing because I knew the song.

I quickly looked at my friends. They were all busy looking for ways to get out of the burial room to look for India. Sir Johann was floating in the air on the other side of the burial room. Marian, who was seated on his arm, extended her fingers to check every spot on the wall. The Imperial Crown Prince was opening some door on the ground. I couldn’t see where Christelle had gone, but I really needed to get ready now.

I mouthed something to the Cardinal once we made eye contact. ‘I think it will end soon. Please be ready!’

Sir Johann smiled back at me. As long as we don’t hear the song until the end, our soul could be free from the ghosts.

I packed the cotton that the divine beasts had grown for me. I used them to thoroughly block Joanne and the red pandas’ ears, placed some in my ears and then covered Tithé’s ears with my palms. Sir Johann would make it so we couldn’t hear it, but just in case, ahh!

– Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!♩

– You’ve never! Had a master! Like me!♬

The volume was going crazily loud! Hanan sang the last verse and waved her arms. Bang! Bang! Cold aura burst out of her fingertips like poppers. The cloth that connected her shoulder to her wrists was flapping like crazy. Her curly short lair ominously squirmed like a snake’s tongue or an octopus’ leg. The red pandas curled up like balls by my feet. Tithé buried his face in my arms.

Now that I thought about it, this woman had been a Holy Knight when she was alive as well. Marian had explained that she was Únĭo’s youngest Cardinal. I wonder what her attribute was. She couldn’t use ether because she was a ghost now, but…

– Like me-!♪

– Bababam! Bababam!♬

“Hoo……”

My thoughts cut off. The almost ended music was swirling like a storm. Hanan and the ghosts started to dance a quick and crazy dance. I felt like my eyes were going blank despite having covered my ears. They looked as if they were possessed, with this dance of death feeling sort of like an exorcism. It was slowly intensifying, strongly thumping, with the red fog bursting out like sighs. Each note carried dagger-like emotions.

– Bang! Bang! Bang!♪

“……”

I suddenly felt my blood going cold. Sand, who was seated on a red throne, had his eyes closed!

“Bear of a priest!”

“Sand!”

Joanne and I shouted at the same time. The young boy’s eyes flashed open and he quickly gasped before covering his ears. At that moment…

– Paat!

……All sounds disappeared. Even the rumbling beyond the cotton completely turned to 0. I quickly looked up at the ceiling. Marian and the white-haired Holy Knight were smiling.

Crown prince Cédric showed no emotions, but Sand must have found it amazing to not hear anything at all, as his eyes were opened extremely wide. Demy, Perry, and Rhea’s ears were flapping continuously. Our plan had worked!

‘……What is going on.’

The Queen, who elegantly finished the song, became anxious and started to speak. Serious bewilderment was visible underneath the general’s eye makeup. The ghosts’ empty eyes looked surprised and anxious as well. They seemed to show anticipation until mere moments ago, but…

‘Why is nothing happening? Why……’

– Paat!

– Why did nothing happen?!

‘Happen, happen, happen!’ Her desire-like anger echoed through the room.

I felt like my ears would burst because Sir Johann opened up the air again. My entire head would probably be ringing if I didn’t have the cotton in my ears. I immediately decreased the size of my Holy Land and moved to a corner with Joanne. It would not be good to get noticed by Hanan right now. It was okay earlier because she was only looking at Sand, but the flames may fly at Joanne or the kiddos now.

The three red panda musketeers trotted on top of the gold coins. Sir Johann and the punk of a crown prince were returning as well.

– You bastard! You dared to cover your ears?! No, no……

– Clunk!

Her nimble nose pushed Sand, and the throne, over.

“Aaaaaaaaaah!” The priest shouted and rolled through the field of gold. I looked at him with concern. Thankfully, he did not seem injured at all. The woman’s angry eyes seemed to show sorrow as well.

– What kind of trick did you use? You are toying with this Queen just as your cowardly ancestor did in the past!

“N, no. I……”

– Are you looking down on this Queen?!

Craaaackle! A flame-like ghost’s outline flashed out in all directions. It wasn’t hot, but it was extremely red and dangerous. Her cheeks, her eyelashes, basically everything lit up in flames.

Sand quickly got up and hid behind a pillar. He didn’t forget to exchange glances with me as he ran away. His round eyes looked extremely determined. It meant that he would try to survive on his own to buy us some time. He was weak, but he was also a priest who could open a Holy Domain.

I nodded my head and turned toward the others. ‘Let’s trust Sand.’

“Did you find anything?”

“The only path on the ceiling seems to be the path we used, your highness.”

“There are a ton of old words on the walls, but I didn’t have time to read all of them. There weren’t any weird symbols or pictures. I don’t see any traces of India either, your highness.” The pig-tailed Marian whispered to me. I smiled at the child and then turned toward the crown prince.

He gruffly answered, “A door on the ground headed to a different path.”

“Really, your Royal Highness?”

“It was a trap.”

I started smiling before instantly sulking. He looked discontent with my response.

“You can’t even dodge a rock, but you want to take on thousands of poisonous snakes?”

“Eek, absolutely not.”

‘It was a snake den? You should have said so in the first place.’ I waved my hand and looked around. I still did not see Christelle.

“She’s nearby, so please don’t worry about her, your highness. She is safe. She seems to be looking for a path in a different way than we used.” Sir Johann commented, almost as if to console me.

I knew it must be something like that, but, having it confirmed helped me feel reli-

– I will not forgive you!

“Ahhhhhhhh!”

“Aaah!”

– Screeeeech!

– Aaarf!

We all shouted and rolled across the field of treasures. My heart was thumping so loudly that I felt like it might pop out through my mouth. Hanan, who had paid us no attention since awaking from the whip, glared at us for the first time. She had her forehead pushed up against the golden dome of my Holy Land and growled at us as if she was an animal.

“I’m sorry, your highness! I got caught right away!”

Sand, who was dangling upside down in her hand, apologized to me. ‘The comeback was quicker than I thought!’

– You dared to break into this Queen’s tomb, run around as you please, use those fat little fingers to draw all over it……

“I’m sorry! I am truly sorry, Queen Hanan Rumayyan.” I immediately stepped forward and apologized. Joanne tried to stop me, but I still pushed forward. This was definitely something that required an apology.

I calmly explained the situation with sincerity.

“We ended up in here while looking for a lost ten year old child. The child was basically kidnapped, so she seems to have left those marks on the walls for any adults who may be looking to find her. We will make sure to cleanly erase the marks and warn the child so that something like this never happens again. We will inform the villagers that this is the ancient tomb of a revered Queen and urge them to be careful. Please accept our deepest apologies.”

– …….

“Also, I know that you are not receiving the protection that you deserve. We will request the necessary funds and protection from the Vatican-”

– For waking me up from my slumber.

The Queen cut me off. Her window-like large eyes seemed to be tearing up? Or maybe I saw it wrong. The decorations on her forehead were shaking.

Joanne and I gulped as we looked up at Hanan.

– Shouldn’t you offer up a fitting penance……?

Her majestic voice suddenly sank low. I realized that I had not been mistaken. She was truly full of despair right now.

The ghosts let out dull lights and protected the area around their liege.

– You are trying to say that everything was a mistake? You bastards killed us out of frustration, broke through the shell of my heart, and are now even ripping up the remains of my soul!

“Eek. Ugh……” I barely held back a groan while looking at the upside down Sand. His face, which was red from all of the blood rushing to his head, looked extremely pitiful and made me feel guilty.

‘I shouldn’t have sent him by himself. He’s still a little kid too. I’m a much older big bro.’

“……I am truly sorry, your Majesty. We will make sure we never harm you like this-”

– One thousand years!

The woman’s voice swept forth like a storm. I clenched my eyes shut and barely managed to stay standing despite my knees going weak. I could feel my hair fluttering from her voice.

Unlike us, who looked like messes, Sir Johann and the crown prince calmly stood there like sculptures, looking at the Queen. Marian had her face in the Cardinal’s back while shaking in fear. Hanan let out some gruesome shouts.

– The shame that we have endured for a thousand years… you reduce it to mere harm?! You bastards do not know anything. We’ve lost too, too much. We can’t even remember who we were while we were alive, what we cherished, what we disliked…not even how we lost our lives……! Do you know the miserable life of someone who has even forgotten why they are angry?!

She flailed her arm around.

“Please!” I stepped forward even more, worried that something would happen to Sand. Demy dangled at my boot, but I did not stop. The veins were now visible on the priest’s forehead. It must be difficult, as his breathing was getting rougher as well. The harp seal in my arm was shaking. I held onto my teacher’s staff extremely tightly and begged.

“Your Majesty, I have said something wrong. Please show mercy.”

– I am tied to my grudge and unable to escape from it! I am a victim of my own curse and must remain imprisoned here for all eternity. Until Roosegaarde frees me!

My eyes opened wide despite the pain in my ears. This was a completely unexpected progression. The reason she wanted three acts of service was not because she wanted revenge against the House of Roosegaarde. Hanan’s face looked as if she might crumble at any moment. But ghosts were existences that could not cry.

“Your Majesty.”

– But this bastard has rejected me. He used some evil means to defend against my spell and is going to make my innocent subjects stay another thousand years in this place!

“Please listen to me, your Majesty. That is not Sand’s fault. We-”

– So I will kill him!

The Queen raised her arm up high. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!” Sand was flailed to the ceiling.

“No!”

The situation instantly reached its climax. I turned pale and started running forward. I had no time or reason to think things through. Demy let out a long screech behind me, but I pretended not to hear him. I punched the crown prince who was holding onto me and used every ounce of strength to push Sir Johann away. Once I finally managed to barely get past him, I charged toward Hanan. I knew that ether did not work against ghosts, but…

I still couldn’t sit there doing nothing. That child said that he would meet his father to let him know that he was happy right now.

[Please stop!]

– Paaaa……!

At first, I thought it was the light from my Holy Land. However, that was not the case. An extremely shocked Hanan withdrew. The ghosts ran and hid into the wall like a wave. I gasped in astonishment at the unfamiliar light.

To be more specific……

– Ah ah…… How could a baby like you have the root of a temple?!

Faint beige-colored light was coming out from multiple spots of the now black and rusted staff from my teacher.

—
Translator’s Comments

You’ve…never ever had…never ever had…

<< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >>