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Episode 6:
I Am Nine Years Old Now
“HOW ARE THE PREPARATIONS GOING, Callisto?”
“Everything is going smoothly thanks to your assistance, Your Grace!”
In Duke Capell’s castle in Koltz, there was a parlor decorated with numerous works of art where Archbishop Callisto of the Church of Kostor bowed his head with reverence, glad to have at long last set foot on Talitelud soil once again.
He had been transferred to Sigoules because of his extreme ideology, but he had found that Duke Capell shared his beliefs. The duke went on to provide funding and exert his influence on the main cathedral of the Church of Kostor to help Callisto return to the Holy Kingdom much faster than originally expected.
Callisto was sure that the cardinals would have never approved of his return, regardless of how many good deeds he did in Sigoules’s temple, so long as he held onto his ideologies. That Callisto had managed to return anyway was all thanks to Duke Capell building a cathedral in Koltz and requesting Callisto to oversee it.
Е n̄ u m а
By all rights, as a religious leader, Callisto had no need to debase himself before the duke, even if he did wish to pay the man respect. Nevertheless, he was fully aware that without the duke, he wouldn’t have been there today. Callisto found himself unable to treat Duke Capell as his inferior.
With this, I have taken a step toward my ideal.
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Callisto’s goal was to bring permanent peace to the world. As a child, he had lived in dire poverty. He wasn’t born into it, though. He had no memories of that time in his life, since he had been so young, but he had once had a mother and father and all kinds of servants. But that had only lasted for a few years. After that, he wound up in a remote orphanage.
He now knew that the orphanage he had lived in only took in children from special backgrounds. The staff there kept the children alive, but they didn’t particularly care if the children died either. The people who took care of the orphans there were cold toward their charges, looking down on them for being the children of criminals.
That had all changed when he was seven years old. A priestess who had been his mother’s friend adopted him. She had a high position within the Church of Kostor and she instructed him in divine doctrine at church in order to reform him. His life there turned Callisto into a devout believer and warped his heart.
Callisto’s parents had likely been high-ranking nobles. They had committed a serious crime, but since Callisto was so young, he was not implicated in it and allowed to live. While he was aware that it was wrong, he held onto the memories of his kind parents and began to believe that his suffering was not caused by his parents’ crimes, but by the cruelty of the world.
Ë.n.ü m̀ ȧ .ǐd̀
There was no end to the strife in this world. And this very strife was what caused people to sin. Callisto understood that this was because the world was twisted, and so began to believe that the world needed to be reformed.
Anyone who heard about Callisto’s ideal of a world of endless peace thought it just a foolish dream. The more they knew about the realities of the world, the more they believed it an impossibility. This was precisely why religion existed. If people could not control their own desires, then people had no choice but to shackle themselves with religion, using the great beings of gods as their emotional mainstays.
Callisto pondered this and wondered if that was enough.
There were outstanding people in the world. Yet there were just as many people who were foolish. Just as there were rich and poor, good and evil, holy and wicked—they were balanced in number. In order for there to be peace, they all had to be properly managed. They couldn’t just get rid of all of the bad people and fools. Everyone who had attempted this in their quest for peace had all failed. It was an impossible undertaking for someone who was not an almighty god.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Nevertheless, he had found his answer: People needed to be controlled through the righteous divine powers of a god, not by other humans who were prone to picking the wrong path.
And a messenger from a major nation showed him the only way to make that happen: via Duke Capell.
Ẁ ěbnо v̈ ė l Ёnu̇m̌ ӓ
“By the way, I heard that you had the opportunity to meet that girl in Sigoules. Tell me, what did you think of her?”
“Ah…”
The girl Duke Capell was talking about must have been Princess Yulucia. His impression of her had been that she was strong in mind and in power—truly worthy of being called a Saint.
At first, he had felt indescribable terror because she was so beautiful despite her young age. She carried herself in a way that made her seem otherworldly. He had never imagined a person like her could have possibly existed.
However, that fear had vanished in an instant.
When he showed her the heroes he had picked out, she showed her age by laughing, clearly amused by something. At first, he had been taken aback, but then he was struck by how she was as human as any of them.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
If Princess Yulucia had behaved as coldly as she appeared, then Callisto would likely have hesitated to deem her the Saint. However, the fact that this angelic Saint acted more human than anyone else at that party made Callisto believe that she was genuine.
Callisto was irritated by how the duke called her “that girl” and was quick to tell the duke his impressions. “Yes, I had the opportunity to meet her. Her power was such that she is worthy of being the Saint—”
“All right, I get the point. So long as she’s got enough magic, that’s more than enough. I think we should use her, even if she is his brood,” Duke Capell interrupted, snickering at Callisto as he nodded to himself about something.
“Did you ask to speak with me today to discuss Her Highness?” Callisto asked, trying to seem slightly confused to cover his annoyance. He had assumed that the duke had summoned him to discuss the cathedral they were still building.
“Ah, sorry about that. While I was wondering how useful the girl could be, there is actually someone who I would like to introduce you to today.”
“You called me here to introduce me, then?”
Е̂ n̆u̇mа̂
“That’s right. Someone, bring in Isabella,” Duke Capell said to the maids in the room.
Isabella was Duke Capell’s current first wife. He had heard that she was the one to recommend Callisto to be the archbishop here. Duke Capell may have ultimately made the decision, but if it weren’t for her putting in a good word for him, it probably would have taken Callisto much longer to be able to return to the Holy Kingdom.
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Sometime later, the door opened again and a lady came into the room.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Your Grace. My name is Isabella.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Lady Isabella. Please call me Callisto.”
Duchess Isabella was a beautiful woman who was much younger than her husband. She was the duke’s second wife and was not the mother of the duke’s two older sons.
Ẅ ӗbn̈ȯ v̂е̇ l̇ Е̄_n̂ û m̀ а̃.
“There is someone I wish to introduce to you today,” she said, and then an uncouth-looking large man walked—well, practically squeezed—through the open door into the room. “This is Lord Caudle, whom I have invited here from Telthed.”
“I am Caudle Dlehn.”
“You’re from the Military Country?”
Caudle was unrefined, with silver hair like a lion’s mane. He looked to be in his forties and was dressed in the attire of middle nobility in Talitelud, yet he was of muscular build and so tall that he towered over everyone.
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The Military Country of Telthed was Talitelud’s northern neighbor. They were unique in that their main trade was the manufacturing and selling of weapons; however, they were not held in contempt for being merchants of death, since everyone in the world had enemies beyond monstrosities and the race of humans called daemons. On the contrary, they were seen in a positive light and had good relations with their neighbors, since they were also known as the Mercenary Country. Their people could be hired as necessary by smaller countries ravaged by monstrosities.
So why was one of their people here in Koltz?
Е̄n̄ ũ mа̂. і̇ d
“W-wait, is he—?”
“That’s right, Callisto. This man is a top researcher in summoning circles and has agreed to lend us his skills.”
“Ooh…!” Callisto bowed his head in reverence to the man before him, who might have been capable of making his aspirations of many years come true.
Caudle was a researcher in the field of enchanting weapons with spellcraft, yet he looked exactly like the kind of warrior would come from a country with as many soldiers as Telthed. Despite his appearance, though, he touched Callisto’s shoulder and gave a well-mannered smile of sympathy.
“I am but a mere researcher. That my work may be of use to you is all thanks to your many years of steady effort.”
“Thank you, Lord Caudle!”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Caudle’s reassuring words cleared away the anxieties that clung to the innermost depths of Callisto’s heart like dregs.
Why had the duke’s people called upon Callisto after he’d gone unnoticed for so long? Why was someone from a great nation like Telthed willing to help someone like Callisto, who had been driven into a do-nothing job? Why did they all support his idealism? Why were they all willing to invest so much into Callisto’s dreams, even though there was no guarantee that they would pay off?
Why? Why? Why?
Even if all went well—no, it was because everything was going so well that, although Callisto questioned the point of his suffering up until now and whether he was being used, he decided to abide by the doctrine of trusting in people and squashed those doubts to the bottommost depths of his heart.
The dregs all disappeared nicely. Believing that he was on the correct path, he gave thanks to the Goddess Kostor, and the image of the goddess’s smile in his mind turned into that of the young Saint he had met in Sigoules.
Saint Yulucia. The girl still had to be officially recognized as such, but she shone more brilliantly with virtue than anyone else he had ever seen. He believed it had been a divine revelation that he was able to meet her in this age and at this time, just as his dream was about to come true.
W̃ е̃b́n оv̀el E ṅům ӓ
Callisto had tried to make it a reality a few decades ago. He’d gathered all of the commoner children capable of using holy magic and attempted to use their prayers to reform the world. However, it wound up causing a scandal in the church. Although the priestess who was his foster mother had covered for him and Callisto had managed to avoid being excommunicated, he’d been forced into that do-nothing post in the Kingdom of Sigoules.
Callisto did not see himself as a leader. He knew very well that he was not a leader. But this time he would not fail. He believed beyond a doubt that the heavenly Saint would lead them to their salvation and that meeting her had been the will of the Goddess.
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Princess, for your sake, I shall bring peace to this world!
***
I was finally nine years old now. That meant I was a big girl! I was no longer a little girl! I did it, Goddess! Thank you!
Ruuuuumble…
Е̃ ǹ u m̀ а̀ . і d̃
“Oh my, a small earthquake. They keep happening of late. Be careful, Yul.” My concerned mother smiled at me.
“Yes, Mother.”
Why did earthquakes and the like tend to happen whenever I invoked the gods? It was no use worrying about the small stuff, but my kind mother had her reasons to be so worried today as she said goodbye to me and Father.
Today was my ninth birthday, meaning it was time for my nationwide birthday party, which was now a yearly custom. We’d held my party in a single location last year and the year before that, but thousands of people showed up anyway. Why did a single girl’s birthday party warrant as big of an event as a Sigoules royal wedding?! Well, during my trip abroad, I realized just how crazy my family is.
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Huh? We have tens of thousands of requests from people asking to be invited to this party? What is this, some kind of doujinshi convention?!
And it was for that reason that I, as the most humble demon in all of the Demon Realm, who wished to live a very human life, yearned to start having parties of a more sensible scope! Although my grandfather doted on me so—he was a slave to his own desires—I was sure I knew how to persuade him. And it was thanks to that that I had managed to hold my party in Toure only instead of at the capital this time.
Ẇ е̌ b̈ n̈ǒ v̈е̌ l̈ .Е̃ ň ŭm á
Basically, I claimed that I wasn’t feeling good. I thought that excuse would be good enough to let me get to go home for the first time in a while and relax. However, a lot more people had grown used to being around me, and while that wasn’t a bad thing, the people who did come all the way here to say happy birthday just wouldn’t leave.
Before, it had taken time for people to recover from standing rigid in astonishment at my looks, but now they showed no fear for some reason. Instead, they took their time staring at me, and those stares scared me.
Why did they do it?!
“Owwww.”
Vio and the other maids looked at me with pity as I heaved myself out of a chair.
“Lady Yul?”
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“It hurts, okay?”
My joints were hurting lately, especially my legs. I’d get cramps in the middle of the night and other weird pains elsewhere. A lot in my chest too.
I took no pride in this fact, but I had no resistance to pain after having been spoiled rotten and pampered all my life. It was really nothing to boast about.
This was probably just growing pains, right? But why? I was only nine years old. I thought growing pains started in the early teens? Yet the pain was so bad that I felt the urge to sigh with relief whenever I soaked in the bathtub. Well, it wasn’t as bad as it had been a few months ago, but I had grown quite a bit. I had a feeling I would catch up to Betty’s height soon, even though she was two years older than me.
Maybe it had to do with lineage? Both Father and my uncle were tall, my aunt was as well, and I was sure that even Rick had suddenly shot up around the age of ten.
Mother supervised as I got dressed for going out, and that was when Vio looked me over with awe and said, “You have changed.”
Е̄ nu̇ mӓ. ĭ.d_
“You think so?”
“You look so much more mature now. We will have to prepare some grown-up dresses for you, rather than these childish ones.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“I have spoken with Mother about Yul’s dresses and she has placed several orders already,” Mother said.
I don’t need that many of them, Mother.
I already had so many dresses from Grandmother and Lady Elea that I had only worn once. And even if they did make new ones in my current size, I was likely to outgrow them in the next several months anyway.
“That’s just the way things are,” Mother said.
Ѐ n u_ḿ а
“Yes, ma’am.”
Was this a test of being a granddaughter? It seemed I still had a long road ahead of me of being everyone’s dress-up doll.
Just what had Vio meant about me changing, anyway? According to her: “It shall not be much longer before your years have caught up to match your beauty.”
What the heck did that mean? It brought to mind my thoughts the first time I’d seen my reflection in a mirror when I was two, how I’d hoped to blossom into beauty when I was closer to ten. I supposed this meant that my wish had come true.
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When I was a toddler, I believed that my bizarre beauty was more scary than anything else, but now that I was taller and closer to being an adult, I’d gradually grown from being a weird child to a beautiful young lady. And according to Vio, my chubby child tummy had slimmed down so that now, while my body was still roundish, I looked very different from before.
Was I allowed to feel confident because of this? That must have been why everyone had been looking at me that way at my birthday party, wasn’t it?! I felt I had the right to be a little bit vain!
Е̂ ñum a. і̇ḋ
“It’s much too soon.”
Sometime later, they finished dressing me and I set off with Father for our tour around Toure. Normally, I went with Father whenever he found a free moment, or by myself when I just needed a break. However, Father had been the one to invite me out today, so this was a father-daughter kind of trip (plus a horde of guards).
Woohoo! Going on a trip with Faaather!
What was more, my joints still ached, so Father carried me into the coach and sat me on his lap, which we hadn’t done in a while. That was when he suddenly said that statement.
Huh? What’s too soon? For me to be conceited?
“Uh, is something the matter, Father?”
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When I was younger, I perfectly fit in his lap, but now I was so big that it was hard to get a good balance, so I wrapped my arms around his neck to get a good look at his somewhat uncomfortable expression. Sitting on his lap like this, I was now basically at eye level with him, so it made me very happy to get to see his pretty face up close.
“Uhhh, it’s just, I think you’re still a bit too young to wear dresses of this style.”
“You do?”
Oh? So Father was concerned about how everyone had dressed me up today.
Today I was wearing Grownup Dress #1, which had been hastily made (at a premium rate). It was not the kind of billowing dress I would wear to a party, but a long dress in a rosé color with a chic upper half and a cute poofy skirt. Mother and everyone else had looked very satisfied as they got me dressed, and I liked it a lot as well.
I tilted my head with a puzzled look, to which Father lowered his gaze away from me, saying, “You can see the base of your neck.”
Е̄ n̆ û m̄ а̄ . id
“That’s right.”
Yeah, well, he had a point.
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Dumb girl that I was, it was only just recently that I realized that all of the frilly dresses I had been wearing and thought were childish up until now had actually been made in the image of the Saint. In other words, they were the kinds of clothes that a pure and naive daughter from a rich family would wear, made to show as little skin as possible.
While my arms and legs were still covered up, this new dress was made so that my nape and collarbone peeked out a little.
My collarbone was fine, right?
“You are far too overprotective of me, Father. Betty and Shelly wear dresses that show off their upper arms.”
Е ń ūm̂а̀
“Now, now. You’re still only nine years old. It’s far too soon for you!”
It was just my collarbone. Who cared?!
Shelly still often wore frilly dresses since she was cute. The beautiful Betty, on the other hand, wore sexy (but still cute) kinds of dresses that showed off not only her collarbone, but her upper arms and even her shoulders!
You’re too overprotective, Father!
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And this same father came off as charming as ever. His charm had only grown since he’d reached his thirties. I looked forward to seeing how much he would develop in the next ten or twenty years. I just loved attractive older men!
However, I needed to take care of his hair. I had loads of dried wakame seaweed, which had plenty of minerals. If push came to shove, I would use my knowledge from the other world to heal him!
E ń ü m̊ а
Speaking of which, I had foisted the massive quantity of wakame onto Mylene, who, after much deliberation as acting lady of the land, started selling it as wakame bread. It was turning into the food that Count Auber’s lands were known for. Even though it was in the middle of the mountains, with no sight of the sea to speak of!
I had done a very good deed, if I do say so myself!
The legendary vampire who had taught her people how to make wakame bread—something about it made me feel guilty, like I had seen something I shouldn’t have, but I was sure that I had done nothing wrong.
Mylene the vampire’s overseriousness gave this demon a bad conscience…
I was busy thinking about the truths of the universe that had resulted from the wakame when Father’s serious tone brought me back to reality. “Yulucia.”
“Yes?” I had an inkling that Father had asked me out on this trip because he had something to discuss, but I feigned innocence and gave him a quizzical look.
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Father regarded me and said with a small sigh, “There’s only two months left of this year, and then next term, you’ll be a fourth-year.”
“That’s right.”
“It feels like just the other day you were still a small princess I could carry in my arms, but now you’ve grown into an elegant lady.”
“Oh, Father.”
I might have been bigger now, but I still wanted all his attention! But as a noble daughter, perhaps I should have been happy that people would start treating me more like an adult? Everyone in this world was so serious.
Still, why was I surrounded by so many unfortunate people?
Ӗ ṅû m̂ à . і̆d̊
It was probably just my imagination that everyone at the castle all did their jobs with serious expressions and their faces brightened for just a moment whenever they saw me.
“Yulucia.”
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“Yes?”
“You don’t have to force yourself to go to Koltz.”
“Father,” was all I said.
Well, I’d known this was coming.
Ê_ñ u_m а
After my discussion with Rick, I had been officially informed about it. Father tried to talk about it privately to my grandfather, the king, but due to various issues, he ended up having a meeting with Grandfather, Uncle, and a bunch of others about how I would be treated. Flat-out refusing a formal request from Duke Capell and the Church of Kostor would have hurt Father’s reputation. They couldn’t have people saying that the royal family only showed favor to the Grand Duke of Versenia.
So basically, this was all Grandfather’s fault for establishing me as the “Princess of the Holy Kingdom” as a way to publicly dote on me.
I would be staying at the Kostor Cathedral in Koltz for approximately one month. Furthermore, a noble family from Telthed who was on good terms with Duke Capell had requested Father by name to attend some ceremony that happened to be taking place at the same exact time.
My, what a funny coincidence! Just thinking about it made me roll my eyes.
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Well, regardless of all the headaches I was sure awaited us, these were unfortunately both matters that the grand duke’s family could not skip out on. Though, if Father was saying that I didn’t have to go, then it meant that he was planning to take responsibility for the repercussions if I chose not to.
If I refused, then Duke Capell’s faction would probably use it as an excuse to criticize Father. They would likely start picking on the Grand Duke of Versenia’s unchecked imports and exports and it would come back to bite us.
Еnŭ m̆ а̄.і̃d
Despite that, Father still wanted to protect me. However…
“Don’t worry. I’m a strong girl.” In a very physical sense.
Should Duke Capell bully Father, then I would happily turn the duke’s castle into a vacant plot of land that very instant!
I enthusiastically made a small fist, which Father completely covered with his own big hand, wearing a sad look on his face. Why?!
“I am worried, though.”
“Oh, Father.” I wouldn’t make any embarrassing mistakes like leaving evidence.
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“If only someone with status could go with you.”
That’s all? Uhh… “Oh, that’s right. Big Brother Ludoric said that he would go with me.”
Not that it made a difference whether he was with me or not. But I didn’t say that; I would go ahead and use him now anyway, since I understood how Father felt.
Mother didn’t want to go to such a drab and dingy place, so she was out. I assumed the other families of dukes would be watching from the sidelines because they were also cautious of Duke Capell and his long lineage. And while Uncle and Lady Elea would make good shields, people would probably think that the royal family was favoring us, so the young Rick might have been the most suitable to join me. However…
“Ludoric?” Father said after a pause.
Huh? I thought that would help bring you peace of mind. Why are you frowning like that, Father?
Ẇе̊b̌ňō_ṽе̄l È ñ ûmа̊
“Uh, is something the matter?”
“As a matter of fact, there is. It worries me. As beautiful as you’re growing up to be, I’m sure that men are going to swarm you like hungry beasts.”
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“Huh?” Wait, what? What are we talking about?!
“To tell the truth, we’ve already received countless marriage proposals not only from people of Talitelud, but from abroad as well. Father and I have both rejected them all, but they never seem to stop pouring in.”
“Oh…”
Vio had mentioned the same thing to me before. I had no idea that it had been so many that both Father and Grandfather were needed to handle them all.
W е b́ n̂ õ v̌ е̇ l̇ Enü mа́
So, wait, was this conversation not actually about how Duke Capell’s family was going to mistreat me or concerns about my physical safety?! Just what had Father and Grandfather been up to together?!
“While we cannot say that we have a good relationship with Duke Capell, he is an honest man. And if you met his younger brother Zesh, you would know that he is as well. But I fear that once they see how beautiful you are, even they may forget themselves and attempt to court you. But no one’s saying that you have to pick someone close to you. I know that Lady Eleanor has been pushing for a match with her sons, and I admit that both Timoté and Ludoric are good boys. I know you’re close with the two of them, but there are rumors that neither of them have matches yet because they’re waiting for you to come of age and—”
“Father?! Come back to me!”
He was such a worrywart!
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I had no intentions of agreeing to marry just like that. If anything, I would decide to get married much later than others if left to my own devices!
So this is what he’s been worried about?! I thought as I glared at him reproachfully.
E n ūm̄а̃
Father cleared his throat and then looked at me again all serious. But he couldn’t fool me!
“Duke Capell isn’t foolish enough to harm you… At least, I’m pretty sure he’s not.”
Whaaat?
Well, if he had been identified as a threat, the royal family would have surely put a stop to this.
“It would be best if you didn’t go at all. But as you have decided to go, I have asked Barnabas to be your guard to keep you safe. He was titled a baronet thanks to his distinguished service, but I have spoken with Father and he has agreed to grant him the rank of viscount so that he can be authorized to be your guard. I am sure that he will be able to pose an obstacle for any trouble that arises.”
“I see.”
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Barna…who? Did I know someone with that name? It certainly sounded familiar, so if Father said I knew them, then I would likely recognize him when I saw him again. But, wait, they’d promoted this man to a viscount just to protect me? And he discussed this with Grandfather too? All this time I had believed that Father didn’t really take after Grandfather, but now I was starting to see the resemblance.
While I was lost in my thoughts, Father bumped his forehead against mine. “I know you’re a lot stronger than you look. But it’s a parent’s job to worry about their children. Both Liasteia and I will be praying for your safe return.”
“I understand, Father.”
My mother and father both believed in me.
Though I was pretty sure we had different ideas about how strong I was. Being malicious toward me was one thing, but I would gladly strike back against anyone who was nasty toward my family. In a very physical sense.
***
We b̂ n ӧv̆ е̇l̄ Е́nú m̈ а́
“I have good news, Cordelia. You know how that woman’s daughter is coming here thanks to your father’s petition? It turns out that Prince Ludoric will be accompanying her as well,” Isabella told her daughter in her designated sitting room at the duke’s castle.
Her beloved daughter’s eyes sparkled as she cried out, “Oh my! He will?!”
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Everything transpiring now was all thanks to many years of planning on Isabella’s part. At first, she hadn’t intended to take things this far. However, hearing the endless rumors about a certain someone felt like torture to Isabella.
Isabella was not born to a family that made her qualified to be a suitable first wife for the duke. She was the daughter of a viscount and, as the duke was the reigning lord over her family, the best she could have hoped to become was his third wife.
Back when Isabella was a student at the Academy of the Magical Arts, there was a woman she didn’t like. Isabella was brilliant, and even though this woman was average in both her studies and magical abilities, a certain nobleman cherished her all the same.
Isabella hadn’t fallen in love with this man or anything. She just hated the fact that even though the two of them were equals in terms of beauty, Isabella was probably going to be stuck as Duke Capell’s third wife, while that nobleman loved that other woman from the bottom of his heart.
W̄ е_bń о̆ v̇ ѐ l Е nu̇_m̆ a
But heaven allied with Isabella. The man was instead forced into a political marriage with the daughter of Duke Cowell and left his love behind.
“Oh, Mother, I wonder if I’ll be able to marry Prince Ludoric.”
“Yes, of course, my sweet Cordelia. I shall see to it that you get your heart’s desire.” Isabella gently hugged her only daughter, who had a weak constitution.
The woman had fallen from grace without Isabella lifting a finger. However, she had only fallen to Isabella’s same level. Isabella hadn’t actually won. This was why she’d taken Duke Capell for herself.
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She was from the family of a viscount that had long served House Capell, bearing the duty of gathering information on their behalf and carrying out their schemes in secret. It was planned that Isabella would be married to Duke Capell as his third wife because the previous duke had commanded him to in order to strengthen their ability to gather intelligence.
Back then, Duke Capell’s first wife had given birth to two sons. However, her constitution had weakened as a result and she was gradually disappearing from the public eye. Isabella knew that the duke needed a second wife to manage things among the family and so she used her beauty to get herself pregnant with Duke Capell’s child, and after his first wife was unlucky enough to die, she successfully became his new first wife.
Е n̈ û m а .î d̃
With this, she had beaten that woman. Or so she had thought, until she learned the shocking truth: Duke Cowell’s lineage had been effectively abolished. A new title of grand duke was created in its place, with that man claiming it and that woman as his first wife. Their daughter had even been granted a spot in the line of succession.
Isabella had flown into a rage. How could this be possible?
“Say, Mother? That girl will be with the prince, won’t she? The so-called princess he’s been ignoring me for. I promise that I won’t lose to her!”
“Yes, dear. I’m sure you won’t. That’s why I am so proud that you’re my daughter. We will make sure that you win.” Isabella smiled proudly at her daughter, whose expression and enthusiasm reminded her of herself as a child.
They were talking about the princess who was the face of the Holy Kingdom, whom people went so far as to call the Saint. Rumor had it she was going to be engaged to both princes.
Cordelia had had a crush on Ludoric ever since they first met when she was little. However, there had been talks of having him engaged to Duke Cowell’s eldest daughter, and even Isabella was incapable of stirring up trouble against the woman who had once been considered a belle of high society. But then the potential engagement was canceled and Isabella jumped on this chance to seize the boy for her daughter.
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The grand duke’s previous title had been Duke Cowell. His daughter was the king’s grandchild and it was for that reason alone they called her a princess. Were they trying to imply that Cordelia couldn’t be betrothed to royalty even though she too was the daughter of a duke?
Cordelia had a weak constitution. It was probably the result of Isabella having a child with a normal person even though she had acquired a tolerance to poison at a young age. Because of her health, Cordelia had not been allowed to attend the main campus of the Academy of the Magical Arts in the capital and, despite how much Duke Capell doted on his daughter, he deemed her unfit to be a royal’s fiancée and had not allowed for any talks of her betrothal to the prince.
And so, Isabella began to scheme.
She would eliminate anyone who got in her way.
This time, she would beat that woman.
***
W̄еb̊nо.v ӗl Ӗ n ũ m̄a
The new year began and, just as I became a fourth-year, I departed for Koltz.
People fussed over me quite a bit, so as someone who loves humans so much, I was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of meanness awaited me there.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
I had a feeling that this was going to be a wonderful trip!
But why had things turned out like this?!
Rattle clatter rattle.
The three of us sat in silence in the coach headed for Koltz, side by side.
Eń ũm а̂
First, the current situation: I was going to Koltz because of a request from Duke Capell and the archbishop of the Church of Kostor in Koltz.
As always, I had a large entourage escorting me. I had my four attendants, who came with me everywhere, as well as Bri, Sarah, and my other guardian knights who were always around to protect me, which was another ten people. In addition, Mother had sent the lady’s maids of our household, under Vio’s command, along with a great number of other maids, adding fifteen more people. Next, we had thirty knights, soldiers, coachmen, and other servants from the grand duke’s household.
And then there was Rick, since he had offered to come along, and of course he had his own guards too. He had palace valets and butlers to wait on him, along with high-ranking maids, coming to fifteen total. For security, he had three of the thirty paladins who served the royal family’s guards, plus seventeen knights and thirty soldiers. Then there were the ten civil servants, court ladies, coachmen, and other servants.
And if that wasn’t enough, we also had thirty-five mercenaries along at Father’s bidding…which meant we were an army of 169 people! That was such a crazy number!
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But Rick was royalty, after all. Considering that the two of us were part of the line of succession, perhaps it wasn’t all that big a number. Granted, I was becoming numb to this kind of thing.
And also, that Ba…Barn…something guy actually turned out to be Mr. Bear!
Еn̆ù mа.і̃ d
How surprising! Why wasn’t anyone else surprised?! Why did both Sarah and Bri look confused?!
Father and Grandfather had forced Mr. Bear to be appointed to the rank of viscount specifically to be my escort, so when I gave an admirable apology to him, he had a perplexed look on his face before giving a hearty laugh about how he had no choice in the matter.
I’d given him a big bag of dried wakame seaweed as an apology. He must have had some last night as a beer snack, judging from how he clutched his swollen belly like he was in pain.
Oh dear! The tragedy was playing out all over again.
Not that that mattered or anything (how mean of me). Anyway, usually when I traveled by coach, we used the grand duke’s high-speed enchanted coaches that could carry sixty people at a time, so I usually had my attendants with me. Unfortunately, considering who we had tagging along this time, my attendants were riding in another coach while Vio waited on me instead. Right now, she was sitting directly across from me.
Rattle clatter.
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Th-the current silence was killing me, though!
The boys sitting on either side of me were the cause of the silence, not me.
On my right, I had twelve-year-old Rick, and on my left, I had eleven-year-old Noel. The two of them sat in silence while Rick held my right hand and Noel held my left hand.
Why were they doing this?!
I was completely stuck!
Vio! I begged her with my eyes to save me, yet for some reason she was watching me with this fond look in her eyes. She nodded several times with a smile as to say, “Fret not, Lady Yul. I understand your situation.”
Е n ũ mӑ
No, you don’t. You’ve got it completely wrong. I want you to put a stop to this, I mean it!
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Why, oh why…?
It had all started right before we departed, when we saw one another at the castle.
***
“It is an honor to make Your Highness’s acquaintance. I am Noel.” Noel was nervous meeting someone from the royal family (other than the family of the Grand Duke of Versenia), but he managed to introduce himself without making any mistakes.
Е n̂u m̈_а . i d̃
Rick was used to people greeting him this way, so he nodded with a crooked smile in reply. “We are about to set out on a journey together, so please be at ease. I have heard much of Lord Barnabas’s valor from my uncle. You must be pretty strong yourself, since you’ve been learning under a man said to be a match for any paladin.”
“I am still in training, but I do have some actual combat experience from working with the mercenaries,” Noel said.
“Is that so? Perhaps you wouldn’t mind being my sparring partner during our travels, then. We’re close in age. I’m sure it’ll be good practice for me too.”
“You would make someone like me such an offer?! I have heard that you yourself are as skilled as any knight with the blade. It would be my honor to be your sparring partner!”
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The two smiled as they shook hands.
The two of them hadn’t had any sparring partners their age, so it gave me hope that they might actually become good friends. There was something so delightful about the friendship between boys.
Ĕn̈ ǔ ṁ а
Bri, why is blood spurting out of your nose? I had a feeling she was thinking something naughty. And even my maids were being annoying with how much they were giggling among themselves. They all truly lived in their own worlds.
While they were close in age, why was it that Noel felt comfortable enough to chat with a prince after the introductions were over? As it turned out, Mr. Bear had adopted Noel!
It was all well and good that Mr. Bear was a viscount now, but he was a bachelor. He was older than Father, so he found things like the prospect of marriage at his age and lineages and stuff to just be one big bother. However, Mr. Bear found himself in need of an heir for the sake of his public image as a noble, so he decided to make the competent Noel his son.
Granted, all of my guardian knights were about to reach marriageable age.
Anyway, that was a good move on Mr. Bear’s part. Since Noel was now the son of a viscount, he didn’t need to scold him anymore for talking to me and Rick.
However! For some reason, the second I made my appearance, everything changed between them.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Lucia!” Noel caught me secretly watching the boys and grinned before rushing over to me.
This was admittedly a faux pas on his part, but I supposed it was barely acceptable since he was the son of a viscount. Maybe?
Anyway, even though Noel had no means of possibly hearing my inner thoughts, a surprised look crossed his face. “M-my apologies, Lady Lucia.”
“It’s so nice to see you again, Noel. You’ve grown even taller since the last time I saw you, haven’t you?”
“And you…have grown more beautiful.”
“Oh, thank you.”
Е_n ùm ã
Here Noel was, such a smooth-talker. And yet he still didn’t let my hand go.
The maids were clamoring again at how Noel had grown up to be so cute and handsome.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
No matter how you looked at it, boys were different in this world than in the World of Light I had dreamed of in that they were capable of complimenting a girl without any bashfulness. They made it so easy to misunderstand their motives.
“Yulucia!” Rick recovered from his momentary shock, marched straight over to me, and grabbed my arm without warning.
Huh? Here I thought he had learned some self-restraint recently. What had gotten into him?
“Let’s go,” he said.
Ӗ n_ů m̈ a
“Okay? Huh? Where are we going?”
Rick proceeded to start dragging my confused self along by the arm.
“Wait!” Noel stopped him since he had a firm grip on my left hand. He looked at the prince with a determined gaze. “Your Highness, I fear you might be hurting Lady Lucia.”
“Then you should let go.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“I am not the problem.”
“What is the problem, then?”
Ēnū m̊ a .і d̂
Rick and Noel were now glaring at one another.
Huuuh? Why? Weren’t they being such nice friends up until a few minutes ago?!
I wouldn’t allow myself to make such excessively conceited assumptions such as “these two boys might be fighting over me” any longer, so since I was certain that Rick thought of me as a little sister and that Noel had always worshipped me as the Saint, what exactly did this all mean? Were they both just being overly protective of me or something?
If I were the kind of girl to have such delusions, then this would be my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shout at them not to fight over me, but I knew that only my maids and guardian knights might enjoy that kind of development.
Bri was now crouched down with a puddle of blood at her feet and Sarah was chopping her in the back of the head out of panic, making me wonder if the two of them had been possessed.
***
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
And so, that was how I found myself in my current situation.
Between that and Mr. Bear’s fussing, the three of us were now crammed into the same coach. Don’t misunderstand, though. He wasn’t fussing over the boys—he was fussing over me!
The silence continued.
I found myself unable to utter a single word. I couldn’t even tell them to let go of my hands! I assumed that their desire to protect me must have been out of control, but I was too scared for some reason to ask why things had ended up like this.
I wonder when our next bathroom break will be.
Nothing changed over the next several days as we traveled from the capital toward Koltz. They kept acting like that the whole time. Still, the two of them were faithful, or I guess you could say that they kept their promises? Every night, the two of them sparred with one another. I heard that it was very exciting to watch.
W̆ ӗb̌ǹ оv еl̄ Е ṅů ḿ å
What was I doing? Why, sleeping, of course! I had my health to consider!
And then, at long last, we arrived in Koltz!
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
It had been such a long journey. It took about as long as it had to travel from Toure to the capital, yet it felt like it had been a billion times longer. I had never looked forward to arriving somewhere as I did to Koltz, despite how much people were worried about my trip.
My stomach hurt so bad too.
I felt such tremendous joy to be released from that peculiar situation that had been whittling away at my demonic heart. How happy was I? Overjoyed.
“If isn’t Prince Ludoric. And Lady Yulucia as well. Thank you both for coming all this way.”
Е̊ n ũ ṁ a . і̂ d̊
When we arrived at the first town in Koltz, a noblewoman in a fancy dress—Duchess Capell—and her daughter were there to receive us.
“It’s so nice to see you again, Prince Ludoric!” her daughter said.
“Thank you for coming here to receive us, Duchess Isabella. And it’s nice to see you again, Cordelia,” Rick greeted them.
So Duke Capell had a daughter too. She was a little bit older than me and gave me a quick, forced smile before a slight bob of her head to break eye contact with me and then promptly glued her eyes to Rick and Noel.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Duchess Isabella also gave me—no, she gave Rick a smile, and went on to start talking about her plans. “Today we shall spend the night at our villa and then tomorrow we will be hosting a dinner party at our castle.”
“Okay,” Rick said. “But isn’t tomorrow a bit too soon? I can handle it, but Yulucia—”
Ẅе́ b n о̊ v̆ е̌ l Ẽǹûḿ ä
“Don’t worry! I’m fine with these arrangements,” I cut in. Everyone turned to look at me with surprise.
“Y-Yulucia?” Rick probably assumed that since I was only nine years old, I should spend the day after arriving at my destination resting after such a long journey, but that wasn’t the case at all!
“How do you do, Duchess Isabella? I am Yulucia. I believe this schedule you have come up with is a wonderful plan. Both yourself and Duke Capell must be very busy, after all. Plus, the purpose of my visit is to bring light to these lands, and who knows how long that would take if we dragged our feet taking time to constantly rest. The two of you must be some of the kindest people there are, given that you have taken my feelings into such consideration. Don’t you agree, Big Brother Ludoric?” I said, all without pausing for breath and with a radiant smile on my face.
Rick took a step back in awe. “Uh, yeah.”
The duchess was shocked as well, yet managed to plaster a fake smile on her face. “I-I am pleased to hear that. As it so happens, I myself have a request for you, Lady Yulucia.”
“But Duchess—” Rick tried to interrupt, so I interrupted him.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“My, whatever could it be? Do feel free to come to me whenever you are in need of my help.”
“Uh, well, I heard that there is a child at the Church of Kostor here who is believed to have been cursed and—”
“I understand! I would be happy to take a look at them.”
“Uh, thank you?” For some reason, Isabella seemed more confused than happy or grateful at my immediate acceptance.
“H-hey,” Rick said.
“Ahem. With that settled, while I escort Lady Yulucia to the church, perhaps Your Highness would like to take a stroll around the town? My daughter shall be happy to escort you,” Isabella said after clearing her throat to collect herself.
Ѐn̄ům̃ а
Cordelia seemed like she had been waiting for this moment from the way she stepped in front of Rick. “Yes, I shall be your guide! I’m sure that it would be way too boring for you to just go to the church, right?” It only lasted for just for a moment, but Cordelia gave me a triumphant look. However…
“No, I’m here to keep an eye on Yulucia while she does her duty,” Rick protested. “I would get an earful from His Majesty if I left her side.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Huh?” both Cordelia and I uttered in unison. Her eyes widened with surprise and then she shot me a glare.
Oh my, she was so cute.
“Yulucia?” Rick prompted.
“Never mind me, Big Brother Ludoric. Ho ho ho.”
É ṅ ú m а̊
“In that case, I shall see you all later.” Whatever Cordelia thought of my exchange with Rick had put her in a sour mood. She turned her back with a harrumph! and then…
Grab.
“Come with us, Lady Cordelia.”
“Eek!” Cordelia let out a scared shriek as my hand clamped onto her arm to stop her.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“L-Lady Yulucia?”
“Hey, Yulucia!”
Е ń.ũm а
Duchess Isabella and Rick both cried out at once in confusion. However, I was not about to back down!
“Please allow me to apologize, Lady Isabella, Big Brother Ludoric. I just felt so nervous for a moment there that I wound up clinging onto Lady Cordelia, since she seems like a big sister to me,” I mumbled, refusing to meet their gazes as I kept holding onto the rigid Cordelia.
“Oh, my.”
The two of them looked troubled, but said no more.
I wasn’t about to let my “meat shield” get away, you see!
What was more, she looked just about as tasty as my actual big sisters.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
In the coach, I used my meat shield so that I wouldn’t be stuck between the two boys again. The entrance to the church had been Sealed off by a priest warrior and I could sense something unusual even from where we stood outside.
“There.” Isabella grimaced at the rotten smell that permeated the air as she pointed at a young mother holding a child covered in ragged bandages. They were surrounded by priests casting holy magic.
“How awful.” I bet my lower half would get a chill if I got stuck sitting on that stone floor!
The young mother wept when she saw us. “Please, I beg you, help my child!” she called out desperately.
What was wrong with the kid? Maybe it was just a disease, but it seemed pretty likely that it was indeed a curse.
The World of Light from my dreams didn’t seem to have curses, but this world sure did. Here they were normally caused by demons; however, I believed that what afflicted this kid had been caused by spellcraft. It was difficult, but possible to cast that kind of spell.
Ẇе ḃ ṅо v_еl Е̌ n ům а̂
The difference between the two was that in a demon’s case, a price was paid in exchange for casting a curse from a remote location, while with spellcraft, curses were ordinarily used as traps. Treasure chests and other kinds of containers for important objects could be spelled to activate a curse when touched.
Spellcraft curses were annoying because they could still activate even after the caster died. Perhaps the child had touched something cursed, but how would these commoner-looking people come into contact with something like that?
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“If you cannot do it, then perhaps you should just apologize,” my meat shield said, covering her mouth with a handkerchief a few paces away from me.
“You mustn’t say such things, Cordelia,” Duchess Isabella said. “Lady Yulucia is still very young, after all.”
“So true. I apologize, Mother.”
If she was going to apologize, she should’ve been apologizing to me. Whatever.
W еb̄ n ò v̄ě l̀ Ë ṅ ùm̈ӓ
I don’t mind so much since I’m in a good mood right now. Thank you for that, Meat Shield! I thought as I smiled at her. For some reason that scared her. How mean.
Putting that aside, Meat Shield had a point. Regular holy magic would have a hard time breaking this curse. This child had been cursed with disease. I had a feeling that both the disease and the curse had to be cured at the same time, or it wouldn’t work.
Meaning, I just needed to use not-regular magic to fix it.
I made to approach the mother and child, but the priests intervened. “It is too dangerous to come any closer.”
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I could sense the priests were both worried about me because I was a child, but also looking down on me for the same reason. I was pretty well-known in the capital and in Toure, so I had to wonder what Duke Capell’s people had been saying about me.
“I’ll be fine.”
W̌ ӗ bn о ṽ е l̄ Ĕ n.ú m̌ а̇
Krak!
“What? The barrier just suddenly broke?!” the priests cried out in surprise.
All I’d done was approach the barrier. Surely this holy barrier hadn’t broken just because I had gotten close to it.
“Help me.”
“I shall.” I smiled kindly at the mother and child and gently spread out my hands. “Manifest Light!”
I imagined an item from a game I’d seen in the World of Light. It had been the strongest potion in the game, able to immediately cure anything but death. It was one I had never used, though, because I didn’t want to waste it. I supposed I did waste it in the end, in a way.
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The cure didn’t hurt my wallet at all, since I made it with magic, yet for some reason the commoner in me felt nervous and sweat beaded on my forehead.
A soft glow filled the room and the thick element-less magic materialized with feathers of light scattering around. In the blink of an eye, the child looked good as new without a single mark on him.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Oh, my Lady Saint! Thank you so much!” the mother thanked me as she held her confused child close.
I smiled and nodded at her, still sweating. I was glad he was better now. It was nice to see someone on the mend.
It would be bad if this disease spread, so I’d cast the spell on the entire church just in case. However, this would just cure people, so anyone who had tattoos or any kind of cosmetic surgery (if that existed in this world) wouldn’t have those changes reversed or anything. In any case, I seemed to be in the clear, since nobody looked different now.
Ё.ń uma
“Thanks, Big Sis.” The little boy smiled up at me after hearing what had happened from his mom.
“Don’t mention it. I’m just glad you feel better now.” I patted his head.
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Look at me! I’m like a big sister now!
“And, um, as for the tithe?” the boy’s mother asked hesitantly.
Oh, right. We had that kind of system.
The religious organizations had a monopoly on remedies using holy magic; however, they couldn’t ordinarily take any money in return, and so their work was repaid with tithes instead. Anyone who didn’t pay up and then tried to get magical healing again would be told that the priests were busy with other patients and they would be in contact at a later date, which of course meant never.
Е n̂ um а̇ . i d
Also, tithes from healing were an important source of income for them as religious institutions. They were a necessity since they wouldn’t be able to heal anyone if they couldn’t maintain their facilities.
Even in such a system, the treatment fee was fixed to a certain extent. Healing a broken bone cost about as much as a normal person’s monthly income. Depending on the caster, it took about three days to heal what normally took months to heal on its own.
However, the fact that I was the one who’d performed the service changed things. To compare it to something from the World of Light, it would be as much as the expenses someone might have to pay after getting a heart transplant and then the aftercare prevention for infections.
I was busy wondering what to do when a priest-looking guy brought out a tray with a single sheet of paper on it, as if they had already gone ahead and calculated the tithe in advance. “As the Goddess wills it.”
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Let’s see, how much is it? Yikes.
“Yah.”
Е n̈ ũ m̆а
“Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?!”
I played a prank on the priest as he tried to get past me and he wound up skidding all the way to the corner of the church in a funny pose.
I snatched the bill out of the air, crumpled it into a ball, and made it burst into flames in my hand as I smiled peacefully at the mother and child. “I do not require any payment for my services. Think of this as a special experience.”
“B-b-b-b-b-b-but…”
She was scared now for some reason! But I wouldn’t be discouraged!
“While this may be a church, the holy magic spell I used was not any of the usual kind, but one I thought up just now. I believe that asking for such a large tithe for such a trifle would be in defiance to the will of the Goddess.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
Ruuuuuuuumble.
“Eek!”
“An earthquake?!”
“It’s the wrath of the Goddess!”
This again? I wasn’t sure if it was an elemental here or an earth god or whatnot, but I sure wished they would stop getting scared like that every time I invoked the gods. I promise I’m not going to eat you.
However, it worked out in my favor, since the people who had been petrified by magic forgot the jab at me.
Е n ŭm̊ ӑ .і̆d
“Mom, candyyy.” The boy seemed oblivious that anything had happened.
“Sh-shh.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
However, the boy couldn’t sit still and started fishing around in his mom’s bag. He took out a small cookie and held it out to me. “For you, Big Sis!”
“My! Thank you so much. This is a wonderful kind of tithe.” I looked around expectantly at everyone in the room for them to agree with me.
The priests looked away, seemingly feeling guilty to have tried to extort such an obscene tithe from a child. I wasn’t sure why the child’s mother and even Rick and everyone else were looking away too. Call me naive, but there was no squeezing money out of someone who never had any to begin with. They should just extort it from the reigning family instead.
The priests were all giving me scared bunny eyes for some reason as the mother of the boy thanked me profusely before leaving. Was it okay to just let her go? She had been locked up in this church for days. It wouldn’t be good if the priests refused them the next time one of them needed to be treated for something.
W еb no v el Е ńum̂а̄
But don’t worry. Afterward, a certain important person in this town settled the matter with the church for me. And on his chest…
“As the Goddess wills it.”
…was a sparkly membership card for the Glimmering Darkness and Whatnot Club (even his scalp sparkled).
Money and connections really did make this world go round. I would be sure to bring about the darkness later.
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I really did feel much freer now. I had been way too happy to escape from the coach. Though it made me depressed to think that we still had a return trip in our future.
And also…
Еn u mа..ǐ ď
“What’s this?”
There was something strange about the candy the boy had given me.
It smelled good and looked like something that I assumed the woman who was his mother had made, and even Vio had warned me not to eat it if I didn’t have to. Yet I sensed something like the boy’s heart, or something like the residue of his soul from it.
Before now, there were times when I was able to sense it in the flavors of the food Min and other people I knew well cooked for me, but was this an offering?
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