“You came all this way by yourself and didn’t complain about how hard it was? Even a trivial priest like that ignores you, and not a single nobleman from this region came to greet you?”
“Oh, I was already suspecting that the Empress gave some kind of directive.” I smiled brightly. “Since it’s a time when she has to be careful around the Emperor, she can’t openly harm me, so she’s trying to isolate me indirectly, I guess?”
“So, she’s warning the nobles in this region, ‘I will not stand for it if you welcome the princess’?”
Lysianthuses let out a hollow laugh, as if in admiration of her unimaginably petty behavior.
“But I am by your side.”
His crimson eyes suddenly held me. It was a novel look. It was as if he was telling me that as long as I was by his side, no one would be able to ignore me, and he would make sure of it.
“Ugh, seriously. These annoying, idiotic bastards. They are nothing in front of our family, but they think they are someone…”
“It’s fine! That’s just how social life is!”
“Is that something a princess should be saying?”
“When the Empress gets destroyed later, all those little nobodies who were watching her will get destroyed too!”
“Oh, yeah, that’s it.” Lysianthuses chuckled. “Are you going to be the one to destroy her? You’ve got a lot of spirit, don’t you? Wait, is it because I said I would protect you… that you’re so confident?”
He let out a grumbling remark, looking away as if he were a little embarrassed. For a moment, I just blinked, wondering what he was talking about.
Debby and Barbara, who had been listening to our conversation silently in the carriage, also stiffened. Debby mouthed a few words. ‘The young master must have gone crazy.’
Well… I guess… I looked at Lysianthuses, who was wiggling his whole body, with a troubled expression and said, “…No, well. I just think the Empress will probably mess with something she shouldn’t mess with.”
“Oh, something she shouldn’t mess with? What’s that?”
What else could it be? Vivi.
Prince Briam would remain insignificant in the future. The only things he could rely on were the Emperor’s affection for the Empress, her family, and a few noble factions, and the support of Archpriest Marzide from the temple…
Adrian, the Empress’s only son, had the implicit support of those who supported ‘tradition.’ The Empress herself had never done anything that could be criticized. Adrian’s abilities also far exceeded Briam’s. Above all, the Empress was a bastard, even if she was recognized by her family, so her weakness of birth was a major disadvantage compared to the Empress. The situation might change if the Emperor gave up everything and fully supported Briam.
Empress Cleo wasn’t stupid. To be exact, she wouldn’t think her position would be the same in 10 years, even though she seemed to be doing well now. That’s why she tried so hard to get Titania on her side and shake up the House of Castrain. At this point, she would probably never give up on Vivi.
“I’m talking about Vivi.”
“Vivi?”
“Don’t you think she’ll be dying to marry her off to Briam?”
“What?! That… that bastard who’s like a chewed-up cabbage, where would you even put him?!”
Lysianthuses literally jumped up and down. Hee-hee-hing! His startled horse thrashed about. Lysianthuses, who barely avoided the embarrassing fall, said, huffing and puffing. Barbara in the carriage flinched and trembled.
“Is that crazy woman really going to do that? Seriously? Our family’s treasure? No, more than that, that bastard is around our age, what a cheek he has to even think of Vivi?! Does he want to die?!”
“If that were to happen, the Grand Duke would tell us to get rid of him right away!” Debby, who had been pretending not to listen, chimed in with a cheerful voice from inside the carriage. Had she completely given up on pretending to be a normal maid? Barbara sighed with a troubled expression.
“No, well… I mean, that’s what she might try to do. So be careful. Once I break off the engagement, there will be nothing holding me back.”
“Huh?! Your Highness, are you going to break off your engagement?” Debby exclaimed in surprise. Barbara also looked shocked. Ah, this was something only Lysianthuses knew, since I had told him directly.
“Yeah, well, the young Grand Duke Raymond knows about it too. We’ll need to adjust the date later, but for now, just know that. It would be a problem if the Emperor or the Empress’s side were to hear about it.”
It was fine since the people in the carriage wouldn’t spread such a rumor for the Emperor or the Empress.
It was at that moment. The carriage began to slow down. The carriage came to a complete stop.
The sun was slowly setting. Unlike the lush, green scenery full of blooming fruit trees that boasted the abundance of the South, the ground was filled with the kind of pure white sand you would only see at a beach. In the middle of it, a temple stood like a mountain.
The spacious building, built with stones the same color as the sand, looked more modest than extravagant. I was led by Priest Cronen into the temple. Almost everyone in the temple came out to greet me.
-Contractor! (´╹ᗜ╹`*)
‘Yeah, what is it?’
-I feel a faint trace of the barrier! Will you perform the master ceremony?
‘No~. A faint trace of the barrier?’
-Yes, the barrier here was spread by implanting a fragment of the northern barrier, so it’s relatively faint!
At this point, the emoticon sword’s question, “Will you perform the master ceremony?”, sounded as trivial as “Have you eaten?”. In other words, I heard it and let it go in one ear and out the other.
Seriously, in this era where people who use divine power are a dime a dozen, you want me to gather every type of person who uses divine power and “prove” it? That’s what that master ceremony and the votive offering are like.
I lightly dismissed the thought and responded to the people’s greetings. There were a total of five priests in this temple. Cronen was the chief priest, in charge of almost everything in the temple, and the other four were responsible for trivial tasks. They all smiled kindly and offered me their blessings without any regard for me being just a princess in name.
After receiving a simple guide that I should rest today and the Votive Offering ceremony would officially begin tomorrow, I went into my room.
Barbara and Debby were given the room next to mine. The room was not very big, and it was filled with modest furnishings. It was a room so simple that the original Titania would have thrown a fit, saying, “Are you ignoring me with a room like this?”, but I didn’t care about the size of the room, only the size of the bed.
I barely managed to put the emoticon sword next to the bed and passed out.
I thought I had been sleeping well enough in the carriage, but I was wrong. As I lay on the soft blanket, I felt like I could sleep so soundly that no one could carry me away without my knowing…
Yes, truly. So soundly that no one could carry me away without my knowing.
“…”
When I opened my eyes, I was in a strange room I had never seen before.
What is this?
I instinctively checked outside the window. A faint moonlight shone through the gap in the thick curtains. Everything was dark.
It didn’t seem like much time had passed since I lay down. It was just that the bed I was lying on had changed!
It wasn’t the simple temple bed that had been just big enough for me. It was as spacious as a bed in a top-notch hotel suite, big enough for five or six people to roll around in.
The bedding was also incredibly soft and fluffy. The sheer fabric draped from the canopy, I think, was so luxurious that it wouldn’t be strange for Empress Cleo to use it for her clothes. Of course, it was too dark, so I could only feel it with my fingertips.
‘Emoticon sword?! Sword?! Hey, are you there?! You’re worse than a guard dog! You’re supposed to wake me up if someone takes me somewhere else!’
I called out to the sword until my voice was hoarse, but there was no response. Had Debby, who was supposed to be my bodyguard, just let me get dragged here? What happened to the security of a temple?
Or maybe they just gave me a more luxurious room in the temple and moved me while I was sleeping. I was pondering all sorts of thoughts when a voice broke the silence and rang in my ears.
“You’re quite calm, for someone who woke up in a strange bed.”
A young, yet brassy voice, as if it had swallowed ash and smoke, echoed in the air. I flinched.
Someone was sitting in front of the bed I was lying on. The unfamiliar voice came from that person.
“Your Highness Princess Titania. I have no intention of harming you. I just brought you here because there was something I absolutely had to tell you.”
Ahem, ahem. The young voice continued, coughing repeatedly.
“You will be holding the Votive Offering in the temple, won’t you?”
“…”
“In the middle of the ceremony, there’s a part where the imperial family has to touch a holy object with their blood. It will probably be in two days.”
“…”
“You must break that holy object.”
“What?!”
A squeak came out of my mouth from the shock.
