Chapter 54
“Are you the bastard of the Egbert family?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
The Emperor sat arrogantly upon the throne, chin resting on his hand, looking down at Esther.
It was a sight that could only irritate her.
It was already annoying enough to have to look up at someone, but worse still was the obvious way in which he was appraising her, as though she were livestock being inspected.
Still, apart from that, he was beautiful.
His golden hair shone brighter than fields of grain under the blazing sun, and his sky-blue eyes sparkled like those of someone she had just met not long ago.
But his gaze—belonging to a man on the cusp of middle age—was dead, indifferent, dry, and brittle.
Like tasteless, empty water.
To be looked over with such eyes was most unpleasant.
Yet what could she do? Esther was among the weak of the human world, and he was the one at the very top of it.
Esther beamed. Her smile was objectively lovely, and she knew it—so she showed it all the more brightly.
“Honestly, what’s the point of interrogating a five-year-old?”
Her smile bloomed wider.
But in the Emperor’s eyes, there was no change.
“I despise witches,” he said. “And I despise demons as well. I abhor all who bear their blood. Black magic is forbidden, and black magicians who break that taboo are treated harshly as criminals.”
Esther’s shoulders stiffened.
“Did he figure it out?”
That she was the seed of a great, marvelous, and—yes—genius Demon King?
“…Perhaps meeting the human king in this unfinished state was too hasty.”
She thought quickly.
Though she hadn’t been able to bring her two retainers, at least she still had the demon god sleeping quietly in her arms.
Could she use that if it came down to it? She was still considering when the Emperor continued.
“You carry half the blood of the Kingdom of Surtr.”
Ah, so that’s what he meant.
She thought she’d been exposed for the other thing.
“The Emperor really knows all sorts of things, huh.”
So thinking, Esther obediently answered:
“…Yes.”
“The Egbert family is a holy house. Among all but the imperial family itself, they receive the strongest blessing of the gods. Only unions with the chosen are permitted there.”
“Yes…”
“Could you enter there and live your whole life in repentance?”
Repentance? For what exactly?
Esther’s expression turned faintly puzzled. She had nothing she felt she needed to atone for.
“…What?”
“Cardem Egbert is the child of a prostitute, yet he awakened divine power and now spends every day in penance, sacrifice, and service to the Empire.”
“Oh… I see.”
So that’s where this was going.
“Let’s see what other nonsense he comes up with.”
Tilting her head, she replied.
“If I permit your name to be entered into the Egbert family registry, and acknowledge you as their heir—if you take on the glory of their house—what will you do with it?”
“……”
“You met the god, and were granted divine power. Because of that, dealing with you has become troublesome. The Egbert family cannot reject you outright.”
The Emperor glanced at the bracelet still clasped around Esther’s wrist, speaking with a slow, deliberate tone that felt almost like condescension—words heavy and deceptively courteous.
“Will you become a saintess and serve the Empire?”
“No?”
Esther answered before he had even finished.
“Then what will you do?”
“Eat… sleep… roll around… and… poop?”
She answered matter-of-factly.
Really, what else could a five-year-old do?
“…What did you just say?”
“I’m still just a little kid, so I don’t really know yet…”
She put her finger to her lips, tilted her head, and smiled brightly.
“Your Majesty, are you saying it’s my fault that I was born?”
“…Your Majesty?”
He muttered the title under his breath, as though unaccustomed to hearing it from her.
“In short, yes—that would be the case.”
“Oh! But you know, there’s something I’ve always wanted to say whenever I hear that kind of thing…”
She trailed off. One of the Emperor’s eyebrows tilted.
“Something you want to say?”
“Yes! Shouldn’t you punish my daddy, mommy, grandma, and grandpa first before me?”
Esther held up her fingers one by one as if numbering them, nodding seriously.
“Yes! I think I’m at the very end of the line, actually!”
For just an instant, the Emperor seemed to falter. He straightened his posture.
“…What are you talking about?”
“Well, ah! I don’t really understand grown-up things since I’m still a baby, but—”
She added something vague to smooth things over.
“When mommy and daddy do ‘this and that’ in bed, then I come out, right? But I didn’t have any say in that.”
“……”
“I didn’t ask to be born. Mommy and daddy liked it, they kissed, rubbed together, crawled under the blankets and—”
“…Enough.”
The Emperor, looking faintly appalled now, raised a hand to cut her off.
Where once his face had been emotionless, now clear emotion flickered across it.
That emotion was disbelief.
“Exactly what kind of education has Egbert given you…”
“To repent, I would need to have committed a sin. But I’ve only gone outside twice in my entire life.”
Of course, that was a blatant lie.
“So, making me work would be unfair! I’d be taking the blame alone!”
“……”
“So punish daddy and mommy first, then grandma and grandpa who failed to stop them, then me!”
“And only then would it be your turn?”
“Yes!”
The corner of the Emperor’s lips tugged upward. With a faint, incredulous laugh, he murmured:
“Your audacity pierces the heavens.”
“Yes!”
Well, wasn’t it good to pierce the heavens every now and then? Whatever “audacity” was supposed to mean.
“Is that a new human word? Maybe I should buy a dictionary.”
“But Your Majesty, don’t you ever make mistakes?”
“What do you mean?”
“As a saintess, I can see strange things. And on you, I see… something black.”
Specifically, dark magic.
It looked as if it had clung to him, or perhaps had pooled on him long ago.
It was sticky, pitch-black, and clinging strangely to the Emperor.
Only after studying it closely did Esther realize what it resembled.
“Ah, so that’s what it is.”
She sighed softly.
“……”
“Wow! They told me black things belong to demons!”
She widened her eyes dramatically, speaking with deliberate exaggeration.
The Emperor’s expression stiffened.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty!”
At her cheerful call, he looked at her.
“Which is heavier—sins committed in ignorance, or sins committed knowingly?”
She asked.
“Which is heavier—the sin of being born, or the sin of making someone be born?”
She asked again.
Her face was innocent, guileless, and pure as she spoke.
“Well? Please answer, Your Majesty.”
The Emperor stared at the child.
Was she truly only five?
Her questions struck home so sharply that his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.
Any answer he gave would make him seem less than righteous.
If he lied, he would be shamed for lying to a child.
If he spoke the truth, he would be conceding to her logic.
“…The first question: without a doubt, the latter. The second question: again, unquestionably, the latter.”
Rather than evading or barking her down, the Emperor chose to lose to her reasoning.
“A foolish question… with a wise answer.”
At his remark of admiration, Esther beamed.
“…I shall allow your entry into the Egbert family registry. You may also inherit as heir.”
“Yes, Your Majesty! Oh—can I come visit the imperial palace sometimes?”
“…The imperial palace?”
“Yes! I made a friend in the tall white tower over there!”
At her words, the Emperor’s eyes widened.
At last, visible turmoil spread across his face.
“…The tower, you say.”
“My friend’s name is Sidereus.”
And Esther saw it clearly.
The sticky black magic clinging to the Emperor—its traces were exactly the same as that belonging to Sidereus’s mother.
“…You went into the tower?”
“Yes.”
“What did you see there?”
“A very wide, empty grey room… a boy hiding his neck… and a woman dying.”
She explained slowly.
Even with just that much, the Emperor seemed to understand.
“…If you grant me one favor, I shall allow you to come to the palace as you wish.”
“Yes!”
Esther shot her hand up.
At that moment, a red exclamation mark appeared above the Emperor’s head, and parchment unfurled before her eyes.
