Chapter: 616
“Can we really not get caught?”
“It’s the Authority of God. Humans can’t notice it.”
Rene, who was feeling uneasy, looked at Alsatine, who seemed so calm, with curiosity. It didn’t seem like he was pretending to be at ease; had he somehow felt how powerful the Authority of God was before?
After shaking off her tension, Rene watched as the First Queen entered the room. She had erased all traces, but could she really fool Her Highness the First Queen completely?
Considering that person’s temperament, she would thoroughly investigate at the first hint of doubt.
Holding her breath, Rene felt relief as she saw the First Queen move toward the bed without hesitation.
Thank goodness. It looks like the Power of Darkness did have the desired effect, just as that guy mentioned.
Did she come here every day? With familiar movements, the First Queen sat beside the bed, quietly staring at the mummified corpse without saying a word.
Her gaze was as calm as one looking at someone asleep.
That’s when Rene felt goosebumps creeping down her spine.
Even as my mother, there were few times I couldn’t understand that person.
But I had never felt such an incomprehensible emotion as I do now.
At least the actions displayed by Her Highness the First Queen until now seemed to have a certain logic, all aimed at the revival of the kingdom.
It was chilling to think of her as a machine that moved only for the kingdom while completely excluding private feelings, yet one could understand it if one tried.
Today was different. The King’s passing was expected. Everyone thought it was odd if he came back at any time and prepared for what came next.
If the King’s death were known, there would be a bit of chaos, but it wouldn’t shake the kingdom.
Rather, what the First Queen was doing now was far more problematic.
A woman hiding the death of a king and preserving his corpse as a mummy.
If this fact came to light, Her Highness would be met with a slew of accusations for what she had done, and it could potentially be labeled as heresy by other nations.
Surely she doesn’t not know this, so why is she doing such a thing?
Desperately trying to find a reasonable explanation, Rene returned to reality as she heard the sound of the First Queen getting up.
“It’s all for Soladin.”
With those words, as if she made a vow, the First Queen left the room, and Rene was desperately holding onto her trembling eyes.
“Now you understand, right? That Her Highness is not in a normal state.”
“…Since when?”
Rene had spent a long time with Her Highness. Having trained to become a king within the palace, there was hardly any time he spent apart from the First Queen.
Yet, he couldn’t figure out when she had gone insane. The mother he knew thought of nothing but the country, no matter what occurred.
“Your Highness the First Prince.”
“I understand. If Her Highness truly has plans to use the King’s corpse, then we must stop her.”
The current king was undoubtedly a good person and a good king.
Given that these two qualities are not often found together, he must have been much more capable than Rene thought.
Just looking at how the First and Second Queens respected each other when the current king was actively governing shows his competence.
It’s no small feat to keep two strong-willed women calm and foster a gentle atmosphere.
Recalling his father, who had not backed down even while sweating between the two, Rene glanced at the bed for a moment and bit his lip.
“I have a headache. Where should I even start?”
“You don’t need to worry, Your Highness. You just have to move when the day you’re needed comes.”
Caught off guard by Alsatine’s response, Rene fiddled with his hair and let out a long sigh.
“That’s a rather delicate statement.”
“I apologize for not being able to say everything. Please understand.”
“Okay. Well, I guess I have to understand, with what you’ve shown me.”
After using the Power of Darkness to exit, Rene returned to the room and immediately grabbed Alsatine by the throat as soon as he confirmed the door was closed.
“Who are you?”
“Wow. Your Highness?”
“Stop acting. If you didn’t recognize the signals Karia uses, you’re not her disciple.”
While there was no sense of dissonance, there’s no way Lord Erginius would lend his powers to a suspicious person, so he decided to play along for now.
In fact, what this guy had shown was so shocking that it made one forget suspicion.
But he started doubting again because of what was said next.
To have him confirm everything and then ask him to move appropriately when the time came… Karia doesn’t ask for such things.
There’s no reason to ask for it.
No matter what situation arises, it’s clear he would act accordingly.
So, as a test, he showed him the code Karia used while fiddling with his hair, and of course, he couldn’t recognize it at all.
“Don’t think you can escape using the Power of Darkness. I’ve already embedded my magic power into your body. Even if all other senses become meaningless, this won’t disappear.”
As Rene glared, ready to cut off his ankles the moment he tried to flee, the trembling man broke into a grin.
“You… huh?”
At that moment, his body turned to mud and collapsed, then reformed behind Rene.
Amidst the ominous aura, a figure took shape, and it was of a woman.
“…Fairy Queen?”
Rene, at a loss for words when faced with the epitome of beauty he saw in the forest, found himself chuckling as the Fairy Queen giggled.
“I thought I had you completely entranced halfway through.”
“Entranced…?”
“Wasn’t there a tale passed down about the tricks of fairies?”
Fairy tricks. A term that emerged as a metaphor when discussing mysterious phenomena now that the existence of fairies had faded.
“Did you play a trick on me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I absolutely adore love stories. Especially those tangled and twisted ones where the next step isn’t visible.”
“Could you explain it in a way I can understand?”
Rene questioned sharply at the vague chatter, but the Fairy Queen only smiled without providing a proper answer.
“You have a role now, flowing through the waves. What you do will change a lot.”
“Is this a prophecy?”
“I can’t deny it. Right now, I am a fragment of a god.”
“Then the interpretation is up to me.”
To have to interpret the words of a god when I’ve never even had proper faith—what a twist of irony.
“But how can I trust that you’re real?”
“Hmm… Should I tell you Lord Erginius’s embarrassing secret?”
“…What?”
“Just two days ago, I was feeling neglected as he focused solely on researching his powers. He wasn’t reacting to my little pokes, so I…”
“Okay, I believe you! Please stop!”
“Oh, but now it’s getting to the fun part. Can’t I continue? I need someone to brag to.”
“Why not go visit the Young Lady of the Partlan family? I’m sure she’ll find it interesting.”
“Is that so? I was worried she’d be a shy girl, but I’ll give it a try!”
With a bright smile and a nod, the Fairy Queen clasped her hands and respectfully bowed her head.
“Please do your best. I both love and hate you.”
Like a midsummer night’s dream, the Fairy Queen dispersed, and Rene, left alone, stepped out of the room, leaving the pile of documents behind.
Something more important had come up.
*
“Thanks for coming to see me! Honestly, I didn’t think anyone would come here! This place is just too weird!”
That’s odd. Grandpa always said the hero was a madman with half his senses gone, so why is there just this nice fool here?
Watching the man burst into hearty laughter no matter what was said made all the pent-up venom in his heart drain away.
“How on earth did you pass through this? Honestly, I was too scared to even try.”
“Hey, you’re the hero, and you couldn’t do that? You’re pretty shoddy, huh?”
“Hahaha! I can’t deny that! I’ve always been clumsy at tackling dungeons! Even though I got a ton of scolding from my teammates, I never managed to grow! I’m really glad they were there!”
What I felt while talking to him was that the hero was a man of extreme positivity.
No matter what he heard, he interpreted it in some good way, shared stories of past mistakes while laughing that each mistake had its own meaning, and even when I lightly pricked his nerves, his laughter never wavered an inch.
Did Grandpa have some misunderstanding?
It doesn’t seem likely that this person is half-crazy, spouting strange things.
It seems more convincing that he’d get scammed like a fool, fall to the bottom, and still smile, saying it’s all good.
“Well, descendant.”
“Huh? What’s up, silly uncle?”
“Silly?”
“A foolish good-hearted numskull. Shortened to ‘silly.’ It fits, right?”
“If that’s what you think, then that’s fine. Either way, do you have anything you want to ask me?”
“Nothing, really.”
“…Nothing? Why? Don’t you wonder why I’m here, or about the dungeon you overcame, or what you saw?”
“Isn’t it obvious you’d have a dumb reason like your face?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean you’re about to ramble on about sacrifice and great deeds, right?”
Hearing my words, the hero lost all his previous cheerfulness and stiffened in place.
It’s obvious.
If Grandpa would recognize him as a good person, and if he was a man driven half-mad trying to deal with the burdens of the past, then there’s only one reason left for him to want to leave a mark.
“Such a predictable story that even a girl could imagine—how lame.”
“Huh. That’s…”
“Why is this guy my senior? The mere existence of it is embarrassing.”
“Could you just disappear? I’d like to erase you from my memory.”
“…Could you just listen to me for a moment, without saying anything?”
Seeing him sweating, it seemed he wasn’t just a pure-hearted person.
In an ideal world, I’d want to run away from this island and smash something, but if I did, the past hero might really cry.
Crossing my arms and raising my chin, the hero awkwardly laughed.
“Ahem. Thank you. First, let’s get to the conclusion: you’re right. I stayed behind here so I wouldn’t pass my karma onto the next generation. I prayed to the great Lord Jushin.”
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