“From now on, we will commence the competition between the Moonlight Palace and Mokhwi Palace. I, Lau von Württemberg, swear to uphold the honor of the Golden Book Palace and observe it fairly.”
THUMP THUMP
Around the time Lars began the healing of the Heavenly Dragon…
At a table in the VIP Room of the Golden Book Palace sat the three princesses of the Empire.
“The loser of the palace will lose their right to succession. Both sides agree on this, right?”
“Of course.”
“Indeed.”
Acella and Heike readily acknowledged this.
Both were filled with thoughts of victory.
“Both of you look way too serious. Since we’re finally gathered here as women, why not talk about the boys?”
Lau tried to lighten the mood, but Acella and Heike simply glared at each other with crossed arms, remaining still.
That was a silent signal for them to hurry up and proceed.
“Darn it, who put a thorny seat under me? I heard nothing about the rules being set, so what do you want to do?”
“Acella usually fights when competing against George or Gunter. Seems like she’s confident in that area. We can particularly do a battle of strength.”
Knowing that Tanya, the strongest factor at the Moonlight Palace, was unavailable, she made such remarks. Acella, clearly seeing through the intention, scoffed.
“The match with Gunter was more focused on strategy than strength. Judging by your reluctance to mention it, I guess you’re not too confident in strategy, Heike.”
“Oh, a strategic mock battle, is that what you want?”
The strategic mock battle was also Heike’s strongest area, having managed a military for quite some time. Acella, who had a prior victory experience, was glad for the suggestion.
“It would be boring to do the same thing again.”
Already aware that winning with an exposed hand was tough, Acella thought.
She was not to be underestimated like George or Gunter. An impeccable woman.
“Then what shall we do?”
If she blatantly guides it to her advantage, they’d probably refuse.
She’d already played her cards.
Acella pulled out a document.
Seeing the seal stamped on the document, Heike’s eyes narrowed.
The Imperial Palace, the Emperor’s seal.
“A decree, huh.”
It was a document crafted by the Emperor, and its weight was felt in the writing.
Lau took the document and read it aloud.
“In this match, the use of knights is strictly prohibited. The one causing casualties shall be declared the loser.”
There had been a noticeable shift in the Emperor’s recognition regarding the succession battle ever since Gunter’s exit.
He began to shy away from situations where brothers might fight to the death.
Sensing this, Acella had already informed the Emperor of their actions in advance and managed to obtain the desired decree without a direct request.
This sealed off Heike’s advantages. Her strong knights and practical experience became utterly useless.
“The Majesty is watching. You need to prove your qualities befitting a ruler, don’t you?”
Heike instinctively felt that Acella was not to be taken lightly.
The audacity with which even the Emperor was being utilized in their match—her political prowess had grown tremendously over a few years.
More and more nobles supporting the Moonlight Palace began to emerge.
Heike felt a hint of trepidation regarding Acella’s future.
“If we exclude brute force, how about this?”
Heike suggested.
“Economic power.”
An adept sense of economy was essential for a ruler governing a country.
Heike also considered it her strong point and thought it could be a great opportunity to appeal to the Emperor.
‘Just as I expected.’
The words Acella wanted had come out perfectly.
Of course, while Heike managed the Mokhwi Palace rationally, she wasn’t as gifted as George.
If it were an economic battle, Acella felt confident she could win.
CLAP CLAP
Lau clapped her hands.
“The subject is set. Shall I propose the match contents as an observer?”
She grinned and extended her fingers.
“A great ruler must be able to look after the households of the Empire’s citizens. Let’s settle on who can grow the economy more over the month.”
“And specifically?”
“We’ll split the administrative regions of the central area. The one with a higher economic growth rate wins.”
Lau presented her proposal.
“The Empire’s gold coins are specially processed with mana for anti-counterfeiting measures. We can trace all flows. Well, it’s really for tax collection purposes.”
As she said, in the Empire, most smuggling, illegal trading, and tax evasion were outright impossible.
With tax officers in play, they could obtain the desired data.
“But, it’s forbidden to release gold coins or items from the Imperial treasury. We must solely bring about changes through additional policies allocated from the existing budget. The number of actions allowed… hmm, three per week.”
“That sounds reasonable. However, there seems to be a lot of specifics to settle. For example, what will be the criteria for determining the winner?”
“It won’t suffice to simply declare the entire administrative district rich. Remember, the economy of the commoners must revive. We will deduct points for the wealth gap. I’ll finalize the weighted points with expert opinions.”
Lau added.
“We’ll execute policies until week 5, conduct a total calculation of ledgers, have final responses, and wrap up the match by midnight next day. The accounting will follow the Empire’s standard recording method. How does that sound?”
“Acella, what do you think?”
Acella, who had been silently observing the conversation between Lau and Heike, finally spoke up with an air of superiority.
“Lau, it’s the first time I’ve heard such sophisticated words from you. I liked it.”
“Hey, I’m technically a princess too, you know?”
Heike took out the seal and placed it on the table.
“For a fair match.”
Acella also responded in kind.
“For a splendid contest.”
*
Returning to the Moonlight Palace, Acella stepped into the courtyard and grabbed her wand.
“Your Royal Highness, the teacher has forbidden the use of magic.”
“I know. I’ll only use it for a moment.”
The clues she needed for this competition were already somewhat gathered. She had predicted the themes and grasped the trends of the Empire’s economy.
But she wanted to catch a more crucial key.
If she could catch wind of any events occurring within this month, it would be an immense help.
HAAAH
She had organized the magical circuits by herself, yet it had been a while since she had used a high-grade skill like Clairvoyance.
As she drew the circle, pain already flared up in her abdomen. Acella slightly grimaced and completed the casting.
SWOOSH
Her body floated up, and her perspective shifted.
‘I get the hang of catching the timeline now.’
Before her lay a strand of light resembling a twisted tree, undoubtedly the timeline.
Countless threads wove together, spreading outwards—about a hundred severed ends.
The branches moving forward… there were three main ones.
Each thread was a collection of unspeakable clusters.
‘Right now, my time is here.’
By observing the nearest spot, she’d be able to infer events happening within the month.
‘…Will Lars return among them?’
A stray thought crossed her mind.
Inadvertently thinking about Lars caused FLAP!
The strands of light moved rapidly and spiraled out of her control.
NO, WAIT!
Acella panicked as she reached out, sensing the magical circuit overloading unnecessarily.
The farther into the future she looked, the more mana it required. A month should have sufficed, yet suddenly her hand grazed one of the three furthest strands.
—Demons are coming!
—It’s the final battle!
—Arm your weapons!
A chill engulfed her.
It was a familiar place. Gothberg Marquisate.
“I’m waiting for your command, Lars!”
“You must hold the line until the hero defeats the demon king!”
Lars, the adventurers before him called him Lars.
Acella was again viewing the world from Lars’s perspective.
For reasons unknown, there were times when the future appeared through his viewpoint.
“Just as scheduled, the 4th Battalion will deal with the undead army from the castle walls. Tanya, pay attention to the ones flying from above.”
Lars skillfully commanded the adventurers.
Acella quickly realized.
This Lars was not the one she knew.
‘He’s not a doctor.’
While engaging in medicine, he was not the attending physician from the Inner Palace that she knew.
His gear was bulky, with a rugged belt and equipment, and he wielded a sword that could double as a holy relic.
A wandering adventurer freely battling demons.
“They’re coming!”
The fight against the demons began.
In a fierce battle, Lars stood out. Beside him, a female warrior caught her eye.
A woman with flowing blue hair. She seemed barbaric.
They must have partnered for a long time, as they understood each other’s intentions with mere glances and broke through the enemies together.
‘…What the?’
For some reason, the sight of them looked romantic, and Acella felt uneasy.
“I need to use that.”
To turn the tides in a challenging situation, Lars pulled out a trump card.
As he blew a horn, the Heavenly Dragon appeared, crashing through the clouds, causing an avalanche by breaking a great glacier.
The warm mana from the Heavenly Dragon melted the snow and created a swirling torrent that engulfed the demon horde in an instant.
Following the fierce battle, good news arrived. The hero had defeated the demon king.
The demons were retreating.
Lars gazed upon the land he had desperately defended with the female warrior.
As a testament to the ferocious war, the northern landscape had changed dramatically.
Thanks to the Heavenly Dragon, the melted glacier flowed down, annihilating the forest of demons.
A massive volume of water poured into the Marquisate’s long river, forming new lakes and rivers.
In the distance, the once-frozen northern ice plain became visible.
Flowing, melting, and connecting.
With that scene, Lars and the female warrior clasped hands.
Acella, already feeling increasingly displeased, barely snapped herself back to consciousness.
‘Why is she the one holding his hand instead of me?’
No matter how much this Lars wasn’t the one she knew, it stung!
This Lars might never have even set foot in the Inner Palace, let alone the Imperial Palace.
‘Why is there such a big woman around him?’
Surely he could have a future figure with her too.
Acella had completely forgotten her original objective and began searching for another timeline instead.
SWISH
‘…Back here again.’
It was a scene she had seen before.
The golden rose garden of Gothberg Marquisate.
There, a woman stood with long white hair waving in the wind as she turned away.
It was exactly the same as the previous time, without a single change.
Slowly, she walked towards her.
The moment she turned her head…
BLACKOUT
HAAH!
Acella’s magical circuits tingled.
She had wasted too much mental energy on useless information.
‘Lars.’
Where on earth is he and what is he doing?
Could he really be flirting with another woman even now?
If that were true, it’d be a punishment so grave I can’t express it…
‘…No.’
It was precisely because of that that he hadn’t sent a single letter until now.
I’ll hold back now.
It’s not too late to give him a proper punishment later.
‘More importantly, the clue.’
Having been so absorbed in thoughts of Lars, Acella finally remembered her original goal and shook her head, rummaging through the timelines to find materials for the battle.
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