‘Was there an event for the Empress to send a letter directly at this timing?’
I thought back over the story’s contents, but nothing came to mind. The Empress shouldn’t be interested enough to send me a personal letter at this point.
I figured I could just move past it as if I were a moderately talented knight and gradually draw her interest later in the story.
I had no confidence in dealing with the Empress’s notoriously capricious nature and behavior since the beginning of the story. Something clearly went wrong, but I didn’t know where it started.
“Should I just unfold this and check?”
“Yeah. Just be careful not to reveal it to us first before checking the contents. And, remember not to damage the Empress’s seal, right?”
I stopped my fingers from trying to remove the seal. Aurora, seeing my still fingers, shut her mouth for a moment and then mumbled with a look of disbelief after a pause.
“…You didn’t know?”
“I didn’t know.”
“A letter marked with the Empress’s seal means Her Majesty personally handled every part of it. Choosing the stationery, writing the letter, sealing it, everything. So whatever you do, don’t damage it. Just keep it safe and return it when you present yourself to Her Majesty.”
“What happens if I lose it?”
“Do you want to know?”
“…I’d rather not.”
I silently gave up. With Aurora saying such serious things, I didn’t want to satisfy my curiosity only to peer into the abyss.
“If you didn’t give me a heads-up, it could have been a real disaster if I just brushed it off.”
Aurora sighed in relief. I felt the same way. I never thought there would be hidden landmines in a place like this, let alone a tank mine.
There was no way I could know such detailed things as not damaging the Empress’s seal or that I had to return it later.
I moved my fingers more cautiously. I gently detached the Empress’s seal and placed it on the table, then untied the red string wrapping the parchment.
‘Do I need to return this string later too?’
Staring at the string in my hand, I placed it beside the seal. I figured it would be a good idea to keep it, and at least I wouldn’t lose out by bringing it.
The parchment made of animal skin was clearly a luxurious item at a glance. It felt somewhat bouncy to the touch, yet much softer than paper.
I thought it strange that paper could be bouncy, but that was my impression.
“Wait a moment. Is there any etiquette I need to follow when I unfold or read this?”
“Well, it’s not entirely absent.”
“There really is?”
“The actions you show before Her Majesty are regulated by norms. Things like how to breathe, the posture for kneeling, where to place your gaze, and such.”
“……”
Suddenly, I felt like my throat was constricted. You mean I have to follow specific rules for how to breathe and where to look in front of the Empress? Really?
“But that’s only applicable when you’re directly presenting yourself at the Imperial Palace. Here, you don’t need to worry about that, so there’s no need to be tense. Just read it however you want. Just don’t handle it too carelessly.”
“That’s a relief.”
I meant it sincerely.
I carefully held both ends of the rolled parchment and slowly unfolded it. The black ink characters on the surface of the slightly yellowed paper caught my eye.
—Go to the Holy Kingdom. Kaiquilia Libanus.
“……?”
I doubted my eyes for a moment.
There were only two sentences written on the long parchment resembling A4 sheets stuck together vertically. Even the character count of the Empress’s name was more than the main text itself.
Wondering if I had misread, I held the parchment closer and pulled it to see if there was more text above or below.
But really, those two sentences were the end. A command to go to the Holy Kingdom and the full name of Kaiquilia.
“What’s with that serious expression?”
Aurora casually asked. The other knight commanders seemed curious as well, but since it was a letter from the Empress, they hesitated to ask.
“Um… just wondering, is there any magic that hides text that can only be revealed if specific conditions are met?”
“Well, I’m not a mage, so I wouldn’t know. Why? What’s it say?”
Without a word, I handed her the parchment. Aurora took it, read it, and her eyes widened with a mix of intrigue and disbelief.
Now it was the knight commanders’ turn to seek answers. Aurora, with a complicated expression, passed the parchment around, and each commander mirrored her expression.
A silence settled in the reception room and stretched for a while. After everyone’s tea cups were filled and emptied multiple times, Aurora was the first to break the silence.
“Couldn’t there be more to this?”
Aurora, with a look that hinted at her emotions, picked up the parchment.
“No way the Empress would need to send a personal letter to convey just a command to go to the Holy Kingdom. There’s definitely something more to it.”
“I think the same, My Lord. It seems more accurate to believe there’s some specific magical processing involved with this letter.”
Iris agreed. The other knight commanders seemed to share similar sentiments.
“So the first question is this: why, of all places, the Raphael Holy Kingdom?”
This time, the reactions diverged.
Aurora and Iris looked perplexed while Claudia, me, Lize, and Erica appeared to have some ideas.
Since we had to speak either way, this could be the right time. The decision came quickly. After exchanging glances for a while, Erica stepped up.
“Perhaps it’s because of what we experienced.”
Erica recounted the events following our subjugation of Arachnae.
How we headed out to find an antidote for poisoned Claudia, only to encounter Stella, the inquisitor from the Raphael Holy Kingdom, and her battle nuns.
How Stella declared us heretics and surrounded us with her battle nuns.
How she exposed her sacred robe to judge our heresy, and when I was cleared, she couldn’t accept it and started groping her own chest.
Finally, how she mentioned feeling divine power from me and promised to take Claudia to meet the Pope of the Sun, urging us to visit the Holy Kingdom.
After Erica finished explaining, both Aurora and Iris remained silent for a while.
“…To summarize what you’re saying, Erica.”
Suddenly, Aurora rubbed her forehead.
“It means Delta was judged by the inquisitor of the Raphael Holy Kingdom, and that judgment involved lifting clothing and groping breasts, right? Before that, she showed her nipples and…”
“The wording you chose is a bit concerning, but yes, you got it right.”
“Is that inquisitor a pervert? Or is it some exhibitionism thing?”
Ironically, Aurora herself was dressed in a way that was far from normal.
Her dress displayed her side chest, collarbone, and even her armpit, and she wasn’t wearing anything underneath. With that kind of outfit, she had zero persuasive power.
Moreover, the knight commanders all wore dresses that were basically see-through, and their lingerie matched the color of their hair.
‘Calling that a sacred robe is just bizarre.’
I found it curious that neither Aurora nor any of the other commanders questioned labeling such an outfit as sacred.
From my perspective, it was just a fifty-fifty situation.
“If that inquisitor promised us that we could meet the Pope of the Sun, it’s highly likely that the Holy Kingdom has already relayed news to Her Majesty. So, Her Majesty probably sent this letter for that reason.”
“Already? It should take a while for news to travel from the battle site to the Holy Kingdom…”
“There might be a trick involved. After all, there’s a spatial teleportation magic among the highest-level spells, so there’s the possibility that a sacred spell—”
“Correct.”
A voice I didn’t recognize suddenly emerged from somewhere. It was the first time I had heard this voice.
The response was swift. The knight commanders swiftly drew their weapons and aimed toward the direction where the voice came from, while the maids immediately surrounded Aurora, shielding her with their bodies.
Just as I managed to react and move, the knight commanders were already ready for battle.
“Who are you? This is Aurora’s mansion. If you don’t reveal your identity, I’ll consider you an enemy.”
In front of the massive window in the reception room stood a woman cloaked in a mix of gray and silver, her hood pulled down to her head. The curves of her body were clearly visible even beneath the voluminous robe.
“Please lower your weapons. I am not your enemy.”
“That’s up to you. I won’t say much. Show yourself. We’ll proceed with conversation or whatever after that.”
“…Understood.”
A delicate hand clad in leather gloves reached toward the robe covering her face. A soft sound of fabric rustling came, and the luxurious gray ponytail hidden inside cascaded down her back.
Her purple eyes sparkled as they caught the light from the chandelier. Those jewel-like eyes slowly scanned us, devoid of any hostility.
“My name is Selene.”
The woman spoke with an expressionless face.
“I am an inquisitor of the Pope of the Moon.”
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