DGDITMIAE 26

Chapter 26

The Emperor still had not yet fully shed his boyish appearance. He continued to gaze at Isolric with a gentle expression. He resembled Terestia so much that one would believe they were siblings, yet the atmosphere he exuded was completely different.

There was no one around him except for a single knight attending him, but strangely, the soft majesty flowing from the Emperor overwhelmed Isolric.

“Make yourself comfortable. You are Her Majesty the Empress Dowager’s guest, are you not?”

“…”

“I’m sorry to detain you when you seem to be on your way back to the Vatican. I wanted to meet you.”

“The honor is mine, Your Majesty.”

“I heard you saw my aunt in the North.”

“…Yes.”

“How was she?”

Even at that gentle address, Isolric hesitated.

It was well known throughout the empire that the Empress Dowager and the Grand Duke Inyument had a poor relationship…

But strangely, the Grand Duke’s relationship with her nephew, the Emperor, was not particularly bad.

So he wondered whether he should give an answer different from what the Empress Dowager would have wanted.

The perceptive Emperor seemed to notice Isolric’s dilemma and cut straight to the heart of the matter, asking again.

“There’s a rumor going around that my aunt is a demon. Do you think so too?”

“Pardon?”

“At the very least, Her Majesty the Empress Dowager seems to think so, but I’m curious about your thoughts. You met my aunt in person, after all.”

The Emperor respectfully called his own mother ‘Her Majesty the Empress Dowager,’ but referred to the Grand Duke Inyument familiarly as ‘my aunt.’

Having made that judgment, Isolric hesitated and asked.

“…Do you have a desired answer from me?”

At that question, the Emperor smiled softly.

Then he took a step closer and slowly opened his mouth.

The red-eyed crow that had been secretly watching their figures from afar spread its large wings and flew off somewhere only after hearing the Emperor’s proposal in full.

—

* * *

—

Spring in the North was not a warm and vibrant season, but rather a season closer to being annoying and irritating.

It was the season when monsters in their prime fattened up and bred, ultimately forcing one to draw a sword again and go out hunting—that was spring in the North.

“Damned manticore! Just stay still! That way I can carve out the core neatly!”

“Die! Die! This one’s not even worth money!”

The knights who had been receiving grueling training and instruction from Terestia were releasing that stress through monster hunting.

Swinging their swords as they pleased, bickering over who caught more, who cut more cleanly…

Just as Terestia was considering whether to work the knights who had been deafening her with useless arguments once more—

“Your Highness.”

Her aide, who had walked over leisurely alone amidst the splattering blood and flesh, called out to her.

His hair, like hazy smoke, was tousled by the wind, but paying it no mind at all, he presented to Terestia a large crow perched on his left arm.

The crow, which had been calmly grooming its feathers on Argo’s arm, silently stared at Terestia, who showed interest in it.

“Argo, what’s with that crow? Why is it so big? It’s so docile—is it not a crow but a hawk? Or maybe a beastman?”

“It’s too black to be a hawk, and too small to be a beastman, wouldn’t you say?”

“Hmm… Well, I’m not sure, but it’s huge for a crow, right? And its eyes are bright red too. So what is it?”

“Surprisingly, it’s just a crow. It seems to have been deformed by being tainted with magic while living near the border.”

*Is that so? But this crow… it keeps looking at me strangely, doesn’t it?*

Terestia, overcome by an inexplicable competitive spirit, began a staring contest with the monstrous crow.

She couldn’t explain it, but it felt like the crow was wary of her and jealous of her from Argo’s side.

Even monsters would yield and flinch at Terestia’s gaze, but this cheeky crow actually met her stare and even made a sound.

“Caw!”

*Caw? Somehow that sounds like ‘What are you looking at’?*

That won’t do. I’ll teach this insolent bird the majesty of a great demon.

Just as Terestia, who had been having a staring match fierce enough to spark fire, raised her hand to grab the crow—

“…Your Highness, you’re not actually fighting with a crow right now, are you?”

“It stared at me first. Give it here.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? Don’t pick a fight with a mere creature you can’t even communicate with.”

“It’s glaring at me right now. I think it’s a beastman. It clearly understands what I’m saying, so give it here.”

“…”

Argo, at a loss for words, looked down at Terestia once, and then at the crow that was primly turning its head away in his arms.

Then, muttering quietly, “Good instincts…” he sent the crow flying far away.

Whether Terestia fumed about why he let it escape or not, he quickly brought up a topic to divert her attention.

“A new report has arrived from the capital.”

“What is it?”

*Something that’ll get on my nerves more than that crow?*

She barely held back the urge to ask that, only scrunching up the bridge of her nose.

“Do you remember the Holy Knight who previously asked Your Highness to take him on as a knight?”

“That elf-looking guy?”

*What was his name again…*

*Ah, Isolric Yennier. That was it.*

As Terestia answered with a disinterested look, Argo nodded slightly as if troubled and spoke.

“Both Her Majesty the Empress Dowager and His Majesty the Emperor seem curious about Your Highness. I hear they’ve been approaching that Holy Knight to pry into your news.”

“My news? That bastard can just answer what he saw of me. What’s the problem?”

“It seems Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wants to frame Your Highness as a demon.”

“What? Ah, a demon?”

*Why is the word demon suddenly coming up again?*

Terestia was flustered and raised her head sharply to look at Argo.

“Don’t tell me that knight bastard is going around saying I’m a demon?”

“Not quite that. However, he did say Your Highness was completely different from before…”

“Different? No, I’m not? I’m exactly the same as before! What’s completely different about me! Look, Argo. Am I that different from before? Huh?”

*What’s the point of trying so hard to explain that to me.*

Argo looked down at Terestia with that kind of gaze and continued relaying the news the crow had delivered.

“More than that, it seems the rumor that Your Highness is a demon has spread in the capital as well.”

“…The rumor that I bathe in the blood of those who couldn’t pay taxes and cruelly exploit the domain’s people?”

“Yes.”

“That’s exactly the same as the old Terestia! These damn humans—whether I’m the same as before or different, they call me a demon! They just want to make me a demon no matter what!”

It was an outburst of indignation, but it also struck the core of the matter.

Argo murmured an impressed “Oh…” and even clapped his hands.

“Exactly that, Your Highness. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager wants to define Your Highness as a ‘demon,’ regardless of what your true identity actually is.”

Her stomach boiled with anger.

She wanted to pinch the face of her smug-looking aide to vent her frustration.

After huffing and tossing the musket she’d been holding to Argo as if throwing it, she snapped viciously.

“So! Since the rumor is spreading, you’re telling me not to even think about going to the capital from now on?”

*If I’d known this would happen, I should have accepted that Holy Knight bastard as my subordinate.*

*Then he wouldn’t have gone back to the capital and spouted strange things, would he.*

*No, since he’s a Holy Knight, he probably saw through my true nature right away, didn’t he?*

As she gnawed at her lips and pondered what course of action would have yielded the best outcome, Argo raised his hand and pressed it firmly against her lips.

As if telling her not to torment her lips for no reason, he pressed gently with his thumb, but his eyes remained indifferent.

“I didn’t say that. However, it seems the rumors have reached His Majesty the Emperor’s ears as well. Before I relay the report I received… I’m curious how Your Highness regards His Majesty the Emperor.”

“The Emperor?”

*The Emperor, huh…*

Sidwill Elekstera Pavellon—the boy Emperor of this Pavellon Empire and Terestia’s nephew.

In Terestia’s memory, her nephew was rather frail, taking after his sickly father.

However, he had a kind and benevolent disposition and a smart, wise mind—truly the stuff of an emperor.

So much so that even that good-for-nothing Terestia doted on her nephew and always went around saying, “Thanks to Sidwill, the empire won’t collapse.”

Since she had inherited Terestia’s memories as they were, her favorable impression of the Emperor she had never even met was high.

“Why Sidwill all of a sudden?”

“…You feel close enough to call him Sidwill.”

Argo seemed to be pondering something seriously on his own, then nodded and opened his mouth.

“His Majesty the Emperor’s birthday is about a month and ten days away. Do you remember?”

“Ah, that’s right. Yes, I remember.”

“How about Your Highness visiting the capital again at that time?”

*Let them see for themselves whether Your Highness truly is a demon.*

Argo added that with a grin.