35 – Imperial Palace and Princess

A hallway with colorful ornaments that disturb the eyes comes into view. The hallway, which seemed to symbolize the emperor’s authority and wealth, was heterogeneous.

The splendid decorations were placed in an awkward position, and the scent of blood was slightly felt. While I was distracted by the sense of difference they gave, I arrived in front of a door that felt a bit plain, unlike the fancy corridor.

The man who guided us took the bell out of his pocket and waved it once. A clear bell rang, a dim light was seen, and mana’s blur was felt for a moment. Judging by them, it was possible to guess that the unknown magic had been dispelled.

From that look, I feel the seriousness of the work again. When you feel that way, the door opens. Unlike the plain door, a spacious and colorful room unfolds. Before looking at the splendid room, I put my eyes on the floor because the emperor is there. And I feel that many eyes are heading towards us. Among them, it is felt that the eyes of a clear boundary are mixed.

“I am the betrothed of divinity and divinity. your majesty.”

At the words of the person who guided us, our eyes lightened a little.

As per etiquette, keeping one’s gaze on the floor and kneeling on one knee to express one’s respect, a voice mingled with subtle dignity and tiredness resonates.

“Skip the example and raise your head.”

I nod my head at those words. An old man standing next to a desk piled with papers and surrounded by heavily armed knights. Then, a middle-aged man with unusual momentum standing behind the desk and the emperor sitting at the desk come into view.

“Thank you for coming right away even though I called in a hurry.”

“It is natural.”

The corners of the emperor’s heavy mouth rose a little at Iris’s vague answer, and returned to its original position.

“With that being said, let’s get straight to the point. From now on, escort the princess with the troops you came with. I will deliver the detailed situation in documents through the bureaucracy.”

“All right.”

After an extremely short conversation, I follow Iris and get out of the room.

“I will guide you again.”

The person who guided us in the beginning said so and moved on. The steps continued for a long time and headed out of the palace, and the white palace, a little away from the palace where the emperor resided, came into view. It is called the Lily Palace, and footsteps stop in front of the palace where unmarried princesses stay.

The northern warriors and Rachel, who were waiting outside the palace, walk towards us. Unlike the warriors who walk at an angle, Rachel walks up alone and stands behind Iris.

The warriors stop at a distance of ten paces. Iris took one look at those warriors and one look at the Lily Palace.

“I can’t see any troops, so I have to escort it with only the troops I brought.”

“Except for Her Highness’s exclusive escort, all of them have been recruited.”

At those words, a wrinkle formed on her forehead for a moment and then disappeared.

“Then bring me the blueprints for the Lily Palace. Also, please deliver the supplies according to breakfast, lunch and dinner.”

“All right.”

Our guide responds to her words and takes out a white bell from his bosom.

“If you ring this bell, a signal will be transmitted throughout the imperial palace.”

“Let’s put it to good use.”

“I’ll come back with the drawings and papers.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

The person who guided us bent down and walked in the direction we came from. As he goes, Iris’ eyes turn to the warriors.

“As everyone has heard, we alone will escort Her Highness. The order will be detailed later. Stand guard around the palace for now, grab and identify any who approach.”

As if responding to her words, the sound of foot stomping echoed, and the knights scattered.

“We will go to Her Highness the Princess.”

“All right.”

“Yes!”

“Rachel. As I said at the mansion, don’t say anything from now on, just talk in writing.”

“Yes…”

After Rachel’s sullen voice, our steps headed into the Lily Palace. It’s not splendidly flashy, but the interior, where antique charm is melted, catches the eye. And a woman in a maid’s suit approaches us. The woman bows and bows to us.

“My name is Bella, the head maid of the Lily Palace. Are you Princess Brandt?”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“I will guide you to Her Highness the Princess.”

As he walks behind the woman he introduces as Bella, he feels strange. There aren’t too many people, even if we do escort, we can’t see the minimum number of people managing the palace. Also, the lady who was called the maid of honor is too young.

A woman who looks to be in her early 30s is the maid of honor of the Lily Palace? nonsense. There is something.

Thinking about that strangeness, I head to the room where the unfortunate princess, a mysterious woman who never made her debut in the social world, who died at the age of only 20, will be there.

The top floor of the silent palace. I stop in front of the deepest room. The maid knocks on the door.

“Your Highness, Princess. Shinseong and his companions have come to visit.”

After the maid’s words were finished, the door opened with the clear sound of a bell. The young man lowered his head because he did not want to look at the princess’s face.

“If you’re showing an example, please don’t.”

He raised his head at the princess’s strange words. A woman with rich blonde hair and her eyes closed, and a heavily armed knight standing behind her caught my eye.

My eyes are drawn to the hands and eyes of the woman who appears to be a princess. A cane that was too thin to support the body, and eyes that were closed in an out of manner manner. That explains why the princess didn’t debut in the social world.

“I can’t see it, so there’s no point in showing an example, so please don’t.”

It feels strange to see the princess raising her horse even though she is in the highest position here. Iris opens her mouth at that strangeness.

“Your Highness, please lower your words.”

“These are the people who came to escort me from afar, but that can’t be the case.”

“… All right.”

Iris accepted the words with innocence unsuitable for the imperial palace, where swords made of tongues came and went.

“We will do our best to protect you while we are here.”

“Please take care of me.”

The princess laughed at Iris’ cliché.

“I want to remember you, can you tell me your name?”

“This is Iris Brandt.”

“This is Alik Norman.”

After my words, silence comes for a moment. And the princess moved her face towards Rachel, like a person with eyes.

“What is the name of the other person?”

“This is Rachel. I couldn’t speak, so I spoke instead.”

“…is it congenital?”

The bright voice of the princess subsides,

“It is not. Because of the rules of blood, I am only admonishing.”

“I’m glad then.”

Despite the fact that it was extremely rude not to say anything even though it was the princess’s request, she didn’t get angry, but rather let out a voice that seemed relieved.

“Since I can’t remember it from the voice, could you come over for a moment?”

At the words of the princess, Rachel approaches her. The escort’s wary eyes stare at Rachel.

“Rebecca. To those who came to protect me, such gaze is rude. Keep your eyes peeled.”

“Your Highness, this is my job.”

“Rebecca.”

“… All right.”

At the words of the princess, the escort’s eyes lightened. And the princess stretched out her hand into the air.

“Reach out your hand, please.”

At the princess’ words, Rachel put her hand on the princess’s hand. The princess massages Rachel’s hand a little and lets it go.

“Sir Rachel, thank you for doing me a favor.”

She says that and calls our names once.

“Sir Iris, Sir Alic, and Sir Rachel. I wish you well.”

“I will do my best for Her Highness.”

In response to her request with a smile as she called our names, Iris spoke in a slightly serious tone rather than a flat, clichéd tone.

“Your Highness, Princess. I have to plan my expenses, so I’m leaving.”

“Yes. Please come back later.”

“All right.”

The princess waved her hand and saw us off. The door closes and a strange feeling lingers. It was a little sad to think of the fact that a naive woman who was completely different from the imperial family, who were at the peak of arrogance, had died without knowing why.

“I’ll go down, you guys watch over here.”

“All right.”

Iris goes away, and Rachel pulls the hem of my dress. Looking towards Rachel, she holds out a book in which she wrote down the conversation.

“Brother. I think the princess is the apostle.”

The words she wrote didn’t make sense, so I doubted my eyes for a moment. An apostle is chosen by the god he serves and is the symbol and head of that religion. It was hard to believe that the princess was such an apostle.

“Are you sure?”

“When I first saw it, I was worried because the energy was so weak, but I was convinced by the energy I felt when I held her hand.”

Aside from Rachel’s ability to recognize the Apostle, a lot of questions run through her head about the fact that she’s cluttering her head.

“Can you guess what god’s apostle you are?”

“I don’t know about that. It’s hard to explain, but the overwhelming presence of the soul? Anyway, I have that feeling, so I can recognize it, but I can’t tell God.”

As before, Rachel didn’t know the answer to the important part, and just messed with her head.

“Still, don’t you remember anything? Even guesswork is fine.”

“If I had to guess, wouldn’t it be Armis-sama’s apostle? Among the gods I know, the only one without an apostle is Armis-sama.”

At her words, memories of the documents and memories I saw in my previous life and the documents I saw in this life come pouring out of my head.

Apostle of Armis. A saintess who greatly helped in the founding of the empire. He who heals all sick and cursed. And those who have been corrupted by witches. Thanks to that, the Church of Armis was corrupted. And the princess, presumed to be a saint. And the death of the princess that happened in the previous life.

Memories spilling out are put together, making convincing guesses.

The remnants of the witch left in Armis Church killed the princess who was to become an apostle. And the incident that happened this time will be related to him.

It’s the worst. The probability that the group that attacked the imperial castle is aiming for this place is too high. In such a worst-case scenario, a hint of hope emerges. In order to confirm that expectation, we have a written conversation again.

「Could it be possible that the ability of an apostle is the same as that of the previous apostle?」

“It’s more common than you think. Kaian-sama gives the apostles the blessing of nothing every time.”

Expectation gains confidence and blooms as hope. The hope that if I can protect the princess, I might be able to cure the curse…