<Episode 47>
***
“Ha… nothing happened to them.”
Riat, looking disheveled and completely different from his leisure appearance a few hours ago, muttered with a sad complexion, his entire body bound by the strong roots of a tree.
After all, there was no need for Edith to worry about the grandparents.
“…Then why did you do such a ridiculous thing?”
The grandmother who rescued Ashamed and me from the mansion asked a question in a confused voice.
“…I could never have imagined that the Chairman would come to pick up those children.”
Riat looked back at the old people who were looking down at him from all over with flashing eyes and smiled slightly.
“…But no matter how much I think about it, I don’t understand. Why did the King of Nisha kidnap our Edith?”
“Grandfather!”
I rushed into my grandfather’s arms, hugged him tightly, and buried my face.
My grandfather, who naturally caught me and embraced me, spoke in a questioning tone.
“The reason is probably… But, you sure didn’t know?”
“What?”
Listening to the voice, it seemed to be the old woman who had just talked to Riat.
The old woman spoke in a voice that conveyed genuine astonishment.
“This guy is the kid who studied with your daughter at Litera…”
“…What? The ** bastard who what?!”
Behind the grandfather’s yelling voice, Riat’s exhausted voice was heard.
“** you…. There’s no way for me to look good anymore.”
“Shut your mouth! Even though you are an Elementist who studied with Mariette, you shamelessly kidnapped my granddaughter?! Only by being beaten to dust on a rainy day will your rotten mind be reformed even a little!”
“Hey, stop! No matter what, this guy is the king of a country!”
My grandfather, who was enraged, raised his sword again and tried to lunge at Riat, so I quickly got away from him.
At the same time, the elders ripped off my grandfather from him.
[Can you stop now? You have to stop this and sort the other things out now.]The uproar that broke out died down thanks to Illipia’s restraint.
“Yes, we did rescue you, but… the Roshan Empire will probably be completely turned upside down and a mess will happen.”
Grandfather spoke in a subdued tone.
“For now, you shall go back with us… It would be best to take this guy with us.”
“No, grandfather.”
I stepped forward and opened my mouth.
“…I clearly heard what the King of Nisha said. The Emperor of Roshan requested the assassination of Ashamed, and to carry out the request, he also kidnapped me.”
“…What? The Emperor… So, he tried to kill the second prince, his own son? What do you mean?”
The grandfather’s question came back as if it was truly absurd.
I was worried about Ashamed and looked at him for a moment.
But Ashamed seemed calmer than expected.
…No, he really had a dull expression that showed no emotion.
I explained Ashamed’s past as briefly and concisely as possible to the elderly people who did not know the inside story.
On the other hand, I was worried that the elders might show hostility towards Ashamed, as they were heroes who drove out the spirits of darkness.
“It’s the end of the world… Even though he was born under the curse of Arkane, he is his own child, but he hates him so much that he even tries to kill him.. And that’s with the help of the enemy king!”
“…I have not liked Roshan since a long time ago. He pretended to be noble, but behind the scenes, he would do devious things.”
An old man with white blond hair muttered as if he was lamenting, and an old man with a scary look, whose name was David, distorted his expression and spat out as if he was disgusted.
These were unexpected reactions.
“……The situation is complicated. Even though I am the Grand Princess of Heilian and Ashamed is the second prince, the fact that the Emperor of the Roshan Empire ordered the assassination by the king of an enemy country, not anyone else, caused this mess. Now I fell like I will die from headaches. How big of a mess will this evolve into?”
“First, it would be better for us to release His Highness the King of Nisha and return to the Roshan Empire on our own.”
Riat Ilkay Khalid.
The king of Nisha.
Also, someone who had a connection with my mother in the past.
…He didn’t seem to be a very malicious person like the Emperor of Roshan and Roberick, so he didn’t necessarily want to cause an international problem.
“Your granddaughter is very smart. I also agree with her opinion.”
The old woman, who was handling various giant plants, smiled gently and said.
“…Edith, but this old man…is too angry to let that guy go like this.”
The other elders seemed to agree, but only the grandfather muttered in a dissatisfied tone.
“Grandpa, I just want to rest quickly. and…….”
While I was trying to persuade my grandfather, I looked back at Riat, who had been quiet from earlier.
“……”
He was quietly looking at me.
I hesitated for a moment and slowly walked towards him.
“Edith.”
It was Riat who spoke first.
“…Do you blame me?”
He quietly asked just that.
well…
Because of you, I went through hardships I never had to go through, and no matter what the circumstances were, you didn’t only kidnap me you even tried to harm Ashamed and dragged me to Nisha of your own accord…
“Not really. There is also a truth that I learned thanks to you causing this mess.”
But thanks to this, I was able to see with my own eyes the truth of the past that the royal families of Ruairi and Roberick had completely blocked from me.
That alone had already offset more than half of my resentment toward him.
The real enemy is not this man in front of me.
“……is it true?”
Riat laughed slightly.
He lowered his head and let out a small laugh, then slowly looked at me and said.
“It’s a blessing in disguise.”
“…We will seperate here. Don’t think of any more nonsense and go back to Nisha quickly.”
This wasn’t a bad ending.
I plan to use this as an excuse to put pressure on the Emperor, but I don’t want to drag Nisha into it either.
When I turned around, thinking that..
“When you return to the Roshan Empire… there will be many dangers and difficulties.”
Suddenly, Riat spoke up.
As if it was trying to stop me.
“In that case, couldn’t you run away with me to a safe place where there would be no danger and no one would attack you?”
I looked back at Riat without any expression on my face.
His eyes were serious.
It seemed like he really wanted me to follow his suggestions.
However, he now seemed to have made a serious mistake.
“…Riat, I am not my mother.”
“…….!”
The moment I spoke these words, a ripple occurred in Riat’s pupils.
This person was looking at me overlapping my image with Mariette’s.
Was he even thinking that if I return to the Roshan Empire, I will die like Mariette?
Yeah, that’s not entirely unlikely.
but..
“If I have to fight, I will fight with all my might, grit my teeth, rather than run away and I shall win.”
“…….”
“That is my decision. No matter how sweet the offer is, it will never change.”
Riat looked at me with a bewildered expression for a while, and then a faint laugh came out of his mouth.
“Yes, that’s how it should be…”
He tilted his head and seemed to be looking at a scene from the past rather than at me.
Then faced me directly and muttered softly.
“As you must be as Mariette’s daughter.”
***
The atmosphere in Grand Duch Heilian’s residence was extremely chaotic.
Ever since his only daughter went missing on the way to Litera with the second prince, Grand Duke Heilian had been unable to sleep day after day and searched the entire empire like crazy.
He even managed to shake off the Grand Duchess who was trying to stop him by holding on to the hem of his clothes and went on a search himself.
The Grand Duchess was so overcome by this fact that she cried and fainted several times a day.1What!!! That’s too much, is she made of tears with a brain flooded in water?
As a result, the atmosphere at the Grand Duke’s residence became uncontrollable.
“It’s time for him to come…”
As the days passed by so quickly, Grand Duchess Chastia, who had been lying down day after day, unexpectedly came outside and walked back and forth with her hands wrapped nervously as if she was waiting for someone.
“……Chastia.”
From afar, a quiet voice was heard calling to her.
Chastia trembled and slowly raised her head.
A single tear flowed down her haggard face.
“……Perion!”2Aghhh! Nooo, I thought he was gone(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻
As if she had forgotten the etiquette, she ran out holding the hem of her skirt and approached Perion.
“Oh my god, why is your complexion like this….”
She had hoped he went back to his hometown and recovered, but Chastia whispered in a pained voice as his face became noticeably thinner and darker.
Perion answered with a smile on his tough, dry face.
“I am okay. The Grand Duchess doesn’t look any better than that….It’s definitely due to worry.”
Ah, there was no one in the world who cared more about her heart than Perion.
Chastia barely held back the welling tears and continued speaking in a shaky voice.
“Is it so? Ever since that woman’s daughter was officially enrolled into the Heilian Archduchy…I’ve never felt comfortable.”3Of course, a quiet child makes you uncomfortable…🔪
But now there is hope.
Chastia held Perion’s hands tightly and spoke in a whisper.
“But it’s going to be okay. I feel a little ashamed of myself for rejoicing in this misfortune, but the woman’s daughter has disappeared. Half a month has passed and we haven’t even been able to find Roberick. So, we will be able to get our old daily lives back.”4Wow, that is you feeling ashamed ಠ_ಠ
Their old daily routine….
Perion thought for a moment as he looked down at the pale, slender hand that was holding his hand tightly.
Yes, I would be more than happy if I could do that.
Even if I can never get closer to Chastia anymore…
If only that woman’s daughter didn’t come back like this.
But now everything would go back to normal.
However, fate only cruelly mocked his hopes.
Boom~!
“Aaaah-!”
At that moment, a huge tremor shook the ground of the palace.
Because it was ridiculous and unreasonable.5Yeah, ridiculous.
“Chastia, hold on to me! what’s going on??”
Perion, who was urgently helping the stumbling Chastia, looked back at the support of the Arch duke’s residence right next to him, which was the epicenter of the tremor.
And then he opened his mouth in a daze.
“……Oried, if you can move so smoothly, why did you act so recklessly during that time?”
[Stop talking nonsense. Are you and this child the same?]“The short vacation is over now. When I go back, I will have to stay up all day and night for a week to take care of the backlog of official work.”
“Baby, don’t you get motion sick? If there’s anything uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
The identities of those who exchanged words with each other, paying no attention to the astonishment of Perion and Chastia, were the Spirit King of the Earth and the heroes of the past who are now legendary.
And there were two small children.
“……Edith Ronen Heilian…?”
Chastia found a small girl among the children and muttered with a pale complexion.
At the sound of her voice, Edith turned her head away from the hand that was caressing her and looked back at Chastia.
The bright eyes that were looking at Chastia, who was staring at her with an expression of disbelief, as if she had discovered someone who had risen from the grave and walked out, and Perion, who was glaring at her with an unsightly thin face cruelly distorted, closed once then I showed myself again.
What kind of clever thoughts did that little head come up with?
Edith smiled lovingly and brightly and spoke in a voice they could hear.
“I’m home.”
Chastia’s body was shaking and she couldn’t give any answer.
This is a situation that can be seen from the time in which Perion was summoned, and I couldn’t help but swallow the bitter feeling that arose.
At that moment, lukewarm warmth touched my hand.
Edith looked back at Ashamed with wide eyes.
Ashamed gazed at Edith quietly but with clear intent in her eyes and gave more strength to her joined hands.
A sincere smile began to bloom like a flower bud on the little girl’s face.
***
TL:
There are 4 left….
Ahhh, why aren’t they decreasing..
