Chapter 99: The Princesses’ Groundless Fears
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After concluding their meeting with Kenta, Victoria’s party was on their way back to the Capital City.
Inside the carriage, during their journey to the Capital City, Victoria let out a heavy sigh, “Haaah…”
“W-What is the matter, Your Highness?”
An attendant riding in Victoria’s carriage, concerned for Victoria who had let out such a heavy sigh, spoke to her.
Victoria, her expression somewhat somber, slowly turned her face to the attendant and offered a dry smile.
“Did you see what was on Princess Meileen’s lap?”
As Victoria said this, her attendants, influenced by her, also adopted somber expressions.
“Yes…”
“There was, wasn’t there… It was very cute, but…”
Indeed, though they had deliberately not mentioned it during the meeting, a young child had been sitting on Meileen’s lap the entire time, looking at them with a curious expression, or playfully pestering Meileen, seemingly wanting her attention.
Meileen had skillfully dodged the child’s pestering, and it was clear to see that Meileen was the child’s mother.
Recalling this scene, Victoria leaned back against the seat of the carriage.
“So that was the reason the Demon Tribe Nation was so persistently trying to make contact with Lord Kenta…”
A child who carried the royal blood of the Demon Tribe Nation through Meileen.
“I couldn’t understand why they would ignore our warnings to try and contact him, but they were probably trying to get their hands on Princess Meileen’s child.”
At Victoria’s words, which suggested she had finally understood, an attendant voiced a doubt.
“Get their hands on, you say? Not dispose of the child?”
From the attendant’s perspective, Meileen having a child meant that child possessed the Right of Succession by bloodline. The attendant had spoken under the assumption that the current Demon King would view the child of the older sister he had ousted as nothing more than an enemy aiming for his throne, but Victoria shook her head.
“No. The Demon King has contacted Lord Kenta once. There was an official request, and we lent a section of our country, so there’s no mistake. And the Demon King has given up on contacting Lord Kenta directly. In other words, some kind of agreement must have been reached regarding that child.”
“Eh? Then why did the Demon Tribe Nation repeatedly trespass illegally?”
The attendant, unable to understand any reason other than disposing of a toddler with the Right of Succession, tilted their head, but Victoria understood the Demon Tribe Nation’s movements as if she could see them in her hand.
“The ones trying to contact Lord Kenta probably weren’t from the King’s side.”
At those words, the attendant’s face showed a sudden realization.
“Does that mean…”
“The Demon Tribe Nation isn’t monolithic either, I suppose.”
“…”
The attendant was speechless at Victoria’s words.
“Honestly. This side, that side, this world is full of problems.”
As Victoria muttered this wearily, the attendant also wore a somber expression.
The Admos-led Kenta subjugation campaign that was likely to begin soon.
And the internal strife within the Demon Tribe Nation that would likely follow.
It was because they had realized that peace would likely not visit this world for some time.
“…What’s going to happen from now on…?”
To the attendant who said this with an expression of genuine, unbearable worry, Victoria gave a self-deprecating smile.
“This and that, everything depends on Lord Kenta’s whim.”
The attendant who was told this felt a sense of despair.
What a tragedy it was that such a mass of unreasonableness held the fate of the world in his hands.
That was all they could think.
“It’s certain he will oppose Admos, and it’s also certain he will achieve victory.”
“So, Your Highness, you are convinced that Lord Kenta will win?”
“Yes. The problem is…”
As the attendant waited with bated breath for Victoria, who had cut off her words there, to continue, she blurted out something outrageous.
“The part where we can’t predict how much damage he’ll inflict upon this world.”
Hearing those words, the attendant envisioned Kenta standing alone on a battlefield littered with countless corpses, a sinister smile on his face.
“…What is he… Is he not a Summoner but some kind of Demon God or something?”
At the attendant’s words, Victoria gave a faint smile.
“A Demon God, huh? Perhaps he really is.”
And so, the carriage heading towards the Weimar Royal Capital continued its journey, enveloped in a consistently somber atmosphere.