A few hours before Aria and Carla clashed in the Royal Capital, a girl appeared at the Princess’s Palace late at night, accompanied by her attendants.
“Clara… what brings you here at this hour?”
“I apologize, Elena-sama. There is something I absolutely must tell you.”
Elena and Sera, who were naturally awake gathering information, welcomed them. Clara’s complexion was paler than the night itself, and she seemed so unwell that she needed her maid’s assistance even to walk.
“…Is it something that needs to be said now?”
“Yes. Besides… it’s still difficult for me to face you when that child is around.”
Clara had noticed Aria’s presence here a few hours earlier. She had previously been abnormally afraid of Aria, and her maids had investigated and found that she had some past grudge against Aria.
She probably knew about Aria through her Gift, but her poor health and what she wanted to talk about were also likely things she had learned through her Gift.
Clara’s maids also seemed more concerned about Clara’s well-being than their own personal grudges against Aria.
Elena glanced at Sera, who was standing by her side, and Sera quietly nodded.
“Dismiss the escort knights. I will listen to what Clara has to say.”
“Thank you.”
Elena had Clara sit at the table and sat down across from her, looking directly into her eyes and speaking as a “Princess.”
“That face… have you decided what to do?”
“Yes. I understand my Desire. Even if I cannot become Queen, I will not give up on him.”
“…………”
Elena, seeing something in Clara’s unwavering gaze, let out a small sigh and smiled slightly at Clara.
“Then, tell me what you have to say… Clara.”
“Aria! Thank goodness!”
As the morning sun began to illuminate the Royal Castle, Elena rushed towards me as I landed on the Princess’s Palace terrace using Real Breaker.
I expected Elena to be awake, but she had indeed noticed the battle and was watching from here.
I was concerned about Dandole, who had been left behind with Melrose and Feld, but I thought I should report to Elena first.
“Sorry, Elena. Things have become complicated.”
“Yes… that pseudo-Saint really did it.”
Prince Amor’s rebellion, a key figure in the Saint faction. The damage itself was small-scale because the targets were limited to the two Border Count families, but those who realized it would recognize it as a failure of the Royal Family.
However, even if the Aristocratic Faction made a fuss about it, as long as Dandole and Melrose, the victims, continued to support the Royal Family, it wouldn’t become a major problem. On the contrary, it would have become ammunition for attacking the Saint faction they were defending.
The problem, as Elena said, was that girl called the Saint.
“Your Highness, Aria, please come inside. Sera-san is currently confirming the other situations.”
Chloe, Elena’s aide and guard, and also familiar with me, invited us inside from our conversation on the terrace.
The reason I directly entered the Princess’s Palace without following the formal procedure was that I was still officially in a state of unknown whereabouts. It would indeed be troublesome if someone saw me in a place like this.
“Chloe, if Sera went to check, does that mean there has been progress with Melrose and Dandole?”
“There was a telecommunication from the Prime Minister. The details are still unknown, but if the Prime Minister contacted us directly, then the worst-case scenario has probably been avoided.”
I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that Melrose was safe. Next was Dandole…
Crackle…
At that moment, sparks of electricity suddenly scattered, and a video signal was sent from Nero.
The battle with Feld and Carla. The Rainbow Sword seemed to have arrived in time, and if they arrived safely, they should be able to hold out until reinforcements arrived.
“…Was that the ‘Kuaal’ that Aria mentioned?”
Elena seemed to have seen the video signal as well, and she looked around, searching for the invisible Nero.
“Did Nero also come from afar, or am I mistaken?”
–Affirmative–
Nero emitted a signal towards us as if to answer.
Nero and Elena had only met once. There hadn’t been time to talk during the emergency, but I had told them about each other as trusted companions, so Nero didn’t seem to have any aversion simply because she was human.
“Where is he…? Kya!?”
Suddenly, a “black cat” appeared out of nowhere. The not-so-large, just-turned-adult black cat jumped onto a nearby table and turned its red eyes towards me.
“…Nero?”
The black cat narrowed its eyes as if to affirm my murmur. I lightly touched its back and felt smooth fur. There was a presence… but that presence was also felt from my Shadow.
“This is a high-level Illusion created by Nero.”
Nero was inside my Shadow. As seen in the video signal, Nero had acquired Dark Magic during the battle and was using magic like a Shadow Walker, hiding in the shadows. This “black cat” was probably a type of Illusion, but Nero’s Dark Magic, being a Mystic Beast, allowed him to use illusions far more precise than humans could.
“Is this an Illusion? Ah…”
Elena, like me, tried to touch the black cat (Nero), but Nero smoothly avoided it and climbed onto my shoulder. Nero didn’t seem to trust her enough to let her touch him yet.
Elena looked at it with a disappointed expression as she sat down at the table Chloe had prepared, recommending me to sit opposite her.
“Then, where should we start…”
The Saint faction was originally a faction of the Crown Prince, a faction of noble families that supported Elvan as the Crown Prince to succeed the throne. The reason it came to be called the “Saint Faction” was that the Aristocratic Faction, worried that many noble families were supporting Elena as Queen because Elvan was not growing as Crown Prince, tried to win public opinion by making the Saint the Queen.
For the Aristocratic Faction, Elvan’s immaturity was not a flaw, but rather matched their goal of weakening the Royal Family and gaining diplomatic benefits.
In the short term, it was good because they could obtain cheap goods from neighboring countries, reduce the number of starving people, and divert the surplus to other areas, but in the long term, it would mean entrusting the lifeline of the people to other countries, and the funds would flow to other countries, reducing national power.
Balance was important, not which was right. That’s why the Royal Family had alternately taken Queens from within the country and from neighboring countries.
However, in the current situation, His Majesty the King and the Prime Minister had decided that they had to focus on domestic demand. And noble families with the intelligence to understand that Elvan becoming King would cause the national power to decline more than expected were supporting Elena.
It was His Majesty who broke that balance, but at the time when he made the Viscount’s daughter his Queen, His Majesty, who was then the Crown Prince, was in a state of mental turmoil like Elvan is now, and I hear that it was necessary for him to become a King.
All the strain is coming to this generation, so it cannot be tolerated, but otherwise Elena would not have tried to become Queen.
Elena began to move to become Queen, and His Majesty the King, seeing the current Elvan, reluctantly approved of it.
Dandole, who had been working to make Clara the Queen, seemed to have accepted that Elena, who shared the same Dandole bloodline, would become Queen rather than the Saint becoming Queen, and Elena was able to gain the support of the two Border Count families.
As far as Elena and Mikhail had investigated, there were suspicious points about the Saint, and the plan was to guide public opinion by publicizing them, prevent the Saint from becoming Queen, and thus remove Elvan from the position of Crown Prince.
The current rebellion of Amor would be a stain on the Crown Prince faction and the Saint faction, but if it had succeeded, the Aristocratic Faction would have been able to seize power by crushing the two Border Count families…
“Clara told me about that analysis.”
“That person?”
“Yes… both she and Clara really treat their lives lightly…”
Elena said with a grimace, and told me about Clara’s analysis.
Clara’s Gift — Foresight, calculates the future and draws in the most likely future. She can see not only the “future,” but also determine the truth with a high probability if something has happened in the present.
However, the calculation of Foresight puts a strain on the brain, and she seems to be currently bedridden due to this calculation.
According to Clara’s Foresight, it was not Amor who planned this scheme, but the Saint, and the purpose of making Amor cause a rebellion that would be a stain on her faction was not to eliminate Melrose and Dandole.
“Her goal is to instill ‘fear,’ it seems.”
If they targeted the two Border Count families, the neutral faction, which was currently leaning towards Elena, would become hesitant, fearing that they might also be targeted.
Even if Elena and Melrose were to persuade them again, some might still choose to stay, but that’s not a certainty. The fear of one’s family being directly targeted, rather than political pressure, cannot be easily dispelled.
Even so, Amor’s rebellion should be a major stain on the Saint faction. Even if the neutral faction defected, there should be even more people who feel resentment (…).
“Clara says that she even factored in your and Carla’s intervention. Amor was a pawn from the start, and she was certain that he would lose to you and flee back to the Royal Capital.”
As the Saint, it didn’t matter whether it was a success or a failure. Still, for the purpose of instilling fear, she split Amor in two, prioritizing Dandole and Melrose being attacked simultaneously over victory.
She even predicted that the divided Amor would become one again in the Royal Capital? The reason for that is also to instill fear in the people of the Royal Capital and then heal them as the “Saint” to raise her reputation.
“How could that viscount’s daughter, who hasn’t received a proper education, come up with such a plan…? Clara’s Foresight said that a demon was lending a hand, but I don’t think even a demon understands humans that well.”
Clara foresaw that a demon was involved in Amor’s strange abilities and the unnatural behavior of the people at that time.
“The Nightmare Demon…”
Using the power of nightmares, people praised the Saint’s actions, and with that action, Amor was completely discarded as someone who betrayed the Saint, not as a member of the Saint faction.
In this situation, unless overwhelming evidence is presented, the Saint cannot be stopped from becoming queen. Clara’s Foresight seemed to indicate that Elena’s side was slightly at a disadvantage.
One or two… there’s just a slight lack of a decisive factor. With that slight difference, the Saint, who has the public opinion on her side, will become queen, and Elvan will become king.
Just one more…
I lightly touched the chest where the Amulet Pouch I had entrusted to that person was, and quietly made that decision.
“Elena. Use me.”
The girls have steeled their resolve.
Next time, preparations for the final battle will begin.