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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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After kicking Oz out, Lucia Domine spent her time taking care of the things she needed to do.
Amidst the quiet, filled only with the sound of her paperwork…
“My, my…”
Lucia Domine suddenly clicked her tongue and set down her pen.
Oz’s actions had been infuriating.
No, in truth, they weren’t that infuriating, but her own memories—Lucia Domine’s pity for the person known as Eleanor von Chrysos—were amplifying that feeling.
Lucia Domine remembered.
Eleanor von Chrysos.
She remembered that Eleanor had been like a colorless doll, a person who had erased her own will and emotions.
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The Kingdom of Chrysos.
It was a nation that could be called quite famous for its small size.
That was none other than because of the king who ruled Chrysos.
Delayed von Chrysos.
A wise king who possessed both knowledge and martial might.
That was the public’s assessment, and Lucia Domine, too, thought there was a degree of truth to it.
After all, you can tell what kind of face a nation’s leader wears just by looking at the faces of their people.
The Kingdom of Chrysos was small, but it was a rather peaceful country.
Its people were full of life, there were no slums to speak of, and the number of vagrants could be counted on one hand.
And this was in a small, frontier kingdom like Chrysos, not a nation with immense power like the Empire.
Unless the country had some kind of specialty product or feature that would allow it to become wealthy on its own, it was clear that the king was giving back exactly what he gained from above.
A king exists only when there are people to rule. But those who could perform such an obvious duty were rare.
“Hmm…”
It was for that very reason that Lucia Domine was suspicious. She was no child who knew nothing of the world.
A kingdom this close to perfection was not something that could be easily created.
It wasn’t something that could be managed by the efforts of one king alone.
Chrysos had not only a king, but also nobles.
It was unavoidable.
No matter how competent a king might be, when dealing with something on the scale of a nation, it would be impossible to rule alone.
So, what about those nobles?
Could it be that among them, there wasn’t a single corrupt individual?
That was something even the most powerful nation, the Empire, had failed to achieve.
Even if one were to search out and dispose of such corrupt nobles, corruption spreads like a plague.
Human desire is endless, and there would surely be those who had, even for a moment, succumbed to such desires.
That would be true even if Delayed were intelligent enough to ferret out every single one of them.
If that were the case, there should at least be rumors circulating.
But there weren’t even rumors.
Then it was one of two things.
Either it was a nation of good people, appearing with miraculous probability as the stories claimed.
Or the King of Chrysos’s ability to control information was just that exceptional.
“Haha! It is a pleasure to meet you, Your Holiness. Though it is a small country, it is a beautiful one. I hope you will rest comfortably during your stay.”
“Yes… Well, thank you.”
The Delayed that Lucia Domine met was a man who seemed to live up to the rumors.
At least, that’s how he appeared in her eyes. He looked like a king who was wearing himself to the bone for his people.
A person who inspired intimacy rather than awe.
If he was a man who, in addition to this impression, truly devoted his strength to his people as the rumors said, there would be no problem.
But the sense of unease she felt only grew deeper.
And that feeling of unease…
“Ah, these are my children. Say hello, won’t you? Resis, Eleanor.”
“Ah, hello! Your Holiness. I am the First Prince, Resis von Chrysos! It is an honor to meet you today…”
“…Hello.”
“Resis? Did I not tell you it is alright not to be so nervous? Haha, my apologies, Your Holiness. This one is very shy.”
“I see… It is quite all right.”
…she was able to confirm it through his children. Of course, the child named Resis was no problem.
Befitting of his age… no, considering he was royalty, you could even say he was better than most.
They seemed like a harmonious family.
But that wasn’t the problem.
“…”
She stared intently at Delayed’s other child, Eleanor, who stood as still as a doll.
She was like a puppet.
“This child…”
Yes, she was a girl who, like a doll, showed no hint of humanity.
She looked to be around Arietta’s age, but her impression was so faint as to be the complete opposite in personality.
Her long, silver-blue hair could be called beautiful, but right now, that quality only made her feel cold.
“She does not look well… Will she be alright?”
Lucia Domine couldn’t bring herself to point it out directly, so she spoke in a roundabout way.
“Hm? Is that so? Eleanor, if you are tired, you may go in and rest.”
“Yes…”
But Delayed’s response was remarkably indifferent.
I see…
With just that short exchange, Lucia Domine could tell.
Delayed did not care about Eleanor. No, to be precise, he clearly considered her a semi-nonexistent being.
It was only because she was present that he had introduced Eleanor at all; he must normally treat her as if she were invisible.
If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have reacted that way to her comment about Eleanor not looking well.
— Hm? Is that so?
Despite it being her first time meeting Eleanor, Delayed had questioned her words.
It was a reaction that showed his usual lack of interest in Eleanor.
A king might be busy with his duties, so that could be a reason. But this situation was different.
If he had shown Eleanor even half the interest he showed Resis, he would have been able to tell immediately whether something was different about her or not.
— Eleanor, if you are tired, you may go in and rest.
This was even more absurd.
Even if he wasn’t going to ask her, the Pope, to heal the child, shouldn’t he have at least feigned concern?
But Delayed dismissed Eleanor as if he were putting away an object.
Yes, like an object. He clearly thought of Eleanor as a mere accessory.
It was blatant, stark discrimination.
Compared to the affection he showed the child named Resis, it only made Eleanor’s situation seem more wretched.
“Your Holiness, in our castle, there is a chef by the name of Feran, and the dishes that man makes are simply to die for. I would like to treat you to them this time. Would that be acceptable?”
“Hmm… I would like to recover from my travels today, so I must decline. If it is not too much trouble, may I ask for your understanding?”
“Of course, Your Holiness. In that case, I will have a meal sent to your room.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Lucia Domine turned away from Delayed with the most benevolent smile she could muster.
A man who remembered even a mere cook in his castle. But he wouldn’t give his own daughter even a shred of affection.
Having turned her back, Lucia Domine scowled as if she had never seen a more disgusting person.
‘A great king, a king for the people.’
Those were the titles used to describe Delayed. Yes, he might be a man worthy of being called that.
But…
‘The type who obsesses over honor.’
He was a disgusting person who could never be a ‘good man.’
He was a man who placed honor above all else he possessed—not wealth, not power, not strength.
That is why he acts to gain the support of the absolute majority.
And that is why he doesn’t give love to a child who holds no meaning for him.
“Inquisitors, begin gathering information at once.”
As soon as she entered her room, Lucia Domine spoke those words.
Before long, her shadow stretched out as if spreading wide, then fragmented and began to move.
They were the Inquisitors who served as her retinue.
And soon after, she obtained the information she had expected.
“As I thought…”
The information that came into her hands contained exactly what she had anticipated.
Eleanor von Chrysos was the daughter of a concubine. The nobles who had fallen out of Delayed’s favor were all treated as if they were invisible, then one by one, they vanished without a trace.
Those who had fallen out of Delayed’s favor were likely those who had engaged in corruption. Delayed had slowly isolated them, then cast them aside at a time when no one would notice.
And the reason he went to such lengths was for his own honor.
“He is more insane than any type of human I have ever seen.”
Delayed was insane.
He spared no love for those who could enhance his honor. And that love, chillingly, was genuine.
At least when it came to the child named Resis, he showed sincere love.
Then what about the others?
Those who had fallen out of his favor?
If he had simply wanted honor, he could have exposed their evil deeds and had them publicly executed.
But he used the method of isolating them and then eliminating them.
And he did it over a long period of time.
What did that mean?
“He sees the nation and its nobles as accessories to adorn himself.”
He considered the nation of Chrysos itself to be his own.
That is why he is so desperate to hide even the slightest blemish.
“Your Holiness.”
At that moment, a voice came from one of her shadows.
“What will you do about Eleanor von Chrysos?”
“We will do nothing.”
“But that is…”
“If we help her in a half-hearted way, it will only have a negative effect.”
Whether one liked it or not, the King of Chrysos’s achievements were real. He was even regarded as a benevolent king by his people, so even if she were to step in now, it would be difficult to win the moral high ground.
In fact, with a man like Delayed, it was highly probable that he would use her presence as a kind of self-promotion.
“She will not die. In a sense, she too is one of Delayed’s ‘ornaments.’ So she will at least be able to live a humane… no, a life befitting royalty.”
It’s just that he hasn’t found a use for her yet, so he’s leaving her be.
Though he may be morally insane, there is a problem with condemning him for it.
Lucia, too, is the ruler of a nation.
She knew full well that to save Eleanor, she would have to be willing to go to all-out war.
Her opponent was a man mad for honor, so he would not avoid a war.
He might even love his daughter for the sake of that war.
The image of a wise king who would not shrink even from war for the sake of his daughter would be the perfect way to enhance his honor.
“If God is watching this situation through my eyes, He will surely guide someone to save her.”
“Will such a person appear?”
“Who knows…”
The opponent is a monster who carries a nation on his back for the sake of honor.
If so, to rescue a single girl from such an opponent, one would have to give up many things.
“Now that I have so much to carry, I cannot go running around as freely as I used to.”
She had too much to lose.
She wasn’t talking about what she possessed, but about those she had to protect. Because she was a queen.
Therefore, there was nothing she could do for Eleanor.
To save her, one would have to be someone who could lay down many things, someone who could face a nation alone.
And a being capable of such a thing would probably be…
“Wouldn’t a savior appear for her?”
It would have to be someone who could turn the world into their enemy for her sake.
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Lucia was looking at the present through the past.
The Eleanor she had seen back then and the Eleanor she had encountered now.
A personality completely different from before.
A troublemaker who made the Arietta of her younger days pale in comparison.
Vivid blue eyes.
The warmth in them was such an astonishing change that it was hard to recognize her compared to the cold figure of the past.
“Poor child.”
But that was also why she felt even more sorry for her.
For her, who had been like a cold doll, to transform into someone with such rich emotions, how much must have happened in the meantime?
And how much love must her hero have poured into her?
And…
“To lose everything like that, how can she still be so strong…”
What must she have felt, having lost everything once more?
In a situation like this, it would have been better if she had remained a doll.
There is no sadness for one who has nothing to lose. They would have thought it was never theirs in the first place.
But it is different when a person who has steadily built up many things falls in an instant.
She had built up so much from nothing, and she lost it all again overnight.
Where in the world was someone who could understand her?
“Half-hearted interest would only hurt her.”
Nothing had changed between then and now. There was nothing she could do for Eleanor.
And the same went for Oz.
He professed to be her confidant, yet he was merely circling on the outside.
Of course, that wouldn’t be enough.
If he intended to accompany her on the path of thorns she had walked and would walk, that was far from sufficient.
Because what she, shrouded in lies, needed most was that kind of sincerity.
Now, he would have to be able to face not just a nation, but the world itself.
“And yet…”
Lost in thought, Lucia Domine picked up her pipe again.
It seemed she had a visitor.
“In that short time, your eyes look as if you’ve become a different person, Successor of the Mage king.”
“If I must show sincerity instead of lies, then it is only right that I do so.”
In that brief interval, Oz seemed to have faced his problem and found an answer. He was an absurd monster.
Seeing him like this, Lucia Domine quietly put down the pipe she was about to put in her mouth. She was not in the mood to smoke.
“So, what business brings you to me this time?”
“Eleanor von Chrysos.”
“I see. Then, from where should I begin?”
The same question and answer as before.
“From the beginning.”
The same answer as before.
“Can you handle it? The responsibility for that statement?”
“I came this time to bear that responsibility.”
But a different mindset.
“Haha… My, what an unimaginably terrible piece of trash you are.”
Lucia Domine gave a bitter smile at Oz’s audacity, as if he were brazenly declaring his intent to two-time someone.
Could a person change so much in such a short time?
“Very well. I will tell you.”
In the end, Lucia Domine had no choice but to reach a different conclusion than before.
Because the Oz before her now had earned that right.
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