Chapter 64
64
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The task of seeing off the Hestia siblings was deliberately left to Beatrice.
No sooner had they left my room than I pressed Yan for answers.
"Since when have you been so close to Gray?"
Yan retorted, sounding utterly bewildered.
"Why? Are you jealous?"
"Is that even a question? You said you wouldn't speak, that's the secret!"
Yan remained nonchalant to the end.
"Only Gray and you, kid, know about it, so what."
I recalled the time Yan had accompanied them to the Marquis Hestia's estate, and how Gray had suddenly started using honorifics with Yan afterward.
"...You haven't spoken in front of Gray for a very long time, have you?"
No matter how much I glared at him, Yan just looked out the window, feigning ignorance.
I gave up pressing Yan further and brought up another topic.
"Anyway, why are you so busy these days? If you keep refusing to answer, I won't open the window for you!"
"Kid."
Yan called me impudently.
'Yan has grown in the past two years, but I've grown even more!'
As I glared at him, huffing, Yan spoke like an old man.
"I'm doing all this for your own good, you know? Huh? It would be easier for me to just sit here quietly, you know? I should have asked Gray to bring me something delicious a long time ago."
"There's plenty of delicious stuff here, why specifically ask Gray!"
When I pressed him relentlessly, Yan chuckled.
"It's fun."
Then, in a seemingly serious tone, he said,
"Tell me, what is the meaning of the seven-year-old Princess Ruellela's Divination?"
"...You're not my teacher."
"Don't be cheeky and just tell me."
I reluctantly answered.
"It's a ceremony where the gods promise what abilities they will grant the next King to protect the Sacred Kingdom."
"That's right. Our smart little kid."
Yan praised me for once and continued gently.
"But since you've already received your ability, the Divination won't change much for you."
Well, that might be true.
I had tested my Healing Power enough to be sure...
'So, there's no way the gods would offer me another ability.'
But for the past three years since returning from death, I had lived only waiting for the Divination.
'Princess Ruellela receiving the Divination.'
It was like a dream I could never achieve in my lifetime.
Oblivious to my inner thoughts, Yan repeated.
"Don't forget. You have been granted the great power to save anyone except the dead. Ea gave it to you without needing to ask or seek permission."
Our little bird is talking very maturely today, how unbecoming.
'By the way, is my power really that great?'
As I was feeling doubtful, Yan added as definitively as if he were High Priest Ea himself.
"Ea embraces everyone without rejecting anyone, but you are the daughter of Ruellela chosen by her. The only daughter."
The only daughter?
But Rosa will also receive Divinity, won't she?
I was curious, but I didn't know how to ask.
'I can't exactly say that Rosa also received Divinity, Foresight no less, in my past life.'
Yan looked at me as if waiting for an answer.
'This is a totally awkward atmosphere...'
Unable to bear it any longer, I asked a random question.
"But why are you talking so strangely today? You sound like an old bird."
I expected him to get angry, but Yan just sighed and called my name.
"...Lilin."
"Yeah?"
"Don't come crying and whining later, saying you don't remember. I'm telling you clearly."
"I am the daughter of Ruellela chosen by Ea!"
I flippantly repeated what Yan had said.
"Don't worry, I'll remember it well, little bird."
Yan shook his head.
'Could he also be in his second life?'
He's so small, yet he acts like an old man.
* * *
A week later, at the banquet hall.
Marquis Hestia was sitting next to my mother at the head table for the first time in a while.
Since Father had also left with Nigel, I approached him with a welcoming smile.
"Are you well, Your Highness."
"Thanks to you, I am."
Then, the Marquess took out a palm-sized black bottle from his pocket and handed it to me.
"Gray happened to have a gift he wanted to give Your Highness, so I brought it."
"Again...?"
The Marquess burst into laughter at my astonishment.
"Don't feel burdened, Your Highness. It's just honey."
Ah...
Only then did I realize what the gift was.
'Ikan Mountain Honey Wine.'
It must be what Yan had asked me to get.
'He lied and said it was honey...'
I was briefly surprised by Gray's boldness, but my mother, unaware of the situation, widened her eyes.
"Is it special honey?"
The Marquess kindly explained.
"It's honey from the Ikan Jainese Region, which Your Majesty knows well."
"Ah..."
"As you know, it tastes good and is full of nutrients, so it's considered no different from a tonic. Gray thinks that much of Princess Ruellela."
It's not even for me, actually.
'He's making it sound better than it is.'
I thought so inwardly, but I smiled brightly and responded.
"I always only receive from Gray, so I feel very sorry."
"Not at all. He's so happy that Your Highness treats him as a friend."
My mother interjected again.
"Please tell Gray that I am grateful."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
I entrusted the heavy bottle to Beatrice and focused on the meal.
My mother and the Marquess lowered their voices and discussed something, as if they had unfinished business from before the meal.
"So, does the Marquess believe that the Empress's illness is real?"
"They're keeping it quiet in the Imperial Palace, but it's information I obtained by paying a premium to a money changer who frequents the Rebo Merchant Group."
The Imperial Empress is sick?
Glancing over, I saw that my mother's expression was dark.
It was always like that when she heard about someone being sick.
'I'm here now, Mother.'
I said so only in my heart, pretending not to, and listened carefully to their conversation.
"The Empress is older than the Emperor, but she's still in her thirties. If they're keeping it quiet, is it a serious illness?"
The Empress...
The Imperial Empress.
A chilling wind blew through my heart as I revisited the past.
'Empress Daprusha of the Frasineti family.'
Crown Prince Shade's biological mother.
She dies when the Crown Prince is young.
The Crown Prince's age right now is probably... around nine years old?
'Wait a minute. Could it be that the Empress is dying around this time?'
Crown Prince Shade, who had tried to help me for some reason on the day I died, came to mind.
"Tell them it was your sister who gave it to you. Tell them it wasn't you who did it, now!"
Did he know something about Rosa?
It was impossible to ask now...
'Crown Prince Shade Joseph Valenhaier.'
He was born between Emperor Cecilio II and the Grand Duchess of Frasineti, the greatest noble family, and was expected from childhood to build a strong imperial power with that great lineage as his backing.
However, after the Empress of the Frasineti family met an untimely death at a young age, a bloodbath swept through the Empire.
'When the Empress dies, the Braih family pushes their twenty-year-old daughter into the position of Third Empress to gain power...'
And that damned Third Empress killed me.
Do I still harbor resentment towards the Third Empress even though I've been resurrected?
'Yes, I do!'
That damned Braih family is practically the starting point of the war.
'And I was in so much pain back then...!'
Of course, to her, I was the mortal enemy who killed her husband.
'But what about Shade?'
He would have been the enemy who killed his father as well.
'Why did he try to help me back then?'
While wandering through vague memories of the past, my mother and the Marquess continued to speak.
"Her condition seems serious... but the capable Imperial Magic Tower must be working hard."
"If they cure the Empress's illness, the Magic Tower will become even more powerful."
My mother's voice was bitter.
'The Imperial Magic Tower...'
The Magic Tower, which is the foundation of the Empire's power, naturally incurred the antipathy of the Temples.
However, unlike Divinity, which is based on the human spirit and has significant limitations, magic that uses Magic Stones has fewer limitations.
'So, that's how the Empire was able to sweep away our three-nation alliance like that.'
I shook off the goosebumps on my skin and focused on the Marquess's words.
"How about sending some medicinal herbs as a gift for the Empire's Thanksgiving Festival?"
My mother was negative.
"Wouldn't the Emperor be displeased if he knew that the Empress's illness had been leaked?"
"We'll pretend not to know and send a lot of rare medicinal herbs and fragrances with all sorts of effects. Navias Perfume has become quite popular lately."
The interesting story ended there.
'Crown Prince Shade...'
If it hadn't been for him, I might not have realized my abilities to this day.
'I owe the Crown Prince a bit of a debt, and if the Third Empress gains power after the Empress dies, it would be a loss for the entire continent...'
However, my abilities are still a secret to the outside world, so I can't suddenly go to the Empire and say I'll save the Empress.
I pondered alone while finishing the rest of the meal, but there didn't seem to be any clear solutions yet.
'I need to receive the Divination first.'
If I am publicly announced as a Princess with Divinity, the Empire might request help first.
'That would be really great!'
If I could put the Empire in debt like that, it would definitely help prevent war in the future.
'Should I try to turn the Empire to my side this time?'
After the meal, I returned to my room and took out my planner to write down.
「IS」
Inveigle the Empire.
And also...
「PW」
Prevent War.
'Well, let's dream big.'