Chapter 257: Rest (2)

“Get the event ready—!”

The Imperial Palace stirred with the cries of morning and the rush of preparations for the event. Hoofbeats raced across the palace grounds in a steady rhythm. Meanwhile, inside the Empress’s chamber, Sophien sat alone, her face tinged with mild irritation.

“Ahan,” Sophien called.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Ahan replied without hesitation.

“I dreamed,” Sophien said, her eyes locked on the view outside the window.

“Dream, Your Majesty?”

“Yes, Rohakan showed up.”

“...

Ah

.”

Rohakan, the Black Beast—long dead, and yet still he haunts Her Majesty in her dreams,

Ahan thought.

"Whatever words the traitor spoke, it would be best not to trouble Your Majesty with them," Ahan replied, shaking her head.

"No, it is a matter worth troubling over," Sophien said.

Sophien dreamed, but it wasn’t really a dream; it was a memory slipping through the gaps in her thoughts.

"Indeed, it seems that damned man has left something stuck in my mind."

Somewhere in Sophien's mind lay a faded memory, slipping further each time she reached for it. It was the day Rohakan killed her mother and disappeared—long before the endless cycle of poisonings had begun.

"It seems to be a lock on my memories. Rohakan must have set it in place when I was too young—and perhaps it grew alongside me. Even my magic cannot dismantle it," Sophien concluded.

"Would Your Majesty consider asking the Professor for help?"

Without a word, Sophien turned and looked back at Ahan.

"Forgive me, Your Majesty, for speaking out of turn," Ahan added, bowing her head.

"No, you were right. This is too strange. I must bring this to Deculein for questioning."

"Strange, if I may ask, Your Majesty...?"

"Two days ago, Deculein visited Rohakan’s Vineyard. I had thought it merely an act of mourning," Sophien said, her brow faintly furrowed. "But this dream of mine—it cannot be a mere coincidence."

“

Oh...

I understand, Your Majesty.”

"Indeed. Therefore, I will be changing the course of the event."

In that moment, with her eyes widened, Ahan replied, "Your Majesty, but—"

"It matters not. Deculein has already figured it all out, has he not? I intend only a minor adjustment—the order and the guest list for the event," Sophien said, a subtle smile curving her lips.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This is Your Empire. Whatever happens, it is an Empire shaped by Your Majesty’s will," Ahan replied, though visibly confused, before bowing low in submission.

***

“... There~ All done now.”

Roharlak was built in a desert, where temperatures swung over one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit between day and night. Originally constructed as a concentration camp, it served as a living wall of humanity, shielding the lands from the monsters beyond.

Across the continent, people whispered that it was better to die than be sent to Roharlak. But Karixel, leader of the Scarletborn, never saw it that way.

"How is it? The pain’s a little better now, isn’t it?” Karixel asked.

In the concentration camp’s yard—called an exercise ground, though it felt more like an oven under the desert sun—Karixel wrapped strips of cloth around Lucy’s face as she trembled in silence.

Of course, the shock of losing sight must have been terrible, and if it was Deculein’s steel that pierced those eyes...

Karixel thought.

Even the Scarletborn standing near Lucy wore worried expressions.

“Mister Karixel,” Lucy said.

"Yes, it’s been a long time, Miss Lucy. But did you know? The eyes are different from the core—if you meet a skilled puppeteer, they can be restored. So let’s just hang in there until we’re out. We’ll cover the cost."

Then Lucy bit down on her lip.

Smiling a little brighter than the silent sorrow he felt, Karixel added, “It’s fine, really. We owe the Great Elder so much—covering this is the least we can—”

“I,” Lucy said, snapping her head up, “and we carried out my grandfather’s will. We wanted nothing more than peace, to harm no one. But the Empire and Deculein, they—”

"It’s alright. We’ll make it out alive. We won’t die here. Everyone from Padahal has already arrived safely in Roharlak."

"I heard they’re building a gas chamber anyway," Lucy replied, her voice fraying, torn between tears and anger.

"Even if there's a gas chamber, it’s alright," Karixel added, his tone gentle. "We’ve planned for this. We’ve planned a shelter beneath it. Everything has been prepared—"

"If you've really prepared all that!" Lucy yelled, whipping her head from side to side. But finding only darkness, her desperation flared into a scream. "Then why not just run out of Roharlak?! Enough of these lies! Do you take me for a fucking idiot?!"

"No, I swear I’m telling the truth. This isn’t a lie. We didn’t run because Roharlak—Roharlak is the safest place on the continent."

"Damn you—get over here! Get over here!" Lucy shouted, her hands raking blindly through empty space.

"The Empress despises the Scarletborn. That’s why, until that day comes, we have to stay hidden here," Karixel said, a bitter smile on his face as he placed his hand on Lucy’s shoulder.

Pat—!

"H-Hiding, did you say?!" Lucy exclaimed, shoving his hand away.

“We need your help, Lucy—descendant of the Great Elder,” Karixel continued, his voice firm.

"What do you expect a blind person to help with—"

"Miss Lucy, you are the only one here whose core wasn’t taken. For that, I’m thankful. It is selfish, yes—but I thank Professor Deculein. I thank him for taking your eyes, and not your core. We needed that core."

"What the...?" Lucy murmured in disbelief.

That Professor gouged out my eyes, and he just said thankful? Thankful?

Lucy thought.

“Thankful? Thankful? Go on—say it again. Thankful?”

"Miss Lucy, in time, once you've stayed here long enough, once living without sight becomes familiar, you'll be thankful to the Professor."

"... I heard my grandfather taught you—so this is how you repay him, Karixel? Like a total psychopath?" Lucy said, suddenly reaching out and grabbing someone's hair. "This is you, isn’t it?!"

“No, it is not,” Karixel replied.

"...

Hmm

," Lucy murmured, releasing her grip. "Then where are you? Step forward and place yourself in my hand."

"Actually, yes. That was me you grabbed just now," Karixel said, clearing his throat.

"...

Oh

, you little piece of—"

— Exercise time’s over.

At that moment, a woman called out from the watchtower, and Karixel raised his eyes, masking his face with calm.

— Back inside.

At Primien’s command, the assistant administrator of Roharlak, everyone on the exercise ground filed inside.

“I swear, I’m roasting alive.” Primien muttered, shaking her head while spreading open the newspaper.

Primien lounged across a long chair like a queen, while her sycophantic subordinates clustered around her, fanning her in silent flattery.

“Would you like me to bring more ice?!”

“

Hmm

. Yes. Go ahead and bring it.”

“Will do!”

As Primien commanded those people, a small bird fluttered down and landed on top of the newspaper.

“...

Oh

, what,” Primien muttered.

"

Oh

! Isn’t that a falcon from the Imperial Palace?!"

Primien straightened at the subordinate's words, untied the message from the falcon's leg, and read the single sentence it held.

Invitation Letter to the Empress's Event : Lillia Primien

Why has this come to me?

Primien thought.

Primien froze, confusion rising beyond mere surprise...

"Of course—you’re incredible! As expected of Deputy Director Primien!"

“An invitation, penned by Her Majesty herself for the event to Deputy Director Primien!”

Unaware of the deeper politics, her subordinates merely showered Primien with praise.

"Yes. This is me. And because of that, I'll need time alone to think—take a leave," Primien replied, clearing her throat.

"Yes, Deputy Director!"

***

Drip, drip—

On a rainy night, Yulie sat in her Empire hotel room, staring out the window as the Capital's streets slowly blurred beneath the falling rain.

“... Why is there just one bed?” Reylie asked.

“Didn’t have the money,” Yulie replied.

Yulie had scraped together every penny to buy her house in the Capital, but after the Freyhem incident, the bank had long since taken it back. Even now, seventy to eighty percent of her salary went toward paying off debts she couldn't clear. Yulie was broke—utterly broke.

"What’s got you so deep in thought? Are you still thinking about that three thousand elne of meat?"

Yulie shook her head in silence, remembering that day, but that wasn’t the point as her eyes dropped to the small slip of paper in her hand.

Invitation Letter to the Empress's Event : Yulie von Deya-Freyden

“The event,” Yulie said.

"

Mmm

~ You are going to request an Empress’s Hearing there, right?" Reylie asked.

“That is correct.”

“Are you nervous?”

The moment

Empress

was added to the name—Empress's Hearing—it became something else entirely, no longer just a hearing, but a matter of gravest consequence, a judgment upon which lives depended.

“... I’m not really nervous, but I am worried."

“Who are you worried about? The Professor? Or us?”

“Both.”

Yulie knew a part of Deculein—a man who had changed, if only a little, who had shown proper respect to his protégé, Epherene, and her father, Kagan, but who still turned from his own wrongdoings and continued to take countless lives.

“You promised to stay strong.”

At Reylie’s words, Yulie said nothing—she only turned her eyes back to the window.

Pitter, patter...

Lost in the sound of rain, Yulie slowly let her thoughts fade away.

***

Meanwhile, in a magical space of Deculein's making, on Sylvia’s Island—the field, as adventurers called it—Ria was leveling up at a breakneck pace. With the mana concentration dense and treasures left behind by the Voice scattered throughout, she had somehow ended up outfitted in the finest equipment.

“I got one too,” Ria said.

Returning from the island’s cave after her first time outside in a while, Ria held out a small note to the members of the adventure team.

Invitation Letter to the Empress's Event : Adventurer Ria

The invitation letter to the Empress's event had come into Ria's hands.

“... You got an invitation, Ria?” Ganesha said.

"

Wow

, that's so cool," Leo said.

“It looks suspicious,” Carlos said.

"You think so? Maybe I shouldn't go?" Ria replied.

"No," Ganesha said, shaking her head. "It’s more dangerous not to go. I don’t know why she invited you, but the Empress knows who you are. It’s better if you go."

“

Hmm

, okay.”

Ria knew what the Empress’s Event was—she’d read the scenario over and over. But what she couldn’t understand was why she was invited.

Well, I’ve done a few missions for the Imperial Palace with the Red Garnet Adventure Team, but if that’s the reason, shouldn’t Ganesha be the one they invited, not me?

Ria thought.

"Then, do I have to go by myself?"

Of all the members of the adventure team, it was Ria—and Ria alone—who was invited.

"... Yeah. You’ll have to go alone. The invitation letter’s only for you. Although... I am a bit worried!" Ganesha replied, nodding a little awkwardly. After a pause, she pressed the invitation letter into Ria’s hand. "But, it’s time for you to learn how to stand on your own, right?"

"... Yeah," Ria said, a slight, melancholic smile tugging at her lips.

Ria never had a goal of becoming the greatest adventurer, nor did she wish to remain a member of the adventure team forever.

"Well, I guess I am getting pretty famous."

Ria’s goal was singular—to complete the main quest, go home, and be Ah-Ra again.

And...

To meet

him

, and finally say what her heart had come to understand.

"Since I’ve been running after important quests—I mean, missions—it might have made me stand out a little."

“

Haha

, guess you’re right~ Well then, until you leave, let’s train as hard as we can.”

"Okay!" Ria replied, raising her voice in enthusiasm.

***

“... By command of Her Majesty—!”

The moment the event began, a thunderous shout tore through the air, rattling the ground beneath me and rising high into the heavens. They called him the vocalist—a vassal whose sole purpose was to cry out, and when his voice rang out, it washed over the entire Capital.

"

Oh

, I guess it was only a dream, Professor. It's really nothing like what I dreamed," Epherene said.

I sat with Epherene in the garden of the Imperial Palace. The event had gathered around a thousand guests, their numbers grand at a glance, but fewer than one in ten would ever meet the Empress in person.

"Of course, there’s no way someone like you could have had a prophetic dream," I replied.

“... Excuse me?” Epherene said, her eyes narrowing at his dismissive words.

Epherene’s talent wasn’t her choice, nor was it her blessing; to know time, to walk free of its chains—this, for a human, wasn’t a gift—it was a curse.

“By command of Her Majesty—!”

Boom—!

Boom—!

Boom—!

The vocalist’s second cry rang out, and with it, I felt the deep vibration of the drum rumbling through me.

Then came the vocalist’s third cry—a sound that tore from him as though he were spitting blood.

“By command of Her Majesty—!”

At that moment, Sophien rose from the platform in the garden, her eyes looking down on us from above.

"Let the event of the Imperial Palace begin. May each of you enjoy it in peace," Sophien said, giving a thoughtful nod as she surveyed us.

And when her words were spoken, Sophien turned without hesitation—an Empress who skipped preambles and had no patience for wasting her time.

“Professor, what are we supposed to do now?” Epherene asked, her innocent eyes already glued to the food spread out across the garden.

“You should be—”

"

Ooh

, cake," Epherene said—and before I could say a word, she was already following the waiter, drawn like a moth to the tray of food.

With a glass of whiskey in hand, I looked out over the gathering at the event, where Yulie, Gawain, Primien, Bethan, Louina, Ihelm, Adrienne, Maho, and royalty from distant kingdoms were present. Everywhere I turned—named characters, the famous—gathered from across the Empire and beyond.

However...

Before I realized it, a crease had found my brow—because there was a child darting like a rabbit between the glittering feast spread across the garden.

“Why is she here...”

"Ria, surely you remember—the child we once saw in Rekordak? That child has since become a famous adventurer," Primien said, stepping forward to explain. "Remember the Brahorn Bandit Incident? I hear it was she who solved it. It was a mission from the Imperial Palace, and Her Majesty personally awarded her the jewel the thieves had stolen."

I stared at Primien in silence, letting my silence settle between us.

"Why? I’m just explaining, you know," Primien asked, shrugging.

“You actually came,” I said.

“It’s the Empress’s command. I’d rather live by remaining hidden, of course—but if I skip this event, I’ll just be signing my death warrant sooner.”

“By command of Her Majesty—!”

At that moment, a fourth cry rang out, cutting through the garden, and everyone at the event turned toward it as one, drawn to the sound.

“Your attention, if I may,” Eunuch Jolang said, standing beside the vocalist. “I’m Eunuch Jolang. Before we officially begin the event—there are guests here who’ve received a unique invitational letter, stamped with Her Majesty’s seal.”

“Is this the one?” Primien asked, holding out the invitation letter to me.

“It is,” I replied, taking out my own invitation letter.

Invitation Letter to the Empress's Event : Deculein von Grahan-Yukline

“May those honored guests now gather, and follow me.”

Out of the thousand gathered at the event, only a handful moved—and followed after Jolang.

***

Jolang led us to the back garden of the Imperial Palace, where an old mansion stood.

"

Haha

, the Imperial Palace is large, isn’t it? But this old mansion is even bigger inside. And of course, Her Majesty is inside as well," Jolang said with a smile at the gates. "From this point forward, you will remain here for a period of eight weeks."

The moment he said we’d be staying here for eight weeks, even Epherene, halfway through a bite of bread, visibly flinched, realizing it was a long time.

"

Oh

, of course—you are welcome to continue any outside business here, be it through crystal orb or radio transmitter. But please do remember—it is an event. I ask for your kind understanding," Jolang added with a clap.

The Elite Guard approached from the side and handed us a bundle of cards.

“First and foremost, Her Majesty hopes that this event will serve to unite the noble houses. The fifty-eight gathered here stand as nothing less than the true representatives of the Empire’s proud families.”

I watched Jolang in silence, attentive to even the smallest change in his expression.

"Furthermore, this old mansion stands as one of the magical spaces of the Imperial Palace. Its origins are unknown—only that it was born from a curse, and within these walls, no one knows what could happen."

"And yet, Her Majesty remains within these very walls...?" Yulie said.

“There is no cause for concern. Her Majesty is safe, under the escort of her knights.”

Yulie cleared her throat.

"For the sake of harmony, Her Majesty has introduced the concept of a guardian angel, granting each of you a unique opportunity to grow closer to one another," Jolang continued.

The moment I heard guardian angel, one modern word popped into my head—secret santa.

"Please, look at this card," Jolang added, raising a card in his hand. "Each of these cards has your name written on it."

Name,

I thought.

I looked over at Epherene, and she was eating bread again, her arms wrapped around a big bag stuffed with food.

"Once you pick a card, you’ll have to secretly help the person whose name is on it, and how you choose to help them will be yours alone to decide."

And the more I listened, the more it became clear—it really was a secret santa, just as I had suspected.

“Dangerous though it may be, this mansion remains an old tradition of the Imperial Palace,” Jolang added, his smile gleaming, yet somehow sinister. “It stands as proof to the former Emperor himself, who slew the demon and purified these lands.”

“Therefore, I ask that you proceed without inflicting undue destruction. Please, step inside, and fuller instructions await within,” Jolang concluded as he moved aside.

Then the knights stepped forward and opened the gate to the old mansion.

Creeeeeeeak—

As the gate creaked open, I was the first to cross its threshold and step into the waiting dark.