Chapter 333
Chapter: 333
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 333
>Chapter Title: Salon (3)
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Fortunately, Masain quickly lifted the twins' sulky moods.
After the meal ended and sewing time returned after a long absence, he had stealthily handed Herne and Gades each a pouch embroidered with pretty patterns.
He'd made them in his spare time here and there, apparently.
"Is this really for us?"
"It's not for big brother, is it?"
"I already have mine. You're the only two who don't have a 'Grandpa Pouch' yet."
... 'Grandpa Pouch' was turning into a proper noun.
In any case, the twins seemed quite pleased with the gifts. They stroked the embroidery on the pouches in perfectly identical motions, as if stamped from the same mold.
"The petals are so pretty! Did you embroider all of this yourself, Brother Masain?"
"The stitching is so delicate? Brother Masain's good at this stuff too?"
Indeed. Surprisingly, Sir Masain had remarkable manual dexterity.
Mirable, who had taught him embroidery herself, was astonished at how quickly he picked it up.
Even more remarkably, since he'd taken up embroidery as a hobby, he seemed to have gained a newfound peace of mind.
"When you focus stitch by stitch, it somehow feels like mental discipline. Your mind naturally calms, and you start observing yourself with composure."
Seongjin nodded unconsciously as he gazed at Masain's serene face. He knew well how impatiently Masain had pushed his training right after returning from the Zigsmundt Territory.
To think he'd found some peace of mind through embroidery of all things—it was truly a blessing.
[Have you ever wondered why that guy was in such a rush? It's all because you went around causing massive trouble.]
Hey! Don't slander me, you demon bastard!
'These days, even when I cause trouble, Sir Masain doesn't get as angry as before. No way that's true!'
[That's just because he's given up on you.]
'...Shut up!'
Logan, the unofficial Sword Master deeply engrossed in leaf embroidery, agreed with Masain.
"By immersing yourself in precise hand movements, you gradually forget the distinction between self and other. It doesn't seem much different from the training swordsmen do to overcome their walls."
"You think so?"
"Yes, embroidery is excellent training that demands intense focus. Embroidering just these two little leaves already feels as exhausting as having subdued the Sea Tribe. I'm certain it will greatly aid Brother's aura cultivation as well."
'That's probably because you're a Sword Master maximizing your senses, desperately trying to compensate for your clumsy work.'
Logan was usually too busy with various duties to embroider often, but he never missed these irregular sewing sessions. Thanks to that, his Grandpa Pouch was gradually accumulating crooked leaves one by one.
Logan stroked the blue branches blooming on his work and smiled proudly.
"It's rewarding not just as mental discipline, but also to see such wonderful results. I should actively recommend embroidery to the Lilium Knights as well."
...These people are serious about embroidery.
At this rate, Sir Masain might become the first senior knight to break through the Decaron Knight wall via embroidery.
On the other hand, there was someone whose skills hadn't improved at all despite the effort.
"Ah!"
When Amelia let out a quiet scream, Sisley, waiting beside her, promptly channeled holy power into her finger.
"How many times is this now? Your finger's going to turn into a pincushion at this rate, Sister Amelia. Why not just leave it to Mirabel?"
"No, Sisley. I'm doing it because I enjoy it."
Amelia, who spent her time on classes and duties and couldn't fully indulge in her beloved sword training, persisted with embroidery that showed no improvement. Her claim of enjoying it seemed genuine.
The problem was the utter lack of progress.
"Everyone else's skills are improving by the day, so why am I always stuck like this?"
Seongjin thought idly as he watched Amelia's slightly crestfallen expression.
'Well, calling it "improving skills" might be a bit of a stretch, no?'
Among the sewing circle members, only Sir Masain showed any real talent. Even Logan's results were underwhelming given his superhuman senses.
Seongjin had zero interest and was just spectating from the side, while the twins were messing up the threads or folding fabric scraps into origami.
'Among the siblings, maybe only Sisley has even average dexterity.'
So what was the difference between Sir Masain and the others?
The conclusion came quickly.
"It's because you all take after Father."
Meticulous sewing from Father? Impossible to imagine.
But Amelia tilted her head at Seongjin's response.
"Hm? That's not true, Mores. When I was little, Father would often make Bell new clothes..."
She trailed off, startled, and glanced cautiously at Seongjin.
Seongjin could roughly guess her situation.
The dreams from childhood that Amelia often saw through the milestone. She must have briefly confused them with her real past.
"Have you talked to Father about that milestone... no, the 'dream necklace'?"
Amelia blinked for a moment, then smiled softly in relief.
"Hehe, you seem to know everything without me saying, Mores."
"......"
"Yes. After your advice, I immediately went to find Father. But just as I reached his office, something truly strange happened to me."
"Something strange?"
"Yes."
Amelia's gray eyes sank deep, as if lost in thought.
"Mores. You said before that this 'dream necklace' was definitely left by Grandmother, right?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Then, what do you think Grandmother's purpose was in giving it to me?"
Well.
Seongjin wondered the same. Even Father couldn't know for sure what the previous oracles had been thinking.
At a glance, it seemed like she'd protected her unhappy childhood by showing beautiful dreams.
'But that can't be all.'
A single oracle could only create a limited number of milestones. Grandmother had left just three in her lifetime.
Milestones were opportunities crafted to change the future—potent enough to manifest a game item into the real world, nearly divine in power.
To use such an immense item just to show her dreams?
—The words of the Kornsiim clan to anyone are all expressions of their will to predict the future and alter its outcome. Thus, everything they say carries clear intent and is entirely false without exception.
Hadn't Father warned him once?
Even if someone inferred their intent and acted, the Kornsiim oracle would predict that judgment and prepare countermeasures.
And Father had said this too.
—If those milestones remain even after death, it means the future their creator foresaw and prepared for has not yet arrived.
The dream necklace from Grandmother still intact meant the future she foresaw hadn't come yet.
But Amelia's next words snapped Seongjin's wandering thoughts back to reality.
"Mores. It might just be my imagination, but that day in the palace, I swear I saw Grandmother."
...What?
* * *
When was it?
One day, during a warm family lunch in the Pearl Palace like today. Amelia had heard this from Mores.
—I heard this gem is called a milestone, Sister.
—Milestone?
—Yes. It's probably a relic from Grandmother. Father would know best about it, so why not talk to him when you have time?
Amelia thought her brother's words made sense. After all, hadn't she confessed even her regression to the Holy Emperor?
So what was hard about sharing childhood memories?
Amelia headed to the main palace with excited anticipation.
'That's right. That beautiful dream world was just for Father and me. I must tell him about it!'
Even climbing the main palace stairs, she struggled to calm her pounding heart.
But just as she reached the second-floor corridor with the office, a sudden chill washed over her, and Amelia froze in place.
"......!"
Right there stood a woman in black. Unchanged from the day she'd visited Amelia in childhood.
'Who is she? Not a palace servant—why is she standing there like that?'
Caught off guard, she didn't realize at first.
But that distinctive appearance. The long black dress, black hair, and a dark veil covering even her face. In the mild early autumn weather, her eerie attire was unforgettable to Amelia.
'No way... the sister in the black veil from before?'
Was it her imagination? She felt piercing eyes staring through the veil, and Amelia quietly broke into cold sweat.
"Is something wrong, Your Highness?"
When the princess suddenly stopped and froze, her surprised escort knight cautiously asked from behind.
"Over there..."
Amelia slowly raised her hand to point at the woman.
"That woman's blocking Father's office door. She must have business with me, but she won't budge. What's going on?"
But the knight, following her hand, looked puzzled and asked back.
"Pardon? Your Highness, what woman? Aside from the servant who just passed by, there's no one in the corridor."
'...What?'
The shock was brief; Amelia could clearly sense it too.
The aura activity that any living person should emit. The black woman had none at all.
'...What is she?'
Just as chilling suspicions about her identity arose, the black woman moved.
She raised one hand to cover her mouth—
'Mouth?'
And slowly shook her head.
'No? What?'
But Amelia soon understood her intent.
Why had she come here?
—Do not speak of it.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
'Tell Father about the dream? No?'
A secret message conveyed only to her.
Then, astonishingly, more happened.
As Amelia doubted her eyes, the woman vanished from sight in a blink.
"......!?"
And moments later, approaching the office on trembling legs—
"Amelia. Why linger outside instead of coming right in?"
"......"
"Why are you shaking? Did something happen on the way?"
The agent of God. The mightiest on the continent, her father.
'You didn't sense her right outside your office either?'
Amelia felt a chilling premonition creeping in.
Who was the black-veiled woman? A hallucination, or truly Grandmother's departed spirit?
Her childhood words that Amelia would gain a large family had come true.
Then how should she interpret this new warning?
That day.
Lost in tangled thoughts, Amelia couldn't utter a word about the dream to the Holy Emperor.
* * *
"You think that woman was Grandmother?"
"Yes. She's long passed, but I strongly felt it was her. She entrusted me with the dream necklace, after all."
"Hmm..."
"The black veil covering her face. The elegant dress. It was definitely the woman I saw as a child."
Seongjin rested his chin, considering the possibility of Grandmother Besheva's spirit appearing.
Grandmother, who left milestones for the future. A woman with no detectable aura, come to entrust it.
And Amelia, Father's daughter who could see spirits.
'What? It doesn't seem impossible.'
Seongjin tilted his head after reaching a conclusion.
"Then what was Grandmother's purpose?"
"Hehe."
Instead of answering, Amelia posed an unrelated question.
"Do you really believe it was Grandmother's spirit? You don't think I just imagined it, Mores?"
"Huh?"
Seongjin blankly met her gaze.
If asked whether he believed in spirits, of course he'd say yes. Hadn't he wandered as a spirit himself?
Plus, he could summon a fanatic ghost weeping black tears anytime he wanted.
"You clearly saw her, right, Sister? I believe you. Your memory's excellent."
"Mores..."
Amelia looked deeply moved.
But it didn't last.
Ow!
Unable to watch her prick her finger again, Seongjin snatched her sewing tools.
"Take a break. I'll finish it."
"You, Mores? Have you ever sewn?"
"More or less."
Well, never embroidered, but he'd sewn on rank insignias before. Back in the military, there weren't even Velcro ones.
As Seongjin carefully moved the needle threaded with yellow silk, Amelia propped her chin on her hands and watched silently.
"So, you won't tell Father about the dream for the time being?"
"Yes. That seems best."
Amelia nodded readily.
"It's not for any other reason. At the time, I just thought—if the black-veiled woman really was Grandmother, she surely cares for Father."
"......"
"Like Father does for you, Grandmother must love him deeply too."
Seongjin couldn't easily respond. Amelia trusted Grandmother implicitly, but Father might not.
—Remember this well, son. The Kornsiim clan are the least trustworthy people in this world.
His stern face from that admonition lingered vividly.
"But, Mores..."
Amelia tilted her head, watching the butterfly take shape.
"You don't seem to have much talent for embroidery either. Like you said, do we all take after Father?"
No, this is pretty good for a first try, isn't it?
And you're saying that to me, Sister? Really?