The Founder's Jewel Eyes

It was so unfair. I'd thought it was a pretty clever move, too. Who knew they'd see right through it? The real shame was that there simply hadn't been enough time to set up multiple additional recorders. Then again, even if I had prepared several, they probably would have been caught by the magical resonance anyway. Isn't there such a thing as a mechanical recorder somewhere? Sure, this is a medieval world, but it's basically knockoff medieval, so would it kill them to provide at least that much convenience?

When I finally shook off the sleeping draught and came to my senses, we had already been dumped outside the lake, carriage and all. The rest of the party was in similar states of confusion.

"After the three of you left, I somehow just... drifted off. When I woke up, we were already out here," one of them said.

"Truly a mysterious and bizarre place," Rabaul rumbled in his heavy, formal tone. "I would like to visit it again someday."

"We pick the wrong path once and that's it? No second chance, no redo, just game over? Isn't that a bit much! At least give us a duel! A duel!"

Lyla let out a long sigh. "I'm not exactly agreeing with my brother, but... it does feel like we weren't much help, so I can't completely disagree."

That was the general consensus from the group. From their perspective, the only part where they'd been able to make any real choices was picking the first fork in the road. After that, they'd simply been dragged along by the lake's incomprehensible trials. It was understandable that they felt wronged.

Strictly speaking, the Pendevig siblings were the ones who felt truly cheated. Pino and Rabaul seemed to be taking it more philosophically, something along the lines of well, it's over now.

Valkius, however, was in worse shape. His memories of the entire affair had been completely erased.

"I remember getting out of the carriage, walking through a long cave, and having some sort of question-and-answer exchange with someone. But beyond that... nothing."

He still remembered the answer about the magical beast's heart, but that was it. The way he had completely forgotten both the existence of the lake's owner and the castle where she'd resided left me at a loss for words. If I'd slipped up even once, I might have ended up the same way.

At least my own memories seemed intact... or so I desperately hoped.

Princess Lyla gave a similar account of wandering the caves and speaking with a mysterious voice, carefully omitting any mention of the lake's owner. I matched her story when she glanced my way. Revealing the owner's existence to the Empire didn't seem like it would lead to anything pleasant.

Learning about the Ivestan Empire was one thing—the sooner the Barhart Empire noticed them, the better. But information about Star Land was an entirely different matter. Especially now that the mysterious stone I'd obtained had forced me to reconsider my plans and visit every Star Land at least once.

With no convenient carriage to carry us and no helpful goldfish to pull it, we had no choice but to walk back to the nearest territory on our own two feet. That's when we discovered the absolute chaos unfolding around us.

"Whoa, the princess?! The princess has returned!"

"Lord Eagle! Lord Howe! Thank goodness you're safe!"

From what I could gather, the coachmen who had been forcibly separated from us during our entry into the lake had panicked at losing such important guests and immediately reported it to the Pendevig lands. The margrave had been horrified and mobilized search parties, even requesting assistance from the other lords around the lake. It was a good thing we'd returned after only about a day. Any longer and the army itself might have been deployed.

That level of overprotectiveness was honestly terrifying.

Once we finally reached the margrave's residence and secured a space where we could speak without worrying about eavesdroppers, I turned to the princess.

"So, are you really not going to tell me the lake owner's true identity?"

"I'm sorry, but I made a promise. Please keep her existence to yourself, Chrome."

The way she declared it with that bright, refreshing smile left me no room to argue. I was curious, of course, but it wasn't exactly critical information for me right now. Better to let it slide than earn her resentment.

Given that she called the kingdom's founding queen Morian a close friend, I could make some educated guesses anyway.

Instead, I decided to poke at a different subject.

"Then... would it be inappropriate to ask about your eyes as well?"

At some point, Lyla's eyes had returned to their usual sunset hue. They looked nothing like the blue gem-like eyes I'd seen inside the lake. The lake's owner had called them Gem Eyes and treated them as something special. I'd had my suspicions before, but hearing it from her own mouth carried a different weight.

At my question, the princess closed her eyes and fell silent. Three seconds. Five. Then ten.

"...The founding queen of the Morian Kingdom—the one who gave the kingdom its name—is said to have possessed eyes like blue jewels. Rarely, children are born into the Morian royal family with the same eyes as the first queen. Every single one of them became wise rulers or heroes who either revived the kingdom or drove away disasters threatening it. That is why eyes like the queen's are called Gem Eyes and regarded as an omen of good fortune."

I couldn't simply say then isn't that a good thing?

The exact same eyes as the founding queen. The symbol of a ruler and hero who would revive the kingdom and save it from catastrophe. To the people of Morian, there could be no greater blessing. But what about from the Empire's perspective? If the legend was true, then what did that make the current Empire that had forced that very kingdom to its knees and now ruled over it?

"So that's why you usually hide them with a different color?"

Lyla let out a deep sigh. It was rare for her to show such vulnerability.

"What do you think it would mean if the Empire's own princess became the center of attention as a symbol of the kingdom's revival?"

Whether the legend was true or not didn't matter. The more the kingdom adored Lyla, the more dangerous she became in the Empire's eyes. Whether she herself had any such intentions was irrelevant.

"That's why you came to the academy. To build your own power, prove your achievements, and avoid being used as nothing more than a convenient tool."

"...That's right. I don't want to be used by the Empire as a piece to control the kingdom, nor do I want to be carried on a palanquin as the flag of a rebellion against the Empire. However..."

Her voice trailed off. I could guess what would come next, but I deliberately twisted the direction of the conversation.

"Then there will be many stairs to climb. Keep going up, and up, and up, until you reach a height where such worries seem trivial. You might even end up higher than you ever expected, but that's something you can think about when you get there, isn't it?"

She stared at me with a momentarily stunned expression.

"...Do you even understand what you're saying right now?"

"From what I've seen, Your Highness, your flaw is that you examine the ground beneath your feet too closely. It's an excellent quality for a ruler, but sometimes you need to look up high and stretch your neck, or you'll get muscle pain. Besides, you've already become a customer of our company, haven't you? Stop worrying about the small details and make full use of us."

Lyla looked at me. I didn't avert my gaze. She smiled.

"If I keep buying things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without thinking, I might end up buried in debt. That's the problem."

"Our company always provides our valued customers with high-quality service at conscientious prices, so please rest assured."

Of course, that service might involve dragging her into all sorts of dangerous places or working her hard as a combat asset, but I certainly wouldn't be exploiting her for free. I had my pride.

Ordo von Devien, Chancellor of the Barhart Empire, was reviewing the report his subordinate had handed him.

It contained the results of the investigation into the Morian Kingdom that had been conducted while the princess's party served as bait to draw attention. Strictly speaking, the investigation itself had been ongoing for some time, and this had merely been a diversion to approach more dangerous territory... but what mattered now were the findings.

"I had only been suspecting a few anti-Empire nobles at most. This is on an entirely different scale."

Because most of the Morian royal family had been wiped out during the war for dominance, the Empire had been unable to simply absorb the opposing royal bloodline. There had been the youngest daughter—the sole survivor—and the child in her womb, but it would take more than a decade for that unborn child to grow up and marry into the imperial family. To fill that power vacuum, they had needed someone to act as king temporarily.

Thus, they had chosen one of the more powerless and unsupported imperial relatives, married him to a daughter of Morian's ducal house, and assigned him the role of stepping stone. That was when things began to go wrong.

The imperial crown prince had died suddenly from illness, and the man who should have become nothing more than a prince married to Morian's only legitimate heir and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠taken the throne of a vassal kingdom—Dominique Loop Barhart—had suddenly become the next crown prince instead.

They could hardly send the crown prince to rule a vassal kingdom, nor would it look proper to send another imperial relative at this point. In ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the end, with no proper solution available, the temporary king's reign was extended indefinitely. The child of that temporary king—who should have returned to the Empire with Dominique and the rest of the family—ended up becoming the next king of Morian when Dominique ascended the imperial throne.

The man had never caused any major incidents and had appeared to follow the Empire's orders obediently, just like the previous king. To think he had been scheming like this behind the scenes.

"...Nothing ever goes as planned."

From the perspective of stability and legitimacy, the best option would have been to ignore the somewhat close blood relation and marry Princess Lyla to the current Morian king's child. But the princess was too capable and possessed her own claim to the imperial throne, making her difficult to control. And now even the Morian royal family, which had seemed relatively stable, could no longer be trusted.

"His Majesty always pushes everything onto me unless it's truly urgent, the princes are too busy fighting each other, the military keeps complaining, strange new magical beasts are appearing at the borders, and now even the kingdom is causing trouble. Ancestor, why did you not leave me as a simple soldier and instead seat me in this cursed position? Was my nagging during the war about not doing anything too dangerous truly that unbearable?"

Come to think of it, the academy would be entering its break period soon. The chancellor let out a long sigh, thinking he could use a long vacation himself. Or at the very least, a competent successor would be nice.

"For now, we'll prepare countermeasures for the new magical beasts and put the kingdom investigation on hold until we obtain solid physical evidence. As for everything else..."

Complaining ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wouldn't reduce the workload. It looked like another all-nighter was inevitable.