Chapter 65
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Farewell to the Royal Capital
-----------------------------------------------------------------
html, body { margin:0; padding:0; }
- Clatter, clatter.
The carriage departing from the royal castle passed through the walls, sped past the capital, and raced along the road toward the southern border.
And finally, once the pure white towering castle had completely vanished from sight, a girl shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Farewell, royal capital! Let's never meet again!!"
Hanna's bright voice echoed through the carriage.
She had her face practically plastered to the window, blurting out in utter excitement.
"The queen consort... no, the queen herself too! Bleh!"
If anyone overheard, it was the kind of remark that could get her dragged off by the hair.
It was a total one-eighty from how she'd been at the Immigration Control Office just yesterday.
Where had that desperate girl gone, the one who'd shown up without sleep for two straight nights begging to save her friend? In her place was a tomboy brimming with eager anticipation.
Hanna whipped her head around and said,
"Princess! Princess! They say the southern border has the best bread! It's right next to the Mahalan Kingdom, the continent's biggest breadbasket, so bakers flock there from everywhere! You've gotta try some when we get there!"
"..."
"Princess?"
But no reply came.
Elaine was huddled in the deepest, darkest corner of the carriage, away from the sunlight, her face tense with anxiety.
No matter how much Hanna bounced around excitedly right beside her, she showed no reaction whatsoever.
She didn't even glance out the window.
As if she wasn't allowed to look—like she couldn't dare. Instead, she hugged her knees tight and stayed silent.
Her gaze, though, had been fixed on one spot ever since boarding the carriage.
Right on...
"Haaaah..."
Me, as I rubbed my forehead and let out my 29th bone-deep sigh.
I'm totally screwed.
I still couldn't wrap my head around it.
Half a day must've passed already, but no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't figure out how things had ended up like this.
Why this trial of all things...
Did the world hate me?
Or had I brought this on myself?
Taking the princess to the southern border, of all places.
When we headed to the capital, I was prepared.
Punishment was a given.
My visit had strayed from its purpose from the start, and clashing with the queen was inevitable.
But...
The proxy's words still echoed in my mind.
- Princess Elaine Castor is hereby ordered to a two-month isolation at the southern border, with the Central Officer bearing full responsibility.
How was this a punishment?
Well, from a certain angle, it was.
This was a princess of the realm—the king's own daughter. I had to keep her safe and sound for a full 60 days.
Back with Erzena, the minister and I promised a smooth trip north in just three days.
That timeline was a whopping 20 times longer.
No idea why, but King Rio was clearly out to kill me.
No, that's over the top. If that were the case, they'd have sentenced me to death at the trial.
I shook my head.
Enough nonsense. What immediate problems did I need to solve right now?
Let's think this through step by step.
The princess's lodgings can't be any worse than the capital's, meals have to match, how much do we disclose to the locals, how much worse could her ability overload get, where do we even source formal attire that fits protocol...
It never ended.
"Haaaah..."
My 30th sigh.
But the biggest issue was something else entirely.
How the hell do I handle security?
The princess's safety.
The southern border already had Erzena under temporary asylum.
Meaning we were responsible for one VIP already.
The silver lining? The pilgrimage group had fully departed, and the Holy Church's influence wasn't that strong down south, so Erzena's safety wasn't a huge concern.
Plus, with her divine power fully restored—stronger than ever—she could protect herself just fine, easing the burden.
Actually, she even forcibly restored our attendants' and Five Senses Officers' fatigue, doubling our efficiency.
But Elaine was a different story.
She couldn't hide her identity.
Those distinctive eyes unique to the royal family.
I looked up at her, and when our eyes met, she shyly averted her gaze and shrank back into the shadows away from the light.
A woman with the same emerald-green eyes as King Rio.
No matter how long she'd stayed out of the public eye, anyone who saw those eyes would know exactly who she was.
And yet the king and his proxy had dumped the full responsibility on me.
How was I supposed to protect a nation's princess leaving the capital without so much as a single guard escort?
Incansus. What the hell is he playing at... and what was he trying to tell me?
I recalled what he'd said after issuing the royal decree, when we were alone.
- I, Dragonkin Incansus Verbottem, place my trust in you.
It was unmistakably a Dragonkin oath.
Baring fangs and pressing a hand to the heart—textbook.
I'd been shocked by the sudden, out-of-nowhere gesture.
But something felt off.
It was an oath missing the when, where, how, and why.
Dragonkin were always like this.
So damn terse.
Senior Dhin Asqurin, the northern border chief, was the same. And now the proxy too.
They slap on these oaths willy-nilly, say they trust you, then clam up about everything.
And then they just send you packing.
Damn lizard bastard...
First time I'd ever dared curse the proxy.
If something's wrong, just tell me, damn it.
What am I supposed to find? Spit it out.
I appreciated the king's proxy declaring himself on my side, but not knowing his intentions left a nagging itch.
"What exactly do you expect from me..."
I muttered with a sigh, letting it drift out the window.
Why did the sky have to be so damn clear on a day like this?
That's when Elaine finally entered my line of sight.
The princess was still curled up tight, shunning the sunlight spilling into the carriage.
Her expression brimmed with wariness, as if she didn't belong here at all.
"Princess."
- Flinch.
Even my gentle call made her jump.
"Please don't worry about security. I'll do everything in my power to ensure your safety."
The princess was the king's daughter.
Moving a figure of such paramount importance to the border was a matter of national security.
I need to request the Intelligence Bureau's cooperation.
Not a request—this was their duty as a state agency.
Can't let it just be me on the hook.
Dump all the rumor control and threat investigations on them.
Incansus did say he was putting me in full charge.
Fine. Time to use that responsibly.
The faint screams of the Intelligence Bureau and Melanie in the distance? Probably just my imagination.
[...]
But Elaine shook her head.
And only after a long pause did she continue.
[...I'm scared.]
"Scared of what?"
[This is my first time ever leaving the capital... I don't know what to do.]
Her voice trembled.
Her gaze stayed locked on me, unwavering.
[Will... I be okay?]
She posed the uncertain question to me.
No "from what," but I knew.
From herself. From this freedom.
That was when it happened.
"We're almost there!"
The coachman bellowed, and the princess flinched hard, sucking in a sharp breath.
"Eep..."
She hugged her knees even tighter.
She was still afraid.
A bird caged for so long doesn't know its freedom even after escaping.
It feels foreign instead.
Everything would be new to her.
If things stay like this, even arriving at the southern border won't change a thing.
When she'd first tried fleeing the capital, it wasn't a true yearning for freedom.
Just a desperate urge to run.
But now that she had escaped for real, all purpose had vanished.
A lost bird.
That's how she looked to me.
Maybe...
I could help.
At least point her in the right direction. Show her there's no need to be so afraid.
I spoke softly.
"Princess, would you look out the left window? Hanna, you too."
Hanna jammed her head to the left window the second I finished.
Elaine stayed frozen, face taut with tension.
I quietly took her hand and said,
"It's fine. No danger at all. Just take a peek."
Only then did she slowly—ever so slowly—turn her head for a sidelong glance out the window.
There, from the left edge of her vision to the right, stretched a straight horizontal line.
The horizon.
Not the cramped, jagged Uracaras Mountains, but the vast, open horizon of the southern plains slicing sky from earth, extending to the limits of sight.
Blue skies above, deep green earth below.
"Whoa..."
[...]
Elaine and Hanna gaped at the majestic vista, mouths agape.
The carriage began a gentle descent down the mountain path.
"Years ago, when Director Haillin recruited me, she said something."
I recalled the old memory.
Back when I had zero interest in becoming an immigration officer. Why I ended up one anyway.
"The world is full of lines. Straight, merciless lines etched everywhere."
Lines on the ground.
Lines dividing sky and earth.
Lines between people.
Lines we draw ourselves.
"And among all those countless lines, everything inside that one is the world we live in."
I pointed to the area below the horizon.
As the two women followed my finger downward, the endless horizon gave way to something tall and straight: a massive wall.
A towering barrier of stone, rock, and timber.
From this distance, it looked like a thick line.
Elaine murmured softly.
[The border...]
A merciless line dividing nation from nation.
And for the princess, her dark prison cell and the royal capital had been her lines for far too long.
"To be frank, the world isn't kind. You cross one simple line, and everything changes root and branch. Your life, your way of thinking—even your beliefs."
As a merchant's son and now an examiner, I'd seen it firsthand. Nothing easy about it.
Where races, cultures, histories, and traditions clashed, conflict was inevitable.
"I understand the fear. I was terrified at first too."
"R-Really? Even you, Central Officer?"
Hanna asked, wide-eyed.
"Yes. There was a time when I was full of fears."
I smiled faintly and repeated Haillin's words verbatim.
- We're all the same deep down. We fear the different, hate the different, even draw blades against the different.
"We're all the same. We fear the different, hate the different, try to destroy the different."
For someone like Elaine, it'd be even worse.
A Talent Manifestor whose power could overload? She'd feel worlds apart from ordinary folk.
More alien than any other race's appearance. Her very existence is otherworldly.
Too different.
A monster.
I could guess all too well how that moniker would hit her.
Just look at the queen and priests.
Helena Castor's face that day had been pure fear and resentment.
- But there are the brave who cross those lines. It's because of them that our world changes too.
"But today, you bravely crossed that line. And because of you, Princess, your world has changed."
I turned my gaze to the border alongside her.
"So don't be afraid. Feel free to look at the scenery outside."
I continued with the exact words Haillin had told me four years ago.
"Because from now on, you'll be seeing it together with me and Hanna."
60 days.
The days we'd share ahead—the freedom granted to her.
I hoped she'd realize, in that time at least, that the world wasn't so merciless.
And please, just make it through without incident. For both of us.
60 days. No accidents. Please.
I prayed silently.
[...]
Elaine stayed quiet for a long while.
Just staring at the border and the horizon beyond.
But she no longer hid in the shadows.
Her emerald eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
A few hours later, late afternoon.
- Creeeak.
The door to the Southern Border Immigration Control Office swung open.
"Everyone, we're back."
As I trudged in with a weary face, the Five Senses Officers finishing their work leaped to their feet.
"Central Officer, you're back!"
"How'd it go?"
"You made it back safe, so it must've turned out okay?"
Questions poured in without pause.
And the most fervent asker was one in particular.
"Did you sort out that friend from the capital!?"
The Olfactory Officer flung aside his paperwork and bounded over, bellowing.
"You gave that bastard who messed up Hanna's face a proper thrashing, right!?"
"Ow, my ears."
Werewolf through and through—overprotective of the kid.
Wonder what face he'd make knowing that "bastard" was the queen.
Curious.
"Well, about that..."
I sidestepped toward the door and called outside.
"You can come in now."
- Creeeak.
Two women entered at once.
The red-haired girl with braids appeared, and the Olfactory Officer's face lit up instantly.
"Hanna! You're safe!"
Hanna beamed back at the one who'd worried for her first.
"Werewolf uncle!"
He quickly crouched to her eye level and asked,
"What happened? No injuries? Your friend?"
"The Central Officer fixed everything! I'm good now!"
The Olfactory Officer sighed in relief.
Then the Tactile Officer noticed there was one more and asked,
"Who's the one behind you?"
"...Eep."
Elaine, standing stock-still behind Hanna, flinched.
"Ah, the friend Hanna mentioned!"
"So you're the one who needed help. Welcome."
The werewolf strode toward her too.
"Glad you made it. I don't know what went down in the capital—"
"Olfactory Officer, hold up."
The Auditory Officer suddenly stopped him.
Her narrow blue eyes fixed on Elaine.
"Something's off. This gives me déjà vu."
"Déjà vu?"
"...Feels just like when Saintess Erzena arrived. Weird."
Rare to see the Auditory Officer so rattled. The Olfactory Officer wagged his tail, amused.
"What's weird? She's Hanna and the Central Officer's friend."
He extended a hand to Elaine.
"Welcome to the Immigration Control Office. Any friend of the Central Officer is always welcome."
[...]
Elaine took a step back at the sight, then glanced at me.
- Nod.
It's fine.
[...Yeah.]
She swallowed hard, then slowly reached out and touched the tip of the massive werewolf's hand.
The Gustatory Officer stared at her for a moment before exclaiming,
"Whoa, your friend's eyes are green! So pretty..."
The Tactile Officer tilted her head.
"Green? That's unusual. Far as I know, in our kingdom, people with green eyes are..."
A short sigh followed.
"Oh my god."
"Yeah, Tactile Officer? What's up?"
"..."
The Tactile Officer didn't answer.
"C-C-C-C-C-Central Officer...?"
Instead, she gawked at me in horror.
Eyes screaming, What the hell did you do this time?
"Allow me to introduce them."
No more dodging it. I finally spoke up.
"Princess Elaine Castor and Hanna."
Silence.
A suffocating, heavy silence blanketed the office.
Even the attendants froze mid-motion.
Their gazes shifted past Elaine and Hanna, straight to me.
Eyes brimming with every emotion imaginable.
The Gustatory Officer, frozen in shock.
The Tactile and Auditory Officers, foreheads in hands with I knew it faces.
And the Olfactory Officer, mid-handshake with Elaine, fur standing on end.
Their expressions, stares, and vibes all screamed:
Tell me it's not true.
There's a limit to jokes.
Please. For real. Please.
D-Did I just speak casually to the princess!?
And I said,
"These two will be staying with us at the Immigration Control Office for the next two months."
Sorry.
"It's a royal decree."
I had no choice either.
Silent screams etched across the Five Senses Officers' and attendants' faces.
All but one.
"...The princess?"
Erzena excepted.