Chapter 25
Chapter 25
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: Side Story ~Princess of the Fallen Kingdom~
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Today was a happy day for the princess.
Her fourteenth birthday, no less.
She stepped out of her room humming a cheerful tune, her heart light and buoyant.
The first to offer birthday greetings was her guard waiting by the door.
Dressed in gleaming armor, he flashed an awkward smile and delivered his congratulations in a clumsy voice.
The princess replied with a beaming smile.
The princess headed to the dining hall.
Because the cream stew she had been looking forward to was waiting for her there.
It was the chef's ambitious specialty, her absolute favorite dish.
When she arrived at the dining hall, her younger brother was there.
A year her junior, he offered his congratulations in his usual snippy tone.
Sensing the warmth hidden beneath his sharp words, the princess pulled him into a tight hug.
The prince startled and bolted away, leaving the princess chuckling softly.
Soon after, the chef brought out the cream stew.
A rich, savory aroma filled the dining hall.
It was the scent she loved most.
One bite filled her body with sweet warmth.
She adored this cozy sensation that enveloped both body and soul.
After finishing her meal amid the chef's birthday wishes, the princess headed to the audience chamber.
She wanted to see her father.
Her kind father always greeted her with a gentle, affectionate smile.
She loved that expression of his more than anything.
Knock knock──
The princess lightly rapped on the door.
The soldiers should have stopped her, but they only watched their adorable princess with warm smiles.
Soon, her father's voice came from within.
The princess entered with a radiant smile.
Ignoring the gazes around her, she ran straight to her father and threw herself into his arms.
Savoring his embrace, she smiled blissfully at the gentle hand stroking her head.
Her father soon chided her lightly, and she reluctantly pulled away.
Her father, wearing a troubled expression, handed her a rough-looking stone.
The princess tilted her head in confusion.
The yellowish stone looked utterly unremarkable.
But the moment she took it in her hand, a sharp tingle shot through her palm.
Startled, she dropped it, and her father's mischievous voice rang out.
A spirit stone.
One inhabited by a lightning spirit, no less.
It was the first spirit given to her as a fourteenth birthday gift.
The top-grade spiritist mother and great spiritist father had never given her a spirit before.
This one filled her heart with overflowing joy.
Thrilled at the realization that she too could become a spiritist, the princess bounced around in excitement.
As she jumped about without restraint, her mother quietly approached.
Gently fixing her disheveled hair, her mother kissed her forehead.
The princess's eyes widened in surprise before she broke into a wide grin and returned the kiss.
Her mother smiled happily and then explained the precautions for handling the spirit.
The princess nodded eagerly, clutching the yellow stone tightly as she listened intently.
Once the brief explanation ended, the princess stepped outside the castle.
She couldn't wait to summon the spirit.
Guided by her guard, she arrived at a secluded forest.
Once there, the princess gripped the stone and tried all sorts of things to summon the spirit.
She even pressed herself against a tree to draw in natural energy.
Wondering if it needed lightning's power, she raised her hand toward the bright sun.
But with no reaction from the spirit stone, the princess pouted sadly.
After trying for a while and growing tired, she slumped to the ground.
As she sighed in dejection, her guard, who had been watching, approached cautiously.
A skilled spiritist himself, he taught her about communion.
He explained that communing with the spirit fulfilled the summoning condition.
When she asked how to commune, he told her to hold the stone and take a nap.
Without hesitation, the princess clutched the stone and lay down in the grass.
She trusted him completely after all their time together.
Feeling the warm sunlight, she slowly drifted off to sleep.
How long had she slept?
A pecking sensation on her forehead made her frown and sit up.
There, fluttering around her, was a tiny yellow bird.
Seeing the sparrow-sized bird, the princess gasped in surprise and looked to her guard.
He nodded, having witnessed everything, and she beamed, approaching the bird.
The yellow bird was fascinating in every way.
Not only did it not flee as she drew near,
but it even perched lightly on her outstretched hand.
The princess noticed a new pattern on the back of her hand.
In wonder, she traced it with her finger.
It resembled a lightning bolt overall.
It was faintly glowing, probably because the spirit was summoned.
Today is the best day ever!
The princess left the forest with a joyful heart.
Guided by her guard, she emerged from the woods and
──saw people dying.
Dying. Dying. Dying.
The commoners she had exchanged greetings with were screaming as they died.
Her face drained of color at the horrific sight, and her guard drew his sword with a grim expression.
The guard was bewildered.
People were dying, yet no monsters were in sight.
Perfectly healthy folk suddenly vomited blood and collapsed.
They convulsed intermittently before going limp.
Dead.
The screams erupted during the convulsions.
The process seemed to involve excruciating agony.
Trembling in her guard's arms, the princess was seeing brutality for the first time.
As people collapsed in the streets, panic spread.
But with no visible enemy, there was nowhere to flee.
One fleeing commoner collapsed right in front of her.
A gruesome scream followed, then stillness.
The guard decided instantly.
To fulfill his duty.
He scooped her up and ran toward the castle.
Pooling all his mana, he sprinted desperately.
The princess's face was already streaked with tears.
Comforting her sobs, the guard bit his lip hard.
He swallowed the blood trickling from his mouth, sensing his own fate.
How far had he run?
The guard stopped.
They were at the inner castle gates.
The princess pried her clinging hands free and stood on the ground.
She called to him softly, but he didn't respond.
Anxiety gripped her.
Tears blurred her vision.
She couldn't see him.
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, she looked at him.
And gasped.
Bleeding from every orifice, the guard stood motionless.
The trail he had left was painted in blood, showing how much he had lost.
Swallowing her sobs, she gently laid him down.
The yellow bird comforted her grieving heart.
Leaving her guard behind, the princess ran through the castle.
Her unease grew with every step.
Everyone inside was dead.
The gatekeeper who had smiled warmly, the maid who brought snacks, the young butler always impeccably dressed.
All had died in agony.
The princess ran sobbing.
She couldn't hold back even if she tried.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, wetting the marble floors.
Leaving the castle folk behind, she headed for the audience chamber.
Instinct told her her parents were there.
But she never reached it.
Familiar hands seized her just before arrival.
Startled, she turned to see who held her.
It was her mother.
Exhausted, her mother burst into tears at the sight of her and hugged her wordlessly.
Sensing inexplicable dread in the fierce embrace, the princess clung silently.
After a moment, her mother whispered.
Demons have invaded the kingdom.
Just one foe.
We can't oppose him.
Your father and I will hold him back. Flee this place at once.
The princess rebelled, of course.
She said she would fight too.
But her mother shook her head.
Even she, a top-grade spiritist, and the king, a great spiritist, couldn't match him.
Tears overflowed from the princess's eyes.
Stroking her hair with familiar tenderness, her mother watched her sob.
Then, she placed a green stone in the princess's hand.
Far more brilliant and larger than the yellow one.
It could pass for a gem, but the princess somehow knew it was a stone.
The queen handed her the wind spirit stone and said.
This is the great wind spirit your father commanded.
The kingdom's symbol and Cream's legacy—I leave it to you.
With those words, the queen finally broke, tears streaming down.
The princess wailed in tandem.
She understood.
Those words were her beloved father's final farewell.
The queen wiped her tears and handed over a blue stone.
The princess sensed it was a water spirit stone.
Sure enough.
The queen gave her a top-grade spirit's stone.
Entrusting the princess's future to her, even at the cost of her own strength.
The princess shook her head desperately.
She didn't want it.
She didn't want to prolong her life with something as vital to her parents as their lives.
She knew.
Without the spirit stones, her beloved parents could never survive against it.
But the princess was powerless.
Her mother pried her away and began casting a spell.
As the princess reached out desperately, her mother said.
Leave the Cream Kingdom behind.
Head to Academy City.
They will protect you there.
Beyond the glowing magic circle, her mother smiled.
The princess wanted to grab her, but her legs gave out.
Even crawling wouldn't work—the spell activated first.
As she wept bitterly, her mother's final words reached her ears.
I love you, Tatiana.
With that faint voice, her consciousness faded.
.
.
.
.
The queen stared blankly at where the princess had vanished, then turned toward the audience chamber.
Her husband awaited there.
She smiled serenely.
At least the princess had survived.
The prince was already dead.
She had handled his body herself on the way, vomiting blood as he fell.
Her heart shattered, but she felt no sorrow.
There was no time for it.
Steeling herself, she left her son's corpse behind.
Thanks to that, she had saved the princess—a stroke of divine luck.
Feeling profound relief, the queen thanked the goddess of light.
She had no fear the princess would die.
Not from this, at least.
The lightning spirit stone she gave her.
A heirloom of Cream Kingdom, it sealed a great lightning spirit.
Even unsummoned, mere possession granted resistance to most ailments.
The queen opened the audience chamber door.
Her husband was dead.
Even a great spiritist couldn't endure without his greatest power.
Closing her husband's eyes, the queen slowly rose.
Hiding her grief, she turned to face "him."
A demon stood there.
A black-clad man with a pitch-black crow mask at his waist, wearing an ominous grin.
The queen knew his identity.
The Demon of Death.
Second among the Four Heavenly Kings, a great demon.
The Demon of Death noticed her but made no move.
He didn't even glance her way, as if she weren't worth the effort, twisting her expression in rage.
But moments later.
A cough burst from the queen's lips.
Sensing the anomaly in her body, she slowly closed her eyes.
The demon still ignored her.
A moment passed.
Grinding her teeth, she drew up her mana.