Chapter 90 Holy Kingdom (2)
The Holy Kingdom (2)
"Don't look."
That voice had echoed in my ears when I fell victim to a monster's mental interference during the subjugation expedition. Back then, following that advice had allowed me to quickly break free from the mental assault.
Later, I heard it again when I entered the Oblivion Whale.
"Really?"
It had asked when I thought I could never grow accustomed to the sensation of killing people. At the time, I dismissed it as mere delusion.
Apparently, I was wrong.
"Is it... the original Adel?"
I don't know.
If my memories are correct, the original Adel was nothing more than a disposable villainess—a character who met a hollow end by execution around the story's midpoint, all for loving the Crown Prince and tormenting Estelle before getting falsely implicated in treason.
I couldn't possibly imagine that same Adel, after taking over my body, defeating Katra.
"Then who the hell is it?"
My head throbbed.
I had no concrete information. Any further speculation would just be forced conjecture.
"Haah..."
At first, I thought simply avoiding my execution ending would be enough.
Like in those common villainess possession stories, I naively hoped that if I worked hard enough, I could live happily like those heroines.
But my genre was fundamentally different from theirs.
Death became routine, and through regression, I accumulated an overwhelming pile of memories that no longer existed.
This world wasn't just some simple romance fantasy setting.
True, its structure and narrative progression followed the typical RoFan formula—Estelle as the female protagonist, the Crown Prince, Tower Lord, and Imperial Knight Commander as male lead candidates. Even the dazzling roster of male leads screamed generic reverse-harem RoFan.
"But it's different."
Once I became entangled with Abel through our contract marriage, the story completely derailed.
The Imperial House's forbidden secrets.
Abel preparing for rebellion. The Imperial Princess joining him. Even Estelle, the heroine, proposing treason to our side.
And now, with the Holy Kingdom involved, the situation would only grow more complicated.
"Back then, the Emperor called me 'Saintess.'"
When I arrived at the village that was the Emperor's hometown, I encountered him possessing a local youth.
He distinctly referred to me as "this generation's Saintess." I tried pressing for more information, but all I got in return was a chokehold.
Unconsciously, my fingers brushed my neck. The sensation of death from that moment remained vivid.
Just as feelings of helplessness and resignation threatened to resurface, Silpi flicked my forehead.
[Contractor. Snap out of it.]
"...Ah, sorry."
I nearly spiraled into negativity again.
As a Spiritualist, I knew this was a bad habit, yet breaking free was difficult.
"That's not what matters."
I shook my head, forcing the emotions aside. What I needed to focus on wasn't those past feelings.
The truly important thing was the Emperor calling me "Saintess."
"He knew I'd be involved with the Holy Kingdom."
The realization sent chills down my spine. I rubbed my arms and exhaled sharply.
[Feeling better now?]
"Yeah. Sorry. I got lost in thought for a second."
Silpi stepped closer and pressed his palm against my forehead.
[No fever, it seems...]
"...Are you worried about me?"
[You're my Contractor. Can't help it.]
His tone was indifferent, but the words made my face flush. Seeing Abel's face say that was unbearably embarrassing.
[Huh? Why's your temperature—]
"I-I'm fine!"
I pushed his hand away.
Tilting his head at my sudden reaction, he soon caught on and smirked slyly.
[Hmm... My Contractor's quite the pervert, aren't you?]
"W-what?!"
[I get it. Some spirits even play stand-in lovers for their Contractor's crushes.]
His amused expression inexplicably irritated me.
"Save it—I'll win him over properly!"
Silpi chuckled at my declaration before crossing his arms again.
[Anyway, enough of that. So, any clues about that 'someone'?]
"I told you before. A strange voice in my ear."
[...Right. I thought it was just a phantom sound.]
"Me too, but..."
"...I really don't know."
I had no way to identify the voice's owner. I'd only heard it twice.
[That time, whoever's inside you blended my power with their magic.]
"Magic?"
[Yeah. When I asked Silvana, she said it was Blood Magic.]
Blood Magic—literally magic that uses blood, then.
But neither the private tutors who came to my estate nor Abel had ever mentioned such magic before.
The very fact that a magic with such a lethally ominous name existed in this world was questionable to begin with.
[The creator of Blood Magic was none other than the infamous Magic King. Though the knowledge has been lost over time, so there's no one left who can use it now.]
The Magic King.
Of all things, that name had to come up here.
I had wanted to ask Silpi about it—just who exactly this "Magic King" was.
Abel had seemed reluctant to talk about it, after all.
Probably because if he misspoke, it might trigger some restriction tied to the Imperial House's secrets.
But Silpi, being an extraplanar entity, might be different.
"Who exactly is the Magic King?"
[You don't know the Magic King? Ah, I suppose that makes sense.]
Silpi stared at me as if he couldn't believe it, then nodded in understanding.
He seemed to fall into thought for a moment before continuing.
[The Magic King was a ruler who reached a transcendent realm in magic.]
"A transcendent realm?"
[Yeah. I think he even had a contract with Silvana at one point.]
"With her? So the Magic King was a Spiritualist?"
Startled, I pressed him further.
[That's right.]
Silpi answered nonchalantly. Who would've thought I'd stumble upon such a crucial clue here?
If I spoke with Silvana, I might even learn about that so-called "legacy" of his.
The only problem was how to broach the subject with her.
Asking her to tell me about the legacy of her former contractor? No matter how I looked at it, I doubted she'd react well.
[You're oddly timid about the weirdest things. Silvana wouldn't care about that, you know?]
Silpi chuckled, having likely read my thoughts through our Link.
If he was saying that much, then meeting her again was definitely worth considering.
"Silpi, then... can you arrange another meeting with Silvana?"
[I'll pass along the message. She'll probably reply within a week or so.]
"That long?"
[The flow of time is different between the Spirit Realm and this world. A week here is about a day there.]
Ah, so that explained why Silpi sometimes seemed slower than expected. The time discrepancy must have played a part.
Come to think of it, I don't remember learning about that in my Spirit Magic lessons...
Maybe Master had skipped over it, assuming it was too obvious.
"Thanks for doing this."
[Don't mention it.]
§
The Subjugation Expedition, fraught with endless troubles, had finally concluded safely.
After the defeat of the Oblivion Whale, the morale of the Holy Knight Order and our own knights soared, and through our coordinated attack, we managed to safely seal the last Dimensional Rift.
'The Oblivion Whale...'
If my memory served correctly, in the original work...
The Oblivion Whale had been subjugated by Ka-il, the captain of the Holy Knight Order and the Sub Male Lead.
'That was his first appearance.'
Ka-il was Abel's rival, the one who formed a love triangle over Adel.
If I remembered right, he was a late-game character—one who never participated in any major subjugation battles.
The fact that the Pope and the Holy Kingdom's strongest warriors could leave to join the expedition was entirely thanks to him.
A monster capable of single-handedly defending the entire Holy Kingdom—that was Ka-il.
His existence alone was why even the Empire couldn't exploit the Holy Kingdom's absence to attack.
'I only ever saw him once, from a distance.'
During the war with the Prilecha Kingdom, I vaguely recalled Ka-il stepping forward just once.
He swept across the battlefield with Holy Power rivaling even the Pope's. That image remained vividly etched in my mind even now, over a decade later.
Given how much time had passed since then, he must have grown even stronger.
'The Imperial Princess's mention of Adel's new bond must have been referring to him.'
Ka-il, who appeared as the Sub Male Lead. That was probably why the Tarot card depicting scales had shown up.
I remembered many readers loving his signature polite speech, refined tone, and courteous demeanor.
He was practically flawless in terms of character, too—a genuinely good person.
Especially since, in terms of combat prowess, he even surpassed Abel.
That was why his first display of jealousy had heightened the romantic tension in the story, but...
Unfortunately, being a Sub Male Lead meant his appearances dwindled after he stepped back from the Female Protagonist.
'I still don't understand why he gave up, though...'
What was it he had said again?
Something about it being a bond that could never be, or whatever.
Personally, I found his patheticness utterly incomprehensible and just skimmed past it, but I remembered a fair number of readers actually liking that scene.
Of course, the story's subsequent downward spiral ended up driving away a lot of the audience.
'Not that I need to worry about it now.'
Adel and I were already comrades who relied on each other.
There's no way someone like Ka-il could wedge himself between us at this point.