229. The Saintess and the Princess (3)
229. The Saintess and the Princess (3)
- 1 -
The byproducts were on the first basement floor, and the Fate Components (緣) were on the second basement floor.
Then what ought to be on the third basement floor was self-evident.
"The finished product."
It was a magnificent palace.
A corridor draped heavily with golden curtains and elegant courtly decorations.
But within, the stench of corrupt greed and the sighs of the dying lingered.
As I passed through the lavishly adorned hallway of the third basement floor, I felt acutely how contradictory a space this was.
For even as expensive paintings covered the walls and elegant chandeliers scattered their light, demonic beings were suffering in the spaces above.
"Who... is it?"
When I arrived at the enormous room at the end of the corridor, a frail voice spoke.
Standing there was a girl in a pure white dress.
Her peculiar hair—a blend of the Hirasch royal family's golden locks and black strands within the darkness—hinted at her identity.
"I'm certain I sensed nothing at all..."
"Your clumsy magic cannot detect me."
At my words, her expression darkened.
Considering the cause of her birth, power would have been her only reason for existence.
My words denying that power must have felt like a provocation to her.
Tung—!
In an instant, the space resonated.
Concentric circles of mana radiated outward from the girl.
There was no incantation, no gesture. It was pure power, exploding solely by her will.
'That's...'
The movement of that mana, which gave birth to tremors, was something quite familiar to me.
"Master. I shall..."
"That was the original plan, but I must do this myself."
I restrained Saya.
The way she wielded her mana resembled mine. Even if it was infinitely clumsy.
"The power is strong. But the handling is crude."
Piii—
I lulled it to sleep with a small frequency I spread from my fingertips.
A tiny frequency that shot straight out and then spread its influence in all directions, calming the tremors.
Kurrrrung—!
"Once would hardly be enough to convince you, I suppose."
The girl's mana gave birth to tremors once more.
More fiercely, more desperately.
The violent movement trampling the floor became a raging tremor that shook everything around.
Beyond the movement of that mana, I could feel her desperate yearning.
Kwadeuk!
The wall behind the girl shattered, and dust scattered.
The marble surface cracked like a spiderweb and crumbled down.
But it could not cross a certain boundary.
I saw the mana grow quiet near the ceiling and in my vicinity.
Ttokak.
I walked toward the center of the scene, where not a single speck of dust stirred.
"How...!"
Her layered eyes—green above and violet in the shade below—trembled violently.
Her most precious value was crumbling.
Seureureuk—!
This time, a wave of mana surged up from the floor.
A colossal force that pressed in like a tidal wave.
It was not a mere tremor, but a movement that erased the resistance of everything it swept up.
The princess had instinctively manifested a spell one tier higher.
"Your talent is superb."
A smile crept onto my lips.
Ttak—!
With a snap of my fingers, that wave froze into ice and stopped.
As if time itself had halted, the perfectly rigid flow of mana melted away like candle wax and vanished.
It was undoubtedly vast and violent mana, but compared to that of Stella or the Gluttony Duke, it was no different from a young cub.
"You... just what...!"
The girl was now retreating backward.
Her gaze was tinged not only with fear but also with awe.
She too would know instinctively.
What it meant for a being to be able to control her power so easily.
"I wonder."
I took one more step closer.
I turned the mana that had melted like candle wax back into stairs and walked upon them.
"Guess. Who I am."
In that moment, tears streamed from the girl's eyes.
But as if denying that, she shouted roughly.
"How could someone so dangerous make it all the way here? It's absurd. I must inform The Father right away...!"
The experimental princess.
Her voice was steeped in a desperate earnestness hidden within her terror.
As if she were desperately clinging to something she already knew was a lie.
"Is he truly your Father?"
My words were gentle, but they were a blade that pierced straight through her heart.
Before I knew it, I had drawn close to her.
Startled by my presence, the girl collapsed into the chair behind her. The eyes looking up at me shook violently.
"You must not insult the royal family! I am doing well. The Father said so. That if I listen well..."
"He'll take you upstairs? A common lie."
When I cut her off and stepped closer, the trembling in her eyes spread throughout her small body.
Chararak...!
That trembling traveled even to the golden chains that bound her ankles.
Even without trying to look, I could see them clearly.
Wrapped around those chains were restraint and control.
Magic designed to exploit this 'princess's' power at will.
"You need not be afraid. I will not harm you."
I whispered with sincerity.
The tremor in the girl's eyes gradually subsided.
"You... who are you?"
As she asked that, she unconsciously took a step forward.
The sound of chains clinking could be heard.
"Libertas."
I stepped close and lifted the child's chin.
In her eyes, I now saw a faint glimmer of hope.
"I am someone who will give you 'freedom.'"
And in the very next moment.
"Ah..."
The girl fell asleep.
- 2 -
The girl was dreaming.
The time when The Father, Luihardt Hirasch, had visited.
The moment she saw him, she believed with all her heart that he was her 'Father.'
Because the pounding of her heart pointed to him.
Because she believed that artificial wavelength was real.
"Well done. To be born with this level of mana. Their blood truly is remarkable."
His hand stroked her head in praise.
That touch, in truth, was not for the child's sake.
"When will I be able to move about freely? Father."
Whenever she asked that, the King answered with a benevolent smile.
"Once your illness is fully cured, you shall enjoy all manner of glory at my side. To do that, you must purify many demonic beasts."
The blood-red tint lurking at the edge of that smile was something the girl could not recognize.
The dream shifted.
"Kill them. And absorb them."
Demons were dragged before her.
A fur-covered werewolf, a tiny fairy, a harpy with white wings.
They all gazed at her helplessly, eyes filled with terror.
"I'm sorry..."
Whispering, she unleashed her mana.
Shwiiiiik—!!
Where the wave of mana struck, the demons vanished one by one.
The dust mixed with blood and flesh was soon absorbed back into her.
The power brimming within her grew even greater.
"Splendid. Splendid!"
At first, it was those who came to the underground a few at a time; later, she rose to the surface and swept away and absorbed many demonic beasts across the plains.
At first, she was frightened and wept, but gradually she grew numb.
Because that was her 'utility.'
Because 'The Father' praised her and smiled.
The dream changed once more.
"It is complete."
In the laboratory, the voice of the one who had created her being was heard.
Madness was coiled within that voice and gaze.
"As I thought, for a more perfect being, pure humans alone will not suffice... let us feed her more."
Eerily vivid blue eyes turned toward her.
"Scream. Princess. Noble-blooded lab mouse."
That was when it happened.
When she realized that she was nothing more than an 'experiment.'
She had known that fact all along and had simply been averting her eyes.
"No..."
Tears flowed from the girl's eyes.
Even in slumber, her tears did not stop.
Sarak.
Then, she felt a cool yet gentle hand caressing her cheek.
Unconsciously, she leaned her face into that touch.
—Wake up.
A refreshing and gentle voice roused her from sleep.
- 3 -
"A well-crafted prison."
While the room's owner slept, I surveyed the entirety of the youngest princess's chamber.
"It appears so."
Saya, who had heard my assessment, nodded.
She too possessed considerable expertise in spellcraft.
On the surface, this room was no different from any chamber in the palace.
Luxurious wallpaper, refined furniture, even a wardrobe with elegant dresses hanging inside.
But that was only on the surface.
"The sealing spells are quite elaborate."
The magic circles engraved on the ceiling and outer walls were faint enough that an ordinary mage would not see them.
Because they lay within a thin barrier that blocked mana.
However, to my eyes now, they were all too vividly visible.
I could likely have seen them faintly even before, but it was thanks to the princess's destructive outburst shaking the concealment magic.
"The center is here."
Hwooook!
I reached my hand toward the chandelier.
More precisely, toward the strands of light that the scattering radiance traced in the empty air.
My darkness veiled that light.
"A three-dimensional magic circle... seeing it again, the caster's skill is truly exceptional."
Saya seemed impressed.
Given that she said she had once planned to use this princess's whereabouts as a bargaining chip, she must have entered here in the 'previous' timeline as well.
I had not yet heard everything, but it seemed that the current me had rescued her 'a bit sooner.'
"It is mental magic. That is why she displayed such powerful attachment to the royal family."
The magic circles inscribed throughout the room interlocked with one another to form a single vast mana field.
A structure as intricate as a spider's web.
"Indeed. But part of it was damaged by the release of her own power."
It was a good opportunity for me.
I raised my hand and thrust it toward the center of the space.
Uwoong—!
Along with the tremor of mana, a violet magic circle blossomed at my fingertips.
When I hooked my fingers into that magic circle and turned, large and small magic circles unfolded in every direction.
The mana centered on my hand burrowed toward the magic circles all around and began to fill the empty mental magic.
"There is no need to alter its outward appearance."
Her mind was already accustomed to this magic anyway.
To the point where it could practically be considered a part of her.
That magic would now become not chains that bound her, but a cord of affection directed toward me.
"You have obtained a fine sword."
"A beautiful one at that. A very good blade."
One by one, candles lit up, and the darkened room brightened again.
Each and every one of those candles was an element composing the magic circle.
"Wake up."
The princess, who had been nuzzling her face against my hand, awoke from her sleep.
The look in her eyes as she saw me sparkled with admiration for an instant, then was dyed once more with fear.
I had repaired the magic, but it would take some time for the results to manifest.
"Wh... what is it you want...?"
I pointed to the chains wrapped around her ankles.
"I am going to free you."
Yurena's eyes wavered.
I saw the conflict shaking her from within.
"No. I... The Father... he, for my sake..."
"Indeed. He made you an 'experiment.'"
Cutting off her words, I took one step closer.
Now our shadows overlapped into one.
"He would never! ...to me..."
"That is a promise that will never be fulfilled."
Yurena's eyes trembled greatly.
My words burrowed into her most painful place.
"You already know, don't you? How many demonic beasts you have 'purified.' And yet you are still here, underground."
"That is... because I am still lacking..."
"Is that truly the case?"
I stroked her hair.
"I have seen how extraordinary your power is. Even just the mana you displayed moments ago—no mage in Hirasch could easily match it."
At my words, Yurena's eyes sparkled.
She wanted her worth to be acknowledged. And she believed that power was her sole value.
"Then, why..."
"They fear you. Because they have realized just how potent the demon blood within you is."
I looked her straight in the eye and continued.
"That is why they keep you imprisoned here. Because they fear that once you know the taste of freedom... you will no longer be under their control."
"..."
Yurena's lips quivered faintly.
'Truth' was gaining strength within her.
"But I am different. I do not fear your power. On the contrary, I wish to help it grow even greater."
"Truly...?"
"Yes."
Her voice quivered faintly.
I nodded with an expression that conveyed certainty.
"You shall become a queen."
"I... don't want that."
Unexpected words.
When I looked at her with a questioning gaze, she shrank back but answered carefully.
"I... am fine... being a princess. Queen... I don't want it. The Queen always hated me, after all..."
A childish conception.
At the same time, words that were entirely favorable to me.
I patted her head lightly.
"I shall do as you wish."
"Th... thank you..."
"Now... listen."
For a while, I comforted her as I spoke with her about the things that would happen in her future.
So that even in my absence, her dependence on me and her illusions about me would only grow stronger.
I felt no guilt about manipulating someone who knew nothing.
It was my enemies who had reduced her to this state, and I was merely using the enemy's weapon.
Still, she would certainly be happier at my side.
Because...
"So your mother was this demon."
"Yes... though all the Fate Caretakers kept it a secret..."
No one had told her, but she confessed that she had been able to learn the truth by tracing the traces of her own mana.
She had kept it as her own secret.
"A wise thing to do."
I looked back and forth between the 'corpse' quietly sleeping inside the test tube and the portrait erected beside it.
"It seems we were much closer than you might think."
"What...?"
A strikingly beautiful woman with navy hair so dark it was nearly black, and eyes of a light violet—a shade paler than mine.
I asked her.
"I never heard your name."
"Yurena... it is. My mother named me, they said."
"It seems someone helped convey at least her last words. That is fortunate."
"Yes. My full name is Yurena nish Hylash."
When I shook my head at her old belief spoken with such conviction, Yurena looked up at me with a puzzled expression.
I corrected what was wrong.
"The name you should have received is 'Yurena Gula.'"
It was a fact I had known from the moment I saw her power.
The mode of action imbued in the mana she wielded was infinitely close to my own, or to Stella's.
"And I am your blood relative."
Yurena's eyes shook violently.
It was an emotion in which fear and hope mingled and danced.
"...Truly?"
Her voice trembled, but a desperate longing was steeped within it.
A yearning for a true family, on the very verge of rotting away.
Had things been just a little later, it would have bloomed into a flower of malice.
"Yes."
This princess was my niece.
She was the daughter of my half-sister, even if human blood had been mixed in.
"Yurena Gula... it is a strange name."
At her murmur, I smiled.
It would still be difficult for her to accept her true identity.
"You may grow accustomed to it slowly. For now..."
Before my words could even end, a bell tolled in the distance.
It was the sound announcing morning.
"It is time I returned."
"You... you are going?"
Yurena's eyes wavered with anxiety.
She had only just met someone who would affirm her existence, a true family—enduring his disappearance from her side would have been unbearably hard.
"Do not worry. We shall meet again soon. When that time comes..."
I looked her straight in the eye and continued.
The image of me reflected in her eyes would soon transform into something she could never tear away from herself.
"I will create an opportunity to show everyone that you have the qualifications to be a true 'princess.'"
"Qualifications...?"
"Yes. So wait just a little longer. You are a good child, so you can wait, can't you?"
"...Yes!"
Dawn light began to seep in through the window.
Within that light, I saw yet another 'light.'
A pearl that had grown buried in the mud, but which I intended to polish until it shone brightly.
It would become a crucial piece in the unfolding developments to come.
The third star that even Yuran had not foreseen.
'I never expected to use this card here.'
I knew.
That somewhere in the world—and somewhere within the streets of this Hylash—there was one who offered prayers tinged with madness.
The whisper of a fanatic bursting from the lips of one who worshipped demons.
It would soon plunge this city into chaos.
And within that chaos, the hidden royal would become a newly rising star.
A star for the kingdom's people.