The Unwelcome Guest in the Palace
…Damn it.
Big sister… you look really good in it…
The temple was filled with priests and shrine maidens. I was muttering curses while pressing my nose.
The reason I cursed was simple: the dress I was wearing.
Because we were going to meet the king, the Pope himself had prepared it.
He had chosen a striking yet simple red-themed dress to suit my personality, but I had never once imagined wearing one in my life. The humiliation was unbearable.
Next to me, Mu, dressed in a deep blue gown, was trying to play along with Meiel as she praised me while keeping an eye on the priests.
It only made my mood worse.
“Don’t say it looks good, Meiel. I’m in a terrible mood right now.”
“Ung… but it really does.”
“I told you not to.”
“Weong…”
Mu lowered her head dejectedly at my words.
Watching Meiel act like that in her current form was oddly cute, and the small sting in my mood eased a little.
So I removed my hand from my nose and once more gazed at my reflection in the full-length mirror before me.
My face remained cool and sharp, long rose-red hair swaying freely, yet beneath it lay a woman draped in silk-smooth fabric.
In my usual appearance I had seemed like a ghost-like warrior, but right now I looked like a single rose.
“It really does suit me…”
I hated to admit it, but it truly did.
Aria’s body was proving the old saying that a face is worth a thousand words for itself.
My muttered complaint was interrupted when Mu suddenly shouted.
The priests and shrine maidens parted as the Pope strode out.
“Oh my, you both look absolutely wonderful! The effort I put into this has been worth every moment!”
“Thank you. We appreciate it.”
“Thank you… Pope…”
The Pope, ignoring the priests and shrine maidens, showered us with praise that left us speechless.
Slightly awkward at the flowery compliments, Mu and I offered polite thanks.
When I glanced back, I spotted Pina, Morgan, and Isolde standing among the crowd.
Pina’s eyes sparkled as she watched Meiel and me, while Morgan and Isolde looked a touch envious of our dresses.
My mood, which had improved slightly, sank once more.
No matter how you looked at it, even my carefully crafted avatar should not have clashed so badly with the dress.
The more I thought about it, the more ignored I felt. I frowned.
Ignoring the others’ envious stares, I turned my attention to the Pope as he approached.
The reason so many priests and shrine maidens filled the temple’s center was to welcome us, who were heading straight for the palace.
So I asked what I could before we set off.
“Before we enter the palace, just in case… the king won’t do anything harmful to us, right?”
“Of course not. You have nothing to worry about. While other nobles may have questionable reputations, His Majesty the King is a true sage. He will never harm you. Besides, you need not worry about etiquette. He will simply smile and move on.”
“Phew… that’s a relief.”
At the Pope’s confident words, I let out a sigh of relief.
In the game, I had never met the king directly. The encounter was only recorded in logs as a simple story conversation. I had been anxious about his true nature, but it seemed he was a holy being like the Pope.
If the king had made unreasonable demands the way other nobles did, I would have been in trouble. The Pope’s words put my mind at ease.
“Then is there anyone among the nobles I should be wary of?”
“You mean… someone I should watch out for?”
The Pope fell silent, eyes closed, as if weighing something heavy.
“I cannot guarantee it, but you should keep an eye on the Imptia Dukedom. It is one of the five pillars of the Fhara Kingdom, yet it carries a dark reputation in many ways. Be careful. The current duke has red slicked-back hair, so you will recognize him at once.”
“The Imptia Dukedom…”
I repeated the name and stored the information away. Then I nodded and took Mu by the shoulder.
“Thank you. I’ll remember.”
“It’s nothing. It’s only natural.”
It was time to leave. It would be wise to depart five minutes early. I looked down at Mu and spoke.
“Meiel, let’s go. Open the gate.”
“Ung… big sister…”
The gate activated with a swing of her staff.
It was the Gate magic, the one that folded space itself into a doorway rather than the usual teleportation spell.
A vortex formed around the staff, the air itself began to churn. Soon a swirling portal took shape.
From the other side I saw the palace. Mu and I stepped through the vortex.
“Well, see you later.”
“See you soon…”
Of course, I did not forget to bid farewell to the ones who had come to greet us.
That ordinary day under the sun was far from ordinary in the Fhara Palace.
The buildings, the people, even the flowerbeds and fountains remained unchanged. Yet the atmosphere had grown heavy as iron, pressing down on the air.
Swallow…
A knight stood rigidly in the center of the path leading to the palace, sword in hand. In the tense silence he swallowed dryly.
He belonged to the First Knight Order, the kingdom’s elite, yet he could not hide his nervousness.
The cause was a rumor that had spread through the knight order days earlier.
A rumor that today’s visitors were monsters who had destroyed the Sky Island.
On an ordinary day such talk would have been dismissed as nonsense. But the knight himself had witnessed the Sky Island vanish with his own eyes.
He could not deny it.
It was half the size of the kingdom, yet he had seen it clearly.
Of course, the distance had kept the faces hidden, but that very distance only made his tension sharper.
‘Monsters that shattered the Sky Island…!’
Something beyond human capability. Who could have achieved such an impossible feat?!
Even the commander of the First Knight Order, Haran, who could cleave a mountain, would have struggled with something so vast.
The Sky Island was so enormous that it would have required hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of boulders to construct.
The knight who had stood ready to face such a horror felt both fear and a flicker of curiosity.
His comrades shared the same tension.
The knight sighed inwardly with relief that he was not alone.
But the next instant Haran’s thunderous shout snapped him straight.
“His Majesty approaches!!! All of you, kneel in greeting!!!”
His eyes darted to the front. Beside the knight stood Haran, and next to Haran was his daughter Arin. A black hole had opened in the sky between them.
From that hole two pairs of feet emerged.
The knight, matching his comrades, drew his sword high and shouted in unison.
“““May the blessings of the Fhara Kingdom be with you!!!”””
“May the blessings of the Fhara Kingdom be with you!”
After the knights’ cry, Haran and Arin answered from behind.
The knight turned his gaze, eager to see the monsters, yet as a knight on duty, especially when receiving royalty, he could not look away.
So he stood at attention with sword forward, ears perked, listening intently to the voices from the hole.
“Good day, Aria-nim and Meiel-nim. It is an honor to meet you. I am Haran, commander of the First Knight Order of the Fhara Kingdom. This is my daughter Arin. His Majesty the King awaits you. I will guide you. Please come with me.”
“Thank you for your consideration.”
“Thank you for your consideration…”
The response was cold yet carried the slightest drag, as if the speaker were female.
The words themselves were nothing unusual.
But the knight wondered if he had misheard.
If not, then the voice belonged to a woman.
Though there were adult female knights, he could not imagine the monster that had shattered the Sky Island being female.
He prayed he had simply misheard.
Yet the moment he heard footsteps, two women passed before him.
Whoosh—
Rose-red hair and dark blue hair flowing freely. Among them the warrior’s presence radiating from the red-haired woman was several, no, dozens of times stronger than anything Haran had ever exuded.
The knight, tasting that overwhelming aura, unconsciously staggered and dropped his sword a fraction.
Because of that presence… he had no choice but to accept that she was a monster.
As a mere knight he could not know the palace’s inner affairs, but he could guess the reason for the meeting’s height.
The instant I stepped out of the gate, I saw the grand splendor of the Fhara Palace and the man in armor standing beside me, as well as the girl wearing the same armor.
She had black hair and eyes glowing with a blue light. Her face was serious, nothing like her usual gentle one.
…
Yeah…
…Why is Arin here?!