Diana's Bid for the Imperial Throne
Diana's Bid for the Imperial Throne
Princess Diana left the palace to undertake the trials required of imperial heirs.
Her destination: the Central Temple in the capital.
The Imperial Princess's Knight Order accompanied her as escort.
"You honor us with your presence, Your Highness."
A cardinal came out personally to greet her at the Central Temple.
"A pleasure. Cardinal Roton. Have you been well?"
"Haha, thanks to the grace of His Majesty the Emperor and Your Highness, I have managed quite well."
"Is His Holiness the Pope at prayer?"
"He is. As is customary, he is communing with the Holy Spirit in the oratory, praying that the future emperor may rule justly."
Diana's lips twisted.
She was not yet emperor, but once the succession contest began, imperial children were treated as crown princes and princesses in all but name. When a princess of the blood visited the Central Temple, showing one's face was the bare minimum of courtesy.
And yet the Pope had not appeared.
Which means he will not officially back me.
Unless some unforeseen variable emerged.
It didn't matter.
She hadn't come here to win the Pope to her side in the first place.
Someone more important than the Pope was inside.
The Saintess.
A sacred being she had to meet if she was going to resolve the emperor's trial.
The mouth that delivered God's word, the vessel that received His will — the Saintess was essential to her.
The emperor's trials numbered five in total.
A trial to gauge the people's hearts and solve their problems.
A trial to prove oneself through subjugating enemies and monsters at the borders.
A trial to secure the backing of nobles and houses by resolving their grievances, thereby consolidating a power base.
A trial to demonstrate one's own worth by achieving distinguished results that advance the nation's economy and various fields.
And finally, the trial to prove one's legitimacy before God.
Diana had already proven her competence long ago.
She could state with confidence that she had demonstrated her ability to stabilize the people's welfare several times over in the process.
Subjugating border enemies and monsters had been amply shown through the Imperial Princess's Knight Order.
—To excel at directing one's subordinates and producing results is also the role of a ruler.
By the ideology of the imperial household, the achievements of her knight order counted as her achievements as well.
The nobles' support is effectively impossible, so...
That left the trial of proving her legitimacy before God.
Her future would hinge on the outcome here.
"Her Holiness the Saintess awaits within."
"Understood. Andy, take the knight order and stand by here."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Diana stepped inside. A woman knelt in prayer beneath a corona of light. A white veil draped over her head. She did not stir at Diana's entrance, continuing her orisons in stillness.
Diana waited until the prayers were finished.
Perhaps thirty minutes passed.
"Why did you not address me?"
The Saintess, who had been praying toward the divine symbol, spoke.
"What mortal would dare interrupt a conversation with God?"
"Oh my. How devout."
The Saintess rose and turned. Hair that shimmered with a pale pink light met Diana's eyes.
Behind her hair floated a halo — the mark borne only by those blessed by God, sacred and serene.
"What sort of conversation did you share with the Holy Spirit?"
"I was merely lost in contemplation."
"Contemplation. What were you thinking about?"
At Diana's question, the Saintess's face flushed red.
"I-I cannot say."
"I see."
"You have come to prove your qualifications before God, I take it?"
"Correct. What must I do?"
"It is nothing complicated. You need only come here and pray. Everything depends on what quality of light manifests around your person, Your Highness."
"Simple enough."
Diana approached the Saintess.
"Kneel here and offer your prayers to God. I shall assist."
The princess knelt in the very spot where the Saintess had been praying moments before.
Kneeling to another was something her pride would never ordinarily permit — but if it meant becoming emperor, what would she not do?
Light began to gather around her body as she prayed.
"O Great Mother Goddess. The child blessed by You has come once more."
The Saintess raised her invocation.
Fwoosh!
A blaze of radiance enveloped the closed-eyed Princess Diana.
That light was red, then blue. Sometimes yellow, occasionally green, at moments violet. It was indigo and orange, flecked through with mint — and then all those colors merged, resolving into a pure, brilliant white.
"W-What is...?"
Saint Amelia stared at the white luminosity that had settled upon Diana's form. Without realizing it, she clasped her folded hands tight.
When an imperial scion proved themselves before God, the color that manifested allowed inferences about their innate character.
The First Prince's color had been crimson — signifying the path of a conquering tyrant who would dye the empire in blood.
The First Princess's color had been yellow — signifying one who would bring ruin to the empire.
The Second Prince had borne both violet, signifying division of the empire, and blue, signifying its prosperity.
The vivid white spreading above Diana's head.
It meant she possessed every quality a wise ruler ought to have — and, depending on how she wielded them, every quality of a tyrant as well. Had she been a commoner rather than a member of the imperial family, that color would have seen her recommended as the next Saintess on the spot.
Amelia sank into her seat.
"Is it finished?"
"Yes. I have confirmed it."
"That was quicker than I expected. What was the result?"
At Diana's question, Amelia spoke.
"White. A white of utmost clarity."
"An obvious result."
"You do not seem surprised."
"I trusted myself."
Amelia closed her eyes.
The woman before her, Princess Diana, already understood her own fate. A fate that left no path but the throne.
"So. What is the Saintess's answer?"
"The Order of the God of Light will recommend Your Highness Princess Diana as the most promising successor."
Only then did Diana smile as if satisfied.
Conviction filled every line of her expression.
"Even so, inheriting the throne will not be easy. No matter how much you gain the power of religious authority... opinion within the Order itself is divided."
"That's fine."
A short, concise sentence — but within it, the future Diana envisioned was already taking shape.
The mere fact that she had been chosen by God would win her nobles who would support her.
That alone would suffice.
Instead of the nobles, she would wield the Pope and the religious establishment as her backing. And later, after she took the throne, she meant to use that religious authority as a check against the nobility. In the inevitable friction between the Pope's faction and the nobles, imperial authority would wax while theirs waned.
Diana was already sketching out the picture that would follow her coronation.
Amelia dipped her head at that confidence.
"Then I shall make the official proclamation. The Order will publicly acknowledge that Your Highness Princess Diana is the most suitable bloodline."
"Thank you."
With the Saintess's firm reply, Diana smiled and departed.
***
Left alone, Saint Amelia received Cardinal Roton as he entered behind the departed princess.
"Your Holiness. What is the result?"
"Inform His Holiness the Pope. Our Order will support Princess Diana."
"His Holiness had resolved to maintain neutrality."
"It was white. A white halo bloomed above Princess Diana's head."
"That means..."
"A talent destined to become a wise ruler, like the First Emperor."
"...I shall relay it at once."
"I will seek an audience with His Majesty the Emperor. And then I will depart on pilgrimage."
"A pilgrimage at such a critical juncture..."
Amelia gazed toward the exit through which Diana had left.
"Every kind of light was contained within that woman."
"Pardon?"
"The First Prince's crimson, the First Princess's yellow, the blue and violet held by the Second Prince — and even the indigo, the orange, and the mint that not even the late Emperor possessed. All those lights gathered and became white."
"What exactly are you saying...?"
"It is the same color as the First Emperor's. It means she is someone who, depending on the circumstances around her, could become either a wise ruler or a tyrant."
"Ah."
Leaving Cardinal Roton with his dumbfounded expression, Saint Amelia watched Diana's retreating figure.
"I must pray that God will watch over the next emperor. Is that not the Saintess's duty?"
"Understood. I shall prepare an escort."
"Thank you."
Amelia clasped her hands and offered prayer to God once more.
That God might watch over the empire with care.
***
Climbing into her carriage to return to the palace, Diana gazed out the window.
They were passing through the market district along the road from the temple to the palace.
"These so-called bulletin boards have multiplied of late."
She addressed Vice-Commander Andy, who shared her carriage.
Across from her, Andy — who had been scanning their surroundings — nodded.
"I understand the system was first introduced by the Golden Wagon. Honest reviews from patrons who visit each establishment, along with staff recommendation lists. It has been well received."
"Is that so..."
Diana dismissed it with little interest.
"Started by the Golden Wagon, you said?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Young Lady Camilla of House Wagon is clever, I'll grant her that."
A woman with sharper commercial instincts than any merchant in the empire. If not for her peculiar tendency to feel an excessive competitiveness toward Diana, she might have made a fine friend.
Gazing at the bulletin board posted in front of a shop, Diana suddenly recalled having heard a similar idea once, long ago.
—I intend to make a bulletin board at the mess hall entrance and post the day's menu. I'll note which meals are popular and which aren't as well.
The cook-knight Lucas, who had been in charge of the mess.
As she remembered it, he had run a bulletin-board system inside the knight order much like the ones she now saw outside the window.
"Camilla Wagon used to visit the knight order from time to time and request meals from Lucas, did she not?"
"She did."
"Could she have stolen Sir Lucas's idea?"
"What do you mean...?"
At Andy's question, Diana glanced at her guard knight. Andy's expression said she hadn't followed. Diana only smiled.
"Nothing. I was thinking aloud."
It was worth looking into.
Perhaps.
"Maybe Camilla forcibly took Sir Lucas away."
Erasing Lucas's records — that, too, was well within Camilla's means.
If she had dared to abduct her knight, a man who had been on his way back to his homeland...
Then she ought to pay the price.
A voice spoke inside her.
—Seize every last coin of her fortune right now.
—Once you become emperor, you can take everything from her. Her wealth, and Lucas too.
Diana closed her eyes, focused her mind, and drove the swarming thoughts away.
Ridiculous.
Going that far was unnecessary.
A light warning will be enough.
***
"Achoo!"
A sudden chill ran through me.
"Boss, did you catch a cold?"
"I don't think so... What was that?"
I'd been looking at the mage Camilla sent when I felt a cold shiver crawl down my spine.
An assassin?
I glanced behind me without thinking.
"Boss?"
"Ahem. Nothing. Shall we start the interview then?"
The person who'd shown up came first.