The Ritual (2)
The Ritual (2)
The day of the group project meeting.
After classes ended, the group members gathered in the drawing room where we always met.
With Joachim gone, I was the only male left on the group project team.
Fortunately, none of them were the type to slack off, so nothing like the disaster from my past life happened.
"The first visit was a wild-goose chase, but the second proved quite productive. We got to see many artifacts and hear many stories."
The group members all agreed with the Grand Archduchess's words.
"I would like to thank Young Lord Alex once again for arranging our visit to the Marquisate."
As the Grand Archduchess expressed her gratitude, the other group members applauded me.
It was a very heartwarming sight.
It would be wonderful if I could keep enjoying my Academy life like this...
Unfortunately, that was nothing but a midsummer night's dream.
There was the Grand Archduchess, the Princess, a slightly terrifying girl whose father I had killed, and a female student who, though she didn't know it herself, had completely wrecked the entrance ceremony hall.
They were all laughing haha hoho, but taken one by one, the members of this group were truly a terrifying bunch.
On top of that, everyone in the group had a different goal.
One wanted to find artifacts to raise her abilities, while another wanted to make herself known to other nobles without attracting the attention of her brothers.
Then there was the student who followed me around just for fun, and even a female student who had joined on a whim.
I was the only one properly following the group project's objective of tracing the legacy of the Heroes and verifying their deeds.
'Indeed, there's only me.'
While I was praising myself, the group members began discussing where to visit next.
"There are quite a few ruins near the northern border fortress, so how about we go there this time?"
The Princess suggested visiting the fortress on the border with the Empire.
It was far away, so the journey there and back would take a considerable amount of time.
It was also dangerous, since it bordered the Empire.
But just as she said, there were many ruins in that area that had yet to be fully excavated.
That was because the border with the Empire had been drawn before the ruins could be dug up.
Since it was a dangerous area, scholars couldn't visit, and with soldiers stationed there, it was difficult for adventurers or mercenaries to excavate the ruins, either.
Thanks to that, several ruins were known only by name.
It was a plausible destination, and the Princess's reasoning sounded reasonable, too, but she clearly had another motive.
She probably wanted to see and greet the generals and soldiers defending the fortress.
It seemed the Queen and the Princess were planning to build up their connections and influence, even if only a little, before the civil war broke out.
It was contradictory and incredibly difficult to build up their influence while staying out of the two princes' sight.
But it was all for the sake of survival.
Even though she was bringing her political agenda into an Academy group project, I couldn't bring myself to mock her for it.
After the Princess finished speaking, the Grand Archduchess turned to Mirisa.
Unfortunately, Mirisa couldn't offer an opinion.
"I... only know what I've seen in the library. It's too much for me to recommend anything."
After the incident with Joachim and the visit to the Marquisate, Mirisa's self-esteem seemed to have fallen even further.
She was already doing well simply by attending the Academy, but what she had seen during these group projects belonged to a world far beyond her own.
This world was a rigid class society. Though I felt sorry for her, there was nothing I could do about it now.
After Mirisa shook her head, Balea raised her hand.
"How about the Gracia Duke's estate? Young Lord Alex is here, and Young Lord Manuel is also at the Academy, so visiting shouldn't be difficult, right?"
Balea, absurdly enough, recommended our territory.
"If it's the Gracia Duke's estate, wouldn't there be plenty of artifacts and history left behind?"
Come to think of it, I had never heard what kinds of artifacts the Gracia Duke's estate possessed.
The sword the Duke wielded was just an ordinary sword, and although I had seen a few common artifacts, there was no way a ducal house ranked among the Kingdom's most prominent would possess only such things.
Was it because I was an illegitimate son, after all? I let out a quiet snicker.
Still, I no longer felt angry or defeated like I used to.
I just thought that was how things were.
But I was against visiting the Gracia Duke's estate.
"You didn't suggest the Gracia Duke's estate because of its artifacts or history, did you?"
"Of course not. How would I know anything about artifacts? I only brought it up because I wanted to see Young Lord Alex's territory."
A sigh escaped me at her shamelessness, but surprisingly, the Grand Archduchess and the Princess seemed intrigued by Balea's suggestion.
Still, we couldn't go to the Gracia Territory.
"It's too far. The round trip alone would take a whole month."
Even if we were excused from many classes for the group project, we couldn't afford to miss more than a month just to visit a single territory.
"Then it can't be helped."
The Grand Archduchess put Balea's suggestion on hold with a regretful look.
Now that Balea was done, was it my turn?
"Then, as for me..."
"No temples."
Before I could finish, the Grand Archduchess cut me off.
Apparently, I'd pushed too hard back at her residence.
"No, I was actually going to say that I couldn't think of anywhere to recommend, either."
But I had no intention of pushing it any further, either.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
"What's this about a temple?"
The Grand Archduchess apologized to me, and Balea chimed in with a question.
In response, the Grand Archduchess repeated what I had said.
"Young Lord Alex suggested that we look at the artifacts in the temple."
"Ah, that's right. I heard temples also possess many artifacts. Wouldn't that work?"
Balea, like me, didn't know the circumstances.
As expected, it was difficult to get reliable information in this world.
The Grand Archduchess explained the reason once again.
Those artifacts were used as offerings, so they weren't shown to ordinary people.
Just then, Princess Aisha, who had been listening to the conversation, exclaimed.
"Ah! That's right! The royal palace is making offerings to the temple this time, too."
The royal palace was making offerings to the temple?
What did that mean?
The group members and I all listened intently to the Princess.
"Right now, Father is ill, as you know."
There was no citizen of the Kingdom who didn't know that the King was ill.
Because of that, the princes were on the verge of fighting, and security in the territories had gone to ruin, so no one could possibly be unaware of it.
"So, before long, a ritual will be held at the temple to pray for Father's recovery."
"Other artifacts will be offered, and, as has been passed down since ancient times, a knight loyal to the royal family will hold the national treasure, the Knight's Sword, and pray before the altar."
The Princess's words seemed to be news to the Grand Archduchess as well.
Everyone listened to the Princess's story with intrigued expressions.
I was even more excited than they were. I saw a glimmer of possibility.
"Um... that's all."
With everyone staring intently at her, the Princess finished speaking rather hesitantly.
As soon as she finished, the group members began firing questions at her one after another.
"What artifact is being offered as a sacrifice?"
The Grand Archduchess was curious about the artifact.
"That Knight's Sword is the Sword of the First King, right?"
Balea showed interest in the Sword of the First King.
"A knight holding the Knight's Sword and praying in the temple... That sounds so cool."
And Mirisa seemed completely captivated by the image of the praying knight.
I asked the Princess, too.
"What kind of knight do you mean by a knight loyal to the royal family?"
Perhaps because I had asked with such a serious expression, the Princess answered cautiously.
"Well... they said it was a task previously performed by the King's Guard Knight. After all, there would be no knight more loyal to the royal family than the King's Guard Knight."
But as far as I knew, there was currently no King's Guard Knight.
One of the senior knights of the Royal Knights used to do it, but I heard he had retired and returned to his hometown after the King fell ill.
"But since there is no specific King's Guard Knight right now, one of the guard knights assigned to another member of the royal family will probably do it. It will likely be one of the two princes' guard knights."
Even in my excitement, I noticed that the Princess had changed the way she referred to the princes.
Before, she had called them her brothers, but now she called them princes.
It seemed the Princess's feelings toward them had changed.
At any rate, the Princess had made one mistake.
"There is one more guard knight in the royal family."
As I spoke, I pointed to myself.
The Princess was royalty, too, and I was her guard knight.
"Ah... that's right. Indeed. Young Lord was my— the Princess's— guard knight."
The Princess, who had been staring blankly at me, changed her expression and apologized.
"I am sorry. This was a matter concerning Young Lord Alex's honor."
No, I wasn't trying to get an apology...
I had only said it on the off chance that I might be able to take part, too.
I never expected her to take it so seriously.
The Princess looked at me and spoke with conviction.
"Please wait. I will speak to them about this."
"Y-Yes, ma'am."
Confronted with the Princess's spirited words, which I was hearing for the first time, I could only stammer in response.
The next day was a day off. After returning to the royal palace, the Princess visited the Queen's palace as soon as the sun rose.
The Queen was delighted by the Princess's early morning visit, but she couldn't simply rejoice at what her daughter had to say.
"I shall take my leave, placing my trust in Mother."
"If you speak to me like that, I won't do it for you."
"...I am sorry. And, thank you."
At the Queen's words, the Princess bowed deeply and left the room.
"Now she leaves without even eating the sweets I prepared."
The Queen looked at the prepared refreshments with a wistful expression.
Since neither the sweets nor the tea had been touched, the refreshments remained beautifully arranged on the table, just as they had been at first.
Since starting at the Academy, the Princess had gradually become more open about her thoughts and more lively.
So, as her mother, the Queen had been truly happy, but today her daughter seemed to have shed that childish air.
She seemed just like her cold self from before she entered the Academy, when she had merely been pretending to be an adult.
"Still, from what I can see, she seems different from before. I'm not sure exactly what's changed, but unlike in the past, she doesn't seem to be in a bad state now."
At the words of the head maid, her longtime friend, the Queen smiled.
It was a slightly wistful, apologetic smile.
"Before, Aisha was just pretending to be an adult, but the Aisha who visited today has actually become an adult."
She hadn't merely put on a mask of adulthood; she had truly grown up so much at a young age.
Although her daughter didn't seem as troubled as before, the Queen felt upset and heartbroken to see her grown up.
"I had hoped she could enjoy herself for just a little longer without thinking about royal affairs... Was that too much to ask, after all?"
"The Princess is far too intelligent to live an ordinary life."
"Indeed, isn't she?"
Having said that much, the Queen's expression shifted.
Her daughter had made up her mind, so the mother could no longer sit by and grieve.
"Please summon the official in charge of this ritual."
"Understood. But if you act too suddenly, the two princes might push back."
"That is fine as well. Even if it doesn't go well, she will learn something from it..."
The head maid bowed her head and left the room.
After staring at the refreshments for a moment, the Queen raised her head.
"Although there is still some time until her graduation, now that my daughter has made her decision, I suppose I must start moving, too."
Having firmed up her resolve, the Queen sat at her desk and began to write a letter.
To the Duke of Gracia...
It was a letter that began with those words.