Among Ants and Flies
The free period was over. From here on out, it was the main story—
“Looks like she’s coming.”
“Is that really her? She’s arriving way earlier than we expected.”
“But no one else gives off that kind of presence. It has to be her.”
The agents dispatched from the Special Affairs Ministry kept tilting their heads in confusion.
The people they were tasked with escorting this time numbered exactly two.
The Fifth Princess, Yulika Sebastian Lovisa de Lottringen.
And the Saintess, Hildegarde Dominica de Agatha Seraphim.
One of them was a monster who, frankly, had no need for an escort at all.
The other was a woman who needed a guide more than any bodyguard.
Originally, an agent familiar with the academy’s layout was supposed to stick with her.
But the Saintess had insisted so stubbornly on going alone that they had finally given up.
And so the agents of the Special Affairs Ministry had all thought the same thing to themselves.
Hmm. She’s probably going to be ridiculously late.
How many times is she going to get lost?
The Lord clearly gave her a pure heart, a beautiful form, and His love—then took away every scrap of sense of direction in exchange.
Today was no different.
They watched the Saintess march off alone with determined steps, insisting that the academy was the safest place in the Empire so she would be fine.
Everyone in the Special Affairs Ministry was certain that a thirty-minute walk would take her at least two hours to complete the round trip.
But their expectations were thoroughly overturned.
Instead of two hours, she returned to the meeting point in just one.
“Saintess.”
The agents bowed their heads in greeting.
“Did you enjoy your outing?”
“Yes. The academy truly is a wonderful place. Everyone polishing themselves, striving to walk a better path. I’m so glad I decided to build a chapel here and take charge of it.”
“Is that so. More importantly, you returned early today.”
“Did I? Today I met an incredibly kind benefactor. Even though I told him it was fine, he walked with me all the way to show me the path, then turned back.”
“Ah, what a truly gracious person. Perhaps a devout follower who admires you, Saintess.”
At those words the Saintess recalled Kyle’s face—and the conversation they had shared.
“Saintess. Um… I think it would be good if you did a little exercise.”
“Your body looks far too frail. I’m worried just looking at you.”
“I’ll teach you a few really simple, easy exercises, so please keep at them consistently…”
Anyone else would have asked whether she could hold a prayer meeting on their estate, or whether she could appoint them an honorary priest or grant them some even higher post.
The position of Saintess was never light; receiving such requests was only natural.
She had experienced it so many times that she had long since grown used to it.
But that man—Kyle, the second son of John Nassen—had earnestly explained training methods and insisted she do them. Health had to be looked after while one still had it. He didn’t want her to fall ill, so please practice the exercises he had taught her.
That, he had said, was the only reward he wanted, the only request he would make.
It had not been the eyes or the voice of someone seeking something from the Saintess.
Rather, even while she tried to repay a favor, he had fretted over her and tried to take care of her.
What pure eyes. What an upright heart.
And, unlike herself, a man with a body that was incredibly solid.
“Heheh.”
“Saintess?”
“Ah! Forgive me. Thinking of him suddenly made me smile. Shall we set off soon?”
“Yes. As it happens, Her Highness has also returned a short while ago and is waiting.”
At the agent’s words the Saintess nodded and headed for the carriage.
Inside, a woman who had entered earlier was already waiting for her.
“You’re back.”
“I’m home!”
“Good. Did the blessing go well?”
“It did! And you, Princess? Did you have a good meeting?!”
At the Saintess’s question, Yulika—one of the Imperial 10 Strongest—slowly nodded.
It had certainly been a good meeting. An extremely entertaining clash.
It had left a clear mark in her memory. She wanted to tangle bodies with him again sometime, just like today.
“I met someone too, Princess.”
“Who?”
“Kyle John Nassen. The one Your Highness said you were curious about.”
“Calling him ‘that one’ makes it sound like you gave him a positive evaluation.”
“He’s a good person. Different from everyone else.”
“Of course he’s different. How could he not be.”
If he weren’t, he never would have been able to block the punch she had thrown in complete earnest.
Clack, clack—
The carriage left the academy and began racing down the highway.
The Saintess sat with her eyes closed, quietly offering a prayer.
Today had been such a beautiful day, so she gave thanks. She prayed that tomorrow, too, would be just as bright and radiant.
“….”
Yulika watched the Saintess for a moment, then turned her gaze out the window.
Originally she should have been in the imperial palace, not the academy.
What day was today? Victory Day. The moment the Empire celebrated its triumphs.
She ought to have been before the Emperor, celebrating the Empire’s victory and promising the prosperity of the imperial house.
Instead she had come to the academy rather than the grand banquet being held in the palace.
“Fifth Princess? What brings you here?”
When she stepped into the Ministry of the Imperial Household, which handled internal palace affairs, the officials there had approached her in surprise.
It was rare for the Fifth Princess, Yulika, to visit the Ministry of the Imperial Household.
“The academy, Your Highness? Suddenly going there for what reason…?”
“It isn’t forbidden. But are you certain?”
“Understood. In that case we will contact the Special Affairs Ministry and request an escort detail.”
And there she had exchanged a brief yet extremely memorable spar with a man of John Nassen.
Strong. A sturdy man. Even a single breath of his is laced with power.
What showed on the surface was not everything.
The presence felt in his eyes, in every single action, was different.
A will that said he could break through anything that came his way reached her.
Not the arrogance of someone who didn’t know his place. Not the ugly spectacle of someone deluding himself.
It was the composure of a powerhouse who had every right to feel that way. The will of a man who was qualified.
And yet he was different from other strong ones.
The arrogance that every powerhouse supposedly carried was nowhere to be found in him.
Even when he could have counterattacked immediately, he had chosen to assess the situation first.
Strong, yet not arrogant. Above all, firm—yet he knew how to bend.
Completely unlike her own foul temper. He matched the image of the man she had always wanted exactly.
The man named Lia of John Nassen whom I met before was good too, of course… but he was too much like me.
If that were the case, the personality of any child born between them would be all too easy to predict.
If both mother and father were like that, it would be a real problem.
So the princess had been searching for a man who was strong yet possessed a gentle heart.
Kyle. Kyle… I like him. He’s perfect.
If a child were born between herself—one of the Imperial 10 Strongest—and a man she herself had acknowledged…
Just how strong could that child become? Could he become the Empire’s sole number one?
That curiosity had arisen one day. More precisely, it had been a change of heart that came after her nephew was born.
Naturally the man’s martial power had to be equal to her own, or greater.
On top of that, she wanted him to have a good personality—unlike hers.
Because she hoped the child would at least take after the father and possess a similar temperament.
Every other member of the 10 Strongest was out. Even the youngest of them was in his late thirties.
The age gap would be far too large. The Emperor would never grant permission.
And all of them carried an extremely high pride, an arrogance that no powerhouse could help having.
She wanted a man a little softer than that. She wanted to be held by him and bear his child.
She wanted that child—stronger than any powerhouse in the world—to be hers!
“Heheheh.”
And he was even younger than her. There could be no better father candidate than this.
The princess ran her tongue over her own lips.
“….”
Thanks to that, the Saintess—who had just finished her prayer a moment earlier—couldn’t help but flinch and shudder.
Then, after glancing around cautiously, she clasped her hands once more and offered another prayer to the Lord.
Please! Let the Princess maintain a proper state of mind! And let no one else be grievously injured by the Princess’s hands!
“Take care, Princess! I’ll see you again later!”
“Take care of yourself at the academy. Stop getting lost so much.”
“Hehe! I’ll try!”
The carriage door closed, and the coach carrying the Saintess raced down the highway once more.
Yulika transferred from the Special Affairs Ministry escort carriage to one from the Ministry of the Imperial Household and entered the palace.
“Your Highness, the Fifth Princess.”
She had just alighted and was about to return to her own quarters when an official from the Ministry of the Imperial Household stopped her.
When she turned her head she saw it was someone from the department that attended the Emperor.
“His Majesty the Emperor requests the presence of Your Highness.”
“…Me?”
“Yes. He ordered that you be brought to him the moment you returned.”
At the sudden summons Yulika tilted her head.
Fearing anything that might shake the Crown Prince’s authority, the Emperor never kept his other children close.
Aside from formal greetings, receiving congratulations on festival days, or the occasional brief chat…
He had never once sent someone to say there was a matter he wished to discuss, as he was doing now.
Especially not with Yulika, who was distant from politics and whose only asset was pure strength.
Though she kept thinking how strange it was, Yulika headed for the Emperor’s chambers.
After a short wait, the order came to come to the rear garden.
When she walked there, she saw the absolute ruler of the Empire standing before the pond.
“Your Majesty.”
“You have come.”
“I was told you sought me.”
“I hear you visited the academy.”
Was he about to reproach her for leaving the palace empty on Victory Day and going elsewhere?
Yet the Emperor’s voice was far too calm for that.
“Yes. I went to the academy.”
“And what did you do there?”
Before the Emperor, nothing was to be concealed.
So long as one remained within the Empire, one could never escape the Emperor’s eyes and ears.
“I briefly crossed hands with a man.”
“A man, you say. Who was it?”
“The second son of House John Nassen, Kyle.”
“House John Nassen.”
Swoosh—
The Emperor turned his body slightly.
“Reports have come in from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of War. The western kingdoms have formed an alliance.”
“No matter how those wretches band together, how could they compare to the Empire?”
“I think the same. Yet among that news was this piece of intelligence.”
“What intelligence, Your Majesty?”
“That the alliance intends to try persuading several of the Empire’s houses.”
A classic scheme of the weak. Truly foolish.
Would the Empire collapse just because a few houses were swayed?
It would only turn even greater wrath upon the western kingdoms.
It was nothing to worry about—like a passing ant and a fly joining hands.
Yulika was about to say as much to her father.
“And on that list of houses they plan to persuade… House John Nassen is included.”
That is, until a giant monster dropped down among the ants and the flies.