The Role of a Jester
She could not allow her mother to become a defeated soul.
She could not bear to see her stripped of pride and life, reduced to a wretched shadow bowing her head to beg a bitter enemy—someone she could tear apart with her bare teeth and still not feel avenged—just to spare her son's life. And so, without affording herself even a single shred of emotional luxury...
"And yet, those wicked scoundrels probably haven't even thought of apologizing."
"That does not erase my own failings."
The Empress looked like the portrait of a middle-aged woman worn ragged by decades of bearing an unbearable burden. Yet the marks of time, gathered in layers like dust upon a statue long kept in a grand museum, were not unsightly in the least. She resembled an owl perched upon its nest at twilight, its great wings gently folded in solemn dignity.
"Thank you for the apology," I said, dipping my head in a polite bow. "And though it may be late to mention it, the role I've taken on this time..."
Without hesitation, I confirmed the path I needed to tread, as well as Brian's whereabouts. That was right. I couldn't wield a sword properly, I was far from a beloved princess, and my past reputation bordered on abysmal. To make matters worse, I had supposedly only just awakened from a deep coma, stricken by a curse. And on top of all that, I was about to brandish a demonic sword. Yes, indeed.
I offered a smile far too mischievous for an imperial princess.
"I'm the jester. If one wishes to mock the king and live to tell the tale, shouldn't one at least be a court fool?"
Well then, time to plunge headfirst into a gambling ring woven from lies and deceit.
Consort Cleo frantically urged the Emperor onward as they hurried toward the Underground Maze.
High Priest Marjid had suggested it might be wiser to verify Princess Titania's condition in the Empress's palace first, but the moment Brian's safety was in jeopardy, Cleo completely lost her composure. In truth, the fact that news of Brian being chased into the maze by demonic beasts reached Cleo so swiftly was hardly natural. It had all been meticulously orchestrated beforehand by the Castrein Duchy to ensure the report reached her ears without a moment's delay.
Cleo had realized something had gone horribly awry faster than anyone else. I should have known something was wrong the moment the Empress's palace went so quiet!
Of course, the absence of Titania—who should have been slumbering quietly within the Empress's quarters—and the Empress, who should have been guarding her, was more than enough grounds for Cleo to raise suspicions. Yet when it was Brian, of all people, being hunted down by demonic beasts, how could she linger in the Empress's palace for another second?
"Your Highness, what should I..."
"...If anything has happened to Brian, you will treat him at once, won't you, High Priest? And you will surely identify the culprit behind the sinister events that plagued the imperial palace today."
"Your Imperial Consort speaks truly."
Marjid and Cleo exchanged anxious glances.
The Emperor had complied without question when Cleo pleaded to personally rescue Brian, even mobilizing the Royal Guard who answered solely to his command. In truth, today's events had struck the Emperor like a bolt from the blue as well. First, demonic beasts had abruptly assaulted the imperial palace, and now Brian was being chased through the depths? Not a single part of it made any sense!
Hadn't they said Titania was the cursed one? Looking at how today had unfolded, it seemed as if the entire palace had fallen under a curse!
In all his life, the Emperor had rarely laid eyes on a living demonic beast. At most, he had seen their rotting carcasses brought back from northern hunts. Thus, upon hearing that Brian was in mortal danger, he had resolved without much forethought to bring the Royal Guard to his aid. It was reasoning typical of royalty who had never once faced a genuine threat to their lives.
Yet Consort Cleo was acutely aware of just how perilous the situation was.
An assassination attempt? Trying to eliminate Brian using demonic beasts? A whirlwind of frantic thoughts battered her mind. Why now, of all times? Why today? To suggest that cowardly Empress and that insolent girl had orchestrated this felt absurd—the crisis was unfolding far too rapidly.
Who is behind this? Has the Castrein Duchy drawn their claws? When the Landt Marquisate procured the item, they had warned that the price demanded by the Evilios Marquisate would not be simple. Could they have become entangled in something disastrous from that side?
Frenzied with anxiety, Cleo cried out toward the shadows ahead.
"Brian! Brian, my baby! My sweet boy, are you there? Are you safe?!"
All those racing thoughts vanished like sea foam the instant they stepped into the Underground Maze and witnessed the scene before them.
"GROOOAAARGH!"
Along with the agonizing bellow of a demonic beast—
Flash!
A luminous haze of gold, shimmering like placer dust in air, ignited with dazzling brilliance. Sacred light bathed the cavern like golden sand glistening under a noonday sun. The radiance was so overwhelmingly blinding that everyone instinctively squeezed their eyes shut before barely forcing them open again.
Beholding someone she had never imagined encountering under such circumstances, Cleo uttered in a daze:
"...Titania?"
Dissolving into gray flakes before her, the demonic beast crumbled into ash, and standing before it was the Imperial Princess, grasping a blade that blazed with the brilliant radiance of a holy sword.
In preparing for this scheme, there had been one hypothesis I needed to confirm above all else.
Why on earth had Bibi and I fallen into the Underground Maze in the first place?
When I was lounging in pure luxury upon the Empress's bed, I had asked Bibi for the reason. She had hesitated, fidgeting for a moment, but after staring intently into my eyes, she finally confessed.
"The truth is... an ancient imperial artifact rests in that garden. Since it's in the palace, it belongs to the imperial family, but nobody in the present court seems to know it even exists. To be honest, I was trying to sneak it out. I'm so sorry, Sister."
"There was something so incredible there?"
"Yes. Actually, I was even more curious because I heard it looked similar to the necklace worn by the person who abandoned me."
"...A-Abandoned you?"
"You know I was adopted, right? The person who left me on the streets was draped in a robe from head to toe. But they said that person wore a necklace shaped like a leaf that glowed in five colors around their neck. When I looked through various books, they said the artifact keeping the Maze Garden perpetually green looked just like that..."
Hearing that, I nearly dropped my teacup.
...Wait, wasn't that the item that triggered Bibi's regression in the original story before disappearing?
Because no one other than Bibi could touch it, no one had been able to steal it from her even as she was trafficked from place to place and fled for her life. That was why she had held onto it until the very end of her first life—and in the original novel, which began from her second timeline, it didn't exist at all! And yet that thing was an imperial artifact?!
I could hardly blurt out, "Ah, you're a regressor! Well, I'm actually a reincarnator! I banged my head and remembered my past life, and in that past life, I read a book starring you and learned the future!" Unable to say any such thing, I simply gulped down my tea like water, cold sweat trickling down my neck.
What in the world was this imperial palace? Not only were there demonic beasts lurking in an underground maze, but there were bizarre artifacts and monsters hidden all over the place that even the imperial family knew nothing about!
"I'm so glad you trusted me enough to tell me. An imperial artifact that even the Emperor doesn't know about? I couldn't care less whether you take it or not, Bibi. So don't worry."
"...Really?"
"Of course!"
"Why are you so kind, Sister...? What if someone takes advantage of you because you're this soft? You're an imperial princess! If someone tried to sneak an imperial relic and caused you to plummet underground into danger, you ought to be furious!"
Bibi threw a tantrum with a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears herself.
"Seriously! Sister! Really! If you treat Bibi like this...!"
"If I do?"
"I love it too much!"
Bibi threw her arms around me in a tight embrace. I hugged her back. Oh, she smells so nice. As the warm, adorable Bibi nuzzled her cheek against my chest, my heart melted of its own accord. As expected of the heroine of a child-rearing novel! A little darling whose charm could save her family, save the country, and save the world!
"I love Bibi too!"
"Still, you mustn't be like this with anyone other than Bibi." Bibi pouted, puffing out her cheeks. Ack, a sulking Bibi is too cute. I answered on pure reflex.
"I-It's only because it's you, Bibi!"
"What do you trust about Bibi to say that?!"
Bibi flared up in frustration again. But I could hardly tell her, "Well, I know you're a righteous, cute, clever second-life regressor heroine, and having read the spoilers for your life, I lean on you."
"B-Because you're cute?"
"..."
One of Bibi's brows twitched upward. Her gaze practically screamed: Really? Seriously? That's your answer?
"B-Because you're the real power behind the Castrein Duchy?"
"Sisterrr, would you not have liked Bibi if Bibi wasn't a Castrein?"
"No!"
"Would you not love Bibi if Bibi's cheeks weren't chubby like steamed buns?"
"Sister doesn't care whether Bibi's cheeks are steamed buns or sandwich loaves!"
"Then it's all lies, isn't it?!"
"...B-Because you're my fiancé's little sister?"
Bibi let out a long, theatrical groan. She shook her head side to side, as if deciding she would let me off the hook just this once.
"Since Sister takes Bibi's side, Bibi will take Sister's side too."
"Y-Yes, let's go with that!"
"So Sister can't go throwing herself in harm's way like last time! Not even if it's for Bibi's sake."
"..."
"Sister?"
"...I'll try!"
"Sisterrr?"
"...I'll try harder!"
"Sisterrr, whenever Bibi thinks about what happened last time, Bibi gets soooo sad..."
"...I will try with every fiber of my being!"
"Good."
Only after I flailed in flustered surrender did Bibi finally nod in satisfaction.