Piggyback Across the Heavens
It didn't take a genius to guess what would have happened if Lisianthus had been here. He would have charged in headfirst, blunt as a battering ram, demanding, “How can I leave Her Imperial Highness's side when she might be in danger inside this temple?” And the other side, just as predictably, would have feigned deep offense: “How could you possibly doubt us? We are a temple of the gods—we take no sides!” In the end, they would have twisted it around to leave us utterly tongue-tied.
“I had heard praise of the Southern Temple's austere poverty from afar, but to accompany Her Imperial Highness and witness it firsthand is truly an honor.”
Her words were impeccably polite, but the look in Barbara's eyes was frigid. Naturally, Cronen merely beamed with easy benevolence, as though Barbara's icy glare were beneath his notice.
“Haha, it is nothing more than an undeserved reputation.”
“Given that this entire region overflows with wealth, there must be countless scoundrels attempting to sway the temple with gold. That you have upheld your principles so magnificently against such pressure and maintained this sacred house... is truly worthy of respect.”
“Our temple is undeniably modest for one hosting the imperial family for the Offering Festival. Yet such has always been my guiding principle: keep to one's humble station, and live without shame before the gods. To my profound gratitude, the temple family shares my conviction and has aided me greatly.”
Cronen's tongue was smooth as silk.
“Why, take this bread—it was baked by Priest Orlando, and this cheese was churned by Priest Silencio. And these wild berries were foraged by Delfindo, the apprentice priest who went to receive Her Highness earlier.”
Barbara's polite smile stiffened. Watching Cronen's slick, oily grin, I could only think that this man was going to be anything but simple to handle.
A thriving metropolis sat right next door. If they truly cast aside every temptation and lived a self-sufficient, ascetic life, they would deserve a standing ovation. But considering what Phlux had endured and the grievances Lisianthus had vented, this temple was already secularized to its core. In other words, they were putting on an act exclusively for my benefit.
The very fact that Phlux had been able to smuggle out the Holy Relic proved that internal security was already an utter shambles.
Just yesterday, on my way back after being kidnapped, I saw it with my own eyes: the building where I was staying had exactly one guard stationed outside. And an apprentice priest at that.
They must have worked the poor boy to the bone. He spent the entire night yawning until his jaw cracked, dozing off on his feet, to the point where I almost wanted to tell him to just go lie down in bed. Guarding a royal guest all night without even a single shift rotation? Why was the system in such an abysmal state? Were they deliberately leaving it wide open so an accident would happen?
Thinking back on the layout explained during yesterday's brief tour, the Holy Relic was kept near the quarters of Chief Priest Cronen himself. And since the Offering Festival took place inside the temple, all the related ceremonial facilities were clustered nearby.
If I dredged up my shallow knowledge, properly reinforcing and repairing the barrier required more than just the Power of Light. Wielders of fire, water, earth, wind, and every other element were supposed to gather and infuse their strength together. If even one element was missing, the effect was said to be negligible.
The single most crucial task was for me to drop imperial blood onto the Holy Relic tomorrow; aside from that, almost everything else was trivial busywork larded with symbolic rites.
“If Your Highness is amenable, would you care to soak in the Water of Purification after your meal?” Cronen inquired. “Before tomorrow arrives, you must remain submerged for at least three hours. As it is a sacred purification for the ritual, we unfortunately cannot warm the water, so it may feel rather chilly...”
“The weather is quite warm, so that will be fine. However, while I soak... does anyone need to remain by my side?”
“Ah, no. If Your Highness finds it uncomfortable, I shall dismiss everyone from the area.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Secular authority held no sway before the holy priesthood, and so on and so forth. At any rate, in accordance with the temple's ironclad rule that one must address everyone with formal respect regardless of rank, even an imperial princess like me used polite speech with the priests.
Still, Cronen's attitude grated on my nerves.
Of course, I wasn't asking him to fawn over me and shower me with lavish luxuries the way people catered to Brian. But considering everything that had transpired, treating me with such effortless nonchalance felt decidedly unnatural. Not to mention how, when we first arrived, he had been deep in conversation with Gregory before even bothering to greet me...
More than that, there was that suspicious black market.
It weighed on my mind.
Was the Empress behind that as well?
To chalk it up simply to the Empress left a distinctly foul aftertaste.
Distributing such dangerous contraband, reducing the son of the city's ruler to that horrific state, and then vanishing without a single trace?
Just hearing about it gave me an uneasy chill. It felt as though they had deliberately targeted him to break him into pieces—and while they were at it, ruin the Holy Relic and sabotage the Offering Festival as well.
Thank goodness I had managed to salvage the situation in a single night with some physical—divine—therapy, but what if I hadn't?
Count Cortez had been reluctant to ask House Castrein for aid. Which meant that, regardless of the city's security, he would have stopped at nothing to save his son. Who knew what kind of devil's bargain he might have struck in his desperation?
After forcing down the meager meal, I was guided to the great bath chamber filled with the Water of Purification. Crystal-clear water lapped gently against the edges of a sprawling basin carved from grayish-white stone.
Having rarely had the chance to wash properly during the long carriage ride, and with Debbie and Barbara keeping watch outside, I let my guard down completely and eased myself into the water.
Just then—
Squeak!
A tiny, utterly pathetic, and overwhelmingly adorable cry broke the silence.
I turned my head slowly.
Wiggling in place, a small creature proudly spread a pair of leathery wings.
...A mouse? No, a bat? Its round little nose was damp, and its eyes were as sharp and bright as inlaid black beads. It was so ridiculously minuscule that I couldn't even tell what species it was.
Regardless, the tiny creature verified my presence and rolled something it had been carrying in its mouth straight toward me. On pure instinct, I reached out and caught the transparent marble rolling along the rim of the stone bath.
The moment my fingers closed around the glass, light flared, and a miniature projection bloomed in midair.
“Sister!”
“Oh, my Bibi!”
My guarded expression instantly melted away, replaced by an ecstatic, goofy grin. Bibi smiled shyly from inside a window no larger than a hand mirror. Today, her hair was styled into twin braids adorned with daisies and miniature sunflowers—a display of weaponized cuteness.
“I heard everything from Debbie at dawn!”
“Y-Yeah? I see. Bibi, darling, I'm so glad to see you, but you need to be asleep at dawn! Otherwise, you won't grow tall!”
“......”
Bibi stared at me in total silence.
A tiny, overwhelmingly precious girl a full head shorter than me, launching an assault of pure silence with her shining blue eyes... somehow carried immense, terrifying pressure.
As expected of the child-rearing novel's original heroine! The true shadow ruler of the Castrein Duchy!
Dropping her voice into a comically thuggish drawl, Bibi issued an interrogation:
“Aaaand what about you, Sister? Did you sleep?”
Fighting the urge to shrink back, I forced my shoulders back and stammered, “W-Well, that was... because of an urgent matter where a person's life was on the line...”
“Is that why my second brother made such a huge fuss, shrieking first thing in the morning that Sister was practically melting away and desperately needed restorative medicine? Is thaaat why, hmmmmm?”
“Haha... haha. Come on, anyone's body can ache for a day or two!”
“Sister is way too careless when it comes to her own health...” Bibi grumbled, pouting with evident disapproval.
“Anyway, Sister, don't worry about the Holy Relic! High Priest Ilian happened to have a clear schedule, so I asked Papa to open our family vault! I handed him a brand-new Holy Relic! He'll arrive by tomorrow. You won't even need to lift a finger!”
“Woooow... Bibi, you're amazing... But where was he that he could arrive so fast? I mean, changing carriages—well, partly because of that bastard Grego... Gregory—took me over a week...?”
“Mhm, I'm only telling you this because you're my sister. Among the experimental prototypes our family is researching, there's one that lets someone half-fly through the sky! If a knight at the level of Sword Expert or higher equips it, they can sprint at unimaginable speeds, you know?”
“Isn't High Priest Ilian... not that sort of knight...?”
“Yep! So he agreed to put on protective gear and ride piggyback! He might get a teensy bit airsick, but in return, we promised to increase the funding for commoner priests by a two-hundred-percent bonus! He said that at that price, puking his guts out in midair a few times was an outrageously profitable bargain!”
“......”
A High Priest was an exceptionally exalted rank. The next Pope was chosen from their number, making his station comparable to the highest tier of the grand nobility.
Yet High Priest Ilian, quite apart from being firmly in Duke Castrein's camp, seemed... remarkably capitalistic in his ways.
Then again, since he was throwing his own body into hardship purely to secure budget for noble causes, perhaps I shouldn't judge.
More than that, Bibi delivering the news that a venerable elder of his advanced years was currently hurtling through the sky, half-airborne on someone's back, all while flashing the sweetest, most refreshing smile...
Well, yes. She was adorable!
And really, wasn't that all that mattered?
“More importantly, Sister, be careful!”
“Yes, I'll be careful...”
“I mean realllly caaaareful! If even someone of Count Cortez's caliber could be targeted like that, it's no laughing matter. The Southern Temple isn't territory we can directly touch, so if something happens, we won't be able to respond immediately!”
“Whoa... so if something happens in the Northern Temple, can you fix it right away?”
“Well, of course!”
Bibi stared at me intently.