Unbinding the Ancient Curse
"A knight? Me, Your Highness?"
"Yes. If you don't want to, you can just say so. I'll leave the decision entirely up to you, Rika."
Rika seemed quite surprised by my proposal. Well, I suppose I was a bit taken aback myself when I first heard it from Filgret.
"Does becoming a knight mean... I will be staying at the royal palace?"
"Well, yes. The Knight Order's barracks are right next to the palace, after all..."
"In that case, I will do it."
I wasn't entirely sure how she connected those dots... Surely she didn't just want to sightsee around the palace.
"Why the royal palace?"
"Because it means I will be able to see you and Lady Carmel from much closer, Your Highness."
Just the thought of it seemed to bring a warm, pleased smile to Rika's lips. It was a very Rika-like reason.
"Hmm... You can take some more time to think about it. Joining the Knight Order means you'll have to participate in grueling training and difficult missions. It might severely restrict your freedom."
"No matter what hardships await me, I do not mind. As long as I can be closer to the two of you."
Rika's straightforward display of affection left me momentarily speechless. She was staring straight at me with an incredibly intense, burning gaze. I felt as though the room had suddenly grown a bit warmer.
"I-I see. I'll pass that along to Filgret."
"Thank you, Princess."
Rika couldn't hide her joy, her smile beaming. If she had a tail, she would have been wagging it furiously.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. When I called for them to enter, Rielia stepped into the room.
"You were looking for me, Princess! Oh? Wait, the atmosphere in here is a bit..."
Glancing back and forth between Rika and me, who were wrapped in a rather peculiar mood, Rielia suddenly seemed to realize something and gasped in shock.
"Ah...! Y-You were in the middle of something busy, weren't you! S-Should I come back later?"
"...I don't know what you're imagining, but it's probably not that, Rielia. Come, please come in and have a seat."
Rielia tiptoed over and sat at the table. I first pulled out the gift I had prepared for her.
"This is a gift from Lorencia. They're sweets made in the local style. Just so you know, they're extremely sweet, so you should probably have them with some tea."
"W-Wow... Thank you so much, Princess!"
Rielia, a certified dessert fanatic, stared at the wrapped gift with sparkling eyes. Even an excessive amount of sweetness would be a major plus rather than a flaw to her. Seeing her so happy warmed my heart.
But my purpose in coming here wasn't merely to deliver a gift.
"Rielia, do you happen to have some time today?"
"Time? Yes, of course... What is it?"
"I'd like you to come to the royal palace with me. I want to entrust my stepmother's curse—the dispelling of Mistylia—to you."
The childlike joy that had filled Rielia's face upon receiving the gift vanished in an instant, replaced by a solemn expression. It was the face she wore when fulfilling her duty as the Saintess.
"I understand. I will gladly do it."
"Thank you, Rielia. Sometime today... actually, would it be alright if we left right away?"
If Mistylia's activation cycle was indeed exactly one week, the curse would trigger this evening. If possible, I wanted to break the curse before Carmel's mind reset.
Rielia nodded firmly.
"Yes, I'll go get ready immediately."
Sensing my urgency, Rielia left the room with hurried steps. Watching the Saintess's retreating back, I felt an inexplicable tension rising within me. Mistylia, the curse that had stood between Carmel and me for so long. The moment of its eradication was finally drawing near.
In the early evening, Carmel had dismissed all her attendants as I had requested and was waiting for me in her bedchamber.
"It is an honor to meet you, Queen Carmel."
It was the voice of the Saintess, entirely different from her usual tone. When Rielia offered her an elegant greeting, Carmel simply turned her head away without a word.
Judging by the look in her eyes, the curse hadn't activated yet. That was just her fundamental personality.
Even the sweet-tempered Rielia seemed slightly offended by this. Her expression stiffened. I had expected their compatibility wouldn't be the best, but still.
"Where is the medium of the curse, Princess?"
I approached the wooden box that still sat in its usual place. Standing before it, I chanted the words of the curse.
"Pakeas der Enekra."
"Enekra shall curse."
⟨ Unsealing the Mistilteinn Box ⟩
As the seal broke and I opened the lid of the box, a dense cloud of black mana billowed out. Once it cleared, the source of the curse, Mistylia, revealed itself.
Before I knew it, Rielia had stepped up beside me to peer inside the box. I realized she was trembling.
"This is impossible... H-How can this be..."
"Rielia?"
Staring into the box, Rielia slowly turned her head toward Carmel. This time, Carmel didn't look away; instead, she glared back at Rielia with a sharp, piercing gaze.
Trembling as if facing an unspeakable terror, Rielia took a slow, deep breath. Then, in a voice that was incredibly solemn and filled with a quiet resolve, she spoke to me.
"Princess, could we step outside to speak for a moment?"
"Yes, of course..."
The moment we stepped out of the room, Rielia let out a breath she had been holding. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead.
"Rielia... are you alright?"
"Yes... but I've never seen anything like that before. Such a colossal curse... It makes me doubt if a human could have ever cast it..."
"Is it really that bad? I thought it had been weakening lately..."
"Weakening? No, absolutely not... Even if it has, it is still a curse that far exceeds what any human mind could possibly endure."
Rielia inhaled and exhaled deeply, as if trying to expel the lingering terror inside her. On her sweat-slicked face, a firm determination shone like a star.
"Which is why we cannot leave it like this. I must do it. My power as the Saintess... perhaps the Goddess ordained all of this just so I could destroy that curse."
Rielia clasped her hands tightly together as if in prayer, as though begging the Goddess to grant her courage.
Even while feeling such terror, the Saintess was preparing to confront the curse. Was she truly going to be alright? Could Rielia's divine power really overwhelm the ancient, deep-seated curse of Mistylia? What would happen if she couldn't?
"Rielia, you can stop if you want. This curse is a problem I must solve. I don't want to lift it at the cost of sacrificing you."
Rielia quietly shook her head.
"No, I am fine."
The Saintess, covered in sweat and fear, managed a faint smile.
"Princess... you love your stepmother, don't you? Of course, in a slightly different sense than normal... After all, whenever you talk about her, you look so incredibly happy."
"Rielia..."
"I have received so much from you, Princess. Now it's my turn to help you. I will save your precious stepmother... from that curse."
"Are you sure you'll be alright? You're absolutely sure?"
"Of course. I haven't even tasted the sweets you gave me yet. I can't die in a place like this."
Die...? My expression must have turned incredibly grim at those words. Rielia took my hand, smiling warmly to reassure me.
"Please don't make that face, Princess. I like your smiling face the best."
Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed herself, Rielia cleared her throat and let go of my hand. Then, she spoke in her usual bright, lively voice.
"Ahem! Well then, shall we discuss how to deal with the curse? You mentioned earlier that it felt like the curse was weakening, right? Can you tell me exactly what the circumstances were when that happened?"
I explained to Rielia everything I had discovered about Mistylia so far—the conditions of its activation, the intervals, and how its effects seemed to gradually lessen.
Rielia listened intently, nodding along.
"I see. But it's highly likely that it's not the curse itself weakening, but rather a change in the Queen's state of mind. This curse is designed to maximize permanence and immutability to the absolute limit... Wait, actually..."
Rielia tilted her head cutely, lost in thought. Seeing her return to her usual self put my mind at ease a little.
"The fact that there is an interval between activations... means it probably needs time to replenish its cursed energy. In other words, the curse is at its weakest immediately after it triggers. Princess, do you know when the next activation is?"
"Probably... sometime today. It might even be less than an hour from now..."
Hearing this, Rielia grabbed my hand tightly.
"Then we must hurry. There is something we absolutely need to break the curse."
"Something we need? What is it? If it's something we can find in the royal palace, I can get it right away..."
"No, I have to go get it myself. It's a very special item. I'll be back in a flash, so could you wait for me?"
There was no way I could let Rielia go alone in a situation like this. Without hesitation, I spoke up.
"I'm coming with you, Rielia. But what exactly is this item?"
"A sword. A holy sword with the power to fight against curses."
A sword? Before I could ask anything more, Rielia yanked my hand and pulled me along.