Farewells Tinged with Regret
Two days after that one act of forgiveness, bolstered by substantial aid from the Einiss Magic Kingdom, we were preparing to depart at the gates of the royal palace.
"Hey, you didn't forget anything, right?"
I cautiously asked my sister Raysilla, who was fiddling with her newly purchased artifacts beside me. She vigorously shook her head, stuffed all her belongings into her subspace pouch, and climbed into the carriage first. To be precise, it was the carriage dozens of times finer than the one we'd been using, a gift from the king himself.
Once I confirmed Raysilla was fully ready to leave, I shifted my gaze slightly to the side. There was Selina, grunting as she stuffed item after item into her subspace pouch, dressed in the slightly glossy assassin's garb she'd received directly from the queen.
I watched her for a moment before speaking. "...Why do you have more luggage than the rest of us combined?"
"Ah... well, you see..."
Selina jumped at the sudden question, her ears perking straight up. She glanced warily at me and Adelin Aynis, then hung her head, mumbling in a voice as tiny as an ant crawling by.
"Um... I got bored and raided the palace treasury and the knights' supplies a bit."
"......"
"......"
Her shocking confession left Adelin and me frozen in unison, as if we'd rehearsed it. Back in our hero party days, as a thief, she'd stolen heaps of money and potions more than once, so the act of thieving itself wasn't surprising. But after squeezing an absurd fortune in gold, potions, and supplies from the king—enough to last lifetimes— to go pilfering even more?
I was genuinely stunned.
However, Adelin, equally shocked and rigid at first, quickly regained her composure. She shrugged lightly, as if it was to be expected, and resumed packing her things.
...Is this okay? It must be, since she's acting like it is.
Doubts lingered, but I didn't voice them. Adelin herself, the king's blood and the party involved, raised no issue. As an outsider, I had no grounds to step in and demand the stolen goods be returned.
Besides, whatever Selina had taken would surely prove useful on the grueling journey ahead. So I turned away, pretending not to notice, and grasped the carriage door handle.
By the time we were all boarding and finalizing our departure...
From afar, beneath the shadow of the walls, Queen Eleanor and her children—who had been silently observing us—approached with cautious steps.
"......"
I watched their movements, the carriage door half-open.
The first to approach Adelin was the First Prince of the Einiss Magic Kingdom.
Unable to meet her eyes directly, he averted his gaze to the empty air, his lips twitching several times before he finally spoke with difficulty.
"It's meaningless to say this now, but... I only pretended to hate and despise you on Mother's orders."
The words sounded like excuses, but his expression was utterly earnest.
"Even if you're a bastard, I truly thought of you as my little sister."
With that, the First Prince bit his lip hard, unable to continue.
Next came the Second Prince, who had clashed with Adelin the most.
"...That doesn't mean I'm asking for your forgiveness."
He spoke more boldly than his brother. "It's true I stood by without stopping Mother from treating you—a dying girl—like nothing more than the royal family's gem mine. And... it's also true that I once loathed you for being a bastard who seized the heir's seat with your talents."
The Second Prince exhaled deeply, finally meeting Adelin's eyes.
"Still... thanks for forgiving us despite it all. Take care."
With those final words and a brief nod to Adelin, the two princes turned and walked away.
The sisters standing behind them couldn't bring themselves to speak to her. Bound by flimsy pride, they clenched their fists, faces flushed red, before fleeing after their brothers.
Once the king's children had all withdrawn, only Queen Eleanor remained.
Unlike her previous frantic escapes whenever she faced me or Adelin, she approached with leisurely, dignified steps right up to Adelin.
Her face was serene, as if she'd laid everything to rest.
"I have nothing to say."
With those words, she reached into her bosom and produced an exquisitely crafted hairpin artifact.
She placed it silently into Adelin's hand and continued.
"It contains the magic I've researched and created as a mage over twenty-six years."
"...?"
Adelin's hand trembled slightly, half-bewildered, half-awkward. The queen gripped it firmly, her voice utterly flat.
"Any single spell inside could easily buy a count's title... It should suffice as a dowry."
"......"
Her casual mention of a dowry amid all this sparked irritation—what was she even seeing?—but I held my tongue and watched.
The queen withdrew her hand from Adelin's, turned away without lingering, as if her task was complete.
As the click of her heels began to fade toward her children...
Her steps toward them hesitated briefly. Then, in a tiny voice to the empty air, she murmured to herself.
"Looking back now... The one I truly should have hated wasn't you, born of that lowly maid, but that damned man who forced himself on her..."
A hollow chuckle escaped unwittingly in her mutter.
With that, the queen gathered her children without a backward glance and headed into the palace.
Just as it seemed truly over, from a corner of the walls approached a woman in worn, ordinary clothes—not her ornate maid attire. It was Serin, the maid who had stayed by Adelin until her dying moments, only to betray her for her own survival.
Serin bowed deeply before Adelin, nearly kneeling.
"The wealth I gained for betraying Your Highness... I plan to use it all for the street children dying without education or care in the slums."
Her trembling voice brimmed with deep remorse and guilt.
"Thank you... truly... for forgiving this worthless maid who couldn't serve you to the end."
Unable to lift her head, Serin backed away, then turned and hurried off.
With all ties perfectly severed, silence reigned before the massive gates.
Unexpected apologies from family and maid—Adelin stared wide-eyed, alternating between the hairpin in her hand and the empty space they'd left.
"Haha... I can't believe it even seeing it with my own eyes."
A faint, disbelieving laugh slipped from her lips after a dazed freeze.
"People really can change, it seems."
To her murmur, I leaned against the carriage door and chuckled dryly.
"That wasn't meant for me to hear, right?"
At my barbed jest, Adelin carefully tucked the hairpin into her bosom and turned to me.
Her iridescent eyes held no tremor whatsoever.
"I'll put in dozens, hundreds of times more effort than they did. Don't worry."
She shook her head firmly in resolve.
I shrugged lightly and boarded the carriage. Adelin gathered her skirts and followed.
Selina, at the driver's seat, confirmed we were all set and lightly took the reins.
"Let's head out!"
"...Yeah."
Not long after news spread that the Failer Empire had halted its advance upon conquering the Jeres Kingdom, solely to await the fake hero Kail...
In the Hareness Holy Kingdom's most secretive chamber—the Round Table of the Holy Hundred, where only the gravest matters were discussed—a heavy silence hung.
Leading them was the barely surviving Cardinal of All-Heavens, flanked by five grand cardinals bearing grandiose titles: Radiant Wheel, Judgment, Holy Stigma, Vaulted Sky, Dark Moon.
Opposite sat eight archbishops, with the Saint King upon the highest throne on the dais.
And beside the Saint King, an unmoving figure shrouded in a pure white veil.
The focal point who, amid inquisitions and imperial pressure, had pulled half the continent back to the Holy Kingdom's side—yet whose true face beneath the veil remained unknown, called the "Saintess." All were gathered.
Thud!
"Any further delay will hasten the Holy Kingdom's doom!"
Breaking the silence by slamming the table was the Cardinal of Judgment. He raised his voice neurotically, hiding his trembling hands born of fear for the Failer Empire.
"We must relocate our base to the westernmost frontier at once. Rebuilding our forces there with full support from the Ahento Triad is our only path. The imperial army is at our throats!"
"Foolish nonsense!"
The First Archbishop across from him glared with bloodshot eyes and shot back.
"How long do you think the Ahento Triad will back us? The moral high ground has already shifted to the empire and that hero! Before it's too late—right now—we must beg the hero's forgiveness and offer a grand scapegoat to quell the continent's rage!"
"What madness is this? Shall the great Hareness Holy Kingdom bow to a mere heretic? Have you no shame before the Creator God's sole proxy!?"
"That one heretic has upended the entire continent! Face reality!"
The briefly solemn table devolved into a commoners' marketplace brawl. Cardinals who had clashed swords with the empire's elite preached flight; archbishops howled for surrender and sacrifices, tearing into each other.
No real solutions—just mudslinging blame.
"...?"
The Saint King gazed upon the chaos, then sighed deeply, as if abandoning all hope. His weary, aged eyes drifted past the din to the statue-like woman in white beside him.
The one boldly proclaimed to all as the miraculous Saintess.
In truth, Ferne, his own daughter and former hero party member who had slain the Demon King with the fake hero Kail—now a cardinal candidate.
The Saint King lightly tapped the throne's armrest and addressed her veiled face.
"My daughter, what are your thoughts?"
"I..."