Chapter 141

“I wonder if Her Majesty the Empress doesn’t plan to watch the performance? Looking at how she’s going to the first floor instead of the third.”

“She somehow found out you were coming and followed. She appeared right before departure, so there was no time to notify you in advance.”

Aiden apologized, saying it was his mistake.

“No, it’s actually good timing.”

Angelina snorted.

“She must have been in quite a hurry.”

This behavior was uncharacteristic of the Empress. She must be feeling cornered and acting strangely as a result.

“More importantly…”

Angelina looked at Aiden.

“…How is Your Highness these days?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that question, but it’s difficult.”

“You’re being honest.”

“His Majesty has decided to return to the palace. He should arrive next week.”

“…I see.”

Angelina’s expression darkened.

‘So Grandonia’s memories went to the Emperor after all?’

That makes things a bit complicated…

“If that were all, there wouldn’t be a problem, but recently…”

Aiden held back his words. He looked at Blake, then Ante, then Angelina in turn, and finally rested his gaze on Pudding.

He let out a long sigh.

“Huff… How should I explain this? So, recently…”

Angelina asked the hesitant man:

“Your Highness, do you perhaps know Phoebe?”

She asked this because she noticed his glance lingering on Pudding.

And at that moment, Aiden’s eyes trembled severely.

“How do you know that name…?”

A smile formed on Angelina’s lips.

“Because the blue rose was beautiful.”

“…!”

Just then, the bell announcing the start of the play rang.

“I’ll see you in the garden during the interval, Your Highness.”

Angelina walked to her seat with a satisfied expression.

***

Naturally, Aiden couldn’t focus on the play at all.

He kept glancing at Angelina sitting on the opposite side.

“Blake.”

“Talking during the performance is disrespectful to the theater company.”

“You rigid man.”

“I hear that often.”

“….”

He tried to get information from Blake beside him but failed.

In the end, his mind was filled with all sorts of scattered thoughts. He couldn’t take his eyes off Angelina.

As he kept watching her, suddenly a large shadow entered his field of vision.

“Please focus.”

Blake had slightly moved his body forward, blocking his view.

“…That sword of yours.”

Looking at Blake with displeasure, Aiden noticed Artoas at his waist.

The same sword he had seen in the memories of history.

“You recognized it quickly.”

“…The seal?”

“It’s been broken for a long time.”

“…Artoas.”

From this brief exchange, Aiden could tell that Blake was Artoas.

“Then Zeplictus.”

“That would be the fellow sitting over there, ignoring the play he’s supposed to be watching and only staring at the Sun.”

Aiden turned his head toward where Angelina was. As Blake said, Ante was resting his chin on the balcony, gazing at Angelina.

His delighted smile was so bright it made even onlookers chuckle.

Occasionally, Angelina seemed to poke his side, telling him to look at the stage, but he continued to watch only her.

“…The Sun shall shine again.”

The song the village chief had sung came to mind.

As Blake turned to him with a frown, Aiden let out a small sigh.

“Let’s talk during the interval.”

There seemed to be much to discuss.

***

The long-awaited interval.

“You met the chief of Kuns Village?”

Three people found a spot in the garden, away from others.

Ante had left, saying something suddenly came up, so only the three of them remained.

Although Ante said it was “sudden,” Angelina knew it was because of the Empress and was worried.

She still didn’t know what kept him bound to the Empress.

Sitting with Pudding on her lap as they talked, Angelina heard unexpected news.

“Since your visit there was related to Order business, I had to look into it.”

“Did the village chief really know the latter part of the song?”

“Yes.”

Aiden conveyed what he had heard to her.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t sing it like the chief had, but he remembered the lyrics exactly and relayed them.

“Even if the lake turns black with shadows… That must refer to the black lake containing the Sun’s shadow, and the rose where tears fell must mean the blue rose sacred object, and the tomb covered in thorns must refer to the crimson thorn sacred object.”

Blake nodded quietly at Angelina’s interpretation. Then, as if surprised, he asked:

“The black lake sacred object is new to me.”

“We have it. Don’t worry.”

Angelina only stated the conclusion, unable to reveal that it had been in the Black Land of the duchy.

“And Artoas’s oath, Zeplictus’s reverence, and Grandonia’s apology…”

Angelina let out a long sigh.

That matched the memories they had seen.

“I command in the name of the Sun.”

She murmured softly.

“As your sword, I shall punish the traitor.”

“As your believer, I shall set everything right.”

Blake and Aiden said simultaneously.

And though Ante wasn’t here, if he were, he would surely have said…

‘As your priest, I shall protect the children.’

“Huff… So there were only three sacred objects from the beginning.”

Now she understood why no other sacred objects were mentioned in the original story.

“But then Grandonia’s trace seems ambiguous.”

“Trace?”

“Artoas left his trace in the form of the Kadenhart Duchy’s family heirloom, and Zeplictus has been hiding under the mask of Marquis Flaubert. But Grandonia…”

“Grandonia has been preserved as Grandonia itself until now, so you’re saying we need something like a sword.”

“Don’t you think so? Am I the only one who thinks this way?”

“No, it makes sense.”

Aiden nodded.

“If we find that…”

“I think when we find everything and the will of all three becomes complete, that will be the day mentioned in the song as ‘the day when the last forgiveness disappears.'”

Blake added to Angelina’s speculation:

“If pain turns into reconciliation, it would mean capturing the witch.”

“I think so.”

“…The witch.”

Aiden’s expression darkened at their words.

“Huff…”

He sighed deeply, rubbing his face.

“My lady. Do you trust me?”

“Why do you ask?”

“This witch. If everything you’re saying is correct, and if my guess is right, then the witch must be… my mother.”

“….”

Angelina confirmed with her silence.

“As a son, I could understand stopping my mother if she’s going in the wrong direction. But if the direction changes to ‘capturing’ her, don’t you think my heart might change?”

In a way, they were expecting him to betray his family.

“Hmm…”

Knowing the seriousness of the situation, Angelina chose her words carefully.

“In the past, I would have thought so.”

Before seeing the memories of history.

“That’s why I didn’t tell you everything even though I knew.”

That was why she had hidden part of the truth even during the “boat trip.”

“But now Your Highness has become both the current Crown Prince and ‘Grandonia.’ Then… isn’t the story a little different?”

Now that he knew history, Aiden would inevitably change.

Silence fell.

“Huff…”

Aiden sighed first.

“Honestly, if Your Highness betrays us, the only one I can count on would be His Majesty the Emperor.”

Angelina added her honest feelings.

“Is that a threat?”

“I’m showing you all my cards.”

The implication was clear: I’ve laid everything out, so you should do the same for fairness.

“…Capturing my mother would be like fighting a typhoon. I don’t know what she’s planning at the ball, but her movements lately have been suspicious.”

At Aiden’s words, Blake frowned.

“Typhoon.”

He was reminded of the words of someone who had betrayed him.

Angelina turned her head at his murmur, and Blake pressed his forehead, saying:

“I’ve heard that before.”

“Typhoon? From whom?”

“There was a man who betrayed the duchy and sold the territory’s people to the Order. When we caught him and investigated his background, that’s what he said.”

“Ah…”

“He said if we weren’t going to face the typhoon, we should close our eyes… Sigh, why is everyone so afraid of the Empress?”

When Blake asked in frustration, Aiden answered:

“Isn’t it strange? That the High Priest of the Order obediently listens to my mother?”