Chapter 797 – Day 91 – The Princess Prepares for an Adventure to Find Ceres.
“You worked harder than I expected, princess.”
Jad Ober, who had heard the whole long story, spoke with a happy expression.
The princess, who left the ancient demon facility and returned to the Aubert family, first explained the situation to the people of the Ober family who were waiting for her.
Unlike when she left the mansion, the princess was a little cautious because a fancy party was being held, but since the people who recognized her were already under the ‘curse’, there was no commotion.
“Thank you for your hard work, Her Royal Highness.”
“Haha, isn’t the Duke of Auvers doing all the hard work?”
After regaining her memory, the princess naturally recognized the Duke of Aubert’s face and was able to clearly recall what kind of person he was.
“I ended up wearing clothes that don’t fit my body. Are you okay?”
“I have lived my whole life as a knight on the battlefield. Now that I am this age, I am trying to dance in well-dressed clothes, and my stomach is aching.”
“You mean like that dance you did before the war with the Southerners started?”
The Duke of Auvers burst into laughter at the princess’s joke.
“Thank you, Her Royal Highness.”
“What do you mean?”
“Didn’t you give me a chance to do the right thing?”
As soon as the Duke of Aubert finished speaking, Jad Aubert hurriedly cleared his throat.
“It’s just as my father said, princess. It seems that Eternity has reached out to more nobles in the empire than I thought.”
“It seems like there were quite a few nobles cooperating with them?”
“There were some people who knew it was a demon race, and there were quite a few people who thought it was a good social gathering… But in the end, it reached out to quite a lot of nobles.”
“To put it simply, there are many people who are that desperate.”
Hedone, who was sitting next to her, touched the hand of the princess, who had a slightly bitter expression.
“It is ridiculous to say now that nobles are greedy, but their desires are not always greedy.”
“It is just as your daughter said, Your Highness. No matter how wealthy a family a child may be, there is nothing that can be done about a child who has been blind from the moment he or she is born in the mother’s womb.”
“There are some things that even the healing magic of the Church of Saints can’t do, right? There are quite a few people who think that even God has abandoned them, so they turn to demons.”
Nodding her head, the princess drank some of her sweet tea.
“Abama has omnipotent power.”
There is no need for old god Frigg to guarantee it.
“If I had that power, I would be able to heal even a child who went blind in his mother’s womb or a child who suffered from a disease that can only be explained as a curse…”
The princess closed her eyes tightly.
“No, there is no need to say that. Even Eternity was able to cure that disease. Abamama certainly had the power to save them.”
“… But His Majesty is not using his power for that, but rather for creating the best successor to rule the empire forever.”
“I don’t know if Genji thinks that everyone can enjoy a happy world if we endure a little pain, or if he has some other agenda…”
The princess clenched her fists and let out a long breath.
“You have the power to save so many people, but you’re using it for something you can’t understand…”
“Even His Majesty doesn’t just use that power. He always neglects our pain and struggles so that he can control and manage the empire efficiently, right?”
The princess quietly nodded her head at Jad Aubert’s words.
“Anyway… Even though Abama has the power to save people right in front of her, she doesn’t use it…”
I don’t understand.
I can’t forgive.
She was a princess who even felt fear at her cruelty in trying to use her own daughter Minos as her ‘seedbed’ in the true sense of the word.
“We, the Aubert family, will help you on your path to the end.”
“Thank you. So, can I help you keep the party going?”
“… I think it would have been possible if Ceres-san had been there.”
Hedone made an apologetic expression.
“Oh, no, it’s okay. The embers of rebellion have just begun to bloom. If you have a long tail, you will be caught. Once you start receiving material help from the imperial palace, rumors will start to spread.”
Jad Ober urgently waved his hand and smiled.
“Even though it looks like this, it’s the Aubert family that my dad and mom worked hard to raise. It’s okay to throw a wild party for about a month, so don’t worry.”
“… I will make sure that your hard work is rewarded appropriately someday.”
Jad Ober looked at the princess with a serious expression and shook her head.
“What duty does a noble of an empire where the sun never sets have? Isn’t it to help the royal family who are trying to protect the people of the empire?”
“Jade Ober…”
“Humans cannot have omnipotence. Still, we must at least do something to hold an umbrella for them so that they do not get wet from the rain falling from the sky.”
There was no lie in the words of Jad Ober, whose eyes were brighter than before.
* * *
“Ah… I’m sorry. I’m from the surface, so I don’t know how to go down to Pandemonium.”
Sitri, dressed in a beautiful dress, answered while arranging the accessories hanging from the horns on his head.
“Hmm, just because they are demons doesn’t mean they all know how to go down to Pandemonium.”
“Not everyone who lives in the Empire knows the streets of Holympia.”
Unlike the two couples who nodded, Sitri’s expression was stiff.
“Still, I want to help you as much as I can…”
“Don’t say things like that. Aren’t you helping to awaken the eyes of the nobles who have been deceived by Eternity?”
“It is the atonement that I must make. If there is a goddess as the church says, she would smile even a little at my actions.”
“Don’t worry. God will not punish those who repent of their sins and try to make this world go in a better direction.”
After speaking her words with a proud expression, the princess leaned back in her chair.
“But to Pandemonium… Um, I can’t even contact Ceres…”
“How can it not work with the technology of the ancient demons, princess?”
“Hmm, unfortunately, even if I had such communication technology, there’s no way Ceres could have it, right?”
Hedone, recalling the remote conversation through the crystal ball, immediately appeared in agreement.
“But… Is there a person named ‘Ceres’ that the princess is talking about…”
“She is a being commonly referred to by demons as Lady or Vergilia. If there were various circumstances, she is now a demon who loves humans just like you, so don’t worry.”
“Hey, you love humans…”
Sitri looked a little guilty and embarrassed and wiggled her fingers for a moment.
“I don’t know how to go down to Pandemonium.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll figure out the way by asking other demons.”
There are many demons targeting you. If that doesn’t work, the princess thought she would have to lure out the Seven Sisters and all.
“But… I know very well where you played on earth.”
“No, play? Play?”
Unlike the embarrassed princess, Sitri was calm this time.
“A long time ago, before I was even born, my dear, there was a time when you ascended to earth several times with certain missions given to you by your mother.”
“Ah! Are you talking about that time?”
“Oh, do you know?”
“Yes! That’s how Ceres went up to the ground…”
The princess, who was about to speak excitedly, glanced at Hedone.
“I worked on gathering information on the earth. I think I used the demon’s transformation magic to do various things back then as well.”
“Because it’s in the past.”
The princess cleared her throat at one word from Hedone.
“Anyway! A flower bloomed in Ceres’ heart after interacting with the earth like that. People on the earth are just like demons.”
“That’s right. The demons criticized it as ‘play’. So, the young lady has a small home she created in the hope that one day the humans on the ground and the demons underground will get along well.”
“When I traveled through time, it ended up not being very good…”
The princess recalled many things and looked troubled even as she was lost in her memories.
“The problem is… That place. It was in Galagon. I can still remember the freezing weather.”
“You don’t have to worry about that, princess.”
“Why?”
“My Lady did not play such games in just one place. Because she did not consider humans on earth to be insects like most demons.”
The princess clapped her hands lightly at Sitri’s calm words.
“Was that so?! Did Ceres know that there were many people on the earth, that it was divided into many territories, including kingdoms, and that the cultures were slightly different?”
“Yes, that’s why he made such games all over the empire where the sun never sets. Most of the playgrounds were ruined over time or became the land of nobles, so their form changed…”
Sitri silently placed her finger on the map of the empire placed between them.
The place was never far from the Aubert family mansion.
“Thank goodness the playgrounds here in the south have never been touched.”
“Then, if we can go here… Doesn’t that mean we can go to Pandemonium, where Ceres is hiding?”
Sitri smiled and nodded at the princess’s words filled with hope.
