episode_0152

Episode 152

“Article? Do you mean me?”

“Yes. If you don’t like it, you can say you don’t like it. I will leave it to Rika’s will.”

Rika seemed quite surprised by my suggestion. Well, I was a little surprised when I heard from Philgret.

“Becoming a knight means… living in the royal palace?”

“Well, right? Because the Knights Templar is right next to the royal palace…”

“Then I will do it.”

I’m not sure where that is… I guess I didn’t want to see the palace.

“Why the royal palace?”

“That means you can see the princess and Carmel in a closer place.”

Rika had a happy smile on her face, as if she was happy just imagining it. I guess that’s why it’s Rika-like.

“Hmm… You can take some more time to think about it. Joining the Knights means having to participate in difficult training and missions. It may significantly limit your freedom.”

“It’s okay no matter how difficult things await you. If only I could be closer to you two.”

I was left speechless by Rika’s direct expression of affection. Rika was looking straight at me with truly passionate gaze. The room feels a little warmer.

“Ah, I understand. I’ll tell Philgret that.”

“Thank you, princess.”

Rika did not hide her smile as if she was truly happy. If it had a tail, it would have been gently wagging it.

At that time, someone knocked on the door. When I told her to come in, Leelia came into the room.

“You were looking for me, princess! what? But what is the atmosphere…”

Reelia, who was looking at me and Rika alternately in a strange mood, was startled as if she suddenly realized something.

“Ah…! Ha, you have been very busy! Joe, will you come back a little later?”

“…I don’t know what you were imagining, but it’s probably not that, Reelia. Now, please come in here and sit down.”

Leelia quietly walked over and sat down at the table. I first took out the gift I had prepared for Leelia.

“This is a gift from Laurencia. These are snacks made that way. By the way, since it is very bitter, you should eat it with tea.”

“Wow, wow… Thank you, princess!”

Leelia, a dessert fanatic, received my wrapped gift and her eyes lit up. Even the slightly excessive sweetness seemed to be an advantage, not a disadvantage, to Reelia.

It’s nice to see Leelia happy. But my purpose for coming here wasn’t just to deliver gifts.

“Rielia, are you free today?”

“Time? Yes, of course… What’s going on?”

“I want you to go to the palace with me. I want to entrust my mother’s curse and Mystilia’s fate to you.”

Leelia’s expression, which was happy like a child after receiving a gift, instantly became serious. This is her face when she fulfills her mission as a saint.

“I understand. You have to be willing.”

“Thank you, Leelia. Sometime today… No, can we leave right now?”

If Mystilia’s activation cycle is truly one week, the curse will be activated this evening. If possible, I wanted to lift the curse before Carmel’s mind was reset.

Leelia nodded loudly and answered.

“Yes, then I will prepare and come right away.”

Leelia seemed to have sensed my impatience and left the room with hurried steps. As I looked at the back of the saint, I felt an unknown sense of tension.

Mystilia has been interfering between me and Carmel for a long time. The moment for it to be removed is not far away.

* * *

Early in the evening, Carmel was waiting for me in her room after sending everyone out as I requested.

“Nice to meet you, Queen Carmel.”

The voice of a saint, completely different from usual. When she made eye contact with Reelia, who greeted her gracefully, Carmel turned her head away without answering.

Judging by the look in his eyes, the curse has not yet been activated. That’s just a fundamental personality issue.

No matter how kind Leelia is, she seems to be a little offended by this. Leelia’s face became somewhat stiff. I expected to some extent that the two people would not be a good match.

“Where is the object of the curse, princess?”

I walked over to the wooden box that was still there. In front of him, I recited a curse.

Paceas der Enekra. Enekra will curse. When I open the lid of the unsealed box, black magic comes out. Once it was cleared, Mystilia, the culprit of the curse, was revealed.

Before I knew it, Reelia had come to my side and were looking at the inside of the box with me. I realized that Leelia was shaking.

“It doesn’t make sense… Ugh, how can this happen…”

“Rielia?”

Leelia, who was looking inside the box, turned her head to Carmel. This time, Carmel did not turn her head and glared at Leelia with sharp eyes.

Leelia, who was trembling as if she was facing an indescribable fear, slowly took a deep breath. And he spoke to me in an extremely serious voice, as if he had decided on something.

“Princess, can we talk outside for a moment?”

“Yes, of course…”

As she left the room, Reelia let out the breath she had been holding. Countless beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

“Rielia… are you okay?”

“Yes… But I’ve never seen anything like that before. Such an enormous curse… so much so that one wonders if it was really made by humans…”

“Is it that much? I thought I was getting weaker recently…”

“Weakened? No, no… Even if that were the case, it is a curse far beyond what the human mind can handle.”

Reelia took a deep breath and exhaled as if she was trying to let out the fear that still remained within her. On Reelia’s sweaty face, a strong determination was shining like a star.

“So we must not neglect it even more. I have to do it. The power of a saint that I have… It may all have been arranged by the goddess to remove that curse.”

Leelia clasped her hands together as if praying. As if he were praying to the goddess to give him courage.

Despite feeling this much fear, the saintess is trying to fight against the curse.

Is it really okay?

Can Riellia’s divine power really overcome Mystilia’s age-old curse? What happens if it doesn’t?

“Reelia. It’s okay to quit. This curse is a problem I have to solve. I don’t want to release it at the expense of you.”

Leelia shook her head quietly.

“No, I’m fine.”

The saintess, covered in fear and sweat, was smiling faintly.

“The princess… loves her mother, right? Of course, in a slightly different sense from the ordinary… The princess looked very happy when talking about her mother.”

“Rielia…”

“I have received so much from the princess. Now it’s my turn to help the princess. The princess’s precious mother… I will save her from the curse.”

“Are you okay? It’s okay, right?”

“Of course. I haven’t even tasted the cookies the princess gave me yet. I can’t die in a place like this.”

Dying…

The expression on my face when I heard those words seemed very serious. Leelia held my hand and smiled as if to reassure me.

“Please don’t make that face, princess. I like the princess’s smiling face.”

Leelia, perhaps embarrassed herself, cleared her throat and let go. And he spoke in his usual lively voice.

“Keuhm, then shall we discuss a way to resolve the curse? You said earlier that it felt like the curse was weakening, right? Can you tell me exactly under what circumstances?”

I told Leelia what I found out about Mystilia so far. The curse’s activation conditions and intervals, as well as the fact that it felt like the effect was gradually becoming less effective.

Reelia, who was listening to my story seriously, nodded.

“I see. However, it is more likely to be a problem with the queen’s heart rather than a weakening of the curse itself. This curse must be the type of curse that increases permanence and immutability to the limit… Um, wait a minute?”

Leelia bobbed her head cutely. He seems to be thinking about something. When I saw Leelia back to her usual self, I felt a little relieved.

“The reason there is an interval between the activation of the curse… is probably because the curse’s power needs time to replenish. In other words, the curse becomes weakest immediately after it is activated. Princess, do you know when the next activation is?”

“Probably… sometime today. There might not even be an hour left…”

When Leelia heard those words, she held my hand tightly and said.

“Then we should hurry. There is an item that is essential to lift the curse.”

“What do you need? What is it? If you can get it from the royal family, right now…”

“No, I have to go myself. That’s a special item. I’ll be back soon, so can you wait a moment?”

In this situation, we can’t send Reelia alone. I said without hesitation.

“Let’s go together, Leelia. But what is that thing?”

“It’s a sword. A sacred sword with the power to fight against curses.”

A sword? Without asking any more, Reelia pulled my hand.