episode_0158

Episode 158

“Wow, wow, princess…?”

I wake up to someone’s voice. As I rubbed my eyes and looked around, transparent sunlight was suddenly filling my room.

“Aham~ Did I oversleep? I went to bed a little late yesterday…”

“That’s not it… Princess, who on earth is this…?”

Following the maid’s trembling gaze, there was Reelia. Reelia, who was clinging to me tightly and opening her mouth wide, seemed to be still deep in a dream.

“Hmm…”

The best thing to do was to get Reelia out before the maids arrived, but I think both I and Reelia were so tired that I fell into a very deep sleep. In that case, we have no choice but to gloss over it and move on.

“This person is Lielia, the saintess of Lurie. I called you last night after hearing that there was a curse coming from the palace. Because it was too late at night, I just asked you to sleep in my room.”

Even at first glance, he is a harmless and cute child. You would never think that he would have spent such a long time in the bathroom with me. This excuse should be enough.

“Well, I see. If that’s the case…”

In fact, the maid seemed convinced. Besides, it’s not a complete lie.

At that time, Reelia turned over and talked in her sleep.

“Umm, no, princess… If you just touch her breasts like that… she’ll go away…”

“…It was one of the rituals to detect a curse. They say that when you get closer to a curse, your heartbeat becomes irregular? I guess it’s the power of a saint that ordinary people don’t have.”

“Is that so…?”

It was a bit difficult, but at this level, somehow…

“I don’t want to pee… I don’t want to pee anymore… Please forgive me, princess…”

Leelia, who was talking in her sleep, made a needlessly obscene voice. Although it is not revealed openly, there is a hint of suspicion in the maids’ eyes.

“This is… this child has severe urinary incontinence… so they sent him to the bathroom before going to bed, something like that…

“Ah, ah… I see…”

You can feel the consideration in the maids’ voices. Rather than continuing to make painful excuses, I think it would be better to wake up Leelia quickly.

I shook Reelia and woke her up.

“Rielia, wake up. It’s already morning. Leelia!”

Leelia opened her eyes and smiled brightly when she saw my face. And he hugged me like he was clinging to me.

“Wow, you are a princess…!”

It seems like he couldn’t see his surroundings while he was sleeping. Reelia, who realized the situation late, was shocked and fell, but it was already too late. The maids were looking in different directions with blushing faces.

“Well, let’s just pretend we didn’t see or hear anything… We will never reveal anything that might cause problems for the princess’s reputation… ”

As if she had witnessed an embarrassing scene, the highest-ranking maid adjusted her glasses with trembling hands. The other maids also had similar expressions. There was also a maid who had a happy face for some reason.

“Put, reputation? Oh, I don’t know what you’re misunderstanding. Well, this is normal. Because Reelia and I are very close friends…!”

“Yeah, that’s right! Hugs are normal between me and the princess! Oh, it’s like a greeting every time we meet!”

“Well, well, I see…”

Me, Reelia, and the maids were all making very awkward voices. I spread my arms out to lend credibility to Leelia’s words.

“Well, did you sleep well, Leelia…?”

When I hug Reelia, who is wearing thin pajamas, I feel a soft and warm touch. Conversely, my touch must be conveyed to Leelia.

Leelia began to let out trembling breaths.

“Ha, haeu… Yes, yes…”

Why are you making obscene noises there? No matter where you look, it’s not a sound you would normally make while hugging.

In any case, it was already too late to resolve things amicably. I decided that I would rather go out shamelessly.

“Okay, did you enjoy it? Riellia is just staying one night for a purification ritual. You too… please be careful not to spread disrespectful words. Yes, even among the same maids…”

“Yes, yes! I will do that…”

If I said this, they wouldn’t be so reckless and spread strange rumors. But it wouldn’t be possible to stop the thought.

Their blushing faces must be replaying their own version of the hot night between the princess and the little saint they are currently serving. It’s quite humiliating for someone who has to see this face to face every day.

But I jumped out of bed as if nothing had happened.

“Okay, then please start working quickly. Because I have to see Leelia off.”

Regardless of the awkward atmosphere, the maids began to move their bodies quickly. Reelia’s eyes widened at their quick work.

At the same time that I started grooming myself, I also brought clothes that fit Rielia’s body from somewhere. Leelia looked very embarrassed as her pajamas were removed and her skin was exposed in front of many people.

But that too only for a short time. Before she knew it, Leelia had changed into clothes that suited her small body. I, too, was dressed in the elegant clothes of a princess.

“Thank you for your hard work. Then please bring me breakfast.”

“Yes, princess.”

The awkwardness from earlier had completely disappeared from the expressions of the maids who had gone to work. I simply handled the given task with the calmness of a professional.

* * *

After escorting Reelia to the entrance of the palace, I headed to the knights’ guild.

First, I found Pilgret’s room. Philgret was very happy when Rika let him know that she had positive intentions about joining the team. They said they would adjust the schedule as soon as possible to set up a test date.

After leaving his office, I headed to the building opposite. Aside from conveying the news about Rika to Philgret, I still had business left to do.

I knocked on the door of the direct commander, Masker.

When I entered the room, Masker stood up stiffly and greeted me.

“Welcome, princess.”

“It’s been a while, Masker. How have you been?”

“Yes, thanks… What brings you here today?”

“I came here because I was curious about how the work I asked for was going.”

I gave an order to Masker to investigate the records of the knights related to the Black Mountain Order.

It was meant to test his abilities, but now it has become quite important.

Promise with Enekra. A promise to uncover and remember the events that occurred during the founding of the Lustier Kingdom. Even if it was just a thought and not Enekra himself, I planned to strictly protect it.

However, almost no official records remain about witches during the founding period. Since I had never heard of it, I could only assume that the destruction of records had been intentional.

In that case, the only place that has a possibility is black goat sashimi.

Since it was confirmed that Enekra was the one who left behind Mystilia, it was possible to roughly guess what type of organization the Black Goat Society was. A group that seeks to perpetuate the hatred and curse towards Lustier from generation to generation. Therefore, of course, he would have left behind records about Enekra.

Masker unfolded a large map in front of me. It was a map depicting Lustier’s entire campaign.

“According to the records of the Knights, the number of times they have subdued cultists so far is exactly 171 times. And among them, there were about 16 similar cases to what the princess mentioned.”

“Oh… I did quite a bit of research.”

There were several black marks on the map that seemed to have been drawn recently. This is probably a drawing that allows you to visually check the subjugation records. They were mainly concentrated on the northern border of the Templars’ range of activity.

“Thank you.”

“But it’s a lot less than 16, right? Um… there are only eight, right?”

“Yes. There were cases where even after they had been subdued once, they used that place as their base again.”

“Again in a place that was once subjugated…? Hmm, why?”

“I’m not sure about that either. Maybe it was a religiously important place for them?”

There is definitely a possibility. If Enekra was active in Lustier as she said, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were places where her traces remained.

“Maybe so. Hmm…”

“But there is something strange. The records clearly state that they confiscated the documents and books they had… but the confiscated documents were nowhere to be found in the Templar archives.”

Is it record erasure? But if that’s the case, there’s something creepy about it.

The subjugation of the Knights may not all have taken place in the same era. If it is said that King Luke himself erased all records of Enekra during Luke’s era, then who was responsible for erasing the records of subsequent eras?

In other words, there is someone who is destroying records of Enekra. To the knights, or to the royal family. And that probably continued for several generations.

“…I see. You did much better than I expected, Masker.”

“Oh, no. I just did my best in the task entrusted to me by the princess.”

“Good. Are there any people you worked with?”

“Yes? Oh, no. I did it alone. Outside of work hours, in my spare time…”

“Good job. From now on, please… don’t tell anyone about this. Even for knights and members of the royal family.”

“Yes? Ah, I understand.”

Those who want to erase Enekra from Lustier’s history. Who on earth are they?

I fell into thought as I looked at the black marks on the map.