Ch.5151. Eleanor Luden Griffin

“Hmm.”

Deia savored the warm tea in her mouth for a moment, appreciating its aroma before rolling it around on her tongue like wine.

It wasn’t a particularly meaningful gesture, but since tea leaves were rather difficult to obtain in Norsweden, she wanted to enjoy it as much as possible.

Perhaps because things had been going smoothly lately, her mind was also at ease.

Her eldest son, Darius Verdi, had been focusing intensely on training after using his defeat against Findenai as motivation.

When the lord trains, the militia can’t just lounge around, so the overall level of the troops was rising as well.

Even Findenai’s junkyard crew members were following orders well despite their leader’s disappearance.

Recently, there were even rumors of romance between a Norsweden woman and a man from the junkyard, showing how friendly relations had become.

“How peaceful.”

As Deia was enjoying this tranquility…

“M-M-Miss!”

A maid’s urgent voice came from outside the office. Deia could already feel a headache coming on.

It was the sound of peace cracking.

The maid entered, holding a letter.

“A-A letter has arrived! From the Magic Tower, no less!”

“The Magic Tower?”

Deia immediately frowned and snatched the letter. Indeed, it bore the Magic Tower’s seal, with blue mana surrounding it for security.

‘Could something have happened to Deus…?’

The memory of hearing the bombshell statement about another personality residing within Deus resurfaced vividly.

‘I hope he hasn’t been caught as a spiritmaster.’

She had barely managed to forget about it, but now she swallowed hard and opened the letter with trembling hands.

As she read the contents, Deia’s shoulders began to twitch.

“Confession…? No, he’s a spiritmaster?”

From Deia’s scattered mutterings, the maid could roughly understand what was written.

“Ex-ex-execution? Magical Tribunal…?”

Crumple.

The letter was crushed in her hand. Deia took a deep breath, trying hard to maintain composure.

She nodded with a forced smile.

She nodded vigorously several times and turned to gulp down the tea she had set aside.

“Phew.”

Yes, I need to calm down…

Calm down…

“As if I could! That bastard! He confessed?! When he should have hidden it completely, he confesses? What’s going to happen to our territory!”

Bang!

Deia kicked the desk hard, making her toes ache, but she just blinked back tears and shouted:

“Prepare the carriage and bring my coat! We’re leaving for Greyford immediately!”

“Y-yes, my lady!”

The maid hurried out. Deia felt her head spinning with complexity.

She had thought their next meeting would be at least next year, since he would be working as a professor at Robern Academy.

But now they would meet much sooner than expected.

It would take some time to reach Greyford from here. They would reunite roughly a month after parting.

If he was still alive, that is.

Another soul residing in Deus’s body. She never expected to need answers about that so quickly.

For now, she wanted to give him credit.

“At least he’s still alive, which is good.”

At the very least, she could give him a good punch.

* * *

Unlike my emergency arrest via warp, it took Princess Elenoa about a week to return to Greyford from Robern Academy.

“Sigh.”

So what did I do while waiting?

I was receiving instruction about spirit magic from the Dark Spiritmaster.

I could still only use the basics of spirit magic, such as converting the mana contained in souls into simple spells.

The Archmage and his disciples continued to glare at me, but since I was scheduled to meet with the princess, they couldn’t treat me carelessly anymore—they remained vigilant but couldn’t touch me.

“There are more violent spells than I expected.”

[It’s not called Black Magic for nothing.]

Ordinary spiritmasters capture evil spirits and manipulate the mana and grudges contained within them.

Therefore, the magic is violent and consumes a great amount of mana.

But that approach was somewhat different from my way of dealing with souls.

I didn’t want to cause additional suffering to the dead by forcibly controlling them.

Of course, this wasn’t some unbreakable principle. Being human, I was prepared to change my approach if necessary.

But I wanted to minimize the suffering of the deceased.

[Your absorption rate is incredibly fast.]

The Dark Spiritmaster expressed genuine admiration. I suppose my affinity with souls had always been high.

It was only natural, if you think about it.

I didn’t even need separate souls to practice magic. The Dark Spiritmaster provided that.

She faithfully fulfilled her roles as teacher, magical apparatus, and training tool.

“…”

I wasn’t using the Lemegeton. Although I had witnessed its power firsthand at the execution grounds, I wanted to develop my own skills.

“I should get ready soon.”

Princess Elenoa had returned yesterday, and I was told we would meet after lunch today, so an escort would arrive soon.

I put on the black jacket prepared by the royal family. With its neat golden embroidery, it appeared to be quite luxurious.

[With your good looks, clothes really suit you well. How about cutting your hair a bit?]

“…”

[Your hair’s gotten a bit long. Tying the back wouldn’t be bad either.]

As she said, my bangs were starting to poke my eyes. The original Deus would have applied gel to style it, but…

I hadn’t bothered with such things.

“Never mind.”

I didn’t have the energy to worry about such trivial matters now. I didn’t know the content of Elenoa’s nightmares.

Moreover, I’d heard that even the Saintess had failed, so I needed to be both cautious and focused.

[It’s fortunate I became your disciple after death. If I were alive, I might have made advances because of your handsome appearance.]

“Take it easy.”

She talks endlessly when I respond. The Dark Spiritmaster was hanging her head dejectedly when the door opened and the Archmage’s disciples entered.

“Follow us. The princess is waiting.”

Without hesitation, I stepped out of the room, and the Dark Spiritmaster followed, floating while holding onto my shoulder.

[Would you like some tea?]

[Hee hee, hee hee hee.]

[…]

Souls visible in the royal corridors. Seeing them, the Dark Spiritmaster clicked her tongue with a cold expression.

[Being the royal palace, there are all sorts of souls here. But most are just minor entities, so there’s no big problem.]

“…”

Suddenly, as if sensing something strange, the Dark Spiritmaster tilted her head.

[But you know, places like this usually have souls with great grudges. Royal palaces mean noble factions fighting, conspiracies, wars under the dining table, that sort of thing.]

“…”

[But there’s none of that here?]

As she rambled on in confusion, I gave her a slight glance, and she understood, closing her mouth.

We stopped at a door at the end of the long corridor. The disciples glared at me sharply and warned:

“This is the princess’s private chamber. Mind your words and actions.”

“If you act inappropriately, we’ll intervene immediately. We’re watching you constantly.”

“Huh.”

I sighed with contempt at their unnecessary warnings and replied:

“She may be just a princess to you.”

Creeak.

I didn’t bother knocking.

If my understanding of Princess Elenoa’s personality was correct, such formality would be counterproductive.

“But to me, she’s also a student.”

I entered.

Elenoa seemed to have been waiting for me, sitting in a chair and staring blankly in my direction.

Disheveled golden hair and skin. Hollow, haggard eyes with dark circles beneath them.

I could immediately tell the situation was more serious than I had thought.

“Deus Verdi.”

She called my name with a vacant expression, as if something inside her was broken. The Archmage’s disciples sighed and turned away at the sight, but…

“Tsk.”

I could only click my tongue.

It was obvious she hadn’t slept for days. It meant fear of the nightmares was pressing down on her.

“Princess Elenoa. Are you conscious?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes. I’m fine.”

She had just called my name but wasn’t fully aware. Not only was she sleep-deprived, but she was also mentally devastated.

‘Her condition is much worse than I expected.’

The Elenoa I knew wasn’t like this.

She was confident and proud, always putting effort into maintaining dignity befitting royalty.

She feared losing the nobility of the royal family more than losing her life.

For example, she absolutely detested situations where her golden hair might be soiled or where she couldn’t maintain proper etiquette.

Her obsession was so extreme that even in her dying moments, she maintained royal dignity.

And she did so proudly and gloriously, convinced she had walked the royal path even if others saw it as infidelity, without a shred of regret.

Elenoa Luden Griffin.

Also known as the Fallen Princess, the Rebel Who Stays Up All Night, the Dignified Ringleader.

Like Findenai…

She was a boss character meant to conclude a chapter.

And someone who was destined to die at Aria’s hands someday.