Ch.99Aftermath – 5

The Royal Guard froze in place, unable to comprehend the situation before their eyes. I was equally shocked. It was essentially an open declaration of treason against the Emperor.

No matter how certain it was that Laura would eventually ascend to the throne, there was still a current Emperor. To openly demand loyalty to herself alone in his presence was grounds for execution on charges of insolence, and I would have no defense.

‘Though if it really came to that, I wouldn’t just stand by…’

But that wasn’t the important part. I studied Laura’s expression. She was remarkably composed, her eyes seeming to ask me to trust her.

It was too late to turn back now. I had no choice but to trust her. I stopped what I was doing and raised my head.

“I shall do so, Your Highness.”

My decision to follow Laura’s words rather than the Emperor’s caused an even greater stir among the Royal Guard than before.

“Laura.”

The Emperor spoke. His deep voice resonated throughout the hall.

‘This is…’

The moment his voice reached my ears, I felt as if someone was pressing down on my entire body. The voice itself carried power.

I couldn’t tell if he was deliberately testing me or if he was genuinely angry. But having come this far, I couldn’t back down, so I calmly endured the pressure.

“Yes, Father.”

“You’ve grown so much. Even bringing something like that with you.”

The pressure in his voice intensified considerably. However, it still wasn’t enough to truly intimidate me.

“Not ‘something like that.’ Mind your words.”

“Did you just tell me to mind my words?”

“This person is a talent who will become central to the empire I will lead, and who will serve closest to me. To arbitrarily judge and test someone I have chosen—how can you call yourself a father if you don’t trust your daughter?”

Her expression was quite harsh. I could hardly believe what I was hearing.

“It is because I trust you that I test you further. Not as your father, but as the Emperor of the Empire.”

“That’s sophistry. Should I take it to mean you don’t trust my judgment?”

“And should I take it to mean you’re willing to disrespect the Emperor of the Empire?”

A tense atmosphere hung between them.

“Mira Crate.”

After the father and daughter had been glaring at each other for some time, the Emperor suddenly spoke my name. I couldn’t ignore a direct address.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“As the legitimate ruler of the Empire and Emperor of all imperial citizens, I command you. Show proper respect.”

‘So this is what she meant.’

This was the situation Laura had warned me about. She’d said that regardless of context, there would be a moment when the Emperor would demand I show respect.

I never expected her to confront him so directly, though.

“I will not. Shouldn’t a person with ambition look not at the setting sun, but at the rising one?”

I recited the exact response Laura had instructed me to give, since I had to say something. Even though this was prearranged, actually defying the Emperor to his face felt distinctly uncomfortable.

The Emperor remained silent for a while. He could have ordered the Royal Guard to tear me apart right then, and it wouldn’t have been surprising, but at least he hadn’t done so yet.

“Hahahahaha!”

Then, suddenly, he burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Hahahahahaha! Are you suggesting I am the setting sun?”

The Emperor, laughing as if he could barely breathe, released the pressure that had filled the central hall. His face transformed from one of imperial dignity to that of a kind father looking at his daughter.

“You’ve finally found someone truly worthy of keeping by your side, Laura.”

“Indeed I have.”

The atmosphere melted instantly. Now I was the one left confused. The Emperor rose from his throne and gestured. The Royal Guard, though looking bewildered, closed the doors and disappeared.

With long strides, he began approaching. His body was truly enormous. He seemed like he wouldn’t lose even to Jake, the swordsmanship professor at Bellium Academy, in terms of physique.

I glanced sideways at Laura, silently demanding an explanation. She opened her mouth as if she’d been waiting for this.

“This was a kind of code we established long ago. And also a kind of test.”

“Code? Test?”

“You see, an emperor is lonely. One cannot easily trust anyone. However, shouldn’t one have at least one person they can absolutely trust no matter the situation? Consider everything from my first words to my father’s reaction as part of a series of tests.”

“…Please explain in more detail.”

“Didn’t I tell you in advance how to act? It was a test where if you trusted me and refused to submit to the Emperor, you would pass, and if you didn’t trust me and submitted to him, you would fail. You trusted me and passed the test splendidly. It was the manly behavior I expected from the man I’ve chosen.”

She could have told me it was a test in the first place.

All I’d been told was to trust her no matter what happened, and to respond as she’d instructed when the Emperor demanded respect. Noticing the meaning in my gaze, Laura chuckled.

“You wouldn’t lend me clothes, remember? This was a small revenge. I also had faith that you wouldn’t be intimidated even before the Emperor.”

“…What’s this about not lending clothes, daughter?”

“It’s private, so don’t ask.”

The Emperor, who had just been exuding pressure with his voice alone, was now flustered by Laura’s every word.

After pleading to no avail about the clothes, he finally gave up and changed the subject.

“I’ve heard the rumors. You developed healing magic. I’m grateful, as it allowed us to eliminate the thorn in our side, the Starlight Order. But how did you develop healing magic? It’s never been recorded in imperial history.”

“The Crown Princess would know. Please ask her.”

“Daughter?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

I passed the question to Laura as we had agreed beforehand, and Laura flatly refused. The Emperor begged several times, almost as if he would get on his knees, but was met with cold rejection.

“You’re already so obsessed with a man that you’re tossing your father aside like an old shoe!”

“I’ve never tossed you aside.”

Judging by his speech and behavior, he seemed more like a neighborhood uncle than an emperor. He reminded me of Priscilla’s father. That man was also completely under the thumb of Priscilla and his wife.

‘I wonder what happened to Gloria.’

Speaking of Priscilla’s father made me think of Priscilla’s sister. She was also enthralled by a succubus, and since being from a duke’s family wouldn’t exempt her from detection magic, I wondered if she’d been caught.

“…Very well. That aside, I must give proper compensation for what I’ve received. Both as the Emperor ruling the empire and as a human being, I had a grudge against the Starlight Order.”

“No, I didn’t do it expecting a reward—”

I haven’t even used the wish token I received from the Director yet.

“Would you prefer to receive rewards from each magician in the empire one by one, or would you rather receive a single reward along with the Emperor’s commendation?”

“…I would prefer the reward directly from Your Majesty.”

“Indeed. A very wise choice.”

From my own experience rolling around, I’ve realized that religion is an essential existence when there’s a common enemy. Nothing unites people better than religion.

Enough that those in power will kill the object of that unity if they judge it a threat to their authority.

The same applies to the Starlight Order. While the Order itself should disappear, I had no intention of denying holy power itself, just as Aria did in the original story.

Why else would I have insisted on including in the statement that the saint candidate had not lost her light? It was to make Rosaria the head of a new emerging religion.

A religious order created by a saint who maintained her light amidst corruption. The story was already complete.

‘The Empire won’t kill all the Order members anyway.’

The Starlight Order was a religion that held sway throughout the Empire, and naturally had an enormous number of followers. Even the Empire couldn’t kill all those believers.

They would probably kill only those judged to be irredeemably corrupted and spare the rest.

The judgment of irredeemable corruption would be made by them, so my job was to unite the survivors. After all, the top priority was to drive out the demons.

“…Do I really have to become a saint?”

“Yes. There’s a saint who uniquely maintained her light while the entire Order was corrupted by demons. If you pretend to cast spells and I dispel status effects with purification magic, it will look like a miracle.”

“Wait, did the Emperor approve this? The Starlight Order collapsed just two days ago. And now we’re creating another religion?”

“It’s difficult with the current Emperor, but we agreed that when Laura ascends to the throne, we’ll make it look like the power of the goddess has descended. From now on, the saint will be under the Emperor. Since we’re not trying to build an independent force like the Pope, but rather strengthening the Emperor’s support base, he was quite pleased.”

“Why didn’t you consult with me about this… So do I have to live more virtuously than I do now?”

Rosaria looked at me with disbelief, apparently finding it absurd that she would have to play the role of a saint that didn’t suit her at all.

“Hey, Mira. Is it okay to talk about this in front of that person?”

Priscilla tilted her head. Her gaze was directed at Laura, who had casually joined us and was eating dessert.

“It is,” Laura replied.

“Why?”

“Because I, like you all, am a transmigrator who was brought here. I am also the author who created this world setting for ‘How to Survive as the Hero’s Childhood Friend.’ Does that explain it?”

Priscilla and Rosaria both froze simultaneously. Even Priscilla, whose expressions rarely changed except when she was with me, looked shocked.

‘Is that why she asked me to leave it to her?’

I was dumbfounded anew.

When I asked how she planned to reveal her identity to the other transmigrators, she told me to leave it to her. Was this what she meant?

Both of them looked at me at the same time, as if to confirm whether what Laura said was true.

“It’s true. Though she hasn’t recovered all her memories yet due to certain circumstances.”

At those words, Rosaria trembled and then lunged at Laura, grabbing her collar.

“I’ve been waiting for you!”

“W-why are you doing this?!”

“Why? The person who designed that saint outfit is right in front of me—of course I’d react like this! Do you know how embarrassed I was wearing that thing?!”

“Th-that outfit wasn’t my design! Why would I make someone wear such a perverted outfit?!”

“Are you indirectly calling me a pervert?!”

A commotion broke out. I quickly separated them before things escalated. Laura looked indignant, but perhaps because she had revealed herself as the author, she didn’t try to defend herself further.

“Hmph. We’ll see. I’m going to check that first thing when we get out of here.”

“I-it really wasn’t me…”

As I was busy comforting them both and calming Priscilla who had intervened, I sensed someone outside. I put my finger to my lips and yanked the door open.

“Eek! Mira?!”

Aria, who was about to enter and had her hand on the doorknob, jumped back in surprise.

“Sorry. Did I hit you?”

“N-no, I wasn’t hit. I was just about to enter when the door suddenly opened… The timing was just too perfect.”

“That’s good. Are you here to rest? Want me to get you something?”

Aria shook her head.

“I came looking for you, Mira. Do you have time?”

“I do have time, but why? Is someone calling for me?”

“…I think you need to go see the Director.”