SILHCN 34

-Aaaah, aaaaaaah, aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!!

The scream was clear, even when she heard it again!

Pzzzzzt!

Miriam felt a sensation like lightning striking her fingertips, and she screamed and dropped the sword. As a result, the sword, which had been completely drawn from its scabbard, was thrown onto the floor.

-Contractor!!!!! Contractor, oh my god! A thief, a thief, a thief!!!!! ૮( ᵒ̌▱๋ᵒ̌ )ა!! They’re after me, aren’t they! This beautiful, noble, and devoted me! You’re going to sell me off and dismantle me, turning me into a mere chunk of metal! You are, aren’t you! Lady Titania, where are you! Your cutie is in danger!!!

Whoooosh, whooooosh, whoooooosh…

If Titania had been there, she wouldn’t have been able to endure the noise and would have covered her ears.

Miriam was terrified. The sensation of someone screaming in her head had disappeared, but the unharmed blade of the sword was suddenly vibrating. Of course, Miriam couldn’t properly hear the sword’s voice. She just felt like someone had screamed in her head and electricity had passed through her fingertips when she was holding the sword as if she were possessed. And the sword was humming like it was haunted. That alone was scary enough.

It’s as if it’s asking who dared to invade this palace! It’s as if it’s saying it will punish the sinner who coveted something that wasn’t theirs!

N-no way, no matter what. The princess’s room is open, of all people’s. And no one is paying attention. There are no signs of a robbery… This must be…

Could it be that this sword has devoured people like me? Were the rumors true? Am I cursed?

Miriam’s thoughts, in her panic, went to strange places. The reality was no different from what Miriam had first expected. Everyone had simply stopped caring about the Rose Palace, so it was empty. The guards, whose work ethic was already very poor, had angered the Emperor and were thrown into prison. And no new guards were assigned. With the Rose Palace family all running away, who would remain in this broken, ominous palace? The Castrain Ducal family was even involved in this matter, so the common palace employees, who were afraid of both Empress Cleo and the Castrain Ducal family, didn’t even dare to approach the palace. That’s why Miriam, who was bold and daring but only had a bad sense of intuition, was the first maid to come to the Rose Palace to steal. Among them, Miriam’s audacity to start with the princess’s room was particularly big…

Whoooosh, whoooooosh, whoooooosh…

The sword was now shaking more violently, as if it was angry. Miriam was completely frightened. The exposed blade had a particularly chilling white light.

Is it going to move and cut off my neck?!

“H-h-help me! A haunted sword is, a person, a person…! It’s trying to kill a person! Aaaaaaah! I’m sorry!”

In her panic, Miriam finally screamed and ran away, crying.

This was how the completely absurd rumor spread to everyone in just three days: “There’s a cursed sword in the Rose Palace. Princess Titania’s fall was also because she was possessed by that cursed sword. Now that the Rose Palace is empty, it’s a demonic sword that’s luring and devouring passersby! Princess Titania will wake up only if we get rid of this sword!”

The next day, after telling Vivi and Raymond to “stop meddling.” The day no one from the Castrain family entered the palace. It was the fourth day since I had woken up but was pretending not to.

Early in the morning, Prince Adrian came to me with an expression that was ambiguous and hard to describe.

“I hear there’s a ghost in the Rose Palace?”

I was eating a soft-boiled egg that had been served for breakfast and froze. The yolk dripped down my chin.

“…Huh?”

“A maid who went into the Rose Palace yesterday came out screaming and crying, saying a haunted sword was trying to kill her. Everyone watched as she was arrested by the guards and taken away, but…”

“But?”

“Empress Cleo took the maid in and said that this matter was serious and that she would officially investigate the Rose Palace.”

A cold sweat suddenly ran down my back.

Oh, right. The emoticon sword…

I forgot about it!

But I was reluctant to tell the Castrain Ducal family about the sword’s existence or ask them to move it, so even if I had remembered, I would have just forgotten about it. And of all people, Empress Cleo, the very person who gave me the sword as a gift, said she would investigate it? It was suspicious. It was suspicious even if you looked at it backward on a horse. I gulped down the dripping egg and said,

“…So?”

“His Majesty officially approved the investigation yesterday…”

“…He did?”

“And he publicly announced that he would find and execute the culprit who carried out a private curse on Princess Titania and caused this incident in the near future.”

“…The investigation started yesterday? Has the curse already been established as a fact?”

“The external wounds from the magical beast attack would have already been healed by the high priest, and the adopted daughter of the Castrain Ducal family who was also attacked is perfectly fine without a single scratch on her.”

Adrian said as he brought a handkerchief to my mouth.

“And also, Princess Titania had previously fallen and gone into a coma in the Rose Palace. Since misfortunes are continuing to happen in the Rose Palace, it must be that Princess Titania is cursed… that there might be something else going on.”

“Wow, what a mess!”

It’s a complete mess! This is driving me crazy!

I laughed hollowly and grabbed my head. Adrian folded the handkerchief he used to wipe my mouth and gave a wry smile as he looked at me.

It was obviously a self-produced play by the Empress. Wow, I thought I had gotten a hit by having the Rose Palace maids perform penance prayers under the guidance of the priests. But she’s hitting me from behind like this?

“So, do you have any ideas?”

“…That, that sword, you see. It was actually a sword that Empress Cleo gave me, wasn’t it? She said it was a magic sword or a famous sword or something…”

“Empress Cleo? Gave you a sword?”

“She asked me to deliver it to the young Duke Raymond and asked me to go to the dedication ceremony for her…”

“No wonder you suddenly said you would go to the dedication ceremony voluntarily.”

Adrian clicked his tongue as if he finally understood. I felt my vision go dark. I had been staying in the Lilac Palace for a while. At first, I had kept a proper distance from Adrian, but since I was a patient and it was a bit much to show off to the homeowner, I just put on a brave face and was comfortable. Adrian himself was comfortable, as he didn’t care what attitude I showed, treating me like a real older sister.

Well, all that aside, just by staying in the Empress’s palace right in front of the Empress’s eyes, I feel like I’ve already been branded as a “useless pawn to be eliminated.” There was nothing I could do but become an ally.

So, I left out the suspicious contract and the fact that the sword talked to me and explained with a mix of truth and fabrication.

“I thought there was something wrong with the sword, so I hadn’t given it to him. Then I had an accident and was bedridden. The sword couldn’t have grown legs and walked out of my room, so why did it suddenly…”

“Do you know how many servants go into empty palaces to steal? It seems there was a bold maid who raided your room.”

“…Even if Lady Natalie, the head maid, is on Empress Cleo’s side and she fabricates evidence of a curse, it would be plausible. But why would she specifically frame someone for cursing the Rose Palace at this point in time and use it for…?”

Ah.

Adrian and I’s eyes met.

“…The Empress wouldn’t be crazy enough to push the Castrain Ducal family as the culprit, would she?”

“The Castrain Ducal family, feeling guilty, might try to fabricate a story that they failed to kill the still-unconscious Titania… but that would mean they’re declaring war, so they wouldn’t do that, would they?”

“Then? Could it be Empress Regnant?”

Adrian said, pondering.

“The culprit might not be revealed. After all, you’re the one who almost died, so if you openly deny things, it won’t make sense.”

“The Empress wouldn’t reveal that she was the one who gave me the sword, right?”

“Of course not.”

“Well, even if she did, she would just deny it, saying something like, ‘Oh my? You have such delicate hands that have never even held a paper knife properly. Why would I give you a sword? It might be different if it was our beloved Brian.’”

“Wow, Titania. You’re really good at imitating Empress Cleo!”

I became even more gloomy at Adrian’s genuine admiration and drank the orange juice in my cup in one gulp.

“Ah, but that sword, I have to have it. It can’t fall into someone else’s hands…”

“Why?”

Because it becomes a demonic sword if someone else has it! Seriously! Someone could die if something goes wrong! I couldn’t bring myself to say this and just twitched my lips.

Adrian shrugged and said,

“But that sword must be suspicious. I heard that no one could move it because they would get an electric shock if they touched it? They couldn’t do anything about it until a Sword Expert-level knight stepped in to hold the sword.”

I don’t think the original sword had that function, so is it because it recognized me as its owner that it’s doing that? Does it react that way to anyone who isn’t the contractor?

In any case, it seemed that the sword had unintentionally created a strong image as a demonic sword. The more I heard the story, the more my head hurt.