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Chapter 5
Things created on the ground were within the client’s domain, so there was nothing she could do about them by her own will. However, the sky was Sonidor’s realm. It was the only domain where she could design not just the time of day, but also the weather. There were ways to force a situation to unfold through the weather, but the Emperor revealed his displeasure for the first time, slightly furrowing his brow.
“Why do you think I would know such useless things?”
“……”
“If it were the wet nurse who watched over the Crown Prince since he was young, she might have known. She was the wife of Viscount Emboros… Ah, I executed her. She ran her mouth as she pleased, so I had no choice. She brought it upon herself.”
“……”
There was no information. For her, this was the most dreadful and abhorrent scenario possible.
Just utterly hopeless, mindless manual labor…
She had even considered running away, but that option was blocked from the start. The Reizel Guard left behind by the Emperor to “get close to them” was monitoring their every move.
Get close, my foot. It was difficult to even figure out where he was watching from. She had heard that the Reizel Guards were the elite of elite knights, but she had never heard that they lacked a presence to the point of being like thin air. Was he perhaps working a side job as an assassin? On a whim, Sonidor glanced around aimlessly, then narrowed her eyes and peered suspiciously up at the ceiling.
“I’d like to visit my mother’s grave one last time before we leave.”
No sooner had she uttered those words than someone suddenly knocked twice on the office door. Sonidor let out a pathetic, audible “Eek!” and when Terry threw her a disdainful look, she cleared her throat quietly. Before she could even ask who it was, a familiar man in a black hood opened the door and stepped inside.
It was the Reizel Guard left behind by the Emperor.
“Let’s go. His Majesty instructed me to give you time to wrap up your affairs, so our departure will be postponed until tomorrow.”
For some reason, she felt like she heard an auditory hallucination of someone cackling, ‘Enjoy your final supper!’ Well, she was so grateful she hardly knew what to do with herself. Snarking inwardly, Sonidor followed behind him. Since Terry stayed behind to finish packing up their things, she was now walking down the street alone with a man who wouldn’t even show his face. Turning corner after corner through familiar alleyways, a small, familiar shrine came into view. Of course, up until then, the two hadn’t exchanged a single word. There was no need to, either.
However, because of the Emperor who had gone out of his way to tell them to get along, she found herself stealing glances at the man. But since the other side showed no willingness to do so, she gave up before long.
Ordinarily, entombing an artisan’s body in a shrine was a rare occurrence, but in an Empire rife with mammonism, it wasn’t impossible. Sonidor was twenty-two this year, but including the inheritance her mother had left behind, she had accumulated a fairly vast fortune. With that money, she held the funeral, entombed the body, and set up her office. Artisans generally earned good money unless they were bound by strict contracts or possessed trivial abilities. This was especially true for someone with a rare and useful ability like hers.
“Goodness. Are they even maintaining this place properly?”
Sonidor bent down, pulling weeds growing around the grave as she grumbled.
“Since you’re here, why don’t you lend a hand?”
“…Me?”
“Who else is here besides you, Sir Knight?”
The man who had been standing like a stone statue, Christian, shuffled over hesitantly and quietly began pulling weeds. He was following orders to grant her wishes as much as possible, but to make a Reizel Guard pull weeds… He had seen plenty of people tremble in fear just hearing their reputation, but this was his first time being assigned such menial chores. Unaware of his inner turmoil, Sonidor burst out laughing at the sight of a man with a frame as huge as a bear crouching down and earnestly pulling weeds.
“You’re really good at this. As expected of a knight, you’re strong and fast. Wow, there’s nothing you can’t do.”
She offered soulless praise with a smiling face before gradually slipping backward. Christian noticed this as well, but feeling it would look petty to say anything, he just kept pulling weeds. If she had asked to kill a mortal enemy before leaving, he would have gladly obliged.
Sonidor quietly gazed at her mother’s tombstone before starting to speak.
“If Mother were still alive, I would have received so much advice. She was far more skilled at using her abilities than I am. Even though she passed away so absurdly.”
“Aren’t you the only dream artisan left in the Empire now?”
“That’s right. His Majesty also mentioned that he’s placing everything on me. The weight on my shoulders is heavy.”
“Don’t speak like someone weak-hearted. The Crown Prince’s fate rests on you.”
“Everything rests on me.”
She traced the lettering engraved on the tombstone with her finger, then knelt before it and pressed her lips to it. After a brief kiss filled with respect and love, she stroked the tombstone again and spoke.
“So please forgive my choice, Mother.”
The corners of her mouth, forced upward into a smile, trembled uncontrollably. Christian thought her smile looked strangely pitiful. He reflected that as a member of the Decencia tribe, being ordered to awaken the consciousness of the Arche Empire’s Crown Prince might indeed be a cruel task. He didn’t feel much sympathy, but he could roughly guess how she felt. A moment later, Sonidor dusted off her knees and stood up. Then, with a face full of worry, she let out a deep sigh.
Her expression looked quite serious.
She was agonizing over whether she should say one last farewell to her only friend before leaving.
Giorgio. A fellow Decencia tribesman like Sonidor, ever since he was young, his eyes would flip upside down whenever he saw imperial citizens infected with imperial supremacy. Compared to Sonidor, who tried to resolve things as smoothly and amicably as possible, he was an unbending person, stiff as steel. Ever since the old days, whenever he was looked down upon or discriminated against, he would argue back point by point with logical arguments or grit his teeth and strive relentlessly. She had heard that recently, together with like-minded tribesmen, he had founded a revolutionary army for the freedom of artisans and was expanding its influence, but…
If she contacted Gio, he would immediately tell her to snap out of such insane behavior and join the revolutionary army, or suggest fleeing in the middle of the night. He would preach until he coughed up blood, asking how she could betray the will of their ancestors from five hundred years ago and help their nation’s sworn enemy. If it were up to their ancestors’ will, he would surely say to just let the Crown Prince die under the curse. Or perhaps he would press a dagger into her hand and tell her to commit suicide on the spot instead.
‘Mm… Let’s just drop it.’
Making a quick decision, her face instantly went blank as she turned back to Christian.
“Sir Knight, what do you like?”
“What?”
“His Majesty ordered us to get close, and when it comes to becoming comfortable with someone, nothing beats food.”
“I’m fine.”
“Since I think of this as my last time here, there are so many things I really want to eat. Did you see the dessert shop across from my office? Their Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte is absolutely to die for.”
Schwar-what? To die for? Unable to keep up with her rapid emotional shifts, Christian looked flustered. Seeing that she mentioned it was at a dessert shop, she seemed to be talking about a dessert. For someone who had been looking so slumped a moment ago, Sonidor instantly brightened up the moment she brought up food.
“Can’t you eat those kinds of things in the Imperial Palace as well?”
“Wow, you’re right. A imperial palace chef’s cooking would be incomparably delicious compared to here. In that case, how about food you can only eat here? If you go to Aunt MacLan’s tavern over there, the braised chicken is just…”
And with that, she began babbling on about all the foods she just had to eat before leaving. She was a chaotic woman. Even though Christian rarely replied beyond what was necessary, she talked just fine by herself and entertained herself just fine. On the way, she even made him buy two bags of bungeoppang—some kind of red bean bread made by pouring flour batter into a fish-shaped mold. He tucked the bulging paper bags under both arms, a displeased look on his face.
Judging by how her shoulders flinched whenever he so much as raised a hand, she seemed to have plenty of fear, yet whenever she got used to him, she bossed a knight around without hesitation or made him wait on her.
“Hehe. I forgot to bring money.”
“Don’t smile.”
“Yes, sir. The candies over there are delicious too… I suppose the Imperial Palace doesn’t have cheap candy like that, right?”
“…Wait here.”
If not for His Majesty’s orders, he wouldn’t have spared a single glance at a candy shop crowded with kids like that. Stepping into an unknown world he had never entered once in his life, Christian’s expression turned bizarre. Hidden under his hood, no one could see it, but he had the face of someone who wanted to bolt out immediately. Even though he told her to wait, Sonidor insisted on tagging along behind him, poking her head through the gap in the doorway to request specific kinds of snacks.
“Jawbreakers and candy canes! Ah, while you’re buying them, please get some caramels too!”
“Jaw…breakers?” (Literal translation: Eye-candies?)
Why would anyone make candy out of that? Hailing from a prestigious noble family, he had never seen snacks other than those prepared by his household. In the first place, he didn’t particularly care for sweet things like cookies or candy, so there was no way he would know about the types of snacks commoners usually ate. Stunned by the shock—wondering what on earth humans couldn’t eat if they even ate eyes, and whether people had lost their minds serving such things as snacks to young children—he froze in place.
While Christian stood frozen, the shopkeeper overheard Sonidor’s voice and knowingly pulled out various candies to pack into a bag. Looking closely, they were just candies shaped like eyes. Sonidor trotted inside, hugged the bag of candies, and offered him a lemon candy she received as a free bonus.
“Ah, your hands are full.”
Remembering that Christian was holding a bag of bungeoppang in each hand, she peeled back the twisted wrapper and held it out to him.
“Ah.”
“……”
“It’s not a real eyeball, so don’t worry.”
“I knew that much…”
Embarrassed that he had actually thought it was a real eyeball, he added an excuse, but he couldn’t finish his sentence. This was because Sonidor, as if waiting for his lips to part, popped the candy right into his mouth. The sweet taste he so thoroughly detested spread throughout his mouth.
“……”
Endure it. Escorting her safely while granting her wishes was His Majesty’s command. Unable to bring himself to spit out the candy, he swallowed his annoyance down tightly.
Sonidor devoured a bag and a half of bungeoppang all by herself. Crunching through all the candies on her own, she was now pestering him to go eat dinner. Just what was her stomach made of? Before he knew it, Christian ended up coming along with Sonidor and Terry to tear into some braised chicken. To eat, he had no choice but to take off his hood. Because of that, he had to endure the persistent gaze of the tavern owner, MacLan or whatever her name was, throughout the entire meal. Meanwhile, Terry, who had boldly asked for an autograph during their first meeting, babbled on with an admiring look, saying that Reizel Guards certainly didn’t lack in looks either. He couldn’t tell whether the chicken was going into his mouth or his nose.
“You’re very handsome, Sir Knight.”
Sonidor voiced such carefree compliments while tearing into a chicken drumstick. Since it was a pure exclamation devoid of any ulterior motive, Christian somehow began to feel embarrassed.
