#14
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The match with Rikin was regrettably postponed. I received news that Rikin suddenly caught a light cold and couldn’t enter the palace.
It would be more advantageous to settle the match as quickly as possible. Why did he have to get sick now of all times? I had never harbored ill feelings toward him, but at this rate, I thought I might really come to dislike him.
When he heard Rikin wasn’t coming, Persis became even happier and whined for us to play right away. After forcibly peeling Persis away from my side and sending him to his lessons, I waited for him while reading a book as usual.
As soon as his lesson ended, Persis came running and sat beside me, hugging my arm tightly. The child’s characteristic warm body temperature soothed my heart that had become anxious about the match with Rikin.
“Ana! Let’s play!”
“Yes. What shall we play?”
Persis always had things he wanted to do with me. Sometimes it was taking walks, sometimes playing with balls, and sometimes it was playing house. There were times when he just wanted to run around and play. Occasionally he would read books for my sake, but when that happened, he would usually end up taking a nap.
This time too, as if he had a specific game in mind, Persis shouted with sparkling eyes.
“Exploring!”
See? I told you he had something he wanted to do.
I recalled our last exploration together. It was when we used Persis’s status to investigate the inner part of the garden. I thought he might be reluctant since it ended with me losing consciousness, but it was somewhat unexpected. My losing consciousness must have been a great shock to Persis.
“I! This time! Will definitely! Protect you!”
Persis thrust his chest forward and shouted confidently. It seemed he wanted to resolve the frustration he experienced during our last exploration this time. Persis seemed quite excited at the thought of taking me to explore various parts of the palace.
How much could this small child have changed in the meantime? He was making promises to protect me, but there was nothing Persis could actually do. What could that small child do? If I happened to collapse, he would surely fall over too while trying to support me.
Fortunately, I hadn’t lost consciousness since then, so a situation requiring Persis’s help probably wouldn’t arise. Wasn’t this the body that had endured those hellish sword lessons? Besides, there would be palace employees around, so there wouldn’t be any dangerous situations.
Since he had endured well without throwing a single tantrum, I planned to indulge whatever Persis wanted today to his heart’s content.
“Yes. That sounds good, exploring.”
“Exploring!!”
Persis grabbed my hand and pulled me up from where I was sitting.
“Where shall we go first?”
“There! Over there!”
Pointing from inside the building, I couldn’t tell where Persis was indicating. I followed his fingertip with my gaze, but I couldn’t get a clue.
“Where is ‘over there’?”
“The temple!”
He seemed to be referring to the small temple located in one part of the palace. In this country, while not as much as the royal family, religious people had more power than expected. That’s why there was even a temple inside the palace.
This religion that worshipped a single god had taken root in the Empire for a long time, producing many devout believers. There were many rules to follow, so they wouldn’t just stand by and watch young children run around excitedly inside the temple.
“Let’s go!”
Of course, if the one making the quiet temple noisy was none other than this country’s prince, that would be a different story.
I could see the faces of the employees standing nearby turning ashen. I felt a bit sorry for the employees who would have to go around bowing and apologizing to the priests, but it couldn’t be helped. Wasn’t Persis hoping for this so much? I had already resolved to go along with Persis’s wishes for today.
“Yes. Let’s go.”
As soon as my answer fell, Persis walked forward happily. It was somewhat difficult to keep up with the fast-footed child, but I was able to reach the temple somehow.
The temple made of white marble was small, but it possessed an antique elegance and restrained beauty. Perhaps because afternoon worship was in progress, the only people guarding the front of the temple were a few paladins.
The paladins who were bowing their heads toward Persis as he entered exchanged glances with the employees following us. I could see them questioning what this was all about with their eyes. Did this small child know what kind of conversation the adults were having with their gazes? He probably had no idea.
Upon entering the temple, I could see various paintings decorating the walls. They were decorations depicting various stories related to God in paintings, and one of them was a painting familiar to me.
To think they decorated the entrance with this painting. I found myself staring intently at a painting that would be burned and disappear in just a few years.
“The Duke!”
Recognizing the protagonist in the painting, Persis pointed at the picture with his finger and shouted.
As Persis said, the painting depicted when the Duke had defeated demons. During the war with demons, the Duke who stood at the forefront and defeated demons was recognized for his contributions, received a mansion in the capital, and became a hero of this country. Such a Duke would accept the power of demons several years later. When that incident breaks out, this painting will probably be the first to disappear. Whether the Duke, the royal family, or the temple would do it, I didn’t know.
The face of the demon fighting the Duke was hidden by long hair. How did that demon end up coming to the human world?
Come to think of it, the game didn’t even cover the content about the demons that threw this country into chaos. It didn’t even tell us why the Duke became that way, so there was no way it would tell us about the demons’ affairs. They were probably just a malicious force trying to dominate the world. Isn’t that the most common setting?
I looked at the demon wrapped in black hair. Since being born in this world, I had searched for a lot of content about that demon and the Duke. The books recorded that when demons suddenly appeared and tried to put the country in danger, the Duke defeated them.
It meant the Duke defeated the demons before they could cause any real damage. When I thought about it, it didn’t make sense. For someone of the Duke’s caliber to step forward from the beginning. Usually when something happens, people from below would move first, but I couldn’t find records of other soldiers moving anywhere.
Also, it wouldn’t have been known when the demons would appear, so defeating the demons without any damage didn’t make sense.
I was in the middle of suspecting that even this incident was something the Duke had orchestrated.
It seemed like the Duke had summoned demons using some power and benefited by killing them as an example. I don’t know why no one suspected this incident that even I could easily speculate about just from records, but anyway, my prediction was gradually becoming conviction.
“I’ve seen that person!”
Then Persis approached me and whispered in a small voice. I couldn’t understand what he was saying. Of course he would have seen the Duke often. He saw him when I was introduced, and he came to pick me up several times. He would have seen him when he entered the Duke’s household, so there was no need for Persis to speak secretively.
Thinking something was strange, I checked once more who exactly Persis was pointing to. Persis’s small hand was pointing to the demon hidden by black hair.
“Pardon?”
“I’ve seen him! Let’s go look!”
This Your Highness. He’s trying to cause trouble again.
Persis grabbed my hand tightly and ran like a bullet. The employees behind us panicked and called out to Persis.
“You mustn’t! Your Highness! Don’t run in the temple!”
The employees following belatedly couldn’t run like the prince and walked quickly. Even that had to receive the cold stares of the paladins standing nearby. Being an employee really was an impossible job. This was all because of Persis, but seeing him running excitedly, I couldn’t stop him. Was I also becoming like the indulgent employees?
No. I would definitely, definitely make Persis into a proper man. Only then would that person become happy, and Persis would also be happy seeing that person like that. Steeling my heart that was trying to weaken, I tried to scold Persis.
“Ana! Are you okay? We just need to run a little more!”
Persis, who had been running excitedly, slowed his pace a bit and looked back at me. My breath had risen to my chin, as if all the sword lessons I had taken so far were in vain. The young child who previously wouldn’t have been able to properly assess my condition was now noticing my state and worrying about me.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.”
In the end, I couldn’t spit out the harsh words that had risen to my throat. Somehow I felt like I was becoming weaker toward Persis as time passed.
The child and I entered deep into the temple, sometimes hiding from the paladins guarding the corridors and sometimes running away from the employees looking for us. The path that had only been straight suddenly changed into winding curves.
As if very familiar with it, Persis led me down along the curved path. At this rate, it couldn’t really be called exploration. There would be nothing new to discover by reexamining places he already knew completely.
I decided to point out the word “exploration” later and for now moved according to Persis’s guidance. As we went down bit by bit, light gradually disappeared. Even Persis, who had been quickening his pace, moved carefully step by step.
“It’s dangerous! Slowly!”
Checking on me following behind several times, Persis slowed his steps. When we reached a place so dark that I couldn’t see even an inch ahead, I began to worry.
What on earth was this little prince thinking when he came down this far? No matter how I looked at it, the employees didn’t seem to be taking proper care of Persis. Whether he knew my feelings or not, Persis continued to lead me downward.
When I felt that the flooring material touching my feet had somehow changed, Persis let go of my hand.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
