Chapter 5
‘Sigh. It’s one problem after another.’
“Get up.”
“Pardon……?”
Luna looked up at me with wide, round eyes.
I deliberately made my expression even colder.
“If I fell while stepping on those thin thighs of yours, could you take responsibility?”
“I-I’m sorry! T-Then what should I do? Should I lie down?”
“Put on some weight first.”
“Yes! I’ll gain weight quickly…… Huh?”
“Move aside.”
“Uh…… yes.”
Luna awkwardly stood up and moved away from the carriage door. She looked completely lost, repeatedly glancing at the butler.
The butler seemed just as bewildered, however. He gestured to Luna as if telling her to figure it out herself.
I pretended I hadn’t seen anything and climbed into the carriage.
Luna followed me inside, and shortly afterward, the carriage slowly began moving.
‘Should I organize the information I have so far?’
- Five years have passed since I, the hero, died.
- The Demon King will not appear again.
- Therefore, the villain of Part Two is most likely human.
- I need to find the protagonist, the saintess, as quickly as possible.
- She probably has companions of her own.
After thinking that far, I rested my chin on my hand.
‘I don’t have enough information.’
In any case, I had only one goal.
To bring Part Two to an end in the shortest possible time.
“Master.”
At that moment, Luna handed me something from an elegant case.
It was a luxurious smoking pipe made of obsidian.
“These are the finest tobacco leaves from Persone. I’m sure you’ll like them.”
“……”
I……
Was I a chain smoker?
I had never smoked in my original world, nor had I smoked after entering the novel.
No one had ever smoked in front of me, either.
That was because one of my companions had suffered from asthma as a child.
“I don’t feel like smoking. Put it away.”
“Yes, Master.”
The carriage entered the Imperial Palace.
‘This place has changed a lot too…….’
Well, it made sense.
Many buildings had been destroyed and reduced to ruins because of the magical beasts, so they must have had no choice but to rebuild them.
Even so, the old appearance hadn’t completely disappeared.
As I looked around, old memories gradually came back to me.
The time Leonhart and I snuck out of the Imperial Palace and drank beer like there was no tomorrow.
The time Owen and I accidentally wandered into the maze garden and got lost for an entire day.
The time Ruspel and I tried to create a magical item and ended up completely blowing away an entire tower.
‘The tower is still there?’
When I had left the Imperial Palace with the expedition party, the roof of that tower had been blown away.
But now it was completely intact.
‘Why did they leave that one as it was?’
The other buildings had been rebuilt in magnificent Gothic architecture, but that particular tower remained exactly as it had been, made of plain red bricks.
‘My hands are getting itchy after all this time.’
As an architecture student, seeing a building that clashed so badly with its surroundings always made my hands itch.
It made me want to redraw the entire design from the blueprints up.
‘I can’t let my skills get rusty…….’
I cracked my finger joints one by one before letting out a small laugh.
In Part One, whenever I had a little free time, I used to scribble designs on napkins or draw them in the dirt.
Because I thought I would be returning soon.
‘But then I ended up in Part Two. Damn it.’
The carriage stopped.
Luna hurriedly got out and held out her hand.
“Master, will you get down?”
“You wait here.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Understood. Have a safe trip, Master.”
I left Luna behind and headed toward the conference hall.
The exterior of the building had changed, but the interior layout was still the same as before, so it wasn’t difficult to find my way.
As soon as I entered the conference hall, all the noise abruptly died down.
The people who had already gathered stared at me with wide eyes.
“Gasp! Isn’t that Duke Ivrante?”
“Oh! Indeed. When was the last time the Duke attended a meeting? It’s been quite some time, hasn’t it?”
“She stopped coming to the Imperial Palace five years ago. I heard her health had deteriorated quite badly.”
“She seems to have recovered now. Her beauty is still as remarkable as ever. Don’t you think the nickname ‘Ice Rose’ suits her perfectly?”
“I’m not so sure. I think ‘venomous snake’ suits her better.”
“Ahem! You’d better watch what you say. There are plenty of ears around.”
Some showed me goodwill.
Some carefully watched my reaction.
And some subtly mocked me.
The conference hall became noisy with whispers about me.
My ears were practically itching.
I stood by the window at the far end of the conference hall.
There was no way I had the courage to squeeze my way through the nobles and make my way to the center.
A short while later, the conference hall doors opened, and a tall man entered.
‘Leonhart?’
My first companion and the Third Prince of the Empire, Leonhart Genetic Filio.
‘Why did he get so tall?’
Back then, Leonhart’s appearance had been much more suited to the nickname ‘Leona’ than his actual name.
But now……
‘Who would believe that he used to be a sickly pretty boy? Men really do change completely as they grow older.’
In the years I hadn’t seen him, Leonhart had grown into a perfect man.
Even through his suit, it was easy to tell that his body was built from solid muscle.
His entire presence had changed as well.
Even while simply standing still, he radiated a refined sense of intimidation.
It was the aura of a masterfully forged sword, tempered thousands upon thousands of times in molten metal.
‘No, seriously. How did he become even more handsome than before?’
His black eyes and black hair looked as though someone had taken the clearest, sharpest part of the night sky and given it form.
His flawless ivory skin was completely free of blemishes, and the bridge of his nose had a perfect height and angle.
He had already been beautiful enough to attract attention wherever he went, but adding the sensual charm unique to a grown man made him absolutely stunning.
For some reason, the tip of my nose suddenly tingled.
‘I didn’t raise him or anything, but he really did grow up well.’
Feeling proud, I looked around.
Look over here, everyone. Isn’t our boy handsome?
‘……?’
Why were they acting like that?
Instead of admiring Leonhart’s appearance, the nobles looked completely intimidated.
There was a palpable tension in the air.
‘Well, I’m seeing him for the first time today, but they’ve probably had plenty of opportunities to see him.’
The nobles all bowed their heads toward Leonhart.
“Greetings to His Imperial Highness, the Third Prince, the Third Light of Filio.”
‘Six years ago, he was the Third Prince everyone ignored…… Look at you now. You’ve really made it big.’
Leonhart’s gaze swept indifferently over the nobles before stopping on me.
‘Oh!’
I hurriedly lowered the hand I had half-raised.
I had almost greeted him because I was so happy to see him.
No matter how much Leonhart had changed from before, to me, he was still my small and adorable friend.
Well…… he had gotten a little taller.
About 190 centimeters tall.
‘But did something unpleasant happen to him?’
There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a smile on his expressionless face.
Instead, I could sense a faint irritation.
Why did he look so grim?
‘Smile, Leona. You’re really pretty when you smile.’
Leonhart looked away.
“We will now begin the meeting.”
‘His voice got amazing too.’
His voice had a deep, rich resonance that made my ears perk up instinctively.
The extremely dry and cold tone was a little off-putting, but he was probably just in a bad mood.
In any case, Leonhart had grown up so well.
I couldn’t help but feel proud.
‘I wonder how much the others have changed. I’ll get to see them someday, right?’
“This matter concerns the construction of a golden statue of Hero Adella Helsington, which will be installed in the Grand Plaza. The documents being distributed contain the details regarding the entire production process, so please refer to them.”
An attendant distributed the documents among the nobles.
They contained details such as the budget and estimated production period.
There was also a clause stating that because this was a special commission, the statue could only be constructed if it received unanimous approval.
After giving the nobles some time to review the documents, Leonhart continued.
“Then we will begin the vote. Those opposed, please raise your hands.”
‘Huh? I thought this was a meeting!’
‘Aren’t we supposed to divide into those for and against it and debate the issue?’
And besides, was it really okay to conduct a vote this openly?
I looked around at the nobles.
Obviously, they would all oppose it……
‘W-What?!’
Ridiculously enough, not a single person raised their hand.
‘Why isn’t anyone opposing it? It costs an absurd amount of money! Are they seriously going to approve this insane proposal to put diamonds in the statue’s eyes and carve its lips out of rubies? This is a waste of manpower and taxpayers’ money!’
If I just stood there and did nothing, they were going to make a jeweled statue of me that was about six times my actual size.
‘Horrifying!’
“There are no objections. Then this matter has been unanimously approved—”
“I object.”
