Chapter 39
“……Lucian, you’re going to bore a hole in my face.”
Dio opened his eyes he’d had closed and shot a sidelong glance. Lucian startled and, for no reason, turned his gaze elsewhere.
“If you talk, Mom will scold you. So stay quiet.”
“I didn’t say anything…….”
“Even if you don’t talk, your stare stings, your stare.”
“Tsk! Quiet!”
The two who had been bickering shut their mouths at the words of Dio’s mother, Nina.
Right now, they were attending worship at the Grand Temple in the capital.
Nina is a devout believer, so every Saturday, from morning until noon, she attends worship.
It was his first time coming down to the village at such an early hour, not even noon yet, so this was Lucian’s first service.
“You got us scolded because of you.”
“Dio was the one who got loud first.”
They were only quiet for a moment before they started whispering again, blaming each other. As their whispers gradually got louder, Nina, beside them, glared like she was holding an axe.
“Didn’t I tell you to be quiet?”
When usually kind Nina got scary, Lucian clapped both hands over his mouth.
Seeing that, Nina let out a sigh and whispered to the two of them.
“There’s about an hour left until the service ends, so go out and rest.”
“Huh, really?”
“Yes. If you stay here any longer, you’ll only bother other people. Don’t go too far, and you have to stay inside the temple. Got it?”
“Yeah! I got it! Lucian, let’s go!”
Mom always nags that he has to sit through the full three-hour service, but it seems she made a concession because Lucian was here.
“Can’t you come out at this time every week? With you here, that old hag demon doesn’t scold me.”
“That counts as not getting scolded? She was super scary…….”
“That’s because you haven’t seen my mom’s real face. Even Dad can’t do anything against Mom.”
It was hard to imagine the huge Bill not being able to do anything against Nina.
Following Dio, Lucian’s pace gradually slowed, and he kept looking around. Dio noticed and turned back.
“What are you doing, not coming?”
“Can’t I look around a little?”
“What?”
“This is my first time coming to the temple. Let’s look around just a little. Yeah?”
“What is there to look at…….”
Even while grumbling, Dio quickly went over to Lucian’s side.
Contrary to Dio’s words, as befits the name “Grand Temple,” there was a lot to see.
The huge architectural style built of pure white marble, the priests’ group giving believers enlightenment, the neat and modest garden carefully arranged.
But among them, one thing stood out most: the stained glass lined up in order along the long corridor.
It looked like each window had a story; all sorts of different pictures were melted into the stained glass.
Among them, Lucian stared at one man who seemed to pour out golden eyes.
“The First Emperor.”
Just then, an unfamiliar voice sounded right behind him. Lucian reflexively pulled his hat down low. A priest was standing behind them.
“The First Emperor?”
“Yes. Here, the legend of how the First Emperor founded the empire is contained in full.”
“Ah, that’s why…….”
He’d felt it was familiar even though it was a picture he’d never seen before.
Once he recognized it as the First Emperor, the fairy tale book ‘The King and the Dragon, and the Witch’ came to mind on its own.
At first it was a story he knew well, but as it reached the final chapter, it depicted the emperor facing the witch.
The emperor was riding on the back of a red dragon, fighting the witch.
“But who are the people down there?”
Dio, who was beside him, asked. What Dio pointed to was the part where the witch was sealed.
Beneath the witch being sealed, the emperor, the red dragon, and people in pure white clothes were lined up.
“Those are the very first priests who founded our temple. The first priests made a great contribution to sealing the witch together with His Majesty the First Emperor.”
“Huh? I’ve never heard that.”
When Dio said the fairy tale books never mentioned it, the priest smiled kindly.
“It is a story passed down only in our temple. It isn’t something we particularly hide, so believers know it.”
“I see.”
“…….”
Unlike Dio nodding along, Lucian couldn’t take his eyes off the image of the witch sealed with her eyes closed. But after the silence, Lucian asked the priest.
“Then was the temple founded from the time of His Majesty the First Emperor too?”
“Yes, that is correct. When peace came to the world after sealing the witch, God, moved by it, bestowed special abilities upon the priests and His Majesty the First Emperor, and commanded them to spread God’s teachings widely. Thus, the priests built the Grand Temple here. This Grand Temple is also an ancient building with a long history, built in Empire Year 7.”
“It’s that old?”
“Hehe, it isn’t known in the legend, but the priests are people who made a great contribution to founding the empire. In a way, you could call them founding meritorious subjects.”
“……A lie.”
“Yes? What did you say?”
“It’s nothing.”
Lucian pulled his hat down even lower, forcing down what felt like it might burst out.
‘It’s all a lie.’
In the fairy tale book Ria showed him, the witch, Aria, isn’t an enemy—she’s an ally. She even made the greatest contribution in defeating the villains.
Yet he didn’t like how this kind of false information was spreading.
‘Why does this feel so bad?’
It’s just a story from the distant past, and that priest is only saying what he heard passed down—so why was he getting angry like it was his own business?
“Dio, I’ve seen enough. Let’s go somewhere else.”
“Sure! If you go over there, there’s a swing. Let’s go ride that.”
Lucian and Dio bowed to the priest and ran off elsewhere. The priest, watching them with a smile, continued on his way.
That priest was still only a trainee priest. But after performing the ritual tonight, he would become an official priest.
Was it because the day he’d waited for so long was coming?
He even spoke kindly to passing children, explaining the stained glass to them.
The trainee priest’s lips twitched when he recalled the two children who had called him priest.
“Javier, you were here.”
At the voice calling him, the trainee priest turned his head.
“The bishop is calling you.”
“What? Me?”
“Yes. There is an important guest from the imperial family, so you must receive them well.”
Just hearing “bishop” made his heart drop, but the imperial family? He wondered what was going on, with his official appointment as a priest right in front of him.
But Javier steadied himself and followed behind.
When he arrived, there were four knights with crisp, squared posture, and one child.
At first he wondered who it was, but seeing the shining golden eyes, Javier hurriedly bowed his head.
“This lowly one greets the second sun.”
“Are these all the people who will receive the ritual tomorrow?”
“That is correct, Your Highness. All have arrived.”
Crown Prince, Leopold Odelion.
The bishop couldn’t move a muscle in front of him. That made Javier all the more tense, unable to lift the head he’d bowed.
“Hey, everyone, relax. I’m just here to deliver Abamama’s words.”
Unlike the others, who were tense, Leopold smiled brightly and read the Emperor’s edict.
It was content wishing them well in tomorrow’s ritual and congratulating them in advance on becoming official priests.
It was only a trainee priest becoming an official priest, and yet to receive the Emperor’s edict—Javier and the others were deeply moved.
“……That was Abamama’s message.”
“His Majesty’s profound words. We will engrave them in our hearts.”
“Yeah, yeah. I just came out for a little outing, so I’ll be going now.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Ah! If Abamama asks what I did today, you have to say I attended worship diligently. Got it?”
“Yes, of course. I will speak well of it.”
“Good, good.”
Leopold, excited to go play, hopped along.
Only after Leopold left the room did one knight behind him whisper to the bishop.
“His Majesty commands that you proceed with the work tonight. Just do it exactly as we explained last time.”
“We will proceed without issue.”
After exchanging meaningful looks with the bishop, the knight hurried after Leopold.
“Gather here again at 11 tonight. There is something very important I will have you do.”
The bishop left those words and departed. After he disappeared, Javier lifted his head.
“Phew, to think I’d see His Highness the Crown Prince right before my eyes.”
Javier was more excited by the fact he’d seen the Crown Prince than by the bishop’s words.
With his heart lifted, Javier watched Leopold’s back. Just then, Leopold said something to a knight and turned back.
Seeing it, Javier felt déjà vu.
“Huh?”
“What is it?”
A trainee priest beside him nudged him, and Javier, who’d been blankly staring, forced an awkward laugh.
“Ahaha…… nothing.”
After the trainee priest left, Javier still couldn’t take his eyes off Leopold as he grew distant.
“……He resembles that kid?”
Only then did Javier realize that the child who had pulled his hat down low resembled Leopold perfectly.
If not for the ordinary brown hair and eyes, you might have mistaken him for Leopold.
But the kid had his hat pulled down low, so he hadn’t really seen him properly…….
“Ah, it’s just my imagination.”
Javier only looked forward lightly to what would happen tonight.
* * *
“Where did you go? You’re only coming out now?”
One knight guarding Leopold scolded the knight who came out late.
“Sorry. I had something to take care of for a moment.”
“His Highness the Crown Prince’s safety. Enough chatter.”
The knight commander who led them warned them. The two fell silent at once.
“Hey, this much is fine. Jordi probably had something to do too. Right?”
“Thank you for understanding, Your Highness.”
Leopold gave a grin and turned forward. The knights followed behind him.
“Before we go, I want to pray once.”
“Shall we clear the people out?”
“No. I’m just doing it quickly, so it’s fine.”
Leopold stood before the statue of God, quietly clasped his hands, and prayed.
‘Please let Abamama and Umamama live long and healthy, and let Halbamama and Abamama reconcile, and lastly, please let me have a cute younger sibling.’
The longing for a sibling that began two years ago only grew stronger day by day.
There were times he even cried, throwing a tantrum for them to make him a sibling, but now he knew that wasn’t something that would happen just because he wanted it.
A child is something God bestows. That’s why Leopold sought God even while not believing in God.
After asking again and again for a sibling, Leopold seemed to think it was enough and opened the eyes he’d closed.
“Alright, that’s enough. Let’s go.”
Leopold thought that someday, God might be moved by his prayer and grant his wish.
Ahahaha—!
Just then, he heard children’s laughter of a similar age.
Turning his head, he saw several children running around excitedly at a small playground the temple had prepared.
‘That looks fun.’
But if he said he wanted to play there, they wouldn’t allow it, right?
Leopold sighed deeply as he recalled the strict knight commander behind him.
Soon, with eyes full of lingering regret, he stared at two boys around his age pushing each other on the swing.
“This won’t do. I have to go to Lilis.”
“Shall we go to the Duke of Sebans’s estate?”
“Yeah! I should go see my fiancée after so long. Ah, should I buy a gift too?”
“Then, before going to the duke’s estate, let us stop by a toy shop for a moment.”
“Great!”
Leopold left the temple to go see Lilis, whom he’d become engaged to a few days ago.
