Chapter 101
Cheshire swallowed hard, gulping down her saliva.
It seemed like things would be more difficult than she had thought.
Just by her entering the empire, the crown was getting excited and belting out fairy songs.
‘If I put on the crown, won’t it cause a huge commotion?’
Petals with butterflies fluttering around seemed like the bare minimum.
On top of that, singing and dancing…
Imagining the crown dancing, Cheshire inwardly shuddered in disgust.
Even if she obtained the crown, she figured she should avoid wearing it on her head at all costs.
The crown’s song didn’t stop for a long time.
It continued for quite a while even after the Holy King had left.
When the song suddenly cut off at some point, people wore expressions clearly filled with regret.
Cheshire thought of Hailon.
Had he stopped the song?
The way the Holy King had subtly boasted while mentioning Hailon kept coming to mind.
The repulsive brag that even that formidable inquisitor was under his control.
Then, when a problem actually arose, he had been the first to seek out Hailon.
‘And to think that despite being the Holy King, he has no more divine power than an ordinary priest.’
If he lacked ability, he should have stepped down quickly long ago; she couldn’t understand why he clung to it out of greed.
She had roughly guessed that the Holy Empire wasn’t a proper place.
But facing it in person, it seemed far worse than she had imagined.
A sudden suspicion struck Cheshire.
‘Could it be that they’re sending it outside the empire because they can’t handle the crown?’
At that moment, Kierne, who had been conversing with Daren, strode over.
Cheshire belatedly glanced at the men of the Basilian family.
They were all immersed in the lingering effects of the song, but only the Basilians wore sullen expressions.
Kierne even seemed irritated.
On the surface, he was smiling brightly, but Cheshire could clearly sense that he was furious.
Kierne took Belzeon and Cheshire into the carriage.
Hata, who had been waiting obediently inside, started to bark with a woof but shrank back upon seeing Kierne’s murderous expression.
With a thud, Kierne closed the carriage door and roughly swept back his hair.
He smiled crookedly.
“Ha…”
The short, empty laugh conveyed his anger vividly.
Belzeon, holding Cheshire, asked.
“Are they showing interest in us because of the inquisitor?”
“Probably partly because we’re Basilians.”
Kierne said with a scoff.
“It was the Holy Empire that assigned the Black Forest mission to us, after all.”
“…!”
Cheshire tried hard not to show her surprise.
She had wondered why the Basilian family was stuck in the east, but she hadn’t expected the Holy Empire to be involved.
She had thought it was the Palen Empire’s doing.
It would have been nice if he elaborated more, but unfortunately, that was the end of it.
“Belzeon. Take Cheshire for a lap and come back. That Holy King bastard…”
Kierne trailed off mid-sentence.
‘It seems like he was about to curse.’
Glancing at Cheshire, he corrected himself.
“His Majesty the Holy King might have done something to the place where we’re staying, so we need to check.”
He added, glancing out the window.
“Take Theo too. He’s annoying.”
It was a heartless tone that would have made Theo tear up if he heard it.
Hata, who had been lurking in the corner waiting for a chance, flailed his front paws.
It meant not to leave him behind.
Last time, when she had briefly left Hata with the twins to talk with Kierne and the fairy,
somehow, after that, Hata utterly despised the twins whenever he saw them.
“Those guys are demons!”
The words Hata had shouted while looking all disheveled echoed in her ears.
Cheshire quietly extended her hand, and Hata came trotting over as if he had been waiting, snuggling right into her arms.
At the sight, Kierne chuckled.
“Cheshire.”
His red eyes, having erased all traces of irritation, shone with a gentle light.
“Was that song earlier a fairy’s song?”
Since a situation where the crown might dance and sing could arise, Cheshire warned him by telling the truth.
“The crown was singing it.”
“Mm, the crown…”
He lowered his eyes as if lost in thought for a moment, then murmured softly.
“This is a problem… Our Cheshire is so popular.”
Kierne declared in a lilting voice.
“Daddy will have to work hard too.”
Cheshire laughed inwardly at his enthusiasm.
‘You already seem to be working more than hard enough.’
She wondered what more he could possibly do; it was almost frightening.
“Sir Theo.”
Theo had a vacant, soulless expression.
Standing there blankly, he only snapped out of it after Belzeon called his name three times.
“Sir Theo!”
“…Ah, yes!”
When called a bit louder the last time, Theo flinched in surprise and responded.
His barked reply drew glances from passersby.
Belzeon briefly requested of him.
He would be touring the Holy Empire with Cheshire and hoped Theo would join them.
Theo nodded seriously.
“It’s dangerous for just children to wander around.”
As the heir to the Basilian County, Belzeon already handled more than an adult’s share.
He would probably handle any issues more adeptly than Theo.
However, to carry out Kierne’s order, Belzeon pretended to agree with being called a child.
Thus, two people, one fairy, and one beastkin headed to the Grand Temple Plaza, a must-visit spot for those entering the Holy Empire.
The open Grand Temple Plaza was paved with a mosaic of small marble pieces.
Using white and blue small marble fragments, along with gold-plated stones, they had drawn the emblem of the Holy Empire on a massive scale.
Facing the majestic Grand Temple at the end of the ornate plaza, people naturally let out sighs of admiration, feeling the divine majesty.
As they walked toward the plaza, Theo chattered noisily.
“Wasn’t that mysterious hymn truly magnificent? They must have made it so that everyone visiting the empire, without feeling left out, can hear the hymn, right?”
Still excited that his heart was pounding from the pleasant hymn, Theo beamed.
“Moreover, for His Majesty the Holy King to come personally. To think that in my lifetime, I’d see His Majesty so close… It was an honor for the family.”
Even for the Marquis of Nemea, meeting the Holy King directly would be difficult.
For Theo, the young master of the marquisate, it must have been a rare moment hard to experience in a lifetime.
“I never knew a First Order Holy Knight was such an extraordinary being. I’ll have to respect Sir Hailon even more from now on.”
Theo’s eyes sparkled brightly.
It was a sparkle that didn’t suit the bear-like massive build.
“Thanks to Sir Hailon, His Majesty the Holy King showed great interest in the Basilian County as well, didn’t he? Cheshire might really receive the fairy queen’s crown.”
Unfortunately for the excited, chattering Theo, Belzeon had no particular interest in anything he said.
He listened half-heartedly, but finding it noisy, he finally shot back a remark that made Theo shut his mouth.
“Are you going to report all this to His Excellency the Marquis too?”
“……”
Theo, who had been enthusiastically talking about this and that, froze with his mouth open.
He slowly dropped his gaze downward.
The sounds of children gathered for the Little Saints’ Prayer Assembly giggling here and there echoed around.
But Theo and Belzeon weren’t laughing.
Theo shrank his large frame, making it seem insignificant.
In a small voice, he quietly apologized.
“…I’m sorry.”
That was all Theo could say.
Belzeon glanced at the now silent Theo and coldly walked ahead first.
Cheshire could fully understand Belzeon’s position, but still…
‘It bothers me a bit.’
Cheshire rested her face on Belzeon’s shoulder and looked back at the lagging Theo.
Unlike his excited self earlier, he looked depressed.
As she kept glancing, Hata in her arms tapped her with his paw as if to say not to mind it.
Theo dragged his feet, following from quite a distance.
It was at a point where they hardly seemed like a group.
A passing holy knight spotted Theo and greeted him familiarly.
“Theo?”
Theo, who had been staring only at the ground, lifted his head in surprise.
“Ah…”
They didn’t seem close.
Theo’s face darkened further.
Regardless, the holy knight casually slung an arm over Theo’s shoulder.
“Hey, really good to see you! Feels like just yesterday we were preparing to be holy knights together. Time flies, huh? What brings you to the Holy Empire?”
“Uh, as an escort knight…”
“Pfft!”
As soon as he heard the answer, he burst into laughter.
“You’re something else. With that backing, and you’re just doing escort knight work? Still so foolish and dim-witted. But hey, good for you.”
The holy knight snickered mockingly.
“That there’s even a place that hires someone like you.”
