Chapter 7 · The Princess of the Temple (1)

“Hey, everyone! I—I saw the princess! The new princess who just arrived. I ran into her on my way here!”

“What?! I want to see her too!”

“She’s over there. Sister Rosa is carrying her toward the great dining hall.”

“I only saw her from behind. Her hair is white and fluffy!”

“What does she look like? Tell me.”

“Like a doll. Big round eyes, and so cute.”

“But why is she here? Wearing priestess robes.”

“Could it be the royal family didn’t take her in?”

“They say her father is unknown?”

“Shh!”

Whisper, whisper, whisper, whisper.

In the temple, where the same daily routine repeated, my appearance seemed to have become quite a hot topic.

Everyone in the temple—man or woman, old or young, high or low—ate in the great dining hall. Carried in Rosa’s arms with Yuz beside us, I came out to eat breakfast as well.

“Sister Sierra went out at dawn today for external service.”

“That’s too bad. They’re serving hotcakes today.”

Hotcakes? How long has it been since I heard such a sweet word? I imagined that fluffy texture and drooled, then snapped to my senses with a start.

‘This isn’t the time for that.’

I quickly scanned the great dining hall. Fortunately, being carried by Rosa meant I could avoid the misfortune of not being able to see people’s faces because of my small height.

And I found him in no time! And no wonder—his appearance was so striking that I felt I could recognize him from a thousand cubits away.

Paeon was wearing a light outfit I had never seen before. It was a white tunic with trim along the edges. I had only ever seen him in his formal uniform, so it was quite refreshing. But no one was sitting at his table.

‘…Is he a loner?’

Looking around, even the smallest groups had two people eating together, or at most six… Sitting alone at that large table made him look rather lonely. Well, I suppose if I had to eat with a superior like that, I’d feel stifled too.

I quickly got my food and hurried over to his table. Yuz and Rosa hesitated, flustered.

“Um, P-Princess! You could just sit somewhewe cwose… by…”

Rosa trailed off hesitantly, but I paid her no mind and trotted over, plopping my child-sized tray down on his table with a thud.

“Papa, good morning.”

He, who had been reading a newspaper without a clue, looked up with a start.

“What…”

I could feel the surrounding area stirring restlessly behind me.

“S-Sir Parsiel. May the light of Lord Lux be with you today as well. Good morning.”

Rosa and Yuz reluctantly followed me and sat beside me, offering their greetings.

Sisters, I’m sorry for making you sacrifice yourselves…

“…May the light of Lord Lux be with you.”

He returned the greeting curtly. I quickly said a prayer before the meal and sneaked a peek at his tray.

“Huh? Papa doesn’t have any hotcakes.”

He seemed to have brought only vegetable soup and coffee. Well, it was hard to imagine him slicing and eating hotcakes, but still…

“Want to try a bite of Asha’s?”

I quickly sliced off a piece of hotcake and held it out to him.

“No, thank you. I don’t care for sweet things.”

He furrowed his brow and avoided my fork.

“Weally? That’s too bad. But this honey is exactwy the same cowor as Papa’s hair. It wooks dewicious.”

“…”

Yuz and Rosa’s facial muscles were twitching, as if they couldn’t decide whether to laugh or not. Since the table would fall into a terrifying silence if I didn’t keep chattering, I kept talking.

“What’s that Papa’s dwinking? It’s bwack watew.”

“…It’s not something the princess should drink yet.”

“Can’t I just have one sip?”

Rosa couldn’t hold back and let out a gasp. He raised an eyebrow as if dumbfounded.

“Just one sip, pwease.”

When I pleaded with sparkling, earnest eyes, he reluctantly handed me his cup.

“…Just one sip.”

I took it readily and gulped down the coffee in the cup. Mm, bitter as expected… Bitter. Terribly bitter! Just like drinking himself. He must always be in a state of alertness—why would he drink something like this?

“…It’s bittew.”

When I shuddered, Yuz looked at me as if she found me so adorable she didn’t know what to do.

“The princess should still be drinking milk. Here, I’ll add some honey for you. It’ll taste much better.”

I happily enjoyed my breakfast, not caring that milk foam was smeared all over my mouth.

“I’m so happy eating togethew with my angels wike this. So happy.”

Rosa and Yuz agreed kindly, saying, “Me too,” but Paeon silently stopped eating and rose abruptly from his seat.

“I should be going now. I hope you enjoy the rest of your meal.”

I blocked him from picking up his tray and spoke solemnly.

“Papa, you weft food. If you waste food, Wux will punish you.”

“…”

His face reddened slightly. Yuz and Rosa looked at me awkwardly but didn’t particularly stop me.

“Finish eating befowe you go. Asha will supewvise.”

He stood there awkwardly, then noticed the hundreds of eyes watching him and sat back down. His face was noticeably red. I was a little surprised to realize he did know shame, but I pretended not to notice and handed him his spoon.

“Papa, hewe you go.”

In the end, he forced down the rest of his soup, and I savored the joy of victory as I leisurely finished the rest of my meal.

◇ ◆ ◇

What happened that morning spread through the temple and even reached the royal palace in an instant.

The new princess has ‘that’ Sir Parsiel wrapped around her finger, they said. She scolded him, they said. Sir Parsiel is helpless before a tiny little girl, they said. The princess truly has the makings of a king, they said, and so on.

“No, isn’t it going too far to call that ‘the makings of a king’ over something so trivial?”

Stella huffed.

“Frankly, it’s rude. She has no dignity befitting a princess, nothing at all, and they just sent her straight to the temple. What on earth is Father thinking?!”

“It does seem like quite a good strategy, though.”

Aquila said quietly, taking a sip of her black tea.

“Strategy? Whose strategy?”

“Who else? His Eminence the High Priest, of course.”

“Be… Belus?”

Stella sidled up close to Aquila and whispered cautiously.

“So you really don’t believe in the oracle, Sister?”

“Of course not. I’d sooner believe in some petty god from a far eastern continent.”

“Ha… But what if that child really is a ‘child of God’? Honestly, her faith was extraordinary for a child her age.”

“That much can be achieved through education. However…”

Aquila’s deep green eyes glinted sharply.

“I’m hearing some very interesting things from Yuditium.”

“Yuditium? You mean the underground prison on the outskirts of the capital?”

“Yes. That child’s adoptive parents and their son were dragged there. They say those people claimed the child can use magic.”

“What? A four-year-old? Even Sister Tris, who was called a genius of the century, developed mana sensitivity at seven…”

“Yes. She apparently used an image stone to prove she was abused. But with an image stone, before you can infuse it with mana to record, you first have to turn the stone into a magic tool using magic. That’s something no genius of the century could do at that age.”

“…Then what on earth is going on?”

“It must be the High Priest’s work. First, he gains sympathy to win Father’s favor, then uses the fake oracle and faith to push forward and place that child entirely under the temple’s control. Now he’ll spread word that she can use magic and gradually solidify her position.”

“So you’re saying he conspired with Sir Parsiel? I don’t think that stiff-necked man would go along with something like that…”

“He’s temple-affiliated in the end, too.”

Aquila said firmly.

“In any case, we can’t just stand by and watch them try to turn the royal family into their puppets. Thanks to Father, their power has already grown far too great… Once the balance breaks, it all collapses in an instant.”

Stella’s expression turned serious. The past few days had pushed her stress to its limit.

Her brilliant sister, whom she deeply respected, with the same hair color and eye color as herself. Her sister had finally gained the position she deserved, and now a single stone had rolled in to obstruct it. And now it turned out that stone might even be the seed of a calamity that could bring down the entire Santra dynasty.

“That can’t happen. Sister says she has no interest in the succession, but no one can deny that she’s the person best suited for that position! There’s no one in this kingdom who can match Sister’s heart, which cherishes and loves Santra!”

“Thank you for saying that, Stella. But I truly have no desire for it.”

Aquila said with a gentle smile.

“Still, it pains me as an aunt to see our poor niece being toyed with in their hands.”

What a mess, all because of that bastard girl. Listening to Stella’s grumbling full of discontent, Aquila set down her teacup.

“First, we need to put to rest this nonsense about that child being a child of God.”

◇ ◆ ◇

As expected after that morning, Paeon stopped coming to the great dining hall.

‘So he’d rather starve than run into me.’

As I repeated the cycle of peeking around the great dining hall every day, feeling glum when he wasn’t there, Sierra comforted me.

“Princess, please don’t be too upset. Sir Parsiel is, um… he must be too busy to come.”

“No. Papa… hates Asha.”

Thud!

At my bombshell declaration, the three priestesses’ faces went pale.

“P-Princess! Hates you…? Who could possibly hate the princess?”

“Asha is a sinner, so he hates me.”

“A sinner?!”

“Papa knows Asha hasn’t been going to the temple. Of couwse he hates Asha.”

When I muttered with a sad face, the three priestesses left me in the room and quietly discussed it among themselves.

“Sister Sierra, please. You’re the closest to him out of all of us…”

“What are you talking about? I barely exchanged a word or two with him during the war…!”

Sierra protested indignantly. But after a few more exchanges, she ended up being pushed out and sent to him.

‘Can Sierra pull it off?’

◇ ◆ ◇

“Sir Parsiel, it’s not even a difficult request.”

“I’ll say it again, it’s not possible.”

Despite Sierra’s earnest pleas, Paeon was obstinate.

“No, is sharing just one meal a day with her really that difficult…?”

Sierra let out a small sigh and added,

“The princess is, how should I put it… she’s clearly imprinted on you, Sir Parsiel. You know how baby ducks think the first creature they see is their parent. The princess follows you so closely because you were the one who rescued her from that horrific situation. So even if it’s uncomfortable for you, couldn’t you just pay her a little attention?”

“If anything, I should stay further away. If that state lasts long, it will be bad for both of us.”

At his brick-like stubbornness, Sierra grew heated and blurted out something she would never normally have dared to say.

“…Honestly, aren’t you just embarrassed that the princess scolded you?”

“!”

Paeon’s face reddened slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

“If you have nothing more to say, I’ll be going.”

Just then, a young knight in a white knight order uniform came running toward them in a hurry.

“Um… Commander, have you heard the rumor?”